Another early advocate of steam carriages and railways was John
Stevens, the rich inventor of Hoboken, who figures in the story
of the steamboat. In February, 1812, Stevens addressed to the
commissioners appointed by the State of New York to explore a
route for the Erie Canal an elaborate memoir calculated to prove
that railways would be much more in the public interest than the
proposed canal. He wrote at the same time to Robert R. Livingston
(who, as well as Robert Fulton, his partner in the steamboat, was
one of the commissioners) requesting his influence in favor of
railways. Livingston, having committed himself to the steamboat
and holding a monopoly of navigation on the waters of New York
State, could hardly be expected to give a willing ear to a rival
scheme, and no one then seems to have dreamed that both canal and
railway would ultimately be needed. Livingston, however, was an
enlightened statesman, one of the ablest men of his day. He had
played a prominent part in the affairs of the Revolution and in
the ratification of the Constitution; had known Franklin and
Washington and had negotiated with Napoleon the Louisiana
Purchase. His reply to Stevens is a good statement of the
objections to the railway, as seen at the time, and of the public
attitude towards it.

Robert R. Livingston to John Stevens

"Albany, 11th March, 1812.

"I did not, till yesterday, receive yours of the 5th of February;
where it has loitered on the road I am at a loss to say. I had
before read your very ingenious propositions as to the rail-way