were cited as arguments for the construction of such a waterway. A preliminary survey was made and on April 15, 1817, a bill authorizing the construction of the Champlain Canal was passed by the New York Legislature, work being begun the same year. Whitehall, at the head of Lake Champlain, and Waterford, on the Hudson River, were the terminal points.

The canal was regularly opened for traffic in the autumn of 1823. The canal boat Gleaner, a craft built in St. Albans, owned by Julius Hoyt, N. W. Kingman and John Taylor of that town, commanded by Capt. William Burton, and carrying a cargo of one thousand, two hundred bushels of wheat, a quantity of potash, and other commodities, was the first boat to pass through the new waterway, a few weeks in advance of the formal opening. The Gleaner was compelled to wait at Waterford a few days for the completion of the locks into the Hudson. The boat was accompanied to Troy by a procession of gaily dressed boats, and on her arrival there she was met by a large crowd of people and greeted with a salute of artillery. Two of the proprietors, Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Kingman, were passengers on the Gleaner and they were escorted by a procession with music to the Troy House, where a public dinner was given in their honor. The boat was greeted at Albany, Poughkeepsie and other large river towns, and at New York City exercises similar to those at Troy, but on a larger scale, were held in honor of the opening of the canal. The veteran artillery was ordered out and a salute was fired from a battery. A New York poet was inspired to

write a song on this occasion in which the St. Albans boat was called "the Barque of the Mountains."

Previous to the opening of the canal it had taken from twenty-five to thirty days to transport goods from New York to St. Albans, at an expense varying from twenty-five to thirty dollars per ton. The time required by canal boats was from ten to fourteen days, and the cost was reduced approximately to ten dollars per ton. The opening of the Champlain Canal diverted to New York considerable commerce from Vermont which had gone previously to Boston, Mass., Hartford, Conn., and Portland, Me. It served also largely to increase the importance of Burlington as a port.

*

*

In its issue of August 27, 1825, Niles' Register said: "The canal which unites Lake Champlain to the Hudson is completed and has increased the business of that part of the State which lies west of the Green Mountains many fold already. The mountain tops are covering with sheep and the pleasant valleys and plains are filled with cattle-the thousand streams of water, running in every direction-are beginning to be applied to the great business of manufacturing iron, wool, etc., and the invaluable mines with which the State abounds, are no longer to be useless, because that their products cannot be transported to market. The Vermont iron, on account of its peculiar qualities, is of real national importance, and the quantity is inexhaustible. The manufacture has not hitherto been large, but it is about to become a great business. We observe also that there is a copperas factory in the State, at which three hundred tons will be made in the present year-and the

mineral supply is such that any amount to be required can be made.

"At the village of Middlebury it is estimated that seventy tons of wool were purchased by the merchants and sent to New York, Boston, etc. But yet the great reliance of the town is in its own manufactories. Otter Creek flows through it, and the following works are already in operation-three flour mills, three sawmills, one furnace, one marble sawing mill, one paper mill, one oil mill, two cotton factories and a third building—one of them is capable of holding ten thousand, five hundred spindles:-four thousand, eight hundred spindles with sixty-eight power looms are now actually at work at Middlebury. The business of Burlington is equally great and prosperous, and many of the smaller towns and villages are doing a large business. The progress of these things cannot be stopped."

In accordance with his previous announcement, Governor Skinner declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1823, and Cornelius P. Van Ness of Burlington was elected, receiving 11,479 votes. Dudley Chase received 1,088, and 843 scattering votes were cast. Governor Van Ness was a member of a distinguished family of Dutch origin, and was born in Kinderhook, N. Y., January 26, 1782. At the At the age of fifteen years he was fitted to enter the junior class of Columbia College, but changed his plans and did not take up collegiate work. Later he studied law in the office of his brother William, Martin Van Buren being a fellow student. He was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession in his native town. In 1806 he removed to St.

Albans, Vt., and in 1809 located at Burlington. In 1810, upon the recommendation of Judge Brockholst Livingston of the United States Supreme Court, President Madison appointed him United States District Attorney for Vermont. He held this office until 1813, when he was appointed Collector of Customs, a position. which he retained until the close of the second war with Great Britain. Reference already has been made to the important service rendered by him as Boundary Commissioner. From 1818 to 1821 he represented Burlington in the Legislature, where he took an active part in debate and in the shaping of legislative policies. During the years 1821 and 1822 he served the State as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He held the office of Governor for three years, declining further service in that position. His subsequent career will be considered later. He died December 15, 1852.

George E. Wales of Hartford, who had been chosen as Speaker late in the session of 1822 to fill out the unexpired term of D. Azro A. Buck, was reelected. In his inaugural speech Governor Van Ness made an earnest plea for the development of manufacturing interests and the need of a protective tariff. He referred to a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court whereby the schools of the State were deprived of the revenue from the rent of lands originally granted by the British Government to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He called attention to the fact that in accordance with an act passed in 1817 the Secretary of State had reported that there were seventy deaf and dumb persons in the State. In congratulating the

people of Vermont upon the opening of the Champlain Canal by New York, he said: "A new era has indeed burst upon us when we can hear of the arrival of vessels at the city of New York from the northern extremity of Vermont." During this session the law providing imprisonment for debt was modified and made less harsh. All horse racing for any bet or stakes in money, or for any purse or premium, was declared a "common and public nuisance," and was made an offence against the State. Provision was made for the appointment of an Inspector General of beef and pork, such officer to have power to appoint at least one deputy in each county. Resolutions were adopted instructing the Vermont delegation in Congress to support all lawful measures for the encouragement and protection of manufactures. A bill to choose Presidential Electors by popular vote was dismissed. At this time the annual salary of the Governor was seven hundred and fifty dollars; that of the Secretary of State, four hundred and fifty dollars, and of the State Treasurer, four hundred dollars.

According to statistics published in Niles' Register, December 6, 1823, there were in Vermont at that time twenty-seven cotton and woolen factories, thirteen paper mills, two hundred and eighty-six fulling mills, two hundred and fifty carding machines, three hundred and eighty grain mills and about one hundred and fifty distilleries. There were also two hundred and twentyfour lawyers, three hundred and eighty physicians, two hundred and thirty-five churches and one thousand, five There were hundred and seventy-five school houses.