| THE STATE IN THE MARYLAND ECONOMY, 1776-1807 llg
ucts were wide, flat-bottomed boats, the river was used when-
ever possible.- The canal proved unprofitable despite state
aid, assessments on stockholders, lotteries, and tax exemptions.
When the canal was sold in 1817, the original owners suffered
great financial losses .1311
One year after the incorporation of the Susquehanna Canal
Company a second project of national importance, the im-
provement of the Potomac River, was undertaken by Mary-
land, in co-operation with Virginia. There were interstate dis-
putes blocking this project also. Maryland had always claimed
that the state's original land grant had given it sole ownership
and exclusive jurisdiction over the Potomac River up to the
Virginia shore. This along with Maryland's position upon the
Chesapeake Bay, made it necessary that the states' respective
rights should be carefully defined. Meetings between the two
states during the war had proved unfruitful.'- Maryland dis-
patched a new set of commissioners to Alexandria in 1785.
There they met the Virginia commissioners and at Washing-
ton's invitation adjourned to Mount Vernon where they suc-
ceeded in writing a compact which at the time pleased both
states 1$5 The compact, which was soon ratified by both legis-
latures, provided for Maryland's right of passage through the
lower Chesapeake and on the Pocomoke River, without toll
or duty, and for Virginia's right to navigate and fish in the
Potomac River.l86
Meanwhile those interested in the Potomac as a way to the
commerce of the West had submitted plans to the Maryland
legislature for an incorporated company, and the legislature
had appointed a commission to survey the river and estimate
the expense of making the river navigable at each falls 137 On
December 28, 1784, the General Assembly incorporated " The
Patomack Company " with a capital of £50,000 ($222,222) in
1$'Ibid., pp. 34-35.
"a Ibfd., pp. 35-36.
1g` Scharf, Maryland 11, 529 for unsuccessful wartime conferences.
""Md. Sess.. 1784 Resolution No. 24; Scharf, Maryland, 11, 529.
'$° Md. Sess., 1785 and Jensen, p. 343.
187 Md. Sess., Apr. Resolution No. 23. The four obstructions to the
navigation
of the Potomac were Little Falls, three miles above tide water; Great
Falls, six
miles higher; Seneca Falls, six miles higher; and Shenandoah Falls, sixty
miles
beyond. Davis, 11, 128.
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