Historic Highways of America Volume XIV Part 5

"We find the state issues and results of the election somewhat similar to those of the national election in the state. The Whigs nominated Governor W. H. Seward and the Democrats nominated Mr. Bouck. The Whigs advocated internal improvements upon a large scale, while the Democrats advocated retrenchment in this work. The Albany _Argus_ of September 25, 1840, states of Mr. Seward, the Whig nominee for governor: Departing from the democratic policy of enlarging the Erie ca.n.a.l by means of its revenues only, he has urged upon the legislature, its 'more speedy'

enlargement, at all hazards, and the creation of a debt for that purpose--a debt which alone will absorb all our revenues, leaving the princ.i.p.al to be paid by direct taxation. He has recommended that state work be undertaken, the cost of which will involve the people in debt of at least $40,000,000. In addition he has urged upon the legislature loans to corporations--of the credit of the state to an indefinite amount--for almost every mad scheme speculators might suggest.[53]

"Summing up the most important internal improvement works for which Mr.

Seward advocated state aid, we have, the enlargement of the Erie ca.n.a.l,[54] the Black River ca.n.a.l in the counties of Oneida and Lewis and joining the Black River with the Erie ca.n.a.l, the Genesee Valley ca.n.a.l in the counties of Broome, Chenango, Madison, and Oneida joining the Chenango river with the Erie Ca.n.a.l (the two ca.n.a.ls last mentioned would unite Lake Ontario with the Susquehanna River), and the Hudson and Erie Railroad previously mentioned. Turning to the results of the election we find that Section A gave a large majority to Mr. Bouck with the greatest per cent of the vote in Cla.s.s I, and the least in Cla.s.s III; Cla.s.ses I and II of Section B also cast a majority for Mr. Bouck, but Cla.s.s III and all of Section C gave a majority to Mr. Seward. Cla.s.s III of the last mentioned section gave the largest per cent and Cla.s.s II the next to the largest per cent of the vote to Mr. Seward. Recalling that the Hudson and Erie railroad was to pa.s.s through the entire length of the southern part of Cla.s.s III of Section C and also through Cla.s.s III of Section A, we see the cause of the increased vote above the neighboring cla.s.ses for Mr. Seward. (See Table.) The conclusion to be drawn from the above fact that the rural region which was most desirous of obtaining some means of communication had cast the larger per cent for Mr. Seward who supported an extensive system of internal improvement, is that economic conditions largely determined the vote.

ELECTION OF 1840

_For Governor_ _For President_ _Seward_ _Bouck_ _Harrison_ _Van Buren_ Section A Cla.s.s I 44% 56% 47% 53% Cla.s.s II 47 53 47 53 Cla.s.ses I and II 48 52 47 53 Cla.s.s III 46 54 46 54 Section B Cla.s.s I 47 53 49 51 Cla.s.s II 48 52 47 53 Cla.s.ses I and II 48 52 49 51 Cla.s.s III 50+ 50- 51 49 Section C Cla.s.s I 53 47 53 47 Cla.s.s II 54 46 52 48 Cla.s.ses I and II 53 47 52 48 Cla.s.s III 55 45 56 44 Cities Albany 54 46 55 45 Buffalo 55+ 45- 56 44 Rochester 55 45 Utica 52 48 52 48

"In conclusion it may be stated that the Erie Ca.n.a.l was a great stimulus to the growth of population and the increase in valuation of property along the entire waterway of the Hudson and Erie Ca.n.a.l. The greatest activity, however, was felt west of the head waters of the Mohawk along the ca.n.a.l proper. This concentration of population tended to turn the attention of the people away from rural pursuits and resulted in their congregation in cities where they developed a commercial life. Along this line of dense population the immigrating foreign element gathered in large numbers while the New England settlers confined themselves to the rural regions. The political effect of the ca.n.a.l was to produce a great enthusiasm for internal improvements which was the main political issue in the state during the following years. The western part of the state and rural regions at a distance from the ca.n.a.l clamored for further improvements which would benefit them, and accordingly cast a majority of their votes for the candidates who stood for an extensive internal improvement system while the east opposed them. It should also be mentioned that in each section with the exception of Section A in the election of 1830 and the presidential election of 1840, the region with the largest number of foreigners cast a greater per cent of its vote for the conservative candidate than the region containing the greatest number of New Englanders. Thus it is clearly seen that political life is largely influenced by economic conditions and the character of the people."

CHAPTER VI

THE Ca.n.a.l FUND AND ENLARGEMENTS

No more important question was proposed to the commissioners in 1816 than the one which asked them to ascertain where the money that was to build the Erie Ca.n.a.l was coming from. Of course a loan must be made and the commissioners at once began casting about for information. William Bayard inquired for loans in Europe, but no answer was now at hand. "The Committee entertain no doubt," was the tentative reply in 1817, "but that as much money can be obtained in this country, as may be required for the ca.n.a.l, on the credit of the state, at an interest of 6 per cent by the creation of a funded debt, and that ample funds may be appropriated for the payment of the interest, and the gradual extinguishment of the debt without the imposition of taxes." The commissioners applied to those states which, it seemed, would be most benefited by the ca.n.a.l, Vermont on one side and Ohio and Kentucky (!) on the other, and to the United States. "But if no extraneous aid should be afforded," the commissioners concluded with threatening menace, "it will at all times be in the power of this state to levy high transit on the articles transported to and from those states and the territory of the United States, and thereby secure eventually, a greater fund than can possibly arise from any present contribution from those quarters." In order to facilitate gifts in lands or money, the commissioners scattered blank forms of cession and bequest throughout the country; "one form relates to gratuitous grants of land for the ground through which the ca.n.a.l is to pa.s.s, and the other is a contribution to the fund for making it. Agents have also been appointed in Vermont and Ohio for the same purpose." It was reported that nearly all the land necessary for the ca.n.a.l throughout its entire length would be ceded by the owners to the state for the purpose. In concluding their report for the year ending February 15, 1817, the commissioners affirmed that "their investigations have shown the physical facility of this great internal communication, and a little attention to the resources of the state will demonstrate its financial practicability. And they may be permitted to remark, that unless it is established the greater part of the trade which does not descend the Mississippi, from all those vast and fertile regions west of the Seneca lake, will be lost to the United States."

This report is signed by De Witt Clinton, S. Van Rensselaer, Samuel Young, and Myron Holley.

The needs of the ca.n.a.l were of course outlined in the estimates of expense of building; the estimated cost of the Western Section, according to James Geddes, was $1,801,862; that of the Middle Section, by Benjamin Wright's figures, was $853,186, and that of the Eastern Section, Charles C. Broadhead estimated at $2,271,690. The total amounted to $4,926,538 or five millions in round numbers. The committee of the legislature advised the organization of the Board of Commissioners of a Ca.n.a.l Fund, to borrow $1,500,000 at six per cent interest. The annual revenue of the ca.n.a.l was estimated at $924,000 and the expenditure $547,000.

William Ford, chairman of the joint committee of the legislature, addressed De Witt Clinton on March 8, 1817, asking him to outline a financial system for a ca.n.a.l fund. Clinton's scheme, which became the basis of all New York's ca.n.a.l building, is thus sketched by Mr.

Sweet:[55]

"1. Borrow $1,500,000 on the credit of the State, by the creation of a funded debt, with interest at six per cent, princ.i.p.al reimbursable in twenty years.

"2. The said Committee shall keep an account of all moneys received for the said fund, (which moneys shall be kept in the treasury), and shall pay over, from time to time, such moneys as shall be required for the execution of the powers committed to them.

"3. The said Committee of the fund shall, as soon as the whole or a part of the said works be completed, have power to establish and receive reasonable tolls.

"4. The annual application of $60,000 of the moneys arising which the State may derive from the sale of unappropriated lands, shall be pledged for the payment of said debt and the interest thereof. And they shall have power to apply any unappropriated money in the treasury to make good any deficiency or suspension in the payment of said funds.

"5. The said Committee shall, at the opening of the next session of the Legislature, report a plan of finances for the execution of the whole of said ca.n.a.ls, and also of a sinking fund for the extinguishment of the debt.

"In this same communication it was stated that 400,000 tons of freight were carried annually on the Hudson River.

"Thus De Witt Clinton laid the foundation of our ca.n.a.l financial system.

He estimated that ten million tons annually would be carried upon the ca.n.a.ls; that the cost of a ton for transportation from Buffalo to Albany would be $3.00."

The expenses of the engineering department to April 2, 1817, had been $14,462, and the total for exploration and surveying $42,957. The act to provide funds for the ca.n.a.l and also funds for the redemption of the funded debt of the state was pa.s.sed April 21, 1818. This law authorized the comptroller to sell certain three per cent United States bonds, and to apply the proceeds to the redemption of the funded debt; the comptroller was ordered to borrow one million dollars at six per cent after advertising for proposals for the same. The governor was empowered to appoint a cas.h.i.+er of a New York bank to issue certificates of stock, the princ.i.p.al to be redeemable until 1823, taxed at one mill on the dollar; state deposits were to be made in any bank in New York that would loan one million dollars. The act of March, 1819, authorized the borrowing of $700,000 yearly for the building of the ca.n.a.l; on March 25 this was reduced to $600,000; an a.s.sessment of a tax upon all lands within twenty-five miles of the ca.n.a.l, formerly made, was at this time suspended. By a law of April 7, 1819, the commissioners were again authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding (together with the net income of the ca.n.a.l fund) $600,000. The board of commissioners of the ca.n.a.l fund was now reduced to three members (January 20, 1820) at a salary of $2,500 each. To meet the extraordinary expenses of 1819, as previously detailed, the commissioners were empowered, April 12, 1820, to borrow $122,500 at six per cent interest; three fourths of this was to be equally divided between the Eastern and Western sections; the remainder was for the Champlain Ca.n.a.l. The first tolls were levied on the Erie Ca.n.a.l July, 1820; in that year $5,244 was collected, $450 of it from the old ca.n.a.l of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company at Little Falls.

By a concurrent resolution in the legislature, the comptroller, A.

McIntyre, was allowed to put into execution a plan for a sinking fund for the extinguis.h.i.+ng of the ca.n.a.l debt, January 12, 1821. He took, as a basis of his calculation, a debt of $5,905,456 and a revenue of $210,000; the loan of $600,000, with revenues, was to be continued as heretofore. By this plan the debt was to be extinguished in 1842, at which time the revenue, it was estimated, would be about $580,000, and the ca.n.a.l tolls, $150,000 beyond expenditures for repairs.

"If these estimates of revenue and of the expense of making the ca.n.a.ls, be correct, it results that the ca.n.a.ls will be completed in 1830, and that the ca.n.a.l loans will be discharged in 1843." An act dated February 9, 1821, authorized the commissioners to borrow one million dollars in both 1821 and 1822. Nothing can be more interesting than the financial estimates, the fears and doubts and the staunch firmness of these directors of the Erie Ca.n.a.l. In almost every case the estimates of expenses fell far below the actual cost; often the expenses ran thirty per cent above estimates; on the other hand the most optimistic commissioner never, in his most enthusiastic moment, realized what a tremendous income was to be received from the Erie Ca.n.a.l when it should be completed. Far as expenses ran ahead of estimates, they never exceeded them so far as the actual income of the ca.n.a.l exceeded the estimated income. This cannot be more clearly indicated than by a table showing estimated tolls and those actually received, from 1826 to 1834:

_Year_ _Estimated (1826)_ _Received_ 1826 $500,000 $492,664.00 1827 550,000 786,244.64 1828 600,000 838,412.00 1829 650,000 861,302.00 1830 700,000 943,545.35 1831 750,000 1,091,714.26 1832 800,000 1,085,612.28 1833 850,000 1,290,136.20 1834 900,000 1,179,744.97 ---------- ------------- Totals $6,300,000 $8,539,377.70

In only these eight years, it will be seen, the receipts exceeded the estimates by nearly two and one-quarter millions. In many places these estimates had been laughed to scorn. It will be difficult to find in all the commercial history of America a more splendid success, and it will be quite as difficult to find an instance where success was more richly deserved.

Between June, 1817, and October, 1821, the sum of $2,893,500 was borrowed for ca.n.a.l work, the lenders advancing $91,202 in premiums; the yearly interest was $159,580. The tolls of 1821 amounted to $23,000. It will be interesting to notice on what these tolls were levied; the list includes 44,723 barrels of flour, 17,068 barrels of salt, 43,078 bushels of wheat, 1,061,844 feet of lumber, 71,000 bushels of lime, 9,993 pounds of maple sugar, 85 tons of b.u.t.ter and lard, 772 tons of gypsum, 2,500 tons of merchandise, 47 wagons, and 10 coaches. The rates of toll per mile in 1821 were as follows:

_Article_ _Rate_ Salt 5 mills per ton.

Gypsum 5 mills per ton.

Flour, meal, etc 1 cent per ton.

Merchandise 2 cents per ton.

Timber (square and round) 5 mills per 100 solid feet.

Boards (planks, and reduced to one inch) 5 mills per 1000 solid feet.

s.h.i.+ngles 1 mill per 1000.

Bricks, sand, lime, iron ore, and stone 5 mills per ton.

Fence rails and posts 2 cents per 1000.

Wood for fuel 1 cent per cord.

All fuel for manufacture of salt free.

Boats for transportation of property 1 mill per ton of capacity.

Boats for carriage of persons 5 cents per mile of their pa.s.sage.

Staves and heading for pipes 1 cent per 1000.

Staves and heading for hogsheads 7 mills per 1000.

Staves and heading for barrels 5 mills per 1000.

All articles not named 1 cent per ton.[56]

The large amounts handled by the ca.n.a.l commissioners during the building of the ca.n.a.l will indicate the great responsibility that lay on their shoulders; between 1817 and 1822 the amount paid out by Myron Holley was $1,799,425.58; by H. Seymour, $833,335.70; by S. Young, $554,641.19.

By a law pa.s.sed March 29, 1823, the commissioners were authorized to borrow $1,300,000 and also $120,000 to pay interest on the ca.n.a.l bonds.

The tolls collected the year before amounted to $60,446.89; in this year they ran up to $125,991.76; $77,593.26 was collected between the Seneca and Utica, and $27,444.09 between Little Falls and Albany. On April 12, 1824, the commissioners were authorized to borrow one million dollars to complete the ca.n.a.ls. In this year ten thousand boats pa.s.sed the junction of the Erie and Champlain ca.n.a.ls; 157,446 tons of freight were handled and $294,546.62 was received from tolls. The following table will show the exact number of miles that was completed in the years from 1820 to 1824 and the tolls received from the ca.n.a.l alone:

_Year_ _Miles completed_ _Tolls_ 1820 94 $5,437.34 1821 94 23,000.00 1822 116 57,160.39 1823 160 105,037.35 1824 280 294,546.62

The expense of building in these years was:

_Year_ _Expense_ 1817-21 $2,004,523.53 1822 1,184,468.73 1823 1,941,962.37 1824 1,785,447.84 ------------ Total $6,916,402.47

The debt incurred, including the amount required for completion and payment of all claims at the close of the year 1824, was $7,700,000.

This estimate proved approximately correct, the total cost being $19,255.49 per mile, a trifle over one-half of the cost per mile of the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca.n.a.l.

The success of the Erie Ca.n.a.l, shown by the tolls received from 1825 to 1834 ($8,539,377.70), was more than its promoters had expected; indeed it was so great that the enlargement of the ca.n.a.l was rendered imperative within a decade. This was first urged by the citizens of one of the jewel-cities made by the great waterway--Utica. The memorial now reported to the legislature by E. F. Johnson called for a steamboat ca.n.a.l from Utica to Oswego (Lake Ontario) which was to be extended to Albany; the proposed depth was eight feet, width fifty-eight feet on the bottom and ninety feet on the surface, the locks one hundred and thirty feet long by thirty feet wide. "On the Erie Ca.n.a.l," the memorial urged, "the cost of animal power is 12 per cent greater than steam power on the Hudson for flour, and 42 per cent greater for merchandize; agricultural products, including ashes, 21 per cent greater on the ca.n.a.l than on the Hudson river. The Erie ca.n.a.l is small, and the traction of boats that navigate it is from 30 to 45, and most usually 40 per cent greater than would occur on a ca.n.a.l of the most favorable size for the boat used....

That a ca.n.a.l boat, 104 feet long, 16 feet wide, drawing 7 feet water, would carry 200 tons, and require a lock 115 feet long by 17 feet wide; the sectional area of boat below load water line 108 feet. The gross load of a schooner, with its own weight, would be 350 tons. Ca.n.a.l boats, constructed with reference to freight merely, will generally weigh in the ratio of their cargo as 4 to 9."[57] Engineer N. S. Roberts in a report dated January 17, 1835, said: "The present ca.n.a.l admits boats 13-1/2 feet wide, 3 feet draught, 80 feet long, displaces 80 tons water, weight of boat 30 to 35 tons, cargo 45 tons. Size of ca.n.a.l, 28 [26?]

feet bottom, 40 feet surface, 4 feet depth cross sec[tion] = 136 [132?]

sq. feet. Enlarged ca.n.a.l to reduce cost of transportation, 43-3/4 per cent must be 33 feet bottom, 48 feet top, and 5 feet deep, cross sec[tion]: 202.5; width and size of locks: 15110 between gates, admitting a boat 102 feet long, 13-1/2 feet wide, and 4 feet draught."[58]

After examination, the ca.n.a.l board determined to make the ca.n.a.l seventy feet wide on the surface, seven feet deep; the locks were to measure 110 feet between quoins and be eighteen feet deep. It was estimated that a ca.n.a.l of these proportions would save fifty per cent of transportation charges exclusive of tolls.[59] The enlargement construction law was pa.s.sed May 11, 1835; the act called for the construction of "double locks thereon as soon as they should deem it for the public interest; the dimensions of the ca.n.a.ls and locks to be fixed by the Ca.n.a.l Board."[60]

The new ca.n.a.l, seventy feet wide by seven feet deep, was divided into four sections. The first was from Albany to the eastern end of the Rome summit; the estimated cost of this section for enlargement was $2,864,335.96. The second section ran from east end of Rome summit to Jordan; estimated cost, $1,194,804.74. The third lay between Jordan and Rochester; estimated cost $2,739,139.51. The portion from Rochester to Buffalo comprised the fourth section, its estimated cost being $4,518,575.85. The total estimated cost, after adding ten per cent for contingencies, was $12,448,856.06.[61] Twenty-one double and three single locks were planned between Albany and Schenectady; one double and three single at Little Falls; two double and one single at Syracuse; one single lock at Lyons; two single at Lockville; one double and one single at Macedon. On January 1, 1838, these were all under contract, at a contract price of $3,035,087.[62] One year later contracts to the amount of ten and one-half millions for the whole work of enlargement had been signed. The commissioners were authorized by an act pa.s.sed April 18, 1839, to borrow four millions.[63] The work went on rapidly. By April 1, 1842, the Rochester aqueduct was completed, at a cost of half a million; the north tier of the locks at Lockport was in use in April of the next year. The total cost of the works here was $610,978. In 1845 twenty-nine out of forty-nine double set of locks between Albany and Syracuse were completed and ninety-eight miles of the new enlarged ca.n.a.l was open for use; the cost for this portion was $3,685,438. The total cost of enlargement contracted for prior to April 1, 1842, was $9,361,442. By 1850 the cost had run up to fifteen millions, which was distributed by years as follows:

_Year_ _Expense_ _Year_ _Expense_