"The construction of a pier across the estuary of the St. Charles is a measure of the greatest practicability, and of pronounced importance in every aspect, and a subject that was brought under the notice of the Legislature in 1829, when it received the most serious consideration of the committee, and was very favourably reported upon; but no bill has yet (1832) been introduced tending to encourage so momentous an undertaking. The most judicious position contemplated for the erection of such a pier is decidedly between the New Exchange and the Beauport Distillery and Mills, [141] a direct distance of 4,300 yards, which, with the exception merely of the channels of the St. Charles (that are neither very broad nor deep nor numerous), is dry at low water, and affords every advantage calculated to facilitate the construction of a work of that nature. It appears that, anterior to the conquest, the French Government had entertained some views in relation to so great an amelioration; but the subject seems to have never been properly taken up until 1822, when the project was submitted to the Governor-in-Chief of the Province by James George, Esq., a Quebec merchant, conspicuous for his zeal and activity, as well in promoting this particular object as in forwarding the views of the St. Lawrence Company, an association formed avowedly for the improvement of the navigation of the St. Lawrence. Of the benefits to be derived from thus docking the St. Charles no one can doubt, whether the undertaking be considered in a local, municipal or commercial point of view. As a means of extending the boundaries of the Lower Town, and bringing under more immediate improvement the extensive branches of the St. Charles, it is of the greatest consequence.