had been established, but in trans-atlantic enterprises Boston had only a small share, and steam navigation played an insignificant part in her commerce.

The railroads which were built subsequent to 1825 proved a great aid to Boston, especially through connections with other New England centers of manufacture. Boston's only connection with the West, the Western Railroad, sent very little freight to Boston docks until after the Civil War. The sailing packets proved to be more important as distributing agencies than the railroads. Aside from the numerous packet sloops, plying between Boston and other New England places, there were coastwise packet lines to the nearby Atlantic ports and as far south as New Orleans.

New York was the only formidable rival of Boston in shipping and commerce, but while New York exports advanced, those of Boston remained stationary for lack of goods for export. By 1845, New York had a greater merchant fleet than Massachusetts; but this was in large part due to the migration of ship builders and merchants from Boston to New York. Besides,

a very large part of New York's commerce was carried in vessels owned in Boston. "One third of the commerce of New York, from 1839 to 1842, was carried either upon Massachusetts' account or in Massachusetts vessels. Boston's shipping enabled her to compete successfully with other American ports. Her merchants "still owned a large part of the American merchant marine, and their ability to earn freights, gather in cargoes from all parts of the world, and to find the right markets, lay at the root of Boston's success. Boston also at that time had better dock facilities, which distinguished "this port from other principal ports of our country."

Boston's maritime development culminated with the clipper ship era, 1850-57. The discovery of gold in California, the repeal of the British Navigation Acts, the necessity of keeping pace with the growing wealth and population, and the competition for certain foreign trade, called for more, bigger and faster vessels. The clipper ship was evolved to meet the new demands. "Never, in these United States, has the brain of man

so conceived, or the hand of man fashioned so perfect a thing as the clipper ship." The master builder was Donald McKay, who began his career at Newburyport, later transferring his activities to East Boston where he turned out his greatest maritime wonders. He died almost in poverty; yet his name was carried to the uttermost seas by clipper ships sprung from his creative and ever fertile brain.

"Throughout the clipper ship era, nearly all the traditional lines of Massachusetts' maritime commerce continued to expand, and new ones were created." Boston's commercial prosperity reached its antebellum height by 1857. Even previous to this year, the clipper ships proved to be less profitable than anticipated; steam navigation gradually supplanted them, and before the end of the fifties they had become almost phantoms of the sea. The financial crash of 1857, followed by years of depression and, later, by the great upheaval of the Civil War brought the supremacy of Boston's maritime ventures to an unavoidable end. Boston failed to substitute steam for sail, and this fact more than any other accounted for the loss of her old preeminence.

"The sea ports of Massachusetts have turned their backs to the element that made them great, save for play and for fishing; Boston alone is still in the deep-sea game. But all her modern docks and terminals and dredged channels will avail nothing, if the spirit perish that led her founders to 'trye all ports.""

These remarks on the growth and decay of Boston's merchant marine are so far within the scope of our municipal history as the city government has from time to time been called upon to help revive the commerce of the city, and now at last is making a concerted effort to that end.

Under Mayor Matthews' administration, more than seven hundred of the most prominent citizens in business firms asked the city government to petition the legislature for authority to establish public docks; and the City Council requested the Mayor to send such. a petition to the General Court. But he thought the scheme would necessitate the expenditure of millions,