den. Owing to the rapid increase
of trade, the capacity of the canal was found inadequate within ten
years after its opening, and in 1835 measures were taken to enlarge it
to a width of 70 and 56 feet by a depth of seven feet, thus allowing the
passage of boats of 240 tons. The total length of the canal was,
however, subsequently shortened 12-1/2 miles, making its present length
365-1/2 miles. This enlargement was completed in 1862, and cost the
State over $7,000,000, making the total cost of the canal about
$50,000,000. New York has, inclusive of branches, some ten other canals
in operation, among them the Champlain Canal, extending from the head of
Lake Champlain to its junction with the Erie Canal at Waterford; the
Oswego Canal, from Lake Ontario at the city of Oswego to the Erie Canal
at Syracuse; the Black River Canal, from Rome to Lyon Falls; the Cayuga
and Seneca canals, extending from the Erie Canal to the Seneca and
Cayuga lakes. The State has expended for the construction of canals not
less than $70,000,000.

Canal-building in the State of Pennsylvania commenced about the time
that the original Erie Canal was completed in New York. In 1824 the
legislature authorized the appointment of commissioners to explore canal
routes from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and the West. A year later
surveys were authorized to be made from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, from
Allegheny to Erie, from Philadelphia to the northern boundary of the
State, and also south to the Potomac River. The construction of the main
lines of communication between the east and the west and the coal fields
in the north was soon commenced. Large loans were repeatedly made, and
the work was vigorously prosecuted. In 1834 Pennsylvania had 589 miles
of State canals, among them the Central Division Canal, 172 miles long,
and the Western Division Canal, 104 miles long. Public opinion strongly
favored an extended system of internal improvements, and it was believed
that these water-ways would soon become a source of revenue to the
State. These expectations might have been realized had the State carried
on enterprises on a less extensive and more economical basis. In 1840
the financial condition of the State had become such that canal-building
had to be abandoned. The amount expended by the State of Pennsylvania
for canals, including the Columbia Railroad, was about $40,000,000,
while the difference between net earnings and interest paid by the State
up to that