clearly that but for Washington's name and energy the organization would probably never have existed.
On ten different occasions did the legislatures of Virginia and Maryland extend the time demanded by law for the completion of the Potomac improvements, between 1786 and 1820. By this time the promotion of the Erie Canal aroused the proprietors to inquire into the feasibility of cutting a canal from the Potomac to the Ohio River. During thirty-six years $729,380 had been spent in the attempt to improve the Potomac and little had been accomplished; an inquiry into the affairs of the Potomac Company by a state commission, appointed in 1821, and reporting July, 1822, resulted in the following report: " . . that the affairs of the Potomac Company have failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the charter; that there was no reasonable ground to expect that they would be able to effect the objects of their incorporation; that they have not only expended their capital stock and the tolls received, with the exception of a small dividend of five dollars and fifty
