We purpose now to turn away from the consideration of the subject which has occupied our attention throughout this chapter. It may be well to remark that there are some phases of the influence of the canal upon which we have not touched, or to which we have done but meager justice. We have not delved into the specific instances of the rise of sudden and enduring prosperity through the effects of canal-building. We have not given a word to the political battles waged upon the issue of "Internal Improvements," both in state and nation, and to the impetus afforded that issue everywhere by the success of the Erie canal. We have scarcely hinted at the fact which statesmen and economists have continually averred during the last fifty years, namely, that, had the canal accomplished no direct benefits, its potential possibilities as a public carrier, managed in the interests of the public, have so conserved rates of shipment across the country as to render the waterway indispensable to the nation. We have not studied the "marked influence [it has exerted] on the cost of transportation over all the country extending from the interior of the Gulf States to the Saint Lawrence River, and from the great plains of the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean." We have not considered that "the Erie Canal influences the rates of transportation from Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, etc., to the interior of the Gulf States . . until it reaches a line where low ocean rates from New York to the Gulf cities exercise their influence upon the rates to the adjacent interior points." "The influence of the Erie Canal as a regulator of freight rates has been felt over the entire country," and our only excuse for omitting a study so attractive is the impossibility of condensing it sufficiently and at the same time doing it justice. It belongs essentially, moreover, to the later period of canal history, through which we have not attempted to follow minutely the career of the great waterway.
Unquestionably we have failed to consider and to expand fittingly the study of numerous other influences resulting directly or indirectly from this peculiar institution, which is still in a large sense just as unique and, it would seem, appears to the mind of the people of the State of New York, just as vitally essential to their welfare as it was acknowledged to be fifty and seventy-five years ago. The strength of the popular sentiment in its favor through so many vicissitudes is an established fact, which cannot be ignored. In spite of periods of poor administration, through passing reverses of fortune and amid partisan war-cries, the heap of this great commonwealth has never swayed so far that a reminder of the magnificent services of our historic waterway would not suffice to touch a chord of loyalty. Criticize and argue as we may, the abiding devotion of an intelligent and sovereign people amid the vexations of nearly a century is a splendid tribute. It is, indeed, the surest commendation, the safest human testimonial to the success, utility and importance of the object of their devotion-an argument whose eloquence we certainly can- not escape.
But the great waterway has well earned the praise and support of the people. This fact, too, is apparent-so apparent that he who runs may read. The world knows that the Erie canal has been a tremendous agency in ranging our State in the forefront of the forces of civilization; that it stimulated the development of the frontier and built up a great industrial zone from east to west and drew unnumbered cargoes to our port and made that port the commercial metropolis of the New World. Like a magnet it attracted to its own shores the mightiest of the transcontinental railroads. Like a weapon in our hands it held these railroads in check, when they had become strong and grasping. It extended our custom far and wide. It gave us the lead in the contest for the supremacy. It broadened us in the school of commercial intercourse. In fact, it made possible that imperial democracy-that Empire State-unique in the annals of the world.
But the Erie canal exerted no mean effect upon the nation. Its influence spread beyond and strove to efface our local boundaries and to make of the loose confederation of states and territories one united people. The opening of the canal marks the beginning and was largely the immediate cause of the epoch of emigration from the East and immigration into the West. It was also a signal for the sudden and portentous increase of alien immigration. Its "value to the States bordering on the Great Lakes [in promoting their development was] incomputable." It secured the great Northwest, which once hung in the balance, to eastern rather than to southern sympathies. It prevented trade from following down the St. Lawrence to an outlet in foreign territory. The canal became, indeed, the principal "Gateway to the Interior "-the great artery of inland travel-knitting together the thrifty East and the newly-developing West. All this, which we see realized as we look around us, is a glorious eulogy on the genius and courage and beneficence of our forefathers, who discerned, in advance of their age, the canal, oil the one hand, and on the other-prosperous cities, the desert blossoming as the rose, the invigoration of industry, the spread of knowledge, and the dissemination of happiness and plenty. The canal has indeed built cities and peopled plains. But while the cities and the plains may pass away, the fruits of our education in the broad and humane school of commercial intercourse and the golden ties of kinship and union that it has knit about us will endure. When other memories fail, these forces will still keep alive countless reverberations of the influence of "Our Grand Canal."