The sun., 1903-10-18
4 WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY.
BF,>ON> WY SENATOR NALBi
OPPOSES BARGE CANAL.
NJ SHOWS Tba, the Proposed Expenditure
ct sIOl ,OOO,OOO Would he Useless
as Long aS the Railroads Own and
Control the Terminals and Elevators.

G,orgo h Malby Of this city, chairman
n, the Finance Committee Of the State
Senate ard leader OF the anti-canal forces
in the Legislature, in an interview expressed
himself le follows:
There are so many reasons why this
srnropria'iuu should not. in my Judgment,
be made. tha, il is difficult to discuss them
all at once. and will only discuss at the
present time some new phases Of it. OF
corlrse, We nrs, a great State and should be
able and wiling to meet and assume almost
any obligation which fairly promises ude-
olate returns for the invesl ments made.
On the other hand. We should be very care
mi not to assume any obligation, much less
one of this magnitude, unless We are con-
yipced that il will make fair return 10 our
peore The question always should be,
l. 'hl., such an investment as a careful,
prudent man woul make in the manage
nenr nf his own business affairs,
"rhe reasons which have already been
published are more than sufficient TO con-
vince anv prudent person that TO make such
an appropriation under present conditions
isunwise and unjust No provision is made
in The bill passed last winter, which makes
an appropriation Of s10l 900, 900, fo1 the pur-
chase or the establishment Of elevators,
warehouses or docks, either at Buffalo or
New York; and this question the one
which now desire to discuss, as( regard it
es OF the most vital importance.
i think it will be conceded by all that
n the Erie Canal terminals at Buffalo and
New York are owned and operated by the
various railroad companies, who make
Use of them for their own private purposes
and to the serious detrirnent of canal trans
portation, any improvement Of the canal
itself will result In very little benefit to the
citizens who desire to use 1t. Certainly
railroad which begins nowhere and ends
canal that has no terminals, that has
no facilities for receiving or discharging
freight. is useless thing, and any Of the
peoples money spent in attempting to en-
large its capacity is worse than squan-
dered.
IN 1898 the Legislature passed an act
which authorized the Governor to appoint
commission to examine into the COM
herce Of New York, the cause Of its decline,
aud the means for its revival. Pursuant
to such authority, Gov. Black appointed as
such commissioners the Hon. Charles A.
schieren, the Hon. c. c. Shayne, the Hon.
Hugh Kelly and Gen. Andrew H. Green. all
strong advocates Of canal improvement
and residents Of the city OF New York.
Their report shows that there were in 1900
about forty elevators Of all kinds situated
In Buffalo at or near the terminal of the
Erie Canal. About the year 1850 pool was
teeie taken in. The price OF elevating
grain and storing package freight was
Regulated by the pool thus formed. This
pool and It's Successors continued until
1897, when it was dissolved. and new pool
formed on modern lines, much worse than
any which had preceded it. The various
pools since 1850 regulated the price Of ele-
waiting and storing grain and general mer-
chandise, which finally became so g xce ssive
that the Legislature in 1883 passed an act
which attempted to fix the cost Of elevating,
storage, &c. The constitutionality OF this
law was contested by the elevator pool,
which had grown fat at the expense Of the
general public, and it carried the suit to the
United States Supreme Court, where the
constitutonality OF the law was sustained.
The pool, however, found ways of evading
TIE law. and to this day they are enabled
to make such charges as they see tit
terminals at Buffalo own q large number
Of elevators, and have from the beginning
to the present time absolutely dominated
the pool, and not only fixed and deter
mined all charges, but determined for the
public how and when they should be served >.
A majority of all elevators have always
been in this unholy combination, and only
a small number have been in actual use,
Some have not been in use at all; some
became incapitated, and one at least burned
down, 1t has made no difference, how
ever, whether the elevator was in use
bnrHcd down or not, so far as participating
il the receipts was concerned The one
not used received comparatively the same
compensation as the one which was, and
the owner of the one which was burned re-
ceiyod and was paid by the pool, and out
OF its earnings, more than $50, 900 year for
more than ten years after it's destruction
by fire..
Upon the formation of this last pool
war of determination was begun and
sue, esSfully carried out. The price for
e"yating and st orng grain by the pool
vas reduced temporarily to rninous prices,
and finally grain by the million OF bushels
was elevated and stored free of all charges.
The individual owners Of the elevators
outside Of the pools made an excellent fight
against odds, but were finally compelled
to surrender to consolidated capital and
close their doors, leaving the Elevator Trust
master of the situation and the public
humble supplicants for such scant favors
a. they saw fit to grant. 1t must also be
remembered that most Of the railroad COM
paniee own their own line Of steamships,
which ply between Chicago, Duluth and
other Lake ports and Buffalo, and these
Practically control the entire Lake traff1o
'!"y carry no freight marked for ship
ment over the canals, and give them only
such as they See fit. II is reported on the
highest authority that the railroad com
pan'es make the rate at which the canal
hoafman shall carry such freight as their
cong"sted condition renders either inn
possible or unprofita BILE for them to handle.
IN must be borne in mind that the State
owns no elevators, storehouses or even a
Sheltered dock in which single bushel of
grain or pound of freight can be housed
and thus be protected from the elements.
No package freight is now carried east
hound over the Erie Canal, fact due to
me iack Of terminal facilities in Buffalo and
New York; and all merchandise OF this
KIND must necessarily be- and is, consigned
10 The railroads. The canals carry only
such freight (when they can get it) az the
elements by exposure can neither damage
nor destroy
We should also remember that the
brofessed purpose of enlarging the Erie
,ald! is to increase the tonnage OF through
1f"lgh' from Buffalo to New York have
e1palned the situation at Buffalo, and at
Ne" York II is even worse. When
~" canal boatman arrives at New
YORK he finds that substantially all the
p'p,lc docks have been leased to the rail
gah or steamship companies, and that