turn their attention to canals as economical substitutes for land conveyance. The increasing commerce of the United States, after the revolution, soon demanded and obtained the commencement of these works in Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. The events of the war of 1812-14, confirmed the statements of the advocates for canals. On examination of the period immediately succeeding the treaty of peace, we discover that many canals, &c. were commenced before the great work of New York

"It would lead us far beyond the prescribed limits if we should adduce facts in support of our statement from any other commonwealth than Pennsylvania: but within these limits we shall obtain abundant evidence.

"The splendour of one great enterprise. in New York, appears to have almost eclipsed the brilliancy of the numerous achievements of the other states. Their magnitude and importance, although far greater in the aggregate, fail to make an equal impression on the imagination. Hence, although Pennsylvania has expended several millions of dollars more on internal improvement than any state in the Union, and we believe more than any two states collectively, and although the spirit of internal improvement first sprung into existence in that commonwealth (as we shall presently prove beyond all doubt), nevertheless, New York is erroneously supposed by many to be her birth place; the theatre of her earliest, as well as most vigorous exertions. The political supporters of a great statesman, sometime since deceased, not content with attributing to him the praise which he deserved, as the late, but most efficient, advocate for the introduction of canals-have vainly endeavoured to wrest from other and earlier labourers in the cause, the merit of originating, not only the great canal of New York, but of the system of internal improvement, a system which had been advocated, adopted, and actually commenced, long before the political birth of De

Witt Clinton.

"In Pennsylvania party spirit has not been connected with internal improvements, hence her march, although rapid and constant, has been silent and unostentatious. If we except three of the almost uninhabited counties which are in the northwestern part of this state, five-sixths of every part of the commonwealth will be intersected by canals and rail ways, leaving no point at a greater distance from these highways than 23 miles, when the works now in progress shall be finished.

"Some interesting letters of William Penn, Logan, and other early statesmen of Pennsylvania, are extant, which contain much interesting information relating to the improvement of the roads, the structure of bridges, and the clearing of river channels in the province. The clear views, and above all, the peculiar foresight displayed in this correspondence, would amply repay the trouble of a perusal at the present day. William Penn, in his proposals for a second settlement in the province of

VOL. XVIII.-PART I.

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Pennsylvania,' published in the year 1690, alludes to the practicability of effecting a communication,' by water,' between the Susquehanna and a branch of the river Schuylkill. The extreme brevity of this paper will not authorise us to draw any satisfactory conclusion respecting the mode by which this communication was intended to be effected; but the tenor of his language, the infancy of his colony, the modes of commercial intercourse prevalent at that early period, will not allow us to suppose, that even the prophetic spirit of the founder of Pennsylvania foresaw, far less projected, the canal which was commenced exactly one century from the date of this remarkable letter. Canals and turnpikes were unknown at this period, even in Great Britain; we ought not, therefore, to expect to find them in Pennsylvania.

"Objects of more real importance at that period, claimed the attention, and exercised the wisdom and liberality of the provincial legislature; roads were then to be constructed through the primitive forests; marshes were to be rendered passable by causeways; and bridges to be thrown over the minor streams; rude indeed in their structure, but requiring all the enterprise, and all the financial resources of that early period. Bridging the Atlantic and bridging the Delaware and Susquehanna would have been deemed equally feasible projects by our ancestors. Many appropriations were made for the purpose of improving the navigation of the streams; but it was not until a later period that the subject of canals began to attract the attention of a few of our more intelligent citizens. Numerous letters are extant which are peculiarly interesting, not merely from the character of their writers, but for the perfect originality of the views contained in them. They prove beyond all possibility of doubt, that the Union is indebted to Pennsylvania for the first introduction of canals and turnpikes to the public attention.

If Pennsylvania be justly liable to censure, it is not for her supineness and want of enterprize; it is not for her sins of omission, but of commission. She has done what she ought to have left undone; she exercised her energies prematurely; and abortive efforts were the result: she was in advance of the spirit of the age; and her example, in commencing the first canal to connect the eastern and western waters, which, if successful, would have stimulated other states to rivalry, proved by its failure a beacon which warned them to shun her course. We have already alluded to the correspondence of some of our citizens respecting the introduction of canals-their views were regarded at that early period (between the years 1750-60), with but little interest in England, and excited the attention of but few individuals in the colonies; nevertheless, to these remote efforts, the earliest projects of internal improvement in various portions of our country may be traced.

"At the present day it is difficult to determine to whom we are chiefly indebted for introducing the subject to the public attention. If our information

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be correct, we may attribute to David Rittenhouse, the astronomer, and to Dr. William Smith, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, the credit of being the first labourers in this hitherto untrodden field. Afterwards, Robert Morris, the financier of the revolution, and still later, Robert Fulton, the engineer, of whom Pennsylvania is so justly proud, lent their powerful assistance. To describe their efforts in detail, would require volumes.

"We have previously had occasion to notice the earliest efforts to introduce canals into the province; these efforts indicated more zeal than discretion. Schemes were proposed which, if not absolutely visionary, at least were impracticable at that period. It was proposed to execute canals in districts where, in consequence of the limited population, but little advantage could be received from them; consequently, some of their projects have never been executed, and it was reserved for posterity to attempt the fulfilment of others of their designs.

In conformity to our plan, we will now give a detailed statement of several of the more import ant works already executed, in progress, or in contemplation-commencing with the Union Canal. We have already stated, that in the year 1762, David Rittenhouse and Dr. William Smith surveyed and levelled a route for a canal to connect the Susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers. The Union Canal, which has since accomplished this object, passes over a portion of this route; the first which was surveyed for a canal in the colonies.

"The views of the projectors of this work, were, if the difficulties of that period be considered, far more gigantic and surprising than have been entertained by their successors in any part of the Union. They contemplated nothing less than a junction of the eastern and western waters of Lake Erie and of the Ohio with the Delaware, on a route extending 582 miles. The Alleghany mountain intervening, presents an elevation of about 3000 feet above the tide, and was wisely deemed to offer an insuperable obstacle to a continuous navigation; a portage over this section was accordingly recommended (an expedient which, notwithstanding our present command of almost unlimited capital, and our improvements in engineering, we at the present day have been compelled to adopt). The greater portion of the remainder of the route was at first supposed to be sufficient for the purposes of navigation; if the channels were suitably improved by removing rocks and sand bars, building dams and using wing walls, and excavating canals at a few of the more difficult, or otherwise impassable sections; a scheme which their subsequent experience proved to be erroneous, and more extensive canals were projected.

Duly to appreciate the enterprise of that age, we ought to consider that the great valley of the Ohio and Mississippi was almost one boundless forest; a wilderness inhabited only by wild beasts, or the scarcely less savage Indians; attainable moneyed capital was then almost unknown in the colonies, the very term engineering' was equally unknown in the vocabulary of those days. No canal was

then in existence in England; Sankey Brook and the Duke of Bridgewater's had been commenced, but were yet unfinished. The public teachers even there, had yet to learn that canals were not visionary undertakings. The sneers of many even in the parliament of Great Britain were to be encountered; nevertheless, under all these discouragements, the earliest advocates for inland navigation commenced their efforts in Pennsylvania. In 1764, they induced the American Philosophical Society to order a survey for a canal to connect the Chesapeake bay with the Delaware. These laudable efforts were duly appreciated by the provincial legislature; which finally about the same period authorised a survey on a route extending 582 miles to Pittsburg and Erie. This survey was accordingly performed, and a report made, strongly recommending the execution of the project. The adoption of the plan was, however, postponed, in consequence of the more important concerns which occupied the public attention immediately before and during the revolution. After the glorious termination of that struggle, the spirit of internal improvement began to' animate the citizens of other states, and several works were commenced in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. The canal through the Dismal Swamp, connecting the Chesapeake bay, Albemarle Sound, with the works on the Potomac, James and Rappahannock rivers, were commenced and partially finished, between the years 1786 and

1791.

But these works were all partial and incomplete; local in their benefit, and evincing little boldness or skill in their plans or execution. "The great project of Pennsylvania had been allowed to slumber, but it was only to acquire fresh vigour by repose. It had not been forgotten nor relinquished. The time had now arrived to commence this gigantic enterprise; accordingly, on the 29th day of September, in the year 1791, the legislature incorporated a joint stock company to effect a portion of the plan. Robert Morris, David Rittenhouse, William Smith, Tench Francis, and others were named in the bill as commissioners. The company was authorised to connect the Susquehanna and Schuylkill, by a canal and slackwater navigation; and thus accomplish the first link in the great chain by which they intended eventually to connect Erie, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia.

"The intention of connecting the eastern with the western and northwestern parts of the state is distinctly expressed in this act, and in a subsequent act passed in the following year (April 10th, 1792). The policy of effecting such works by joint stock companies, assisted by legislative encouragement, is also distinctly stated; a policy combining the vigilance of private interest in the expenditure of money, with the ample and certain resources of the public treasury. All persons who are conversant with the history of public works throughout the world, will assent to the expediency of this plan: when the public is the sole paymaster, extravagance, imposition, and negligence are the almost inevitable consequences. In Great Britain and Ireland, where this subject has been thoroughly examined, every canal (with the exception of two,

intended chiefly for military purposes) has been made by individuals or companies, who have been frequently assisted by parliamentary bounty.

"On the continent of Europe, where the opposite plan is usually pursued, the evils which we have previously mentioned, almost universally prevail. Baron Dupin, in his valuable treatise on the public works of Great Britain, most ably and convincingly describes these evils.

"The success which it is alleged has attended the execution of the grand canal by the state of New York, may perhaps be adduced in opposition to this opinion.

"But the exception is only apparent; the splendour of the result threw a veil over the many abuses which occurred during the prosecution of that work; some of these abuses are already known to the public, and doubtless many remained concealed. The same remark may be applied to many of the public works in various parts of the Union. The instances are extremely few in which the benefits necessarily resulting from this plan will so far counterbalance the evil, as to render necessary its adoption. The unassisted efforts of individuals when at once protected and restrained by judicious acts of incorporation, will be usually sufficient for the purpose of accomplishing such works of internal improvement, as the public welfare may really. require. If such works should require the expenditure of larger sums than an incorporated company can procure, the public treasury may then be required to supply the deficiency. Such accordingly has been the policy of Pennsylvania. Until recently, nearly all the turnpike roads, bridges, canals, and rail ways in the state, were executed by chartered companies; the state frequently subscribing to the stock, or making liberal donations in aid of the projects.

"In some cases, where the commonwealth subscribed for too large a proportion of the stock, or incautiously advanced the funds, fraud and extravagance in the management were the almost inevitable consequences. We therefore deem it peculiarly fortunate, that, the preamble to the charter of the first companies authorised to make internal improvements, contains a distinct recognition of the principle for which we have been contending. As further investigation of this subject would occasion a digression from the immediate subject which we are engaged in examining, we will resume our description of the proceedings of the second company to which we have previously alluded, viz. the company incorporated the 10th of April 1792, to effect a junction of the Delaware with the Schuylkill river, by a canal extending from Norristown to Philadelphia; a distance of 17 miles. The Schuylkill river from the former city to Reading was to be temporarily improved: and thus form with the works of the Susquehanna and Schuylkill company, an uninterrupted water communication with the interior of the state; with the intention, as we have previously remarked, of extending the chain to Erie and Ohio. Experience soon convinced the two companies that a greater length of canal was requisite, in consequence of the difficulties of im

proving the channels of the rivers; hence the company last mentioned determined (in compliance with the suggestions of Mr. Weston, a British engineer, whom they had imported for their service), to extend their canal from river to river, a distance of 70 miles. In conjunction with the former company they nearly completed 15 miles of the most difficult parts of the two works; comprising much rock excavation, heavy embankments, exten. sive deep cuttings, and several locks which were constructed with bricks. In consequence of the commercial difficulties (in which it is known that some of the chief stockholders were shortly after involved, both companies were compelled to suspend their operations after the expenditure of $440,000. The suspension of these works, and some years after of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, had a most disastrous effect on every similar work which was projected for many years afterwards. Frequent attempts were made from the year 1795 to resume operations; and there cannot be a doubt, if the state had immediately, on the first appearance of embarrassment, bestowed that liberal pecuniary assistance (which it eventually proffered when too late), that these canals would have been completed, and some of their patriotic and enterprising projectors rescued from ruin.

"Notwithstanding the subscription to the stock of the companies of $300,000, which was subsequently tendered by the state, these corporations continued to maintain a mere languishing existence.

"In the year 1811, these two bodies (which were chiefly composed of the same individuals), were reorganised and united by an act of assembly into one company-styled, the Union Canal Company.'

.

"In this act they are specially authorised to extend their canal from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, with the privilege of making such further extension, in any other part of the state, as they may deem expedient. As this work may be justly styled the great parent of all the canals which have since been executed in our country; inasmuch as it was projected, surveyed, described and held up for the imitation of other states, long ere the subject of canals had attracted attention in any other part of the Union (although the disasters which we have previously mentioned, retarded its completion until a very recent period); the interest which consequently attaches to its history, induces us at present to describe it more minutely.

"As large sums were required to resume operations with success on this canal, the legislature by an act passed March 29th, 1819, granted an interest of six per cent to the subscribers to the stock to be raised for this purpose: this interest was to be taken from the proceeds of the lottery before mentioned. By an additional act, March 26th, 1821, the state guarantied this interest.

"The additional subscriptions which were obtained in consequence of this legislative encouragement, enabled the managers to resume their operations this year, 1821. The line of the canal was re-located, the dimensions changed and the whole work finished in about six years from this period;

hibited to many persons; his suggestions were copied without acknowledgement, and others have reaped the benefit of his discoveries.

"The superiority of rail-roads to canals, even when horses were employed on both, was zealously maintained by Evans before it had been imagined in Europe or this country, and their greater superiority, when locomotive engines should be adopted, was repeatedly pressed on the public attention. He endeavoured, without success, to urge the execution of a road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and several years after, of a rail-road from this city to New York; in the latter he offered to take stock to the amount of $25,000; but he was in advance of the age in which he lived. His projects were regarded as visionary; although, at the present moment, both of these important roads are in rapid progress, and, in a few months, passengers will be whirled over these rail-ways, and gratefully remember their benefactor, Oliver Evans: a man whose projects have been in this instance accomplished, and whose predictions have been fulfilled to the very letter; although a strait jacket was voted to him formerly, almost by acclamation, as the reward of his genius. Fitch, who constructed the first steam-boat at Philadelphia in the year 1787, and Fulton, of Pennsylvania, who successfully introduced steam navigation, also obtained poverty and ingratitude as the reward of their exertions.' [When the preceeding volumes of the Encyclopædia were composed, rail-roads were in their infancy; since that period they have acquired a new and important character. As they have attracted great attention in the United States, the following comparison and descriptions, extracted from the essay of G. W. Smith, also are inserted.]

"The attention of the writer was attracted to rail-roads when he was a boy. At a subsequent period he visited Europe in 1820 and 1821 and examined the internal improvements of Great Britain, particularly the rail-roads of that country), with great attention. Immediately after his return in 1821, he commenced his efforts for the purpose of introducing them into the United States. In advocating their superiority to canals, he for a long time stood alone and unsupported. In the year 1824 and subsequently, numerous essays and pamphlets were written by him on this subject, and distributed gratuitously throughout the Union.

"These preliminary remarks being made, a description of the rail-roads of the United States will next be given, including a list of all the rail-roads already made, which exceed five miles in length; and a description of several of the principal works in detail; this will enable the reader to understand the various modes of construction which are resorted to in the different parts of the Union, premising that railroads are, generally, preferable to canals, particularly in the United States, for the following reasons:

1. They are practicable in every situation where the wants of the community may require them. Canals are frequently impracticable, either from a deficiency of water, or from physical obstacles which would render the expense enormous.

"2. The cost of constructing, maintaining, and

repairing rail-roads is generally less than the cost of canals.

3. Rail-roads are (almost without exception) less circuitous than canals.

4. The transportation of goods and passengers can be effected with a much greater speed on railroads than on canals. Locomotive engines, on railways, now travel at a rate which almost realizes the lover's dream--the annihilation of space and time. Riding on the wings of the wind is a dilatory process, compared to the more than hurricane speed which has been already attained on several rail-roads. The fleetest of the animal creation has been distanced by the iron limbs of a race horse, whose fiery spirit never flags, whose muscles never tire, who, in a single month, can travel over a space equal to the circumference of the great globe which we inhabit; a courser, who, moreover, can draw, when required, 1000 persons in his train, with a speed which even the philosophers of the age but yesterday pronounced as the dream of the visionary. "The important consequences of rapid travelling, to those who are in pursuit of business or pleasure, may be mentioned--the facility of a frequent and expeditious intercourse among friends and relatives, merchants, manufacturers, and farmersespecially in cases of urgency--the conveyance of the mail, of troops and munitions of war, in case of invasion or insurrection, &c. Again, many articles will acquire a new value; provisions, which are incapable of long preservation-meat, poultry, fish, oysters, milk, butter, eggs, vegetables, &c., may be brought from an immense distance for consumption. Goods can be forwarded to suit the emergencies of commerce. The port which has access to the interior by a rail-road may take time by the forelock, and her merchants may avail themselves of the constant fluctuations,. the rapid changes in the markets, foreign and domestic. They may hold intercourse with the immense regions of the interior at the most favourable moment, when the rivers and highways are in the best condition--when their snail-paced rivals, on canals, cannot even creep in sight of the districts where the harvest may have been already reaped. Again, their capital can be more frequently circulated from the frequency of their receipts and expenditures; consequently, a less amount of capital will be sufficient.

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5. Rail-roads are more easily kept in repair, and, when injured, the trade on the line is not necessarily and entirely stopped, although it may be sometimes impeded: their repairs can be speedily and cheaply effected within a certain period of time; consequently, the transportation on them will be regular, and without unforeseen and vexatious embarrassment and loss, and the consumer and producer will not at any time be deprived of a market.

6. Rail-roads can be used during all seasons; they are not rendered useless by the frosts of winter or the droughts of summer, which materially detract from the utility of canals; whilst the constant liability of the latter to accidents, and the difficulty, tediousness, and uncertainty attending their repairs, diminish the limited period in which they might otherwise be employed. The greater