This enlargement was completed in 1862 and is legally known as the “enlargement of 1862.” When completed the canal was 350½ miles long; it had seventy-two locks, measuring 110×18 feet, of which fifty-seven were double and fifteen single. The building of double locks did not cease until 1875.
Further enlargement of the Erie Canal has been almost constantly under discussion. In 1863 State Engineer Taylor suggested gunboat locks twenty-six feet wide and two hundred and twenty-five feet long, with a depth of seven feet. What was known as the “Seymour Plan” 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 depth, in 1884. In 1892 the subject of enlarging the canal was considered by Congress,[65] but nothing was done until 1895 when the “Nine Million” act was passed by the New York legislature, granting about half the sum asked for by the state engineer for improvement.
The work was begun in 1897 and consisted of deepening the canal to nine feet in the waterway and eight feet over structures. The work went on through 1898 when the appropriation gave out and it was suspended.
But before the passage of this act an effort was being made to secure recognition at Albany in order that the subject of enlargement might be more thoroughly studied before the state should be committed to any policy; and even after the general assembly had voted for the expenditure of nine millions of dollars, yet the men behind the scenes were not dismayed, but with greater determination their work was carried on.
The story of initiative work, of the arousing of public sentiment, the obtaining of recognition of those in power at Albany, the years of work expended and of thousands of dollars obtained by voluntary subscription for the carrying on of the work can never be told in detail and could only be told by such men as Mr. George H. Raymond of Buffalo and his associates. But that their work was efficient time has already proved.
The first official recognition of the necessity for radical enlargement or total abandonment (this latter being a natural deduction from the former) was the passage of an act by the general assembly of the state[66] authorizing the governor to appoint a commission “to examine into the commerce of New York, the cause of its decline and the means for its revival.”
Governor Black appointed Charles A. Schieren, Andrew H. Green, C. C. Shayne, Hugh Kelly, and Alexander R. Smith to constitute what was officially known as the New York Commerce Commission but was usually called the “Black Commission.” This body of men submitted a preliminary report to the legislature of 1899[67] and continued its investigations under authority of an amendment[68] making, in 1900, a most exhaustive report thereon.
Long before the final report of the “Black Commission”[69] was submitted Theodore Roosevelt was governor and taking active steps to assist in the solution of the “canal question.” A “Committee on Canals of the State of New York” was appointed. The following quotations from Governor Roosevelt’s letter of appointment written to Francis V. Greene on March 8, 1899, are self-explanatory:
“I am very desirous of seeing the canal policy of the state definitely formulated. As you know, the nine million dollars designated to deepen the canal to the depth of nine feet has been practically expended, and it is reported that sixteen millions additional will be needed to carry this scheme through, while at the same time, certain experts have said that the scheme, when carried through, will not be satisfactory....
“I desire the opinion of a body of experts, ... I have decided to ask five of the citizens of New York, whose reputation in these respects stands highest, to act with the Superintendent of Public Works, Col. Partridge, and the State Engineer and Surveyor, Mr. Bond, to make the necessary investigations.... The other four gentlemen will be Major T. W. Symons, Hon. John N. Scatcherd, Hon. George E. Green and Hon. Frank S. Witherbee....