The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-26

make a new contract, agreeing to pay 81
yard Tor excavation which had already
been done for 20 cents yard, than the PREF
ont superintendent and engineer would
have to make a contpa ct now binding the
State to pay IS a yard for the same work
and put their hands still deeper into the
treasury Of the State to get more money
to pay the Furnaceville Iron Company.
the treasury without right 1t was extra
compensation" paid without consideration
to the contractor and In violation Of that
part OF the Constitution already read.
Ex-oov. BLACKS DEFENCE OF oDELL RIDDIED
notice that Gov. Black declares that
because this las done during his adminstra-
ton the wrong could not be corrected under
Gov. Odell's administration when the
contractor came to settle his accounts with
the State.
II one OF Gov. Blacks clients had employed
a contractor to build house and employed
had wrongfully overpaid the contractor
$4,000. would he advise his client that,
when the contractor came to settle up and
to ask the surrender Of the deposit and the
security which the client held for the faith
full performance OF the contract the client
could not charge back the wrongful payment
upon settlement of the account and take
it from the amount then payable to the
contractor?
Gov Black is reported as saying that this
PdyI WdS Wy law. VAIN W
say to you that there is no law in the State
OF New York which requires one to wrong
the State. The Governor should know
this, because in the somewhat similar case
OF Grannis & O'Connor We. the Comptroller
decided by the Court Of Appeals and In
it was distinctly held that mandamus
would not lie to compel the Comptroller
to pay out OF the State treasury an excessive
and uncomfortable claim
ELIHu ROOT IN ERROR.
In a speech at the Union League Club
the papers in this matter and found the
fact to be that the contract Of the Furnace
vile Iron Company provided that rock
should include hard pam"
Mr.. Root is in error. The original con-
tract of the Furnaoeville Iron Company
contained no such provision. General speci-
fications were attached to the contract,
It is true which were calculated to cover
every kind Of work which under any cir
cumstances might be contracted for, but
referred to the work included in the con-
tract became part Of It, II the contract
had required e xcavation OF rock and the ex-
cavation Of earth and 1t became necessary
afterward to decide what was rock and
what was earth the provision to which
Mr. Root refers might have had application,
but as there was no agreement to escavate
rock in the contract, the provisions to which
he refers were no more part OF the con-
tract OF the Furnaceville Iron Company
than were the provisions In the same spe ci-
flcauons for removing trees, fences and
brush.
Il was not until after practically all
the 10 ,ol8 cubic yards had been excavated
that the supplemental contract was made,
provisions pro Of the specifications to which
Mr.. Root refers a part OF the contract,
This attempt was as unlawful as 1t would
be for the present Superintendent Of Public
Works and State Engineer and Surveyor
to make a contract now still more in
creasing the compensation.
AND THERE WAS NO HARD PAN, ANYWAY.
But the all important fact should not
be overlooked that there was neither hard
pan nor rock exoavated. If there had
been, the States engineers, in making
the preliminary examinations, or some of
the contractors who examined the material
and offered to excavate it, or some of the
workmen who used picks and shovels in
the bottom Of the canal would have dis
covered it. The biologists who examined
property in the vicinity would have dis
covered it. Rock or hard pan is not fertile
and would not grow corn or potatoes, as
the excavated matter now does. 1t could
not have been excavated by the same tool
used to e1cavate earth. IN the same manner,
at the same time and at the same expense
il it had been either rock or hard pan. and
the contractor would not have waited four
months and until so much work had been
done without applying for relief under his
contract, pursuant to the provisions of the
Constitution.
The more this question is examined.
the more points Of view from which it is
observed, the more apparent it becomes
that the money Of the State was unjustly
taken from the treasury and paid without
right to the contractor and that the action
of the Republican members OF the Canal
Board on the subject cannot be justified
NOW IS THE CHANCE TO STOP THE GRAFT.
Consider that nearly 100000 has now
been expended on account Of the SOL 900, 900
improvement and that single contract
for work has not yet been signed
Consider that the last Legislature and
the Governor created commission OF
appraisers Of lands to be taken in the barge
canal work at salaries and expenses aggre-
eating SIS, 900 a year; that these men have
nothing to appraise, even, yet, but that
they were appointed at the very first OPP
portunity by the Governor, in fact In
such haste that the civil service require
ments could not be complied with; that
receives an annual salary OF 5000 year:
receives his pay checks monthly by mail
at the building occupied by the Repub-
lican national and State committees
Consider that the Republican members
Of the Canal Board insist on adhering to
the old plan Of unit prices and classified
tons which affords constant opportunity
for false estimates and false classified
tions and repetition Of the misconduct
which characterized the Furnaceville Iron
Company and Dwyer, Grannis and O'Con-
nor transactions.
Bear in mind that a board of advisory
engineers appointed by Gov. Odell to scrut-
inize the conduct of this work is intrenched
in Office until it shall have been completed.
Will 1t not be wise to have the power
divided between the two parties-to select
a Democratic Canal Board to conduct the
business under the eye of the present Re-
publican board of engneers2
IF, having considered these facts, you
making a voting mark under the star,
but II YOU must vote under some other en-
The Weather.