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Jºãºlºſ, ATU Rºo
BY JOSEPH W. MOULTON, Esq.
RELATIVE TO THE WESTERN TERMINATION
OF THE
©tattº Cattal;
CONTAINING
An Exposition of the Merits of the Question in
Controversy.
BETHZEE.W."
GEN. P. B. PORTER AND His ASSOCIATES,
AND THE
WILLAGE OF BUFFALO.
ALB.A.N.Y., JMARCH, 1823.
PRINTED BY W ... WHITE.

TO THE .
Honourable the Legislature
STATE OF NEW-YORK.
The Memorial and Remonstrance of JOSEPH W.
MOULTON, late of the Village of Buffalo, and
now of the City of Troy, is most respectfully sub-
mitted.
As the owner of freehold prºperty in Buffalo which
he believes will be essentially injured by the passage
of the bill in favour of Peter B. Porter, and his asso-
ciates, he claims the constitutional right of being
heard. As a citizen of this state interested in the
prosperity of its canal system, he claims also the right
of remonstrating against any bill which militates
against the best policy of that system. Although he
has not battened on governmental favour, nor fattened,
on state patronage, he is fully apprised that his rights
and privileges as an untitled citizen, are as sacredly
regarded by our free institutions,as the private rights
of those whom the people have vested and clothed
with title, wealth and power. He therefore pointed-
ly remonstrates against the passage of the bill,giving
extension to the limitation of the act entitled an act
to encourage the construction of Harbours at Buf-
falo and Black Rock, passed April 17, 1822. He
respectfully solicits the indulgent attention of your
KY tº Honourable body to the following statemeut of facts,
principles and inferences, predicated upon the evi-
dence hereto annexed, or upon matters of public
motoriety, or upon such corroborative testimony as is
^ within the immediate range of the authority of your
Honourable body. Having, resided nearly seven
re years at Buffalo, he is intimately conversant with the
''N merits and bearings of the question involved in the
present bill. And so far assistrict and conscientions.
y*:: zº.” º§(s;
, re--
*...* *
^e
230663
4.
belief in the facts submitted, shall convey concurrent.
testimony, he stands responsible in his reputation for
the truth of those facts and for the correctness of
his deductions. On a question involving consequen-
ces in which every member of the legislature is in-
terested, involving merits and demerits with which
few are clearly acquainted, and involving interests
in which the state is deeply concerned, your memo-
rialist will aim to be brief, perspicuous and conclu-
sive. On the 17th of April 1822, this act was pas-
sed, in the hurry of a closing session. It is unneces-
sary to retrace circumstantially its historical origin,
progress or passage. , Enough, that it passed under
the influence of an unfavourable impression respecting
the practicability of a Harbour at Buffalo. Enough
that the doubts entertained on that subject were the
reason of the law. How that excitement was created
is now immaterial. The impression has been correct-
ed, its effect has passed away. No person acquain-
ted with the situation during the present and past year,
of the Harbour at Buffalo, or who will examine the
proof accompanying the map hereto annexed,can now
question the practicability of that Harbour, and of its
superiority to any that could be made at Black Rock,
on the plan proposed by its projectors. Lake vessels
of the largest burthen have entered the Buffalo Har-
bour he last year, and have safely moored therein
during the present winter. The law gives discretionary
authority to the canal board, to contract with Peter B. .
Porter and his associates for the construction of a dam
in Niagara river, on a plan which would extend it
nearly two miles, which proposes to raise the waters
of the Niagara to the level of the lake at a point four
and a half miles below lake Erie,which proposes to ar-
rest the progress of the canal opposite Squaw island
on land owned by Peter B. Porter, and which pro-
poses to substitute, for the certain and indispensable.
supply which the summit level of lake Erie at Buffa-
lo would give to the capal thence to Genesee river,
5.
viz. (94 miles)—the hazardous and contingent de-
pendence upon an artificial work. It proposes to
abandon the safe course along the shore of Black
Rock to Buffalo creek, which is on a level with the
summit of the lake; and it proposes to abandon, and
rescind the repeated decisions of the canal board,
made with the concurrent opinions of their ablesten-
gineers, in favour of the overland route of the canal
to the Buffalo creek. In conformity to this law
the board of canal commissioners assembled in Buf-
falo in June last. They did not contract with Pe-
ter B. Porter and his associates, for the building of
this dam ; but they advised him to sink a few rods
of the pier into the rapids, and thereby test the effect
of ice—and that if they should deem it a fair experi-
ment, they would contract for his dam or otherwise
recommend to the legislature to pay him for the ex-
periment. An experiment pier was accordingly sunk;
and such was the avidity and alacrity of the projec-
tors, that some length more than advised was put into
the river.—Put mark—the evidences accompanying
the map hereto annexed shew that the experiment
pier has been placed beyond the range and effect of
the Canada and American channels, under the protec-
tion of a reef of rocks, and so near the shore, that
two vessels abreast could hardly find room to pass in,
with safety, for want of a sufficient depth of water
Peter B. Porter and his associates now ask the le-
gislature to extend the duration of this act one year
from its present limitation, and for what purpose P
unless to obtain time to try another experiment P Had
they not evaded the law and shrunk from the test
they courted (as is conclusively proved by the annex-
ed testimony) they would now have all the time they
could want, or that they originally requested. But
they now approach your honorable body with ill grace
indeed, to ask for any further indulgence. What in-
ducement can the legislature have to give indulgen-
ess in favour of a project, which I shall shew, would
6
prove destructive to an important portion of the pub-
lic interests?. It might be gratifying indeed, to obtain,
on what might with some plausibility, appear to be
an immaterial point, the passing expression of legis-
lative sanction to such a project—and if an unguard-
ed encouragement could be thus obtained, amidst the
importunity of numerous questions, gladly and tri-
umphantly would such a sanction be paraded before
the canal board as virtually tantamount to instructions
in favour of the project.
The original reason for the law, viz: that no suf-
ficient harbor could be had at Buffalo, having ceased,
the law ought also to cease. And if the law should
cease, a fortiori every incident should also cease
before the legislature should give the least additional
colour, countenance, encouragement or sanction, to,
the possibility that this project might be adopted in
reference to the interest of the state, they will pause
and reflect upon the inevitable consequences of its
adoption. &
I will prove that public policy in its application
to the canal policy, and to the revenue and resources
of the state, together with an impartial regard to the
private rights of citizen and citizen, combine to con-
demn this project as unworthy the slightest sanction
from your honourable body. Public policy, over-
looking petty detail and disregarding the collision of
individual interest, embraces a comprehensive view
of the prominent interests of the public as paramount
to all private or local considerations. It demands
whether the interposition sought, would, if granted,
be compatible with the public good, whether public
loss would be sustained, or the certainty of a public
advantage be relinquished, or even hazarded with-,
out any necessity or equivalent. If individual and
conflicting interests are blended with the subject of
legislation, then public policy assumes the garb of
incorruptible justice, and while it stands an armed
sentinel at the door of the public treasury, it leans.
7
as far as it can consistently lean, in favor of that
measure which would distribute to the greatest
number of citizens the most good. If these prin-
ciples of legislation are prostrated and trampled
upon by the project contemplated by this harbor law,
any act giving the least legislative recognition or
countenance to it, would be manifestly unjust and im-
politic.
There are powerful reasons, however, why this
question should be put at rest forever, by your hon-
ourable body, and why the most marked and un-
quivocal reprobation should be stamped upon the
“ dam project.” If a quietus should now be given to
it, and contracts immediately entered into for a safe
overland route for the canal along shore from Buffalo
to Tonmewanta and Lockport then twenty five unin-
terrupted miles at the western extremity would be fin-
ished the ensuing year. And as, by reference to the
annual report of the canal commissioners, it is redu-
ced to a certainty that the canal between Lockport
and Genesee river will be completed the ensuing
year, and that for this portion of the route a tempo-
rary supply of water can be had from Oak Orchard
creek, therefore the whole line (excepting the moun-
tain ridge )from Buffalo to Schenectady, and perhaps
to Albany, can be accomplished in one year. This
would give immediate impulse to western Commerce,
afford the western farmers an opportunity to trans-
mit their produce, perhaps before the cessation of
hostilities in Europe, encourage capitalists at once to
locate at the western extremity, and enable them
to lay the foundation for that commercial intercourse
which will extend its relations to the upper Lakes,
and to the valley of the Mississippi. The state would
then begin to realize the several advantages of the
great work, by the immense increase of its canal toll.
that such a quietus to this project, is expected by the
western counties, may be personally, inferred from
the loud and emphatic condemnation which they
8
have given to this “ dam project” in their newspa-
purs and in their elections. And if the legislature
can be satified of the pernicious consequences of that
project, to the best interests of the state, they ought
to give that quietus by such a vote as cannot be mis-
understood; at any rate, they will not, when so satis-
fied give to it by their vote any further eneouragement
or recognition. - ,” f • . .”
To construct, without the least necessity or advan-
-tage to the state, a dam in the rapids of a boister-
, -ous river for the purpose of raising the water to the
devel of Lake Erie and substituting for that certain
supply a precarious one for a distance of Canal 94
miles, is a project unexampled in the world—one
which the inventive genius of speculation alone,grasp-
-ing at wealth and power, could have originated in the
deep recesses of its own abstraction,or have prosecut-
ed amidst its most phrensied but foridest reveries.
First: the dam if erected will be destroyed by the
operation of ice, wind, current and sand. It might es-
cape one or more seasons, for all who have witness-
ed the breaking up of Lake ice know that at some
seasons when the wind is in a direction up the lake at
the time the ice breaks up, it goes down the river mo-
derately. At other seasons when the ice is accelerated
in its movement by violent wind down the Lake or
river, it crowds in masses from shore to shore & would
endanger any artificial work in the rapids. “ The
Batavia Times " a newspaper referred to by Gen.
Porter in his pamphlet, as respectable and impartial on
the subject, in a long and able dissertation published
last month, exposes the folly of this mad project and
justly observes that “it would be liable to destruc-
tion from the raging winds, the floating ice and the
drifting sands,” and that “it requires no extraordi-
nary discernment to perceive that the Black Rock
harbor in the “war of elements” and the whirl of sand
never can succeed, and therefore it will be well for
the people of the state of New-York to recollect that
9
if they once embark in this project they must ever
persevere. A small breach in it, which “the eccentric
agents of nature * may make, must not discourage
them though it should open an unlimited prospect for
expense. The Lake will then resemble a great bea-
ver-pond, the inhabitants of which, when any dam-
age is sustained in their dam are well known to go
to work and repair the breach.” From Buffalo to a
point on the river beyond the mouth of the dam, the
margin is composed of a sand beach. “Sasdy town”
so called because it is one barren plain of sand on
which there are high sand hills whirled up by the
wind, is immediately in the vicinity of the mouth o
the proposed dam. The gales, current, and ice that
rubs along shore, force large quantities of sand down
the Niagara. Hence, docks at Black Rock erected a
few years ago are choked with sand, and hence the
mouth of the dam exposed to the rake of violent
winds would soon be completely barred with sand.
These facts are not denied. but the Black Rock pro-
jectors say that four or five waste gates would remove
this annual obstruction. Independent of the tendency
these waste gates would have to weaken the dam,
can a waste gate,two miles off, admit a current which
would carry down compact sand on an uneven bot-
tom of two miles in extent P!! Why has not the sand
that forms the beach, lessened the depth of water
along the river from the beach opposite Bird Island as
far down as the lower store house at the Rºck,and sur-
rounded the wharfs,been carried down this river, which
has hitherto remained unobstructed in its velocity ?
Unless greater momentum can be given to the cur-
rent than it naturally possesses, the sand will contin-
ue to form as heretofore ; and when the dam shall
stop the natural current, deposits will be made at its
mouth,and there remain in spite of any occasional
opening of remote flood-gates. The proposed dam cah-
not be made water tight by short and disconnected
Gribs filled with loose stone. The bottom of the river
I6
in some places where the cribs are to be sunk,consists
of indented, rough and uneven rocks containing deep
and wide interstices, which never can be covered
tight by square cribs of timber At other parts of the
bottom there issand and soft earth where the pressure
of water will be constantly underniining and forcing
outlets. Nothing but solid masonry could raise the
water to the level of the Lake, prevent the oozing
aud escape of the water, or resist the united attack
and pressure of ice, wind and current.
2d. It would-be extremely inconvenient as a harbour
for Lakeshipping and canal boats. The documentary
evidences attached to and illustrative of the map here-
to annexed, exhibit the danger and difficulty of navi-
gating into the proposed harbor from the crooked-
ness of the channel and the reefs of rocks that render
it so ; the rapidity, the direction and effect, upon any
artificial work, of the Canada and American chan-
nels, the protected position of the experiment pier,
the incapacity of the dam on the proposed plan, and
the difficulty and danger of an entrance within the
experiment pier, of even two vessels abreast, for want
of sufficient depth—And on the other hand the su-
perior accommodation of Buffalo Creek, as a harbour
for lake vessels, the convenience it offers for en-
trance, gress and exit with any wind in a direct com-
munication with the lake, its ample capacity for ves-
sels that may seek shelter, for perhaps half a century
—the accurate and repeated measurements of the
depth of water at its outlet, ascertained to be from 7
and 1-2 to 14 feet water—one of which measure-
-ments it appears from the testimony made in pre-
sénce of Peter B. Porter, before he had given circu-
lation to a pamphlet in which he and his associates
assert, that vessels of 50 tons burthen had been oblig-
ed to unload their cargoes there being only 3 or 4 feet
water, in consequence of the sands brought down the
creek by fall freshets 1 / 1 The testimony also exhib-
its the dimensions, bottom and sides of the creek 4.
IT
miles, and its freedom from any appearance of sand
and gravel, and the stability of the works erected to
protect it from the operation of the Lake surf–
Among the numerous witnesses who attest to these
points, there are many of the oldest and most res-
pectable citizens on the Niagara frontier ; and others
who have for years navigated the lake and know.
the dangers of the entrance of the river, (among whom
the sailing master and pilot of the Lake Erie steam
boat concur in their testimony. The annexed maps il-
listrate the localities of Buffalo and Black Rock, the
right angle of the lake and river, its reefs and channels,
the location of the dam and the position of the ex-
periment pier. The annexed testimony proves also
that an uninterrupted canal from Buffalo creek would
be navigable from four to eight weeks before the mas-
ses of lake ice (often three feet thick, and which
would be crowded in piles by the force of the rapids
and winds, into the dam) could melt at the mouth,
along the shore, and within the area of the dam–
that the warm waters of the creek would thaw the
eanal ice, and that lake shipping and canal boats
might at some seasons communicate at Buffalo by the
month of March, while at Black Rock, ice might re-
main unmelted till June. This important fact, and
others, are proved by the personal knowledge of 24
respectable citizens among whom I recognize some
of the oldest settlers on the frontier. The slippery
rocks, and loose sand or light earth composing the
bottom of the river within the dam would not afford
good anchorage, vessels and boats would be exposed
to the whole sweep of the violent gales, that suck
down the Niagara, -the surface of the Harbor would
be agitated and boisterous, and vessels and boats
would be driven (as they now are almost every year) :
on shore or against each other. Vessels would re-
main wind bound in the Harbor, whereas if at Buf-
falo they could start out in a direct course up the
lake. The lake current as far as Bird Island would
12
still prevent vessels from reaching the lake unless they
have a fair wind or should be towed as they now
are. The dam therefore would secure the partial
advantage only of diminishing the amount of artifi-
cial means to bring vessels into the lake. The rap-
ids could never be completely overcome nor the ne-
cessity of extra means avoided unless the work should
be extended to the Lake from Bird Island. Should
the canal terminate at Buffalo that place and Black
Rock would be rival villages. Black Rock, with
the river and store houses in front and the canal along
shore in rear, would possess facilities unsurpassed by
any place between that and the Hudson.
In storms and boisterous weather Huffalo Har-
bour will afford a calm and secure retreat for Black
Rock vessels. Their natural harbor is superior to
any they could make by contracting the river to the
contemptible channel of five or six rods in width,
“its entrance dangerous, its continuance hazardous
and doubtful, its failure ruinous to the navigation of
the river. Where is the man at Black Rock who
would ever have thought of destroying their harbor in
this manner if it did not involve the termination of
the canal and the actual destruction of a flourishing
village of more than six times its business, size and
population ? . . . . . -
Thirdly—It would injure rather than benefit the
public land, affect most essentially the public treasury
and revenue, and encroach upon the rights of a for-
eign nation. The unsold third part of the state
land in what has been called the upper village of
Black Rock, lies between Black Rock and Buffalo,
(the best part near Buffalo) and principally on the
elevated summit along which passes “ the Black
Rock road.”. That part which is along the sand
beach including Sandy town is exposed to the rake
of the gales, and your methorialist has walked on
ridges apparently from ten to fifteen feet high, of ice
piled along this beach mingled with sand and snow,
13
which remained unmelted until the approach of
warm weather. No wharfs or store houses could be
erected on that sandy, bleak and exposed position,
with safety or commercial convenience. The rear .
of the sandy beach is low & marshy, and the greatest . .
benefit the state land would receive, would result
from the draining and reclaiming of these lands by
the excavation of the line between Buffalo and
Black Rock, and from the business that would col-
lect around the lock that would be made at the r pids.
According to the proposed plan the mass of business
would centre nearly two miles below : viz. at the
spot where the end of the canal and the lower end
of dam form a junction. There would naturall, be
tne spot where the Lake -shipping, and canal boats
would meet and exchange loading; there is the fa-
vourite spot where a city would be erected, and
there is the favoured spot where are situated the
several hundred acres owned by General Porter.
Would it be illiberal to presume that his imagination
has often visited that chosen spot, and that his exer-
tions have been proportioned to the princely advan-
tages it promised ? Would it be unfair to infer that
his fancy has fondly traced in prospective a city ri-
sing on his domain, towering in regal pride and
commercial splendour, over the handful of houses
now composing Black Rock, & rising like a Colosus,
bver the fallen fortunes and ruined prospects of a
place which nature has gifted with all that is pic-
teresque and beautiful to the eye, which art has
struggled to embellish, and which the dictates of
a magnanimous policy, will never consign to a
rapid decline and a certain ruin. It is an admitted
fact that the water in the Canada channel would be
greatly increased in volume and velocity, and the
inundation of the low lands along the Canada side
of the river, and the ruin of their navigation, might
demand national retribution. New York (says the
Engineer Mr. Thomas) would then descend from
14
eminence of her glory by becoming the aggressor-
The water in Scoy-dhu-qud-ies creek would also
be raised and much low land in its vicinity, and at
its source would be submerged. The revenue and
treasury. From Buffalo to Bird Island there is a
descent of water (ascertained by Mr. Peacock and
Mr. Thomas, the first a former, and the last an acting
engineer, and as communicated te Judge Wright a-
nother engineer now at Albany,) of eleven inches
and a half,which added to the descent naturally crea-
ted in a dam two miles long, by leakage, wastage,
and canal supply, would diminish the head at the
lower end of the dam at least as much more. Every
inch of diminished head, below the highest summit
level of supply at the Lake, would require so much
more deep digging through the mountain ridge and
proportionably the whole length of 94 miles canal to
Genesee river. Allowing for the descent of the current
from Buffalo creek (on the overland route should that
be adopted) to supply the canal, one inch to a mile, &
deduct the quantum of descent four and a half miles
amounting to four and a half in hes, and it would
be found that more than a foot and a half excavation
would be required by adopting this project, for that
distance. -
The state would lose the toll four and a half miles,
If 250,000 tons should pass, the toll at an average of
one cent a ton per mile, would amount to $11,250.
If the number of tons should equal the anticipation
of Mr. Geddes, formerly an engineer, then it would
amount to $22,500 per annum, which would be paid
principally by merchants from the southern and wes-
tern states and territories. Hence the inference is
resistless that the very tolls would in a short time pay
for giving to the canal a safe overland communication
to the head waters for its supply. What would be
the cost of the dam no one can now calculate. But
let the state once embark, and they would find
that to 100,000 dollars they would have to add a-
15
nother and another and another, before the work
could be permanent and a complete harbor. But
Judge Wilkeson a member of the Buffalo harbour com-
pany, in behalf of himself and others, has offered and
is prepared to offer and give indisputable security to
finish the canal along the shore where it is proposed to
Fº it into the rapids of Niagara,for 35,000 dol-
ars, and proposals l understand have been actually
made to the canal commissioners, and abundant se-
curity offered to build and complete the canal from the
point of termination proposed by General Porter, to
Buffalo creek, for 50,000 dollars less than the sum at
which they shall estimate the expense of his har-
bour.
The last and least injury would result from the ruin
of the Black Rock ferry, now owned by the state.
If there were an equilibrium in balanced advanta-
ges and disadvantages of the two places proposed for
the western termination, then that policy which seeks
to do right between citizen and citizen, might be in-
voked in favor of a place singularly entitled to the
munificient consideration of the legislature. Will the
legislature by making Buffalo the sacrifice to a small
private interest, visit upon that place a calamity not
less cruel than that which they suffered from the ene-
my P The first settlement on the frontier, struggling
through the incidental hardships of adventurous en-
terprise, advanced to the standard of a village, was
erased from the map of existence,but, like the Phoenix
from herashes with renovated vigor in her wings and
hope brightening in her eye, Buffalo rose in strength
from its ruins and cast a confident look to the capital
for national indemnity. Disappointed but not dis-
heartened, Buffalo now directs its attention to the
halls of our own legislature, and awaits with solici-
tude the result, but not without full confidence in
the wisdom, the justice and the magnanimity of the
guardians of the public funds and the protectors of the
people's rights.
36
But say the Black Rock projectors, “Buffalo may
have a canal from their creek to the mouth of our
Harbour.” Aye,Buffalo may be, a side-cut appendage
to their dam, but it requires not an eagle-eyed sa-
gacity to foresee that that indeed would be adding
mockery to injury, if not insult to outrage. Secure
their own object and they care not then how much
needless expenditure the state might make beyond
them, for no side cuts would diminish the advan-
tage they would monopolize as the real termination
of the canal, and as the public harbour for lake ship-
ping and canal boats. They are aware that small in-
deed would be the benefit to Buffalo;for all intercourse
with the canai would be prevented in the spring and
perhaps part of the summer, until the ice in the
Black Rock harbour should become melted; and then
canal boats would require some extraordinary induce-
ment to work their way through a long and crowded
harbour subject to all the vexatious difficulties, inci-
dental interruptions, and unavoidable exposures, be-
fore they could reach the side cut to Buffalo. Buffalo
would submit with deference to the appropriation of
one, two or three hundred thousand dollars, if the le-
gislature in their deliberative wisdom should deem it
compatible with the publie interest,to appropriate that
sum to improve ſor spoil] the harbour at Black Rock.
Buffalo has received nothing (except a loan of 12,
000 dollars on ample security.) Buffalo asks noth-
ing, except the uninterrupted privilege of struggling
for its existence. When the canal along shore at
Black Rock, can be made for 35,000 dollars and
all hazard as to the supply for 94 miles avoided,
how can a wish to stop the canal on the lands of
an individual, be reconciled to the lofty spirit of
patriotism and liberality. Why should General Por-
ter complain, if he has the canal along the Black
rock directly at the back doors of his store houses,
with lake vessels at the wharfs in front, and canal
boats in rear, to receive and discharge their lading f
17
If he has rapids to encounter in getting into the
Lake, did he not originally choose his own location ?
1f that location was injudicious, is the state bound
to pay for his want of judgement P Has the state
not already given to him (for a nominal sum,) the
valuable portion of lands at Black Rock P Has not
the general government enabled him to glitter in
wealth P. Have not the laurels of his victorious pa-
triotism so meritorously achieved, been yet sufficient-
ly gilded ? The illustrious example of Washington,
is invoked to shew, that disinterested patriotism is
radiant with its own unborrowed lustre, and needs
no artificial gilding to secure its laurels from tar-
nishing. • - . . . . . *
Could that inimitable mah, speak from the canvass
that adorns your hall, he would rebuke from his pre-
sence with an indignant frown, that patriotism which
is insatiable for posthumous compensation. He
would exclaim, “go on gentlemen with your noble
system of internal improvements, elevate the glory of
your state and nation, keep in view the landmarks
of a correct public policy, guard the treasury from the
insidious approaches of unhallowed speculation,cher-
ish as the basis of a government founded on enlight-
ened opinion, the education of Both sexes, do right,
and leave the result to that superintending providence
which has hitherto preserved the republic—while
you thus secure the plaudits of the people you repre-
sent, you will also merit the gratitude of the present
age and the benedictions of posterity.” The true poli-
cy of the state is to secure a safe route for the canal,
from Erie to the Hudson, and if it should afterwards
... have surplus funds in the treasury, either loan them
upen security for the local improvement of harbours,or
leave as Buffalo now asks,each place to make its har-
bour There is no more propriety at present. of mak-
ing large expenditures for harbours, than there would
be for public houses of entertainment along the canal,
or for any other incidental accommodation. The can-
alonce finished will receive the untold wealth that will
18
burthen its waters and local competition, and rival-
hip will furnish local facilities.
What then does the state gain by throwing the
western section and its future prospects on this dan-
gerous and avoidable contingency f Nothing. What
does the state lose and what injury will the legisla-
ture entail by sanctioning this project f . They lose
the certainty of a supply of water for the most im-
portant section of the canal—they lose the character
of a cautious and vigilant guardianship over the in-
terests of a work not made for a day, but, for future
generations,—a character which is as applicable and
necessary to collective assemblies in the delegated ca-
pacity of legislators, as to individuals in the manage-
ment of their own affairs—a prudential character
that never runs unnecessary hazards without an ade-
quate equivalent.—They set at naught public opinion
in the very,district where this project originated.They
injure the western commercial and shipping inter-
ests, by substituting for a safe and commodious har-
bour an inconvenient and hazardous one for lake ship-
ping—They prevent the western termination from go-
ing on pari passu with the eastern—They deter Heavy
capitalists from embarking inlarge purchases of perish-
able articles, at the western extremity, by sustaining
in so dangerous a project, well grounded apprehen-
sions of certain and speedy transportation—They
may interrupt an amicable understanding with our
British neighbours. They injure the resources and
revenues ºf the state inasmuch as they put at hazard
hundreds of thousands of dollars by the improvident
inapplication of 35,000 dollars only. They lose the
tolls for four and a half miles, lose the expense of ex-
tra excavating 94 miles, lose 12,000 dollars—(which
the law contemplates to give to Black Rock, inde-
pendent of the full price of the overland canal) they
reject propositions that would save thousands to
the state,and which if accepted would rescue the ca-
nal from all danger.—They hazard the amount that
would make a safe overland channel along shore—
19
They incur from year to year, (should the work itself
withstand the elements,)constant expenses for repairs,
and when it shall be destroyed, and sooner or later
it will be, they lose the whole expense of its erec-
tion, and the revenue arising from tolls to Genesee
river, (which revenue calculated at an average of one
cent per ton, on 94 miles, and allowing for half
the amount of tons which Mr. Geddes anticipates
will float on the canal annually, in one year would
amount to 235,000 dollars.) They also in that event
interrupt commerce,divert much of it from the whole
line from the western to the eastern extremities and
entail an irremediable injury upon those companies
of merchants,who in a few years will be seen assem-
bling,to take advantage of the early canal navigation,
at its western termination, from the confines of the
lakes, and thro’ the Ohio canal, from Kentucky, In-
diana, Illinois and the remote valley of the Mississip-
pi. In addition to this catalogue of losses and inju-
ries, they will prostrate Buffalo at the feet of a mer-
cenary association.
Where then is the necessity or policy—the wisdom,
foresight or sagacity; where the justice, the justifi-
cation, apology or extenuation, even for countenanc-
ing this “dam project?” Can the legislature in their
wisdom, transmit to the mortgaged posterity of the
state (who must pay the price, tho’ they reap the ben-
efit of this magnificent improvement) a work which,
if it should survive the hazard, would still be depend-
ent upon a needless and inexcusable contingency f
Can the first legislature under our new constitution
trifle with a work intended to be coexistent with its
duration, and destined perhaps, in the revolution of
events to survive it P No. Never can they consitent-
ly with the duty they owe themselves, to their con-
stituents, to the state, to the Republic, to succeeding
generations, give the least colour, sanction or encour-
agement to this pernicious “project,” this unwar-
rantable, this heartless speculation upon the public
treasury. -
JOSEPH W. MOULTON.
Albany, March 17, 1823. %
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