Under the general survey act of 1824, the route was
surveyed, including an extension to Lake Erie by way of a canal from
the Ohio. But when, in 1826, the board of engineers published its
estimate of the cost of the canal, it was seen that the larger plans
were doomed, for the total cost was placed at over twenty-two
million dollars. This was practically prohibitive, for the whole
capital stock of the Chesapeake and Ohio Company was only six
millions. Congress made a million-dollar subscription to the stock
of the company, but only the eastern section of the canal could be
begun; the completion of navigation between the coal-fields on the
upper Ohio and Cumberland on the Potomac must be postponed.
Baltimore's interest in the grand design of canal communication
between that city and Pittsburgh quickly disappeared. Nearer to the
Ohio Valley than any other seaport, she had built turnpikes to
connect with the national road, and thus shared with Philadelphia
the western trade. But now New York and Pennsylvania were
undertaking canal systems which were certain in the long run to
destroy the advantages of Baltimore.
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