Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-04-02

Gov. Tilden's canal message to the New
York Legislature brought forward proml-
nently the suggestive fact that the New
York canals, in five years, from 6s to "a,
absorbed about thirty millions of the people :
money. OF this immense sum, Sli, 500, 600
was derived from special taxes. and Sl5,-
900 600 from the canal tolls. This was all
expended in five years eleven millions oil 1t
Tor Extraordinary repairs" and the re
maird, r IA ordinary repairs and run2ing ex-
,,u-..- ui the cauals No doubt appears to
h.I.t 70, the Governor and many other
honest people IN New York that large
>harr OF this money went into the pockets OF
tae u .mscrat.c canal ring The constr
ta,ian of the STATE provides that all con-
tr,.er, a,r vnlk or material on any canal
shall br made With the lowest bidder who
xiv, ADEQUATE security. But GOV. Tilden
-,,- that bee las himself examined more than
- nuiGr.d email contracts, and finds that
ln,-r %, them are - contrived that they do
mot - to Ia. Lowest bidder, and that the
So, pays from Two to four times the
a....ai.r Of tine contract. The way 1t Is done
i-tii-: When a contract i to be let, the
engineer makes for the State an estimate OF
tir quality and kinds OF work to he done.
The bids are then put in but examination
D., amy expert shows that the prices Tor the
several itca.~ bear no relation whatever to
their supposed value; one contractor offer
iug. tor instance, u excayate earth at
eishiy five cents a yard, and another at one
cent a ya1d; bids Tor slope wall" being
put in, IN some eases, at twenty cents, and
IA oth,,s at Two dollars. In some cases
Contractor puts in proposals on the same
t4y iar different jobs, in which the
I1i-,- mr the same kind of work or
iaAt,tia,~ vary several hundred per cent.
fne ex ,,lAuation l. that the contractor finds
up'. hy r.ilusi5n, what work and material
vii artusliy be needed, and what will not.
FOR the latter be bids a; ridicalou,ly low
rAjc,. and Tor the former at extrayagautly
hl.i, une-. Besides this, he often gets the
contract changed by influence" 50 as to
ier him spcn1 j. much a. be wants 10. As
u ~?ecimen oi tins sort OF work. the Gov
s.rGur mentions = contract. which the con-
tractor undertook at 81 600 and which cost
The sum vi IS 900. Ten contracts have
been exhibited in the New York papers, the
gross amour, Of which honestly performed
aud paid ior, according to their terms.
would have been S42l, 735, but on which
the State actually paid 500 200. Another
fraudulent plan OF proceedings Is explained
by the New YORK Nation. 10 obtain a con-
tract. it i not only necessary that your bid
shall be low, but that it shall comply with
certain regulations a. to omission OF inter
lineations, crasures. etc. II. therefore, any
contractor can get hold of all the bids for a
certain piece Of work, ami then defaee all
but his own, 81 as to make them illegal,
when the bids are opened hi- viii be thu
lowest legal bid, No matter what the others
are Now, this, the Nq,i0n says, was ac-
tually done in the case Of 4 number Of con
tracts in ls66 (the ring in ls66 being COM
posed OF the same men a. now The con
tractors met at Albany. hired room, and,
having found ont beforehand what work
would be required. sold the various con-
tracts at auction, the highest bidder having
the exclusive right to the possession If all
the bids. 80 that he might mutilate and de-
face those in competition with his own. aud
then hand them in to the contracting board
in this condition, the money obtained from
the auction being divided among the con-
tractors who got the bids into their posses
sion by going in q body to the Office Of the !
contracting board in whose hands they were.
and asking that the bids might be with
drawn AMI put in later, as more time was
needed for oomyetifioni By means Of such /
combinations, known as contract pools, =" /
honest outsiders have been prevented from
bidding for WORK on the canals, AID the
State has been steadily plundered- Ii has
been the "Tammany frauds" over again. in
another field Of corruption and there is
little hope of better state Of things, under
Democratic rule in the Empire State