United States of America. 13 



been barely sufficient to keep it in repair, the construction of 

 it was entirely within the reach of the ordinary resources of 

 the state. But at the moment of its completion the revenue 

 derived from the tolls became so productive, as to show con- 

 clusively that the bare pledge of them would have sufficed, both 

 to pay the interest and extinguish the debt. The income for 

 the year 1826, the first after the navigation was opened from 

 the river to the lake, amounted to 800,000 dollars ; for the 

 year ending 1st of January, 1828, it will not fall short of a mil- 

 lion. Hitherto, however, the immense receipts have, in a great 

 measure, been absorbed by the canal itself, which can hardly 

 be said to be finished even at the present moment. In the 

 anxiety to reap the advantages its navigation promised, the 

 work was pressed hastily, and, perhaps, prematurely to its 

 conclusion. Hence much was unfinished — much required 

 alteration and repair. The expenditure, however, of the last 

 two years has gone far towards making the canal complete, and 

 in a very short space of time, it will be supported at an ex 

 pense no greater than attends the repairs and care of other 

 similar works. The debt will then rapidly diminish, and it 

 may be confidently anticipated that within ten years the state 

 of New York will possess, free from incumbrance, a source 

 of revenue more than four times as great as the largest 

 amount of direct and indirect tax that has ever been levied. 

 Two parties already exist in relation to the manner of dis- 

 posing of this wealth : the one would urge its application to 

 the ordinary expenses of the government, and to the extinc- 

 tion of burdens already insensible; the other, with wiser policy, 

 would apply it to the extension of the system of internal im- 

 provements by means of canals, and rail-roads diverging from 

 the canal to all accessible portions of the state. The direct 

 tax of the state of New York was no more than the thou- 

 sandth part of the value of the property paying it. Under 

 the influence of the former party, it has already been reduced 

 to one half. This short-sighted policy has, however, been op- 

 posed, and meets with deserved censure from the more intelli- 

 gent. In reference to this question, we conceive we cannot do 

 better than extract a portion of the message of Governor 



