Historic Highways of America Volume XIV Part 2

The most serious objection against the Ontario route, is, that it will inevitably enrich the territory of a foreign power, at the expense of the United States. If a ca.n.a.l is cut around the falls of Niagara, and no countervailing nor counteracting system is adopted in relation to lake Erie, the commerce of the west is lost to us for ever. When a vessel once descends into Ontario, she will pursue the course ordained by Nature. The British Government are fully aware of this, and are now taking the most active measures to facilitate the pa.s.sage down the St Lawrence.

It is not to be concealed, that a great portion of the productions of our western country are now transported to Montreal, even with all the inconveniences attending the navigation down the Seneca and Oswego rivers; but if this route is improved in the way proposed, and the other not opened, the consequences will be most prejudicial. A barrel of flour is now transported from Cayuga lake to Montreal for $1.50, and it cannot be conveyed to Albany for less than $2.50. This simple fact speaks a volume of admonitory instruction. But taking it for granted, that the Ontario route will bring the commerce of the west to New-York, yet the other ought to be preferred, on account of the superior facilities it affords.

In the first place, it is nearer. The distance from Buffalo to Rome, is less than 200 miles in the course of the intended ca.n.a.l: by lake Ontario and Oswego, it is 232.

2. A loaded boat could pa.s.s from Buffalo to Rome by the Erie route, in less than seven days, and with entire safety. By the Ontario route, it will be perfectly uncertain, and not a little hazardous. After leaving Niagara river, it would have to pa.s.s an inland sea to the extent of 127 miles, as boisterous and as dangerous as the Atlantic. And besides a navigation of at least twenty miles over another lake, it would have to ascend two difficult streams for 55 miles; no calculation could then be made, either on the certainty or safety of this complicated and inconvenient navigation.

3. When a lake vessel would arrive at Buffalo, she would have to unload her cargo, and when this cargo arrived at Albany by the Erie ca.n.a.l, it would be shifted on board of a river-sloop, in order to be transported to New-York. From the time of the first loading on the great lakes, to the last unloading at the storehouses in New-York, there would be three loadings and three unloadings on this route. But when a lake vessel arrived with a view of pa.s.sing the ca.n.a.l of Niagara, she would be obliged to shift her lading for that purpose, for it would be almost impracticable to use lake vessels on the Niagara river, on account of the difficulty of the ascending navigation. At Lewistown, or some other place of the Niagara, another change of the cargo on board of a lake vessel for Ontario would be necessary: at Oswego another, and at Albany another; so that on this route there would be five loadings and five unloadings before the commodities were stored in New York. This difference is an object of great consequence, and presents the most powerful objections against the Ontario route; for to the delay we must add the acc.u.mulated expense of these changes of the cargo, the storage, the waste and damage, especially by theft (where the chances of depredation are increased by the merchandise pa.s.sing through a mult.i.tude of hands) and the additional lake vessels, boats and men that will be required, thereby increasing in this respect alone, the cost two thirds above that attending the other course. And in general it may be observed, that the difference between a single and double freight forms an immense saving. Goods are brought from Europe for twenty cents per cubic foot; whereas the price from Philadelphia to Baltimore, is equal to ten cents. This shews how far articles once embarked, are conveyed with a very small addition of freight, and if such is the difference between a single and a double freight, how much greater must it be in the case under consideration! If the fall from lake Erie to lake Ontario be 450 feet, as stated in Mr secretary Gallatin's report on ca.n.a.ls, it will require at least 45 locks for a navigation around the cataract.

Whether it would be practicable to accommodate all the vessels which the population and opulence of future times will create in those waters, with a pa.s.sage through so many locks acc.u.mulated within a short distance, is a question well worthy of serious consideration. At all events, the demurrage must be frequent, vexatious, and expensive.

When we consider the immense expense which would attend the ca.n.a.l proposed on the Niagara river; a ca.n.a.l requiring so many locks, and pa.s.sing through such difficult ground; when we view the Oswego river from its outlet at Oswego to its origin in Oneida lake, enc.u.mbered with dangerous rapids and falls, and flowing through a country almost impervious to ca.n.a.l operations; and when we contemplate the numerous embarra.s.sments which are combined with the improvement of Wood Creek, we are prepared to believe that the expense of this route will not greatly fall short of the other.

It is, however, alleged that it is not practicable to make this ca.n.a.l; and that if practicable, the expense will be enormous, and will far transcend the faculties of the state.

Lake Erie is elevated 541 feet above the tide waters at Troy. The only higher ground between it and the Hudson is but a few miles from the lake: and this difficulty can be easily surmounted by deep cutting; of course no tunnel will be required. The rivers which cross the line of the ca.n.a.l, can be easily pa.s.sed by aqueducts; on every summit level, plenty of water can be obtained; whenever there is a great rise or descent, locks can be erected, and the whole line will not require more than sixty-two; perhaps there is not an equal extent of country in the world, which presents fewer obstacles to the establishment of a ca.n.a.l.

The liberality of Nature has created the great ducts and arteries, and the ingenuities of art can easily provide the connecting veins. The general physiognomy of the country is champaign, and exhibits abundance of water: a gentle rising from the Hudson to the lake; a soil well adapted for such operations: no impa.s.sable hills, and no insurmountable waters. As to distance, it is not to be considered in relation to practicability. If a ca.n.a.l can be made for fifty miles, it can be made for three hundred, provided there is no essential variance in the face of the country; the only difference will be that in the latter case, it will take more time, and consume more money.

But this opinion does not rest for its support upon mere speculation.

Ca.n.a.ls have been successfully cut through more embarra.s.sing ground, in various parts of the United States; and even in part of the intended route from Schenectady to Rome, locks have been erected at the Little Falls, and at other places; and short ca.n.a.ls have been made, and all these operations have taken place in the most difficult parts of the whole course of the contemplated Erie navigation. Mr. William Weston, one of the most celebrated civil engineers in Europe, who has superintended ca.n.a.ls in this state and Pennsylvania, and who is perfectly well acquainted with the country has thus expressed his opinion on the subject: "Should your n.o.ble but stupendous plan of uniting Lake Erie with the Hudson, be carried into effect, you have to fear no rivalry. The commerce of the immense extent of country, bordering on the upper lakes, is yours for ever, and to such an incalculable amount as would baffle all conjecture to conceive. Its execution would confer immortal honor on the projectors and supporters, and would in its eventual consequences, render New-York the greatest commercial emporium in the world, with perhaps the exception, at some distant day of New-Orleans, or some other depot at the mouth of the majestic Mississippi. From your perspicuous topographical description and neat plan and profile of the route of the contemplated ca.n.a.l, I entertain little doubt of the practicability of the measure."

With regard to the expense of this work, different estimates will be formed. The commissioners appointed for that purpose were of opinion that it would not cost more than five millions of dollars. On this subject we must be guided by the light which experience affords in a.n.a.logous cases. The ca.n.a.l of Languedoc, or ca.n.a.l of the two seas in France, connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and is 180 miles in length: it has 114 locks and sluices, and a tunnel 720 feet long. The breadth of the ca.n.a.l is 144 feet, and its depth six feet: it was begun in 1666, and finished in 1681, and cost 540,000 sterling, or 3,000 sterling a mile.

The Holstein ca.n.a.l, begun in 1777, and finished in 1785, extends about fifty miles: is 100 feet wide at the top, and 54 at the bottom, and not less than ten feet deep in any part. Ships drawing nine feet four inches of water, pa.s.s through it from the German ocean, in the vicinity of Tonningen, into the Baltic. From two to three thousand ships have pa.s.sed in one year. The expense of the whole work was a little more than a million and a half of dollars, which would be at the rate of 30,000 dollars a mile for this ship navigation.

The extreme length of the ca.n.a.l from the Forth to the Clyde, in Scotland, is 35 miles. It rises and falls 160 feet by means of 39 locks.

Vessels pa.s.s drawing eight feet water, having 19 feet beam, and 73 feet length. The cost is calculated at 200,000 sterling, which is at the rate of about 23,000 dollars a mile. But this was a ca.n.a.l for ships drawing eight feet of water, with an extraordinary rise for its length, and having more than one lock for every mile.

The following will give an idea of the money expended on such works in England:--

_Cost_ _Miles_ The Rochdale Ca.n.a.l 291,900 31-1/2 Ellesmere 400,000 57 Kennet and Avon 420,000 78 Grand Junction 500,000 90 Leeds and Liverpool 800,000 129

The miles of ca.n.a.l are 385-1/2, and the cost is 2,411,900 sterling, or about 28,000 dollars per mile.

But in the estimation of the cost of these ca.n.a.ls, unquestionably the price of the land over which they pa.s.s is included, and this is enormous. The land alone for one ca.n.a.l of 16 miles, is said to have cost 90,000 sterling. With us this would be but small. If we look at the history of the English ca.n.a.ls, we shall see how many objects of great expense are connected with them, with which we should have nothing to do, and that most of them have encountered and surmounted obstacles which we should not meet with. For instance, the Grand Junction ca.n.a.l pa.s.ses more than once the great ridge which divides the waters of England; ours will pa.s.s over a country which in comparison is champaign.

But it is said that the price of labor in our country is so much above what it is in England, that we must add greatly to the cost of her ca.n.a.ls in estimating the expense of ours. But that is certainly a false conclusion, for not only must the price of the land and the advent.i.tious objects which have been before referred to, be deducted from the cost of the foreign ca.n.a.ls, but we must consider that there will be almost as great a difference in our favor in the cost of the material and brute labor, as there is in favor of England as to human labor, and it is well known that so much human labor is not now required on ca.n.a.ls as formerly. Machines for facilitating excavation have been invented and used with great success.

Mr. Gallatin's report on ca.n.a.ls contains several estimates of the cost of contemplated ones. From Weymouth to Taunton, in Ma.s.sachusetts, the expense of a ca.n.a.l of 26 miles, with a lockage of 260 feet, is set down at $1,250,000. From Brunswick to Trenton, 28 miles, with a lockage of 100 feet, 800,000 dollars. From Christiana to Elk, 22 miles with a lockage of 148 feet, 750,000 dollars. From Elizabeth river to Pasquotank, 22 miles, with a lockage of 40 feet, 250,000 dollars. These estimates thus vary from 48,000 to less than 12,000 dollars a mile, and furnish the medium of about 31,000 dollars a mile. But it must be observed that they are for small distances, are calculated to surmount particular obstacles, and contemplate an extraordinary number of locks, and that they do not therefore furnish proper data from which to form correct conclusions, with respect to the probable cost of an extensive ca.n.a.l, sometimes running over a great number of miles upon a level without any expense for lockage, or any other expense than the mere earthwork.

Mr. Weston, before mentioned, estimated the expense of a ca.n.a.l from the tide waters at Troy to lake Ontario, a distance of 160 miles, (exclusive of lake Oneida,) going around the Cohoes, and embracing 55 locks of eight feet lift each, at 2,200,000 dollars, a little more than 13,000 dollars a mile. Fortunately, however, we have more accurate information than mere estimates.

In the appendix to Mr Gallatin's report, it is stated by Mr Joshua Gilpin, that "by actual measurement, and the sums paid on the feeder, it was found that one mile on the Delaware and Chesapeake ca.n.a.l, the most difficult of all others, from its being nearly altogether formed through hard rocky ground, cost 13,000 dollars, and one other mile perfectly level, and without particular impediments, cost 2,300 dollars; from hence, the general average would be reduced to 7,650 dollars per mile."

The Middles.e.x ca.n.a.l,[31] in Ma.s.sachusetts, runs over twenty-eight miles of ground, presenting obstacles much greater than can be expected on the route we purpose. This ca.n.a.l cost 478,000 dollars, which is about 17,000 dollars a mile. It contains 22 locks of solid masonry and excellent workmanship and to accomplish this work, it was necessary to dig in some places to the depth of 20 feet, to cut through ledges of rocks, to fill some vallies and mora.s.ses, and to throw several aqueducts across the intervening rivers. One of these across the river Shawshine is 280 feet long, and 22 feet above the river.

From the Tonewanta creek to the Seneca river, is a fall of 195 feet From thence to the Rome summit, is a rise of 50 "

From thence to the Hudson river, is a fall of 380 "

--- The whole rise and fall 625 feet

This will require 62 locks of ten feet lift each. The expense of such locks as experimentally proved in several instances in this state would be about 620,000 dollars.

We have seen that on the Middles.e.x ca.n.a.l, there are 22 locks for 28 miles, which is a lock for somewhat less than every mile, whereas, 62 locks for 300 miles is but about one lock for every five miles; and the lockage of the Middles.e.x ca.n.a.l, would alone cost 220,000 dollars. It would, therefore, appear to be an allowance perhaps too liberal, to consider the cost of it as a fair criterion of the expense of ca.n.a.ls in general in this country, and of this in particular. Reservoirs and tunnels, are the most expensive part of the operation, and none will be necessary in our whole route. The expense of the whole earth work of excavating a mile of ca.n.a.l on level ground fifty feet wide and five feet deep, at 18 cents per cubic yard, and allowing for the cost of forming and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g the banks, puddling, etc. will not exceed 4000 dollars per mile, and the only considerable aqueduct on the whole line, will be over the Genesee river. From a deliberate consideration of these different estimates and actual expenditures, we are fully persuaded that this great work will not cost more than 20,000 dollars a mile, or six millions of dollars in the whole; but willing to make every possible allowance; and even conceding that it will cost double that sum, yet still we contend that there is nothing which ought to r.e.t.a.r.d its execution. The ca.n.a.l cannot be made in a short time. It will be the work perhaps of 10 or 15 years.

The money will not be wanted at once. The expenditure, in order to be beneficial ought not to exceed 500,000 dollars a year, and the work may be accomplished in two ways, either by companies, incorporated for particular sections of the route, or by the state. If the first is resorted to, pecuniary sacrifices will still be necessary on the part of the public, and great care ought to be taken to guard against the high tolls, which will certainly injure, if not ruin the whole enterprise.

If the state shall see fit to achieve this great work, there can be no difficulty in providing funds. Stock can be created and sold at an advanced price. The ways and means of paying the interest will be only required. After the first year, supposing an annual expenditure of 500,000 dollars, thirty thousand dollars must be raised to pay an interest of six per cent; after the second year 60,000, and so on. At this rate of interest they will regularly increase with beneficial appropriation, and will be so little in amount that it may be raised in many shapes without being burdensome to the community. In all human probability, the augmented revenue proceeding from the public salt works, and the increased price of the state lands, in consequence of this undertaking, will more than extinguish the interest of the debt contracted for that purpose. We should also take into view, the land already subscribed by individuals for this work, amounting to 106,632 acres. These donations, together with those which may be confidently antic.i.p.ated, will exceed in value a million of dollars, and it will be at all times in the power of the state to raise a revenue from the imposition of transit duties, which may be so light as scarcely to be felt, and yet the income may be so great, as in a short time to extinguish the debt, and this might take effect on the completion of every important section of the work.

If the legislature shall consider this important project in the same point of view, and shall unite with us in opinion, that the general prosperity is intimately and essentially involved in its prosecution, we are fully persuaded that now is the proper time for its commencement.

Delays are the refuge of weak minds, and to procrastinate on this occasion is to show a culpable inattention to the bounties of Nature; a total insensibility to the blessings of Providence, and an inexcusable neglect of the interests of society. If it were intended to advance the views of individuals, or to foment the divisions of party; if it promoted the interests of a few, at the expense of the prosperity of many; if its benefits were limited as to place, or fugitive as to duration, then indeed it might be received with cold indifference, or treated with stern neglect; but the overflowing blessing from this great fountain of public good and national abundance, will be as extensive as our country, and as durable as time.

The considerations which now demand an immediate, and an undivided attention to this great object, are so obvious, so various, and so weighty, that we shall only attempt to glance at some of the most prominent.

In the first place, it must be evident, that no period could be adopted in which the work can be prosecuted with less expense. Every day augments the value of the land through which the ca.n.a.l will pa.s.s; and when we consider the surplus hands which have been recently dismissed from the army into the walks of private industry, and the facility with which an addition can be procured to the ma.s.s of our active labour, in consequence of the convulsions of Europe, it must be obvious that this is now the time to make those indispensable acquisitions.

2. The longer this work is delayed, the greater will be the difficulty in surmounting the interests that will rise up in opposition to it.

Expedients on a contracted scale have already been adopted for the facilitations of intercourse. Turnpikes, locks, and short ca.n.a.ls, have been resorted to, and in consequence of those establishments, villages have been laid out, and towns have been contemplated. To prevent injurious speculation, to avert violent opposition, and to exhibit dignified impartiality and fraternal affection to your fellow-citizens, it is proper that they should be notified at once of your intentions.

3. The experience of the late war has impressed every thinking man in the community, with the importance of this communication. The expenses of transportation frequently exceeded the original value of the article, and at all times operated with injurious pressure upon the finances of the nation. The money thus lost for the want of this communication, would have perhaps defrayed more than one half of its expense.

4. Events which are daily occurring on our frontiers, demonstrate the necessity of this work. Is it of importance that our honourable merchants should not be robbed of their legitimate profits; that the public revenues should not be seriously impaired by dishonest smuggling, and that the commerce of our cities should not be supplanted by the mercantile establishments of foreign countries? then it is essential that this sovereign remedy for maladies so destructive and ruinous should be applied. It is with inconceivable regret we record the well known fact, that merchandise from Montreal has been sold to an alarming extent in our borders, for 15 per cent below the New-York prices.

5. A measure of this kind will have a benign tendency in raising the value of the national domains, in expediting the sale, and enabling the payment. Our national debt may thus, in a short time, be extinguished.

Our taxes of course will be diminished, and a considerable portion of revenue may then be expended in great public improvements; in encouraging the arts and sciences; in patronising the operations of industry; in fostering the inventions of genius, and in diffusing the blessings of knowledge.

6. However serious the fears which have been entertained of a dismemberment of the Union by collisions between the north and the south, it is to be apprehended that the most imminent danger lies in another direction, and that a line of separation may be eventually drawn between the atlantic and the western states, unless they are cemented by a common, an ever acting and a powerful interest. The commerce of the ocean, and the trade of the lakes, pa.s.sing through one channel, supplying the wants, increasing the wealth, and reciprocating the benefits of each great section of the empire, will form an imperishable cement of connexion, and an indissoluble bond of union. New-York is both atlantic and western, and the only state in which this union of interest can be formed and perpetuated, and in which this great centripetal power can be energetically applied. Standing on this exalted eminence, with power to prevent a train of the most extensive and afflicting calamities that ever visited the world, (for such a train will inevitably follow a dissolution of the Union,) she will justly be considered an enemy to the human race, if she does not exert for this purpose the high faculties which the Almighty has put into her hands.

Lastly. It may be confidently a.s.serted, that this ca.n.a.l, as to the extent of its route, as to the countries which it connects, and as to the consequences which it will produce, is without a parallel in the history of mankind. The union of the Baltic and Euxine; of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean; of the Euxine and the Caspian; and of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, has been projected or executed by the chiefs of powerful monarchies, and the splendor of the design has always attracted the admiration of the world. It remains for a free state to create a new era in history, and to erect a work, more stupendous, more magnificent, and more beneficial, than has. .h.i.therto been achieved by the human race. Character is as important to nations as to individuals, and the glory of a republic, founded on the promotion of the general good, is the common property of all its citizens.

We have thus discharged with frankness and plainness, and with every sentiment of respect, a great duty to ourselves, to our fellow-citizens, and to posterity, in presenting this subject to the fathers of the commonwealth. And may that Almighty Being, in whose hands are the destinies of states and nations, enlighten your councils and invigorate your exertions, in favour of the best interests of our beloved country.

CHAPTER IV

PLANNING, BUILDING, AND OPENING

By an act of the New York legislature of April 17, 1816,[32] the ca.n.a.l commissioners were ordered to send to the legislature "a plain and comprehensive Report of their proceedings;" their duty was to find a route for the projected ca.n.a.l, estimate the expense, ascertain on what terms the state of New York could secure loans, and to apply for donations of both land and money.[33]

The committee met at New York May 17, 1816, and organized. The proposed line of the ca.n.a.l was divided into three sections and an engineer was appointed for each. The Western Section embraced the portion of the route between Lake Erie and the Seneca River; the Middle Section was that between the Seneca River and Rome on the Mohawk; the Eastern Section extended from Rome to Albany on the Hudson. The only point at which there was serious question as to the best route of the ca.n.a.l was between Lake Erie and the Genesee country; and the question was whether to pa.s.s south or north of the "mountain ridge" which lay south of the sh.o.r.e of Lake Ontario. Four engineers were sent to make an examination.

Two commissioners and engineers were sent to inspect the Middles.e.x Ca.n.a.l in Ma.s.sachusetts, "the best artificial navigation in the United States."

The commissioners met again July 15, after which three of them went to inspect the important portions of a ca.n.a.l route which was now being marked out by the corps of surveyors from Lake Erie to the Mohawk. The size of the ca.n.a.l proposed was forty feet wide on water surface, twenty-eight feet wide at the base and four feet deep--capable of handling boats of one hundred tons. The locks were to be ninety feet long, twelve feet in width in the clear. These would accommodate any lumber that was then being shipped from the regions tapped by the ca.n.a.l.

The route of the ca.n.a.l survey was being marked by "bench marks, level pegs, and other fixtures; ... Shafts have been sunk into the earth in various places, to ascertain its nature, with a view to a just estimation of the labour required, and of the expense to be incurred."

The point of junction with Lake Erie, forever a doubtful point until the very last, was now planned at the mouth of Buffalo Creek; the water was higher there, of course, than at any point in the Niagara River, "and every inch gained in elevation will produce a large saving in the expense of excavation throughout the Lake Erie level."

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP AND PROFILE OF THE ERIE Ca.n.a.l