132 CANAL. 



no formidable obstacles to excavation. It is in 

 fact little more than a turnpike reversed, a work 

 in concavity instead of convexity. The applica- 

 tion of ingenious contrivances for the extrication 

 of trees, and the processes of excavation, has 

 never been duly appreciated until submitted to 

 the test of experiment. Nor was it anticipated 

 that work could be carried on to great advantage 

 in winter as well as summer. Besides the whole 

 mystery of the expense and the failure of great 

 public works, is the frauds and mismangement of 

 the agents. A judicious system conducted with 

 integrity and industry places it in the power of 

 an opulent state to accomplish any undertaking. 

 In my opinion, this state will not only obtain 

 indemnification, but will eventually derive a 

 great revenue from the canal. In the hands of an 

 able financier, a kind of impost, under the form 

 of tolls, will be laid on ascending goods, which 

 will either produce an important revenue, or check 

 the wasteful consumption of foreign merchandize; 

 thus encouraging in the one case domestic manu- 

 factures, and in the other enriching the treasury. 

 This will be the exercise of a new power by the 

 local governments. If the national government 

 will not raise the tariff for the benefit of its own 

 manufactures, the state government can elevate it 

 sufficiently by tolls. 



