CLINTON'S MEMORIAL[30]
To the Legislature of the State of New-York.
The memorial of the subscribers, in favor of a canal navigation, between
the great western lakes and the tidewaters of the Hudson, most
respectfully represents: That they approach the legislature with a
solicitude proportionate to the importance of this great undertaking,
and with a confidence founded on the enlightened public spirit of the
constituted authorities. If, in presenting the various considerations
which have induced them to make this appeal, they should occupy more
time than is usual on common occasions, they must stand justified by
the importance of the object. Connected as it is with the essential
interest of our country, and calculated in its commencement to reflect
honor on the state, and its completion, to exalt it to an elevation of
unparalleled prosperity; your memorialists are fully persuaded, that
centuries may pass away before a subject is again presented so worthy of
all your attention, and so deserving of all your patronage and support.
The improvement of the means of intercourse between different parts of
the same country, has always been considered the first duty and the most
noble employment of government. If it be important that the inhabitants
of the same country should be bound together by a community of
interests, and a reciprocation of benefits; that agriculture should find
a sale for its productions, manufacturers a vent for their fabrics; and
commerce a market for its commodities; it is your incumbent duty, to
open, facilitate, and improve internal navigation. The pre-eminent
advantages of canals have been established by the unerring test of
experience. They unite cheapness, celerity, certainty, and safety in
the transportation of commodities.
It is calculated that the expense of transporting on a canal, amounts to
one cent a ton per mile, or one dollar a ton for one hundred miles;
while the usual cost by land conveyance, is one dollar and sixty cents
per hundredweight, or thirty-two dollars a ton for the same distance.
The celerity and certainty of this mode of transportation are evident. A
loaded boat can be towed by one or two horses, at the rate of thirty
miles a day. Hence, the seller or buyer can calculate with sufficient
precision on his sales or purchases, the period of their arrival, the
amount of their avails, and the extent of their value. A vessel on a
canal is independent of winds, tides, and currents, and is not exposed
to the delays attending conveyances by land: and with regard to safety,
there can be no competition. The injuries to which commodities are
exposed when transported by land, and the dangers to which they are
liable when conveyed by natural waters, are rarely experienced on
canals. In the latter way, comparatively speaking, no waste is
incurred, no risk is encountered, and no insurance is required. Hence,
it follows, that canals operate upon the general interests of society,
in the same way that machines for saving labor do in manufactures; they
enable the farmer, the mechanic, and the merchant, to convey their
commodities to market, and to receive a return, at least thirty times
cheaper than by roads. As to all the purposes of beneficial
communication, they diminish the distance between places, and therefore
encourage the cultivation of the most extensive and remote parts of the
country. They create new sources of internal trade, and augment the old
channels, for, the cheaper the transportation, the more expanded will be
its operation, and the greater the mass of the products of the country
for sale, the greater will be the commercial exchange of returning
merchandize, and the greater the encouragement to manufacturers, by the
increased economy and comfort of living, together with the cheapness and
abundance of raw materials; and Canals are consequently advantageous to
towns and villages, by destroying the monopoly of the adjacent country,
and advantageous to the whole country; for though some rival commodities
may be introduced into the old markets, yet many new markets will be
opened by increasing population, enlarging old and erecting new towns,
augmenting individual and aggregate wealth, and extending foreign
commerce.
The prosperity of ancient Egypt, and China, may in a great degree be
attributed to their inland navigation. With little foreign commerce, the
former of those countries by these means attained and the latter
possesses, a population and opulence in proportion to their extent,
unequalled in any other. And England and Holland, the most commercial
nations of modern times, deprived of their canals, would lose the most
prolific sources of their prosperity and greatness. Inland navigation is
in fact to the same community what exterior navigation is to the great
family of mankind. As the ocean connects the nations of the earth, by
the ties of commerce and the benefits of communication, so do lakes,
rivers, and canals operate upon the inhabitants of the same country:
and it has been well observed, that "were we to make the supposition of
two states, the one having all its cities, towns, and villages upon
navigable rivers and canals, and having an easy communication with each
other; the other possessing the common conveyance of land carriage, and
supposing both states to be equal as to soil, climate, and industry,
commodities and manufactures in the former state, might be furnished
thirty per cent. cheaper than in the latter: or in other words, the
first state would be a third richer, and more affluent than the other."
The general arguments in favor of inland navigation, apply with peculiar
force to the United States, and most emphatically to this state. A
geographical view of the country, will at once demonstrate the
unexampled prosperity that will arise from our cultivating the
advantages which nature has dispensed with so liberal a hand. A great
chain of mountains passes through the United States, and divides them
into eastern and western America. In various places, rivers break
through those mountains, and are finally discharged into the ocean. To
the west, there is a collection of inland lakes exceeding in its
aggregate extent, some of the most celebrated seas of the old world.
Atlantic America, on account of the priority of its settlement, its
vicinity to the ocean, and its favorable position for commerce, has many
advantages. The western country, however, has a decided superiority in
the fertility of its soil, the benignity of its climate, and the extent
of its territory. To connect these great sections by inland navigation,
to unite our Mediterranean seas with the ocean, is evidently an object
of the first importance to the general prosperity. Nature has effected
this in some measure; the St Lawrence emanates from the lakes, and
discharges itself into the ocean in a foreign territory. Some of the
streams which flow into the Mississippi, originate near the great lakes
and pass around the chain of mountains. Some of the waters of this state
which pass into Lake Ontario, approach the Mohawk; but our Hudson has
decided advantages. It affords a tide navigation for vessels of 80 tons
to Albany and Troy, 160 miles above New-York, and this peculiarity
distinguishes it from all the other bays and rivers in the United
States, viz:
The tide in no other ascends higher than the Granite Ridge, or within
thirty miles of the Blue Ridge, or eastern chain of mountains. In the
Hudson, it breaks through the Blue Ridge, and ascends above the eastern
termination of the Catskill, or great western chain; and there are no
interrupting mountains to prevent a communication between it and the
great western lakes.
The importance of the Hudson river to the old settled parts of the
state, may be observed in the immense wealth which is daily borne on its
waters, in the flourishing villages and cities on its banks, and in the
opulence and prosperity of all the country connected with it, either
remotely or immediately. It may also be readily conceived, if we only
suppose that by some awful physical calamity, some overwhelming
convulsion of nature, this great river was exhausted of its waters:
Where then would be the abundance of our markets, the prosperity of our
farmers, the wealth of our merchants? Our villages would become
deserted; our flourishing cities would be converted into masses of
mouldering ruins, and this state would be precipitated into poverty and
insignificance. If a river or natural canal, navigable about 170 miles,
has been productive of such signal benefits, what blessings might not be
expected, if it were extended 300 miles through the most fertile country
in the universe, and united with the great seas of the west! The
contemplated canal would be this extension, and viewed in reference only
to the productions and consumptions of this state, would perhaps convey
more riches on its waters, than any other canal in the world. Connected
with the Hudson, it might be considered as a navigable stream that
extends 450 miles through a fertile country, embracing a great
population, and abounding with all the productions of industry. If we
were to suppose all the rivers and canals in England and Wales, combined
into one, and discharged into the ocean at a great city, after passing
through the heart of that country, then we can form a distinct idea of
the importance of the projected canal; but it indeed comprehends within
its influence a greater extent of territory, which will in time embrace
a greater population. If this work be so important, when we confine our
views to this state alone, how unspeakably beneficial must it appear,
when we extend our contemplations to the great lakes, and the country
affiliated with them! Waters extending two thousand miles from the
beginning of the canal, and a country containing more territory than all
Great Britain and Ireland, and at least as much as France.
While we do not pretend that all the trade of our western world, will
centre in any given place, (nor indeed would it be desirable if it were
practicable, because we sincerely wish the prosperity of all the
states,) yet we contend, that our natural advantages are so
transcendant, that it is in our power to obtain the greater part, and
put successful competition at defiance. As all the other communications
are impeded by mountains, the only formidable rivals of New-York for
this great prize, are New-Orleans and Montreal, the former relying on
the Mississippi, and the latter on the St Lawrence.
In considering this subject we will suppose the commencement of the
canal somewhere near the out-let of Lake Erie. The inducements for
preferring one market to another, involve a variety of considerations;
the principal are the cheapness and facility of transportation, and the
goodness of the market. If a cultivator or manufacturer can convey his
commodities with the same ease and expedition to New-York, and obtain
higher price for them than at Montreal or New-Orleans, and at the same
time supply himself at a cheaper rate with such articles as he may want
in return, he will undoubtedly prefer New-York. It ought also to be
distinctly understood, that a difference in price may be equalized by a
difference in the expense of conveyance, and that the vicinity of the
market is at all times a consideration of great importance.
From Buffalo, at or near the supposed commencement of the canal, it is
450 miles to the city of New-York, and from that city to the ocean, 20
miles. From Buffalo to Montreal 350 miles; from Montreal to the Chops of
the St Lawrence 450. From Buffalo to New Orleans by the great Lakes,
and the Illinois river, 2,250 miles; from New-Orleans to the Gulf of
Mexico 100. Hence, the distance from Buffalo to the ocean by the way of
New-York is 470 miles; by Montreal 800; and by New-Orleans 2,350.
As the upper lakes have no important outlet but into lake Erie, we are
warranted in saying, that all their trade must be auxiliary to its
trade, and that a favorable communication by water from Buffalo, will
render New-York the great depot and warehouse of the western world. In
order, however, to obviate all objections that may be raised against the
place of comparison, let us take three other positions, _Chicago_ near
the southwest end of lake Michigan, and a creek of that name, which
sometimes communicates with the Illinois, the nearest river from the
lakes to the Mississippi; _Detroit_, on the river of that name, between
lakes St Clair and Erie; and _Pittsburgh_, at the confluence of the
Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, forming the head of the Ohio and
communicating with Le Beuf by water, which is distant fifteen miles from
lake Erie.
The distance from Chicago to the ocean by New-York, is about 1200 miles.
To the mouth of the Mississippi, by New-Orleans, near 1600 miles, and to
the mouth of the St Lawrence, by Montreal, near 1600 miles.
The distance from Detroit to the ocean by New-York, is near 700 miles.
From Detroit to the ocean by Montreal, is 1050 miles. From Detroit to
the ocean, pursuing the nearest route by Cleveland, and down the
Muskingum, 2400 miles. The distance from Pittsburgh to the ocean, by Le
Beuf, lake, Buffalo, and New York, is 700 miles. The same to the ocean
by Buffalo and Montreal, 1050 miles. The same to the ocean by the Ohio
and Mississippi, 2150 miles.
These different comparative views show that New-York has, in every
instance, a decided advantage over her great rivals. In other essential
respects the scale preponderates equally in her favor. Supposing a
perfect equality of advantages as to the navigation of the lakes, yet
from Buffalo, as the point of departure, there is no comparison of
benefits. From that place the voyager to Montreal has to encounter the
inconveniences of a portage at the cataract of Niagara, to load and
unload at least three times, to brave the tempests of Lake Ontario and
the rapids of the St Lawrence. In like manner the voyager to
New-Orleans, has a portage between the Chicago and Illinois, an
inconvenient navigation in the latter stream, besides the well known
obstacles and hazards of the Mississippi. And until the invention of
steamboats, an ascending navigation was considered almost impracticable.
This inconvenience is, however, still forcibly experienced on that
river, as well as on the St Lawrence between Montreal and lake Ontario.
The navigation from lake Erie to Albany, can be completed in ten days
with perfect safety on the canal; and from Albany to New-York, there is
the best sloop navigation in the world. From Buffalo to Albany, a ton of
commodities could be conveyed on the intended canal, for three dollars,
and from Albany to New-York, according to the present prices of sloop
transportation, for $2.80, and the return cargoes would be the same. We
have not sufficient data upon which to predicate very accurate
estimates with regard to Montreal and New Orleans; but we have no
hesitation in saying, that the descending conveyance to the former,
would be four times the expense, and to the latter, at least ten times,
and that the cost of the ascending transportation would be greatly
enhanced.
It has been stated by several of the most respectable citizens of Ohio,
that the present expense of transportation by water from the city of
New-York to Sandusky, including the carrying places, is $4.50 per
hundred, and allowing it to cost two dollars per hundred for
transportation to Clinton, the geographical centre of the state, the
whole expense would be $6.50, which is only fifty cents more than the
transportation from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and at least $2.50 less
than the transportation by land and water from these places, and that,
in their opinion, New-York is the natural emporium of that trade, and
that the whole commercial intercourse of the western country north of
the Ohio, will be secured to her by the contemplated canal.
In addition to this, it may be stated that the St Lawrence is generally
locked up by ice seven months in the year, during which time produce
lies a dead weight on the hands of the owner; that the navigation from
New-York to the ocean, is at all times easy, and seldom obstructed by
ice, and that the passage from the Balize to New-Orleans is tedious;
that perhaps one out of five of the western boatmen who descend the
Mississippi, become victims to disease; and that many important articles
of western production are injured or destroyed by the climate. New-York
is, therefore, placed in a happy medium between the insalubrious heat of
the Mississippi, and the severe cold of the St Lawrence. She has also
pre-eminent advantages, as to the goodness and extensiveness of her
market. All the productions of the soil, and the fabrics of art, can
command an adequate price, and foreign commodities can generally be
procured at a lower rate. The trade of the Mississippi is already in the
hands of her merchants, and although accidental and transient causes may
have concurred to give Montreal an ascendency in some points, yet the
superiority of New-York is founded in nature, and if improved by the
wisdom of government, must always soar above competition.
Granting, however, that the rivals of New-York will command a
considerable portion of the western trade, yet it must be obvious, from
these united considerations, that she will engross more than sufficient
to render her the greatest commercial city in the world. The whole line
of canal will exhibit boats loaded with flour, pork, beef, pot and pearl
ashes, flaxseed, wheat, barley, corn, hemp, wool, flax, iron, lead,
copper, salt, gypsum, coal, tar, fur, peltry, ginseng, bees-wax, cheese,
butter, lard, staves, lumber, and the other valuable productions of our
country; and also, with merchandise from all parts of the world. Great
manufacturing establishments will spring up; agriculture will establish
its granaries, and commerce its warehouses in all directions. Villages,
towns, and cities, will line the banks of the canal, and the shore of
the Hudson from Erie to New-York. "The wilderness and the solitary place
will become glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose."
While it is universally admitted that there ought to be a water
communication between the great lakes and the tide waters of the Hudson,
a contrariety of opinion (greatly to be deplored, as tending to injure
the whole undertaking) has arisen with respect to the route that ought
to be adopted. It is contended on the one side, that the canal should
commence in the vicinity of the outlet of lake Erie, and be carried in
the most eligible direction across the country to the head waters of the
Mohawk river at Rome: from whence it should be continued along the
valley of the Mohawk to the Hudson. It is, on the other side, insisted,
that it should be cut around the cataract of Niagara; that lake Ontario
should be navigated to the mouth of the Oswego river; that the
navigation of that river, and Wood creek, should be improved and pursued
until the junction of the latter with the Mohawk at Rome. As to the
expediency of a canal from Rome to the Hudson, there is no discrepance
of opinion: the route from Rome to the great Lakes constitutes the
subject of controversy.
If both plans were presented to the legislature, as worthy of
patronage, and if the advocates of the route by lake Ontario did not
insist that their schemes should be exclusive, and of course, that its
adoption should prove fatal to the other project, this question would
not exhibit so serious an aspect. If two roads are made, that which is
most accommodating will be preferred; but if only one is established,
whether convenient or inconvenient to individuals, beneficial or
detrimental to the public, it must necessarily be used. We are so fully
persuaded of the superiority of the Erie canal, that although we should
greatly regret so useless an expenditure of public money as making a
canal round the cataract of Niagara, yet we should not apprehend any
danger from the competition of Montreal, if the former were established.
The invincible argument in favor of the Erie canal is, that it would
diffuse the blessings of internal navigation over the most fertile and
populous parts of the state, and supply the whole community with salt,
gypsum, and in all probability coal. Whereas the Ontario route would
accommodate but an inconsiderable part of our territory, and instead of
being a great highway, leading directly to the object, it would be a
circuitous by-road, inconvenient in all essential respects.
The most serious objection against the Ontario route, is, that it will
inevitably enrich the territory of a foreign power, at the expense of
the United States. If a canal is cut around the falls of Niagara, and no
countervailing nor counteracting system is adopted in relation to lake
Erie, the commerce of the west is lost to us for ever. When a vessel
once descends into Ontario, she will pursue the course ordained by
Nature. The British Government are fully aware of this, and are now
taking the most active measures to facilitate the passage down the St
Lawrence.
It is not to be concealed, that a great portion of the productions of
our western country are now transported to Montreal, even with all the
inconveniences attending the navigation down the Seneca and Oswego
rivers; but if this route is improved in the way proposed, and the other
not opened, the consequences will be most prejudicial. A barrel of flour
is now transported from Cayuga lake to Montreal for $1.50, and it
cannot be conveyed to Albany for less than $2.50. This simple fact
speaks a volume of admonitory instruction. But taking it for granted,
that the Ontario route will bring the commerce of the west to New-York,
yet the other ought to be preferred, on account of the superior
facilities it affords.
In the first place, it is nearer. The distance from Buffalo to Rome, is
less than 200 miles in the course of the intended canal: by lake Ontario
and Oswego, it is 232.
2. A loaded boat could pass from Buffalo to Rome by the Erie route, in
less than seven days, and with entire safety. By the Ontario route, it
will be perfectly uncertain, and not a little hazardous. After leaving
Niagara river, it would have to pass an inland sea to the extent of 127
miles, as boisterous and as dangerous as the Atlantic. And besides a
navigation of at least twenty miles over another lake, it would have to
ascend two difficult streams for 55 miles; no calculation could then be
made, either on the certainty or safety of this complicated and
inconvenient navigation.
3. When a lake vessel would arrive at Buffalo, she would have to unload
her cargo, and when this cargo arrived at Albany by the Erie canal, it
would be shifted on board of a river-sloop, in order to be transported
to New-York. From the time of the first loading on the great lakes, to
the last unloading at the storehouses in New-York, there would be three
loadings and three unloadings on this route. But when a lake vessel
arrived with a view of passing the canal of Niagara, she would be
obliged to shift her lading for that purpose, for it would be almost
impracticable to use lake vessels on the Niagara river, on account of
the difficulty of the ascending navigation. At Lewistown, or some other
place of the Niagara, another change of the cargo on board of a lake
vessel for Ontario would be necessary: at Oswego another, and at Albany
another; so that on this route there would be five loadings and five
unloadings before the commodities were stored in New York. This
difference is an object of great consequence, and presents the most
powerful objections against the Ontario route; for to the delay we must
add the accumulated expense of these changes of the cargo, the storage,
the waste and damage, especially by theft (where the chances of
depredation are increased by the merchandise passing through a multitude
of hands) and the additional lake vessels, boats and men that will be
required, thereby increasing in this respect alone, the cost two thirds
above that attending the other course. And in general it may be
observed, that the difference between a single and double freight forms
an immense saving. Goods are brought from Europe for twenty cents per
cubic foot; whereas the price from Philadelphia to Baltimore, is equal
to ten cents. This shews how far articles once embarked, are conveyed
with a very small addition of freight, and if such is the difference
between a single and a double freight, how much greater must it be in
the case under consideration! If the fall from lake Erie to lake Ontario
be 450 feet, as stated in Mr secretary Gallatin's report on canals, it
will require at least 45 locks for a navigation around the cataract.
Whether it would be practicable to accommodate all the vessels which the
population and opulence of future times will create in those waters,
with a passage through so many locks accumulated within a short
distance, is a question well worthy of serious consideration. At all
events, the demurrage must be frequent, vexatious, and expensive.
When we consider the immense expense which would attend the canal
proposed on the Niagara river; a canal requiring so many locks, and
passing through such difficult ground; when we view the Oswego river
from its outlet at Oswego to its origin in Oneida lake, encumbered with
dangerous rapids and falls, and flowing through a country almost
impervious to canal operations; and when we contemplate the numerous
embarrassments which are combined with the improvement of Wood Creek, we
are prepared to believe that the expense of this route will not greatly
fall short of the other.
It is, however, alleged that it is not practicable to make this canal;
and that if practicable, the expense will be enormous, and will far
transcend the faculties of the state.
Lake Erie is elevated 541 feet above the tide waters at Troy. The only
higher ground between it and the Hudson is but a few miles from the
lake: and this difficulty can be easily surmounted by deep cutting; of
course no tunnel will be required. The rivers which cross the line of
the canal, can be easily passed by aqueducts; on every summit level,
plenty of water can be obtained; whenever there is a great rise or
descent, locks can be erected, and the whole line will not require more
than sixty-two; perhaps there is not an equal extent of country in the
world, which presents fewer obstacles to the establishment of a canal.
The liberality of Nature has created the great ducts and arteries, and
the ingenuities of art can easily provide the connecting veins. The
general physiognomy of the country is champaign, and exhibits abundance
of water: a gentle rising from the Hudson to the lake; a soil well
adapted for such operations: no impassable hills, and no insurmountable
waters. As to distance, it is not to be considered in relation to
practicability. If a canal can be made for fifty miles, it can be made
for three hundred, provided there is no essential variance in the face
of the country; the only difference will be that in the latter case, it
will take more time, and consume more money.
But this opinion does not rest for its support upon mere speculation.
Canals have been successfully cut through more embarrassing ground, in
various parts of the United States; and even in part of the intended
route from Schenectady to Rome, locks have been erected at the Little
Falls, and at other places; and short canals have been made, and all
these operations have taken place in the most difficult parts of the
whole course of the contemplated Erie navigation. Mr. William Weston,
one of the most celebrated civil engineers in Europe, who has
superintended canals in this state and Pennsylvania, and who is
perfectly well acquainted with the country has thus expressed his
opinion on the subject: "Should your noble but stupendous plan of
uniting Lake Erie with the Hudson, be carried into effect, you have to
fear no rivalry. The commerce of the immense extent of country,
bordering on the upper lakes, is yours for ever, and to such an
incalculable amount as would baffle all conjecture to conceive. Its
execution would confer immortal honor on the projectors and supporters,
and would in its eventual consequences, render New-York the greatest
commercial emporium in the world, with perhaps the exception, at some
distant day of New-Orleans, or some other depot at the mouth of the
majestic Mississippi. From your perspicuous topographical description
and neat plan and profile of the route of the contemplated canal, I
entertain little doubt of the practicability of the measure."
With regard to the expense of this work, different estimates will be
formed. The commissioners appointed for that purpose were of opinion
that it would not cost more than five millions of dollars. On this
subject we must be guided by the light which experience affords in
analogous cases. The canal of Languedoc, or canal of the two seas in
France, connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and is 180 miles
in length: it has 114 locks and sluices, and a tunnel 720 feet long. The
breadth of the canal is 144 feet, and its depth six feet: it was begun
in 1666, and finished in 1681, and cost £540,000 sterling, or £3,000
sterling a mile.
The Holstein canal, begun in 1777, and finished in 1785, extends about
fifty miles: is 100 feet wide at the top, and 54 at the bottom, and not
less than ten feet deep in any part. Ships drawing nine feet four inches
of water, pass through it from the German ocean, in the vicinity of
Tonningen, into the Baltic. From two to three thousand ships have passed
in one year. The expense of the whole work was a little more than a
million and a half of dollars, which would be at the rate of 30,000
dollars a mile for this ship navigation.
The extreme length of the canal from the Forth to the Clyde, in
Scotland, is 35 miles. It rises and falls 160 feet by means of 39 locks.
Vessels pass drawing eight feet water, having 19 feet beam, and 73 feet
length. The cost is calculated at £200,000 sterling, which is at the
rate of about 23,000 dollars a mile. But this was a canal for ships
drawing eight feet of water, with an extraordinary rise for its length,
and having more than one lock for every mile.
The following will give an idea of the money expended on such works in
England:--
_Cost_ _Miles_
The Rochdale Canal £291,900 31-1/2
Ellesmere 400,000 57
Kennet and Avon 420,000 78
Grand Junction 500,000 90
Leeds and Liverpool 800,000 129
The miles of canal are 385-1/2, and the cost is £2,411,900 sterling, or
about 28,000 dollars per mile.
But in the estimation of the cost of these canals, unquestionably the
price of the land over which they pass is included, and this is
enormous. The land alone for one canal of 16 miles, is said to have cost
£90,000 sterling. With us this would be but small. If we look at the
history of the English canals, we shall see how many objects of great
expense are connected with them, with which we should have nothing to
do, and that most of them have encountered and surmounted obstacles
which we should not meet with. For instance, the Grand Junction canal
passes more than once the great ridge which divides the waters of
England; ours will pass over a country which in comparison is champaign.
But it is said that the price of labor in our country is so much above
what it is in England, that we must add greatly to the cost of her
canals in estimating the expense of ours. But that is certainly a false
conclusion, for not only must the price of the land and the adventitious
objects which have been before referred to, be deducted from the cost of
the foreign canals, but we must consider that there will be almost as
great a difference in our favor in the cost of the material and brute
labor, as there is in favor of England as to human labor, and it is well
known that so much human labor is not now required on canals as
formerly. Machines for facilitating excavation have been invented and
used with great success.
Mr. Gallatin's report on canals contains several estimates of the cost
of contemplated ones. From Weymouth to Taunton, in Massachusetts, the
expense of a canal of 26 miles, with a lockage of 260 feet, is set down
at $1,250,000. From Brunswick to Trenton, 28 miles, with a lockage of
100 feet, 800,000 dollars. From Christiana to Elk, 22 miles with a
lockage of 148 feet, 750,000 dollars. From Elizabeth river to
Pasquotank, 22 miles, with a lockage of 40 feet, 250,000 dollars. These
estimates thus vary from 48,000 to less than 12,000 dollars a mile, and
furnish the medium of about 31,000 dollars a mile. But it must be
observed that they are for small distances, are calculated to surmount
particular obstacles, and contemplate an extraordinary number of locks,
and that they do not therefore furnish proper data from which to form
correct conclusions, with respect to the probable cost of an extensive
canal, sometimes running over a great number of miles upon a level
without any expense for lockage, or any other expense than the mere
earthwork.
Mr. Weston, before mentioned, estimated the expense of a canal from the
tide waters at Troy to lake Ontario, a distance of 160 miles, (exclusive
of lake Oneida,) going around the Cohoes, and embracing 55 locks of
eight feet lift each, at 2,200,000 dollars, a little more than 13,000
dollars a mile. Fortunately, however, we have more accurate information
than mere estimates.
In the appendix to Mr Gallatin's report, it is stated by Mr Joshua
Gilpin, that "by actual measurement, and the sums paid on the feeder, it
was found that one mile on the Delaware and Chesapeake canal, the most
difficult of all others, from its being nearly altogether formed through
hard rocky ground, cost 13,000 dollars, and one other mile perfectly
level, and without particular impediments, cost 2,300 dollars; from
hence, the general average would be reduced to 7,650 dollars per mile."
The Middlesex canal,[31] in Massachusetts, runs over twenty-eight miles
of ground, presenting obstacles much greater than can be expected on the
route we purpose. This canal cost 478,000 dollars, which is about 17,000
dollars a mile. It contains 22 locks of solid masonry and excellent
workmanship and to accomplish this work, it was necessary to dig in some
places to the depth of 20 feet, to cut through ledges of rocks, to fill
some vallies and morasses, and to throw several aqueducts across the
intervening rivers. One of these across the river Shawshine is 280 feet
long, and 22 feet above the river.
From the Tonewanta creek to the Seneca river, is a fall of 195 feet
From thence to the Rome summit, is a rise of 50 "
From thence to the Hudson river, is a fall of 380 "
---
The whole rise and fall 625 feet
This will require 62 locks of ten feet lift each. The expense of such
locks as experimentally proved in several instances in this state would
be about 620,000 dollars.
We have seen that on the Middlesex canal, there are 22 locks for 28
miles, which is a lock for somewhat less than every mile, whereas, 62
locks for 300 miles is but about one lock for every five miles; and the
lockage of the Middlesex canal, would alone cost 220,000 dollars. It
would, therefore, appear to be an allowance perhaps too liberal, to
consider the cost of it as a fair criterion of the expense of canals in
general in this country, and of this in particular. Reservoirs and
tunnels, are the most expensive part of the operation, and none will be
necessary in our whole route. The expense of the whole earth work of
excavating a mile of canal on level ground fifty feet wide and five feet
deep, at 18 cents per cubic yard, and allowing for the cost of forming
and trimming the banks, puddling, etc. will not exceed 4000 dollars per
mile, and the only considerable aqueduct on the whole line, will be over
the Genesee river. From a deliberate consideration of these different
estimates and actual expenditures, we are fully persuaded that this
great work will not cost more than 20,000 dollars a mile, or six
millions of dollars in the whole; but willing to make every possible
allowance; and even conceding that it will cost double that sum, yet
still we contend that there is nothing which ought to retard its
execution. The canal cannot be made in a short time. It will be the work
perhaps of 10 or 15 years.
The money will not be wanted at once. The expenditure, in order to be
beneficial ought not to exceed 500,000 dollars a year, and the work may
be accomplished in two ways, either by companies, incorporated for
particular sections of the route, or by the state. If the first is
resorted to, pecuniary sacrifices will still be necessary on the part of
the public, and great care ought to be taken to guard against the high
tolls, which will certainly injure, if not ruin the whole enterprise.
If the state shall see fit to achieve this great work, there can be no
difficulty in providing funds. Stock can be created and sold at an
advanced price. The ways and means of paying the interest will be only
required. After the first year, supposing an annual expenditure of
500,000 dollars, thirty thousand dollars must be raised to pay an
interest of six per cent; after the second year 60,000, and so on. At
this rate of interest they will regularly increase with beneficial
appropriation, and will be so little in amount that it may be raised in
many shapes without being burdensome to the community. In all human
probability, the augmented revenue proceeding from the public salt
works, and the increased price of the state lands, in consequence of
this undertaking, will more than extinguish the interest of the debt
contracted for that purpose. We should also take into view, the land
already subscribed by individuals for this work, amounting to 106,632
acres. These donations, together with those which may be confidently
anticipated, will exceed in value a million of dollars, and it will be
at all times in the power of the state to raise a revenue from the
imposition of transit duties, which may be so light as scarcely to be
felt, and yet the income may be so great, as in a short time to
extinguish the debt, and this might take effect on the completion of
every important section of the work.
If the legislature shall consider this important project in the same
point of view, and shall unite with us in opinion, that the general
prosperity is intimately and essentially involved in its prosecution, we
are fully persuaded that now is the proper time for its commencement.
Delays are the refuge of weak minds, and to procrastinate on this
occasion is to show a culpable inattention to the bounties of Nature; a
total insensibility to the blessings of Providence, and an inexcusable
neglect of the interests of society. If it were intended to advance the
views of individuals, or to foment the divisions of party; if it
promoted the interests of a few, at the expense of the prosperity of
many; if its benefits were limited as to place, or fugitive as to
duration, then indeed it might be received with cold indifference, or
treated with stern neglect; but the overflowing blessing from this great
fountain of public good and national abundance, will be as extensive as
our country, and as durable as time.
The considerations which now demand an immediate, and an undivided
attention to this great object, are so obvious, so various, and so
weighty, that we shall only attempt to glance at some of the most
prominent.
In the first place, it must be evident, that no period could be adopted
in which the work can be prosecuted with less expense. Every day
augments the value of the land through which the canal will pass; and
when we consider the surplus hands which have been recently dismissed
from the army into the walks of private industry, and the facility with
which an addition can be procured to the mass of our active labour, in
consequence of the convulsions of Europe, it must be obvious that this
is now the time to make those indispensable acquisitions.
2. The longer this work is delayed, the greater will be the difficulty
in surmounting the interests that will rise up in opposition to it.
Expedients on a contracted scale have already been adopted for the
facilitations of intercourse. Turnpikes, locks, and short canals, have
been resorted to, and in consequence of those establishments, villages
have been laid out, and towns have been contemplated. To prevent
injurious speculation, to avert violent opposition, and to exhibit
dignified impartiality and fraternal affection to your fellow-citizens,
it is proper that they should be notified at once of your intentions.
3. The experience of the late war has impressed every thinking man in
the community, with the importance of this communication. The expenses
of transportation frequently exceeded the original value of the article,
and at all times operated with injurious pressure upon the finances of
the nation. The money thus lost for the want of this communication,
would have perhaps defrayed more than one half of its expense.
4. Events which are daily occurring on our frontiers, demonstrate the
necessity of this work. Is it of importance that our honourable
merchants should not be robbed of their legitimate profits; that the
public revenues should not be seriously impaired by dishonest smuggling,
and that the commerce of our cities should not be supplanted by the
mercantile establishments of foreign countries? then it is essential
that this sovereign remedy for maladies so destructive and ruinous
should be applied. It is with inconceivable regret we record the well
known fact, that merchandise from Montreal has been sold to an alarming
extent in our borders, for 15 per cent below the New-York prices.
5. A measure of this kind will have a benign tendency in raising the
value of the national domains, in expediting the sale, and enabling the
payment. Our national debt may thus, in a short time, be extinguished.
Our taxes of course will be diminished, and a considerable portion of
revenue may then be expended in great public improvements; in
encouraging the arts and sciences; in patronising the operations of
industry; in fostering the inventions of genius, and in diffusing the
blessings of knowledge.
6. However serious the fears which have been entertained of a
dismemberment of the Union by collisions between the north and the
south, it is to be apprehended that the most imminent danger lies in
another direction, and that a line of separation may be eventually drawn
between the atlantic and the western states, unless they are cemented
by a common, an ever acting and a powerful interest. The commerce of the
ocean, and the trade of the lakes, passing through one channel,
supplying the wants, increasing the wealth, and reciprocating the
benefits of each great section of the empire, will form an imperishable
cement of connexion, and an indissoluble bond of union. New-York is both
atlantic and western, and the only state in which this union of interest
can be formed and perpetuated, and in which this great centripetal power
can be energetically applied. Standing on this exalted eminence, with
power to prevent a train of the most extensive and afflicting calamities
that ever visited the world, (for such a train will inevitably follow a
dissolution of the Union,) she will justly be considered an enemy to the
human race, if she does not exert for this purpose the high faculties
which the Almighty has put into her hands.
Lastly. It may be confidently asserted, that this canal, as to the
extent of its route, as to the countries which it connects, and as to
the consequences which it will produce, is without a parallel in the
history of mankind. The union of the Baltic and Euxine; of the Red Sea
and the Mediterranean; of the Euxine and the Caspian; and of the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic, has been projected or executed by the
chiefs of powerful monarchies, and the splendor of the design has always
attracted the admiration of the world. It remains for a free state to
create a new era in history, and to erect a work, more stupendous, more
magnificent, and more beneficial, than has hitherto been achieved by the
human race. Character is as important to nations as to individuals, and
the glory of a republic, founded on the promotion of the general good,
is the common property of all its citizens.
We have thus discharged with frankness and plainness, and with every
sentiment of respect, a great duty to ourselves, to our fellow-citizens,
and to posterity, in presenting this subject to the fathers of the
commonwealth. And may that Almighty Being, in whose hands are the
destinies of states and nations, enlighten your councils and invigorate
your exertions, in favour of the best interests of our beloved country.