832 [Assembly 



prise. An increase of millions of acres might be added to the 

 productive agricultural domain of the State ; masses of a vigor- 

 ous population would be given to the aggregate of her people ; 

 millions of dollars to the taxable wealth of the State, and an in- 

 calculable amount poured into the revenue of the public works. 



To the business and prosperity of Essex county, the success 

 of this design must be fraught with the most beneficial conse- 

 quences. It would create an access to forests, teeming with tim- 

 ber, which may be estimated by millions of trees, and with wood 

 for coaling purposes, that generations cannot exhaust. These 

 sources of wealth would yield a boundless tribute to the work 

 shops and mills ot Essex county. The hardy population, thus 

 attracted to that wilderness, would become purveyors to the 

 wants of her manufacturers, consumers of her products, and 

 soon producers of the agricultural commodities, her manufactur- 

 ing progress will always demand. Instead of holding the portals 

 to a howling wilderness, Essex will then occupy the central posi- 

 tion of a populous and thriving region. The growing intercourse 

 between northern New- York, and the west, would by this agency 

 be eminently facilitated and economized. 



Ship canal. — Another project to which I alluded, contemplates 

 the construction of a canal navigable by vessels of 500 tons, to 

 connect the St. Lawrence with the waters of Lake Champlain. 

 The commerce of the lake has much increased during the last 

 few years, partially by the augmented resources of its own terri- 

 tory, but more directly, by the greater facilities afforded to com- 

 mercial intercourse with Canada. During this period, crafts of a 

 novel character have appeared upon its waters, readily distin- 

 guished from the bright, trim, and rapid vessels of the American 

 marine, by their black sides, dark sails, and slow and awkward 

 motion, sailing only before the wind. These are Canadian vessels 

 first designed for the navigation of the St. Lawrence, but which 

 have been floated over the rapids of the Sorel. Vessels from the 

 upper lakes, which have entered Champlain by the Chambly 

 canal, occasionally appear at its port. The enterprise, however, 

 is rare, and accomplished with difiiculty. 



