Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-04-04

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lance of $50 miles. The other eleven
are laterals, the longest being the Gen.
esee Valley canal Of 25 miles, and the
rest dwindling IN length to as low as
seven miles. The Erie canal was be-
gun IN 1917 and completed IN 1925,
and the facilities it afforded for
transportation in those early days was
decisive of the commercial superiority
of New York city over her then formid-
able rivals. With the vastly increased
railroad facilities of late years, the
future usefulness of that canal has been
brought into serious question, and sta
tistics show that it is, comparatively,
losing ground. As late as 1862, the
Erie canal, during the seven months IN
which it was not closed by ice, carried
more tons Of freight than the New
York Central, Erie and Pennsylvania
railroads, all combined. In 1873, each
Of these roads carried more freight than
the canal Besides this, the canal
freight is largely composed of rough
and heavy articles which the railroads
are rather disposed to reject, and COM
modities of compressed value never
take the water route.
These facts show that the future use
fitness Of the canal must depend on
increased economy IN its management.
Instead of economy, however, the ex-
penses Of the State, on account Of the
canals, have increased of late years in
a frightfully accelerating ratio. The
average cost of management and re-
pair for the four years ending with
1868 was 1888 per mile; the average
for a similar term closing with 1871 was
81 ,426 per mile, and in 1872 it rose to
SLIP. Tnesefgures suffice to indicate
the monster of fraud against which
Gov. Tilden has declared war to the
knife, with excellent prospects of sue
cess, as tire Democratic Legislature
elected with him is manfully seconding
his efforts.
According to the Governors anal
ysis, the actual cost to taxpayers, ex-
elusive of sums used to reduce the
debt and over and above toll receipts,
has been S, 769,757, or Sl,753,951 per
annum in the shape # direct taxes,
and as New York city pays about one
half Of it, every man, woman and
child on Manhattan Island is mulcted
one dollar a year TO support the Canal
Ring. A portion Of this expense may
be explained by the uproftableness Of
eight of the lateral canals, which the
State has been hitherto prevented from
selling, leasing or even giving away,
by a clause Of the Constitution, al
though they furnish extra opportuni-
ties for the rascalities Of ring con
tractors and engineers. An amendment
is now pending which viii enable the
State to dispose Of these worse than
useless lateraIs, or at least remove the
obligation to maintain them n naviga-
bic order.
Exorbitant prices, fraudulent meas
ment and poor work are the means by
which the canal ring extort millions
from the State Treasury, and the ma
ture and location half under water, Of
this class Of work, render it unusually
difficult Of detection, ever when those
who should be on the watch are not in
league with the fraudulent operators.
The Canal Board consists Of the three
Canal Commissioners, the State Eugi-
ncer, the Lieutenant Governor, the
Comptroller, the Treasurer, the
Attorney General, and the
Secretary Of State in all
nine officers, and all of them elected
by the people, the Canal Commission
ers holding Office for three years, and
all the others for two. Of this Board
five constitute a majority. The three
Commissioners and State Engineer
make four ninths Of the Board, and
they need only to be reinforced by one
other to control II. As the State Of
fcers never come in direct contact with
the canals, and know little Of such
affairs, they depend on the Commits
sioners and Engineer for all informa-
ton, and it is generally easy enough to !
secure the cooperation Of at least one
among the five, making a majority of !
the Board, which selects all subordi- !
nate engineers and other officials.
The canal ring is composed Of poll |
t:cians of both bodies who work into |
each others hands in conventions
and caucuses, 50 that frequently |
the rival candidates Of both |
parties fer Canal Commission.
ers and State Engineer owe their
nomination to this ring, and whichev-
er set be elected are equally under their
thumb. The Constitution Of the State
provides that al contracts for work
or materials on any canal shall be
made with the person who shall offer to
do OF provide the same at the lowest
price, with adequate security for their
performance" but this is easily eyaded
by artful bids and secret combinations.
As an example Of how it Is done, Gov.
TiIden says, IN his message, that a
Ring engineer viii estimate certain
work and material as follows:
100 cubic yards OF vertical wall at - $50 20
3,ss5 cubic yards Of slope wall at Sl.5D 5,Is2 81
-, 80 feet B. n. white Cak. at S5g...... 10 40
Gl,"HU feet =. n. hCmlOCk, at sI5......-.. 500 90
Total estimate............-.. 81 ,lu2 50
The prices are reasonable and an
honest man might undertake to do the
work on the terms above given. But
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