COMMERCIAL FACILITIES 



The natural internal navigation of the state is very extensive. 

 Before the commencement of internal improvement, the rivers 

 and lakes formed the easiest means of transportation between dis- 

 tant points of the state, and along these natural channels of com- 

 merce the earliest settlements were principally made. When to 

 these natural highways leading across the state to the great lakes 

 is added the harbor of Xew York City, which is unsurpassed on 

 this continent, together with the industrial enterprise of the state, 

 we have the secret of its commercial supremacy. 



The most complete system of canals in the United States con- 

 nects Xew York City and Buffalo. The same surface features that 

 have made ptossible the great canal system- have also favored the 

 building of railroads, and the Hudson-Mohawk valley is one of 

 the greatest railroad routes in the world. Four railroad trunk 

 lines connect Buffalo and Xew York City, namely, Xew York 

 Central; Erie; Lehigh Valley; and Delaware, Lackawanna and 

 Western. There are several other important lines in the state, 

 including the following: Pennsylvania: Xew York, Xew Haven 

 and Hartford ; Delaware and Hudson : Xew York, Ontario and 

 Western; Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg: Central Xew Eng- 

 land ; Boston and Albany: Boston and Maine; and Ulster and Del- 

 aware. Xumerous shorter roads and branch lines, also numerous 

 electric roads, make excellent connections throughout the state 

 and afford ready access to all parts of .the country. From Buffalo, 

 several railroads lead to points outside the state. These roads, 

 with the facilities afforded by Lake Erie, make Buffalo one of 

 the great shipping points of the country. 



On December 31, 1917, there were in the state 8.351 miles of 

 steam railroads ; at the same time there were 2,020 miles of elec- 

 tric roads, both measured by single track. 



The citizens of Xew York have a special advantage in its 

 excellent system of improved state and county highways, includ- 

 ing as it does a greater mileage and reaching more of the remote 

 sections than does that of any other state. Already, there is 

 hardly a township that is not accessible over one of the improved 



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