A National Plan
On April 4, 1808, Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of Thomas Jefferson, sent to the Senate his report on roads and canals. It begins with the assertion that " the general utility of artificial roads and canals . . . is universally admitted." The question is, who should build them. In some countries, "these improvements may often, in ordinary cases, be left to individual exertion, without any direct aid from Government." In the American case, two major circumstances," whilst they render the facility of communications throughout the United States an object of primary importance, naturally check the application of private capital and enterprise to improvements on a large scale." The first of these is the relative scarcity of capital. It is much more difficult than in Europe to attract investment by "prospects of remote and moderate profit." The second is " the extent of the territory compared to the population." With a sparse population, local traffic cannot be counted on to make profitable a local improvement. In general, a canal will be unproductive unless it opens " a communication with a natural extensive navigation which will flow through that new channel." For this reason, " some works already executed are unprofitable; many more remain unattempt, because their ultimate productive- ness depends on other improvements, too extensive or too distant to be embraced by the same individuals."
" The General Government ", declares the Report, "can alone remove these obstacles." Its resources are " amply sufficient for the completion of every practicable improvement." " With these resources, and embracing the whole Union, it will complete on any given line all the improvements, however distant, which may be necessary to render the whole productive, and eminently beneficial." he argument continues:
The early and efficient