770 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



ship canal, and that if Erie canal be further improved by en- 

 largement to a size sufficient for 1500-ton barges, making such 

 alterations in alignment as to give a continuously descending 

 canal all the way from Lake Erie to the Hudson, and canalizing 

 Mohawk river, the improved canal, navigated by barges, would 

 render practicable the transportation of freight between the east 

 and the west at a lower rate than by a ship canal navigated by 

 large lake or ocean vessels. The difficulty of navigating large 

 vessels through long, shallow canals is the loss of time and the 

 consequent great increase in the pro rata expense account, as 

 compared with the actual amount transported between termi- 

 nals. Major Symons is also of the opinion that the enlargement 

 of the Erie canal on these lines is a project worthy of being 



Fig. 50) Rock cross-section of deep waterways for 21-foot channel. 



undertaken by the general government, because the benefits to 

 be derived would be commensurate with the cost, which he esti- 

 mates at approximately one fourth that of a ship canal, or $50,- 

 000,000. The following is a summary of Major Symons's report: 



1) A ship canal which would permit lake vessels to reach 

 tidewater and ocean vessels to reach lake ports, would be valuable 

 in reducing and regulating lake freights, transfer charges, etc. on 

 such freight as might be tributary thereto. 



2) To justify construction the benefits to be derived from such 

 a canal should be clearly shown to be suitably commensurate 

 with its cost and the cost of maintenance and necessary improve- 

 ments. 



3) The present and prospective conditions of lake and inter- 

 lake channels and harbors limit the reasonable depth of a ship 

 canal to that required for vessels of 20-foot draft. 



4) Any ship canal built should be entirely within the territory 

 of the United States, and should terminate a1 a first-class Ameri- 

 can seaport and commercial and manufacturing center in order 

 thai western products for domestic consumption, as well as those 



