Merritt
- A Canadian before his time.
Excerpts
from: MERRITT: A canadian before his time. A Biography of William Hamilton
Merritt, by Jack Williams © Stonehouse Publications 1985
The
stage was set for the opening. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne,
was to officiate, accompanied by a detachment of the 71st Regiment,
complete with band. Arrangements had been made to assure vessels being
on hand to enter Lock One at Port Dalhousie. Merritt rode the length
of the canal on a last minute inspection of locks and embankments.
Then the uncertain weather of late November intervened. A storm swept
Lake Ontario, making the crossing highly uncomfortable, if not impossible.
The directors, most of whom resided in York, decided the opening should
be postponed until Spring.
No one was more disappointed than Merritt. The storm soon abated and
on 26 November the American schooner "R. H. Boughton" sailed
into Port Dalhousie harbour ready to move up the canal. She was followed
the next day by the "Annie and Jane" out of York. Her captain,
J. Voller, was well prepared. He hoisted an assortment of flags and
bunting, including a silk banner reading "The King, God Bless Him."
Merritt decided that—ceremony or no ceremony—the canal should
be opened to traffic; and so on the morning of Friday, 27 November 1829,
the two little schooners started their upbound passage, the' 'Annie
and Jane'' in the lead.
It was not an easy trip. Part of the way the ships used their sails,
part way they were hauled by oxen. The temperature had dropped and lock
gates were jammed with three inches of ice. Strong headwinds further
slowed the passage. But along the banks little clusters of spectators
gathered to cheer the mariners on and see history made. Three days later—30
November— the ships cleared the canal at the Chippawa River and
the way was open to Lake Erie. The barrier of Niagara Falls had been
overcome. For the first time ships had passed from Lake Ontario to Lake
Erie. A new route to the west had been opened.
From Chippawa Merritt despatched a letter to Catharine reporting their
safe arrival, despite difficulties: "On the whole we have been
successful, and have demonstrated to my satisfaction that a vessel will
pass on the canal in twenty-four hours."
From Chippawa Merritt despatched a letter to Catharine reporting their
safe arrival, despite difficulties: "On the whole we have been
successful, and have demonstrated to my satisfaction that a vessel will
pass on the canal in twenty-four hours."
On Wednesday — 2 December — the schooners entered Buffalo
Harbour to an enthusiastic reception. An artillery unit fired a
welcoming salute. The occasion was regarded of such importance that
the newspaper REPUBLICAN published a special edition, reporting
that, once the ships had docked, "the enterprising projector of
the Welland Canal, William Hamilton Merritt. . . and the gentlemen
passengers'' went to the E agle Tavern to celebrate their achievement.
There they were greeted by many villagers "who called to shake
the hands of the navigators of the Deep Cut.
The canal through which the schooners passed differed markedly from
that originally planned,
with the 110 foot locks and eight foot draught double the initial specifications.
It was even more remote from the canal now in use. The fourth and present
Welland Canal has only seven lift locks, each 858 feet in length, 80
feet in width, with 30 feet of water on the sills and a lift of 48 feet.
In addition there is a guard lock, 1,380 feet in length at the Lake
Erie end.
The passage of the "Annie and Jane" and "R. H. Boughton"
had demonstrated that the canal was practical; but it had done little
to relieve the troubles of the Welland Canal Company. Among those who
celebrated the opening few realized that the Company, at that moment,
had on hand only £152 to meet an indebtedness of £15,467.
It was the end of the season and the real test was to come in 1830.
All along, financial problems plagued the project with its future constantly
in jeopardy. Some even suggested that it be abandoned for navigation
and used simply as a source of water power. The company was mortgaged
to its limit; the Bank of Upper Canada had cut off all credit. To further
complicate matters weather conditions in the winter of 1831-2 caused
considerable damage.
While traffic in the first two years of operation was disappointing
it improved in 1832, partially as a result of the movement of American
grain, business Merritt had solicited from Lake Erie ports.
First Canal & Lock in St. Catharines
At this stage in his life, Merritt became an active politician, being
elected the member from Haldimand in 1832. He regarded this as only
a temporary change in his activities, simply providing a means of advancing
the interests of the canal project.
Canal matters did not stand still. The government appointed a commission
to supervise canal affairs and engaged an eminent American engineer,
Benjamin Wright, to advise the commissioners. Wright made several major
recommendations, including the construction of stone locks to replace
the rotting wooden structures, as well as deeping the feeder canal and
harbours. All these improvements were far beyond the capacity of the
destitute company, which still owed contractors £12,000. In addition
outstanding land claims totalled £8,000 and immediate repairs
and maintenance required £6,000.
These developments again brought up the whole issue of public or private
ownership. The government's commissioners, in a strongly worded report,
made clear their position favouring a government take-over: The canal
ought to become entirely public property. The great navigable communications
of the country, like its highways, should belong to the Province, and
be entirely and solely subject to the control of the Legislature. Under
this impression the Commissioners respectfully suggest that the interest
of the private stockholders should be purchased by the Province and
that the canal should be rendered in name, as it always has been in
fact, and must be in effect, a national concern. The American shareholders
hesitated to support the proposal, fearing they would lose their investment.
Yates strongly opposed selling out to the government, a suggestion he
found "particularly painful." He was still confident it could
remain viable as a private enterprise.
The Board of Directors was in a state of turmoil. John H. Dunn, the
president, tendered his resignation, complaining that he had been personally
involved beyond his authority. Merritt was well aware that by continuing
to seek government assistance the Company was pursuing a course
which would inevitably lead to complete government control. The canal
company bought back to hydraulic rights held by Yates, thus removing
one possible complication should the government decide to buy out the
shareholders.
Still Yates remained confident that the company could hang on. Merritt
went to New York to consult Yates personally. A short time later the
Company formally asked the Lieutenant-Governor on what terms the government's
interest in the canal could be purchased. lt appeared there were legal
complications.
However, no further government assistance was forthcoming that
year. The canal was rapidly deteriorating; the locks were falling apart
and other equipment was sadly in need of repair. The 1836 navigation
season was scheduled for 184 days; the canal operated only 93 days.
From the very early stages the undertaking had been closely related
to two personalities — Merritt and Yates. On 10 July 1836 Yates
died. It was a sad ending. His primary interest had been in financial
profit; but it developed beyond that. Yet he died disillusioned
and bitter. A few months before his death he had written Merritt: "I
am tired out and wish I had never seen the canal, or anything connected
with it. It has embittereed my life here and there. They must do as
they please."
With Yates went any lingering possibility of the canal being preserved
as a private enterprise. The financial situation was hopeless. The Company
had only £295 on hand to meet immediate obligations which totalled
£10,101. The Directors resorted to a legally questionable device
— issuing private notes for use as currency. Talk of a new parallel
canal being built on the United States side created a new sense of urgency
and the shareholders authorized their directors to negotiate with
the government for the sale of their shares.
Meanwhile the government converted its loans into shares and increased
the Company's capitalization to £597,300, of which the provincial
government held £454,500. The sum of £245,000 was allocated
for reconstruction, including the building of stone locks. At the
same time the Board of Directors was reduced from seven to five, three
of whom were government appointees. In effect the government had
taken over complete control of the canal.
Then outside developments interfered with the Legislature's plans. Not
only was 1837 the year of the abortive rebellion led by William Lyon
Mackenzie; it was also the time of a severe economic downturn and only
a portion of the proposed new capital became available.
An army engineer described the sad state of the waterway in a report
to Lord Durham shortly after he became Governor General in 1838: It
is quite impossible, in the present state of the work, to ensure the
navigation be kept open much longer
unless the whole canal be immediately put into an efficient and permanent
state of repair ... If permanent and efficient measures be not adopted
without delay, there is great danger this highly important communication
will soon become impassable. At this point a government commission —
reporting an average annual loss of L14,000, with little likelihood
of improvement recommended consideration be given to abandoning the
canal as far as navigation was concerned and using it only as a source
of water power. A horrified Merritt declared: "The abandonment
would be a justifiable on public grounds as suicide in a private individual."
The situation represented a serious threat to the shareholders, and
those in the United States were particularly concerned about their investment.
In 1839 the government introduced and passed legislation providing for
the purpose of the privately-held shares by means of debentures, payable
in twenty years with interest on a sliding scale of two to six per cent.
Back interest to the time of the original investment was to be paid
when the income from tolls reached £30,000 a year. There was some
delay in receiving approval from the Crown, but the Welland Canal Compensation
Bill finally became law as one of the first measures dealt with when
the parliament of a United Canada held its first session at Kingston,
Ont., in 1841. Not until 1852, however, were shareholders able to collect
back interest.
When the legislation for government purchase was adopted Merritt wrote
the shareholders advising them of the terms. A short time later he went
to New York and met with a group of American shareholders who commissioned
him to go to England in an effort to dispose of their shares which,
because of the depressed state of the economy, were worth only a fraction
of their face value on the open market.
In this connection Merritt wrote Chief Justice Robinson asking for introductions
to some influential financial figures in London. The Chief Justice's
reply was a curious document, indicating some concern as to Merritt's
possible activities as a "stock jobber" — a wheeler
and dealer in stocks. Following profuse declarations of admiration concerning
Merritt's honesty, Robinson went on to caution that English shareholders
should be made aware that by holding the stock they stood to eventually
benefit. He appeared to fear that Merritt might take advantage of their
ignorance of the circumstances. In any event his concerns were ill-founded.
Merritt was unsuccessful even in disposing of the American's shares.
The Legislature later amended the legislation to provide six per
cent interest throughout, and on that basis the canal became a public
work. The Welland Canal Company went out of existence.
Merritt had been relieved of responsibilities which had been his almost
exclusive interest and concern for eighteen years.
