New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1842-02-11


We are compelled omit till tomorrow she eoncu-
.ion Of Mrs s. c. Halls admirable story Of Mary ny
Daughter
u. We are indebted TO the MessrS HAhsDh's 'o ~
early receipt Of Boston papers.
Annual Report of the Commissioners" %
the Canal Fund.
w. b,,c l,efor. us the last Annual report OF
1ob, A Collier. Luther Bradsh, Q. l.. Ho!ley,
WIZ. Hall and Jacob Haisht, the retiring Wing
f,,,n,;s.oncrs of the Canal Fund exhibiting the
,,.,n.oe,nent of that Fund through the pas. year
I'D ia present condition, together with various
considerations affecting the general improvement
nolicv OF the State This document fills ten Of the
ample columns Of the Albany Evening Journal,
aud is thus utterly beyond the capacity of our own
napcr at present. but we cannot refrain from ad-
ducing some of the most important of its state
ments and positions.
We have already stated, in summary of the
Comptrollcr's Report, that the Funded Canal
Debt of this State at the close Of the last Fiscal
wear Goth Sept. las,) was S1G,30G,374 49, while
the amount of Temporary Loans was 81 ,s55, 900,
making total Of sl3,lGl,374 49, From this,
however is to be deducted the remaining balance
of debt due for the original construction OF the
Erie and Clamplain Canals, amounting to s., O2l,
037 %, for which ample funds are provided and
set apart from the net revenues of those Canals
leaving the entire Canal Debt Of the State on the
3Ol of Sept last slG,l40,337 90 The annual
intercs, onthis sum is s832,92 3d. The whole
amount of Temporary Loans now duets 81 54d 300,
payable in March and July ensuing.
The total Canal Revenue Of the last Fiscal year
was 50 1928, 500 81, Of which Sl.938 ,04o 90 ac-
crlcd from Tolls and the residue from incidental
sources. (Ihe actual tolls of the year 1871 OK
cceded 50 900 .000-thc receipts since the Both of
Sept last having considerably exceeded those Of
the corresponding portion Of 1900 The actual
receipts of Tolls alenc during the calendar year
1871 were s., O3i882 81
The Expenditures of tho Canal Fund for the
Fiscal wear wore as follows Interest of Debt,
1901, 6s5 81; Repairs, s38o,365 SO; Collectors,
Weghcrs, Inspectors, &c. s53,247 Os; Salaries of
Canal Commissioners, Printing, &c. $4,000 10;
total ordinary expenses Sl,258,3 1853 40 to which
is to be added payments for extraordinary and per
manenl expenditures, such as damages from Canals,
improving Tonawanda and other creeks inprov-
ing dams and locks, &c. $64,85G So making
total expenditure of sl,323,209 %. Add to this
100000 appropriated annually from the Canal
Fund toward the General Fund or ordinary ex-
pcnses of the State, and we have total disbursc-
mcnt of S ,209 30, leaving clear annual
surplus of $6O5,75l O6 from tic earnings of
the Canals. This, be it remembered, accrues
while the Erie and Champlain Canals not only
charged with the annual interest Of the short, UNI
profitable Canals, but the interest also on Twelve
TO Fifteen Millions expended on the unfinished
Eric Enlargement, which is not merely utterly I'M
productive, but an embarrassment and obstruction
to the navigation, while it adds largely to the
nual charge for Repairs, and will continue both to
diminish the Annual Revenue and increase the
cost of Repnirs until it is completed and in oper-
alton. But for this unfinished Enlargement, the
net Canal Revenue of 184l must have exceeded
One Million of Dollars.
The tolls of 1871 exceed those of 1910 by
1885, 96l 80, or nearly 25 per cent. The actual
tolls (ony) of the year 1871 (not The Fiscal year.
but the season Of navigution exceed those of 1910
by fully % per cent
Such being the actual condition of our Capals-
our completed works now producing an annual
revenue Of over Two Millions of Dollars, a clear
surplus over the cost Of over One Million, and
surplus of Six Hundred Thousand Dollars after
paving the interest on the unproductivc and un-
completed works, oil charges, and Two Hundred
Thousand Dollars toward the ordinary expenses Of
the Government, while their revenue is increasing
at u rate unprecedented i'll the history of I'M
provomcn,, aud will soon be checked simply by the
capacity of the present Erie Canal to convey the
produces and Merchandise now pressing upon it
let us see how their actual condition and results
compare with the anticpatons Of their sanguinc
advocates us we'll as the more disrustu and faint
hearted.
In 1928. Samuel Young, William c. Bouck
and their Canal Commissioners, estimated that
the Canal Tolls would rcuch One Million Of Dol
lars in 1886, Two Millions in 1916, and Four Mil
lions III 1856. Since then, the Tolis have been re-
duccd on Merchandise from 80 mills to mills and
on Produce from Is mills to u mill, or more than
one-third on the whole transportation-and yet the
Tolls reached One Million in 1880, One and a
Halt Millions in 1886, and T,ro Millions in lS4l.
Compare the actual results with the Regency est,
mate of 1925 considering the great reduction of
tolls, and we shall see how far the reality has OK
cccded the anticipation which was deemed so san
gune and visionary
Col. Young and his colleagues estimated the in
crease OF tolls at 10 per cent. per annum SO to
double in tcnycars. Experience shows that this
estimate the reduction being considcrcd) is con-
>ide,pblv within the truth