Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-02-09

the probable amount of the trade you could cx- /
pect, as we'll as Of the funds you could command
for the construction of your various WORKS. suct
canal as have recommended to you wonld,
should pr resume, not exceed III cost Slu,0o0
mile; and if its aqueducts have WOODEN Trunks
and its locks De constructed OF woou anu s'ohe'
its cost would be considerably lessened. As you
have no competition to encounter from rival en-
tcrDrises. YOU should we'll weigh all the consid-
era.ions which plead in favor Of the use of ma
terial, of which you have at hand, ard from your
inearble mountains will ever have, such abundant
aud cheap supplies. of the very best quality.
Sd. Your third query admits OF a more precise
reply. Our charter does not allow to charge
more than two cents per ton per mile, rs toll. Tor
the use of our canal; and in the of the Lehigh
canal and river navigation, tor considerable re-
rod, acanai of the breadth of ours, and depth OF
feet. its very intelligent superintendent, Mr.
White, tells us that only 7-Sths of cent per ton
per mile has been found to be the cost OF trans
portation, apart from the toll Putting this down
however, at 18th of a cent more, or l cent per
ton per mile-whch is hish allowance for the
deeper and continued anal along the Potomac
and cents per ton per mile or $50 cents per ton
for the 60 miles. Will be the cost OF carriage be-
tween Harpers-Felry and the cities OF George.
town and Washington. An addition to this OF
II cents for the use of the miles OF canal about
to be constructed between Georgetown and Al
exandria, will add third market to the choice
of the people of your valley, on descending TO the
tide of the Potomac, within the District Oi 20
lumbia But. although 3 cents per ton per mile
is the utmost limit to which the tolls of the Ches-
apeake and Ohio canal can be extended, 1t does
not follow that every commodity will be charged
with the same amount of toll. Such IS not the
practice on the New York canals. from which
this limitation was copied into charter. Plais-
ter Of paris, lime, -four grain Of every description
and many other bulky commodities, are charged
with less than the average toll: while. by late
regulation of the legislature of New York, mer-
chandise, ascending the canal, is required to pay
as much as cents per ton per mile. In the char
ter of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company,
there is another limit, which. after some time,
will, have little doubt. reduce this toll. 1t Is
the limit of profit. applied to this canal in imita
ton of the principles laid down in the system OF
Internal Improvement of Virginia. A ton OF
flour, in New-York, is computed to be ten bar
rels. Your -four will, therefore, descend from
the mouth of the Shenandoah, to Georgetown, or
Washington, at cost not exceeding 8 cents a
barrel; and to Alexandria for less than 3 cents
more, or about 90 cents a barrel.
4th Your fourth query has been answered in
my reply to YOUR third. Two cents make the
highest toll per ton per mile that can be charged,
either upon ascending or descending carsoes, on
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
5th. You will find the proper solution of your
fifth query in my extended reply to your third.
Toll is compensation paid for the use of be-
neft: if proportioned to that benefit as equity re-
quires, it should be greater upon large canal
than upon a smaller one; because the carriage OF
commodities is attended with greater facility on
the former than on the latter, and that is the
measure of the benefit afforded by any canal
But, to induce the construction of any such
work. the profit its stock, which the toll is de-
signed to pay, should be proportioned to its cost,
or to the amount of that stock. In this case, |
do not think that the toll on the smaller canal
should be less than on the larger canal, since the
profit on the larger canal will be much augment
ed by its more extended use, although the same
tolls be levied on both.
To conclude this long letter, If you enter hear
tily upon the noble enterprise you propose,
would recommend it to you and your friends, to
call convention, at some suitable point, of re-
representatives. from all the counties and towns IN
terested in the navigation of the Shenandoah;
and the higher up the valley you have your place
of meeting. in order to accommodate the South
western counties of the commonwealth the more
likely YOU will be to ensure its numerous attend
ance. If your preliminary measures encourage
you to proceed farther, as doubt not they will,
then would advise you, before the route of the
canal be fixed, to obtain voluntary concession
OF the ground on which 1t may be located, along
both sides of the river, from the propretors of its
bank. After this has been done, let skiIful
practical civil engineer. of reputation calculat-
ed to invite the public confidence in his Judgment,
be employed to survey and fix the route, suggest
the plan, and form the estimate of the cost Of
the proposed canal. A charter, and, trust, a
subscription to your stock. from the State. would
follow your preparatory steps; all OF which could
be completed in single year.
have written in great haste, and under the
pressure of many public duties, the pecreding
reply to your interesting letter. wish that this
or any other service that can contribute to your
liberal purpose, may prove of any use. No man
deplores more than have long done, the great
indifference of our commonwealth to works which
constitute in peace the glory as well as the rich
es of State. and in war an essential part of her
defence; while they are recommended to us BY
their tendency to preserve the liberty of which