INTRODUCTION. 107 
arrest. the prosecution of the canals. The motion was lost, only twenty-one 
members voting therefor. 
In 1819, governor Clinton announced to the legislature, that the progress of 
the public works equalled the most sanguine expectations, and that the canal 
fund was flourishing. He recommended the prosecution of the entire Erie canal. 
Enlarging upon the benefits of internal navigation, he remarked, that he looked 
to a time not far distant, when the state would be able to improve the navigation 
of the Susquehannah, the Allegany, the Genesee and the St. Lawrence ; to assist 
in connecting the waters of the great lakes and the Mississippi; to form a junc- 
tion between the Erie canal and Lake Ontario through the Oswego river; and 
to promote the laudable intention of Pennsylvania to unite the Seneca lake with 
the Susquehannah; deducing arguments in favor of such enterprises, from the 
immediate commercial advantages of extended navigation, as well as from its 
tendency to improve the condition of society, and strengthen the bonds of the 
union. Henry Yates junior, in the senate, and John Van Ness Yates, in the 
assembly, on behalf of the proper committees, submitted answers concurring in 
the opinions expressed by the chief magistrate, and the same were adopted. 
Joseph Ellicott, having resigned the office of canal commissioner, Ephraim 
Hart was appointed in his place, ad interim, and subsequently Henry Seymour 
was called to fill the vacancy. 
The canal commissioners, in their report, gave an interesting account of their 
proceedings, represented that the work on the middle section, under the care of 
Benjamin Wright as principal engineer, had been conducted with great success ; 
and that Canvass White and Nathan 8. Roberts, who had previously bee nassis- 
tant engineers, were assigned, on account of their eminent skill, to higher duties. 
Mr. White was distinguished at this time for his discovery of the manner of pre- 
paring a hydraulic cement from a peculiar species of limestone found in the 
vicinity of the canal. He was the inventor, also, of the improvement in the con- 
struction of upper gates of canal locks, which has been said to be the only im- 
