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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 intercommunication. 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 befbre 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 done, and
encouraging renewed efforts toward the prompt accomplish-
ment of what still remains to make the work complete.
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