_Article_ _Rate_ Salt 5 mills per ton. Gypsum 5 mills per ton. Flour, meal, etc 1 cent per ton. Merchandise 2 cents per ton. Timber (square and round) 5 mills per 100 solid feet. Boards (planks, and reduced to one inch) 5 mills per 1000 solid feet. Shingles 1 mill per 1000. Bricks, sand, lime, iron ore, and stone 5 mills per ton. Fence rails and posts 2 cents per 1000. Wood for fuel 1 cent per cord. All fuel for manufacture of salt free. Boats for transportation of property 1 mill per ton of capacity. Boats for carriage of persons 5 cents per mile of their passage. Staves and heading for pipes 1 cent per 1000. Staves and heading for hogsheads 7 mills per 1000. Staves and heading for barrels 5 mills per 1000. All articles not named 1 cent per ton.[56] The large amounts handled by the canal commissioners during the building of the canal will indicate the great responsibility that lay on their shoulders; between 1817 and 1822 the amount paid out by Myron Holley was $1,799,425.58; by H. Seymour, $833,335.70; by S. Young, $554,641.19. By a law passed March 29, 1823, the commissioners were authorized to borrow $1,300,000 and also $120,000 to pay interest on the canal bonds. The tolls collected the year before amounted to $60,446.89; in this year they ran up to $125,991.76; $77,593.26 was collected between the Seneca and Utica, and $27,444.09 between Little Falls and Albany. On April 12, 1824, the commissioners were authorized to borrow one million dollars to complete the canals. In this year ten thousand boats passed the junction of the Erie and Champlain canals; 157,446 tons of freight were handled and $294,546.62 was received from tolls. The following table will show the exact number of miles that was completed in the years from 1820 to 1824 and the tolls received from the canal alone: _Year_ _Miles completed_ _Tolls_ 1820 94 $5,437.34 1821 94 23,000.00 1822 116 57,160.39 1823 160 105,037.35 1824 280 294,546.62 The expense of building in these years was: _Year_ _Expense_ 1817-21 $2,004,523.53 1822 1,184,468.73 1823 1,941,962.37 1824 1,785,447.84 ------------ Total $6,916,402.47 The debt incurred, including the amount required for completion and payment of all claims at the close of the year 1824, was $7,700,000.