The Railroad Question / A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and remedies for their abuses

by William Larrabee

2. Improvement of the navigation of the four great Atlantic rivers, including canals parallel to them.

3. Great inland navigation by canals from the North River to Lake Ontario.

4. Inland navigation from the North River to Lake Champlain.

5. Canal around the Falls and Rapids of Niagara.

6. A great turnpike road from Maine to Georgia, along the whole extent of the Atlantic sea-coast.

7. Four turnpike roads from the four great Atlantic rivers across the mountains to the four corresponding Western rivers.

8. Improvement of the roads to Detroit, St. Louis and New Orleans.

Mr. Gallatin also recommended that a sufficient number of local improvements, consisting either of roads or canals, be undertaken so as to do substantial justice to all parts of the country. The expenditure necessary for these improvements was estimated at twenty million dollars. Local jealousy and State rights prejudice practically defeated this movement, the Cumberland road, or National Pike, being the only result of any importance. The failure of the government to provide the country with adequate roads left the construction of turnpike roads to private enterprise, and these roads, before the general introduction of railroads, often yielded much profit to capitalists. Great as were the conveniences afforded by the turnpike, they were entirely inadequate for the development of the resources of the interior of the country. The products of a forest or a mine could not be transported upon them to any great extent. The crossing of a single water-shed, owing to the necessity for largely increased motive power, would often materially decrease the value of the goods to be transported.

These drawbacks of land transportation directed, toward the close of the last century, the attention of the people of the United States to the necessity of providing for a system of canals that should bind together the various parts of their extended country in the interest of commerce. General Washington was among the first to urge upon his countrymen the introduction of this great highway of interstate traffic, although but little was done in this direction until after the War of 1812. The people of New York had from an early period of the settlement of their State been impressed with the importance of connecting the Hudson with the Western lakes. In 1768 the provincial legislature discussed this subject, but the political agitations of the times and the following revolutionary struggle arrested further proceedings. After the war the project was frequently brought before the legislature, but nothing was done until 1808, when the assembly appointed a committee to investigate the subject and to solicit the coöperation of the general government, if the project should be found practicable. The report of the committee concerning the practicability of the undertaking was in every respect favorable, and in 1810 the legislature provided for a survey of the entire route from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The survey was made, but, the expected aid from the national government not being forthcoming, the matter rested until after the war with England. In 1816 a new board of commissioners was appointed, and the following year an act was passed providing for a system of internal improvements in the State. On the 4th day of July next the excavation of the Erie Canal was commenced, and on the 26th of October, 1825, the first boat passed from Lake Erie to the Hudson. The canal was 378 miles long and four feet deep. It had a width of 40 feet at the surface and 28 feet on the bottom, and carried boats of 76 tons burden. Owing to the rapid increase of trade, the capacity of the canal was found inadequate within ten years after its opening, and in 1835 measures were taken to enlarge it to a width of 70 and 56 feet by a depth of seven feet, thus allowing the passage of boats of 240 tons. The total length of the canal was, however, subsequently shortened 12-1/2 miles, making its present length 365-1/2 miles. This enlargement was completed in 1862, and cost the State over $7,000,000, making the total cost of the canal about $50,000,000. New York has, inclusive of branches, some ten other canals in operation, among them the Champlain Canal, extending from the head of Lake Champlain to its junction with the Erie Canal at Waterford; the Oswego Canal, from Lake Ontario at the city of Oswego to the Erie Canal at Syracuse; the Black River Canal, from Rome to Lyon Falls; the Cayuga and Seneca canals, extending from the Erie Canal to the Seneca and Cayuga lakes. The State has expended for the construction of canals not less than $70,000,000.

Canal-building in the State of Pennsylvania commenced about the time that the original Erie Canal was completed in New York. In 1824 the legislature authorized the appointment of commissioners to explore canal routes from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and the West. A year later surveys were authorized to be made from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, from Allegheny to Erie, from Philadelphia to the northern boundary of the State, and also south to the Potomac River. The construction of the main lines of communication between the east and the west and the coal fields in the north was soon commenced. Large loans were repeatedly made, and the work was vigorously prosecuted. In 1834 Pennsylvania had 589 miles of State canals, among them the Central Division Canal, 172 miles long, and the Western Division Canal, 104 miles long. Public opinion strongly favored an extended system of internal improvements, and it was believed that these water-ways would soon become a source of revenue to the State. These expectations might have been realized had the State carried on enterprises on a less extensive and more economical basis. In 1840 the financial condition of the State had become such that canal-building had to be abandoned. The amount expended by the State of Pennsylvania for canals, including the Columbia Railroad, was about $40,000,000, while the difference between net earnings and interest paid by the State up to that time is estimated at $30,000,000. In 1857 and 1858 these works were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Sunbury and Erie Railway Company for $11,375,000, or about one-sixth of their cost to the State.