New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-07-12
TIP TRANSFORMATION PROBLEMS
rup STRIFE BETWEEN TIE RAILROADS
80 IND THE ERIE CANAL. l.


80 AND THE ERIE CANAL.
..,,.,,,ccsSeY ExTRAvAGGNcE AND CORRUPTION IN
: .,N,I MANAGEMENT PEOPLE MI.RCILEssIY
.c,xKp-sTATlsTICs or RAILWAY COMPETITION
row ToiLs INADEQUATE TO STOP THE DIVER
sfoN-RIvAIRY BETwEKN BUFFALO AND oswEG0
RAILROAD IMPROVEMENTS. ....
OF recent years new and grave questions
have arisen as to TIE future Of the Erie Canal BY
rh doubted whether the canal continue compete
vuceesSuy with the railroads nv Others II IL held that
with an enlargement of its capacity It be made
Effective than competitor with rival routes.
whether by land or water. An intelligent men must
Admt that the good management and general welfare Of
me nam canals OF NewYOrk matters the FIRST inn
portanee to majority the inhabitants Of United
States Chiefly by the aid OF the Erie Canal. York
CITY has become the metropolis Of the country and the
port at which more than half the foreign commerce
centered II Is now apparent that something must be
done this Win be changed. In this letter it win be
shown that the Erie Canal Is losing is share OF the
earriage -four grain that reduction OF tolls
has failed TO check the diversion and that the railways
rapidly increasing che proportion which they get OF
the carrying trade between the seaboard ana the lakes
WHY THE CANALS ARE BECoNISG UNPOPULAR
The mismanaeement Of the canals by the state au-
thontes is a fact too well known to call for mnon re-
marx The revenues the Erie Canal have Tor years
been sqlandered The BO0-paying on " panPar ls'-
erals from which every dollar collected in tolls mas cost
The state dollars IN repairs, maintenance uar
prca aud stealings The State has about 500 miles OF
sAnaIs whichlt shOud abandon viz the Erie Canal
ssd feeders, 800 miles Champlan Canal and feeder7s
miles Oswego Canal 50 miles and Csyuga and sen
eca Canal % miles. The others. including the Chemupg
Crooked Lake. Black River, Genesee Valley, ana che
mango, have an aggregate length OF more than 500
niIes produce than $4,000 year. and cost from
BIO 600 to sOOOOoO for maintenance super intendeuce
and repairs Such waste OF this wlne 1t
iatened the canal contractors has made thousands
OF honest people dissatisfied with the States
ownersbip OF the canals. Nor is this the
worst The average amount OF taxation Tor
canal purposes since the reduction of tolls in
IsIO has exceeded s2,5o0,OOO year. Members OF the
Legislature, by the welknown method Of logroliinS,
get through many useless and extravagant appropra-
lions for their "locahtes by which the canal revenues
are exhausted with very little TO show for the money
There is responsible head 60 see and direct what Is
necessary be done keep the canals in the best pos
Sble condition for navigation The commissioners en-
gineers superintendeDts at all events the major
ty Of them are either given their places reward for
political services owned by the contractors who
constitute the Canal Ring" The annual cost Of
srdnary and extraordinary repairs and collection of tolls
under this pernicious system from 1888 per
mile for the four years ending with 1863 to 1876 per
e for the four years ending with 1871, and for the
year 1872 reached S712 per mile. Statement OF the
Thomas Raines State Treasurer, before the Canal
Committee OF the Assembly, March 20 1881 And yet
according to the admission of the Canal Commissioners
themselves repairs which prudence and economy de-
mand should be done left undone." Distractions
arc not removed breaks occur the OF navigation
IL shortened and the Of the great railroads
ae well pleased the Legislature, the Canal Ring,
the Canal Commissioners, with their staff OF engineers
and superintendents. and an eyeriuoreasng army Of
Indignant payers, all doing effective service in the
work OF putting end to the canals
REDUCTION OF CANAL TOLLS IN 1870
IN nv action OF the Legs
lature and the Canal Board the tolls -four, wheat
barley and rye reduced 50 per cent; corn and
oats per cent coal and iron ore so per cent? on
and domestic salt 80 per cent and on lumber about
70 per cent. These embrace all the principal articles
carried Oh the canals. aud the rates them, as now
established, On agricultural products, three mills
per 1900 pounds per mile lumber, TO four mills
per 1000 pounds per mile; iron and salt, two mills
per 1900 pounds per mile, and coal aud iron ore,
mill per 900 pounds mile. Considering the immense
Investment which the has made in the canals.
these rates and indeed the previous ones which they
replaced must be considered very liberal The tolls
on grain are equivalent 10 charge Of three cents
bushe from Buffalo Troy, distance Of 35 miles The
average freight from Chicago 10 NewYOrk including
tolls by lakes, canal aud Hudson River, ranges from II
70 cents a busAeL ..
IHNESsE BUSINESS OF TIP CANALS AND TRUNK RAIL
ROADS.
To any one who Investigated the subject, the
auantity OF freight moved the canals VIII appear in
credible Up aud including the year 1865 the canals
carried many Of freight during the seven months
of navigation as the Enc and Central Railroads com
during the whole year While they open they
sti carry nearly il quite much the Erie, Cen
tral and Hudson, and Pennsylvania roads during the
same period The following table Of the aggregate ton
mare Of the canals and of the three great trunk lines of
railroad which connect New York, Philadelphia and
New-Engand with the West, is introduced to show the
MAGNITUDE Of the transportation question and the rapid
growth OF the business done by the railroads:
TABLE Tom Of Freight Of an kinds BOred ne Nse
York CaHdiS, me Aoto- York Cetrd Erie, md Pam
Rgffr0lffS.