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12 have had in connecting the waters of the Chesapeake and Ohio, to treat your labors as ended, with the completion of that stupendous line of Intel communication. To secure to the City of Baltimore—your chief commercial centre—the benefits of an original market, and not the limited results of a mere place of transit, was the broader view which seemed to demand attention. In furtherance of this object, it became my duty, as the head of the Municipal Government of the City of Baltimore, to co-operate at a subsequent period with a Board of intelligent and practical gentlemen, in an effort to deepen the approach to our Harbor by the construction of a Ship Channel, of sufficient capacity for the passage of vessels of the heaviest burthen. This was measurably accomplished during my administration, and as an indispensable adjunct to the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, and a practical exten- sion of that great line in its combinations with our coast-wise and foreign markets, could hardly have been viewed with too much interest by the people of the State. In January, 1852, the subject was brought for the first, time to the attention of the Board of Trade of the City of Baltimore, and through their efforts mainly, resulted in an appropriation of $50, 000 on the part of the City. The Legislature also granted a return to the City of auction duties, amounting to about $16, 000 per annum, and Congress appropriated $40, 000 in the River and Harbor Bill of that year. These moneys have. been judiciously expended, and have demonstra- ted the practicability of deepening the Patapsco River to any required extent, with the assurance of permanency, when so improved. Commercially, the West and North West have the deepest interest in the extension of our great line of im- provement, and, in a National point of view, it may be assumed that from the Tortugas to the Bay of Fundy, with perhaps a single exception, the Chesapeake Bay offers the most tempt- ing point for the investment and anchorage of an invading squadron, The Channel thus constructed was soon found inadequate to the present or prospective requirements of a great market. As a commencement, however, one of the most useful improve- ments heretofore projected, it has, as before hinted, developed results of the greatest practical value to the City of Baltimore, and indirectly to the whole State. It is ascertained, by accurate soundings, under the direction of experienced and reliable engi- neers, made during my connection with the work, that the con- currence of natural causes, so far, has been to enlarge rather than obstruct the capacity of this artificial channel, thus showing the permanent character of what has been clone, and encouraging renewed efforts toward the prompt accomplish- ment of what still remains to make the work complete. |
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Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1866
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