TO THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE
OF NEW YORK:
UPON THE PKESENT STATE OF THE CANALS;
THE NECESSITY OF THEIR ENLARGEMENT AND
UPON THE EFFECTS OF THE PASSAGE OF
THE WESTERN TRADE THROUGH THE
WELLAND AND OSWEGO CANALS
UPON THE STATE REVENUES
AND FINANCES.
^ MEMORI-A.L.
To the Legislature of the State of JLev) Yorle :
The objects of this memorial are to show briefly the stringent
necessity for the completion of the enlargement of the State canals;
the policy of pursuing the plan for securing the canal enlargement
pointed out in the last message of the Governor to show that in
the present condition of the finances of the State, the policy
suggested by practical wisdom is to charge the trade of the Wes¬
tern States, passing to and from tide-water, by way of the Oswego
and Weiland Canals, with the same toll as if it passed tlirough
the whole length of the Erie Canal, and to prove that tliis measure
is entirely consistent with our whole system of internal improve¬
ments. Incidentally it must appear that the results of the indi¬
cated measure must greatly increase the revenues of the State,
and to an extent ultimately sufficient to meet the requirements
of the Constitution; lessen the burdens of direct taxation; pre¬
vent the injurious eflects of the Welland Canal upon the great
interests of the State, and forever secure the results which it has
been the object of our internal improvements to attain.
The original scheme, of constructing an artificial navigable
communication between the Hudson Eiver, and the waters of
the Western Lakes, was no less bold and magnificient in its
inception and design, than it has proved fortunate in its results.
In the^reat extent of theWest, and in the incalculable richness
of its natural advantages, the projectors of the Erie Canal, be¬
held the seat and source of an internal trade, which, could it
be led through our own State would be the direct cause of a
large revenue, and in its indirect advantages, would insure
benefits of the utmost importance to the future of the State.
To secure this trade the Erie Canal was projected. Its immedi¬
ate object was to so connect the Hudson, with the Western
Lakes, as to secure the trade of the territory which lay along
their shores, or through which ran their tributary streams. It
was the policy and interest of the State that the canal then
4
to be built, should be the shortest, and therefore the cheapest to
secure this main object—this object, without which the Erie
Canal would never have been constructed. At the very earliest
day it was urged that the western trade might be secured by a
canal, which should have its Western terminus in Lake Ontario.
It was then supposed that the Falls of Niagara would present
an insurmountable barrier to any access to the chain of Lakes
further West, and a connection only with the waters of Lake
Ontario, would therefore but partially satisfy the great object
of the enterprise. It was determined, after accurate explora¬
tions and mature deliberation, by the sagacious projectors of the
original scheme, that direct communication should be made with
the waters of Lake Erie, and this determination, after strenuous
opposition upon 'the part of those in favor of other routes and
terminii, was finally sanctioned by the people of the State.
■ The Erie Canal commenced in 1817, not without more than
the usual prognostics of failure, was completed in 1825. Time
has never falsified the anticipations which followed its accom¬
plishment. The State of New York owes its position, its wealth,
to that carrying out of the original idea of the Erie Canal, which
thus for so many years secured the Western trade.
Eoference has thus been made to the origin of the Erie Canal,
for the purpose of indicating its main object, and as introductory
to a brief explanation of the design with which the lateral canals
of the State have been constructed. The Western terminus of
the Erie Canal having been fixed at Lake Erie, it was urged upon
the Legislature that the construction of a short canal to connect
the Erie Canal with Lake Ontario, would, at a comparatively
small expense, open an avenue of trade to the Northern counties
of the State, and all the territory bordering upon Lake Ontario,
and thus through the Erie Canal, and as subsidiary to its main
design, render all that country tributary to the revenue of the
State. Even at that day fears were entertained that the results
which have followed from the construction of the Oswego Canal
would ensue, (which results will receive consideration before the
close of this memorial,) but the plausible, and in the indicated
view, proper arguments in favor of this the first lateral canal
prevailed. Before the final completion of the Erie Canal, and
by an Act of April 20,1825, an appropriation was made by
the Legislature towards the construction of the Oswego Canal.
It was commenced in 1826, and was completed in 1828. It was
the first of a series of lateral canals, authorized from time to
time. These lateral canals were thus made in a liberal policy
upon the part of the State, and with intent to extend the bene¬
fits of its system of internal improvements to places and counties
6
not traversed by the main canal. At no time would the State
have adopted a policy so suicidal as that which should lead to a
diminution of its revenues, and a defeat of the great objects of
its original plan.
This brief sketch at once indicates the propriety and harmony
of the canal system of the State. The origin of the system, the
ends sought to be attained, the prosperity which was the expected
result, prove beyond doubt, that in the State revenue to be de¬
rived from the Western trade, and in the incidental benefits
which must result, the people of this state hoped for the reward
of their early sacrifice. It as clearly must appear that the sub¬
sidiary and lateral canals were only constructed in a desire for
local accommodation, and scarce even in the hope of an addi¬
tion to the revenues to be derived from the parent canal.
The entire cost of these canals, which have been constructed
by the State, in the prosecution of its system which has ever had
in view the main objects which have been mentioned, is in
round numbers $47,500,000.
At that early day, when the project of the Oswego Canal was
first urged upan the Legislature, it was feared that a means of
water communication would be formed between the waters of
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and thus a shorter avenue would
be found, through which and by means of the Oswego Canal,
the products of the AVestern States could reach tide-water. The
representations of the advocates of the Oswego Canal that such
fears existed only in the chimeras of prejudice, though they
prevailed then, have been falsified by time. The Welland Canal
has since been built. Its efiect upon the main object of our
canal policy and upon our State revenues, will be considered be¬
fore the close of this memorial. The railroads which now pass
through the State, were then not only not dreamed of, but the
possibility of BO many competing routes for the carriage of
property to and from the Ocean and the West as now exist, were
not only not thought of in the then undeveloped resources of
railroad means of transit, but it was supposed, if the idea of rail¬
roads received thought at all, and it was the prevalent belief at
a much later day, that the line of railroad communication, which
certainly lay South of us, was rendered impracticable by the then
supposed insurmountable obstacle of the Alleganies It needs
now but a gkuice around us to see not only the stream of trade
which passes through the AVelland Canal, and thus, rather than
through the whole lengtii of the Erie Canal, seeks its market and
seaport, but also to exhibit to us the Alleganies pierced by the
lines of several railroads, and upon the North more than one
railroad supported by the great carrying trade between the
6
East and West. Within our own State the great lines of the
New York Central and New York and Erie Eailroads, deprive
the canal of a great amount of its legitimate freight. This brief
reference to these competing routes of trade, (which, were it not
for want of space, could be more forcibly mentioned in all their
startling features,) is made only for the purpose of suggesting
that universally admitted necessity, the completion of the en¬
largements of the several canals. In the completion of those en¬
largements, it is so generally conceded that it would be hut a
waste of time to show with more particularity, will be found the
means to bring back to the Erie Canal its alienated trade, to for¬
ever stop that decreasing revenue which has been the alarm for
years of all friends of the State, to restore the State finances to
their original soundness, to pay the State debts, to relieve the
people from the burdens of direct taxation, and to again pour
through the State that tide of trade, which through proper com¬
mercial channels, renders the West tributary to our wealth and
prosperity.
The means by which the canal enlargements can be consum¬
mated have been made the subject of so much popular comment
in the newspapers and elsewhere that it is not deemed worth
while to more than allude to them here. Those means practical¬
ly are either by a loan, and thus adding to the already large
debts of the State, or by direct tax. A loan can only be made
by an amendment of the Constitution, which at the shortest time,
could only be effected sometime in the winter of 1858-9, and
under which appropriations for the desired object, could in all
probability not be made before the winter of 1859-60, without a
special session of the Legislature. The loss of so much time in¬
volves a delay, a stoppage of the present work of enlara:emcnt,
which aside from its direct evils as connected with the State re¬
venues and its indirect injuries to the trade and prosperity of
the State, would so greatly enhance the cost of the enlargement
itself, as to render a loan, in the opinion of the best fi-iends of
the canals and the State, a plan almost, if not entirely impracti¬
cable. It besides is but a more indirect burden upon the people
than that direct taxation,which securing a less expense, a speedy
accomplishment of the work, and a comparatively immediate en¬
joyment of all its benefits, direct and indirect, will in fact be the
lesser load.
The total valuation of the taxable property in the State, as ap¬
pears from the Governor's Message, is about $1,400,000,000. The
estimated cost of the entire completion of the canal enlargements,
after exhaustion of the present means now applicable to the
7
object, as appears from the report]of the State Engineer, submit¬
ted to the Legislature now in session, is $3,750,000.
The policy of securing the enlargement by direct tax, and the
benefits to be derived from thus carrying out the Canal policy
of the state, are so briefly and admirably stated in the last mes¬
sage of the Governor, that it is here quoted as exactly stating
the course which the practical sense oí the people of this state,
will not hesitate to adopt. The language of the Governor to
the Legislature is as follows :
" The whole length of the Canals and public works is 892 miles.
" Their entire cost when complete, will amount to about $50,000,-
" 000, and their capacity will then, it is confidently believed, be
" equal to the transportation of all that may be oifered to them,
" at a rate of toll so low as to deiy competition. The deficiency
" now existing is only about one twentieth of the entire cost of
" these works, to be borne by a State in its manhood, and with
" an assessment roll of nearly fourteen hundred millions of
" dollars in taxable property. The steps necessary to make good
" what is needed will demand your early attention. For I ven-
" ture to assume that under no circumstances will it be deemed
" wise or expedient, with the experience we already have of the
" cost and evil of suspending works under contract, to permit
" those now in progress to be interrupted. Much less should
" any purpose of selling the canals be for a moment entertained.
" They are State works in their origin and progress. They should
" so continue to completion, and forever remain the property
"and under the control of the State, in honor of the sagacious
" enterprise that projected them, the liberal public spirit which,
" in the face of vehement opposition and combined political and
" pecuniary obstacles, carried them successfully through, and be-
" cause the time is near at hand when the whole enlargement
" efiected, they will amply repay all the cost of construction
" and maintenance, and afford in the future a large revenue to
" the State.
" The more direct, and therefore, probably, the wiser way to
" complete the enlargement, is to impose a tax which, while it
" relieves the exigency of the Government, will bear by no means
" onerously upon the people. Even if we forget the benefits
" already conferred upon the State by its Canals, the money now
" required for their completion shoulcl only be regarded as a tem-
" porary loan; for, when completed, the Canals, with their largely
" augmented surplus revenue, applicable to the support of the
" government, will, in wholly exempting the people from taxation,
'\at once repay the debt.
" The Erie Canal, with its tributaries, has peopled and enriched
" our State, invigorated every department of industry, and great-
8
" ly enhanced the value of our possessions. The three millions
" of dollars first loaned and then given to the Erie Railroad,
proves, in the developed resources, and in the largely increased
•' value of the timber and agricultural lands of the " Southern
" Tier," and the cheap and speedy access to the coal fields of
" Pennsylvania, to have been a good investment. AVith a State
" rich in its soil, rich in its products, rich in its improvements,
" and richer still in the enterprise, intelligence and patriotism
" of its inhabitants, I confidently anticipate a cheerful acquies-
" cence in any just measure looking to the speedy completion of
"the Public Works, which the Legislature may adopt. And be
"assured, in advance of my hearty cooperation."
The precise manner in which the policy recommended by the
Governor shall be carried out, it is beyond the province of this
memorial to consider. It will receive the careful attention of the
present Legislature. It is sntficient for the present purpose, to
say that such policy, and it alone, is practicable.
While, however, it is universally conceded by most of the
influential newspapers of the day, by most if not all the promi¬
nent State officers, and by the people themselves, that the indi¬
cated policy is beyond question that which should be adopted;
it certainly is the part of wisdom, to consider what the present
state of the State finances is, to at least glance at the present
amount of the State debts, and attempt at least to see whether
or not some means may not be discovered which shall lessen the
burden of direct taxation. If such means exist consonant with
the whole system of those internal improvements which have
been the source of our revenues, those means certainly should
be adopted.
That part of the debts of the State which with the interest
upon the same is to be paid from the canal revenues of the
State, as provided for in the Constitution, as appears from the
Governors Message, amounts to $31,171,944.19, without inclu¬
ding the contingent debt of the State of $770,000.' This aggre¬
gate is made up as follows:
The general fund State debt, 6,505,654.37.
Tlie Canal debt at the close of the last fiscal year, - - - 22,416,289.82.
The amount authorized to be borrowed during the present fiscal
year for the purposes of Cau.al enlargement, - - - 2,250,000,00
, - $31,171,944.19
The principal sources of general revenue which can be made
applicable to the payment of this debt, aside from such resort to
direct taxation, as the State may adopt, are the revenues derived
from the canals.
The amount paid for collection, superintendence and ordinary
9
repairs upon the canals during the last fiscal year, as appears
from the report of the Auditor of the Canal Department, made
to the Legislature now in session, is $786,633,40. The receipts
in the same year arising from the canals, as appears from the
same source, are $2,749,133,40.
The revenue derived from the canals* (after deducting the ex!-
pences of superintendence, &c., $786,633,40) during the last
fiscal year was $1,962,500. . /
]3y the Constitution of 1846, it is provided, that after deducting
the e.vpensesof superintendence, collection and ordinary repairs,
there shall be set apart out of the surplus canal revenues in each
fiscal year, until the canal debt of 1846 be paid, the sum of
$1,700,000, as a sinking fund for the payment of that debt, and
that the sum of $350,000 in each fiscal year, until the canal debt
of 1846 be paid, and after that the yearly sum of $1,500,000 shall
be set apa.rt as a sinking fund to pay the general fund debt.
By the amendment of the Constitution of 1854, it is provided,
that after setting apart the sums above mentioned for the canal
debt and the general fund debt, there shall be set apart out of
the surplus canal revenues a sum sufficient to pay the* interest as
it falls due and extinguish the principal in eighteen years of the
loan made under the constitutional amendment referred to.—
When all these loans shall have been finalh' made the interest
on those loans and the annual contributions for their redemption
will require the yearly sum of $1,027,389,07.
After complying with these provisions, the Constitution de¬
votes $200,000 annually, from the surplus revenues of the canals
to the support of the State Government. In order to meet all
these Constitutional appropriations and requirements, the surplus
revenues of the canals, as appears from the last report of the
Auditor, must annually araoimt to $3,277,389,07.
The revenues derived from the canals have constantly di¬
minished for the last nitie or ten years.
The surplus revenues of the last fiscal year, amounting as
has been shown, to $1,962,500, it appears that the additional
amount in each year, if the revenues of the Canal are not to
increase, required to meet all the Constitutional appropriations,
will be $1,314,889,07. It is equally apparent, that unless the
remedy bo found in tiie increased revenues of the Canals, the
State debts and the State expenses must be paid, by resorting
to direct taxati m.
While the consequences to which we are thus driven, prove be¬
yond question, the absolute necessity for that enlargement of the
Canals, which shall secure an increase of revenues sufficient to
meet the objects of the Constitutional intent, it certainly is
the part of wisdom, it is repeated, to inquire whether or not
10
Bome direct and immediate remedy cannot be found which, with¬
in the principle of our system of internal improvements, shall
at once increase the revenues of the Canals, and thereby mate¬
rially lessen the burdens upon the people. It is the object of
this memorial among otfler things, to show, that that remedy,
harmonious with our whole canal system, may be found, in tile
adoption of such discriminations in the tolls upon the difterent
property carried through the several Canals of the State, as
shall, while greatly augmenting the revenues of the State, still be
entirely consonant with that spirit and policy of our system of
internal improvements, in which, those improvements were
begun, and in which they have been completed, and indeed will
be, but carrying into eflect the at least implied pledges, unáer
which some of the lateral Canals, and at least the Oswego Canal,
were constructed.
It has been already stated that when the project of the Oswego
Canal was urged upon the Legislature, fears were entertained
that it, through a variety of causes might prove the means of
diverting a large part ot the freight legitimately belonging to
the Erie Canal, and thus of subverting the main objects with a
view to which that Canal was constructed through the length of
the State. The glaring impolicy upon the part of the Stale, of
thus constructing a shorter route to and from the "Western waters,
and thus affording a means by which the most important inter¬
ests of the State might be endangered, was presented for the
consideration of the Legislature of that day. While the fears
of the friends of the State, and its great measure were ridiculed
by the advocates of the Oswego Canal, and the generosity of
the State was appealed to, upon the ground that it had expen¬
ded such large sums in the construction of the main Canal,
which it was represented, more exclusively benefited the portions
of the State through which it ran, it was urged upon the Legis¬
lature by the friends of the Oswego project, that the State, in its
power to impose discriminating tolls upon the Oswego Canal, so
as to secure to the main canal the western trade, could prevent
all possibility of harm to itself. This reasoning prevailed, and
as has been already stated, in the spirit of local accommoda¬
tion, and, for the purpose of rendering tributary to the Erie
Canal, the trade of the Northern Counties and Lake Ontario,
the Oswego Canal was constructed. Had it not been for the
power of self protection thus belonging to the State authorities,
or to the Legislature, it would have been but the labor of fatuity
in the Legislature, to have constructed a work from which
the general interests of the State could at most, receive but a
slight benefit, and which might be the means of withdrawing
11
business from the Erie Canal, and thus defeating that magnifi-
cient plan which included the future of the great West in its
scope. , .
The fears of the friends of the Erie Canal at the early day to
which reference has been made, and which were the subjects of
ridicule by tiie friends of the Oswego project, have been realized
in the commencement and completion of the Wellaud Canal
connecting the waters of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. That work
was commenced originally as a private enterprise. Subsequently
aided by the Colonial Government of Canada, it was finally com¬
pleted under the protection of the British Home Government,
with a capacity sufBcient to pass through its length of twenty-
six miles, vessels of five hundred tons burthen. With the en¬
largement of its present locks, which is now in contemplation
and which could be effected at a comparatively small expense,
vessels of the burthen of one thousand tons, (the largest in the
Western carrying trade,) would be enabled to pass through its
waters. By means of this navigable commnnication constructed
through foreign territory, from the Western Lakes to Lake On¬
tario, and by means of the Oswego Canal and the Oneida River
improvement, a portion of the Western, trade sufiicient to defeat
the main objects of the Erie Canal at this day, is enabled to
evade the payment of tolls along that line of the Erie Canal
through wbicii it was the original project of the State to conduct
the great carrying trade of the West, and thus, as will hereafter
more fully appear, avoiding the payment of tolls upon one hun¬
dred and seventy-nine miles of the canals and upon snch portion
as goes by the way of Syracuse avoiding payment of tolls upon
one hundred and fifty-five miles.
The evil day which was feared by the friends of the Erie
Canal and of the whole State has arrived. Its remedy can only
be found in the exercise of that power, were it not for the protec¬
tion of which, the Oswego Canal would never have been con¬
structed.
The extent of the trade thus diverted from the Erie Canal
will appear from the following tables, luade up fromThe statistics
obtained'from the department of the Auditor.
Amount of property passing from tide-water to Western States
1856 via Oswego, with the amount of tolls which such property
would have paid to the State additional, had it passed through
the Erie Canal via Buffalo :
39,336 tons Mfrchandise, 179 miles - .$56,369.15
29,'¿97 " R. Road Iron, 179 " 15,732.49
84,972 " Salt, 1Ü0 " 27,191-04
$99,292.68
12
Amount oí property passing from Western States to tide-water
via Oswego 1856, with the amount of tolls additional which the
same would have paid to the State had it gone via Bufialo :
Wheat, 5.927.927 bu., 179 mjles, $190,985.80
Corn. 3,543,521 " 179 " 70,680.50
Oats, 152,333 " 179 " 1,963.26
Pork. 5,026 tons, 179 2,698.96
Beef. 450 " 179 " - 483.30
Bacon, 2,042 " 179 " 1,096.55
Lard and Tallow, 574 " 179 " 308,23
Wool, 67 " 179 " - - - - - - - - 95.94
Hides, 95 " 179 " - - 102.03
Oil Cake, 3,786 " 179 " - - • - - - 2,710.77
Bloom & Bar Iron 70 " 179 " 59.12
Ashes, 238 " 179 " 340.00
Staves, 5,698 " 179 " - - - . - - - 2,039.88
Sundries, 70 " 179 " - - • - - - -, - 100.24
Total on Down Freight, - $273,655.58
" " Up •• 99,279.68
$372,948.26
It is thus apparant that by the adoption of the proposed mea¬
sure, assuming the business of the canals, for the future, is to be
only the same as during the past year, an addition to the canal
revenue of $372,948 26 will be gained in each year. As the
foregoing statement is based upon rhe assumption that all pro¬
perty which passed to and from the western waters, in the year
1856, passed through the Oneida Hiver improvement, thereby
avoiding payment of tolls upon 179 miles of canal (which it
would have paid had it gone the entire length of the Erie canal),
and as doubtless some portion of the property passed by the
way of Syracuse, thus avoiding payment of tolls upon only 155
miles of canal, the amount of tiie above annual addition to the
revenue may perhaps be decreased to an amount $20,000 less.
The amount of property passing by the latter route cannot be
exactly" ascertained, but it may be confidently asserted that, in
view of all the facts, and basing the calculation upon the business
of last year, the annual addition to the canal revenues, by the
proposed measure, will be at least $355,000.
The calculations above have of course been made with the
tolls at the rates of 1856. Should the State deem it politic,
at any future time, to increase the tolls upon the property, from
the carriage of which it derives its chief revenue, the consequences
would be necessaril}', much more important. Such an increase,
for instance, upon wheat and corn, without discrimination, would
amount to a prohibition upon their carriage through the whole
line of the Erie Canal. The entire bulk of that property must
enter the canal at Oswego, and of course the consequences must
13
be entirely ruinous to the finances and great interests of the
State.
Should, however the policy of discrimination be adopted, the
' toll upon wheat may be safely increased one mill per ton per
mile, and upon corn two müls per ton per mile. The addition
to the State revenues from such an increase of tolls upon the
specified property would, during the past year, have amounted
, to about $345,000. This sum, added to the gain which must be
obtained from discrimination, as the tolls now are $355,000, mahe
an aggregate of $700,000. This large addition to our State reve¬
nues can be obtained by the discrimination proposed, and can¬
not be obtained without.
It is, of course, apparent, from the provisions of the constitution
to which reference has been made, that no part of the increase to
the revenues of the State, to be thus derived from discriminating
tolls can he applied immediately to the enlargement of the
canals. That increase will be but an augmentation of the reve¬
nues of the canals, and those revenues are applied by constitution¬
al appropriation, to an extent which may exceed the sum total of
revenue, even with the proposed addition. The result, however,
is practically the same. The increase will, under the constitu¬
tional appropriations, be applied to the payment of those debts,
which, without the wisest management of the state finances, must
be ultimately paid by resort to direct taxation.
The Oswego Canal, as has been stated was constructed for the
accommodation of the Northern Counties of the State, and for
the purpose of securing to some extent the trade of the country
bordering upon Lake Ontario. Of course it is not within the in¬
tent of the project here suggested that the property from the
Northern Counties of the State, and passing through the Oswego
Canal, or entering that Canal, from the proper trade of the
country bordering upon Lake Ontario, should pay any other
thiin its pro rata toll for the distance it passes upon the Canals.
It is contemplated to preserve to those portions of our own State
all the benefits they can claim from their legitimate trade, "or
from their location and natural advantages. It is proposed to
leave to the Oswego Canal all that was claimed for it, in its
origin. But it is proposed by the exercise of that power of lay¬
ing discriminating tolls upon property passing through that Canal,
in which it was originally stated the State could find its pro¬
tection, to save the State from those ruinous consequences which
were then deprecated. The proposition therefore, simply is, to
impose the same tolls upon property passing through the Weiland
Canal, (and which within, the original Canal system itlegitimate-
ly belongs to the whole Erie Canal to carry,) which enters the
14
Canals at Oswego, and passes thence through the Canals, as if it
entered the Erie Canal at its western terminus.
The policy of adopting this measure, certainly must be appa¬
rent from what has already been'said. It still however, may be
worth while to say, that by its »adoption no injury need be
feared to the business interests of the State. The leading articles
of transportation, from which by far, the larger share of the reve¬
nues are derived, must still seek their market and seaport,
through our Canal^. The difficulties and dangers of the na^'iga-
tion of the Eiver and Gulf of the St. Lawrence; and the fact
that that Gulf is practically only navigable for a few months in
the year, prevent that route from being the channel of trade
for western produce, seeking our own seaboard, or a foreign
market. The consequence of all will only be, that property
entering the Canals at Oswego, and passing thence to tide water
will only pay the same aggregate toll as that entering at Buffalo,
with the same destination, and the returns of property shipped
at Buffalo, during the last year, must indicate that there can
be no danger of driving to other channels, the trade which now
finds its way through the State.
The propriety or justice of the indicated measure certainly
cannot be made the subject of serious question. The fact that it
but preserves to the people of this State that justice to all parts
of the State, in which our original scheme of canal policy was
based, has already been made apparent. No cause of complaint
can therefore exist save upon the part of the producers of the
Western States. For them it may be claimed that they have a
right to seek a market for their products by the cheapest means
of conveyance. This position is doubtless true as to the natural
channels of communication, and the inhibitions of the Constitu¬
tion of the United States seek to preserve the right of equal na»
vigation of the natural waters of the country. The reason¬
ing upon which this position is based, however, has no more
reference to artificial means of transit than it could have to
any other state property for the use of which charges might be
imposed. This State has a perfect right to prescribe the terms
upon which its own citizens and others may use the artificial
channels of trade made by itself. The justice of this position
may be further shown from another consideration. The State of
New York, at great expense to itself, has constructed its vast in¬
ternal improvements. Those works, much more than any other
cause, have tended to the developement and advancement of the
West, They give the producer at the West an added value to
his produce. Those works were constructed in a policy which,
from the causes to which reference has been made, must fail for
15
the future unless measures to fit it to the times, and to counteract
the influence of a foreign internal improvement are immediately
adopted. The "West certainly cannot complain if in the exten¬
sion of that policy from which it has already derived such im¬
portant benefits, it may be submitted to an incidental, slight but
only temporary loss. In fact, however, the measure would as
much benefit the West as ourselves. It is of the last conse¬
quence to the West that it should have the means of cheap and
certain access to the seaboard. The completion -of our canal en¬
largements, and the consequent low rates of freight, will secure
to them forever that means of transit without which their staple
products would be comparatively valueless.
Much more might be said to illustrate the benefits of a measure
to which no objection in law, in policy or in propriety, can be
urged. The objects of this memorial, however, prevent the con¬
sideration of those many incidental benefits which must follow
the adoption of this measure of consistency in our policy, of jus¬
tice in fact. Enough, however, has been shown when it is estab¬
lished that, without injury to any, our state revenue can be aug¬
mented at least $700,000 annually, the projects of the originators
of our canals secured for the immediate future, and extended
with all their incalculable benefits, into the future of the state.
Let it be added to this, also, that the present state of the finances,
the heavy burdens imposed and about to be imposed upon the
people, render it a matter of imperative necessity that all proper
means should be sought to lessen those burdens ; and it, indeed,
may be asserted, beyond the possibility of question, that the time
has now arrived when, by the admission of the original applicants
for the Oswego canal, it is proper for the legislative power to
interfere, and by proper discrimination in the tolls upon proper¬
ty carried through the state works, prevent that diversion of
the western trade, so prejudicial to the revenue and all the best
interests of the state, and which must be the ruin of its cherished
policy.
This subject, which is so important to the interests of every
business man, and of every tax-payer in the state, commends it¬
self to their careful consideration. Let it receive that consider¬
ation, uninfluenced by local prejudices, and undisturbed by any
other interest than that which has the welfare of all parts of the
state, and of its whole people, at heart ; and the adoption of this
measure of revenue, for the restoration of the state finances to
their original soundness, for lessening the burdens of direct tax¬
ation upon the people, for guaranteeing to the future that success
in our canal policy which it has had in the past, is rendered ab¬
solutely certain.
Janüakt 24, 1857.