The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-04-09
THE CANALS.
An dwelling Of the Mystery and the
Manipulations Of Fraud.
Advent Of the Hour and the
Man.
Governor Tilden'S Assault Intended To
Be Effective.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE WORK.
The Legislative Investiga-
ton a Sham.
CANAL CONTRACTS RESCINDED.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE WORK
The Legislative InveStiga-
ton a Sham.
CANAL CONTRACTS RESCINDED.

ALBANY, April 8, 1875.
Governor Tllden's assault upon tee Canal Ring,
Il It did not come without warning, had all the
effect Of o bombsheh suddenly hurled into the
camp OF hts trends. The announcement OF his
purpose occasioneu derison rather Jnan lear, and
80 when the shock came the CONSERVATION was
overwhelming and complete. Frauds ON The
canals are coeval with the canals themselves, and
the system OF fraudulent contracts by unbalanced
bids is growth rather than the deliberately
formed plan OF q ring. The law said that work on
the canals was 10 be let to the lowest bidder,
and so the contract was given TO the person
whose bid III the aggregate was the lowest IL
Will thus be that at The very outset skill IN
bidding became an arr, in which every contractor
was justified in using his own acuteness to make
money The state furnished basis Tor the bid
ding, not for the benefit OF the contractor, but for
the protection OF the people. This basis. though
prepared by an engineer, could at best be only
guess. the contractor understood and the State
insisted that Whatever was necessary to CON-
plele the work must be done at the price
named In the Did. Thus II q contractor under
look TO do o thousand yards OF rock excavation at
\ rdiculously small prlce. and 10000 yards were
required to be done, he was bound to do the whole
Mt mis- own price. He might be ruined IN this way.
but at the same time II he knew better than the
engineer the kind and character OF the work that
would be required, ne might so mould his bid as to
make fortune. The contract necessarily included
several kinds or work, as earth and rock excaya-
lion and vertical and slope wall besides the kinds
OF lumber to be furnished The estimate OF the
engineer vas intended a mere basis Tor the BID
ding, and the letting was made to the person
whose bid was the lowest in the aggregate. Ont
OF this system sprung what are known as sun
balanced bids,r and this phrase IN turn conveys
the full significance OF ''canal frauds.o Taxing
these estimates as the foundation Tor the bidding,
with the requirements TO quantity ahd price, IL
was impossible Tor an honest bidder TO obtain
contract at ali, and it was not long until honest
contractors refused to contend with the sharpers
nursed by the system. and the Canal Ring obtained
the complete mastery OF the State.
HOW CANAL CONTRACTS WERE LET.
1t will thus be seen that the whole system was
IN itself a fraud but fear have not yet made 1t
plain wherein IL Is necessarily fraudulent. This
II is dificult to do in few words, while an elab-
crate explanation would only make the mystery
more profound. Somebody has defined protection
the robbery OF all Tor the benefit OF a lew. SO
would define canal frauds as an agreemen. to do
work that would not be required TO be done at an
Rosurdly low price and work that would be re-
CURED In great quantities or amounts at O
wickedly high rate. Two points are to be con-
sidered by the contractor-to bid low enough 20
obtain the contract and yet make money. IL IL
the aggregate OF bid that determines the first OF
these questions, and the application OF the estt-
mate TO the real work Will determine the sec
ond. II the contractor has better knowledge OF
the requirements OF the contract than the en-
gineer-that is, II he knows TO a nicer degree the
quantity OF work OF each kind to be done-ae can
scarcely fail TO bid low enough to get the
contract and Aeece the State Being sure
there is little or no rock excavation to
be done or that no vertical wall will be
required he may undertake both &C Q nominal
price while putting earth excavation and slope
wall. OF which he will be required 10 do great
deal, at very high figures. In doing this he is not
necessarily dishonest though the contract itself
fraud. Neither Is the engineer necessarily in
cousion with the contractor, though bis estimate
10 the foundation OF the fraud. The disease Is In
the system, Tor these so-called unbalanced bids
are indeed so artiulIy balanced that the
contractor generally obtains three four
times the amount OF mis- bid for the work actually
dome. While the system lasts he Is not much to
blame for balancing the different kinds OF work
the engineer says are to be done 80 nicely as 70
make his the lowest bid; and as the State makes
the contract open one, 1t Is not In human ma
ture to refuse to take advantage Oft. The cure
would be In letting out the different Kinds OF work
70 different contractors-as rock excavation TO
one aud earth excavation to another, vertical
price. As 1t Is let In the lump to one
contractor at disproportionate prices, re-
Raru being had only to the aggregate
oil the bid while the contract itself Is an
open and flexible one fraud, in fact Is inevitable,
though there may be no fraud in the performance
OF the contract according 10 the terms OF the
agreement. Coiusion with the engineers may
previously have entered into It and false meas
urements may subsequently intensity the wrong,
but neither OF these Is necessary 10 the fraud and
the worst contracts Jet exhibited may be ex-
planned without either Of these elements being
round 20 enter into them. The great wrong is in
the system OF bidding, and the bids have been
made in this way from tne earliest days OF canal
enterprise. AS / said before, canal frauds have
been a growth, and the Canal Ring forms part
OF that Growth as naturally as the dover becomes
part OF the plant We may see "iraud" written
all over the canal management OF the State with
out being able to bring absolute crime home to
anybody, whether contractor, engineer or Official,
ana II is certain we shall never be able TO cure
the evil while unbalanced bidding, or, In other
words, lowest bids, put premium upon acute
dishonesty and compel contractors TO be rogues.
tbs ORIGIN or GOVERNOR TILDES's EXPOSURES
IL Is frequently said By the apologlsts or the
Canal RING tnat canal frauds, and the exposure OF
canal frauds. are nothing new. TINS IS true, and
u has greater Significance tnan at nrst appears.
The newspapers nave taken mp the subject rom
time TO time at frequent intervals during the last
lwcnty years, aud that the management Of the
canals was corrupt mas been generally accepted
as an established fact. The whole question was
the sapject OF long and earnest discussion in the
Constitutional Convention OF 1857, and the neces-
sty q reform was demonstrated az clearly then
IS il Is now Dy Governor Tiden. Ever since the
days Of Governor Fish any executive OF the State
mint nave done what Iiden has ACCOMPLISHED
py his coup attai the figures which prove the
fraudulent character OF the canal system
nave been lying in the Auditors ONCE Tor
Years, waiting the advent or some arth.
neEic man who would give them vitality.
lhls could not be done, however, except
~ an exceptional man exceptionabiy placed.
Courage ana strength aud high position we're all
required tor It's Accomplishments. Governor I'LL.
Den himself told that II an engineer tho oughly
gonversant win the whole subject, anu armed
Win igures and arguments had undertaken the
sask he woud nave De N completely Oyerborne
an beaten. indeed, That class Of men, either Ue-
cause their souls -ickcned at the corruption they
were compelled to witness, or because the RlnH