New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-02-04

plain y AID urmis'aks ably dspiaye1 are ,,,,
For The Genera s4nd e.b................... 31sHo
v.,4,.o..to, ....s8oaU
Twas Inceed solemn farce for the L-gslaure Of
1896 10 cisguise this annual abstraction OF siVvvp
from the Canal resources, under the caro- on Dan
10 The General Fund, snd /; vac soemnly earned
ont in the seconc sec0n OF toe act by which they "a
reiy pledged the faith Of the sss, 20 pay the whole
amount 10 be distracted, whenever the Csna and
should nssd II. NOV Z this silv vas osn not
prsteuse le "a ak Il the General Flni y ~"
ready to repay L vii the Canal Fund ever heed u
more
TIE single item al 81 ~. co. Nth "a sccun1a:et
interest TO LAY uo,hirg Of tire s. 81 40, would No"
suffice 70 complete the cSrals, scd folly pay every
claimant aud contractor. The Legislature OF $50
pghtsd the public fsith Tor s r-pss meet 90 demand
Why does rot the Controller the fiscal officer Pecu-
Harry responsible for the Genera. Fuld noS repay u
Does he spprebeni that tax ght nov be nrcess Ary
for the p1rpose Bur even Il Il should De- ns- no inc
diversion II the moneys from the Csrals, saved tue
people from taxes 70 precisely the amount during
the long course Of tsenty-three years, IRON is" "
lsj9
Bat tiis is bv 70 mans al The inrosd made by
taking the SSO-20lS quite enough OF itself o Dis
credit the statement made By the Controller, was only
Moderate diversion. when compared With the tho
rough treach made in TIE surplus revenues needed FOR
the Enc Enlargement, By sbstrsrting from them TIE
whole amount Deces-ary 70 pay the prlnGpal and IN
teTest the debt incurred 10 building the a,eral ca
nsls, and which diversion YES rendered legally neces-
y
oans for their obstruction ard partly by the express
requirements Of tue Constitution Of 1916.
The tOtsl amount expended in building The lateral
canals il $j O5 10. The rteres. on that sun, ST
per cent from the time Of expenditure TO leo Is AZ
ieaat eleven millions making total Of so OJ5 ll9;
and Il has all been diverted snd taken With the eI
ceyton Of S2l3 CO. the avais Of certain lands appTo
priaied 10 the OsEeso Canal, from the surplus TeNe
nuss in question.
The laeral canals have doubtless benefited the por
tons of the State which they traverse and ara entitled
70 s kird and paterna consideration, but IN merely
fiscal sense, they have, a. whole. greatly Empower
shed the treasury. None Of them except The Oswego,
the Oleids River Improvement, the Csyuga and Sen
Canal have yet yielded annual revenue enough to
pay their snnusl expenies for repairs and superntend
ence to rothng of the interest the cost OF their
construction. II s hoped, that the extension nov n
progress Of the Genesee Valley Canal, and which Is
expected to be finished during the present year, by
aordi1g additional facilities for reschlng extensive
forests and valuable coal end iron mines in Psnnsyl-
vania may rescue the canal from its present depressed
condition source Of revenue; bu, 1t is feared,
! that the Black X Ever Canal must permanently remain
a borden on the treasury. rs annual tolls are bat
81 99s and ts annual repairs s1d superintendent
1916 added 10 which, the owners OF hydraulic pny-
ieges have instituted claims upon the State, for neary
bali million of dollars for diverting the waters Of the
! river.
TIE aggregate tolls received from all the lateral
canals from the tine OF their construction have been
but g. 1913 800 while the aggregate repairs aud su-
pernisrdenoe have been s3,3t6,Ol1, leaving ceh-
cheney Of $500 and that amount with interest IN
addition 10 the $26 0Jj 49, has also been diverted fom
| TIE surplus revenues in question.
These fer the twenty years from l:s 70 a
Bot the diversions, as shove shown have been the
FOR h; h; GeIsrsi Fund Dsst..... 5ssiiS
5. FOR n. cos, Of the literal
Dsduc.iIs osseso laad, 2l5,0c .,,.,,.
l. Interest On expenditure, .. per ceb;
s. Paid for Iep.ir. and superntendence
beyond tolls rec.v d............... 8E,O97
c IpieIes, on that sum, a. i've per cent o
a. least......'..''.'. ''s''s'''''' o'iO ~,
Leaving fos the eulArremsnt Of tn. Ere Cana
(which h-s cost already eNcusv. OF Interest,
nearly sSloot") only. fuIoIf
and this with the interest, if any, derived from tenn
pOrsry investments of the surplus revenues, Il al ta
remains OF the s39, 9,0iS.
What, then becomes of the rash and groundless
assertion that the Erie Canal the Oswego Canal the
Csyuga aud Seneca Canal, and the Chanplaln and
locke could and should al have been enlarged and
completed with these surplus revenues, and without
recourse 70 osnsl rwill it be claimed that II was
rot necessary 10 make the diversions OF sS.381 ga
above exhibited; but that the whole of that vast sum
should have been. and could have been rssed By d.
rect tax on the people Of the State Or will II be- con-
tended that the lateral canals ought never TO have
been authorized or cOnstruc ed Or will 1t even be
claimed that the Legislature OF 1888 are responsible
FOR their cor ,iIuction
All the lateral canals, excepting only the Oneida
Lake Canal end Oneida River Improvement l.wo
costing
Zed, and either completed or In active progress,
before the Legislature of 1898 were elected. The o.
wego was seed in 1925; the Csyuga and Seneca
in 1926; the Chemuug in 1880; the Crooked Lake tn
1881 and the Chenango in 1888. 1t was reserved for
the Legislature Of lS36-specally eulO1Zed by the
Controller the present OccasiOn for their alleged
wisdom in pursuing the pOlCy Of constructing the
canals wholly with the surplus revenues, and not by
loans ana specially chosen by him example by
which to point his rebuke of the Legislature Of 1888
themselves 70 call iSto being the Genesee Valley
and Black River CSnsls. That very Legislature not
only authorized their construction bur expressly d.
reced loans to be negotiated tor the estimated cost.
There nothing novel ia their doing so, for II had
been the nvarabe practice for the thirteen years next
preceding to build the lateral canals by OF osns.
The only novelty IN the matter, sud the only crcum-
stance worthy Of particular remark, is the present re-
mark able assertion OF tue Controller that the Legisa
ture OF 1886 pursued the policy OF building those canals
without lncurrirg debt, when their very laws Great
Ing the debt, staring from the statute book
When the Legislature Of 1888 assembled, these
SIS in foil progress, including the enlarge
ment Of the Erie Canal, for some small sections OF
which the Canal Commissioners had made contracts
"a the amount Of about So 10000, and which they es
timated would absorb the surplus revenues FOR three
or four successive years. The cost of the whole
largepeit bad recently been estimated by Canal
Commissioner Bouck and he associates st si2 900 900,
but mainly for the purpose OF showing the compare
tive cOst of tie enlargement with feet water,
AID with SIX Even at that low estimate, il evi.
deut that the completion % the work, relying only 90
the surplus revenues existing with The annual
diversion Of $3.50 600 then established, woui occupy
a, least 20 yesrs. In the Judgment Of the Legislature
Of lsc the true interests OF the State required the
work to be expedited ana completed II practicable IN
FIVE wears and thereby saving the intervening loss of
interest OF o. least fifteen years They accordingly
passed law directing a. 900 900 to be borrowed 10
expedite the work. This the only specific act
done by that muchebussd Legislature to create or
scd 10 the canal debt, and yet il has drawn down
upon them the most unmeasured oboquy for the last
20 years including tae present assault Of the Con-
trOler who has not word OF censure for the debt