"To George P. M'Culloch, Charles Kinsey of Essex, and Thomas Capner, Esqrs. Commissioners of the state of New-Jersey, in relation to a canal from the Delaware to the Passaic.

"GENTLEMEN, - The canal commissioners of the state of New-York having duly considered the request of the legislature of that state, in relation to the contemplated canal between the Delaware and Passaic rivers, determined that it would be most advisable and beneficial, and at the same time correspond with the sense of the legislature, to direct their chief engineer to review the operations of the engineer of New-Jersey, (after his levels were taken and his surveys completed) to explore the route of the canal and the localities of the country, and to furnish the best conclusions of his judgment and all the resources of his experience in aid of the undertaking. Under these impressions, Judge Wright, who has been employed on the Erie canal as a chief engineer, from its first inception to its present state, has lately complied with the direction of the canal board in that respect: and having, as president of that board, had opportunities of becoming acquainted with operations of this nature, I considered it my duty to comply with an invitation to attend to this subject at the same time. The interests of the states are so closely connected, that the improvement of one state has a beneficial influence on the prosperity of all. And I am persuaded, that the internal trade of a country is the great lever of its prosperity, because it supplies the products of agriculture and manufactures with a certain market, and furnishes the elements, and animates the enterprises of external commerce, as well as of the great departments of productive industry; and it is very evident that internal trade cannot flourish without easy and cheap communication. To a considerable portion of Pennsylvania, this canal will furnish a choice of markets, and particularly an advantageous sale of the coal with which it abounds. New-York will be accommodated with this invaluable material, and in many other respects; and New-Jersey must feel the propitious influence of the contemplated measure, in all the sources of public prosperity.

"Under the government of these impressive considerations, and in company with the chief engineer of New-York, and the senior commissioner and engineer of New-Jersey, I have visited and reviewed the whole route of the projected canal; and I shall now communicate to your respective board my views on this interesting subject, which shall, for the sake of perspicuity, be condensed under four distinct heads.

"And 1^st. As to the physical practicability. - Whenever water can be obtained in sufficient quantity on the summit level of a canal, there is no invincible physical impediment to its execution. Give an engineer plenty of water, and he can make any canal. It then becomes a question of expense not of feasibility. In the present case, there is at least three times as much water on the summit level as will be requisite. Hopatkung Lake itself furnished a superabundance, and if necessary, a lake of considerable dimensions, called Green Pond, can be introduced as auxiliary. This whole region is uncommonly well watered, and without any interference with hydraulic establishments, supplies can be obtained along the whole course of the canal. The great height of the summit level may be considered an objection against the undertaking, but altitude is like distance, it creates no insurmountable obstacle. It only augments the expense. Through the instrumentality of locks this elevation may be surmounted, but from considerations of economy, and with a view to the rapid passage of boats, it has been proposed to substitute inclined planes to a certain extent; and this measure cannot fail of success. To remove, however, all doubts with respect to its efficacy, preliminary experiments can be instituted.

"On questions of this nature, we must rely on the counsels of experience and science, and the opinions of professional men. Mr. Beach, the engineer of New-Jersey, has been employed as an engineer on the Erie canal, and he is intelligent, experienced, and deserving of high confidence. Judge Wright is a principal engineer on the Erie canal, and there is no man in this country whose opinion is entitled to more respect. In conducting that great work to its present prosperous condition, his agency has been of primary importance; and I have no hesitation in saying, that in all points relative to the construction of canals, I would place implicit confidence in his judgment. I have read the official reports of these gentlemen, which are decidedly friendly to the object, and which meet my approbation; and when we combine with this aspect of the subject, the corroborating opinions of General Swift, formerly the chief of the corps of engineers of the United States, of General Bernard and Colonel Totten, eminent members of that institution, and of Professor Renwick, of Columbia College, gentlemen distinguished for profound science, for accurate judgment, and for extensive information, there can be no room for doubt. The practicability of the work is as certain as any future event can possibly be, whose accomplishment is not yet realized.

"Secondly, As to financial practicability. - Without pretending to a minute acquaintance with the financial resources of New-Jersey, I am fully of the opinion that this measure may be carried into effect, without imposing any burdens on the people, and without encountering any serious difficulties.

"The canal will be seventy-five miles long. It is to be in general thirty-two feet wide at the top, sixteen at the bottom, and four feet deep. The whole expense will not much exceed 800,000 dollars, and it can be accomplished with ease in three years.

"The money can be borrowed on the credit of the state, at six per cent. The annual interest on the whole sum will be but 48,000 dollars. For the first year 200,000 dollars will be required, and for each of the two remaining years, 300,000 dollars. There will then be essential,

"After providing for the payment of this sum, the income of the canal will be fully adequate to defray the interest afterwards accruing, and to extinguish with rapidity the principal.

"On looking with an eye of scrutiny to the revenue which will arise, in time, from this navigable communication, it is not extravagant to state it at 250,000 dollars annually: but making allowances for repairs which will be from time to time required, and for the expenses of superintendence and collection, I do not scruple to set down the nett annual income at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This will not only pay the interest, but in a few years the whole debt.

"I should suppose that it would require no great financial skill to devise the ways and means of paying ninety thousand dollars in three years, without resorting to taxation. The avails of lotteries and banks might constitute important items, and auxiliary expedients may be successfully adopted.

"Thirdly, - The inducements to the measure. - On this point there can be no diversity of opinion. There is every motive for adopting the project which ought to operate on an enlightened legislator and a devoted friend of his country.

"1. It will make New-Jersey the greatest manufacturing county in America. The mountains near the route of the canal are inexhaustible masses of valuable iron ore in all its forms and varieties. There are besides prolific stores of copper, zinc, manganese, copperas, plumbago, serpentine, marble, and lime. All these will be brought into active and abundant operation by the canal.

"The agency of fire is essential to very extensive manufacturing operations, and water-power is a most eligible auxiliary. In the latter respect this part of New-Jersey is unrivalled. But her forests are rapidly wasting away, and many of her iron works are already prostrated for the want of fuel. The anthracite or glance coal of Pennsylvania (which perhaps contains more of the matter of ignition than any other substance,) can be obtained by the canal to any extent, and in the most economical manner. New-Jersey will be thus enabled to manufacture iron in such quantities as to supersede the necessity of foreign importation, and upwards of three millions of dollars annually will thereby be saved to the United States. In our tour through New-Jersey, we saw foreign iron worked by foreign coal: and if this sight were not sufficiently humiliating, we could see at the same time mountains replenished with the richest ore, and a day's journey would have brought us to the inexhaustible coal mines of Pennsylvania.

"There are many flourishing institutions at Paterson and other places, where cotton, flax, wool, and hemp, are manufactured into useful fabrics. As these establishments become more extended, the power of steam will be demanded. Coal will therefore be indispensable, and it is now much wanted, as well as iron and steel, for the purpose of making and repairing the machinery of those important establishments.

"2. It will essentially ameliorate the agriculture of the country, by supplying the farmer with lime, gypsum, and other valuable manures, by facilitating and cheapening the transportation of his commodities, by furnishing him at reduced prices with necessaries and accommodations, and by establishing a market at every manufactory, and opening a passage by water to the two great cities of Philadelphia and New-York, and to Paterson, Newark, Elizabeth-town, Amboy, Brunswick, Easton, Trenton, and the villages lower down on the Delaware. The mountain lands which are now exclusively appropriated to providing fuel for the iron manufactories, can then be applied to agricultural purposes, and the population of the state will be greatly augmented.

"3. The population and opulence of the state will not only be greatly increased from these causes, but from the natural and necessary operation of a most extensive and prosperous inland trade, which is the invariable offspring of the flourishing state of productive industry and easy communication. The whole line of the canal will exhibit manufacturing establishments and rising villages, boats crowded with the productions of nature and the fabrics of art, and the enterprising efforts of man improving the bounties of heaven. To adopt the sublime language of holy writ, "the wilderness and the solitary place will become glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose."

"4. The revenue arising from the canal will for ever supersede the necessity of taxation, and will form a vast fund applicable to other internal improvements, to the diffusion of the lights of science and to the dispensation of the blessings of education. In Great Britain, it has been remarked that a canal is always lucrative, where there are coal mines in its vicinity. The demands of the city of New-York, and the other cities and villages on the Hudson, the consumption of various parts of New-England, and the manufactories of New-Jersey, for this indispensable article will for ever increase, and for ever secure a great revenue from the canal. Add to this, the fossils and the metals before mentioned, the products of the forest and the field, and the fabrics of art, and there is no question but that this canal will enrich New-Jersey in her finances, as well as in other respects.

"Fourthly, The organ or agent of accomplishment. - This canal may be made - 1^st, by an individual; 2^d, by an incorporated company; or 3^d, by the state. As the first will not be attempted, nor ought it to be permitted, and as the second is very exceptionable, and perhaps not feasible, it follows as an inevitable consequence that the work ought to be achieved by the state exclusively.

"In Europe, with the exception of Great Britain, improvements of this kind have been, I believe, always undertaken and accomplished by the governments. In Great Britain, the superabundance of private capital has enabled companies to effect what in other countries has been the exclusive work of the constituted authorities; but even some cases have occurred in that kingdom when it became necessary for the government to extend its munificence in order to produce the intended results. The same state of things prevails in this country as in Europe generally, with respect to great surplus capital, which either does not exist, or is already employed, or can, as it is supposed, be more lucratively invested. All the canals that have been attempted in the United States, through the intervention of incorporations, have failed, I believe, and principally for the want of funds, except the Middlesex canal, which, although a meritorious, is comparatively a secondary work; and if New-Jersey does not attempt this expedient, either the stock will not be filled up or not paid for, and the consequence will be a failure greatly to be deprecated. But this is not the only objection. The company will consult its own interests, not the prosperity of the state. The route of the canal will be designated, not with a view to the accommodation of the great manufacturing institutions, but with a view to a cheap, facile, and rapid construction: the tolls may be burdensome, and the superintendence may be vexatious. The cardinal interests of the state may be subordinate to the cupidity of a private association. The capital, if it comes at all, will proceed from abroad; and New-Jersey, that has from the war of the Revolution to the present period, evinced a high sense of character and an honourable spirit of independence, will be bound hand and foot by the shackles of a non-resident company.

"I have this, gentlemen, at your request, with entire respect, and without the least reserve, given you my views of the contemplated canal: and I feel persuaded that this communication will be considered in its true light, not as the obtrusive interference of a stranger, but as the candid opinions of a sincere friend to the best interests of New-Jersey.

"I have the honour to be, with perfect respect,

"Your most obedient servant,

"DE WITT CLINTON."

"NEW-YORK, Oct. 24, 1823."

----------------------------------------

Transcribed from the original text and html prepared by Bill Carr, last updated 5/22/99.