On April 7, 1819, the Legislature passed an act "Concerning the Great Western and Northern Canals," authorizing the "commissioners of the canal fund, in addition to the sums which they are already authorized to borrow, to borrow, from time to time, monies, on the credit of the State, at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, and not exceeding in any one year a sum, which together with the net income of the canal fund, and with the sums which they are already authorized to borrow, shall amount to six hundred thousand dollars; for which monies so to be borrowed, certificates of stock shall be issued in the manner directed in and by the act entitled 'an act to improve the funds, and to provide for the redemption of the funded debt of this State,' payable at such time or times as may be determined by the said board, out of the said canal fund, and to pay to the canal commissioners the monies so to be borrowed." 1

By the second section of said act, the Canal Commissioners were authorized and empowered,

"in behalf of the State and on the credit of the canal fund, to proceed to open communications by canals and locks, between the Seneca river and Lake Erie; between such point on the Mohawk river where the middle section of the great western canal shall terminate and the Hudson river; between Fort Edward and the navigable waters of the Hudson river, and between the great western canal, and the salt works in the village of Salina; 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 economical and prudent manner in all such works as may be proper to make the said canals and locks, and on completing any of the works 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."

By the third section of said act, the Canal Commissioners were empowered to take possession of lands and a plan for condemnation proceedings was provided similar to that in the act of 1817.

The annual reports of the Canal Commissioners to the Legislature throw much light on the conditions existing in

the State during the period of canal construction, extending from July 4, 1817, to October 26, 1825. These form an essential part of the history of the State. The territory, through which the Erie and Champlain canals were constructed, comprises some of the fairest portions of the State, where settlements were being made by the heads of its leading families. The work was extensive and required large forces of laborers, and involved an expenditure of large sums of money on the various sections under construction; and in one way or another the work was brought in touch with a majority of the inhabitants of the State. Towns and villages began to spring into being along the routes of the Erie and Champlain canals, and as fast as the various sections were completed, celebrations were held and traffic was begun over them.

Governor Clinton, in his speech to the Legislature of 1820, said:

"In less than two years and five months one hundred and twenty miles of artificial navigation have been finished and thus the physical as well as the financial practicability of uniting the waters of the western and northern lakes with the Atlantic ocean has been established beyond the reach of doubt or cavil. The efforts of direct hostility to the system of internal improvements will be feeble. The expense of carrying a barrel of flour by land to Albany from the country about Cayuga lake was more than twice as much as the exportation of one from New York to Liverpool.”1

On April 13, 1820, the Legislature passed an act, entitled, "For the maintenance and protection of the Erie and Champlain canals, and the works connected therewith," whereby rules and regulations were authorized for the control of boats navigating such waterways, and providing against obstructions being placed therein and regulating the rate of speed; providing for inspection, weighing, and payment of tolls to collectors, and prescribing rates of tolls and general supervision and superintendence of such waterways.

In the report of the Canal Commissioners to the Legislature, under date of March 12, 1821, may be found a state

ment of the rates of toll charged and the sums collected on the completed sections of the canal. In this same report, in speaking of the services rendered by the engineers, they say:

"In looking back to the numerous difficulties, and responsibilities, some of them of an aspect the most disheartening, which surrounded the canals, especially in their commencement, we feel compelled, by common justice, to commend the aid, which has been, at all times, afforded by our engineers. In the selection of all the persons, who are now employed by us, under this character, we have been eminently fortunate. But to the Hon. Benjamin Wright and James Geddes, the State is mostly indebted. Possessing much local information, competent science, long experience in many kinds of business bearing some analogy to canal operations, and well established characters for industry and fidelity, these gentlemen have rendered the most essential services, in all the duties of their department. They were first appointed engineers; they have unceasingly, and with improving fitness, devoted their best faculties to the great cause in which they were engaged. And they have hitherto been found equal to the high trusts confided to them."

They further state in this report that:

"The State has now been engaged, nearly four years, in the actual construction of the Erie and Champlain canals. And the success of her efforts has been, at least, equal to the expectation of the most ardent advocates of these measures. This success could not have been attained, without care, vigilance, discretion and energy, in the complicated and arduous labors, of which it is the fruit. And these labors could not have been performed, without the support of a wise foresight and just liberality, in several successive legislatures. To us, it appears, that these legislatures have afforded a spectacle most animating, encouraging, and delightful, in reference to the sagacity of the people to understand, and their wisdom to provide for, their most substantial interests. They exhibit the most impressive example, which the United States have yet produced, since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, of the beneficent effects of free government, upon the character of a community. They are intimately connected with the best hopes of the republic. Rising above all fugitive and partial interests, and with a full detail of the costs of these works before them, the immediate representatives of the people, have so clearly discerned the benefits which they would introduce, as to apply to them from year to year, a greater proportion of their funds than

is sufficient to defray the ordinary expenses of their State government." 1

In the convention of 1821 the canals of this State received their first constitutional consideration. Among the questions discussed was that relating to tolls. Chancellor Kent, whose vote was the decisive one in Council of Revision when the original canal law was approved in 1817, said (as reported in abstract):

"The rates and duties were now very low, and they ought to be pledged as they now stand, if we meant to make a sure and efficient pledge to the public creditors. The canal undertaking was an immense one, and would create, before it was completed, an enormous State debt, and it was essential to our credit, and prosperity, and character, that the debt should be funded on the most solid basis, and not left to the future pleasure of the Legislature. This State has committed itself so far in the prosecution of the work, that it cannot recede, and must go forward and complete it, and unless we now permanently, by constitutional provision, appropriate these funds to the redemption of the debt, which was already created, and which should hereafter be incurred, it were deeply to be regretted that the subject was ever brought forward in the convention. It was politic and honest to give such a satisfactory pledge of our public faith and ability. We should most materially wound our credit, and impair our ability to proceed, if we now withheld that assurance from the creditors. No fund could be more justly appropriated, since the debt arose out of the very subject of the canals and the burden would operate equally and fairly upon every part of the State, since the tolls and duties would fall upon the consumers of the products conveyed to and fro upon the canals, and that consumption would generally be in a ratio to the population." "

Chancellor Kent and others prevailed and there was inserted in the Constitution of 1821, Section 10 of Article 7, which, among other things, continued the imposition of tolls, the duties on goods sold at auction, duties on salt, the annual tax of $5,000 levied on steamboats, and provided that all these except prior appropriations therefrom should be applied to the payment of interest and to reimburse the prin

1.

2.

2 N. Y. Canal Laws, 22, 23.

"Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Convention of 1821 565.

cipal borrowed to complete navigable communications between the great western and northern lakes and the Atlantic ocean and until the complete payment of such principal and interest be made; and in substance, that the Legislature should never sell or dispose of said navigable communications, or any part or section thereof, but the same should be and remain the property of the State. Chancellor Kent and others thus early in this State provided against such a disposal of its canals as occurred in Pennsylvania through which that commonwealth lost its canals to its railway corporations.

XII. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT-POLITICAL PHASES.

At the opening of each session of the Legislature during the period of canal construction, the Governor then in office addressed himself, among other things, to the progress being made and to various phases of the work which he considered required special consideration. In addition to this the Canal Commissioners made their annual report to the Legislature in which they reviewed the progress of the work during the preceding year and made special recommendations as to matters demanding additional legislation. These reports form a comprehensive history of canal construction at that period and were examined with care and formally reported upon by the canal committees of the two branches of the Legislature, together with proposed legislation necessary to carry into effect the recommendations of the Canal Commissioners. As the work neared completion, outlying communities became interested in canal construction and frequently petitioned the Legislature that additional powers be conferred upon the commissioners to take into consideration and report upon lateral waterways, with a view of bringing them into navigable communication with the trunk canals. The impetus given to business along the Erie and Champlain canals as soon as portions of them were open to navigation was such that communities all over the State were eager for the extension of the artificial waterways to the remote sections of the State.