The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-20
provided shall b. {. misd.mespor. Similarly

no Jaw also proVldes that engineers or other
ingly' make false preliminary estimates of
G canal WORK are guilty Of a misdeIneanor
made by the State Engineer to ascertain And
state STATE, 'he quantities Of the several contract
! lcrtcd or omitted To perform this legal duty
oven u in the light of subsequent events he
| m"nt or to have been gu ty of some deeTee al
hasIH ana unSkiIfuIness in the performance.
! nnsklliul and even Negligent Performance Of a
| duty enJoned by law and wiIful' d"iihrrata
n nnll ih,clnt,ona, omission 70 perform it, For
noi lhink me engineers ar" responsible under
in Inc ,h rpW fa 9w In some Of tho et
| ihri" case Of 'wlliul neglect or omission to
take me steps necessary to ascertain with all
10 he done nigh have been MAZE out hu w1 tbs
statute ~ limitaiic ms has prevented VA from
.omi.sion OF that dutyn respect to those con-
tracts Our examination of the evidence leads
us us, w. the conclusion that. except in certain
| the Engineers preliminary to the award If tho
| contracts, we can. take no action owing to
| l3rse OF time. the inaccuracies in the bidding
| sheets nave not been productive Of any damage
| to the state. The commits sion has reported
and fatr prices were obtained An examina-
,iioh on inc seventy or more contracts made in
that unbalanced bidding was resHrted To- IN
very lew Instances. The three most conspicu-
| No, D on the western division. near Rochester
ana contract No. on the eastern division.
So far rs our functions are concerned under
our ianP2inthhiimnt namely. 70 consider tho
made these contracts and guided the cxecu o
t9n OF them al! the WORT preliminary to the
and 81 ali Others let during the n Of ls. I" and
the Winter and spring Of 1897 is beyond our
2 Ss by rsas %f G The statute Of
| mcanorS is now in this State reduced to two
years from the time the crime was committod
and most severe criticism were lei in tho
tnll OF lS.@. or early in 1su1 II therefore the
state Engineer, or any OF his assistants was
guilty gull, Of wilful neglect to perform his stat
the contracts above mcntionSd IN ' sone OF
WINCH awards we're made on unhalQnccd bids.
or 4 the snr.er1intendent OF Public Works was
! ~ law In awarding said contracts. n prosccu-
ton Tor such negligence was barred by tho
befor" we were appointed or 90 soon after our
| appointment that there was not time 10 become
| sufficiently familiar with the facts to take any
action. 1t is true that. subsequent thereto. and
| within two years payments have been made
| unop these contracts. but such payments were
ooo1 would GEyi"msy be tmErnsifae pro
the Superintendent of Public Works for max
| ing returns Of and payment for the work done
| under these contracts unless the returns were
false II has been suggested that if the guam
| tity. of work actually shown to BE- necessary by
Performance, greatly exceeded tn" estimated
| least voidablo. and could have hecn terminated
ty the eo SmperWjptrnden, Of rnnli" Works for
nicndrnt OF Public Works had power To- ter
inmate a contract for such reason We fail
| 70 IND any important instances Of balanced
| hldd'nE ~ contracts not barred bv the statute
! of LIMITATIONS.
/ We find nothing criminal in tho action Of
tracts were let. that exravated material could
not tie usel for cmbpnkmcnt purposes. Tho
! resident engineer had full discreiio ion in cIassi-
/ di"tmcnt could he obtained unless it could lie
/ shown there was AN attempt to defraud.
/ We agree with tn" conclusion of the COM
mission that the powers Of the resident eng-
neers in respect to classifying herdpan we're
| contractors. but IN" discretion il broad and
the opportunity for conflict e1rnrt opinion so
great that we have concluded that 1t is i'm
| concerned in thes" a~ef"atons on such evil
/ d"nce n VIZ hav" at our disposal Wa have not
! sufficient evidence OF conspiracy or collusion
| between III" state Engineer and the rontrac-
ground. While he StHte Ingtnccrand super
pensive t? the State, our investigation OF the
ion. justif"s criminal prosecution.
The legality Of the special agreements, for
T"sk 5, hErnhy %pTn tho o GHes is
! canal Board was obtained to az agreement !or
extra work the validity Of such agreemcnts;
uuimpcachabl" Til" most notorious example
Of special agreements for extra work and extra
compensation was for triple lap sheet pllng
! but in our opinion these We're legal. We have
not discovered any cases where the force nc
fraud the STATE. We do not think the state
| officials concerned committed n criminal Of
IN fs 0 F he 81
| prouriutiOns for ordinary repairs and mainte-
nance of the canals and the expenditures under
a., lry,an rs inn
-" In the foregoing report we refer almost on
Smpcrinttndant Of Public Works. By me ar's
| Of 1895 and 1896 authorizing the canal I'M
| imposed uIOn the Superintendent Of Public
Stnis is a"tua.iy done by the Stat" Tngneor
and his ASS -tan,s. This Is necessary esult
"E thu, "NictlnG division of authority and re,
| Public Works and the State Engineer and Sur
yeyor The, stat" d h not provide tho SupcrIn-
! force The division. resi- lent first assistant and
| assistant engineer are all suhor! mates Of the
TO him On the part OF the State ali the i'm :.
| portant functions during the performance OF
termne the character OF the work To- hc done.
tncy draw The Plans; 1d, IS, tn, Necessary
prove or disappruve the work done 10y the con-
tractors, and estimate and return III" quantity
tcrmiuing the amounts Of money to b" paid.
1.-THE superintendent Of Public Works had n
very important duty to perform in awarding
! the contracts. After that the principal re-
! sprr -ibiltty foil upon the engineers. The SUI
| ucriutrndcnt of Public Work. il is true. was
charged ~ tho statute with the duty Of paying
payments shall he made Mp2n the certificate Of
the State Engineer In all the So-call"d special
| agreements for extra work tho Supertnten-
dent of Public Works. in person or by his dep.
uty. had to Join. and his consent to changes OF
| pan was also required He shares therefore.
| with the state Engineer, tho responsibility Tor
the manner in which these agreements were
| made With the actual performance of the
| work. however. under he contracts. with qneS-
tons Of classification, emhankment allow
| auccs aud matters Of that sort the SupCrin-
tenIento Of Publ" Works had little, or nothing
! tpU|n. The Superintendent Of Public Works
appcar. to have dealt with the engineers and
10 have ., exercised a certain sunervi.-
| ion over tn" performance o. III" contracts
| through n subordinate known rs gem
eral Inspector This functonary frequently
| appears on important occasions. disclosed in
| tn" testimony and records Of tho canal i'm
rrovemcnt. hut. however active either he or
| ih., Su Of puhliN Works have