state of New York, holding the first commercial rank in the United States, possesses within herself the best mode of communication between the Atlantic and western waters, by means of a canal between the tide waters of the Hudson river and Lake Erie, through which the wealth and trade of that large portion of the Union, bordering on the upper lakes, would for ever flow to our great commercial emporium: And whereas the legislatures of several of our sister states have made great exertions to secure to their own states the trade of that widely-extended country west of the Allegany, under natural advantages vastly inferior to those of this state: And whereas it is highly important that those advantages should as speedily as possible be improved, both to preserve and increase the commercial and national importance of this state: Therefore, resolved, if the honorable the senate concur herein, that a joint committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of exploring and causing an accurate survey to be made of the most eligible and direct route for a canal, to open a communication between the tide waters of the Hudson river and Lake Erie, to the end that Congress may be enabled to appropriate such sums as may be necessary to the accomplishment of that great national object."

This resolution was adopted, and John Tayler, John Nicholas, and Jonathan Ward, on the part of the senate, and Thomas R. Gold, William W. Gilbert, Obadiah German, and James L. Hogeboom, on the part of the assembly, constituted the com"mittee.

Mr. Gold submitted a report, not less eloquent in language than elevated in sentiment, in which he stated, that while the subject presented to the government of the United States, in removing natural barriers, and drawing together and preserving in political concord the distant parts of a widely-extended empire; an object inviting to patriotism, and interesting to its reputation, the commercial interests of this state impelled to the most strenuous efforts in promoting the same object. That in tracing the vestiges of ancient states, in whose councils munificence, guided by wisdom, presided, the remains of commercial improvement in public canals, and other undertakings, marked. the advanced state of society, and attested the empire of the arts of peace; that while military achievement had shed lustre on nations, works of public utility, tending to the happiness and

welfare of society, recorded the exercise of superior virtues, and afforded better monuments of true and lasting glory; that with these sentiments the citizens of this state had witnessed with high satisfaction the conduct of the executive of the United States, in recommending an appropriation of a portion of the surplus revenue for improving, by canals, the inland navigation of the country; and that while this state would forbear to derogate from the claims of others, she felt warranted in presenting to the government of the Union, her own territory, as pre-eminently distinguished for commercial advantages.

In pursuance of a recommendatiou by the committee, a resolution unanimously passed both houses, directing the surveyorgeneral, Simeon De Witt, to cause an accurate survey to be made of the various routes proposed for the contemplated communication. But how little the magnitude of that undertaking was understood, may be inferred from the fact that the appropriation made by the resolution to defray the expenses of its execution, was limited to the sum of six hundred dollars. There was then no civil engineer in the state. James Geddes, a land surveyor, who afterward became one of our most distinguished engineers, by the force of native genius and application in mature years, levelled and surveyed under instructions from the surveyor-general, with a view to ascertain, first, whether a canal could be made from the Oneida lake to Lake Ontario, at the mouth of Salmon creek; secondly, whether a navigation could be opened from the Oswego falls to Lake Ontario, along the Oswego river; thirdly, what was the best route for a canal from above the Falls of Niagara to Lewiston; and, fourthly, what was the most direct route, and what the practicability of a canal from Lake Erie to the Genesee river, and thence to the waters running east to the Seneca river. The topography of the country between the Seneca river and the Hudson was at that time comparatively better known. Mr. Geddes' report showed that a canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson was practicable, and could be made without serious difficulty. In 1810, on motion of Jonas Platt, of the senate, who was distinguished throughout a pure and well-spent life, by his zealous efforts to promote this great undertaking, Gouverneur Morris, De Witt Clinton, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Simeon De Witt, William North, Thomas Eddy, and Peter B. Porter, were appointed commissioners "to explore the

whole route for inland navigation from the Hudson river to Lake Ontario, and to Lake Erie." Cadwallader D. Colden, a contemporary historian, himself one of the earliest and ablest advocates of the canals, awards to Thomas Eddy the merit of having suggested this motion to Mr. Platt, and to both these gentlemen that of engaging De Witt Clinton's support, he being at that time a member of the senate. Another writert commemorates the efficient and enlightened exertions, at this period, of Hugh Williamson, who wrote, with reference to the contemplated improvement, papers entitled, "Observations on Navigable Canals," and also "Observations on the Means of Preserving the Commerce of New York," which were published in magazines of that day. The canal policy found, at the same time, earnest and vigorous supporters in the American and Philosophical Register, edited by Dr. David Hosack and Doctor John W. Francis.

The commissioners in March, 1811, submitted their report written by Gouverneur Morris, in which they showed the practicability and advantages of a continuous canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson, and stated their estimate of the cost at five millions of dollars, a sum which they ventured to predict would not exceed five per cent. of the value of the commodities which, within a century, would be annually transported on the proposed canal. We may pause here to remark, that the annual value of the commodities carried on the canals, instead of requiring a century to attain the sum of one hundred millions, reached that limit in twenty-five years. "By whom," added the commissioners, "shall the needful expense of the construction of the work be supported? We take the liberty of entering our feeble protest against a grant to private persons or companies. Too great a national interest is at stake. It must not become the subject of a job or a fund for speculation. Among many other objections there is one insuperable, that it would defeat the contemplated cheapness of transportation. It remains to determine whether the canal shall be at the cost of the state or of the Union. If the state were not bound by the federal band with her sister states, she might fairly ask compensation from those who own the soil along the great lakes, for giving permission to cut the canal at their expense; or her statesmen might deem it still more advisable to make the canal at her own expense, and + Dr. Hosack.

* Colden's Memoir.

*

* * * *

take for the use of it a transit duty, raising or lowering the impost, as circumstances might direct, for her own advantage. This might be the better course if the state stood alone; but, fortunately for the peace and happiness of all, this is not the case. We are connected by a bond which, if the prayers of good men are favorably heard, will be indissoluble. It becomes proper, therefore, to resort, for the solution of the present question, to the principles of distributive justice. That which presents itself is the trite adage, that those who participate in the benefit should contribute to the expense. The commissioners presume not to go one step further. The wisdom, as well as the justice, of the national legislature, will no doubt lead to the exercise, on their part, of prudent munificence; but the proportion, the condition, the compact, in short, must be the subject of treaty."

On the presentation of this report, De Witt Clinton introduced a bill, which became a law on the 8th of April, 1811, under the title of “An act to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of this state." This law began with the expressive recital, that "Whereas a communication by means of a canal navigation between the great lakes and Hudson's river, will encourage agriculture, promote commerce and manufactures, facilitate a free and general intercourse between different parts of the United States, and tend to the aggrandizement and prosperity of the country, and consolidate and strengthen the Union." The act added Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton to the board of commissioners, and authorized them to consider all matters relating to such inland navigation, with powers to make application in behalf of the state to Congress, or to any state or territory, to co-operate and aid in the undertaking, and to ascertain whether loans could be procured on advantageous terms on the credit of the state, for the purpose of constructing the canal, and the terms on which the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company would surrender their rights and property.

Two of the commissioners, Mr. Morris and Mr. Clinton, repaired to the federal capital, and submitted the subject to the consideration of the President (Mr. Madison) and of Congress. In 1812, the commissioners reported that, although it was uncertain whether the national government would do anything, it certainly would do nothing which would afford immediate aid to the enterprise; that Tennessee had instructed her representatives

in Congress to support any laudable application for aid in relation to the canal navigation between Hudson's river and the great lakes; that New Jersey had declined to render assistance, because she had not sufficient means to complete her own plans of improvement already projected; that Connecticut, for the reasons that she could not supply money, and that she reposed full confidence in the wisdom of her representatives in Congress, deemed it inexpedient to take any measures on the subject; that Massachusetts, in language characteristic of the impartial and dignified wisdom of conscious greatness, had instructed her representatives to use their influence in favor of the application of New York; that Ohio fully approved the plan, while the youthful territory of Michigan (looking probably down the St. Lawrence, as well as across to the Hudson) was of the opinion that the proposed communication was not so desirable as a canal around the cataracts of Niagara, and another passing the falls of Oswego.

The commissioners then submitted that, having offered the canal to the national government, and that offer having virtually been declined, the state was now at liberty to consult and pursue the maxims of policy, and these seemed to demand imperatively that the canal should be made by herself, and for her own account, as soon as the circumstances would permit; and that, whether the subject was considered with a view to commerce and finance, or on the more extensive scale of policy, there would be a want of wisdom, and almost of piety, in neglecting to employ, for public advantage, those means which Divine Providence had placed so completely within her power. They estimated the ultimate income of the canal at one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; a revenue adequate to defray the cost of the enterprise. With the earnestness so characteristic of Mr. Morris, the report proceeds: "Things which, twenty years ago, a man would have been laughed at for believing, we now see. At that time the most ardent mind, proceeding on established facts by the unerring rules of arithmetic, was obliged to drop the pen at results which imagination could not embrace. Under circumstances of this sort, there can be no doubt that those microcosmic minds which, habitually occupied in the consideration of what is little, are incapable of discerning what is great, and which already stigmatize the proposed canal as a romantic scheme,