The low cost of water transportation had early directed popular attention to canals as a means of overcoming obstructions in natural water courses, thereby serving the needs of the inland population, and also providing the means for diverting trade from one seaport to another. The Revolutionary war was hardly over when Charles Carroll organized a company to open a canal about the obstructions in the lower Susquehanna. Those who took the most active interest in canal construction at this time were men who, like Washington, viewed the future with patriotic interest. This interest, however, was one which did not appeal to the private investor. An enterprise based upon such public consideration required government support. This period also marked the beginning of turnpike construction. The first turnpike road in this country of which we have a record was built between Alexandria and the Lower Shenandoah. It was begun in 1785-6, and its completion was the cause of great satisfaction to Jefferson and other public-spirited men of Virginia, who had labored in the cause of a "broader national life." Alexandria was at that time an important competitor of the other seaboard cities. Across the Maryland peninsula on the Chesapeake lay Baltimore, a commercial rival of both Alexandria and Philadelphia. In 1787 the grand jury sitting at Baltimore called attention to the deplorable condition of the roads leading to that city, and urged the authorities to take immediate action. As a result, the county government ordered the old Frederick, Reistertown and York roads turnpiked at public expense. To the west of Philadelphia lay the Susquehanna valley. The natural outlet of this growing region was down the Chesapeake to Baltimore. To attract traffic to the Quaker City a company was organized in Philadelphia in 1792 to build the Lancaster pike, which was the first turnpike in this country built by voluntary subscription. EFFECT OF EUROPEAN WARS ON AMERICAN SITUATION. The outbreak of the European wars in 1793 was followed by a marked change in the American industrial situation. The immediate effect upon the grain growing of the West was to increase the demand for wheat. Prices of cereals rose to twice their former height. The average price of flour during the seven years from 1785 to 1793 had been about $5.40 a barrel; the average price from 1793 to 1806 (the two years of peace, 1802 and 1803, excluded) was $9.12. Such was the inducement to grain growing during this period.