"Did you get a good price?" Mr. Lincoln asked.
"All that my conscience would allow me to take," said Samson. "The man
offered me three dollars an acre in cash and ten dollars in notes. We
compromised on seven dollars, all cash."
"It's a mistake to sell now. The river is going to be deepened and
improved for navigation."
"I've made up my mind that it can't be done, unless you can invent a way
to run a steamboat on moist ground," said Samson. "You might as well try
to make a great man out of 'Colonel Lukins.' It hasn't the water-shed.
To dig a deep channel for the Sangamon would be like sending 'Colonel
Lukins' to Harvard. We're going too fast. We have little to sell yet but
land. The people are coming to us in great numbers, but most of them are
poor. We must give them time to settle down and create something and
increase the wealth of the state. Then we shall have a solid base to
build upon; then we shall have the confidence of the capital we require
for improvements.
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