New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-03-01
coyyRAcT SYSTEM on TIE CANALS


THE Annual Report of the Canal Commits
sioncrs, in 1854 informed the Canal Board that
the suggestion of contracts grew out of the
intolerablc and incurable corruption of the
Superintendent system. 1t says:
"On the trial Of superintendent arraigncd before che
Canal Board on charges preferred nst them Of which
there have been four the Erie Canal within the
last year. In every a series Of frauds and populations
against the STATE have been developed such the steal
nc of lumber spikes paint and other materials, by the
State hands the employment of state hands on the work
OF private persons; the substitution Of feeble nci
cicnt men and boys ablcbood State hands, suffering
the last to work for other parties while their time was
kept running the State check rolls; charges in
numerous cases for work which was never performed;
charges for horses used under the saddle Tor
short Distance team work forscyerai days. when IN
fact they had never that time been in harness the
swearing by forcmcn to the labor the ck-rolls.
when it was proved they had personal knowledge Of
the matter the purchase OF liquor Tor the state hands.
~ them paving for it, the condition that he should
be credited "a days wor, GU the checkrols which WAS
entered by the foreman. This on Sunday when the
crew OF the State tcow raised padile-cIie played
cards al day. and charged their lime to the state In
another case that Of Superintendent the Chcnanso
Canal the Superintendent suffered his foreman 10 take
the lumber of The state to build barn when discovered
by the Commissioner, he sed that he had loaned
some OF the lumber. and sold the rest to the
foreman. and forgotten 10 account Tor H.
and did not know that 1t was violation
OF the Cauasaws he reHOred By Inc Commissioner
btt rcinsaicd by me canal Board. With single cNorp
tioi-that Of superintendent against whom personal
knowledge of the ofcns; charged not established
the offender, in The have stated escaped punish
mcut 10 The encouiagem OF utur theft and robbery
against the state The state ol things here presented
generally believed prevails ON the canals very widely
and 4, to be appreciated that the existing system OF
supcrnicIeucc aud repairs has becomr 80 thoroughly
corrupt that it cannot be radically and thoroughly re-
formed The plan proposcd Of doing he repairs 10y con
tract cannot 10y possibility bo worse. ana may be much
better. II has the appreciation 81 men Of experience ~
such matters and the experiment can De- easily tried on
two or three sccons when the enlargement j. com
pctcd II successful hc substituted for the pres
cnt system; and if not it can be abandoned"
Will it he pretended that such picture
as this could have bcca drawn. if the party
to be robbed had been contractor instead OF
the Satel
So honest and competent IN officer as the
former State Engineer, John 4. Clark, in 1855,
denounced SupcTintcndcuts us mere tools of
the party appointing them; ~ utterly worth
less for any useful purpose; but observing th"
ease with which they OycrrTIcd their official
Supporters. he so dcSpaircd OF getting rld OF
them that ne was willing 10 get rid OF the
Canals themselves in order 70 compass that
end. ii faithful Commissioner eyicted one
of the r0guCs a iaithlcs, Canal Board was
sure 10 rcinstale him. II was this hopeless
ness Of securing either skill, economy, or hon
c>ty in their administration that imprllcd
warm friends Of the Canals 10 consider rather
than reject this idea auI Nho, on that ac-
CONT, are even yet suspected, but wrong
fully. of being hostile 20 the Canals
under any cundtio.S whatever. The
experiment Of contracts WIS tried, and
with such results ihai the Legislature. in 1851.
enacted that the contract system OF repairing
should he applied 10 an the Canals. This man-
date WAS regarded, however, only here and
there. One effect of this c0ntumacy va, to
compel the rival plans to be- operated in iuXIa-
position, Il condition Sin"ulary favorable to
fair comparison; and although thr results were
dccisivcly in favor Of the Contractors, the
Superintendent, still contrircd 10 maintain
footing, in despite of both law and experience.
The means 10y which this was done will suc-
gcst themselves. After The contract system
had maintained itself under this test for some
nine years in 1853, the thcn and now Canal
Commissioner, Wright, in his annual re-
port, expressed his belief that certain
preiudiccs against the system entertained by
some forwardcrs and hoatmcn might :" be
"eradicated by Il stern determination aud res
" dilute action on the part of the State auihori-
" ties, requiring literal performance of the
obi atous of the contracts He also uttered
this warning: In any event, the only substi-
" tute yet suggested, namely, Il return to the
wastcful, if not corrupt expenditures by Su-
" perntcndcnts, ought not TO be entertained.r
In 1864. the same Commissioner reported to the
Legislature that the experience of another
year had confirmed him in the views, expressed
i'll his report Of the previous year, concerning
the contract system, and alrms that 1t has
" no important defects but such as will yield
" TO honest and patient Efforts for improvement
"and iirmncsS in cNacting from contractors
" the faithful fulfllment of their obligations"
Referring to the remarkable exemption from
breaks and detcntiOns. for the then past two
wears, Of the most important part of the Mid
die Division which was under the Contract
system, he says: "FOr this exemption from
" such common misfortunes, great allowance
" should be made for the Slccplc,S vigilance
" and caution which sclf-intcicSt constantly
" imposed on the contractors. This Is IN i'll
" valuable and peculiar feature of the con-
" tract system-Onc from which the State has
" derived great advantage, and one which can
" hardly be cngaftcd on any Otllcr, certainly
" not on the old system
Means were always found, however, to divert
the proper authorities from curing the defects
or making the improvements suggested by
this experienced Commissioner and others;
and in despite of law the public interest, and
common sense, tho methods of repairing con