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 tained in a letter written to Governor Odell by William F. King, President of the Merchants' Association of New York, as follows:

"I wish to call your attention to what, to my mind, is one of the most important public improvements that can be made for the benefit of the people of this State, namely, the improvement of the Erie Canal. It must not be forgotten that formerly the minerals, the products of the farm, the production of cotton, lumber, coal; in fact, all raw materials, were brought Eastward to be turned into manufactured goods, and shipped West. Today what are the conditions? The goods are manufactured ready for market right in the States where the raw material is found. The consequence is that these self-same States have grown so rapidly and so much in wealth that it behooves our people to realize the importance of the Erie Canal to the manufacturing industries, and the farming element of the State.

"The widening and deepening of the Erie Canal means continued prosperity to the manufacturing industries of this State.