REPORT OF SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE TO VISIT SHAWNEETOWN. Made March 6th, and ordered Printed. To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Illinois: Your committee, appointed to inquire into the merits of a certain claim for damages of the city of Shawneetown, in pursuance of the following resolution: WHEREAS, This General Assembly is asked, by bill, to appropriate one hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars for the relief of the city of Shawneetown, in the county of Gallatin; therefore, be it Resolved, by the Senate, the House of Representatives concuring, that a special committee of two from the Senate, and three from the House, be appointed, whose duty it shall be to visit the city of Shawneetown, and examine into the merits of said claim, and report to the General Assembly, by bill or otherwise, at as early a day as may be practicable " Beg leave to report: That on Tuesday, the 25th ult., they proceeded to said city, and upon the day following made a personal examination of the excavation or ditch upon which the claim is based, and also held a meeting for the purpose of taking testimony as to the construction of said ditch and the damages to the city of Shawneetown, resulting therefrom. The testimony at length, to which reference is made for greater certainty, as well as charts exhibiting fully the nature of said ditch, are herewith submitted and marked exhibit "A" and "C," respectively, together with certain affidavits marked "D," "E,” “F," "G,” “H,” “I.” Your committee find, upon investigation, that said ditch which forms the basis of a claim for damages, was created under and by authority of the State of Illinois, in the year 1838, during the prosecution, by the State, of a system of internal improvements; that it was excavated in order to drain certain lands to be used in part for the purpose of constructing a railway thereon from Shawneetown to Alton. The said projected road was located on and across overflowed lands, which it was sought to drain by digging a ditch, but through faulty management the State engineers directed the course of the waters from their natural channel, and in order to carry off the immense accumulations of water, a certain culvert was made and sewer built, under a contract made with the board of trustees of the town of Shawneetown, in effect that the State would properly construct and forever keep in repair said sewer or ditch. It would appear to your committee, from the evidence submitted to them, that the State did construct a sewer, by digging a ditch along the line described, and which, by reference to the accompanying maps, will be seen to have been near the center of the town; and that the main portion of said sewer was impaired and otherwise incomplete. That the State, a short time subsequently, abandoned work upon the projected railroad, and that the soil through which the sewer had been built being of a peculiarly soft nature, the water soon caused the incomplete work to give way, and the continued action of the water has made a ditch, shown by actual measurement, to be upwards of thirty feet deep and three hundred feet wide, thereby causing the destruction of a superior steamboat landing, much valuable property, and incurring the expense of bridging the ditch. From evidence of experts, adduced by your committee, and which is reported at length and marked exhibit "A," it appears that the cost of repairing said damage will exceed $100,000. It was also testified before your committee, that the city of Shawneetown is subject to periodical inundation from the Ohio river, and that the only effectual remedy for such inundation is the construction of a levee, the want of which has retarded the growth of the town. Your committee further find, that in 1861, the State of Illinois passed an act exempting the State taxes upon the property within the corporate limits of said city of Shawneetown for twenty years, for the purpose of aiding in constructing said levy, and authorizing the laying of a special city tax for the same purpose. (See exhibit "B.") Reference is also hereby made to section 1, art. 9, of "An act to incorporate the city of Shawneetown, and to change the name." Page 272, private laws of Illinois of 1861. It appears further, that the corporation of Shawneetown, relying upon the good faith of the State in such exemption, commenced the construction of a portion of such levee, and issued bonds therefor, and had realized but a fraction of the aid, in the form of taxes exempted, when the Supreme Court declared the act of 1861 unconstitutional. The corporation of the city of Shawneetown, to your committee averring themselves overburdened with taxation, contracted in good faith on the aid given by the State, and with an immense ditch constantly widening and encroaching upon their streets, present their claim for aid in the nature of indemnity for damages. And your committee, after thorough investigation and mature deliberation, beg leave to report, herewith, a bill, appropriating to the city of Shawneetown, the sum of sixty thousand dollars, payable in two equal installments, to-wit: In Aug. 1, 1873, and Aug. 1, 1874, respectively. All of which is respectfully submitted. C. M. FERREL, M. DONAHUE, Z. S. SWAN, G. M. HOLLENBACK, GEO. W. ARMSTRONG. REPORT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. Vol. IV-15 MARCH 13, 1873. |