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OBSERVATIONS on the Means of Preserving the CoмMERCE of NEW-YORK. Addressed to the Editors of the American Medical and Philosophical Register, by MERCATOR.

You have published some remarks, signed An Observer, shewing the great advantage of transporting produce, by canals, instead of the present mode of transporting it, by waggons. The calculations, on this head, seem to be conclusive and satisfactory; but the writer has, incidentally, touched on a subject that seems to require more attention than he has given it. It is a subject, as I think, that demands the serious attention of the legislature. The Observer alleges, that it would be imprudent to bring produce, by means of a canal, from lake Erie to lake Ontario, lest that produce, being once afloat upon lake Ontario, should find its way to Montreal, by means of the river St. Lawrence.

Considering the subject, as I have done, since I read those remarks, I am fully persuaded, that one half of the produce, and one half the commerce of the state of NewYork, must go into Canada, unless it be prevented by an extensive western canal, and by another canal from the northern wood-creek into the navigable waters of Hudson river.

If the reader will be pleased to cast his eyes upon a map of this state, and to draw a line, from the vicinity of Glen's falls, on Hudson river, to lake Oswego, he will

discover, that the lands which lie to the northward of that line, and to the westward of lake Oswego, constitute a good deal more than half the continental part of this state. He will also discover, if he makes a careful examination, that the produce, from all the lands thus described, may be carried, at a less expense, to the navigable waters of the river St. Lawrence, than to the navigable waters of Hudson river.

I deem it certain that, according to the present state of our navigation, all the produce that is carried to lake Champlain, must, infallibly, be shipped at Montreal. The navigation of lake Champlain is perfectly safe, for large vessels, as far as the town of St. John. The outlet of the lake, called the river Chamblee, from St. John's to the river St. Lawrence, abounds in rapids; but the distance from St. John's to the river St. Lawrence, at Montreal, is not above thirteen miles, in a straight line. The present crooked road is somewhat longer; but a turnpike road, or a canal, is to be made. The expense will not be much, for that neck of land is a perfect plain. The reader is not to be informed, that such a portage will not be a tax of any consequence upon produce, viz. upon the produce that is carried in barrels or bags: for lumber may pass, in rafts, down the river Chamblee, and thus go directly to Quebec. Nor is the reader to be informed, that though the tides in the river St. Lawrence do not come within less than ninety miles of Montreal, yet ships of three hundred tons burden come to that city, so deep is the natural stream of that river. The reader, as I take for granted, knows that the distance from lake Champlain to Waterford, on the highest navigable water of Hudson river, is about sixty miles.

It is not worth while to use a single argument to prove, that produce, once afloat on lake Champlain, will never be carried sixty miles, by land, for the sake of shipping it at New-York, when it may be shipped at Montreal, after a land carriage of thirteen miles. Nor is it worth while to use many arguments to prove, that most of the farmers, to the northward of the line above described, will carry their produce to some part of lake Champlain, as the nearest market. It needs hardly be remarked, that the whole produce of the state of Vermont, or that part of it which lies to the northward and westward of the mountain, must go to lake Champlain, and proceed in the course that has been described, unless effectual means are taken to bring it into Hudson river.

I am now to consider, what will be the probable fate of produce that is once afloat on lake Ontario. The distance from Kingston, on lake Ontario, to Montreal, by water, is about two hundred miles. There are sundry rapids in the river St. Lawrence, but they are not dangerous; for there has not been, as I think, more than one boat lost, in descending that river, during the last seven years. That boat, loaded with pot-ash, was lost by striking a noted rock, called." Le Cheval Rouge ;" and she was lost, because the owner obstinately refused to take a pilot, above the rapids. A circumstance, that caused some passengers, very prudently, to leave the boat above the rapids. It is known, that those several rapids may be shunned, by making a short canal, and a single lock. One canal is already made for the benefit of boats going up the river.

A pretty good estimate may be formed of the navigation of the river St. Lawrence, above Montreal, as it is

found at present, without any material improvements, from the following facts. The constant freight of a barrel from Kingston, on lake Ontario, to Montreal, is two dollars: the freight from Montreal to Kingston, is three dollars; such is the difficulty of ascending the river. A large boat or scow, that carries from five hundred to seven hundred barrels, may be purchased at Kingston, where they are built, for one hundred and seventy dollars. Those boats are sold at Montreal for the value of the timber of which they are made. Dry-goods and West-India produce are taken up the river, in boats of a different construction. I have said, that freight from Kingston to Montreal comes at two dollars the barrel, but a barrel cannot be estimated at less than two hundred weight, whence it follows, that freight from Kingston to Montreal, comes at one dollar the hundred weight. But many of our fellow citizens know, to their grief, that portage of produce, by waggons, from Geneva to Albany, costs two dollars the hundred; and, it happens a little unfortunately, that freight, by the canal, and other waters, from Geneva to Schenectady, costs a little more. Is it necessary to consider, whether people who live near Geneva, or in any of the northern or western parts of this state, will not, in all probability, send their produce to Montreal in preference to the Albany market?

Perhaps the reader may be surprised when he is told, that a company is lately formed, who undertake to convey produce, from the border of the state of Ohio, or the upper end of lake Erie, to Montreal, for one dollar and three quarters the hundred weight: that is to say, the farmer, who lives at the upper end of lake Erie, will send his wheat to a shipping port, at a less expense, than it

can be sent, at present, from the town of Geneva to Albany.

Perhaps I shall be asked, whether this be a new disco. very; or whether the danger of losing the commerce of our own citizens is greater now than it formerly was? to this question I answer, decidedly, in the affirmative. The danger is much greater than it was a few years ago. There was a time, not five years ago, when our fellow citizens had no intercourse with the inhabitants of Montreal. They were not acquainted with these people, and had not formed any connections with them. All their pot-ash, wheat, flour, and salted provisions, were sent to the borders of Hudson river to be exported. There was a wealthy company of British merchants in Montreal, but their speculations were entirely confined to a trade with the Indians, from whom they obtained peltries and furs. The native Canadians had little to do with commerce: they are bad farmers and worse merchants.

The spirit of adventure, that is so common among our fellow citizens, and the desire of gain, that in all countries is too apt to induce men to violate municipal laws, when the prospects are very flattering, has made a complete revolution in the former state of our northern and western commerce. Pot-ash became dear in England, during our embargo, and the price of that article and of flour, salted provisions, and lumber, was considerably depressed in the United States. Our fellow citizens, in that case, discovered a new vent for their produce. Those articles brought a good price in Montreal, and they found little difficulty in smuggling a considerable quantity of produce to that city. When a man is once engaged in a prohibited