The lesson was hard, but it was not lost. The Americans, to do them
justice, know how to profit by the teachings of Providence, especially
if they pay dear for them. The project of a canal between New York
and Lake Erie, which had already been discussed before the war, was
eagerly taken up again after the peace. De Witt Clinton, a statesman
whose memory will be ever hallowed in the United States, succeeded in
inspiring his countrymen with his own noble confidence in his country's
great destiny, and the first stroke of the spade was made on the 4th
of July, 1817. In spite of the evil forebodings of men distinguished
for their sagacity and public services; in spite of the opinion of the
venerated patriarch of democracy, of Jefferson himself, who declared it
necessary to wait a century longer before undertaking such a work; in
spite of the remonstrances of the illustrious Madison, who wrote that
it would be an act of folly on the part of the State of New York to
attempt, with its own resources only, the execution of a work for which
all the wealth of the Union would be insufficient; notwithstanding
all opposition this State, which did not then contain a population of
1,300,000 inhabitants, began a canal 428 miles in length, and in eight
years it had completed it at a cost of 8,400,000 dollars. Since that
time it has continued to add numerous branches, covering almost every
part of the State, as with net-work. In 1836, the State had completed
656 miles of canal including slack-water navigation, at the expense of
11,962,712 dollars, or 18,235 dollars per mile.[BJ]
The results of this work have surpassed all expectations; it opened an
outlet for the fertile districts of the western part of the State,
which had before been cut off from a communication with the sea and the
rest of the world. The shores of Lake Erie and Ontario were at once
covered with fine farms and flourishing towns. The stillness of the old
forest was broken by the axe of New York and New England settlers, to
the head of Lake Michigan. The State of Ohio, which is washed by Lake
Erie, and which had hitherto had no connection with the sea except by
the long southern route down the Mississippi, had now a short and easy
communication with the Atlantic by way of New York. The territory of
Michigan was peopled, and it now contains 100,000 inhabitants, and will
soon take its rank among the States.[BK] The transportation on the Erie
Canal exceeded 400,000 tons in 1834, and it must nearly reach 500,000
tons in 1835. The annual amount of tolls from the canals, and at
moderate rates, is about one million and a half dollars. The population
of the city of New York increased in the ten years, from 1820 to 1830,
80,000 souls.[BL] New York is become the third, if not the second port
in the world, and the most populous city of the western hemisphere. The
illustrious Clinton lived long enough to see the success of his plans,
but not to receive the brilliant reward which the gratitude of his
countrymen intended for him. He died, February 11, 1828, at the age of
59 years, and but for this premature death, he would probably have been
chosen President of the United States.
The Erie Canal is no longer sufficient for the commerce which throngs
it. In vain do the lock-masters attend night and day to the signal
horn of the boatmen, and perform the process of locking with a
quickness that puts to shame the slowness of our own; there is no
longer room enough in the canal, whose dimensions however are rather
limited.[BM] The impatience of commerce, with whom time is money,
is not satisfied with a rate of speed about fourfold that which is
common on our canals. Merchandise of all sorts, as well as travellers,
flows in at every point in such quantities, that railroads have been
constructed along the borders of the canal, to rival the packet-boats
in the transportation of passengers only. There is one from Albany to
Schenectady, 15 miles in length, which, though not well built, cost
about 550,000 dollars. A second, which will be finished in 1836, runs
from Schenectady to Utica, and is 78 miles in length.[BN] A third
railroad is in progress from Rochester to Buffalo by way of Batavia and
Attica, about 80 miles in length, and it is probable that before long
the line will be completed from one end of the canal to the other.[BO]
A still greater undertaking is already in train; a company was
chartered in 1832, which will begin next spring the construction of a
railroad from New York city to Lake Erie, through the southern counties
of the State; on account of the circuitous route made necessary by the
uneven nature of the ground, the length of this road will be about 340
miles.[BP] Meanwhile the Canal Commissioners have not slept; in July,
the Canal Board, in compliance with an act of the Legislature, directed
the construction of a double set of lift locks on the whole line, in
order that there may be as little delay as possible in the passage of
boats, and the enlargement of the canal so that the width shall be
70 feet and the depth 6 feet, with a corresponding increase in the
dimension of the locks; larger boats may then be used the speed may be
increased, and perhaps it will be practicable to use steam tow-boats.
The cost of this work is estimated at about 12,500,000 dollars.
Finally, to make herself more entirely mistress of the commerce of the
West, and to penetrate her own territory more completely, the State of
New York is about to commence a new branch of the Erie canal (if we may
call a work of which the entire length will be 120 miles, a branch),
which will form an immediate connection with the River Ohio. This canal
is to run from Rochester, the flourishing city of millers, following
up the course of the Genesee, with a rise of 979 feet to the summit
level, and a fall of 78 feet thence to Olean, on the River Alleghany,
270 miles from its junction with the Monongahela at Pittsburg. The main
canal from Rochester to Olean is only 107 miles in length, but there is
a branch to Danville. The Alleghany, in its natural state, is navigable
only during a few months in the year; the total distance from New York
to Pittsburg by this route is 800 miles.
When there could no longer be a doubt of the speedy completion of the
Erie Canal, Philadelphia and Baltimore felt that New York was going
to become the capital of the Union. The spirit of competition aroused
in them a spirit of enterprise. They wished also to have their routes
to the West; but both had great natural obstacles to overcome. By
means of the Hudson, which had forced a passage through the heart of
the mountains, New York was freed from the greatest difficulty in the
way of effecting a communication between the East and the West, that
of topping the crest of the Alleghanies. Between Albany, where the
Erie canal begins, and Buffalo, where it meets the lake, there are no
high mountains. Baltimore could not look for a similar service to the
Patapsco, nor Philadelphia to the Delaware; neither of these cities can
approach the west by the basin of the great lakes, unless by a very
circuitous route; they are too far off. It became necessary for them,
therefore, to climb the loftiest heights, and thence to descend to the
level of the Ohio with their works.