Historic Highways of America (Vol. 14)

the money that was to build the Erie Canal was coming from. Of course a loan must be made and the commissioners at o

es be in the power of this state to levy high transit on the articles transported to and from those states and the territory of the United States, and thereby secure eventually, a greater fund than can possibly arise from any present contribution from those quarters." In order to facilitate gifts in lands or money, the commissioners scattered blank forms of cession and bequest throughout the country; "one form relates to gratuitous grants of land for the ground through which the canal is to pass, and the other is a contribution to the fund for making it. Agents have also been appointed in Vermont and Ohio for the same purpose." It was reported that nearly all the land necessary for the canal thro

min Wright's figures, was $853,186, and that of the Eastern Section, Charles C. Broadhead estimated at $2,271,690. The total amounted to $4,926,538 or five millions in round numbers. The committee of the legisl

on March 8, 1817, asking him to outline a financial system for a canal fund. Clinton's schem

y the creation of a funded debt, with interest at s

, (which moneys shall be kept in the treasury), and shall pay over, from time to time

the whole or a part of the said works be completed,

ted lands, shall be pledged for the payment of said debt and the interest thereof. And they shall have power to app

egislature, report a plan of finances for the execution of the whole of s

ated that 400,000 tons of freight wer

stimated that ten million tons annually would be carried upon the canals; tha

sue certificates of stock, the principal to be redeemable until 1823, taxed at one mill on the dollar; state deposits were to be made in any bank in New York that would loan one million dollars. The act of March, 1819, authorized the borrowing of $700,000 yearly for the building of the canal; on March 25 this was reduced to $600,000; an assessment of a tax upon all lands within twenty-five miles of the canal, formerly made, was at this time suspended. By a law of April 7, 1819, the commissioners were again authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding (together with the net income of the canal fund) $600,0

nuary 12, 1821. He took, as a basis of his calculation, a debt of $5,905,456 and a revenue of $210,000; the loan of $600,000, with revenues, was to be continued as heretofore. By t

inancial estimates, the fears and doubts and the staunch firmness of these directors of the Erie Canal. In almost every case the estimates of expenses fell far below the actual cost; often the expenses ran thirty per cent above estimates; on the other hand the most optimistic commissioner never, in his most enthusiastic moment, realized what a t

ated (1826

0,000 $4

0,000 7

0,000 8

0,000 8

0,000 9

,000 1,0

,000 1,0

,000 1,2

,000 1,1

- --

300,000 $8

many places these estimates had been laughed to scorn. It will be difficult to find in all the commercial history of Amer

23,000. It will be interesting to notice on what these tolls were levied; the list includes 44,723 barrels of flour, 17,068 barrels of salt, 43,078 bushels of wheat, 1,061,844 feet of lumber, 71,000

cle

mills p

5 mills

l, etc 1 c

se 2 cent

d round) 5 mills

uced to one inch) 5 mil

1 mill

, iron ore, and st

nd posts 2 ce

uel 1 cent

manufacture

ion of property 1 mil

persons 5 cents per

ing for pipes 1

ng for hogsheads

ng for barrels 5

ot named 1 cen

icate the great responsibility that lay on their shoulders; between 1817 and 1822 the amount p

s collected between the Seneca and Utica, and $27,444.09 between Little Falls and Albany. On April 12, 1824, the commissioners were authorized to borrow one million dollars to complete the canals. In this year ten thousand boats passed the junction of the

r M

eted

4 $ 5,

94 23

16 57,

60 105

80 294

building in t

Exp

$2,004

1,184

1,941

1,785

--

$6,916

red for completion and payment of all claims

cost being $19,255.49 per mile, a trifle over one-half

, "the cost of animal power is 12 per cent greater than steam power on the Hudson for flour, and 42 per cent greater for merchandize; agricultural products, including ashes, 21 per cent greater on the canal than on the Hudson river. The Erie canal is small, and the traction of boats that navigate it is from 30 to 45, and most usually 40 per cent greater than would occur on a canal of the most favorable size for the boat used.... That a canal boat, 104 feet long, 16 feet wide, drawing 7 feet water, would carry 200 tons, and require a lock 115 feet long by 17 feet wide; the sectional area of boat below load water line 108 feet. The gross load of a schooner, with its own weight, would be 350 tons

p. It was estimated that a canal of these proportions would save fifty per cent of transportation charges exclusive of tolls.[59] The enlargement construction law was passed May 11, 1835; t

wenty-one double and three single locks were planned between Albany and Schenectady; one double and three single at Little Falls; two double and one single at Syracuse; one single lock at Lyons; two single at Lockville; one double and one single at Macedon. On January 1, 1838, these were all under contract, at a contract price of $3,035,087.[62] One year later contracts to the amount of ten and one-half millions for the whole work of enlargement had been signed. The commissioners were authorized by an act passed April 18, 1839, to borrow four millions.[63] The work went on rapidly. By

Exp

$31,8

53,

636,3

1,163

2,237

3,234

2,518

1,521

530,8

$418,

155,1

70,

62,

634,5

1,000

1,365

--

5,634,09

mpleted the canal was 350? miles long; it had seventy-two locks, measuring 110×18 feet, of which

" was brought forward by State Engineer Seymour in 1878, which called for a deepening of the canal to eight feet by lowering the bottom in some places and raising the banks in others. State Engineer Sweet proposed a ship canal across New York, eighteen feet in dep

ne feet in the waterway and eight feet over structures. The work went

be more thoroughly studied before the state should be committed to any policy; and even after the general assembly had voted for the expend

k expended and of thousands of dollars obtained by voluntary subscription for the carrying on of the work can never be told in detail and cou

deduction from the former) was the passage of an act by the general assembly of the state[66] authorizing the governor t

y known as the New York Commerce Commission but was usually called the "Black Commission." This body of men submitted a preliminary report to th

to assist in the solution of the "canal question." A "Committee on Canals of the State of New York" was appointed. The followin

the canal to the depth of nine feet has been practically expended, and it is reported that sixteen millions additional will be needed to car

highest, to act with the Superintendent of Public Works, Col. Partridge, and the State Engineer and Surveyor, Mr. Bond, to make the necessary in

tate should pursue in canal matters remains unsolved

larged." The report contained many maps, documents and tables, and offered convincing arguments. The consideration of the two reports, viz., the Black Commission and the Roosevelt Committee, by the next general assembly resulted i

a thousand pages of printed matter and thirty-four plates in atl

at work of enlarging her canal is contained in a letter written to Governor Odell b

roducts of the farm, the production of cotton, lumber, coal; in fact, all raw materials, were brought Eastward to be turned into manufactured goods, and shipped West. Today what are the conditions? The goods are manufactured ready for market right in the States wh

at an extremely low cost, and that we will then be able to compete with the manufacturing industries of the great Middle West. Unless this is done, there is but one alternative, that this great State lose i

give Western farm products a still greater advantage, and therefore are opposed to them. That may be true; but will choking the Erie Canal, so that the New York Central Railroad Company can maintain high local freight rates on manufactured products and high-class traffic, keep Western farm products from reaching the seaboard as cheaply as now? We can prevent Western grain and

Canal will insure. Those cheap rates will enable the important cities of central New York to obtain iron ore, and coal as cheaply as the lake ports and the Pennsylvania towns now obtain those raw materials, and will give the manufacturers of those cities a cons

an be transported to the Eastern States. With the Erie Canal improved, New York would become the greatest harbor in the world. It would bring about a continuance of the enjoyment by this city of the import trade of the nation. It would also make New York the outlet for the export trade of the United States with other countries, making New York city not only the greatest f

building of a 1,000-ton barge canal. The party ignoring this issue is, to my belief, doomed to defeat. The people through

for large

ng Improvements Proposed; fr

$101,000,000 for the rebuilding of its canals with a prism 12 feet deep, 75 feet wide on the bottom, and 123 feet at the surface of water, capable of floating economicall

n our history, an artificial waterway to connect an inland lak

e Revolutionary War;[71] it is an indication of the great advances in engineering science since the days of Smeaton, and is made possible by the substitution of the screw propeller for the mule and tow-path. It is by this means that the Ohio River is to be made a great artery of commerce.[72] With steamers fitted out with low pressure engines it is estimated that freight can be transported profitably on the Ohio at an astonishingly low rate with which no land method of transportation can ever dare hope to compete. The new project of New York, therefore, brings back all the old-time dreams of early American promoters-of Washington's for the Potomac, of Morris's for the Mo

end

END

PRIL 17,

, devise and adopt such measures as may or shall be requisite, to facilitate and effect the communication, by means of canals and locks, between the navigable waters of Hudson's river and lake Erie, and the said navigable waters and lake Champla

shall have power to call a meeting of the same whenever in his opinion, the public interests require it; and the said board may adjourn from time to time, to meet at any time and place they may deem most conducive to the public good: And further, the said commissioners shall have power to employ such and so many agents, engineers

be explored and examined for the purpose of fixing and determining the most eligible and proper routes for the same, and to cause all necessary surveys and levels to be taken, and accurate maps, field books and drafts thereof to be made, and further to adopt and recommend pro

ivate, and all citizens or inhabitants of this or any other of the United States, for cessions, grants or donations of land or money, for the purpose of aiding in the constructing or completing of both or either of the said canals, according to the discretion of the several grantors or donors, and to take to the people of this state, such grants and conveyances as may be proper and competent to vest a good and sufficient title in the said people to the lands so to be ceded or

anals, according to the plan or plans which may be adopted and recommended by them, for the construction or formation of the same, and to cause the said calculations and estimates, and all surveys, maps, field books, plans, drafts and models authorised and directed by this act,

rity of the said commissioners, out of any monies in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, any sum or sums not ex

ation of this state," passed the 8th day of April, 1811, and the act, entitled "an act further to provide for the

END

PRIL 15,

with the Hudson river, will promote agriculture, manufactures and commerce, mitigate the calamities of war, and enhance

an race: Now, therefore, in full confidence that the congress of the United States, and the states equally interested with this state in the commencement, prosecution and completion of those important works, will contribu

jority of whom with the comptroller shall be a quorum for the transaction of business; and that it shall be the duty of the said board to receive, arrange and manage to the best advantage all things belonging to the same fund, to borrow, from time to time, monies on the credit of the people of this state at a rate of interest not exceeding six per centum per annum, and not exceeding in any one year a sum which, together with the net income of the said fund, shall amount to four hundred thousand dollars; for which monies, so to be borrowed, the comptroller shall issue transferable certificates of stock, payable at such time or times as may be determined by said b

; to receive from time to time from the commissioners of the canal fund, such monies as may be necessary for and applicable to the objects hereby contemplated; to cause the same to be expended in the most prudent and economical manner, in all such works as may be proper to make the said canals; and on completing any part or parts of the works or canals contemplated by this act, to establish reasonable tolls and adopt all measures necessary for the collection and payment thereof to the commissioners of the canal fund; that a majority of the said commissioners shall be

made to the justices of the supreme court, or any two of them, for the appointment of appraisers; and the said justices shall thereupon, by writing, appoint not less than three, nor more than five discreet disinterested persons as appraisers, who shall, before they enter upon the duties of their appointment, severally take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, before some person authorised to administer oaths, faithfully and impartially to perform the trust and duties required of them by this act, which oath or affirmation shall be filed with the secretary of the canal commissioners; and it shall be the duty of the said appraisers, or a majority of them, to make a just and equitable estimate and appraisal of the loss and damage, if any, over and above the benefit and advantage to the respective owners and proprietors or parties interested

me of giving such notice, for the appointment of appraisers to estimate the damages to be sustained by the same company, by investing in the people of this state all the lands, waters, canals, locks, feeders, and appurtenances thereto acquired, used and claimed by the said company, under its act of incorporation, and the several acts amending the same; and it shall be the duty of the justices aforesaid, at the term mentioned in the said notice, and on proof of the service thereof, to appoint, by writing under the seal of the said court, and the hands of at least three of the said justices, not less than three, nor more than five disinterested persons, being citizens of the United States, to estimate and appraise the damages aforesaid; and it shall be the duty of the said appraisers, or a majority of them, to estimate and appraise the damages aforesaid, and severally to certify the

every trip or voyage such passenger may be conveyed upon the Hudson river on board of any steamboat over one hundred miles, and half that sum for any distance less than one hundred miles and over thirty miles; the proceeds of all lotteries which shall be drawn in this state, after the sums now granted upon them shall be paid; all the net proceeds of this state from the western inland lock navigation company; all the net proceeds of the s

se, he shall have a responsible deputy residing at each place where salt is or may be manufactured, with the like powers and subject to the like duties as his present deputies; and that all the provisions, forfeitures, penalties, and restrictions contained in the laws relative to the duties upon Onondaga salt, so far as the same may be applicable, shall be in force for the purposes of enforcing the payment and collection of the tax or duties upon salt hereby levied and imposed. And further, that the said superintendent, instead of a yearly report to the le

which sum so to be assessed and levied, shall be assessed on the said lands and real estate adjacent to the said several canals, in such proportion for each, as the said commissioners shall determine. And the said commissioners shall have power to make such rules and regulations, and adopt such measures for the assessing, levying, and collecting the sum or sums of money, either by sale of the said lands or otherwise, as they shall deem meet, and the said assessment shall be made on said lands, according to the benefit which they shall be considered by the said commissioners, as deriving from the m

e officer authorized to administer oaths, stating the name of the boat, the number of trips made by such boat during such month, and the whole number of passengers conveyed on board such boat, at each of the said trips, over one hundred miles, and the number conveyed less than one hundred miles, and over thirty miles, and pay into the treasury of this state the amount of such tax collected during the time mentioned in the said return, deducting three per cent thereof, as a compensation for

TNO

he Ohio River, Wheeling, is derived from a word Wheel

ways of America,

hways of America

his History of the ... Western Canals

., pp.

of New-York (New York,

e of New-York (New Y

emembered that Watson was writing from memory in 1820; in general his authority may

e the western waters ... for the purpose of prose

Report of the Directors of the Western and Northern Inland Lock Nav

., p. 9

Id.,

Philip Schuyler and Simeon D

hways of America,

estern Canals in the Stat

d., pp

erneur Morris (Boston, 18

Id.,

., pp.

w-York relative to the Canal

Id.,

Western Canals in the

p. 20. Clinton gave Hawley great credit for h

tend direct into our country, and benefit all-merchants, millers, and farmers.'" Hawley then pointed out on a map that Lake Erie could be made a head of water. "A change having occurred in Mr. Hawley's business, he spent the winter of 1806 and 1807 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and n

d., pp

ing to the New-York Canals

e of New-York relativ

Id.,

of New Y

ents relating to

western Lakes and the tide-waters of the Hudson, presented to the Assembly February 21, 1816,

rise from Boston to summit level was one hundred and four feet and the descent to the Merrimac, thirty-two feet. It included twenty locks, seventy-five feet long, ten feet wide at the base and eleven feet wide at the top, capable of locking a boat of fourteen tons. The income from tolls beginning with $7,000 in 1808

ee app

ers from 1816 to 1825 contained in Public Documents relating to the New-York Canals (New York, 1821), pp. 103-185, 31

Appen

al, pp. 41-42; Hawley's source of informa

ferring to the change of route at R

gs of Washington, vo

ocuments (18

Narrative of the Festivities observed in honor of the Completio

f the Completion of the Grand Erie Canal, p. 321. This monograph h

., pp.

e population along its course, bearing the i

ew York, vol. ii, pp. 369, 378. McMa

town, Otsego County, New York,

0, p. 2, c. 6. Seward, Autobiography o

cal History of New Y

cal History of New Y

itical History of

ayuga, Seneca, Tompkins, Chenango, Broome, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Herkimer, Lewis, Jefferson, and C

s friends had confidently expected that the Chenango canal interests would secure his election. "The sixth Senatorial district to which the feeling in favor of the Chenango canal was mai

itical History of

l Opinions of Van Buren: Attitude tow

ompany for the amount of $3,000,000 subject to certain restrictions, some of which were that the route of the road should be through the Southern tier of counties in the state, one-fourth was to be completed in ten years, one-half in fifteen years, a

g, Empire S

w York State Canals by S. H.

ork relative to the Canals (Alb

cumentary Histo

Id.,

., p. 2

Id.,

Id.,

Id.,

Id.,

Id.,

th Cong., 1st sess., 1896, also

s of 189

e Document

of 1899,

ew York Commerce Com

of 1900,

hways of America,

ways of America, v

igation of this state," passed April 17, 1816. From Laws of the

and northern lakes and the Atlantic ocean," passed April 15, 1817. From L

d. See act Ma