Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1826-06-15

Of selecting objects within the States
on which their money should DE eA-
pended. The proceeds Of the tolls, bow
ever, might be divided among the states
according to population, to be applieGr 10
purposes of state Improvements. me
committee object especially to the plan
proposed IN the Senate, because It"oulu
put il out Of the power OF the Federal
Government to discharge tie du'ies
which it owes to the nation, by provId-
ing for the construction of such roads
and canals as may be necessary and
proper for the regulation OF commerce
between the several states, Tor The com
mon Defence and for the transportation
of the mail, which are severally emu
merated in the Constitution, among the
pow ers and duties of the Federal Gov
eminent. and which it is bound to exc
cute and fulfil to the extent OF ITS means
But if The whole surplus revenue be alb
solutely surrendered up to the states, the
National Government can accomplish
nothing, and of course great national
objects, such as the canal under consi'
deration, will remain neglected. Ihis
canal is an internal concern of no state;
yet it is calculated to unite and benefit
all the states-the internal navigation
which it opens from the Chesapeake to
New Orleans, will wash the shores OF
nearly half the states in the Union, and
receive in its course the produce OF seve-
raj Others, whose rivers flow into the
Potomac, Ohio, or Mississippi; yet it rs
external to all these states Except Penn
sylvania,) and of course these individual
states have neither the power, or per-
baps disposition, to devote their means
to it, when other objects, internal, and
of course more interesting to them,
claim preference.
The committee now beg leave briefly
to present some of the most prominent
advantages which the accomplishment
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal pro-
misses TO the United States and which,
in their judgment, will amply compen-
safe for the cost of its constr action; and
ist. It's advantages IL, a political point
" 0sCW'-~E VT LHtit views VII thlo bi ohNb
of the subject, the committee will mere
ly refer to the arguments and views of
General Washington, already quoted;
and to the following extract from the
Report of the Committee of Roads and
Canals at the last session of Congress,
in which they fully concur; when re-
terrlng to the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca
nal, the committee say-"This object,
regarded as the most important and ma
tlonal, was the first to claim the atten-
ton of the Executive in carrying into
effect the provisions of the law Of the
last session, to procure surveys, SC;
and the able Board of Engineers, who
have given the subject full and careful
examination during the last Summer,
have pronounced it perfectly practical
BILE, al an expense small, compared
with the magnitude and Importance of
the object. This work, whether regard
ed i'll military, commercial, or politi-
cal point of view, is equally important
Passing through the centre of the Re-
public, from one extreme to the other,
opening an internal communication of
more than 2 500 miles, allowing at once
powerful boud of the Union, with
every commercial facility in time of
peace; and in war, the most etiectual
means of national defence. Besides
its immediate connection with the seat
of the .Na'iona! GoVernment; its central
position; the great extent of inland ma
vigation which it opens, touching in its
course e'ecen States of the Union; and
furnishing a vent for the produce of
several others. The shortness of the
canal by this route, connecting the At
lantic tides with the steamboat naviga-
ton of the west at Pittsburg, being less
than $50, and to Lake Erie, less than
$50 miles.
These considerations, together with
the general and dlffusive nature of the
benefits to result from this work offer
ing great advantages to all the States,
yet peculiar to none; as well as the mag
nitude of the undertaking, point it out
as a work peculiarly national in its
character, and cannot fail to secure for
it the prompt and efficient aid OF the
General Government"
Cd. is ommerciG! Neutrality-suspicious.
idea of the commercial advantages of
this work may be formed, when the fact
is stated, that the transportation Of mer-
chandiSe for the supply of the western
States TO Pittsburgh in one year, has "a
mounted to one and half million of