The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-04
Shall the Hudson Be Joined
with Ftp
The Coming Transformation cena
In Commerce.


Hudson. 1t is ascertained that the greatest
amount Of tonnage ever delivered at tidewater In
one season was IN 1852, when. according to the
Auditors report there were delivered q OH, 0o4 tons
OF which 1,9S0,0S tons passed from Buffalo to
Albany through the Erie Canal This Is WITHIN less
than 1000 tons OF the full capacity OF our most .
portant channel OF commerce. Yet the West going
doubling its population and increasing its cereal
productions to such an extent that, with all the
help derived from the nine trunk lines betwec on the
Lake region and the Eastern ports the facilities for
transportation are found each year to be more In.
adequate than ever The warehouses OF Chicago
and its sister distributing depots are choked up
with grain one and two years Old and the farmers
are driven to desperation through tho exorbltant
freghts imposed by shippers, who cannot forward
q 1.-THE of the breadstuns consigned to them.
From adequate data 1t Is estimated that the SUP
plus tonnage Of ire Western States northerly Of
the Ohio River, which is duo to Lake Erie and
would come to Lake Erie II 1t could be carried
promptly, is &c. ,Ooo TONS
Give the Erie Canal, the New York Central Rail-
road and Erie Railway credit for carrying 5000 coo
tons in the aggregate from Lake Erie to tids
water, an amount which they have never yet car.
ried 1t leaves tons to be distributed upon
several railroads and rivers running s0utnerly ana
to southern Atlantic ports.
IT the farmers OF Illinois, Indiana, Ohio N.Scou-
sin and Michigan, VINO are brooding oyer their
pecuniary distress while their barns are bursting
with plenty. will note well those figures they VIII.
perhaps, discover that the extravagant rates OF
Freight which render it actually more profitable to
are due not SO much to railway combinations as to
lack of capacity on the part OF the Canal and rail
way systems together to 40 the work assigned
York Central roads will soon double their Facilities
OF transportation by laying new double track be-
ised in the opening OF the Portland and Ogdens
burg Railroad. The completion OF the Now
roads w Of COURSE s sresteS
relief; but II the capacity Ior moving
On a' w ga
healthy decline In freights, The superabundanr fer
tilty OF the West would still clog the avenues Of
Of shipment, the resources Of our great garden
country will annually furnish inexhaustibIe sup.
ready at all times to consume whatever surplus
may accumulate in tho port of New York or
pean markets. 1t is admitted that, under no
circumstances-except In case OF pestilence or
famine-can the multlpiieatoa OF routes or snip
The preferable line OF transportation, for econom
cal reasons, Is demonstrated to be that where the
carriage is by water all the way from the western
storehouse to the ocean port Hence the con-
stantly increasing pressure upon the capabilitieS
OF the only direct water route from the great lakes
to the Hudson. Thus, it appears that the amount
Of cereal products received for consumption and
be
the Erie Canal, utterly irrespective OF the exigen
cies Of supply or demand. Tho Erie tube, through
which millions draw their SuStenance, Is like the
narrow neck Of an hour glass; through which there
can pass but 80 many grains OF sand per minute.
no matter whether the reservoir is full or nearly
exhausted.
The circumstances OF the case, which has bccomG
so burdensome for the producers, seem to be COM
pretended at the South, where efforts are making
to create new outlet for the surplus growth BY
tennessee Rivers With the Atlantic ocean, pro-
ject Of the highest Importance to the nation nc
large BY the proposed Tennessee route distances
20
would be greatly reduced, compared with the lake
and Erie canal route, to New YORK; but no saving
OF time would be enected, for the canal passages
would be correspondingly longer.
THE CANADIAN SCHEME.
whether to the exasperated feelings OF the West
ern farmers now banding together In Oranges, Is
due the present renewed interest which Cana.
son Of eT aread t1e scss fox
are are simply part and parcel Of ssatssmanIlSs
natural advantage which the country enjoys, Is not
quite clear to an outsider. They are at work. how
happen to further American interests at most
opportune period we should be the last to regret
The main features under favorable consideration
or In process OF speedy accomplishment In the Do
minion are, in this connection
FNSt-The enlargement OF the Welland canals
SeconG-rhe enlargement OF the st. Lawrence
canals to capacity equal to that of the improved
Third-The connecting OF the Ottawa River with
Georgian Bay Lake Huron) by canal via tho
Fou1h-The construction OF the Caughnawags
Canal to unite the st. Lawrence, short distance
above Montreal, with Lake Champain by snort
II is intended that the canals Of the ST. Lawrence
and Ottawa be increased to uniform width of 100
feet, those on the st. Lawrence and the Welland
canals to be deepened to twelve feet draught, ana
on the ottawa to have nine feet, while the pro-
jected water link between the st. Lawrence and
Lake Champlain will afford q, passage for the
vesse tta1 Sa e tSs tae PUI mar
steam prOpellers OF 900 tons burden. From carcl
ful inquiry am convinced that the Caughnawaga
Canal will be speedily pushed to completion by the
company chartered for this important work..
THE CHANPLAIN SHIP CANAL TO TROY.
II seems to be assumed here by merchants aud
Others interested that the State Of New York viii
lose further time in turning the present narrow
and shallow conduit from the head Of Lake Cham>
plain, at whitehall, to the head OF the Hudson
navigation, at Troy, into ship canal for the ac-
commodatien OF such lake tonnage as will here
and whitehall. This subject has been agitated for
. number Of years by some OF the most ssgacious
minds In the state and has invariably been urged
as eminently desirable, entirely practicable and
BY no means costly.
The latest earnest advocate OF this measure, so
important to the continued commercial suprem-
acy OF New York State Is Mr.. smith M. Weed,
or Clinton county, who demonstrated before tho
Assembly, towards the close OF the last Legislative
session. the enormous advantages TO be secured To
ourselves by furnishing the last short link In nav
igabie inland circuit ior craft OF very considerable
tonnage, from the mouth Of the Mississippi River
to New FORK Bay, the intermediate channels Of
communication between the Upper Mississippi and
Of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and 10 connecting
them with Green Bay, and in the Illinois River and
canal which enters Lake Michigan at Chicago.
THE CAUGuSAw AGA SHIP CANAL
The Caughnawaga Company have the right under
their charter to enlarge the remainder OF tho
Chamby Canal from the point at which IL Is inter-
sected By the Caughnawaga Canal, distance OF
I've miles rom Chamby, and TO enlarge the lock
at ST. Ours, on the Richcl1eu Riycr This Is an TIM
portant concession for IL gives access TO the Port
of Quebec, and enables vessels or steamers of l00a