The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-11
HOW THE STATE Is ROBBED.
DENJSON'S PROFITS ON THE CHiM-
PLAIN CANAL con TRACT
Receiving sixteen Times the Amount Of his
Bii Fraudulent Measurements and E-ti-
mates The Canal boards Responsibility.

win the same bnldncs5 as IN the pretended re-
pnrs TO the Eric canal. which netted the friends
! of GEORGE Lord such a handsome pfont. In
1870 S,5O0 was appropriated ior the enlarge
mcnt oi the Chauipain canal to n depth cor
responding with that of the Eric cana A pro-
vision In the act restricted the use Of the aprro-
| priation until survey and plan " the proposed
| enllr- ement had been made, hut permitted
that the expense Of such survey should be paid
Tor from the fund. In the summer and autumn
Of 1870 the survey was made, aud OF the 18th OF
July, 1871, the State entered into contract with
Henry u. Denson for improving the Cham
| plain canal from the south end Of Guard Lock,
| huvc Schuylervllc. to lioullard's Bend.
immeda atcy prior to the letting no map. plan,
the statute required. was made, the STATE En-
| gineer' Canal Commissioners, and other mem
| bcrs OF the Canal Board, deemlng tracing.
taken from the general map, ana computations,
| said to he based upon quantities SCI rtaincd BY
| the enlargement survey, fuly sunhcient Tor the
purpose. I he statute IN its terms expressly
forhids the letting of any contract for work to
be done under ~ thority uniil maps, plans
and estimates for such work shall have been
| submitted.
1hc enlargement survey was made by Stephen
| Il. Bahcock, then Assistant Engineer Of the
eastern division Of tho canals, and the compu-
tations Of quantities exhibited at the letting by
for the same district. All the books relating to
| this contract disappeared mysteriously nom the
| Engineering Department for many months. but
finally, with tho exception of one cont ming
| Babcuck's measurements and cross scctions
/ Mhlcn u the most important OF nll-tncN were
| discovered behind acOal bin In closet attached
! to the Division Engineers onice.
TIE DETAILS or GREAT FRNuD.
Thc, Engncers innate at the letting was ss5,-
| Sij. Dcniscn hid sa.iDbO. and thc contract was
awarded to him On the erroneous ASSUMPTION
that he was the lowest hidder. The amount OF
sixteen times the amount Of his bid, and tl2n..
5.l.Ol more than Engineer CrOcker's original
estimate. 10 understand the rerpetration OF
this great fraud II is necessary to compare l}ab-
cocks survey and Checkers computations and
estimates with the figures IN the contrl c.or's
nnal account. The quantity OF rock Of all knos
estimated hy Crockcr was q cubic yards, while
the amount allowed and paid for to the con-
tractor was Sr.,DJ cuViv yards. The amount OF
vertical wall cstimated was 400 yards. The
amount paid Tor was 6Os1. The amount OF slOle
vae estimated AT atOl yard. for which Denison
bil the tdiculously low price OF 80 cents yrru.
s"ha,itnt s,, more expcrs,va -irctura ~ - fnu
value. Dcuisou's td for rock excavation was 81
q cubic yAld. THIS was Iredlcated upou an csi
mate of onls co Yards. Ex state Engineer faS-
tity that $50 cubic ward would lie a liberal
price FOR such work. Crocker, Ia his testimony,
dcsiluatCs the cx'rlCrdinary increase in
rock excavation OF from four hundred
yards to o9,fo' ~ an error OF Judgment- -in
expensive error to the s.ste. which paid tuc
contractor sbesli " over and above a fair price
Tor the rock excavation. IKE error OF judg
ment Is observable IA tue lteuls OF slope wei wei
and earth c1c.yAuon Dcnson obtpiuod this
contract bv hifdinc very low price Tor earth
excavation and slope wall, both major quanti
ties wnich could not be CONSTRUCTED without
loss TO himself and IN exec dnlb iiEh price
for the rock excavation n minor quantity.
The estimate of slope wall was two thousand
yards, yet none Whatever was 0uiit' its place
Leng snppiled BY vertical Wall, lld thc earth
excavation whicn CrOckcr estimated at the let
ting a. 1000 yards. and Tor which only eight
cents per yard was to ne paid, was red.eed In
clares that these 80 called errors are In fact de
libcrate frauds upon the state, cunceF Fcd aud
carried out in the interest of the contractor.
II is in evidence that Babcock, IN the original
survey, returned the quantity Of rock ex x'ava
tion at 100 yards, ana that Mr.. Crocker reduced
1t to onc-Lalf or 900 yards. when making up the
quantity sheet; that prior to the letting, aud at
the time tho survey was made test pits were
dug by the engineers and the rock exposed to
view; that Mir. Crocker knew the locality, and
had been frequently upon the grounGs; and,
finally, that the rock cropped out uuon the sur
face and was upparent to the most casual O0-
server.
Po1R WORK AND FALSE MEASUREMENTS.
IL might be iuferred that In return for tho
large remuneration received by Denisnn from
the Staie the work would have been faithfully
Performed. and of an uuexceptionable charac-
ter H.t an exam, nation made by tue COnmis-
, sion In Nay lat showed that the vertical " all
was had in every r spect, n large portion OF the
stones being unsuund and entirely unit for the
pur, ote and that those Of lettcr qu mt were
infe,inr f. size aud did not II an correspond
win the requirements Of the specifications.
= The wall was built without bond or through
headers, and In several p!ac 1t had fallen inio o
the can l. Jutgin: from several places that
wer. tikcn down and extnined, the wall was
built with front face TO the prsn and with
"a ns~- of small irregular shaped stones tLr3 3Nn
i'm behind and ucxt u the bank, 10y which they
were supported.
Another phase OF lnB contract II CONSIDERED
10y the Commission IA needns careful aud
n | earnest consideration. II hes been alrc dy
stated that for time all the books ot the En-
gineering Department connected with this work
. were missing from the Division Engineers Of
fee, 1t was al so discovered that SIR, horn, the
Assistant Engineer in charge during i's prosecu-
Q tion, could not be found. Being unable. there
a fore, to obtain the necessary data for nvosiica-
tion. and believing that fraud In the inception
/, | would he followed by fraud In the prosecuti ~
! the Commission caused careful survey to he
0 made oy T.. Sweet, Jr and his assistants, TO test
the accuracy OF the QilaniltleS CreQltel To Den
ison In his final account with the state, and fol
which Denison was paid the enormous sum OF
3 $l46,3l6 Ol. The ctreful computations made
a gave the following result:
, Total Garth excavation i518' egac words
Total vertical Wa.............'.. J''5 eubc ]ards
r The examination also disclosed the absence o
) gravel lining, and that no enlbanhment wa.
. m de from excavation necessarily hauled NOR,
q than 200 feet parallel with the canal the en-.
bansment therefore not being charseable under
the contract.
State Engineer Sylvanus A. Sweet confirmed
the accuracy Of the com9utations made by +
X Sweet JI ana added, ihere Is Is no 10 reason why
rived at with reasonable accuracy before th'
:; work was let;" also There Is no reason WHY
u place Of slope wall upon this WORK. The char
h acter Of the work is such that, for permanency
n 1t did not require facing with walls at points
4 where the rock came to the water surface ant
o above"
" THE AMOUNT ovERPAID FoR A USELESS WORK
10 The committee estimate the amount oyerpai'
10 DenSon 10 be fhJ'0li NJ. IN tnlS tneS maxi
no reduction for inferior work. The estimat,
simply shows the amount paid to the contractor
J. for work never done aud materials never fur
l. nished Large a. the amount is II does no
II represent the fetal loss T. the State The wall
!. that We're built amounting to 81 1913 cubic yards
Il at a cost OF $ll.59, are mpaIatiyey worthless
4 and should never have been accepted. Thel
p, viii always he "A source Of expense and trouble
D, until replaced by more durable and permanen
" structures.
Tue strengthening of the canal at the point "
question was not necessity-it had been in H.
. then condition tor year but granting that /
y was a desirable Improvement to cana
y navigation, with ordinary foresight tn,
ID result aimed az would have been easily attalneC
at a comparatively small expense 10 the State
e Had The true qualities, properly classified, beer
eXhillted at tue letting, thus securing fair com
n petition, and fair Prices Tor the different item
Of work necessary to It's construction, and het
slope walls bcen substituted for useless anl
expensive vertical walls, .s the statute directs
', the entire cost would have been under s3OOO
a THE CULPABILlrY OF THE CANAL BOARD.
&c The committee conclude that every State on
~ cial In any way connected with tho work wa
% culpably Indifferent to his duty or fGithess L
his trust The statute never intended that th
Canal Board should have been as ignorant as /
appears to have been in regard to the eXtraOrdl
" TPualls for which they voted AWAY Immeue