[ 32 J 88 
public {'bjcct must he, subjected to the coolest test of principle, the 
most tiiorotigh investigation, and the judgment of practical minds. 
I'lie \vestcin section may have an interest, or depend in a de- 
gree on the !-esorvoirs or the head branches of the Yoeligiogeny: we 
have JU)t only to guard against tlie violence of Uoods, but the extreme of 
the opposite condition; and the utility of them is at oik e perceived in 
i-eviewing tlie citcnaistai.ces of the two lines of this part of the route, 
for wiiici! ilie water must almost all go from the mountains, one 
hnndicd miles. 
Besides those, there may be one by means of a dam at the head of 
the I'avine of Winding Ridge; Fro:n hence, or from some lower point 
in this pa!>S3ge, a feeder may be led to the canal at the elevation re- 
qiiired for the Laurel tunnel route; or if the line should be preferable 
down t!:e course of the river, then others on Cassellman's and North 
Branches. Indeed, these may, in either case, be wanted, as the two 
lines unite belo^v the Laurel Mountain, and the supply must then be 
had from the Yougbiogeny. 
Finally. Havitigexplaitied the wiiolc subject, so far as thepreser.t 
state of information jjermits, n^y impression is, that, notwithstanding 
tlie (9th) line of the shortest tunnel is not the shortest canal, and the 
Deep Creek stmimit will be thirtii-foiir feet higher i\\a.n the circuitous 
line; notwithstanding the route by Bear Creek will require a second 
tunnel, and the line away from the river a third tunnel, and a magni- 
ficent aqueduct, yet I give a decided preference to this wbole route, 
as that w hicli embraces the great points, directness, control and com- 
mand of water, economy of exi)ense, and continuity of operation, with 
most certainty. J>oth lines should be investigated thoroughly, as it 
is for posterity and perpetuity tliat this great work is to be accojn- 
plishcd. 
In conclusion, a few general remarks may be offered, aiising from 
the occasion and the position of the Board. No diftJculty has been 
dii5iin!sbed or magnified. The obstacle to a communication by the 
I'otomac route with the Western states, lessens to a point, com- 
j'arcd with t!ie magnitude of the object, whether in a commercial or 
political relation to the pi-osperity of the country. In Europe, their 
canals, even those of Governments, have all some definite limited ob- 
ject of litiliiy. But here it is not alone the distance — the elevation 
— the va«t natural navigation to be connected, which constitutes the 
grandeur of the design; but the immense interests it combines into 
an harmonious national whole. 
Whoever visits the Western states for tlie first time, is astonished 
that so few years have elapsed, since this fertile and populous 
])artof our country was a vast wilderness; but the surprise ceases 
with the recollection, that, at the establishment of the constitution. 
Ilie United States became the ovuiers of these lands, ceded and pledged 
by the states to each other, jointly and severally, as a basis of public 
credit, so broad and safe as to be an effectual guarantee against the 
oppression of an accumulating national debt, and therefore, the real 
Moalth with which everv thine: for the common jrood mav be accom- 
