New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1845-01-08

last fiscal year, bcyond the amount pledged to the
S naing Fund, OF Sl97,lI9 80.
The Canal Fund, howeTtr, as Esll es TIE zen,
eral Fund, are burdened with 2 heavy oent, ane
il rem .ins to be sesn, whether TIE obligations OF
this deot must no. IS effectualiy Control the DIS
creton of The Legislature, il the application o.
his surplus money, as any pledge whoa the la"
Of le42 could have imposed upon It. Inc ms
res. of this debt, It is true, IS carefully p-oTicso
for, by that lax. This, without any provision
FOR the extinction Of the principal, may be sats-
factory 10 come, but such Is not ny VICE OF the
rule which biad- the faith and honor OF the State.
know OF no obligation 10 meat ire accFu,ng IN
terest, w1ica does not demand, WITH equal iorce-
the peymen! OF the principal as II falls doe a'.a
81 far as the means are possessed, the failure -
apply them. in the one case, appears to me 10 &c
as much breach OF the faith pledged by the
contract, as in Tie cher. Suppose the creditor
consent t. the postponcmcnt If the payment OF
MS principal Inoaey. Between individuals act
iug for themselves as principals, sucE consent
would authorize the diversion OF the lunds; out
ii the agent Of The debtor were dealing WITH the
creditor N person, would such consent justify
the agent, without the sanction OF his prime PAL
IN the diversion OF the funds placed IN his hands
to pay the debt And is not this our case are
We not the mere agents OF the people IN this mat
ter They have permitted debts 10 &c contract
ed upon their credit, AID at their rlsk, TO co.,
struct the present State Canals. TIE moneys
IN our hancs are the proceeds Of the investments
thus made and came from the very source upon
which they relied TO pay these cebts, and save
them from oppressive taxation. Have we the
right, Us faithful agents, without the consent OF
our principals, even though thel. creditors should
consent, to divert their iunds 10 other objects and
continue the debt upon them l strongly IN
cline TO the opinion that VIC have not
By statement Of The Canal debt, furnished
By The Canal Department, it appears that the
whole amount unpaid on the Both day OF Sep
tember last was $40, lis, sos So. This includes
the old Erie and Champlain Canal deot of ST.
$50 35, jor the payment OF winch, funds
have been already set apart, believed 10 be more
than sufficient to cancel it. The p7riion OF the
funds 50 SCI apart, considered available, amounts
to 81 1896, 306 is, being Sll6,O56 III beyond
the principal Of The deb. 20 be paid, and probably
more than sufficient to meet the principal and
interest. as Informed by the Commissioners
of the Canal Fuad, that the holders of this Ole
stock have been personally notified that The mo-
ney is ready 70: the redemption o! the principal!
and that payment will be made on the day 1t
falls due. 1t is the intention of the Comm:s-
sioDcrs to place the funds in the bank, where the
stock is transferable, and where the interest is
paid, before the day OF payment, which is the
first day of July next, and the notice given to the
holders informs them that interest will cease on
that day.
This is the last OF the Canal debt, upon which
the constitutional pledge rests, and It nay be-
-, pF
10 consider whether when these steps shall have
been taken, that pledge may not be considered,
both in principle, and IN fact, fully redeemed.
The statement of the Canal debt, before re
ferred TO, shows that the whole amount of Canal
stocks redeemablo in July and January next, ie
s3.742, 626 OIL. This includes the sum of ST..
350,09O 35 of the old debt, the redemption Of
which is provided for in the manner above specl-
fed leaving 50, 1862, 535 &c rembursablc in jan
uary 1916, for the payment Of which the moneys
are not yet fully provided.
The Sinking Fund provided for by the twelfth
section of the law of lS42, has received the con-
tributons required to be made TO It, so far as the
Canal revenues have furnished the means, al.
though tits believed that the surplus for The years
1912 and l843 did not equal the one-third OF the
accruiDg interest upon the debt.
that tund with the whole S27S, 1877 Sc paid from
The Treasury, rs the proceeds Of the State tax
and the fund, including the accommodations ofin-
'eres. computed at FIVE per cent. amoants to
81, l95, l02 .0l, an aggregate sum more tnen equal
to one third of the interest on the debt for the last
three years, and is supposed to be available to
meet the payment OF that amount Of the stocks
before alluded 10. This will leave 81, 1913 65
nm for fart han tberp bH "A
surplus of the fumes set apart TO redeem the old
debt, which can be applied to this object and the
accrupg Canal revenues Of the current year mag
yield a surplus also thus applicable.
The third subdivision of the eleventh section
of the act of 1912 provides that the contrbu-
items from the State tax to the Canal Fund shall
cease. whenever the annual revenue from the
State Canals, asceriained in the manner pointed
out by that act, shall exceed the expenditures
upon the Canals, the interest upon Inc Canal
debt snd the payment to be mace to the Gener-
al Fund. by more than one third in amount OF the
anuna! interest upon the Canal debt. The reve-
nucs OF TIC last fiscal year have procuced tina.
excess, es has been before seen, and have SUI
passed IL; and consequently the collection Of the
eatre null ta1, for the current year, must enure
to the benefit of the General Fund, and after the
current year, the collection OF that naf OF the ta1
imposed for the use of the Canals, is To cease.
Nothiug further, therefore, is 10 be realized from
this source, to AID in TIE redemption OF the Canal
stocks
Ii this be q correct representation Of the
mems and l,biiiies of the Canal Fund, foe the
current year, there would seem to be an end 10
discussion Is 10 the appropriation Of these means
10 any oiher object than 10 tho PeyIasn! Of the
debt, unless the payment is to be postponed. 1
have already expressed my vieHs IN relation TO
such & diversion; and am constrained TO be-
leye tdst, whether considered as a question u;
principle, or one of economy, the policy would he
equally unsaund.
Our Canal revenues are very large, and no.
thing but the enormous debt charged upon them,
Keeps the fund go poor as 10 require the aid o.
direct taxation TO meet lis liabilities Separate
from the old debt, more than one million annu-
ally of these revenues are consumed in the pay
ment Of iRteles. alone. This must be con
stsnt drain upon the fund, and nothing but the
payment of the debt can arrest the correcting
malay Postponement can promise no relief,
and may bring accumulated dangers.