Governor Clinton's Observations relative to the proposed Delaware and Raritan Canal.

The following letter from Governor Clinton, addressed to a gentleman in New-Jersey, ways the writer, "exhibits the same vigour of intellect, the same expanded views and comprehensive sagacity, which so eminently characterized the great and successful executor of the Grand Erie Canal. As the last emanation of that departed and immortal mind, on a subject in which it delighted to employ its energy for the blessings of posterity and the aggrandizement of his native state, it should be regarded with profound interest, and felt with all the weight of an oracle by the legislature of New-Jersey and the citizens of the state."

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ALBANY, Jan. 22, 1828.

SIR,

I was honoured with your interesting letter of the 8^th instant, to which I should have paid immediate attention, had I not been under a great pressure of official business; and now my time will only permit a slight view of the subjects which you have presented to my consideration: and I hope this communication will reach you seasonably and operate favourably for the praiseworthy objects which you have in view.

As to the transcendant importance of a navigable connexion between the Bays of New-York and the Delaware, there cannot be a doubt. And when it is considered that this communication will be extended to the Bay of Chesapeake by the Chesapeake and Delaware canal; and that the whole will embrace within its influence, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehannah, and the rivers flowing into them and the Chesapeake Bay, the advantages of the canal which you contemplate, from the Delaware to the Raritan, must be palpable and incalculable. It is well known, that the enterprising spirit, which distinguishes our national character, is limited only by the realities or prospects of profitable adventure. Abroad, it is witnessed in every region, however remote or secluded. At home, nothing escapes its scrutiny or communion. Wherever a market can be found - wherever an interchange of benefits can be had - wherever a facile communication can be obtained, - you will see the products of the soil, of the mines, and of the forests - the fabrics of manufactures, and the importations of external commerce. In July, 1826, I passed through a remote part of this state, bordering on the Susquehannah; and a trader there, availing himself of a rise of water in a small stream, had just returned from conveying a raft of lumber to the city of Washington, with ample profits on the sales, and at a distance of seven hundred miles. A few weeks afterwards I was informed at Olean, one of the head waters of the Alleghany, that it was not uncommon to convey from that place, pressed hay, in arks, to Natchez, and lumber to New-Orleans. The operation of the same spirit will be most forcibly and liberally experienced, when the great markets of New-York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, are thrown open to the access of a vast population, covering such immense regions as will be comprehended by these canals, and the natural waters communicating with them. To doubt on this subject would exhibit a skepticism approaching dementation.

I perceived that it is proposed to make the main trunk of the Delaware and Raritan canal fifty miles long, sixty feet wide at the top, six feet deep - that the entire lockage will be about fifty feet on each side of the summit level, and that it is to be supplied by a navigable feeder of twenty-five or thirty miles long, thirty feet wide at the surface, and from four and a half to five feet deep.

This plan is a judicious one. The main canal will be susceptible of sloop navigation, and the increased width and depth beyond those usually adopted, will render the transit of vessels more easy and rapid.

This work can be made without any great physical difficulty. The cost will not exceed 1,200,000 dollars; and no doubt a loan can be obtained for that purpose by your state, at an interest of five per cent. I am decidedly of opinion, that it ought to be undertaken and owned by the state. The financial inducements are as obvious as those which affect the other cardinal interests of the community.

This canal, including its feeder, will be about the same extent as the Champlain canal; and it is a very liberal concession in favour of the latter, to say that the income will be about the same: the expense of superintendence and repairs will probably be less, and its increase of revenue will undoubtedly be more rapid. The interest of the loan to effect it, will be sixty thousand dollars; the proceeds of the Champlain canal for the last year were 85,000, and its progressive increase has been more than ten per cent. per annum. The avails of your canal, will, consequently, in a few years extinguish the debt, when, in all probability, the state will drive a clear annual revenue of a quarter of a million of dollars. And when we connect with this consideration, the establishment of towns and villages, the creation of a dense population, and the acquisition of valuable home markets in the vicinity, and along the whole line of the canal, there ought to be no hesitancy about acting promptly and decidedly in favour of a measure so abounding with benefits.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

DE WITT CLINTON.

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