this announcement with delight, but the more conservative relied upon the estimates of the national board as being the most reliable.
The actual resulting effects of the discouraging report of the board concerning the cost of this enterprise were so far-reaching, that it is altogether proper to pause a moment here and consider the position and influence of the city of Baltimore, and note what the failure of the canal scheme meant to her. As a commercial metropolis Baltimore's reputation was very great, and second only to that of Philadelphia. Not only was it a great seaboard market, but throughout the preceding half century it had been one of the great markets for western produce. Its position was unique; although a seaport it was many miles nearer the Ohio Valley than any rival. In laying out possible landward routes from the Ohio River to the seaboard for the Cumberland National Road, the commissioners found that the route to Baltimore was thirty-nine miles shorter than to Philadelphia, and forty-two miles shorter than to Richmond. The distance from the sea-
