Doc. No. 75. 



67 



by Mr. Clinton ^ pointing out the practicability of the enterprise. This 

 report, however, was not presented to the legislature till the year 1SI2. 

 In consequence of the favorable representations contained in this report, 

 an act was passed that very year authorizing the appointment of another 

 commissionj Aiith power to raise a loan of five millions of dollars; this, 

 however, was not carried into effect, owing to unforeseen obstacles which 

 were thrown in the way of the negotiation, especially the war with Great 

 Britain. On peace being restored in 1814, Mr. Chnton rencAved his for- 

 mer efforts, but without success; for the legislature, instead of seconding 

 his views, thwarted him to such a degree as to repeal the very act which 

 had previously been passed in favor of raising a loan. This blow was 

 highly relished by the opponents of Clinton. In the speeches that were 

 made during the discussion pending the repeal of the act in question, 

 some members insulted him very grossly, stigmatizing him as a madman; 

 while others went so far as to try to ruin his reputation, b}^ imputing to 

 him sinister motives in all that regarded his advocacy of the canal. As 

 the mere circumstance of holding a public position does not imply infal- 

 libility, much less infuse into the minds of men that knowledge and those 

 talents which nature and education have denied them, so, although the 

 members of the New York legislature of that period fancied they had 

 performed a great exploit by destroying what Clinton had built up, 

 yet time and the events that have since transpired have conclusively 

 shown that this very legislature, although representing the sovereignty of 

 the people, was nothing in reality but an assemblage of fools, utterly un- 

 able either to understand or to promote the interests of their constituencies, 

 in 1815 the complexion of the legislature continued the same, and Mr. 

 Clinton saw, with ceaseless grief, the happiness of his country continu- 

 ing to be sacrificed by the very men who pretended to exert themselves 

 for the common good. A short time before the elections which took 

 place in 1815, Clinton and those who approved of his plan made an ex- 

 position of their view^s before the people, which produced so favorable an 

 impression that it was at once decided to have the project carried into 

 effect; accordingly, none were elected but men known to be in favor of 

 Mr. Chnton's views. In 1816 an act was passed, which I shall insert 

 in full, because it served as a model to the legislators of Pennsylvania 

 and Ohio, and those of other States that have followed the example of 

 New York. It is also my opinion that this document is the best sample 

 of legislative wisdom that could be submitted to the consideration of the 

 Central American congress, in order to enable its members to form a cor- 

 rect idea of the manner in which matters of this kind are managed in the 

 United States, and that they may waste no time in devising and discuss- 

 ing original plans, without the least prospect of their agreeing upon any: 



An act for the improvement of the internal navigation of the State of 

 Neiv York. ' ' {Passed April 17, 1816.] 



^^1. Be it enacted by the people of New York, represented in the Senate 

 and Assembly J That Stephen Van Renssalaer, De Witt Chnton, Samuel 

 Young, Joseph Ellicott, and Myron Holley, be, and they are hereby, ap- 

 pointed commissioners to consider, devise, and adopt such measures as 

 may or shall be requisite to facilitate and effect the communication by 

 means of canals and locks between the navigable waters of Hudson's 

 river and Lake Erie, and the said navigable waters and Lake Champlain; 



