NOTES ON THE CANAL
[Written by Mr. Tilden on September 4-5, 1885, in Answer to Queries on the Subject by Mr. Dana.]
"Q. 1. Would not the expense of deepening the canal, so as to add two feet to the depth of water, be very great? I understand that now, for a great part of its course, the bottom of the canal is composed, for about a foot depth, of clay and hydraulic cement packed closely, so as to prevent leakage; and would not the expense of taking this up and replacing it, after the bottom was dug up, be more serious than any calculation has yet allowed?
"A. The idea of increasing the depth of the canal two feet is a gross exaggeration of what is possible or proper to do.
"To build up the banks two feet would necessitate building up the locks. To excavate the bottom two feet would be impracticable.
"At page 23 of my Message for 1873 it was stated: 'The waterway was practically never excavated in every part to its proper dimensions. Time, the action of the elements, and neglect of administration all tend to fill it by deposits.' There is no doubt that the sides of the waterway have been changed, and the slope filled in with silt, narrowing the bottom of the canal, so that it is only in the middle that the proper depth is approached, and inconvenience is felt in one boat passing another.
"My suggestion was to bring up the canal to an honest seven feet. All the structures of the canal were adapted to that. 'Bring it up to seven feet—honest seven feet—and on all the levels, wherever you can, bottom it out; throw the excavation upon the banks; increase that seven feet toward eight feet, as you can do so progressively and economically. You may also take out the bench-walls.'
"This suggestion looked to gaining on the long levels, when it was found practicable, some inches increasing seven feet 'toward' eight feet. The suggestion was carefully limited, because in many places you cannot change the bottom without interfering with culverts, or carrying the excavation below the mitre sills of the locks."
As to the Capacity of the Erie
"The lockages at Frankfort, during the season of 1884, were 20,800.
"The lockages in 1873 were stated on page 22 of my Message of 1875 to have been 24,960.
"'The theoretical capacity of the canal will be three or four times the largest tonnage it has ever reached. There is no doubt it can conveniently and easily do double the business which has ever existed, even though the locks be not manned and worked with the highest efficiency.'
"If that was true when the lockages were 25,000, how much more so is it when the lockages have fallen to 20,800 as in 1884?
"Q. 2. How far does the fact that the lake transportation has almost entirely passed into the hands of railroad people, affect the probability of increasing the business of the canal, in case it should be deepened?
"Q. 3. Can the canal be maintained in the face of the increasing railroad competition?
"A. Total tons of each class of articles which came to the Hudson River from Erie and Champlain Canal:
[From the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Works upon the trade and tonnage of the Canals for the year 1884, page 100.]
| 1874 | 1884 | |
| Products of the forest | 1,192,681 | 1,097,450 |
| Agriculture | 1,470,872 | 1,054,041 |
| Manufactures | 49,426 | 56,899 |
| Merchandise | 12,905 | 45,538 |
| Other articles | 497,228 | 377,259 |
| Total | 3,223,112 | 2,631,187 |
"Tonnage of the canal, and of the Central and Erie railroads:
[From the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Works upon trade and tonnage of the Canals for the year 1884, pages 94-95.]
| 1874 | 1884 | |
| New York Canals | 5,804,588 | 5,009,488 |
| New York Central R. R. | 6,114,678 | 10,212,418 |
| Erie Railway | 6,364,276 | [35]16,219,598 |
| 18,283,542 | 31,441,504 |
"The railroads have competed successfully with the Erie Canal, and have carried off all the increase in the tonnage. Notwithstanding the State has ceased to charge tolls, and has imposed an annual tax of $700,000 upon the taxpayers to maintain the canals. The Erie Canal has failed to keep up its business. It holds on to a portion of the lumber, and of the grain.
"There seems to be no probability that the Erie Canal will regain any portion of the business it has lost.
"None of the grand schemes by which it is proposed to enlarge or improve it can, to any appreciable extent, cheapen the transportation. They will simply waste the money of the taxpayer, and revive the system of contracting, jobbery, and fraud.
"The advantage of lengthening the locks so as to pass two boats at once, when there is plenty of time to pass four times the boats which the tonnage requires, is doubtful, and is at least inconsiderable. It can only pretend to save five minutes in a lockage, if, in fact, it will save any time.
"Unless some effectual expedient be adopted to prevent the waste of water in locking through a single boat, it would consume three times as much water in the long lock as in the short lock. I understand that the superintendent thinks that ruinous mischief can be avoided, but I have had no means of testing how the thing would work in practice.
"In 1867, when I examined the subject, I found that on the Delaware and Raritan they used boats of about the same dimensions as the boats in use on the Erie, notwithstanding the locks were capable of passing two boats at a time.
"I send my Message of 1875; my speech in the Constitutional Convention in 1867, which contains a fuller discussion of the subject. I send, also, the last report of the Superintendent of Public Works on the canals.
"The statistical tables are so changed from the ancient forms that it is difficult to get the materials for a satisfactory comparison of the present with the former business.
"A certain portion of the business naturally belongs to the railroads. The principles which govern this division are set forth in the beginning of my speech in 1867. The business would naturally be divided, and the share of the railroads would be increased as the network of the railroads is perfected, and more and more points are touched.
"Besides, the railroads will compete for additional business at less than cost, charging the loss upon the paying portion of their traffic.
"On the whole, it must be observed:
"Within the last ten years the cost of transportation by railroad has been reduced one-half. All the improvements tending to cheapen transportation are made by the railroads.
"As to the clamor about diverting traffic to the Canadian lines, it is senseless. The great mass of grain brought from the West is for local consumption. Two millions and a half of people residing in the city of New York and its suburbs are not going to bring the grain for their own consumption by way of Montreal. A large share of the flour and grain carried by the New York Central is for local consumption in New England. Formerly it came to New York city, and was distributed from that point. It is now carried direct. For instance, flour and grain, for consumption at Springfield and Worcester, are carried from the point of shipment in the West direct to those places without change of cars. They cannot be diverted.
"The Erie Canal still has a certain utility. It should be nursed along, but without any expectation of regaining the place it once occupied in the transportation of the country. The taxpayers of this State will not always consent to pay a bonus of $700,000 per year in order to get tonnage for the Erie Canal."