New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-06
CANAL RING FRAUDS.
THE LORD FAMILY.


ro,,rSrScr OF BOTH FATHER AND son IN THE
p1SG-1SGESUTTY IN USING OLD METHODS OF
rrc1r. ALTON AND INvENTING NEW oNEs-A
,.pcF GRAE MADE IN 1870 BY CLAUSE IN THE
SUPPLY BILL
rrpox THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRlBCNE.J
ALBANY, April 5.-The shadows gradually
Mt from the past life Of the Lord family, and their
,,nsactions stand in the clear light OF newspaper
.vrosures The general respect for their ingenuity,
their cunning. AMI their unscrupuousness must IN
,rease while the popular estimate Of their legislative
morals az legislators and contractors. must grow stu
Les favorable There are many devices Of canal ras
,,tv which two singular geninses father and soD
have invented there are none which they have not
praeeed OF improved They were contractors and sue
resfu ones contract is tho mere rudiment OF the
art OF canal hevng They have bribed rival bidders 10
Withdraw from competitions they have engineered
through both Houses infamous relief bills for their own
,rof each voting for them in his place they are said
10 have made mp payr0lls from the local directory,
md charged thousands thousands OF dollars for
work which not performed; they have pushed
bills through the Legislature for two-thirds OF
The proceeds and then refused 10 Divide they have de-
papded percentage claims. the door for which they
orened by legislative enactment; they have manlpu
lated Committees and Canal Boards and Legislatures
they have legislators and Lobbyists at once and
parliamentary brokers all the time; they have fairy
drained the canals their private treasures and
and ingenuity and versatility of their thefs is such as
10 make the Tsmmany punderers clumsy burglars
in comparison. Very many instances OF their handl-
work have been made public OF late. and indeed the
Lords just the best advertised excontraetors
IN the STATE but fresh example Of their mode OF run
ming Legislatures has just TO light, which affords
fresh Illustration OF their skill and business capacity
Canal contractors are obliged by law 10 deposit with
the Canal Board and Board Of Canal Commissioners
bank certificates OF deposit TO the amount OF from ten
twenty per cent may De required OF the figure OF
the for guarantee OF the performance OF their
work The deposit made at the time the bid is made
ana all the deposits except those OF the successful bid
der are returned upon the awarding OF the contract
finally the certificates or their equivalent being re-
turned contractor a. the conclusion Of his work
or being forfeited he fails to carry out his bar
gaiD unless he is released by the Canal Board Under
State Ranes the custom has been 10 draw the
money these certificates and invest it, thus deprvng
the contractor OF the Of it, Under former treas
urers the certificates allowed 10 lie idle, and the
contractor st enjoyed the OF his money and re-
ceIved the certificate again when ne had finished MS
work The amount Of such certificates now in the
Treasury N7jOG0 ana in the years when the peculiar
transaction about be narrated took place, when be-
tween four and five millions Of dollars worth OF work
was going on Oh the canals, the amount must have been
very large.
In 1870 the most prosperous year canal contractors
have probably ever known the following innocent para
graph appeared 10 the supply bill, the authorship OF
which il credited the combined ntslects Of the two
LORDS eoch of whom at that time impaired an evangeh
cal air to OF the two Houses:
To par interest on money bank certificates OF de-
post heretofore pledged and deposited With, and held
by Canal Board Board Of Canal Commissioners to
the performance OF contracts the sum OF s2OM
All such moneys or ceriincates shall be entlted 70 Draw
interest at the rate OF SIX per cent per annum whe 30
pledged aud held The amount IN excess OF said apprO
pratou necessary pay such interest shall be paid by
the Treasurer the warrant OF the Controller or Audi
Of the Canal Department. out OF any moneys apprO
pred for the payment OF interest for work 10
The performance Of which said moneys or certificates
we're pledged
As legislative swndle the architecture OF this could
not have been improved. The first clause was for
trng appropriation TO pay interest on those moneys
or bank certificates The insigncance OF the amount
disarmed the suspicion that careful reading OF the
second sentence would have aroused This was a huge
step beyond the first, for it provided that interest
should be paid on all such certihcates-a matter Of
good many thousand dollars yesr-and the last SEN
tence afforded the for paving interest TO con
tractors money which had literally never left their
hands. There instances on record where
contractors have allowed these certificates 10 lie for
years after the when they might properly have
chained them showing that they could not have been
deprived OF the Of The money. Either they were
willing TO allow much waste paper to stay in the
Treasury or they knew that attempt was 10 be made
10 pass this bill under which they could get interest for
the money, in addition 70 the interest or the profits
which il had meanwhile earned elsewhere. Both OF
the Lords had claims OF this character and both voted
for the bill; but their real interest IN its
passage greater than appeared on the surface
They had bought up large numbers OF these caimsun-
uing back it Is said good authority TO the year 1854
lost after the enlargement of the Erie Canal and thus
only their own attorneys, but as their own
brokers' II is said that the profits Of this bareiGced
theft 70 the Lords alone between sG000Oo and $780,
OO II anything could hghten the enormty of this grab,
would be the reflection that this steal for which
there was absolutely Canal contractors gen
orally give something least for their money, but this
was bargain with the handle all on one side This ep
rode is now being made the subject OF investigation,
With a view 10 legal proceedings.