merchandise into the country, and the produce of the country to a market, together with timber to the Navy Yards. This route would also open a free intercourse with Canada and Quebec, either by water to the St. Lawrence river, or Craig's road to Quebec.

Companies have been incorporated to connect the waters of Connecticut river with the waters of the Merrimack, and to cut a canal from the Winnepisiogee Lake to the Piscataqua river, and from Pemigwasset river, through Squam ponds, to Winnepisiogee Lake. These, when effected, will connect the waters of the Connecticut river with Portsmouth and Boston harbors.

In New York, much has already been done by the energetic measures and sound policy which that state has pursued. The great canal of New York unites the Atlantic with the regions of the Lakes. Still, many other important objects of improvement remain to be effected in the state of New York, as appears in the message of the Governor of that state, lately addressed to the General Assembly.

[H. of R.

furnishing a vent for the produce of several others. The shortness of the canal, by this route, connecting the Atlantic tides with the steam boat navigation of the West, at Pittsburg, being less than 350, and to Lake Erie, less than 450 miles.

These considerations, together with the general and diffusive nature of the benefits to result from this work, offering great advantages to all the states, yet peculiar to none, as well as the magnitude of the undertaking, point it out as a work peculiarly national in its character, and cannot fail to secure for it the prompt and efficient aid of the General Government.

Erie.

Many of the above remarks will likewise apply to the Pennsylvania Canal, which will pass through a rich and populous country, and connect the greatest manufactur ing city on the Western waters with one of the richest and most manufacturing cities on the Atlantic, at a dis tance of about 370 miles; and will bring New York and Pittsburg nearer together than by any other route-as from New York to Brunswick 40 miles, from there to Another connection may be effected through the Philadelphia 60, and from there to Pittsburg 370; makstates of Jersey and Pennsylvania. A law has been late-ing, in the whole, 470 miles, instead of 790 by Lake ly passed by the Legislature of the state of New Jersey, to construct a canal from the Raritan to the Delaware. James River, in the state of Virginia, it is believed, And in Pennsylvania, the river Schuylkill has been con- can be connected with the Kenhawa, which empties in verted into a slack water navigation, by canals and dams, to the Ohio. This will afford that valuable section of from tide water at Philadelphia, to Mount Carbon, near the country a water communication to the Lakes through its source, being a distance of one hundred and nine the canal intended to be cut from the Ohio River to Lake miles. The cost of this work, now finished, was one Erie; on which subject, the Canal Commissioners, in million eight hundred thousand dollars. Connected obedience to an act of the General Assembly of the with it, is the Union Canal, which branches off at Read-state of Ohio, have recently written a very able report. ing, fifty-two miles above Philadelphia, and intersects the Susquehannah at Middletown, ten miles below Harrisburg. This work, now in rapid progress, and which will be finished in eighteen months, is seventy-eight miles long, and will cost about eleven hundred thousand dollars. Both these canals lead to inexhaustible mines of coal, of the very best quality, and complete the water communication between the Susquehannah and Philadelphia, the distance being about one hundred and fifty miles. The majestic river of Susquehannah is the only one of the Atlantic rivers whose sources approach both the Western waters, and those of the St. Lawrence. Its Tioga branch affords a communication with the rivers Seneca and Gennessee, which empty into Lake Ontario, and its Western branch approaches the waters of the Alleghany. The river Susquehannah, it is believed, affords two communications to the Western waters; one by the Western branch, and the other by connecting the Juniatta river with the river Conemaugh, which empties into the Alleghany.

The Canal Commissioners of the state of Pennsylvania, who examined this last route, partly in conjunction with two of the United States' Engineers, have lately reported in favor of its practicability.

The sources of the Roanoke rise in the mountains of Virginia, and it empties itself into the Albemarle Sound, and is navigable to the Great Falls, seventy miles from its mouth. Around the Great Falls, locks have been made, and the branches of this river have been greatly improved by jetty dams. It is proposed to re-open Roanoke Inlet, or to make a new one near its site, and to close up the communication between Albemarle and Pamtico Sounds, by running a dam of stone or of wood and earth across Cronton and Roanoke Sounds, near the South end of Roanoke Island. The estimated cost of this improvement, if made of stone, is $2,000,000, and, if made of wood and earth, $1,000,000. This improve ment would diminish the distance from any given port on the Sound nearly one half, and would accommodate the country on both sides of the Sound, and along the rivers emptying into it, which is as fertile a tract of coun. try as any in the Southern states, and sustains as great a population.

The head waters of the Great Pedee River, which falls into the ocean at Wingan Bay, take their rise in the Blue Ridge; and the Yadkin, a bold stream, with only one formidable, but not insurmountable, obstruction, is navigable to the foot of those mountains, in the state of The next communication with the Western waters can North Carolina. The distance over them to the naviga be effected by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This ble waters of the Holstein, a branch of the Tennessee, is object, regarded as the most important and national, not great. The head waters of the Santee, which has was the first to claim the attention of the Executive in its outlet in the state of South Carolina, are the Catawba, carrying into effect the provisions of the law of the last Broad, and Saluda rivers; the former takes its rise near session, to procure surveys, &c.; and the able board of the mountains in North Carolina, not far from the head Engineers, who have given the subject a full and care-waters of the French Broad; the two latter rise within the ful examination during the last summer, have pronounced it perfectly practicable, at an expense small compared with the magnitude and importance of the object. This work, whether regarded in a military, commercial, or political point of view, is equally important, Passing through the centre of the Republic, from one extreme to the other, opening an internal communication of more than 2,500 miles; affording at once a powerful bond of Union, with every commercial facility in time of peace and, in war, the most efficient means of national defence. Besides, its immediate connection with the seat of the National Government; its central position; the great extent of inland navigation which it opens; touching, in its course, eleven states of the Union, and

state of South Carolina; their sources are nearly equally in the vicinity of the French Broad. The navigation of each of these three rivers has been so far improved, as to render them fit for the transportation of produce to within a few miles of the mountains. The Keowee and Sugatoo rivers, the head waters of the Savannah, which form the boundary of the states of South Carolina and Georgia, have their source in the same chain of mountains, and might be rendered navigable to within a very short distance of the head waters of the French Broad. It is to be observed of all these rivers, that the Blue Ridge presents obstacles to a junction between the Eastern and Western waters, by means of canals.

By a memorial from the Legislature of Alabama to

Congress, it appears that the Tuscaloosa river, a branch
of the Tombecbe, may, at a reasonable expense, be con-
nected with the Tennessee river. The memorial also
states, that the Alabama river commences and becomes
capable of a water transportation within eight or eleven
miles of a stream equally susceptible of being rendered
navigable, and which empties into the Tennessee river;
that the latter receives the tribute of several other
streams which take their rise and become navigable in
the state of Virginia, passing through some of the most
productive lands, and watering, in their course, the whole
Eastern Section of the state of Tennessee; that the di-
viding ground separating these waters affords a favorable
opportunity of connecting the waters of the Alabama
with those of the Tennessee river; and that the distance
for the produce of Tennessee to reach a market on the
sea board, would be reduced from nearly two thousand
miles, to New Orleans, to six or seven hundred miles, to
the Mobile, which may be connected with the Pensacola
Bay.
The Cumberland river, in the state of Tennessee, it
is believed, can be connected with the Tennessee river,
which, when connected with the Tombecbe or Alabama
rivers, will open a direct water communication to Pen-
sacola, in Florida, for a large and important section of
the Union.

Some of the Georgia rivers, it is believed, may be connected with the Western waters.

The cutting of a canal from Lake Pontchartrain, to communicate with the Mississippi, at or near the city of New Orleans, is considered of importance, both in a military and commercial point of view.

Pearl River, in the state of Mississippi, is also a valuable stream, and is capable of much improvement for the public advantage.

Besides the communications, already mentioned, with the Lakes, it is considered as practicable, at a reasonable expense, to connect the Wabash River with the Miami of Lake Erie.

The importance of an early attention to the construction of canals, round the Falls of Ohio, at Louisville, and round the Muscle Shoal, in the Tennessee River, will be readily conceded.

Whenever the contemplated water communication, between Boston and the river Delaware, shall be completed, it will, it is supposed, leave but about thirty-eight miles of land, separated by water sources, to Lewis's River, a branch of the Columbia, which empties into the Pacific ocean; as, from the Talpahockin, a branch of the Schuylkill to the Quitepahilla, a branch of the Susquehannah, four miles; from Poplar Run, a branch of the Juniatta, to the Little Conemaugh, a branch of the Alleghany, 14 miles; from the Yellow Stone river, a branch of the Missouri, to Lewis's River, a branch of the Columbia, twenty miles; making, in the whole, thirty-eight | miles. But what distance of canalling, and water improvements, would be necessary to complete this chain of communication, the committee possesses no means of ascertaining. Parts of it, no doubt, will be accomplished in a reasonable time; yet there can be no expectation that the whole will be effected for a very long period.

[H. of R.

The inestimable invention of lock navigation was entirely unknown to the ancients, who have furnished us with so many astonishing monuments of their greatness; it instructed mankind in the knowledge that water was capable of producing the ascent of vessels to its own level, and that, wherever there is water above, vessels can go down and re-ascend by water; but the invention in itself is not much more wonderful than the prejudices against adopting it in practice, which have existed in many countries.

In the construction of the canal of the two seas in France, all the science and art appertaining to the subject were displayed. Locks, 114 in number, were constructed, and rocks excavated for great distances; tunnels were cut through mountains, and a reservoir of 595 acres was filled by waters from the adjacent elevated places, and which were conveyed by aqueducts over rivers and valleys. This canal, although greatly advan tageous to the nation at large, would not have been good property for private proprietors; but it was the origin of innumerable canals in France and Holland, which exhibited, in the clearest light, their many and important public and private advantages; but, notwithstanding the enterprising character of the people of England, and although they had the examples of Holland and France so near at hand, still, near a century passed, before either government or inhabitants attempted to make any works of the kind in England. The success of the undertaking of a spirited individual, at length roused the people to enthusiasm, and awakened a general ardor for similar improvements among the landholders, farmers, merchants, and manufacturers of the kingdom, Since then, there has been no cessation in the prosecution of public works, and the capacity of the country has been entirely changed; old manufactures were rendered more flourishing, and new ones were established from time to time, in places where the land before was of but little value and thinly inhabited. The towns were enabled to supply a much greater extent of inland country with their own manufactures. The consumers, in the interior of the country, imported at lower prices, and, as producers, they exported with greater advantages.·

The canals united the materials for manufactures that lay dispersed, and, by lessening the expense of the transportation of bulky articles, they brought stores of riches from the bowels of the earth. They afforded to the inhabitants of the interior, in every direction, the advantages of coasts which were safe from tempests and wars. England could never have sustained herself in her mighty struggles with the continent, had it not been for her unremitted attention to the domestic industry of the country; and nothing gave as much facility and animation to this industry, as her cheap, safe, and expeditious modes of transportation. Prejudices, even as to the practicability of executing great designs, existed in England for a long time; and, when the Duke of Bridgewater's canal was finished as far as Barton, where the Irwell is navigable for large vessels, Brindley, the engineer, proposed to carry it over that river by aqueducts, the idea was ridiculed, and another eminent engineer was consulted, who replied, at once, that he had often If the survey system, which commenced the last sum-heard of castles in the air, but that he had never been mer, should be persevered in, the Union, and the seve- shown before, where any of them were to be built. The ral States, will be put into the possession of invaluable | information on these interesting subjects.

In viewing the prospects before us for improvements on a large scale, the mind is lost in amazement at the extensiveness of the scenes which appear, for the permanent benefit and grandeur of the country.

The inhabitants of the old countries were for a long time confined to the coasts; but the improvements in navigation, gave an unlimited expansion to commercial enterprise, and the discovery of canalling is an admirable extension of the benefits of navigation, by which we can sail over the globe by land, as well as by sea.

Duke, however, took the advice of his own engineer, and the work was commenced in September, 1760, and boats sailed over it in less than a year, to the astonishment of those, who, a little before, thought it impossible. The New York works had to encounter prejudices of every description; some entertained opinions that the whole scheme was romantic in the extreme; that it was totally impracticable; and, if practicable, that it was far beyond any conception they had of the ability of the state to carry it into execution. A short period has, however, dispelled all such apprehensions; and it may be reasonably hoped that these works will produce similar effects in

18th CONGRESS, 2d SESSION.

On Internal Improvements.

[H. of R.

which will pay the public debt in ten years. This may not all be realised, but it is probable that the surplus will even exceed this estimate. The public debt will be diminishing, and there will be less interest to pay; the appropriations for fortifications will not be as large as they have been; the pension fund has diminished more than one half in the last three or four years, and must en tirely cease in a short time-from this source alone, upwards of a million will be disengaged; the customs will increase with the growing population of the country; and the Government, besides, owns about 500 millions of acres of land, the value of many parts of which will be enhanced by the improvements of the country.

But we will suppose the case which is the most favor. able; and that is, that the debt, together with the im provements, should go down to posterity, it would only create an obligation on those who would have the enjoy. ment of the improvements, to pay the debt. Would posterity have any cause of complaint, when so much labor would be performed to their hands? They would not murmur; they would rather bless the authors of their

America to those which the Bridgewater works did in
England, and be the origin of a thousand water communi-
cations in different parts of the Union. The construction of
canals is now reduced to strict rules and methods, and can
be contracted for at so much per mile or lock. Although
our minds are now free from the mist of ignorance and
prejudices, still important difficulties, but, it is trusted,
not insuperable ones, remain, as to the course which the
United States ought to pursue on the highly interesting
subject of internal improvements. If we do not cherish
a spirit of concession, and act with liberal views, for the
general benefit, as to the places where public works are
first to be undertaken, success can scarcely be expect-
ed. Whether Congress will pledge its faith in advance,
on any plan, or act merely in specific cases, as they arise,
or upon a combination of both, according to the design
of the annexed bill, or upon the principle of an equal
proportionment among the states, according to the ratio
of representation, are grave and important questions;
and can only be settled by the experience and wisdom
of Congress, after solemn deliberation; but, when these
important points are disposed of, there will remain noth-benefaction.
ing to impede the national councils from conferring on
their constituents the greatest blessings, and acquiring
for themselves imperishable renown. Ultimately, these
works may be looked upon as the best source of revenue,
and at all times they will effect a great saving in the la-
bor and expense of transportation, which will be diverted
to some other employment, and thus increase the wealth
of the whole. In a time of war, they would facilitate,
beyond description, both in cheapness and expedition,
the transportation of troops and heavy munitions of war,
from the sea board to the Canada borders, or in the di-
rection of any other point in the Union where we could
be assailed.

No opinion can be formed, with accuracy, as to the expense of land-carriage, throughout the Union. It is, how. ever, estimated, that 30,000 tons are annually transported over the mountains to Pittsburg, at the extraordinary expense, for wagonage, of $600,000 a year, and this mode of transportation, besides, employs a large capital in wagons, horses, feed, and attendants. A few facts will show the enormous expense of transportation in times In the late war, flour, in some instances, cost the government near one hundred dollars per barrel, and pieces of artillery, each, near one thousand dollars, and, owing to the delay, were useless, when they arrived.

of war.

The cost of transportation across the peninsula between the Delaware and the Chesapeake Bays, a distance of only sixteen miles, amounted, in one year, to a little less than half a million of dollars. The losses in the last war, for want of good roads and canals, were very large, and, it is believed, they would be sufficient to accomplish many of the important improvements which are contemplated.

It may here be truly observed, that, among the objects of a national character, which occasionally engage the public spirit and resources of a nation, none are more beneficial and none so permanent as the internal improvements of the country. These will remain as lasting as the rivers they connect, while others will be effaced even from remembrance by the flow of time.

As to the means possessed by the General Government to perfect the contemplated improvements of the country, they are abundant. Beyond the sums to be borrowed by the annexed bill, the redundancy in the Treasury in each year, will meet specific cases of improvements of the first class, which may be presented at different periods. And if proper objects are selected in the beginning, a revenue will constantly be coming into the Treasury, as the improvements are progressing; some canals, it is probable, would yield more than six per cent. soon after their completion. The Secretary of the Treasury says we shall have an annual surplus of upwards of three millions, beyond the sinking fund,

As to means, on questions of improvements, ability is the only requisite, if the works, when they are complet ed, will be worth what they cost; the want of money in the Treasury should never form an objection to their execution. In such cases, it is only necessary to inquire, whether we have a sufficiency of credit, labor, and skill; these constitute the means; and on this enlightened po licy, the great improvements in the state of New York have been made.

The importance of placing this country in the most ad vantageous condition, to enable it to enter into compe tition with the countries of Europe in the trade with the Republics of South America, must be obvious to every enlightened statesman.

The discovery of a passage round the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies, was an important era in the history of Europe; and it may be assumed that the independence of South America is not less so to this country. No country can offer to us commercial openings more rich, or more within our reach, than the Spanish Republics. Our territories touch. The ports of Louisi ana and Vera Cruz are connected with the same sea.Our access to Mexico will be easy. As regards the im portance of Mexico, it is illustrated by the circumstance, that it is the richest and most extensive of all the Spanish possessions; it exceeds in magnitude, Spain, France, and Italy united. All the eastern coast of Mexico, the Kingdom of Terra Firma and Paraguay, are nearer to us than the ports of Europe; here is a wide field opening for the commercial enterprise of the Americans. It would be presumptuous to attempt to point out the particular character of the trade, in all its branches; but that two great countries, geographically situated as these are, can remain without an immensity of commercial intercourse, is incredible. Nothing can be more intimately connected than the interest of commerce, and that of the cultivators of the land; and the manufacturing interest naturally follows as a benefit to both.

We can get nothing from abroad, if we have not something at home, to exchange for it; and this something must come from the earth or the sea, but mainly from the land.

The objects of commerce will not grow in the streets or along the margin of the sea; they are to be obtained in the interior of the country, or from manufacturing places. The navigation. of the country depends on the interior prosperity of the oountry, and must rise or fall with it. Navigation follows, it cannot lead; and the more the objects of commerce are increased, the more ships will be wanted.

The raw materials, and the various productions of the soil, in the first instance, belong to the cultivators of the land; and the trade of the country belongs to the people

On Internal Improvements.

SIR: Allow me to submit to your consideration a plan to connect the Mississippi with the Atlantic, by an internal communication extending along the Northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico. The importance of this communication, both in a commercial and military point of Mr. HEMPHILL, view, must long since have attracted the attention of yourself, and of the committee of which you are chairman, and I shall be happy if my suggestions on the subject should contribute, in the smallest degree, to its accomplishment.

The route I propose, is intended to commence on the Mississippi, at the mouth of the river Iberville, and ter

18th

2d SESSION.

Resolutions of Indiana in relation to Lafayette.

[H. of R.

hearts. They feel persuaded that he will take a deep interest in this part of our country, which, through not cally grown out of the glorious results of his Revolotion the actual theatre of his generous labor, has emphati

ary services. On the west of the Alleghany Mountains, or illustrious guest will behold extensive communities of freemen, which, within the period of his own reculles tion, have been substituted for a trackless wilderness, where forty years ago primeval barbarism held undis puted sway over man and nature, civilization, liberty, and law, wield the mild sceptre of equal rights. It is here that our illustrious friend will find his name, his services, and, we trust, his principles, flourishing in pe rennial verdure. Here, too, may he enjoy the exulting prospects of seeing them, in the language of a favorite son of the West," transmitted, with unabated vigor, down the tide of time to the countless millions of pos terity."

In accordance with the preceding sentiments, the Ge neral Assembly adopt the following resolutions:

The Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Indiana, in General Assembly convened, would be deficient in respect to the feelings of their constituents, and unmindful of their obligations to a distinguished benafactor, did they fail to join the pean of National gratitude, and unanimous welcome to Major General Lafayette, on the occasion of his late arrival in the United States. It is scarcely necessary for them to say, that they unanimously accord with the sentiments expressed towards their illustrious friend, by the Chief Magistrate Resolved, That this General Assembly, in common with of the Union, and cordially add their sanction to the pro- their fellow citizens of this state and union, entertain vision in his favor recently enacted by Congress. The the highest admiration for the character, and the most latter, they view as the smallest return for his pre-emi-heart-felt gratitude for the services of Major General nent services and sacrifices the American People could make, or the National Guest receive. It is the dignity of a spectacle, unparalleled in the history of man, which they peculiarly feel and admire.

Lafayette, and most cordially approve of every testimo nial of kindness and affection he has received from the People and Government of the United States.

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this General Assem Ten millions of hearts, spontaneously offering the ho- bly, it would afford the highest gratification to the cit mage of their gratitude to a private individual, unsup-zens of Indiana, to receive a visit from their revered and ported by rank or power, for services long past, of the purest and most exalted character; whilst they furnish consoling evidence that Republics are not ungrateful, also carry with them the delightful conviction that the sons of America have not degenerated from their fathers of the Revolution.

beloved benefactor, the only surviving General of the American Revolution, and that the Governor of this state be requested, without delay, to transmit to General Lafayette, this and the preceding resolution and preamble, accompanied by an invitation to visit this state at the seat of Government, or such town on the Ohio river, as the General may designate.

In pausing to contemplate, with appropriate feelings, this sublime example of popular gratitude, united with Resolved, That the Governor of this state, together reverence for character and principles, the General As- with such officers and citizens as may find it convenient, sembly learn, with peculiar satisfaction, that it is the in-attend at the point selected by General Lafayette, to tention of General Lafayette to visit the western section receive him with the honor due to to the illustrious of the United States. The felicity denied, by a myste- guest of the state and nation, and that the Governet rious Providence, to the father of his country, has, it is draw on the contingent fund for the payment of all ex hoped, been reserved for his adopted son. What the penses incurred in executing these resolutions. immortal Washington was permitted to see only through the dark vista of futurity, will be realized in the fullness of vision, by his associate in arms and glory.

Resolved, That the Governor be requested to trans mit a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to the President of the United States, and to each of our

The General Assembly hail, with inexpressible plea-Senators and Representatives in Congress. sure, the prospect of this auspicious visit. They cannot, they are aware, receive their Benefactor in the costly abodes of magnificence and taste, nor vie with their sis ter states, in the embellishments of a hospitality more brilliant than it is theirs to offer, but not more sincere.

But they can, and do, in common with the whole American people, welcome him to a home in their

S. C. STEVENS, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JAMES B. RAY, President of the Senate, pro tem.

Approved, 28th January, 1825.

WILLIAM HENDRICKS.