New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-11-22

r.l Tho imp,eeed ns,gaiis." hpl ibs "bsliiDa'
n.o.lip ~ thn eena ~ wbiah Nllhtqp sp,ha, STU
.,ist.i AID tho triumph ~ noyi raNad ADD lhS
n nds NJ tho enlargement sa'ssd u give "A lofm AMI
rnws, ,o, rowa,d'a Standardization, ike tbot fcln
t.nn WA q continual ooHoat against tbo saofrl hDl
o,en tues Of lhia hen'hoooi ontsfpdse
1Io samn Canal Commissioners who. IN 1880 had rs
iunted tho eoa of tho works nj nrrn aud bali mil
lonr Of d,lIa,s when required Ia isD 10 rcotnmine
their csiinnlrs reported the coat Of tho same workAnt
,ist, and q half millions Tho dincosoy Of this CT
iuordinnry error ut couuncturo when tho credit OF
mrpy of The States was brought TO n crisis produced
sbo,k 10 confidence in tho faith Of own State The
er,mes Of the canals, hungry for power were by no
means fcrurulous In turning this state Of things TO their
own rrposes Gov Seward, nevertheless, in his mes
saoes ,udeay ored TO stem the torrent. lie recon-
uended. in the emergency. to retrench expenditures
and porso,eIe in the construction of the works He
especially insisted, to guard against dangerous in
crease of debt and direct taxation that all issues OF
stock should be so limited that tho interest the pub
lie debt should not exceed tie net revenue of the pub
lie works In lis annual message Of 1871, he says:
tender you my congratulations upon the happy termi-
uatitn of tie embarrassments to which it has been
ny duty to refer Tie people of the State have stood
enough has elapsed TO show that our fiscal condition
is sound that although the expense of our improve
sments was enormously estimated, our revenues are
abundanily adequate snd that with judieious man
agen el we can perseyere firmly in the policy OF III
ternal improvements with confident expectation Of
accou pshng ultimately all that has been conteul-
plated
In Is42 he was compelled TO announce that the
proecuton Of the public works was embarrassed IL
al However, lie adds the fortune Of enterPrse-it
is essential TO enterpre-it is enterprise itself
@ to encounter endorsements; and there is no
merit in success which is obtained without ei-
D." fort and which involves no sacrifice" COM
buaton OF the most disastrous events that occurred
in the financial history of the country connected with
political reachery in high places enabled the anti-ea-
ra party TO achieve complete triumph, which Gov.
seyard announced in his message at the extra session
ofis42 in the following impressive languages But the
high career of prosperous and welldirected enter
prise Las been brought TO a sudden and bumllating
"clcse For the first time in the quarter OF a century
which has elapsed since the ground was broken for the
" Erie Canal Governor OF the State of New-York, in
meeting the Legislature. finds himself unable to an
"DouIc, the continued progress OF improvement The
ocers charged with the Of the public works have
arrested al proceedings in the enlargement othe Erie
Canal The Genesee Valley Canal also lies in state
L" OF hopeless Abandonment and the Black River Ca
"nal which was more than twO-thirds completed du-
ring the last year has been left wholly unavailable
AS if this were not enough, two railroads towards
the construction OF which the State had contrbutela
"Laf million of dollars have been brought to a forced
sale and sacrificed at an almost total loss to the trea
"sury. -. The painful emotions excited by the
condition to which the public works thus reduced
might be somewhat relieved if there were any we'll
grounded hope that their prosecution would be re-
"euned within any reasonable period"
In l643 the architects OF ruin succeeded TO a full
possession OF power in tue State, and Gov Seward re-
tired 10 private life. About twenty years before,
somewhat similar event was recorded in the annals Of
the State when. on the 18th of April, 1924 De Witt
Clinton was removed from the honorary Office Of Canal
Commissioner. Although private citizen Gov Seward
was by 10 means Indifferent to the fate Of the public
works lie sought by bis personal influence his writ
ngs and his speeches. to public sentiment on the
subject IL speech before the citizens of Yates Co in
1874 be said: You the people ofYates Co.. owe four
iths of your present population, wealth, knowledge
"and refinement to tie system of internal Improve
"meDt as established by the State of New-York.
How stand the parties in regard to this great sub
eject Tie Wing party have abided by this policy in
the Federal and State Goyernmontshaye adheredt to
it when popular, and gone down with il whenit
lost favor The other party abandoned it first in the
Federal Government and then in this State AMI now
ii is bansled from among the responsibilities of Gov
"erument. Plausible pretexts are always fonnd by
"eyery Government, even the most arbitrary for any
Z" parture from wise. humane or benevolent policy
Whenever csamtes have befallen nations the states
men who brought them were seldom unable to
plead excuses which for the time, satisfied the peO-
"ple There are however, enduring monuments which
"reproach us for departure from the fundamental
policy of the Government in this respect. The ex-
hOrtations Of Washington and Jefferson were rhapso-
dies Of political enthusiasm and the fame Of Clinton
that constitutes large part OF our renown through
"out the world is cheat and delusiOn, else all
" the arguments Of Mr. Hoffman and of Col Young are
"unsound deceptive and erroneous.'
4 portion of the so-called Democratic party,
about this time, despite of party shackles- began
to yield to the claims of duty and public inter
est \ BILL imperfect and insufficient in its pro-
visions was reported in the Assembly in 1874, con-
tanning a germ Of relief The Wings gave it their
support but before the bill suffered TO become
law it deprived Of its original and cardinal features
for notwithstanding portion Of the MAORI retained
some friendship for the public works they were so
deeply committed to the peryersiOns and frauds by
which the policy of Gov Seward had been Overthrown
that they were totally incapable of any positive effort