\\ i ry Architectural and Fine Ar is Library (in i ni Seymour B. Di ksi Oi n York Liurary icx iCtbris SEYMOUR DURST IVhen you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Sver'thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." SERIOUS APPEAL TO THE WISDOM AND PATRIOTISM OF THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW-tfOJRK; ON THE SUBJECT OF A CANAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE GREAT WESTERN LAKES AND THE TIDE WATERS OP THE HUDSON BY A FRIEND TO HIS COUNTRt PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 181ft. TC SERIOUS APPEAL, &c TO THE HONORABLE THE SENATE AND MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. WHEN a pacific but high-spirited people, in passing from infancy to manhood, is assailed by a haughty and powerful foe, and emerges from a doubt of its own strength to triumphant confidence and glorious peace, the period must shortly arrive when it will command an exalted station in the society of nations, and its move- ments be regarded with attentive jealousy. The lustre of success serves at once to tempt indiscretion and mag- nify its weakness. At such a moment it is peculiarly in- cumbent on every member of the political compact to preserve its own honor pure and unsuspected, and to wield its resources with steady and cautious energy in diffusing wealth and its comforts, knowledge and its ele- vation, religion and its blessings. Seven years have now elapsed since the consideration of the Grand Canal w as first submitted to the Fathers of the commonwealth. At successive revolutions its con- templation has been solemnly revived. The choicest talents in our state have been enlisted in its survey.- — Year has succeeded year, each expanding information, and corroborating its importance and practicability. — - The legislatures of many sister states have bestowed their unqualified and magnanimous approbation,* and the State of New- York stands solemnly pledged to the general government, that the work is feasible and wor- thy of national acquisition-f It cannot be denied that the design is stupendous, nor that its accomplishment will diffuse incalculable bles- sings. The ordinary benefits of inland navigation are w ell known — to facilitate transportation ; to save time and labor; to augment national wealth; to enliven in- *SeeRepoi\ of Commissioner*. 1812, p .gis i, 5 unc G. | Report oi ' Commissioners, 1812. f 4 ] tercommunication ; mitigate prejudices, enfeeble local at tachments, approximate distant sections, and consolidate government ; to facilitate military operations, give pre- cision to military calculation, and enlarge external pow- er. But the peculiar advantages promised by the pro- posed canal, entitle it to unbiassed investigation, and every objection merits cautious consideration ; respect is due to the prejudices of the community, and no measures are so little exposed to accident, as those which are adopted with circumspection. In the succeeding remarks it is my intention to ana lyse the expediency and practicability of commencing that sublime work ; the consequence*, certain and pro- bable, that will attend its accomplishment upon the mo- nied, moral, and political aggrandisement of t lie state; to determine the facilities of furnishing the requisite wa- ter, labor and money ; to concentrate the information that has been furnished, and present a few plain and simple reflections. In order to ascertain the expediency of the proposed measure, let us suppose the obstacles, however great, re- moved, and the work, however arduous, accomplished. Let us suppose a canal navigation now perfected be- tween Lake Erie and the Hudson; what would be the consequences? These may be divided first, into such as affect Alba- ny and IN kw-Yokk, and such as affect the State ; and secondly, such as are certain and such as are probable. During the embargo in 1808, vast quantities of flour and pot-ash were smuggled across our northern frontier into Canada. The arm of government and the rigor of law were imposed in vain. New- York, the accustomed vent, no longer furnished a market, and traders sought one at Montreal. The produce of Vermont, as far south as Middlebury ; of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, St. Law- rence, Jefferson, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Ontario, Genesee and Niagara counties centered there. Bi itisli merchandise is imported into Canada free of duty, but before the imposition of the embargo, the fact was little known. Hence that measure operated three important changes. It diverted lie produce of the western counties; anima- ted the commerce of Montreal, and disclosed the temp [ 5 ] tations to smuggling. What was commenced from ne- cessity, has been continued from calculation. Every day is familiarising that channel and diminishing its im- pediments. To counteract all these evils is impracticable; but, the proposed canal finished, their eliects would be miti- gated, and the trade of Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, fee- neca, Ontario, Genesee, Niagara, Chatauqua and Cata- raugus with certainty reclaimed from Montreal and re- stored to New-York : With certainty, because a barrel of flour from Salina to Montreal costs one dollar — by the canal to Albany, twelve cents; from Cayuga to Montreal, one dollar and fifty cents, to Albany eighteen cents; from Buffalo to Montreal one dollar and fifty cents, to Albany thirty cents. The same ratio applies to every article of transportation. Is this trade valuable and annually augmenting? I submit the following facts. Acres InhabV. Oneida County contains 1,303,040 *33,792 Onondaga 580,480 25,987 Madison 394,240 25,140 Cayuga 540,800 29,840 Seneca 476,160 16,609 Ontario 1,137,600 42,026 Genesee 1,115,520 12,644 Niagara 899,200 6,032 Cataraugus 826,880 500 Chatauqua 550,120 2,381 7,824,040 194,951 Large tracts of this vast territory are yet unsettled. — The land varies in quality, sometimes favoring pasture, sometimes arable, and sometimes neither, but as a whole its fertility is well known. Thirty years ago it was a wilderness: If one tenth be now under cultivation, and each acre yield an average surplus value of five bushels the present annual redundance is eqtml to 3,700,000 bushels of wheat or £5,000,000. Of this surplus produce all that will bear transportation to Lake Ontario now passes down to Montreal.- If the present surplus amount * SpafTord'a Gazetteer, p. 88, 89, 8J., 67, 102, 91, 77, 87, 65, 67. to .'i,700,000 bushels in value, the period is rapidly ap- proaching when it will swell to an annual redundance of 40,000,000 bushel?. Js this trade worth preserving? A- gain, the demand for lumber is increasing annually, and the sources of supply are proportionally diminishing. Within five years our exports of staves and heading has dwindled greatly,and the price has trebled. Hitherto the country bordering on t lie Hudson, and Virginia, have supplied the New-York market; square timber, oak plank and pine board? are furnished from the Hudson and are daily becoming rarer and dearer; the advance upon these is already sufficient to justify shipments from the Distiict of Maine.* The Canal completed, another source of supply more abundant and valuable would be opened ; timber could he transported from Cayuga to Albany as cheap- ly as it now can from Fort Edward or Stillwater; The country between Cayuga lake and Home is covered with oak timber, whose magnitude and quality delight the traveller. What is now in many places an incum- brance to the land, would become an important item in revenue to the county, while it enriched New- York by enlarging its exportation. Again, the population of the counties above named is daily and vastly augmenting; their wealth keepsjpace w ith that increase, and the consumption of foreign lux- uries is commensurably enlarged. Every additional settler in the western country thus becomes an accession of wealth to Albany and New-York, by furnishing his surplus produce and purchasing its imported merchan- dise ; While each district receives warmth and nutriment only from the little sphere that encircles it, New- York oecomes the grand focus of rays from every part : Its foreign commerce must be proportionably enlarged. These are certain, vast and cumulative advantages that would now accrue to the cities of Albany and New- York, were the Grand Canal completed. W hat certain benefits would it confer upon the State ? The salt-works at Onondaga are said to be inexhausl- ible.f Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, * This fact is well known to many merchants in New-York. It frequently is put on board far tillage, but of late it has not been uncommon to ship it on speculation. | Spaffv>id's Gazetteer, p. 90. L 7 3 Ontario, Genesee, Niagara, Steuben, Cataraugus and Chatauque counties are principally supplied from them. The quantity manufactured is increasing annually ; but the want of fuel in the immediate vicinity is sensibly felt, and threatens to check their permanent expansion. L T pon the canal fuel could be transported 50 miles more cheaply than by land it can five : Two important purposes would thus be subserved : The works could be indefinitely en- larged, the article be furnished at a cheaper rale and supply a wider market. Again, the quality of the gypsum found at Onondaga is equal to that imported ; its beds are said to be inex- haustible ; nevertheless, Rockland, Sullivan, Orange, Ulster Greene, Albany, Saratoga, Washington, Rens- selaer, Columbia, Duchess and Westchester counties are furnished from Nova Scotia at ten, twelve and fourteen dollars per ton. The Onondaga gypsum cannot com- pete with it, although delivered at two dollars per ton at the pits, because land-carriage is so expensive. The Canal completed, gypsum could be furnished at three and a half dollars per ton at Albany, and contend with Nova Scotia gypsum at eight dollars, below which it cannot he imported. Other considerations are not destitute of importance. We are permitted to carry nothing to Nova Scotia : The trade we prosecute wit h that country furnishes no reciprocity of benefits. It draws our treasure and en- riches a rival : These are certain, vast and cumulative advantages that would now T accrue to the State, were the canal completed. 1 wave the consideration of the multifarious benefits derived from labor saved, circulation quickened, and commerce animated ; the conveniences afforded to buil- ding, manuring, milting and the infinite details of agri- cultural life. These are no less certain but cannot be pourtrayed with certainty. 2d. What will be its p-obabk consequences? Lakes E«ie, Michigan, and Huron, are in the aggregate more than 2000 miles in circumference. Navigation from the ext. erne point of Huron, to the extreme point of Erie, is uninterrupted, for vessels drawing eight feet.f The coun- try that environs them, is scarcely" cultivated. Wha* + See JgricdtBy published by Gould, New- York, 1807, page 14, L B ] remains in wilderness, is covered with huge timber, and is fertile— The country bordering on the lakeB beyond Huron, is still i.iorv rude, it is, however^ saiij to be fer- tile, and Us pr< (luce u-usf follow the coure ol their wa- ters, ^ut f 7:;\r (! e consideration of it, as lying too remote for stcuie estimation. Tlie profiuce of ihi9 country, and its demand for foreigrt merchandize, must, at some future da; , be immense — at present its principal value is dt rived ir<> u the fui trade, wliich is monopolized by the north-west company. Their establishment- are formed, and their agents are known to the Indians — com- petition w i ; theif ' re Bad serious obstacles to encounter. But furs tending to Montreal, labour under some dis- advanlaiM v. 'J I eventual market for them is China, and no direct trade is permitted ; and they mus ; there- fine, be landed in England, before they can seek the place of consumption. If then, Furs can be transport- ed as che aply to New- York, as to Montreal, they will bt nearer the eventual market. It is my impression, that the expanse will be less, and that the difference ma; be weighed against the preoccupancy of the north- west company ; for whether they are destined to Mon- treal or New- York, Buffalo, or some town adjacent, must ne tlit- transient depot ; from Buffalo to New- Y,>rk, the transportation would be five and a half dollars per ton, and to Montreal, it is fifteen dollars. But what is the present course of that trade ? It is not le>s surprising than true, that more than one half of th: Furs that n w go to Montreal, are shipped to Chi- na from New-York, in the hame manner and upon the same principle that New- York supplies Montreal with tin. major part v of the Teas consumed in Canada; both Purs and Tea can be laid down cheaper at New York, than in England, and are nearer the eventual market. "J o thirds of all the Furs collected annually, are now portaged round the Falls of Niagara ; of the remaining third, a small portion passes to Montreal by the northern side of Lake Ontario, and the residue to New- York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, by a route from Lake Mi- chigan, which it is needless to explain. 1 regret that my efforts to ascertain the value of this tia ave been unavailing. Political considerations too, are not w ithout weight ; [ 9 ] faithless as the Indians arc, interest has some tie upon their friendship ; whatever tends to propitiate them to us, proportionally estranges them from the British, and diminishes the hazard of disturbance on our borders. Again, thirty years ago the western section of our state was a wilderness : Thirty years hence, the coun- try bordering on Lake Huron will be to the western section what this section now is to the state. As the country within 50 miles of the Hudson, transports its surplus produce on the waters of that river, the coun- try within 50 miles of the great lakes will transport its produce on their waters. If the aggregate circumfe- rence of lakes Erie, Michigan and Huron, be 2000 miles, the number of acres that will furnish produce, sooner or later, to their waters will be 2000 x 50 x 640 = 64,000,000 Acres. When calculation swells into millions, the mind be- comes bewildered, and mistrusts its own convictions ; tbe magnitude of the subject operates inversely, and we dread most to promulge our opinions at the very mo- ment we are most firmly persuaded of their certainty. No man can doubt that the above estimate is based up- on truth; nor that al a period which the sun will soon attain, this mighty district must be cultivated : Yet the inferences to which it leads are stupendous enough to arrest the judgment and overawe the imagination. As the time must come, when it will all be cultivated, it must also come when its annual surplus produce will average a value of two bushels of wheat per acre or 128,000,000 bushels for annual exportation. These results appal conception, and yet they are in- controvertible. They are in harmony with the unex- ampled expansion of our beloved country, and whHe they presage the high destinies to which it is appointed, they proclaim the momentous duties which her citizens' are bounden to fulfil. Nations, like individuals, are en- dued with various powers, and bounden by various re- sponsibilities. In that vast chain of mortal and immor- tal, which connects the heavens and earth, and links man to his maker, a part is allotted to each, and a requital for good or evil done. National greatness is the off- spring of national exertion, and national happiness finds nutriment only in national virtue. h If then the last war lias assisted us to explore this va^i Icrrilory, and its population and trade are daily expan- ding it cannot Ik- useless or untimely to enquire what market will receive it* surplus produce and supply its imported merchandise. No proposition is perhaps less susceptible of cavil, than that produce will < vcntually center in that market which is at once most affluent in capital, and the nearest, cheapest and easiest of access. If the trade of that im- mense territory must shorth In come so valuable, it may uatmally he expected that competition will he active and i indefatigable. The three competing rivals will he New- Orleans, New- York and Montreal, and to ascertain with precision their respective claims, it is indispensa- ble to consider the actual and probable condition of that trade. The trade of T akes Erie, Michigan and Huron, now centers at Montreal : It consist- principally of Pot-ash, Horn and furs exported ; and of European manufactures and Eaht and West-India produce imported. In tb$ present rude state of the country, therefore, New-Or- leans cannot compete with Montreal : The distance from any point on the lakes to Montreal is less than to New-Orleans. Their waters tend toward the St Law rence, and produce, in seeking that market, constantly descends ; in seeking New-Orleans, produce must as- cend the waters that flow into the lakes, before it can enter the descending waters to New-Orleans : Hence, circumstance and situation sanction the opinion that New-Orleans can sever compete with Montreal. If then produce now seeks Montreal, because it i^ more affluent in capital, and nearer, cheaper and easier of access than New-Orleans ; and if it can be brought New-York by the canal, more cheaply, nearly add easily than to Montreal, it will seek New-York. As the produce of the country environing the lakes, must be portaged round the falls of Niagara, before it can descend to Montreal, Buffalo, or some spot adjacent, must become its grand depository. If then the trans- portation from Buffalo to New-York, by means of a ca- nal, would be less expensive, less tedious and more cer- tain than from Buffalo to Montreal, it will come io New-York. [ H ] It will be less expensive. A barrel of flour, delivered at Montreal, now costs one dollar and fifty cents — delivered by the canal and the Hudson at New-York, it would cost fifty-five cents. A ton of sugar, delivered at Buffalo from Montreal, now costs twenty-five dollars,* delivered by the canal from .New-York, it would cost five and one half dollars. It would be less tedious. It is perhaps true that the navigation of the St. Law- rence can be improved, so that sloops may navigate from Montreal to Kingston, but no practicable improve- ment can ever correct its current. Under any circum- stances, therefore, its navigation will be inferior to that of the Hudson, and more expensive. The navigation of Lake Ontario from Kingston or Ggdensburgh to Lew- istown, 250 miles, cannot certainly be more attractive, than that along the canal, 300 miles, to Buffalo, and the portage from Lewistown to Buffalo would occasion two debarkations and two embarkations additional. In what manner produce would be most commodious- Ay and speedily conveyed upon the proposed canal ; whether by horses, or by steam-engines, or towing boats, is not within my province to determine. It is weli known that in 1803 Fulton -drew* two loaded boats by a steam-boat, at the rate of 3 miles per hour, against the stream of the Seine, whose current is never less than 3 miles per hour,t and that steam-boats are superseding the use of horses, and the necessity of towing paths, up- on the canals in England ; they are probably more convenient and expeditious. It is also weli known that one horse can draw 30 tons at the rate of three miles per hour upon a canal. Were the business of transpor- tation upon the proposed canal well routined, nothing would prevent its incessant prosecution by night as well as by day, except the w r ant of relays of horses and the fatigue of lockage. It is not perhaps unreasonable to * This estimate is founded on the following basis. The report of the Com- missioners of 1811, p. -23, says, Ihe cheapest rate of transportation from Montreal to Kingston upward, is one dollar per cwt. or twenty dollars per too. If the freight from Kingston to Lew istown across Lake Ontario be no more 1han from Albany to New-Yoik, it will add twenty-five cents per barrel ©f flour, or two dollars and fifty cents per ton, and if the portage from Lewis- town to Buffalo be only twenty-fi\e cents per bairel, it will add two dollar and fifty cents, making; aw aggregate of tw*nty-tive dollars per ton. Agricultural Magazine, vol. 9, p, 21C. [ 12 ] infer that both these obstacles would be removed, and that boats would pass seventy-five miles per day. The voyage from Birffalo to Albany would thus be four days, or one week from Bulialo to New-York. The voyage from Lcwistown to Montreal is rarely performed downward in less than six days, upward it eonsumes a fortnight. Jt would he more certain. The navigation of the Hudson is more certain than that of the St. Lawrence; the former is uninterrupted, the latter is obstructed by rapids, and navigated above Montreal onlv by batteaux. The former is navigable nine months in the year; the latter only live. The vast expanse of Lake Ontario renders it at ail times ve- ry boisteious — its waves curl and heave like those of the ocean. The canal would present a surface always smooth and serene. In winter Lake Ontario is impassa- ble — In winter, the canal would furnish a commodious, level, direct and certain road. If the ice broke, neither property nor life would be jeopardised, because its wa- ters would be shallow, and its current creeping! If then the p:oduce of the immense tract, bordering upon the lakes, not less than (54,000,000 acres of fertile land, must center at or near Buffalo ; and if I he trans- portation from that point to New-York would upon the proposed canal be less expensive, less tedious and more certain than to Montreal, the canal wo'uld secure it to New- York. Again, if the produce of that vast country would seek New-York, stronger and less disputable causes would render that city the fountain of supply for all its foreign commodities. Years, perhaps centuries, must i oil away, before its population can become sufficiently matured to justify the establishment of domestic manufactures. Would not, then, this immense territory become to the state and cities of Albany and New- York what the United States were before the revolution to Great-Bri- tain? " When I had the honor" said Lord Chatham, u of (< serving the crown, 1 availed myself of information * c which I derived from my office. I speak therefore ♦'from knowledge : My materials were good : I was at 4< pains to collect, to digest, to consider them, and I will *' he bold to affirm that the profits to Great-Britain from [ 13 ] (t the trade of the colonies, through all its branches, is "two millions sterling a year."* All the cotton and woollen fabrics ; all the the iron-mongery, tea, sugar and West India produce consumed within it, would be de- rived from New- York. Again, Pittsburg and Louisville are the great de- pots of foreign merchandize, furnished to the western parts of Virginia, to Ohio, to Indiana and Kentucky. They are now brought to these places from Philadel- phia, Baltimore and New-Orleans : Each knows the im- portance of the trade, and is using strenuous efforts to secure it. Baltimore is constructing a turnpike road to Brownsville on the Monongahela, and is aided by the general government. Philadelphia is improving the road across the Alleghany Ridge: and New-Orleans is affording every facility to steam-boats carrying freight, and plying to Louisville and Pittsburg. Each of these routes has its inconveniences. The distance from Pittsburg to Philadelphia is 320 miles, by land only — The road crosses the .Alleghany mountains by five suc- cessive spurs, viz. Chesnut ridge, Laurel mountain, Al- leghany, properly so called, Sliding Mill, and North mountain. In- its present state it is hideous, and is diffi- cult of improvement. The road from Brownsville also crosses the Alleghany, and the distance is, I believe; 220 miles. The distance from Brownsville to Pittsburg bv the Monongahela is 56 mile-. The time consumed in delivering produce or goods passing frtttn Pittsburgh ih Philadelphia, averages 16 days; and that from Pittsburg to Baltimore, 14. The expense horn Brownsville to Baltimore is g 5 per cwt.f or S 100 per ton ; that from Pittsburg to Philadelphia is $ 6 per cwt. or S 120 per ton. I have been unable to ascertain with precision, the rates of freight from New-Orleans to Pittsburg ; in 1814, it was estimated that it would not exceed $3 per cwt, or $60 per ton, when the steam boats were brought in- to full operation. J The voyage varies in length, but has never been less than 13 running days to Louisville ; its average to that place, may be fairly estimated at 30 days, and to Pittsburg, 45 days. * Speech on American taxation. KuzleU's British Eloquence, vol. 2. 4 Pittsburg Navigator, p. f&, t Ditto, p. G5. [ M J If iben the Grand Canal would open a channel of communication to Pittsburg, less tedious, less expensive and less dangerous than either channel now used, is it not probable that New-York would also supply that vast country with foreign merchandize ! I submit tho following estimates and tacts. The distance from Buffalo to Pittsburg by Presrju' Isle and the Alleghany is 310 milt s. From Buffalo to New- York, the voyage by the Canal would not exceed "7 days. If then, it. could be completed from Buffalo to Pittsburg in 7 days, the time would be as shell as that now* consumed by any other route ; 1 believe it can, and for these reasons: the channel from Buffalo to Picsfju' Isle, is by the water of Lake Erie ; from Pi esq if Isle to Le Bajuf, by a portage of l r > miles, and thence down the Alleghany to Pittsburg. The Alleghany is naviga- ble eight months in the year, for boats often tons, from Le B&lif to Pittsburg : its surface is uninterrupted by falls: its summer current is at the rate of 2 1 2 miles, and its spring current rarely exceeds i miles per hour.* It is perhaps unnecessary to add, that the portage be- tween Presqtt' lble and Le Beeuf is already turnpiked, and that the route is so far from being novel, that before iheKenhawa salt works undersold the Onondaga ; more than 10,000 barrels w ere annually sent from ^alina in this state, to Pittsburg, by this channel.f Boats now make a trip up in 27 days, and down in day s.J But if the route from New-York to Pittsburg by Buf- falo would be less tedious than from Baltimore, Phila- delphia or .New-Orleans, how obvious is it that it must be less expensive 1 To demonstrate it would be wast- ing time. This branch of my subject is incalculably important, and will justify further detail. Deliberate and cautious reflection has convinced me that New- York would fur- nish the whole western country, as far south as the mouth of the Ohio ; but I may err, and I wish to avoid the semblance of intemperate enthusiasm. Scepticism itself cannot, however, deny that the voyage from Eu- * Pittsburg Navigator, p. 18. f Pittsburg Navigator, p. 19. | Ditto, p. 20- [ 15 ] rope to New-York is shorter, by twenty-five days, than to New-Orleans ; that insurance is lower ; that capital always commands trade, and New-York enjoys an enor- mous preponderance; that New-Orleans is a sepulchre festooned with gold ; that the navigation of the Missis- sippi is subject to fluctuating dangers, which skill can- not always avert, nor experience anticipate ; and that European goods from New- York, could be furnished" by the proposed Canal, at Louisville, 45 days earlier in the spring than from New-Orleans. Circumstance and ( alculation also jwstify the belief, that the proposed Ca~ nal would open a channel through which that supply would pass from New-York to Pittsburgh at an expense of transportation, 50 per cent, less than from New-Or- leans ; 75 per cent, less than from Baltimore, and SO per cent, less than from Philadelphia. I am not unconscious of the fallacy of too devoted a reliance upon the streams of our country ; their charac- ter is not yet determined; they run through wilder- nesses, morasses and swamps; cultivation will open their feeders to the sun, and diminish them. But it is 310 less true, that if known streams wiM sometimes be dried, hidden ones will sometimes be discovered.* I present things as they are, and solicit your attention and enquiry. 1 pretend to no merit, but an honest and ar- dent zeal for the honor of my country, and the improve- ment and aggrandizement of my native state. If the lit- tle information that industry has furnished me, prove a beacon to more useful inferences, some benefit will be conferred; and if the effort be impotent, my obscurity will shield me from censure, Again, the soil of Kentucky is peculiarly congenial to the culture of hemp. In 1810, eight hundred tons were raised, and the quantity is annually increasing, The farmers are daily becoming more adroit in curing it, and its quality is proportionally improving. It now finds a market, partly at Pittsburg, and thence to Baltimore and Philadelphia, and partly at New-Or- leans. Of 800 tons raised in 1810, 600 tons were spun into yarn and cordage, and brought up the Ohio to Pittsburgh * The improvement of (he Walkill, at the Outlet, has added permanently to (lie supply of water below it. • Pittsburg Navigator, p. 63. [ JO j If the Canal wore completed, this trade would proba- bly centre at New York. Again, the Lead Mines of Louisiana arc situated 50 miles west of St. Louis, on the Missouri. They em- brace a district 50 miles long and 2o miles broad. The ore is so rich as to yield eighty, and sometimes ninety per cent, and is found in veins of one foot in diameter, at the depth of 10, 12, and 20 feet. The primary depot if St. Genevieve, from whence it is transported, partly • 'own the Mississippi to New-Orleans, and partly up the Ohio to Pittsburg. * Can thi^ trade ever corne to New- York ? Permit me to submit the following tacts: St. Louis is at the mouth of the Missouri; eighteen miles above jt, the Mississip- pi receives the Illinois. — This river is described as one among the very few, in Ibat western country, whose ♦ uncut is gentle, and whose depth is little affected by (fag seasons. Its navigation for large batteaux extends 150 miles and is uninterrupted. Kour miles from this point, the navigation of the Chicago commences, and tends towards Lake Michigan. Of this latter river, I have only been able to learn, that at its mouth it is large enough to admit sloops and schooners. Perhaps this transportation would not be so expen- sive as that by Pittsburg to Philadelphia and Balti- more. Again* were the canal now completed, its supply of water would be as exhaustless as the Great Lakes. Ir- rigation might then be applied to congenial districts. The redundant waters of the Nile fertilized Egypt: — The waters of the Vishnei Yoloshok Canal in Russia, are, it is said, frequently appropriated. In England, such appropriations have ripened into a system, and form upon many canals, an uniform item of profit. Vast tracts in Staffordshire and the midland counties, owe their fertility to the canals that irrigate them. Again, were the canal completed, depots would be established along its bank to furnish the interior. The more vast the trade, and the higher the state of cultiva- tion, the more numerous would these become, and eaei. would require a wharf or quay. This would be a ; ' Schnltz's Tnirefe, vol. 2 r 17 i source of probable revenue to the state. The few wharves belonging to the Corporation of New- York, now yield 20,000 dollars per annum.* Again, were the canal completed, its course would sometimes be along the sides of hills, and would furnish mill-seats. Objections certainly exist to indiscriminate and permanent appropriations of this nature ; but these may be guarded against, and our caution may be forti- fied by the experience of the Richmond canal on James river. It will, I conceive, yield a liberal revenue. Again, Holland is indebted for no small portion of its fertility to the manure furnished from its canals. The revenue accruing to the proposed canal, would certain- ly be much less, because the water of the Dutch canals is muddy, while ours would in general be pure and lim- pid ; yet it would, I conceive, afford a revenue. Again, the mine mis of our state are very little ex- plored. Is it not probable that in traversing such an extent of country, some subterranean wealth would be discovered Other beds of plaister might be disclosed; other salt springs might be unbosomed ; porcelain or fine clay might appear ; the geological characters in the western district, indicate coal : were a single bed un- covered, what accession would it be to this state. Again, it seems somewhat paradoxical that canals should be the means of enhancing turnpike stock; yet no fact is more indisputable, than that its value in Eng- land has risen as canal navigation has increased. Prior to the year 1780, the English roads were badly main- tained ; the mail was conducted with great slovenli- ness, and the post office was a bill of cost. Their roads are now unparalleled for beauty and excellence, and the post office yields an enormous revenue. Turn- pikes are s^en in every direction, sometimes traversing, and sometimes running parallel to canals. The latter are by no means the least profitable ; their union pro- duces a kind of matrimonial harmony, in which each gains by reciprocating kindness. This fact, however, is not perhaps incapable of solu- tion. Canals facilitate internal communication, enliven, interchange, and extend trade. Travelling increases, * See Report of Comptroller. [ 18 ] and with it a demand for its conveniences. Bulky arti- cles find water conveyance more commodious and cheap ; lighter ones find land carriage more expeditious. Again, the City Iiall in the city of New- York, warms the pride of its citizens, and reflects honor upon the state. Difficulties, natural and artificial, obstructed its completion ; for it rose amid the struggle of party, and the want of adroit aitizans. Under the direction of a scientific engineer, it was made a nursery of art ; ap- prentice* were introduced, whose ideas expanded under his auspices ; and in the prosecution of thai elegant work, they became skilled; the most distinguished and promising mechanics of the city issued from that school, and are now opening the path to further improvements. If then, upon a work comparatively so limited, the consequences have been so auspicious, what would now be t Lie condition of the mechanic arts, if during the last twelve years the mathematical and philosophical talents ot the state had been required to complete the pro- posed canal ! The field is as much more ample as the magnitude and importance of the canal surpass those of the city hall. A school of civil engineers would have been formed ; an universal inland navigation would be as obviously useful as turnpike roads ; demand would animate intellectual exertion ; the State of New- York would become the focus of the sciences, and the polar star of every valuable improvement throughout the Union. Again, if the completion of the proposed canal would enliven, interchange, and extend trade ; if all, or any of the immense districts before mentioned, would draff their foreign commodities from New-York, the nation- al revenue would be proportionally enlarged, and the importance of the state in the national councils propor- tionally enhanced. The revenue now furnished by the City of New- York, is one third of the sum total. It is not then surprising that our movements should be re- garded with jealousy ; but it is surprising, that when the apple is within our reach, we are not disposed lo pluck it. Again, no axiom is more certain, than that the tie of interest imperceptibly weaves the bond of social kind- ness and political affection. The political predilections [ 19 j of the western country must follow their trade i How momentous is this consideration ! The war we have just concluded, has demonstrated some important truths : It has taught us the horrors of an Indian warfare ; it has also taught us the dangerous power of our own state* When a turbulent and daring junta chose the moment of public distress, to name the price of obedience; and amid the horrors of executive impotence and a bank- rupt treasury, coldly chaffered about terms, and bid up- on national calamity, the State of New-Ycrk stood forth the champion of Union. She rose like a giant, awful in repose, and terrible in activity. Her fiat could have severed the Union, and dissolved the good- ly fabric of our government. If then her power be so vast, how important is it that no counteracting influence should creep into her councils ? Presented in this light, the contemplated canal dis- plays its intrinsic importance. lis completion may se- cure the devotion of the western section of our state to the union, and its neglect may attach it to Canada. It may bind the Indians of the immense country bordering on the lakes by the tie of interest, or sever them by pre- dilection for a rival. To neglect it is to foster an inter- nal foe, who will gather strength from our supineness, "whose interest will soon clash with ours, spread desola- tion along our borders, and make the war-whoop the precursor of rancorous hostility and continued intestine commotion. To accomplish it is to link that country to the union by chains more durable than adamant, and to transform a people now tending to animosity, into active and zealous friendship. But when a stupendous and sublime work is agitated by a free and intelligent people, an appeal should not be addressee! solely to their cupidity or to their fears : Profit should certainly be the basis of every enquiry that affects the canal, but must it also form the super- structure and embellishments? Money is not the only ingredient in national or state greatness. Munificence and knowledge have their importance, and religion, like its glowing prototype the sun, beams light, life and beauty upon all. To vivify and diffuse these is the primary duty of the statesman, and the proposed canal vvrii not be without its influence. L 20 j The efficiency of internal trade, in promoting private virtue and public happiness, is not a novel doctrine. Vattel says " Men are bouncien to assist each other, and contribute as much as is in their power to the perfection and happiness of beings like themselves. A home trade being the means of obtaining these, the obligations to car- ry on and improve this trade, are derived from the very contract on which society was formed."* Sir William Jones declares that "the real civilization of a country depends much less on its commercial transactions with other states, than on a close and constant intercourse among its own inhabitants*"! 1 Itime and Smith corro- borate the senitment; they drew the materials for opin- ion from history; they perceived that Carthage was conspicuous alike for vast wealth, public duplicity, and private barbarity ; and that when Home had attained the plenitude of glory, and the throne of Augustus was festooned by poetry, genius and taste, the gorgeousi.e-- of royalty did not lend to civilize the people. Common schools were unknown, and internal commerce was con- temned. That wealth alone is permanent, and that refinement alone is valuable, which emanate from the meliorated condition, enlarged information, and purified morality of the subordinate classes. That £oveinmcnt alone is stable, in which the majesty and splendor of power are borrowed from the smile of lowliness, and in which the gradations from the supreme magistrate to the mendi- cant, are uniform and successive.,: The sources of these gradations, are the diffusion' of common schools, and the promotion of religion. In the present organi- zation of society, the foundation whence these derive nutriment, is "wealth. If money be the root of all evil, it is also the loot of all public good, for public good can only be demonstrated through its expenditure. V hence the charitable institutions that do honor to the City of New-Yob* ! Whence its magnificent temples * Viittel, b. 3. c 8. s. 5. j- Jones on Bailment — preface, p. 4. $ Not artificial gradations established by la;v, and forming- a distinction of orders, but natural gradations, originating in the diversities ci intellect, im- printed by Heaven on the human draracter. [ 21 ] in honor of God ? Whence its Bible societies ; ks reli- gious deportment ; its patriotism and magnificence ? Whence the dignity and grandeur of t lie state ? Whence its exalted station among the confederate slates? Whence its influence upon the destinies of the Union ? Wealth is the foundation of them ail, Is it not singular that the national wealth and reli- gious spirit of Great-Britain, have risen hand in hand during the last sixty years ? The year 1756 is a memo- rable era. Lord Chatham then took the reins of govern- ment ; Lord Mansfield was raised to the judicial bench, and the Duke of Bridg water projected his grand canal. It was the first in England. From that period her march to power has kept pace with her internal im- provement. The price of labour has trebled ; the poor man now eats white bread where he formerly ate brown, and drinks tea where he formerly drank water. Scro- phulous diseases are rapidly disappearing. Common schools are spreading in every county, and religion is beaming its blessings upon the cottage. If then great and good men declare that the improve- ment of internal communication is an efficient mean of promoting happiness and virtue, and a solemn duty ; and if our own experience sanction the sentiment, why is the subject beneath the benediction of the holy pre- lates of our religion I Thev are the ambassadors of God upon earth, it is theirs to wield the thunder of his denunciations, and to reflect the radiance of his be- nignity. If it be laudable to demand in the name of Jehovah, a contribution from our abundance to furnish missionaries, who sometimes advance, and sometimes retard the blessed cause, is it not laudable to promote an object, whose accomplishment would effect more than the labors of missionaries for centuries ? It is iiot merely a matter of profit. To accelerate the subjuga- tion of the wilderness, is to shed the Sun of revelation as well as of the firmament, upon fields that now sleep in darkness, and to raise up adorers to God, where the panther andtiie wolf now prowl. 2d. If it be expedient to complete the canal, is it practicable ? In every science there are certain propositions of a [ 22 J nature so obvious that demonstration cannot elucidate them. It U an axiom in mathematics tliat a part is greater than the whole : and in political economy, that water, labor, and money, operating upon soil, can make a canal. If water can be supplied, laborers procured, and money furnished, the proposed canal is practicable. Each of these heads is entitled to full discussion. Seven years have now elapsed since the commission- ers were appointed to gather materials lor public opin- ion. They were men distinguished for pol it icaJ influ- ence, atld moral elevation who had merited public? Con- fidence, They entered upon the duty with zeal, amass- ed information, and projected plans. Every enquiry served to expand the subject, and its incalculable bless- ings ; and conviction soon ripened into enthusiasm. Pub- lic caution, however, progressed with a measured pace. The plans were canvassfd and objections started, some- times to subserve malignity, and sometimes to derive instruction. The commissioners, moving in a higher sphere of information, forgot the vale in which they had left their fellow-citizens, and interpreted public igno- rance into perverse obstinacy. In imparting informa- tion, they sometimes mistook petulance for firmness and sarcasm for argument. The purity of their mo- tives served only to quicken their sensibility, and the dignity of the office was sometimes merged in the feel- ings of the man. A vague declaration, that at fifteen millions, its accomplishment would be cheaply purchas- ed, alarmed public caution. Plans not well matured, which were presented rather as nuclei to opinion, than as opinion, reacted doubly. The wisdom of the com- missioners served to injure the cause they had espous- ed. The public discovered that the plans proposed were impracticable, and naturally inferred that what their sagacity had not discovered, was more splendid than judicious, and only merited abandonment. Many whose avocations precluded minute enquiry, could not discriminate between the permanent grandeur of the design, and the evanescent errors of its pr jetted exe- cution, and deemed it impracticable, because no practi- cable plan had been suggested The first erroneous idea was that of locking the falls of Niagara, and thost of Oswego. This plan derived C 23 ] sanction from the able report of Mr. Secretary Gallatin. - It was soon discovered that produce once admitted up- on lake Ontario, and having to choose between New- York, by Oswego river, or Montreal, by the St. Law- rence, would seek Montreal ; that the lockage of Ni- agara falls would only serve to aid a rival : that the St. Lawrence might be improved for sloop navigation, as cheaply as a boat navigation could be made from Os- wego to Rome, and the passage would be less tedious ; and that by this route the work would be as expensive as that by lake Erie. The plan was abandoned. The second plan was grand and imposing. It was to canal from lake Erie to the Hudson, and to draw wa- ter from the lake by an inclined plane for the whole line. Among many specious advantages, it was sug- gested that t he descending would far outweigh the as- cending produce. But to accomplish this design, stu- pendous aqueducts were to be erected : tunnels were to be perforated : height and depth were to be disre- garded. It was abandoned. But these immature plans were not destitute of utili- ty. The community was awakened : enquiry was agi- tated, and truth elicited. The materials for infor- mations are become abundant, and a plan is at length suggested in which height and depth are not disregard- ed ; in which our improvements will not aid a rival power, and in which the expense is reduced to analagous certainty, and is not alarming. A permanent and adequate supply of water is a pri- mary consideration : for without it labor and money would be idle. On the summit level at Rome, the waters of the Mo- hawk River and Wood Creek can be taken and car- ried eastward or westward, and the waters of Fish Creek can be brought in as auxiliary, if wanted. In go- ing eastward from Rome, at eight miles we reach Ons- kany creek — twelve miles Sedaghqueda creek : and pursuing eastward along the valley of the Mohawk, we find various copious streams, at every few miles dis- tant from which an abundant supply of waters can be obtained to serve as far as the Little Falls. At this point it will be found easy to continue a supply of wa- * See public report of 1SO0, on lutern&l Improvement. [ 21 ] ter from the (Vlpbawk river, which carried on a very few miles can be aided by various powerful streams which fall into the Mohawk between the Little Falls and the Schoharie creek, and this stream will give a great supply to carry eastward. On the western route from Home, after leaving it, in 14 miles we reach Oneida creek, 18 - Cowarten creek, 26 - Canaserago creek, 29 - Chittenengo creek. 34 - Limestone creek, 40 - Butternut creek, 40 - Onondaga creek. This last stream is the only one which lies so low as to make a lateral cut of some length necessary, say 4 «n* t» miles up the Onondaga valley : This cut would however he useful as a branch .coming into the main ti link at right angles. All the other streams (except Oneida creek, which will require a lateral cut of two miles to bring in a Reder) lay so near the level of the canal, as to require nothing more than a dam of 4 to 8 feet to bring the water of the creek upon a level with the surface of the water in the canal. Proceeding westward — at 54 miles, Nine Mile Creek or Otisco outlet. Westward from this are several co- pious streams — Until at 68 miles is the outlet of Skaneatelis lake, 72 do. Bread creek and Cold Spring brook., 73 do. the outlet of Owasco lake, 85 do. Crane brook, 89 do. the outlet of Cayuga lake. Besides those waters, there are, within this route, various small streams which may be brought in, and many of which are sufficient for mills, and will be a great accession if required. From Cayuga lake to the Genesee river, the canal can be supplied from the outlet of the Seneca lake — from the outlet of the Canandarqua lake — from Mud creek — from Irondequort creek, and from the outlet of the Honeyoa lake. Crooked lake communicates with Seneca lake ; so that from those waters and the Cayu- ga lake the supply will be inexhaustible. From the Genesee river to the western extremity of t 25 ] the canal, it will receive the waters of lake Erie or Ni- agara river — of Tonewanta creek, and of all the streams north of the Tonewanta which flow into lake Ontario. It may not be untimely to notice an objection that carries great plausibility, and has influenced many w 7 ell- disposed minds. It is the seeming Heedlessness of ca- nalling along the Mohawk, and also within a few miles of lake Ontario. To assail public prejudices is always dangerous, for they generally spring from the existing condition of things. The reply of Brindley would seem an absurd- ity in this country, and yet nothing is more true with re- gard to England. He was asked, " what was the use of rivers ?" " To feed navigable canals," he replied. In England all the streams are shallow and circuitous Their banks are irregular, and afford no facilities to navigation. But our streams are of two kinds ; such as are bold and navigable, and such as are interrupted by falls, freshets, and drought. The former were canal- led by nature. She has furnished water and air to con- vey produce, and a canal along their banks would be quixotic folly, and a criminal waste of public treasure. But when a stream is interrupted by shoals, falls, and rapids ; when its depth and current fluctuate with the seasons ; when neither sails nor steam can be employ- ed ; when its banks are at times too precipitous to ad- mit the construction of towing paths ; when the coun- try through which it flows is fertile, and not too remote from a market, it was designed by nature as a reservoir for a canal. Attempts to improve such navigation, re- peatedly made, have repeatedly failed. In France, up- on the Garonne ; in Germany, upon the Rhine ; in Swe- den, upon the line between Gottenburg and Stockholm ; in England, upon the Trent, the Avon, and the Severn ; in this country, upon the head waters of the Hudson, upon the Mohawk, and the Potowmac, dear-bought ex- perience has demonstrated its impracticability. In Eng- land, the nature of the rivers has at length produced an unqualified preference of canal navigation, and upon ri- vers of a similar character in tiiis state, it will be pru- dent to consult their experience. In corroboration of the practicability of the proposed canal, and the facility of conveving water, it may not 4 f * 3 be useless to compare what lias been done m other countries and in our own, with what we have to do. In England water is scarce,and economy is indispensa- ble. Reservoirs, of various dimensions, form a part of almost every canal. Their expense is proportionate to their magnitude* and they need constant attention. In Prance the reservoir of the Languedoc canal contains 59.3 acre s, nearly a mile square. But in this ^tate wa- ter is abundant, and no RESBBvoiB is required. Again : Tunnelling mountains waa not unknown to the Komans. It was used in most of their aqueducts. In modern times they are common. That of the Lan- guedoc canal is 720 feet long. In England, that of Hellcar tough, in Derbyshire, isfoui miles long. That of the Duke of Bridge ater's coal works, at Worslcv, in Lancashire, is eighteen miles, in length. Where it is not cut through the solid rock it is arched with brick. I speak with confidence, for I have traversed the whole distance. Tfflt PROPOSED canal WjLL require ffo TUNNEL. Again : Among the Roman?, aqueducts were con- structed to convey water to the great cities, Their splendid ruins in Spain, France and Italy, attest the de- parted greatness, the mooted wealth, and scientific pe- nury of that people. Pn their course they crossed im- mense vallies, and perforated stupendous mountains. In modern times, liiquet has the honor of applving them first to canals. B rind ley introduced them into England, and since that period they are become so common, as to be made matters of experiment. Stone has sometimes been superseded by iron, and it is not le?s true than curious, that a cast iron aqueduct, secur- ed by clamped flanches, was completed in 17 f j/>, upon the Shrewsbury canal, 62 yard longs ; and another in 1801, was thrown across the Dee (20 miles from Ches- ter) 329 yards long, 2il feet wide, 6 feet deep, and 126 feet high. The proposed canal will require but one large AQUEDUCT, vi> . over Gmesee river. Again : In china, embankments of prodigious height and extent, are common, In England they have been in a great measure, superseded by iocks. But in Hol- land," almost every canal is a continued embankment, and. subserves two purposes ; one to repel the ocean. [ 27 ] the other to carry off the water that spring leaves upon its sunken soil, and which is pumped into the canal by windmills. The proposed canal requires no em- bankment. A^ain ; Lock navigation is as well understood in this country, as in England, and the expense of con- structing it is ascertained by experience. The locks at the Little Falls, on the Mohawk, were first constructed of brick. But the cement soon washed out, and the work crumbled. They are now of stone, and the cost- is well known. Upon the canal of Middlesex, 28 locks are finished in the most workmanlike manner. At Hue Seneca falls, a contract has just been made to construct locks in the best manner, for Si 0,000 per lock. Upon the proposed canal The descent is precisely ascer- tained ; the number ot locks determined, and their expense calculated with indisputable pre- CISION. 2d. As to labour. The more obdurate the soil, the more labour will be required, and vice versa. Soft clay is most propitious to canal operations, because its tenacity prevents leak- age, and forms a natural water-tub ; and because it is easily dug. Next to clay, is, I believe, a limestone loam, and then the soil of a valley, it is an axiom in mineralogy, that a limestone country is always fertile. Mr. Secretary Gallatin lias informed ud that the vast valley between the Alleghany and Blue ridges, i on a limestone bed.- It is I believe also true, that the stra- tification of a limestone country is in general regular, and sparsely interrupted by rocks or indurated earth. If these be facts, a route more, favorable to ca nailing, cannot be named. From Schenectady to Rome it >v ili run through a valley ; from Rome to the Genesee over a limestone bed ; from the Genesee to the Eighteen- mile creek, through a loamy soil, and from the Eigh- teen mile creek to lake Erie, through a clay swamp. Hence digging will be neither difficult nor expensive. Again : The proximity and abundance of materials have an influence upon the requisite quantity of tabor. Those principally wanted, are, stone for ihe locks, ce- ment, clay and gravel for puddle, and timber. L'pon Report on Internal Improvement, 1809, [ 28 ] every part of the route, all these abound of an excel lent quality, except cement, of which the most approv- ed is imported from Holland, and called terras*. Again : It has been plausibly urged against the con- templated canal, that its prosecution will enhance the price and scarcity of labor, embarrass the farmer, reduce his crops, and impoverish the state ; that the last war drew ofi'labourcrs, and enhanced wa^es: and that the canal will have a similar operation. If these objections be true, they are weighty. The respectable and nu- merous class whom they affect, entitles them to ample consideration. The true reason why canals have not been very pro- fitable in this country, is, that the points they connected were of minor importance; or they flowed through a sterile country ; or they were badly planned and con- ducted. I am bold to assert, and dare contradiction, that no country was ever impoverished by a canaj which connected a fertile district with an ample market. In- land navigation has been the precurser of internal wealth in ancient Egypt, in Holland, in France, in Russia, and in England. The want and impracticabili- ty of it has maintained the interior of Africa a wilder- ness, and Tartary a den of wanderers. Again: If the proposed canal enhances in its execu- tion, the price of labor, it would also increase consump- tion. If it become more difficult to raise wheat, the wheat raised will be more valuable. Every man who labors upon the canal must be fed and clothed ; must apply his earning to purchase food from the farmer, and clothing from the merchant. Again: If labor would be enhanced, additional in- centives would be furnished to our eastern brethren. They would migrate to this state, and every settler would add to the number of our citizens, and the wealth of the state. Their number and importance would be in proportion to the rise of labour. Again : The war certainly drained our labourers, and enhanced labour. It was part of the price we paid for the conservation of national character. But in w ar, labour is consumed in military duty, and leaves no trace. Upon the canal its duration would be as perma- nent as the repose of nahue. In war it is wasted abroad ; C 29 ] upon the canal, it would be bestowed where the labor- er was maintained. Again : Is the high price of lalor an evil ? In Eng- land labor has trebled in price since 1756, yet her pow- er was never so gigantic, her internal wealth never go vast, her canal navigation never so much prized, and her turnpike stock never so high as at this period. The price of labor has almost doubled in this country since the year 1790. , Yet it will hardly be denied, that our state is flourishing, and that the condition of every class is daily meliorating. But when will the price of labor cease to rise in this country ? If it has almost doubled within the last 26 years, what events will tend to diminish it ? Can it de- cline, as long as any land is unsettled between t he Mis- sissippi and the Pacific. While there is waste land, emi- gration must continue; and while emigration continues, labour will be high. Until population increase more rapidly than capital, it , cannot decline, and centuries must roll away before that time can arrive. Must we, then, await that period, and must the canal be deferred ? Again : The preceding reflections are proffered, up- on the supposition, that the execution of the proposed canal will enhance the price of labor. But perhaps the supposition is unfounded. Perhaps labor will not be enhanced. For let us suppose the act passed, commis- sioners appointed to commence the work, and requisite funds pledged. Would their first busines be to ransack the country for labourers, to huddle them hastily to- gether, and lavish the public treasure without rhyme or reason ? No. Sometime must be consumed in pro- . curing a competent and responsible engineer, in repeat- ing the surveys, in exploring the adjacent country, in gauging the tributary streams, and ascertaining their average discharge, in boring, and determining the qual- ity of the strata to be excavated, in providing the requi- site materials and machinery, in examining the spots best adapted to the culverts, the safety-gales, the weirs, and bridges, in estimating the probable evaporation, ab- sorption and leakage, in importing terrass, in detecting the springs and rivulets that flow though or near to the proposed route, in negociation for the lands through which it must pass, in estimating the indemnity due for r so j damage to water appropriated, in determining whore to begin, and that vast and multifarious detail which a work so valuable, so complicated, and so practicable, demand?. Three years would be well spent in achiev- ing these preliminary objects. At the expiration of that lime, would lliey trumpet forth that they were prepared, assemble a horde of laborers, and give indis- criminate; employment ? I conceive not. The system of labor mti^t be methodized, as well as the details of the plan : the mariner of doing must be understood, as well the thing to be done This can only result from time. The mass that will oiler for employment will partake of every shade of depravity • Time alone will enable the commissioners to discriminate, and in the interim their individual c<> nfprt, their political reputa- tion, and the public interest, will actuate them to be parsimonious in giving employment. F|yg years must elapse, alter the public sanction is given, before the work can go full) and fairly into ope- ration, and full latitude be afforded to employment, in the interim mare than three hundred men cannot be usefully employed. Would that number enhance the price of labor, diminish the crops of the farmer, and impoverish the state ? Again : The utmost number that can be employed at Mice, will be 2000. Our population, in 1800, was .08(5,14 J ; in 1810, it was 9.30,220. Population, like the snow- ball, gathers in a geometrical ratio. In 1810, the ave- rage annual increase of population in the state, was 37,307. It may now be fairly estimated at 10,0 JO. Be- fore the demand for labor upon the contemplated canal can be efficient, our population will have increased by 200,000. Is it then reasonable to believe that a body which, when needed, will not be one hundreth part of our augmented, nor oae six hundreth part of our whole population, can seriously affect the price of labor, or ar- rest the growing grandeur of a state, whose treasury now contains S5,000,000, and whose people are enter- prising, and intelligent as they are proud ? These sentiments and opinions are sanctioned by high authority. Mr. Secretary Gallatin has maintained that "it is always a public saving to cut a canal when the annual expense of transportation on a given route by f 31 ] land exceeds the interest of the capital employed to im- prove the communication and the expense of transpor- tation by that improvement If the price of labor affects a canal, it affects also the transportation." 3d. As to the expense. It is perhaps to be regretted, that the commissioners had not withheld every estimate of expense until the present plan had been submitted. Public opinion would probably have been unbiassed, and reason would have full scope. The peculiar nature of the soil, the numer lous facilities, and sligh* obstacles to its completion, would have appeared with all the effulgence of truth, and the expense would have assumed an aspect far more flattering than it has generally worn. The first esti- mate allotted to it $ 6,000,000 and the commissioners hazarded an opinion, that at $15,000,000 the acquisi- tion would be valuable. The second estimate still al- lotted $6,000,000 and provided for double that amount. Perhaps the lowest estimate will be found to surpass probability. Within the last 56 years, upwards of 1100 miles of canal navigation he ve been cut in Great-Britain. They traverse the country in every direction ; some are very short, and some are very long. Amid such a diversity, it is reasonable to infer that some places have been in- judiciously contrived, and some lavishly executed : Yet the most expensive canal ever cut in England, cost but £ 10,528 sterling, or $46,791 per mile. It was the canal of Gloucester and Barkeley, and is navigable for vessels drawing 18 feet of water. In the midst of its ex- ecution, the engineer discovered a bed of solid roek un- der a stratum of clay, JO feet thick ; hence its enormous cost. One other canal in England, cost £ 9388, or $ 41,724 per mile: It was the Rochdale canal, its vast expense was occasioned by three reservoirs, eight aqueducts, one tunnel, and a deep cutting through solid rock, 50 feet deep, an 100 horse steam-engine, and thb high price of land. Three other canals cost £ 8422 sterling, £ 8222, and £ 7650 sterling, per mile. Two were injudiciously planned ; the third was the Duke of Eridg water's, hav- ing a tunnel of 18 miles. [ 32 j Eight oilier canals have been completed, for sums varying from 1550/. steil. or $ 6888 88, to 4444/. aterL or 19,752 dols. per mile. Their aggregate length is 294 miles: tbeii -aggregate cost, 1,021,000/. making an aver- age of 3457/. sterl. or 1 .'3,44/3 dols. per mile. The cost of laud is included. Arundel 40 200,000 5000 Barnesley 13 97,000 6466 Basingstoke 37 1 80,000 4865 Bridgwater 28 440,000 7520 Chester 18 80,000 4444 Chesterfield 40 160,000 3478 Coventry 22 120,000 5454 Ciomlord 18 80,000 4444 Croyden 9.2 80,900 8422 Klhsmere 57 400,000 7017 Lirth and Clyde 35 212,000 6051 Glamorganshire 25 100,000 4000 Glow I hter Berks. 18.3 200,000 10,528 Grand Surry 12 60,000 5000 Gransham 33.1 124,000 3730 Ik reford & Glouces'i 35.2 55,000 1530 Lancaster 75.3 414,000 5465 Leeds & Liverpool 129 800,000 6200 Lecest'r & iVorlhum. 43 3 300,000 6818 Leominster 45 370,000 8222 Montgomery 27 92,000 3i07 Oakham u 80,000 5733 Oxford 91 330,000 3626 Rochdale 31.2 291,000 9380 Wilts and Berks 52 311,900 5999 As far as my researches have extended, no canal on the Continent has exceeded 30,000 dollars per mile. In this country, the highest estimate ever made, was 48,0; i0 dollars per mile, over a route of the most diffi- cult character. A mile has been cut for 2300 dollars. The canal at Charleston was injudiciously planned and executed ; it was 22 miles long, and cost 650,000 dol- lars. When we reflect that such a preponderance of the ca- nals in England, have cost no more than 14,000 dollars per mile ; that canals in this country have been cut through hard rocky ground for 13,000 dollars, and thro' [ 33 ] ordinary ground for 2300 dollars per mile ; that the proposed canal will, for 100 mile?, run through the val- ley of the Mohawk, and an alluvial soil, and for sixty miles through a soil of clay ; that one large aqueduct only will be necessary; that no tunnelling, no reser- voirs, no embankments, and no deep cutting will be re- quisite ; that the land ceded, will amply pay all the land to be purchased ; and that the high price of human la- bour is partly balanced by the cheapness of machinery and brute labour, is it not rational to conclude that its cost will not exceed 10,000 dollars per mile, or 3,000,000 dollars ! Are then the resources of the State adequate to its accomplishment? If our beloved country were disturbed by invasion ; if a powerful foe, with an army of 200,000 myrmidons could penetrate our country to the interior, and menace the dissolution of the Union, the General Government might pause to learn what estimation each member of the political compact affixed to liberty. - In the hour of need, it might appeal to the patriotism of the state of New- York, and solicit a requisition of 4,000,000 dol- lars. Does any man believe, that for our country, our government, our liberty and our religion, the state could not forthwith answer the demand? If he does, he under- stands neither the haughty spirit, nor the patriotism of its citizens. If then a like sum could not be raised for the com- pletion of the proposed canal, the incapacity would spring not from the poverty of the state, but from the insufficiency of the motive. Again, the commencement of the canal will neither dis- turb the existing condition of things, nor bow down the people with taxes. The expenditure must be gradual. Twelve years must elapse before the work can be com- pleted. In the interior, the state is not stationary ; since tiie year 1790, (a period of 25 years) her population has trebled, and the real and personal property of her citi- zens has increased eight fold. If the last sod of the pro- posed canal were removed in 1828, what would then be the condition of the state? The Onondaga salt-works would be doubled ; half the wild land of the state, a I tract of 1,000,000 acres, would be subdued ; the popu- 5 t 31 j lation, which in 1810 was 959,220, would be 2,000,000; and the property of the citize ns, w hich in 1810 was esti- mated at .000,00*0,000 dollars,* would be doubled. Again, the resources of the state will not be absorbed liv the canal ; all that is required, is the state credit, to be employed, not upon a foreign expedition to gratify ambition, but upon internal improvement. Upon that credit money can be borrowed in Europe at 5 per cent, and can be loaned within the state, upon mortgage, at ' per cent, per annum. The difference of rate is the tribute of confidence to wealth and punctuality. But to borrow low, pledges for the punctual payment of in- terest must be guaranteed ; and to do justice to posteri- ty, provision should be made for the gradual extinction of the principal. Let us suppose these preliminaries adjusted : What would be the actual cash advance of the state, and its condition at the expiration of 12 years? If .000,000 dollars were expended annually, during the time, and one per cent of the principal annually paid, the account would stand thus: — Principal owed. Interest pd. Inter, ree'd. End of 1st year. g. 5,940,000 8 300,000 S 385,000 2d ' 5,880,000 297,000 350,000 3d 5,820,000 294,000 315,000 1th 0,760,000 291,000 280,000 5th 5,700,000 288,000 245,000 6th 5,640,000 286,000 210,000 7th 5,580,000 282,000 1 75,000 8th 5,520,000 279,000 140,000 9th 5,460,000 276,000 105,000 10th 5,400 000 273,000 70,000 11th 5,340,000 270,000 35,000 8 3,135,000 g2,310,000 Fractions are disregarded. At the expiration of 12 years, the state would have advanced for principal, 720,000 and for interest above what it had received £25,600 g 1,545,000' or an average annual advance of $ 130,000. r Si€ Soafford's Gazetteer. r 35 ] The state would owe (supposing the work to cost even 56,000,000) $ 5,340,000 ; and tins stupendous work would be accomplished. This supposes that the sec- tions successively finished would yield no income, un- til the whole was completed. Those who are familiar with the country between Cayuga and Rome, know that if this section were finished, it would instantly yield a revenue of $ 300,000 and be annually increasing. In the consideration of the funds to be pledged, your legislative wisdom will regard at once their efficiency, and the obligations of those who would be most bene- fitted. As the w r estern country, and the cities of New- York and Albany would fall under this class, they should be the principal contributors. Upon the particular funds that may be appropriated in the mode of assessment, it is not, however, my province to comment. "Delays," it has been well observed, " are the refuge of weak minds." There is in all stupendous undertak- ings, a point within which it is dangerous to act, and beyond which it is cowardly to be idle. It is that mo- ment in which we possess our subject, and have appre- ciated its hazards* If the proposition of the Grand Ca- nal were new ; if the ground had not been surveyed ; if information had not been obtained ; if the obstacles had not been ascertained, appropriation might be re- garded as premature. But during seven years the great and wise men of our state have not been idle ; and the result is, a profound conviction that the mo- ment is arrived. Will delay profit us? will it diminish the price of la bour ? or of land ? or of materials ? or of brute service ? The country is daily improving: What would now ceded as a donation, will in a few years furnish produce for a rival, and be purchased dearly. Villages are dai- ly springing into life, and forming rival and clashing in ierests. Appropriations of water are daily multiplying ; mill privileges daily occupying ; and at this moment petitions are submitted to your honorable body, for in- corporations to improve the navigation of Seneca, in order to facilitate transpoitation down the Susque- TiannaTi. [ 36 ] If llien the proposed canal would redeem the plight- ed honor of I he state; if it would cerh.tinh/ rescue the trade of Oneida, Otiondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Genesee, Niagara, Chatanqna and Catiftraugus^ from Montreal, and secure it to Albany and New- York ; if the present annual burp] us produce of that country be equal in value to .^,700,000 bushels of wheat, or .0,000,000 dollars; if it would convert the lumber of Cayuga and Onondaga, from an incumbrance to the land, Into a revenue for the country, and saving to the eities of AlbAUY and NfcW-YoRK; if it would make IVkw-VChk the fountain of supply to that eoiiiatry, off f 1 ■■'■i-chandize ; if it would diminish the cost of Bait, and enhance the profit of the works; if it would enable the gypsum of the west to supersede that of Nora-Scotia* and supply the valuable eounties on the Hudson, at one half its present price ; if it would facili- tate building, manuring, and (he details of agricultural life ; if it would probably secure the trade of 04,000,000 no es, bordering on the western lakes ; if it would pro- bably secure at present the fur trade ; if the period must arrive, when the value of life annual surplus produce of that country will be 128,000 000 bushels of wheat, or 102,000,000 dollars ; if it would probably enable New- Y OR k to supply it for a century to come, with foreign commodities ; if ISV.w-York would be the market, at once nearest, cheapest, and easiest of access ; if that city would undersell Philadelphia, Baltimore or New- Orleans, at Pittsburg and Louisville; if it would probably secure the hemp trade of Kentucky; if it would facilitate competition for the produce of the lead mines of Louisiana ; if by irrigation, it would yield a revenue, while it enriched the soil ; if it would furnish wharves and mill seats, and accommodate manufactur- ing establishments, while it yielded a revenue ; if its manure would enrich the adjacent country; if it would enhance turnpike stock, and improve roads; if it would form a body of civil engineers; if it would increase na- tional revenue, and enhance the political influence of the State ; if it would be an instrument to avert intestine commotion; if it would promote the diffusion of reli- gion — If the supply of water would be permanent, pure ancl adequate ; if it require no tunnel, no reservoir, no E 37 ] embankment, atod but one large aqueduct ; if the coun- try be peculiarly propitious to canalling ; if materials are near and abundant ; if it would not enhance the price of labor, nor disturb the existing condition of things 5 if experience in England and this country, countenance the opinion, that the cost would be much less than the lowest estimate made by the commission- ers ; if the work can certainly be achieved for an actu- al advance of 1,500,000 dollars ; if that advance would only be required in annual installments of 130,000 dol- lars ; if the resources of the state would be neither cramped nor absorbed ; if delay serve only to nurture opposition, and diminish facility — The moment is ar- rived. The voice of Reason ; the voice of Religion ; the voice of your Fellow Citizens, tells you it is arrived. Your tables are groaning beneath the weight of Peti- tions. You are called upon to act with prudent firm- ness, and cautious munificence ; to conciliate popular sentiment by legislative wisdom, and to ordain that the CANAL BE MADE. Upon questions of local or temporary consideration, that involve neither the general principles of our gov- ernment, nor the great and permanent interests of our beloved country, party collision may be harmless. But upon objects vast as the aggrandizement of our state, hallowed as the promotion of religion, and durable as public good, patriotism enjoins to merge personal and political animosity in public solicitude, and to convince the confederate states, that New- York is worthy of her exalted station, FINIS. ERRATUM, la the 22d page, 3d line from the top, for greater read less.