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«TO SHEW VIRTUE HER OWN FEATURE, SCORE HER OWN IMAGE, AND THE VERY AGE AND BODY OF THE TIME, HIS FORM AND PRESSURE.” VOL, II. HABPERS-FERRY, VIRGINIA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1823. ' No. 26.-78. iaeaaai&sisaaBjc^sffi^^MSffi&EaBSgsa . PUBLISHES, WEEKLY, BY JOHN S. GALLAHER & CO. CONDITIONS. The “Free Press” is published at two dollars per annum, if paid in advance; two dollars and twentyrfive cents if paid at the end of six months ; or, two dollars and fifty cents at the expiration of the year. > . No paper will be discontinued until all arrearages are paid ; nor then, unless at least one week’s notice be given, previous to the expiration of the term subscribed for. gC?* As payment in advance will serve the interest of all concerned, that mode is respectfully solicited. *** Advertisements inserted three times for one dollar per square; and twenty-five cents for, every subsequent insertion. The postage must be paid on all letters and communications, or they will not be attended to. ICP Only six drawings remain of the following splendid Lottery, and but one prize as high as a §1000 yet drawn. MARYLAND \'"OW drawing in the city of Balti AA wore, under the superintendence of the Commissioners appointed by the Go vernor and Council. The whole to be completed in ten drawings only. PRESENT PRICE. Whole tickets, g>12 Halves, 6 Quarters, ^3 CO Eighths, 1 50 1C? Orders enclosing the money ^post paid) addressed to AV.C.CONINE, Baltimore, Will receive the most prompt atten tion. Tickets sent will be warranted un Jru and due information given as to their fate. The full scheme of the above lot tery will be found in the late numbers of this paper. Jam 22, 1823. MASONIC NOTICE. T a regular meeting of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 11 Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, r ciday, January 3d, A. L- 5 323, AvD. 1823, JOHN MkCLEA B Y, an entered apprentice in said Lodge - y occupation a constructor of Bridges, 3VLH Dams, See.—was expelled from the rights and benefits of the Masonic Order, for unmasonic conduct. Per order, GEO. RICHARDS, Sec. Jan. 4, A. L. 5823, A. D. 1823. Liverpool W are, Brandy, Wine, fyc. -pipBTER CONLAN has just received Jp and opened, this day, an extensive assortment of the above articles. A sin -;le sett of cups and saucers can be had for 50 cents. A sett of 2 tea pots, 6 cups and 6 sau cers, a cream jug, sugar bowl, and slop bowl, for §2 62§. Plates and dishes, assorted sizes, very low. LIKEWISE, Claret, warranted to be bottled in France, French Brandy at Si 50 per gallon, Tallow Candles at 18J cents per pound, Rosin Soap at 8 cents per pound, Domestic JPLaid at 12| cents per yard, Young Hyson Tea at gl per pound, Real Tartan Plaid at 50 cents per yard. ' Dec. IL " 1 ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD. MAN aWay from the subscriber, living’ in the county of Loudoun and state of Virginia, near Leesburg, a NEGRO MAN, named GEORGE, or sometimes JIM; a short well set fellow, about five feet five or six inches high, 24 years old. He has a dark speck in the white of his left eye ; in walking his right heel in clines to the hollow of bis left foot; when spoken to has a cheerful countenance, ■* and is fond of strong drink. He is a to lerably good shoemaker, and I suppose will pursue that for a livelihood. Any person who will take up said negro, and deliver him to the subscriber, or confine #>im in any jail, so that I get him again, Shall receive the above reward. JOHN CAMPBELL. Jan. is, 1823. REPORT ON THE POTOMAC RIVER. To His Excellency the Governor of Virginia. The Commissioners appointed by the law of Virginia and the resolutions of Maryland of the year 1821, jointly to ex amine the affairs of the Potomac Compa ny, the state of the Navigation of the River Potomac, its susceptibility of im provement, and to make report whether the said company had complied with the terms of its charter granted by the two states, and its ability to comply within a | reasonable time, and whether any and I what aid should be given to the said corn Lpany, and what would be the best rrieahs ' ; of effecting an improvement in the navi gation of the said river. Report— That, in compliance with the injunc tions of the two states, they did assemble in Georgetown on the 2d day of July last, and commenced the discharge of their duties, by examining the affairs of the Potomac Company; and it appears the ; Company had not only expended the whole of the dividing stock, but have in curred heavy debts which their present resources can never enable them to dis charge, nor is it reasonable to expect, in such circumstances, that they can ever effect the objects of their incorporation. A distinct statement j>f the accounts, debts, receipts, and expenditures of the said company, is hereto annexed, mark ed A. The provisions and special conditions of the charter and laws of the two states, occupied their attention previous to the examination of the works which had been executed under the direction and at the expense of this company on the river.— From the best consideration which they could give the subject, it appears to the Commissioners that the Potomac Com pany have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of their incorporation. An abstract of the charter and the laws relative to that subject are herewith pre sented, marked (B.) It will be there seen that the right to take tolls, and all other privileges, were granted them on condi tion that the navigation of the river should be completed within a given specified time, which has been variously extended by subsequent laws, and finally expired under the Maryland law on the 1st of Ja nuary, 1813, and under that of Virginia on the 1st January, 1820. That the navi gation required to be effected was such as should “ render the river well capable of being navigated in dry seasons by ves sels drawing one foot water;” that upon an application by the Potomac Company to the Legislature of Virginia in 1802, for an exposition of the words “ dry sea sons,” the legislature declared that those words, as used in the charter, were to be intended and understood u all seasons ;” ai^ interpretation of which the correctness cannot well be questioned. From an ac tual measurement of the depth of the ri ver by the commissioners, it was ascer tained that, at the time of their examina tion of it, there was not a sufficient depth of water for the navigation of boats draw ing even six inches. It is true, that at their session of 1802, the Maryland legis lature passed a law founded upon the idea that the Potomac Company had accojn plished the object of their incorporation, confirming to that company all the fights and privileges conditionally granted in the charter. But it is extremely appa rent, that to absolve from an obligation requires equal or paramount power to that which imposed it, and of course nei ther Virginia nor Maryland could singly release a condition which the Potomac Company had bound themselves to both to perform. The-act of the Maryland legislature can tnereiore only oe consider ed as nugatory ; and indeed that legisla ture itself seems so to have considered it, for in the year 1809, seven years after the passage of the confirmatory act, it passed another law extending.to that company the time of completing the navigation of the river. The commissioners, upon full consultation, do not deem it.prudent or expedient to give further aid to the Po tomac Company; the only alternative, therefore, that remains, is to divest them of their charter and adopt some more effectual mode of improving the naviga tion of the river; nor can this procedure be regarded as harsh, when duly consid ered ; the law and justice of it, it is pre sumed, have been made manifest ; will it be an injury to the stockholders ? look at the exposition of their affairs marked (A) furnished by the company itself; see the annual amount of their tolls, and in the present defective state of their naviga tion, which they have no means of im proving, can it ever be increased ? de duct from it the expense of repairs and contingencies,, as 'salaries to clerks and ^aygSMagaaageaage i ri ir^ffimif^Tnrerrnrinrefimif r or toll-gatherers, and then compare it with the amount of their debts, or even the an nual interest of those debts, and visionary indeed must be that man who can expect ever to draw a cent of profit from such stock, with such resources; can such debts ever be redeemed? The fact is, tne rotomac Company are precisely in the situation of all other chartered com panies, who fail in their undertakings; their expected profits have eventuated in loss and disappointment. It is due, however, to that company to state, that, although the errors under which they labored in the principles and pr-d lice of improvements in navigation hayc been great, and have caused a use less expenditure of large sums; still they acted with the best lights heretofore pos sessed by the best informed persons in our states. They have not only expend ed the whole of their original stock in attemps to improve the river, but nearly al) their tolls with the exception of their necessary annual expenses, have been appropriated to the same purpose. And this failure to accomplish the objects of their incorporation, may be fairly attri buted to a want of information on the subject at the very early period of our existence as a nation, when that compa ny was formed. The Journal of notes made'by the com missioners, of the condition of the navi gc >'qy and depth of water, tafef-n from day to day, as they descended fibS river, is hereto annexed, marked (C.) from which it will be seen, that the river to Goose Creek, which has been ascertained to be one hundreds:fifty-seven miles long, is in no section of ten miles at all navi gable in low water by loaded boats of any kind or dimensions, and for more than eighty miles obstructions from shallows sufficient to stop a skiff, are to be met with on an average division of that distance every half mile. THE PRESENT STATE OF THE NAVIGATION. It has been stated and is believed by many people, that the river Potomac in its present condition is navigable nearly half the year. The Potomac company are required to give a low water naviga tion of a foot deep throughout the year. This circumstance, and the idea enter tained of the possibility of confining the waters in the bed of the river to narrow sluices, have confirmed this opinion. The commissioners have given a minute exa mination to this branch of the duties im posed upon them, and satisfied them selves, from their own observation, and the most careful inquiries, that no such blessing is enjoyed by the fertile dis tricts through which the river flows. The floods and freshets give the only navigation at present used. They.occur usually from the 1st September to the 20th June, variously however, in various years. Arid it so happens, that although boats are known in some years to pass down through each of the months inter vening between these dates, yet in couse qucnce of the ice during winter, and the short continuance of a flood, giving navi gable water, the average duration of the boating time in a course of many years does not much, if at all, exceed eight or ten days passable water for full loaded boats late in the year, and from twenty five to thirty-five days in the spring of the year, making the whole time when produce and goods can be stream borne m the course ot one entire common year, from thirty-three to (forty-five days. The duration of this period necessarily in creases as you approach the Great Fails, and decreases as you ascend to the head oi the river. The evils attending the present state of the navigation lessen the benefits which might be supposed to be derived from even this short period. They chiefly consist in its uncertainty and dependence on the vicissitudes of the seasons; in the great rapidity of the current of the river, in consequence of the great fall or incli nation of its plane, in proportion to its length ; in its dangerous character aris ing from the wildness of the torrent and the suddenness of its courses and mean ders, having worn its devious 'way in the lapse of ages through countless ridges of rocks and mountains ; and in consequence of huge fragments of rocks and large loose stones, the remains of the wasted mountains, scattered thickly, and in some places rising over the entire bed of the river, and having no passage for loaded boats, impelled by the rapid and impetu ous current, but what may be found by warping and winding, with the utmost exertion of strength, agility and watch fulness on the part of the crew, a most irregular course. By these dangers ma ny boats and cargoes are destroyed. The uncertainty and the shortness of the du ration of the floods, arc the very worst features in the character of this naviga tion. This uncertainty frequently occa» sions the most ruinous disappointments to the farmers, millers and merchants. The expected rains are often denied, and the consequence frequently is, that con-1 tracts cannot be complied with, which occasion loss and ruin. Sometimes a small rise and deceitful appearances in duce a collection of the scattered crews of the boatmen from the mountains, and a general shipment of produce; by the time they have descended forty or fifty miles down the river, a fall in the water takes place; the boats are compelled to stop, and their storage, increased expen ses, neglect of agents, and natural causes? waste the profits, or damage the produce oi ail concerned, i his chiefly occurs HI the upper part of the river. Sometimes the rains, come on sooner than they are expected, and the rise and fall of the ri ver succeed each other before the farmers are prepared to make their shipments; then the crops lie on hand till next year, subject to all the inconveniences and losses accompanying such circumstances. And when the floods are most propitious, and the navigation is the best under ex isting circumstances, the usual conse quence is, that the produce of immense districts of country, among the most fer tile in the union, is ail forced into market at one time, and a capital which might be sufficient to give better prices, if the merchant had time to receive the pro ceeds of one investment, before he made a second, is found inadequate to give & fair price to all under su^h disadvantages. Thus the farmer has frequently no alter native left, but to sacrifice the fruits of his year’s labor. The expenses are al ready too great, and produce will beat* no additional cost or risk of shipping farther, and to carry it home again is im possible; for sometimes even the boat which brought it down, cannot be floated back empty. It is surely to be lamented, that wretched as is this navigation, it is the sole dependence of a vast extent of country, which, in spite of JU& fe, tiiity* cl Ti m <y. 1 :_4 '\J t* 1 iTi. 1. Ii C. i 11 u m o 11 o iu txi i 1'-f-* als of the most useful kind, is most evi dently drooping and suffering, for want of a ready market for its productions, without which stimulus, it is impossible for its agriculture to flourish, or its na tural resources to be developed. Bad indeed as is the navigation abovd desc^ed, still this conveyance is prefer red, all who can avail themselves of it, to land carriage. With all its uncertain ties and risks, it is found cheaper by all the farmers and millers, than maintain ing supernumerary.horses throughout the year, fur the purpose of carrying produce to market. If additional proof were re quired, a stronger cannot be adduced than this very circumstance, of the im mense superiority of navigation over land carriage. If navigation, encumbered with so many risks and uncertainties, and un avoidable expenses, is still preferred by all who can avail themselves of it, to the usual land carriage, assisted by improved roads to all the sea-ports ; and if this, the worst and dearest of all kinds of naviga tion, does yet give an increased value to the lands contiguous to it, over those' whose sole reliance is on the turnpike, what may we not reasonably calculate will be the still further increased value of the lands afforded by a safe and constant still-water navigation ? SLUICE NAVIGATION. As what has been called Sluice Navi gation has been the kind adopted by the Potomac Company, and the one on which so large a part of their funds has been expended, it maybe necessary to give an explanation, drawn from actual observa tion of what has been done and tried for many years, of this kind of work on the Potomac. The sluices on this river are of three kinds; the first, which are chiefly found in-the upper part of the river, are chan nels formed by low walls. The second are channels formed by excavating the rocky bottom of the rivers. The third kind, which are yet used, and have been of service to the navigation in high wa ter, are channels opened near the banks of the river, around the rapids and small falls in the-current, as at Harper’s Ferry, Payne’s Falls, &c. to avoid the great force of the torrent in mid-stream in such situ ations, and with the view of giving the boatmen a land-path on the bank, on which, by a rope, they may drag the boat up the stream, when the violence of the current is too great to be overcome by setting poles. These channels, though used, are of very imperfect and temporary construction’, the bottoms of no one of them being graduated. They- are cer tainly too imperfect to be capals-.