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charged, and the amount of profit to be permitted, were laid down
in the charters
In many cases the kind of road to be constructed, the tolls to be
charged, and the amount of profit to be permitted, were laid down
in the charters. Thus new problems confronted the various
legislatures, and interesting principles of regulation were now
established. In most cases companies were allowed, on producing
their books of receipts and expenditures, to increase their tolls
until they obtained a profit of six per cent on the investment,
though in a number of cases nine per cent was permitted. When
revenues increased beyond the six per cent mark, however, the
tendency was to reduce tolls or to use the extra profit to
purchase the stock for the State, with the expectation of
ultimately abolishing tollgates entirely. The theories of state
regulation of corporations and the obligations of public
carriers, extending even to the compensation of workmen in case
of accident, were developed to a considerable degree in this
turnpike era; but, on the other hand, the principle of permitting
fair profit to corporations upon public examination of their
accounts was also recognized.

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readjustment of the districts for the collection of customs
The growth of the shipbuilding industry necessitated a
readjustment of the districts for the collection of customs.
Columbia (Cincinnati) at first served the region of the upper
Ohio; but in 1803 the district was divided and Marietta was made
the port for the Pittsburgh-Portsmouth section of the river. In
1807 all the western districts were amalgamated, and Pittsburgh,
Charleston (Wellsburg), Marietta, Cincinnati, Louisville, and
Fort Massac were made ports of entry.

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ambitious, was seriously handicapped
It soon developed, however, that Baltimore, both powerful and
ambitious, was seriously handicapped. In order to retain her
commanding position as the metropolis of Western trade she was
compelled to resort to a new and untried method of transportation
which marks an era in American history.

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all the three great links or sections into which the enterprise
was divided
For the most part, however, work was carried on simultaneously on
all the three great links or sections into which the enterprise
was divided. Local contractors were given preference by the
commissioners, and three-fourths of the work was done by natives
of the State. Forward up the Mohawk by Schenectady and Utica to
Rome, thence bending southward to Syracuse, and from there by way
of Clyde, Lyons, and Palmyra, the canal made its way to the giant
viaduct over the Genesee River at Rochester. Keeping close to the
summit level on the dividing ridge between Lake Ontario streams
and the Valley of the Tonawanda, the line ran to Lockport, where
a series of locks placed the canal on the Lake Erie level, 365
miles from and 564 feet above Albany. By June, 1823, the canal
was completed from Rochester to Schenectady; in October boats
passed into the tidewaters of the Hudson at Albany; and in the
autumn of 1825 the canal was formally opened by the passage of a
triumphant fleet from Lake Erie to New York Bay. Here two kegs of
lake water were emptied into the Atlantic, while the Governor of
the State of New York spoke these words:

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