A great portion of the produce of the very fertile country through
which it would pass would find a market through that channel. Troops
might be moved with great facility in war, with cannon and every kind
of munition, and in either direction. Connecting the Atlantic with the
Western country in a line passing through the seat of the National
Government, it would contribute essentially to strengthen the bond of
union itself. Believing as I do that Congress possess the right to
appropriate money for such a national object (the jurisdiction remaining
to the States through which the canal would pass), I submit it to your
consideration whether it may not be advisable to authorize by an
adequate appropriation the employment of a suitable number of the
officers of the Corps of Engineers to examine the unexplored ground
during the next season and to report their opinion thereon. It will
likewise be proper to extend their examination to the several routes
through which the waters of the Ohio may be connected by canals with
those of Lake Erie.
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