and repairs is 799,752 dollars; which gives the average cost per mile, sixty-four

cents.

The West Stockbridge road is run in connexion with the western railroad, forming a continuous line between Greenbush and Worcester. No separate account has been kept of through and way passengers.

The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad company have an undivided interest with the Utica and Schenectady, Syracuse and Utica, Auburn and Syracuse, and Auburn and Rochester Railroad companies, in 100 passenger cars, and twentyeight mail and baggage cars.

Of the seventeen railroad corporations of the state, eleven of them have complied with the requirements of February 2, 1843, leaving the following companies in default, viz.: New York and Erie, Buffalo and Black Rock, Hudson and Berkshire, Lewiston, Long Island, and New York and Harlem.

CANALS AND RAILROADS OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Canals and Railroads constructed by the State.-In 1791, a report was made by a committee of the legislature, recommending the improvement of the Delaware, Lehigh, and Lackawana rivers; a canal from the Schuylkill to the Susquehanna, by way of the Tulpehocken and Swatara; the improvement of the Susquehanna, with its north and west branches, and a connexion by way of the Sinnemahoning between the west branch of Susquehanna and the Alleghany river and Lake Erie. A portage connexion was also proposed from the head waters of the Juniata to those of the Conemaugh, in order to form a communication from the Susquehanna to Pittsburg. As railroads were then unknown, it was proposed to connect the canals by means of good turnpike-roads across the dividing summits.

Nothing was done by the state on the subject of internal improvements until 1824, when an act was passed authorising the governor to appoint three commissioners to explore a route for a canal from Harrisburg to Pittsburg, by the waters of the Juniata and Conemaugh rivers; and also the route for a connexion by way of the west branch of Susquehanna and Sinnemahoning, with the waters of the Alleghany river. An examination of the country between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna, through the great valley of Chester and Lancaster counties, was also directed; together with a route "beginning at a point on the river Schuylkill, in the county of Schuylkill, thence by Mahanoy creek, the river Susquehanna, the Moshannon, Clearfield, and Black Lick creeks, the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas, and Alleghany river to Pittsburg."

In 1825, an act was passed authorising the appointment of a board of canal commissioners, and directing the following additional surveys to be made: " one from Philadelphia through Chester and Lancaster counties, and thence by the west branch of the Susquehanna and the waters thereof to the Alleghany and Pittsburg; also from the Alleghany to Lake Erie; one other from Philadelphia by the Juniata to Pittsburg, and from thence to Lake Erie; one from the city of Philadelphia to the northern boundary of the state towards the Seneca or Cayuga lake; one through Cumberland and Franklin counties to the Potomac river; and one by the Conecocheague, or Monococy and Conewago to the Susquehanna." A survey was also directed, by the same act, to be made through the county of Bedford, to connect the route of the proposed Chesapeake and Ohio canal with the Juniata route.

By the act of the 25th of February, 1826, the canal commissioners were directed "to locate and put under contract a canal on the east side of the Susquehanna river, from the mouth of the Swatara to a point opposite the mouth of the Juniata; and one from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Kiskiminetas; thus commencing two sections of the main line of communication from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. They were also authorised, as soon as they might deem it practicable

and expedient, to construct a navigable feeder of a canal from French creek to the summit level at Conneaut lake, and to survey and locate a route for a canal from that to Lake Erie."

"In order to sustain the credit of the commonwealth, an internal improvement fund was established (April 1, 1826) under the control of the secretary of the commonwealth, the auditor-general, and the state-treasurer, as commissioners; which fund was specifically appropriated, pledged, and set apart for the purpose of paying the interest and reimbursing the principal of the state debt which might be created in consequence of the construction of the canals and public improvements: the accounts of the fund to be kept separate from the other public accounts." This fund consists of the tolls which were to be received on all the public works, the auction duties, the net proceeds of all escheats, and the dividends on road, canal, and bridge stocks owned by the state. By subsequent enactments, the tax on collateral inheritances, taxes on certain property, and sundry other appropriations were added to the fund.

By the act of April 9, 1827, "the construction of a canal up the Juniata as far as Lewistown; another up the Kiskiminetas and Conemaugh to Blairsville, and one up the Susquehanna to Northumberland were duly authorised." By the same act, "surveys were directed to be made of the route across the Alleghany mountain from Frankstown on the Juniata to Johnstown on the Conemaugh, with a view of determining whether the portage should be by a smooth and permanent road of easy graduation, or by a railway with locomotive and stationary engines or otherwise." Surveys were also ordered between the west branch and the Alleghany river; up the north branch from Northumberland to the state line, and from Pittsburg to Erie by the route of Beaver and Shenango. A survey for a railroad was also directed to be made "from Philadelphia, through Chester and Lancaster counties to the Susquehanna, and also to ascertain the practicability of connecting the north branch of the Susquehanna and Lehigh rivers, by a canal or railway." A survey was, by the same act, directed to be made for extending the canal down the Susquehanna, from the mouth of Swatara to the Maryland line. Operations for the construction of the French Creek feeder (to Conneaut lake) was ordered, and surveys directed from Conneaut to Lake Erie. The commissioners were instructed to make a survey for a canal from Philadelphia up the valley of the Delaware to Carpenter's point; " and if found practicable, to locate and contract for the construction of such portion of it as should not exceed the cost of 100,000 dollars, provided that the average expense thereof should not exceed 12,000 dollars per mile."

By the act of the 24th of March, 1828, "the extension of the canals on the Susquehanna, from the mouth of Swatara to Columbia; from Lewistown to Hollidaysburg on the Juniata; from Northumberland along the west branch of the Susquehanna to Bald Eagle; from Northumberland to the New York state line, on

the north branch; from Taylor's ferry to Easton, on the Delaware; and from Blairsville to Johnstown on the Conemaugh, were authorised. The Alleghany Portage railroad; the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad was ordered; and preliminary surveys of other lines of proposed improvements were authorised to be executed. These works were commenced and carried forward with great speed. The credit of the state was then in a highly honourable condition, no one suspected its integrity; money was abundant, and the legislature found no difficulty in borrowing from the capitalists of all countries: especially from England.

Mr. Frego, in an excellent little work on Pennsylvania, observes,—

"If the system of public works undertaken had been less extensive in the beginning, and had been confined at first to the main line between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, with the addition of the Delaware division; and these had been constructed with a strict regard to the public interest alone, and managed afterwards with prudence and economy, the favourable anticipations of the people would doubtless have been realised. But, in order to obtain votes in the legislature for the commencement of the main lines, it was deemed expedient to push the improvements into every practicable part of the state, that as many as possible should partake of the expected benefit. The consequence has been the lavish expenditure of millions on lines as yet unproductive; while a system of management directed by party politics, and the employment of countless swarms of public agents, as a reward for political services, without due regard to their character or qualifications, have not only absorbed the whole revenue derived from the finished lines, but have brought the state annually in debt for their maintenance.

"This career of lavish expenditure and continual extension was at length checked. The alarming increase of the state debt, the enormous excess in the cost of completing many of the works above the estimates of the engineers, and the failure of the finished lines to support by their tolls the annual charges on them for repairs and expenses, became subjects for serious consideration. Those who had from the first doubted the expediency of undertaking such a gigantic scale of improvement, became decidedly hostile to the further extension of the system, while its warmest advocates were discouraged at the prospect before them. The public voice called for a retrenchment of expenditures, and the operations were prosecuted on a reduced scale. The work on some of the lines was suspended, and was only continued on those which were necessary to complete certain connexions, or those which were deemed likely to afford immediate advantage from completion.

"The present deranged condition of the state finances, and the utter prostration of the credit of the commonwealth, have now put a stop to the further prosecution of the public works. The time has come for serious consideration upon the means of extricating Pennsylvania from her present embarrassed condition. No remedy can be devised but that of taxing the people; and even taxation, so long as the public improvements are so managed as not to sustain themselves, will be ineffectual, unless increased from year to year. A more economical superintendence of our canals and railroads, or their transfer from the state to individuals or companies, seems to be imperatively demanded by the public interest. By such a transfer, on fair terms and under proper regulations, the state would be at once relieved from a heavy burden, while the people would still have the use and advantage of the public improvements as fully as at present.

"But notwithstanding the present gloomy prospect of our financial affairs, and the heavy debt incurred by the commonwealth in the construction of her railroads and canals, it should not be forgotten that the advantages to the people, in the increased value of their property, and the creation of facilities for trade and transportation, together with the expenditure, among them, of large sums of public money, have far more than counterbalanced the burden of moderate taxation. Without the means of transportation on the public works, our agricultural, commercial, manufacturing, and mineral resources would never have been developed as they now are; and the countless millions gained by the people, through the establishment of the public improvements, would cause the public

debt to sink into insignificance, if compared with the value of the advantages resulting from them.

"In order to contrast the former times and facilities with the present, it may be mentioned, that before turnpikes were constructed, it required a good team of five or six horses, from eighteen to twenty-five days, to transport from 2500 to 3500 lbs. of goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. On the completion of the turnpike across the mountains, the load of a waggon was increased to 6000 or 8000 pounds, and the trip was made in twelve or fifteen days. The price of carriage varied from three or four to thirteen cents per pound, the latter being paid for several loads soon after the peace with Great Britain. Since the construction of our railroads and canals, any quantity of merchandise and produce can be transported between Pittsburg and Philadelphia, Baltimore or New York in six or seven days, at an average price, each way, of less than one dollar per 100 pounds, or one cent per pound; and the passage for travellers by canal and railroads between Pittsburg and these cities is now made in two, three, or four days, at less than half the former expense by the stage.

"It is not, however, in the construction of canals and railroads alone that the funds of of the state have been invested. Extensive appropriations have been made towards improving the navigable channels of many of our rivers and large streams; to the making of roads and the building of bridges; while subscriptions have been liberally made on the part of the commonwealth to the stock of railroad, navigation, turnpike, and bridge companies. From many of these little or no dividend is received, but still the people have the benefit of their use."-pp. 149–151.

STATE CANALS.-The Delaware Section of the Pennsylvania canal, at Bristol, on the River Delaware, twenty miles above Philadelphia, and thence extends up the course of that river to Easton, at the mouth of the Lehigh, where it joins the navigation of the Lehigh company. It is forty feet wide, five feet deep, and has twenty-three locks, ninety feet long by eleven feet wide, from six to ten feet in height; total lockage, 164 feet. Length of canal, sixty miles; cost, 1,374,744 dollars.

The Eastern section commences at Columbia, the western termination of the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad, and extends along the eastern bank of the Susquehanna river to Middletown, where the Union canal joins it, where there are locks connecting with the Susquehanna. It then continues along the eastern banks of the Susquehanna, passes through Harrisburg to Duncan's island, near the mouth of the Juniata, where it joins the Juniata section, and also with the Susquehanna division of the state canals. It is forty feet wide at top, twenty-eight at bottom, and has locks ninety feet long, and seventeen feet wide; the total rise is ninety-five feet. Length, forty-three miles.

Juniata section.-At Duncan's island, a dam across the Susquehanna gives the water for the Eastern section. The Juniata section follows the valley of the Juniata to Hollidaysburg, in Huntingdon county, where it joins the eastern termination of the Alleghany Portage railroad. There are seventeen dams on this section, and about sixteen miles of slack water navigation. The canal is of the same dimensions as the Eastern section; the locks are of the same length, and fifteen feet wide. Ascent of lockage, 576 feet; distance, 130 miles.

The Susquehanna section. This canal joins the Juniata section at Duncan's island, and winds along the western bank of the Susquehanna, up that river to