Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-05-07

SHIP CANAL.
/ The commissioner in this branch Of his
report first calls attention to the need of en-
larged facilities for the transportation of the
immense productions OF the North West
and to the fac: that the Erie Canal furnishes
no solution of the problem, shown by the
mos: significant circumstances that the Erie
Canal, notwithstanding the existing def
cheney in means Of transit, i not taxed to
the utmos. Of is present capacity, owing to
the time and cost Of tonnage. lie next al
lules briefly to the diversion of trade from
New ork city by Boston, Philadelphia.
Baltimore and Montreal, and avows his
opinion that Z" an insignificant portion of the
amount expended by Boston or Philadelphia
for the purpose Of attracting and securing
this great Western traffic would suffice to
construct the proposed enlargement of the
Erie and Oswego canal, and the Champlain
ship canal, works which are'absolutely nee
eS,ary to the maintenance by the great En-
pire State of its present pre-eminence in the
national family Of states" The report pro-
ceeds as follows
As pertinent TO these views, and showing
the present state Of the carrying trade, and
tie danger of It's diversion as well as the
extent to which it has been already diverted,
| viii quote the following extract from re
port prepared for and adopted by the Buffalo
board OF trade, December Is, 1871:
Betseen ls66 and ls73, the receipts Of grain at
] Boston have more than doubled, having Increased
from 4i45,-12 10 si6s,65S bushels those of grain
and flour az Montreal have also nearly doubted,
havln. increased from 10 3gi i5i to Ig7l352g bush
els at fhlade. phia they have multiplied nearly
ilur io-d of RON 4-oO,55 TO 2i,9i957 bushels Gt
Baltimore they have more than doubled, the in
crease being from sig7.i3D 10 igOJ97l1 bushels and
the extension Of the Baltimore & Ohio road u
Ih cs-o indicates that the future trade Of Bati-
more il increase As rapidly as that OF Philadel-
! phla hH; during the same time the receipts al
rev YORK have only increased from Sc ,S09,loj TO
/ gl.73i.53.
'' In other words while the aggregate receipts Of
grain. etc. NJ the four competing ports OF Mon
| treal, Boston Philadelphia and Baltimore, have
increased seven years from p 9g sol to p 23 UGI
| and are nearly two aud half times as large is
/ they were 1T the beginning uc that time, thlse Of
! New YORK have increased only one-half. The re-
&c pts oi --a.n ana Hour Ia the four rival routes
/ have increased ave times as rapidly as those Of
/ New York,
While the receipts Of Grain at New York A sure
Indication ui the tendency Of al the rest OF her
] trade, have thus fallen enormously behind those
%. all her rivals, the transit OF the cereals by canal
has suffered yet more severely Il is even loss tnan
! it was .u l-5d. The s-greSate Of the total move
ment o. tle cereals all the canals In that year
was Js1C tons in 1873 it reduced 10 1000 e-,.
tS-c Auditors report tolls, trade and tonua ge Tor
1872, D. fu5l Ia the Intervening period II had de-
creased 10 l,l-94j tons, and owes its presen.
; condition 20 the reduction which has already been
made in tolls. luring the season lately closed the
! canal was IN condition never before surpassed.
/ and boats were enabled TO make an unusual nun
] H.r
! e1entcd,y -ow and the receipts %; grain al the
! leading upper LAKE ports almost exactly tne
Same as ia 1873 nut the exports from Buffalo by
c4na4 were 9.i-i.'-t bushels less than las. ear.
The above terse and concise statement
shows the extent of the diversion already
made and tie pressing need that exists for
immediate action in the premises. The
remedy proposed 10y the Board of Trade ire
dlction OF the t0lis), Is merely one of those
palliatiyes Of great evil which would be
found utterly iueileacl0us to accomplish the
desired result.
1t is an undisputed fact then that pro-
duction is greatly in excess of the means OF
transportation, and therefore the only que>-
ton IL be considered is how to obyiate it.
For myself | can honestly ayow that am
sincerely in favor Of all the measures which
may be devised for the relief OF the great
agricultural interests of the country. with
out any jealousy Of c0ntcnding routeS or any
local feeling beyond that of desiring that
New lrk shall furnish the solution Of the
problem and retain the control of this i'm
nense commerce and derive the great bene-
fit flowing from 1t.
The great question then j., what route
will furnish the greatest relief and afford
the greatest facilities for transportation. |
believe tie Champlain ship canal route can
Do So and that II has every possible argu-
meut Ia It's favor, and meets every require
meHt. Ii can be constructed at less than
one-;biri Of the cost of any one of its rivals,
q do not use this word in an inyiIi0us sense)
and IN les than one-third of the time re
quired for the construction Of any other
route. And when 50 constructed, notwith
standing the great distance to be trayersed
on this route, am satisfied, that owing to
the very few miles Of canal navigation mot
one-t third Of that Of the most favorable com
peting route) and the broad and unobstruct
ed waterways Of the great lakes and rivers,
much less time viii be required to transport
freight from any point on the great lakes to
New York. than rs any other water com
munica;iop.
This route would seem, therefore, to meet
all the requirements, cheapness Of construc-
tion, greater rapidity Of transit and lowest
rates Of transportation, and has the great
! additional advantage that it could be con-
structed ami in full tide OF Successful opera
ton years before any other route could be
conn Iletei and when 50 completed, w0nld
be OF immensely greater size, and practical
| ly OF capacity without limitation because 1t
j. a lake and river route with only few
small and short stretches of canal and those
of large dimensions.
The first matter in considering the prac-
ticablity Of a route is, Of course, the physi-
cal features OF the country it Is designed to
traverse.
Now, with -eCard to the topography of
the country, no one who has examined the
subject can fail to be impressed with the
conviction that nature has provided this
route through the great chain of lakes, the
| st. Lawrence, Lake Champlain and the
Hudson riyer-the only break in the con-
tinuity Of the line. being from Wood creek,
the inlet of Lake Champain to the Hudson
at the point where it can be made nayisabe.
at Fort Edward. an actual distance Of J.
miles (includinG Wood creek which is 10 to
! l. feet in depth). - miles on the route as
/ surveyed. The Hudson river here is l24
/ feet above tide water only, and Lake Cham
| plain 96, a difference If only p feet.
| Though, as the canal can be constructed
more chcaply by maintaining the summit
level at l35 ieet. the engineers have adopt
ed that line, and this would make the dis
tance between the levels 80 feet.
lnc slight difference in level between the
waters 50 to be connected and the existence
Of tins valley, which is really break in one
/ OF the great mountain ranges of the coun-
| try, seems 20 be a provision Of henefcent
nature for this very purpose. 1t is "a great
natural routo and there are consequently no
/ obstacles requiring great engineering ability
! to overcome, no extraordinary or vastly ex-
pensive structures which from their cost
would render the undertaking impracticabe.
| Bat the simple preparation OF waterway,
as easily prepared rs 2 ditch, with an un-
falling and sgpegabrndaut sapply Of water
from the Hudson itself and the feeders al
ready buiiC, and the cost Of which will be
snail in comparison with the other routes.
and in comparison with the original canals
constructed in this state And with regard
TO this route can be truly said what cannot
be said Of any other proposed or possible
route, that Is, that size Is Of no consequence
OF rather no embarrassment-for the pro-
posed canal can be constructed of day size
required-large enough to float any class Of
vessels and with an unfailing supply Of wa
ter right at hand and, in fact, almost ayaila-
bic at the present writing.
/ That there is no natural obstacle in this
route is 50 plain that it canno. he eontro-
vertei, and it is equally indisputabe that a
supply OF water greatly in excess of all pos
sibe requirements is Immediately accessible
and available without any extraordinary ex-
penditure or indeed any expenditure at all,
except such as to fit existing feeders and
channels to the changed line of the new
work and bring the great and main feeders
down to the proper summit level at 1876 feet
above tide-water instead of raising the canal