Until 1858 the Erie Canal was the all-important transportation route between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic. Even the coming of the railroad did not take away its trade, and as late as 1862 the ton-mileage of canal traffic was more than double the combined ton-mileage of the New York Central and the Erie railroads. Twenty years later canal tolls were abolished and the canal became a free waterway, maintained and operated by the state. Since the 1862 enlargement there has been no permanent improvement of any importance of the canal until the present day. With the increase of railroad traffic and the hampering effect of the conditions of forty years ago,--even the same style of boats, and horse towage,--the canal has not been able to keep pace with the railroad, and its traffic has gradually fallen off, until it is to-day only two-thirds that of 1868 and less than one-tenth the freight tonnage on either the New York Central or Erie roads. A committee appointed in 1899 investigated the condition of the canal and advised enlargement of its bed. Their recommendations were approved by popular vote in 1903, and the enlargement is now in progress. The new canal is to be navigable by steam-towed barges drawing ten feet of water and having a carrying capacity of at least a thousand tons, which is four times that of the largest boat in use on the existing canal. The route is also to be considerably changed. River and lake channels are to be utilized in one-half the new part of the route, carrying the canal northward along the line of the Seneca River and Oneida Lake to the Mohawk, and away from Syracuse and Rochester. It is interesting to note that in making use of river and water beds the canal returns more nearly to the route of the old Indian trail. Improved methods of engineering will do away with several locks. At Waterford on the Hudson five locks will take the place of the sixteen now necessary at Cohoes; at Lockport two locks are to be substituted for five. The minimum depth of the channel is to be twelve feet, and the locks are to be at least three hundred and twenty-eight feet long. With all these changes it is estimated that the trip from Buffalo to New York will be cut down from ten days to five, and that a large amount of traffic will turn to the canal as the cheapest and most satisfactory method of transportation. CHAPTER XXI THE GREAT LAKES IN 1840