FARMERS' REGISTER 



423 



an object not to be attained eflecluaily without it 

 by ihe vvliole (brce of the country. It will fur- 

 nish, in such a contingency, the means not only 

 of transporting men and munitions of war, but in 

 the event of the blockade of the coast, of exchang- 

 ing the staples of the south and the manufactures 

 of the north and east. In the estimation of 

 the patriot, devoted above all things to the preser- 

 vation of the Union, this connexion, between 

 what Mr. Chevalier terms its two poles, has yet a 

 higher value. "When," he remarks, " New 

 York shall be only six or eight days' journey from 

 New Oileans not only for a rich class travelling 

 in a privileged maimer, but lor every shopkeeper 

 and every workman, separation will be no longer 

 possible. Great distances will have disappeared, 

 and this Colossus, ten times vaster than France, 

 will maintain its unity without efl'ort." 



It is among the many fortune circumstances of 

 our country, that its most essential line of improve- 

 ment offers such strong inducements to its speedy 

 execution, both in prospects of profit presented 

 by it as an investment, and its other advantages. 

 In other countries, the works essential to their de- 

 fence and protection have been executed usually 

 at great cost, and with heavy burthens on the 

 subject. With us, the one which is to make us 

 impregnable in war, and to unite us indissolubly 

 in war and peace, is, at the same time, to add 

 largely to the wealth of the nation, and of the 

 shareholders of the companies co-operating in its 

 execution. 



We have observed above, that lines of commu- 

 nication may be judicious, and the plan of im- 

 provement be otherwise ; or, if the line and plan 

 of improvement be both eligible, an error may 

 be committed in making the improvement incom- 

 mensurate, or more than commensurate with its 

 objects. We need only refer, in illustration of our 

 position, to the opposite plans of connexion by ca- 

 nal and rail-road, or to the case of a single or 

 double track rail-road. It will be easily perceived, 

 that a trade or travel, which would pay a large 

 profit on the stock of a rail-road, might not be com- 

 manded by a canal, and vice versa ; and that 

 whilst it would be a great error to make a double 

 track rail-road where a single track rail-road would 

 suffice, it would not he a less error to construct a 

 road graded for a single track only, where a dou- 

 ble track would be required. 



There are, comparatively, few cases in our 

 country, where there is a choice as to the plan 

 of improvement. Its bold features, and the ex- 

 treme heat of its summers, limiting the cases in 

 which canals can be made to comparatively a 

 small number ; but where either a canal or rail- 

 road may be adopted, it is obvious that a great 

 error would be committed by selecting that least 

 suitable to the circumstances of the case and the 

 trade to be accommodated- In our opinion, and 

 the opinion of engineers who have given most at- 

 tention to the subject, there are three cases in 

 which rail-roads present decided advantage over 

 canals: 



1. Where persons, or articles of great value are 

 to be transported. In this case, the saving in time 

 becomes a matter of much more moment than any 

 increased cost of rail-road over canal transpor- 

 tation. 



J-. 2. JVhere great differences of level are to be 

 surmounted. In this casej the delaj' and risk of 



interruption from a large amount of lockage, is far 

 beyond what would be occasioned by inclined 

 planes overcoming the same elevation on a rail- 

 road, whilst the same causes increase the cost of 

 canal transportation to so nearly an equality with 

 that of rail-roads, as to entitle the latter to the pre- 

 ference. 



3. Where, no matter how bulky, or ponderons 

 the tonnage in proportion to its value, the trade is 

 principally a descending one, and a profile can be 

 had for their rail-road giving equal or nearly equal 

 facilities to the power employed in both directio7is. 



In this last case, rail-road transportation, more ad- 

 vantageous in other respects, becomes even cheap- 

 er than that on canals, in consequence of the fall 

 in the line, which, in the case of the canal, would 

 present a serious impediment by the lockage it 

 would occasion, becomingan auxiliary to the pow- 

 er employed on the rail-road. There are but few 

 cases, of course, where the most desirable profile 

 has been had for a rail-road, the descent being, in 

 most cases, either somewhat more or less than 

 would be in theory the most advantageous. One 

 of the most remarkable approaches to it seems to 

 have been made in the case of the rail-road now 

 under construction between Philadelphia and the 

 anthracite coal di-trict at the Schuylkill in Penn- 

 sj'lvnnia. On this work the graduation is said to 

 vary between a level and descent of nineteen leet 

 per mile, in favor of the downward trade. It is 

 expected that the load of ordinary locomotive en- 

 gines on it, will average from one hundred and 

 fifty to two hundred tons net, or three hundred tons 

 gross, travelling at the rate of from ten to twelve 

 miles per hour, and that the whole expense to the 

 company, of transporting coal on it, will be only 

 fifty-three cents per Ion the whole length of the 

 raif-road, (ninety-six miles,) or little more than 

 half the ordinary rate of freight on canals of the 

 same length. 



The above propositions can, of course, not be 

 laid down absolutely, or without reference to the 

 cost of the one or the other improvement ; but, in 

 the first case cited, it would require a very great 

 difference of expence to counterbalance the de- 

 cided superiority of the rail-road in point ofexpedi- 

 tion, and in the second and third cases, the item 

 of lockage will generally enhance greatly the cost 

 of a canal beyond that of a rail-road, and of course, 

 turn the scale more decidedly in favor of the lat- 

 ter improvement. 



It will be seen, from what has been said, how 

 vague are the notions usually entertained as to the 

 relative advantages of canals and rail-roads ; ad- 

 vocates being constantly found of tlie one or the 

 other system, without reference to the circumstances 

 of the case, which should alone decide, where 

 there is a choice, which is the most advisable. It 

 would be individious to point out cases in which 

 grave errors have been made in consequence of 

 the confusion of ideas which has prevailed on this 

 subject. Such cases, if the principles which have 

 been laid down are correct, will readily occur to 

 our readers, and we are probably indebted to the 

 fact above mentioned, — the comparatively few 

 cases in which canals are feasible in America, — 

 that more mistakes have not hitherto been com- 

 mitted. 



But supposing the proper description of improve- 

 ment to be adopted, it may be executed on a plan 

 incoramensuraiej or more than comniensuraio. 



