The Welland Canal, connecting the waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario, was constructed by the British government; it is twenty-nine miles long, having thirty locks of ten feet lift each, and cost ten millions of dollars; is ten feet in depth, with a surface of seventy-one feet, and fifty feet width at bottom; the locks are 150 feet in length and 261 feet in width; sail vessels of 300 tons and propellers of 450 tons are passed through this canal, when not crowded, in two days, but often occupying four or five days. The St. Mary's canal has capacity to pass a vessel of a thousand tons burden; the locks are 350 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and the depth of water upon the mitre-sill is twelve feet. Several routes have been surveyed and careful estimates made, at different periods, by competent engineers, and from their estimates and reports some extracts are submitted, showing the practicability and cost of the contemplated canal. The following extracts are from the report of Charles B. Stewart and Edward W. Serrell, made in 1854 to the commissioners appointed by the State of New York, relating to the said proposed canal: "For this project, various plans have been proposed and surveys made at different periods during the past half century. The principal examination hitherto made is that of the late Major Williams, United States topographical engineer, in 1835-'36, of which an able report was submitted to Congress, demonstrating the feasibility of the route, with estimates based upon the capacity of vessels then in use. The commerce of this region, having expanded far beyond the anticipation of that day, requires much larger provision for its accommodation; and new examinations, on a more extensive basis, have been necessary, in which attention has been directed to the character of the harbors of the several lakes, and the effect of their depth on the size of vessels now and hereafter to be built; and the details of the plans proposed have been arranged in view of the large increase of business, in connexion with this natural and unavoidable restriction. "Topography of Niagara county. "The Niagara river separates New York from Canada West, and is the outlet of Lake Erie, flowing northerly to Lake Ontario, a distance of thirty-two miles. From Buffalo to Fort Schlosser, a distance of eighteen miles, it is navigable for the largest class of lake vessels, the velocity of its current being slight, except for a short distance at Black Rock. From a point about a mile below Schlosser, the river falls rapidly to the edge of the cataract, the vertical descent of which is one hundred and sixty feet. From the foot of the great falls, it descends, in a series of rapids and whirlpools, a distance of six miles, to the village of Lewiston, and thence to Ontario its channel is deep and navigable. From Buffalo to the falls the banks of the river are generally low, rising but a few feet above its surface. From the falls to the ridge above Lewiston the ground rises gradually to an elevation, at the ridge, of about seventy feet above the river at Schlosser, being nearly four hundred feet above the level of Lake Ontario. The descent from the ridge is abrupt to the level of Lewiston village, which is about H. Rep. Com. 374-2 one hundred feet above the river, and gradually slopes from this elevation to the lake shore. "The shores of Lake Ontario are generally from fifteen to twentyfive feet high, except when intersected by small ravines. It will thus be seen that Niagara county is marked by two important levels—that of Niagara river over the falls, and that of Lake Ontario. "The Lewiston ridge forms the dividing line to these levels, its course being easterly until it is merged in the general surface of the country at Rochester, seventy-five miles distant. Its descent towards the lake is at first abrupt, falling about two hundred and seventy feet; the remaining descent being accomplished by four successive plateaus, of different widths, in which a few small streams take rise, discharging in the lake. These are named in accordance with their respective distances from the river-as Four-mile creek,' 'Six-mile creek,' 'Twelve-mile creek,' &c., &c. "The upper level is also intersected by several streams, of which the most important is the Tonawanda creek. Cayuga creek, entering the river under the lee of Grand island, about six miles above the falls, with Gill creek, entering at Porter's Storehouse, under the lee of Schlosser island, about two miles above the falls, are the only remaining water-courses, except the Bloody Run, which falls into the Niagara river gorge, below the village of Bellevue. "In addition to the natural difficulties thus presented in the topography of this region, several artificial constructions, made since the report of Major Williams, increase the cost of this undertaking. The number of public and private roads is greater, in consequence of the improvement of the country. A hydraulic canal is being made at the village of Niagara Falls; and there are now centring at the suspension bridge, Bellevue, on the American side, five railroads, viz: The New York Central railroad, the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls, the Buffalo and Niagara Falls, the Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario, and the Lewiston railroad. "From the accompanying maps and descriptions, given hereafter, of the several surveys made, it will be seen that not less than three of these roads must be crossed by any line which can be located. "In directing our attention to these surveys, an effort has been made to avoid all sectional or local prejudices, and to propose such lines only as have merit in themselves, irrespective of any other considerations. "Lines examined. "In the report of Major Williams the following lines are noticed : "1st. A line beginning at Porter's Storehouse, near old Fort Schlosser, passing by Fort Grey, descending the ridge at that point, and debouching at Lewiston. "2d. A line beginnig as above, passing through the village of Nigara Falls, (on the present line of the hydraulic canal,) and intersecting the preceding line. "3d. A line up the valley of Gill creek, descending the ridge through a depression at the head of Fish creek, and terminating on Lake Ontario, at the mouth of Four-mile creek. "4th. A line ascending the Cayuga creek, crossing the Lewiston ridge, near Pekin, and debouching at the mouth of Twelve-mile creek. "5th. A line on the Tonawanda creek, to Pendleton village, thence entering the Eighteen-mile creek north of Lockport, and following the same to its mouth." The several surveys demonstrate the feasibility of the work, and, adopting the size of St. Mary's canal and locks, the estimated cost by the most favorable locations would not be less than twelve or sixteen millions of dollars. In determining the size and location of the work, taking into consideration the interest of the government in it as a military highway, as provided in the bill reported, it is proposed that government shall create, for the determination of all questions relating thereto, such commissioners and engineers as may be appointed by the President of the United States. The bill further provides that the vessels-of-war, munitions, stores, troops, and other property of the United States, shall at all times pass and repass said canal forever free of all charges whatever; and in cases of war or rebellion, the government of the United States shall have preference over all others. "When this canal was first projected, Buffalo was but a mere village; Chicago was an Indian trading post, without importance, and almost without hope; and most of the numerous and important towns upon the Lake Michigan had no existence even in name." "When the famous undertaking of constructing the Welland canal, in 1818," remarks a celebrated Canadian engineer, "was commenced by a few inhabitants of the Niagara district, who levelled the ridge which divides the waters emptying into the St. Lawrence above and below the FALLS OF NIAGARA, there were present no high official personages, no celebrated engineers, distinguished commercial or political leaders. All but one were inhabitants of the township of Therold-farmers and country traders. They had before them no successful precedent. A people four times as numerous, and commanding the trade of that Atlantic which scarce one of these Canadian schemers had ever seen, were just commencing the Erie canal. There was then but one steamer upon Lake Erie. Huron and Michigan were known only to the Indian and the fur traders. Buffalo, a city of fifty thousand souls, was then a village, and Chicago and Milwaukie were yet in the womb of time.' The whole commerce above Niagara apon sixty thousand square miles of water, with four thousand miles of coast, employed but forty sail, two only of which exceeded one hundred tons. Yet, in that feeble and unostentatious commencement, we trace the origin of that policy which has since broken down the barriers interposed by nature between the commercial intercourse of Central North America and the world; and the unassuming actors have lived to see hundreds of floating palaces propelled by steam, and thousands of sailing vessels, ploughing' the world of waters' in the west. They have seen the tonnage of 1818 increased a thousand-fold, the population around the lakes thrice doubled, and an emigration of gold-seekers sailing in a lake-built brig two-thirds the circuit of the globe to colonize the old conquests of Spain." Now, on the bosom of these inland seas, the produce of the great west is carried to the seaboard by vessels whose tonnage equals that of the whole foreign commerce of this country. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, western Ohio, Minnesota, and Canada West, are all dependent on these lakes for their commercial importance, as they form the only direct water communication from the central portion of the northwestern part of this continent to the Atlantic ocean. The construction of the NIAGARA SHIP CANAL, Would open wide the channel around the last formidable barrier between the west and the east; and by the facilities it would give to the transportation of objects of agricultural and manufacturing industry, it would awaken into life a thousand springs of latent resource, and develop the agricultural and mineral treasures of the country bordering the western lakes in a degree to render it worthy the patronage of the general government. Concurring in the views of the petitioners, the undersigned herewith report a bill granting lands to aid in constructing said canal. MAY 10, 1858. SILAS M. BURROUGHS. JNO. F. POTTER. P. BLISS. G. PALMER. W. L. DEWART. T TERRITORY OF NEVADA. [To accompany Bill H. R. No. 567.] MAY 12, 1858. Mr. WILLIAM SMITH, from the Committee on the Territories, made the following REPORT. The Committee on the Territories, to whom was referred the petition of numerous citizens of the United States residing in the Territory of Utah, asking for the creation of a new Territory, to be formed from the western portion thereof, have, according to order, had the same under consideration, and respectfully submit the following report : On the 9th day of September, 1850, the Territory of Utah was created. Its limits, as defined by law, embrace the vast space lying be tween the Rocky mountains on the east, Oregon on the north, California on the west, and the 37th parallel of north latitude on the south. By the passage of said act, and the organization of a Territory in conformity thereto, the people already resident therein, as well as all those who might come after them, were promised protection and good government. Upon the faith of such implied promise they made their settlements, and have sought to establish, in defiance of numerous difficulties and dangers, the independent homes of the hardy and adventurous pioneers. They have succeeded to a great extent, and they claim from a paternal government the redemption of its plighted faith, and especially that protection which is the right of every American citizen. In the organization and settlement of the Territory of Utah, it unfortunately happened that the power and authority thereof fell into the hands of the Mormons, a sect whose intolerance allows no participation by any one, other than of their own denomination, in their civil affairs. The principal settlements in Utah are about or near Salt Lake City, and are composed almost exclusively of a Mormon population. Within these settlements counties are organized, and all the machinery of government called for by the people abundantly supplied. Attracted by the boundless fertility of the Carson and contiguous valleys, the Mormons made a settlement therein, and the legislature of Utah passed a law creating the county of Carson, which was duly organized. Here, how |