absence of the foreign trade enjoyed by New York, proves conclusively the immense domestic commerce of the former. Influenced by similar objects to those which actuated the people of Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and the eastern States, in their immense expenditures for works that facilitate transportation, the people of Maryland, at an early period, commenced two very important works, the Chesapeake and Ohio canal and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, for the purpose of attracting the trade of the interior, and of placing themselves on the routes of commerce between the two grand divisions of the country. By the deep indentation made by the Chesapeake bay, the navigable tide-waters are brought into nearest proximity to the Mississippi Valley in the States of Maryland and Virginia. To this is to be ascribed the fact, that before the use of railroads, the principal routes of travel between the East and the West were from the waters of that bay to the Ohio river. The great National road, established and .constructed by the general government, commenced at the Potomac river, in Maryland, and its direction was made to conform to the convenient route of travel at that time. No sooner had experience demonstrated the superiority of railroads to ordinary roads, than the people of Baltimore assumed the adaptation of them to their routes of communication, and immediately commenced the construction of that great work, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which, after a struggle of twenty-five years, is now on the eve of completion. This road was commenced in 1828, and was one of the first roads brought into use in the United States. . ... The road is now [1852] open to a point about 300 miles from Baltimore, and will be completed on or before the first of January next. . . As before stated, the first route of travel between the East and the West was between the waters of the Chesapeake and the Ohio. The opening of the Erie canal, and, subsequently, of the railroads between the Hudson river and Lake Erie, diverted this travel to this more northern and circuitous, but more convenient route. This diversion seriously affected the business of Baltimore, and materially lessened the revenues of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, since its opening to Cumberland. All this lost ground the people of Baltimore expect to regain; and with it, to draw themselves a large trade now accustomed to pass to the more northern cities. Assuming the cost of transportation on a railroad to be measured by lincal distance, Baltimore certainly occupies a very favorable position in reference to western trade. To Cincinnati, the great city of the West, and the commercial depot of southern Ohio, the shortest route from all the great northern cities will probably be by way of Baltimore, and over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. To strengthen her position still farther, the people of this city have already commenced the construction of the Northwestern railroad, extending from the southwestern angle of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, in a direct line towards Cincinnati. The distance from Baltimore to Parkersburg, by this route, will be about 395 miles, and about 580 to Cincinnati, by the railroads in progress through southern Ohio. . Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This great work was projected with a view to its extension to the Ohio river at Pittsburg. The original route extended from Alexandria, up the Potomac river, to the mouth of Wills Creek, thence by the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers to Pittsburg. Its proposed length was 341 miles. It was commenced in 1828, but it was only in the past year that it was opened for business to Cumberland, 191 miles. Towards the original stock $1,000,000 was subscribed by the United States, $1,000,000 by the city of Washington, $250,000 by Georgetown, $250,000 by Alexandria, and $5,000,000 by the State of Maryland. From the difficulties in the way of construction, the idea of cxtending the canal beyond Cumberland has long since been abandoned; and though when originally projected, it was regarded as a work of national importance, it must now be ranked as a local work, save so far as it may be used in connexion with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, as a portion of a through route to the Ohio. In this manner it bids fair to become a route of much general importance. As a very large coal trade must always pass through this canal, the boats will take return freights at very low rates, in preference to returning light. It is proposed to form a line of steam propellers from New York to Baltimore, for the transportation of coal; and it is claimed that the very low rates at which freights between New York and Cumberland can be placed by such a combination, will cause the canal, in connexion with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, to become a leading route between New York and the West. The State of Virginia is the birth-place of the idea of constructing an artificial line for the accommodation of commerce and travel between the navigable rivers of the interior and tide-water. It is now nearly one hundred years since a definite plan for a canal from the tide-waters of Virginia to the Ohio was presented by Washington to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, and ever since that time the realization of this project has been the cherished idea of the State. .. James River and Kanawha Canal.- The great work by which this connexion has been sought to be accomplished is the James river and Kanawha canal, to extend from Richmond to the navigable waters of the Great Kanawha, at the mouth of the Greenbrier river, a distance of about 310 miles. This work is now completed to Buchanan, in the valley of Virginia, a distance of 196 miles, and is in progress to Covington, a town situated at the base of the great Alleghany ridge, about thirty miles farther. It was commenced in 1834, and has cost, up to the present time, the sum of $10,714,306. The extension of this water line to the Ohio is still considered a problem by many, though its friends cherish the original plan with unfaltering zeal. The work thus far has scarcely realized public expectation, from the difficulties encountered, which have proved far greater than were anticipated in the outset, and have materially delayed the progress of the work. . . Central Railroad. The object which led to the conception of the James river and Kanawha canal is now the ruling motive in the construction of the two leading railroad projects of this State, viz: the Virginia Central and the Virginia and Tennessee railroads. While the canal is still the favorite project with an influential portion of her citizens, it cannot be denied that, sympathizing with the popular feeling in favor of railroads, which have in many cases superseded canals as means of transportation, and which are adapted to more varied uses and better reflect the character and spirit of the times, a large majority of the people of the State deem it more advisable to open the proposed western connexions by means of railroads than by a farther extension of the canal. . . . The whole length of the road, from Richmond to the navigable waters of the Kanawha, will be about two hundred and eighty-six miles. The means for its construction have thus far been furnished by stock subscriptions on the part of the State and individuals, in the proportion of three-fifths by the former, to two-fifths by the latter. No doubt is entertained of its extension over the mountains, at a comparatively early period. The State is committed to the work, and has too much involved, both in the amount already expended and in the results at stake, to allow it to pause at this late hour. The opinion is now confidently expressed by well-informed persons that some definite plan will be adopted for the immediate construction of the remaining link of this great line. The leading roads in operation in Georgia constitute two great lines, representing, apparently, two different interests. The first extends from Savannah, the commercial capital of the State, to the Tennessee river, a distance of 434 miles, and is made up of the Georgia Central, Macon and Western, and Western and Atlantic roads. The latter, by which the railroad system of the State is carried into the Tennessee valley, is a State work. The second line traverses the State from east to west, crossing the other nearly at right-angles, and is made up of the Georgia and the Atlantic and La Grange railroads. This line may be considered as an extension, in a similar direction, of the South Carolina railroad, and rests on Charleston as its commercial depot, as does the former on Savannah. To a certain extent the Western and Atlantic link may be said to be common to both lines. To the State of Georgia must be awarded the honor of first surmounting the Great Alleghany or Appalachian range, and of carrying a continuous line of railroad from the seacoast into the Mississippi valley. From the difficulties in the way of such an achievement, it must always be regarded as a crowning work. Wherever accomplished, the most important results are certain to follow. The construction of the Western and Atlantic road was the signal for a new movement throughout all the southern and southwestern States. By opening an outlet to the seaboard for a vast section of country, it at once gave birth to numerous important projects, which are now making rapid progress, and which, when completed, will open to the whole southern country the advantages of railroad transportation. Among the more important of these may be named the Memphis and Charleston, the East Tennessee and Georgia, and the Nashville and Chattanooga roads, already referred to. The former will open a direct line of railroad from Memphis, an important town on the Tennessee [Mississippi] river, to the southern Atlantic ports of Charleston and Savannah, and will become the trunk for a great number of important radial branches. The Nashville and Chattanooga, traversing the State of Tennessee in a northwesterly direction, has given a new impulse to the numerous railroads which are springing into life, both in Tennessee and Kentucky. These railroads will soon form connexions with those of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and thus all the northern and western States will be brought into intimate business relations with the southern cities of Charleston and Savannah. . . . V. COMPETITION OF CANALS AND RAILROADS 1 In 1845 it was estimated that of the produce of the Mississippi Valley shipped to seaboard one half found its way to market via the canals, railroads, and other means of transportation to the Atlantic coast, and the other half went by way of New Orleans. Of the imports, however, New Orleans handled a much smaller proportion, and of those the heavier products were shipped to the West by the canals and the lighter by the railroads. In 1846 the receipts of flour and wheat at Buffalo exceeded those at New Orleans, and those who favored the river route began for the first time to express some alarm. The newspapers and magazines of the time are filled with a discussion of this question, and those of 1 Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States, 1887, pp. 210-212. |