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not trench upon legislative prerogatives. The mortgage
contract was then reviewed by Mr. S., who contended that
according to its terms there had been no forfeiture, and
the bondholders had no right to step in and assume con-
trol. It was expressly stipulated that they should assume
control only if the interest was not paid by the revenue
failing from the fault of the canal company. He main-
tained that the decreased revenue was not the fault of the
canal company. And as to the talk about the political
control and power wielded by the canal, there was not a
word of it so. The former president (Mr. Spates) had
yesterday stated that there were less than three hundred
people employed on it, and this showed the folly of styl-
ing it a political machine. He denied that the embar-
rassed condition of finances was due to political manage-
ment. There had been efficient and energetic presidents
who had done much for the canal. There was scarcely a
year that freshets did not occur by which the canal was
damaged and torn up, and this could not be laid at the
door of the management of the canal. In 1857 his friend
over there (Col. Maulsby) was president, and this was the
most disastrous year the canal ever knew, but his friend
was not to be blamed for that. The dams about which
they had heard so much were broken down. For years
before that time these dams were leaky, and were injured
by every freshet. The dams in Washington county, which
have cost so much, were immense stone structures, and
stood as immutable as the rocks by which they were sur-
rounded and out of which they were made. General Jack-
son had tried to batter them down with his artillery, but
failed. When the canal was just recovering from its long
depression the war broke out, and the canal was often the
scene of conflict between the contending parties. General
Lee invaded Maryland in 1862, and all the damage was
done to the canal that was possible, because it was known
that it was a feeder for the army at Washington. At-
tempts were made to blow up the culverts, break down the
dams, destroy the aqueducts, and fill up the bed. It was
very dangerous for any one to go down the canal—he
would be very apt to hear a bullet whistling about his
ears. The boatmen, who had their capital locked up in
their boats, could not afford to remain idle all this time
and went in search of other employment. In 1864 on the
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