As we have just seen, under the provisions of chapter 169 of the laws of 1862, the Legislature declared the enlargement of the canals completed. The improvement which, with some interruptions, had been carried on since its beginning in 1836, and which we now call the "First Enlargement," was officially declared closed – as being the only way left open to the State to determine the end of the expenditures and frequent changes of plans theretofore made under the guise of "completing the enlargement." The ever-increasing demands of a growing traffic and the protracted period of executing the improvements had added much that was not contemplated in the original project. By the terms of this act, all outstanding contracts were to be completed prior to September 1, 1862, and all accounts therefor closed as soon as possible thereafter; no work could be done nor material furnished after that date, under pretense of completing or enlarging the canals, and all powers of the contracting board in regard to the enlargement should then cease. The engineering force was reduced to one engineer and one assistant engineer upon each division, though, if necessary, temporary engineers might be employed on some specific work. Engineers were required to file a bond and oath of office, and their services were confined strictly to repairs and maintenance of the "completed" canals. The work then in progress under the act of April 9, 1860, on the Champlain canal and Glen Falls feeder was especially exempted from the provisions of the act.

This sweeping change of policy in the administration of canal affairs, however, left the enlargement of the canals far from actual completion. Much work remained to be done to place the uncompleted parts of the line on an equal basis of capacity and condition with the portions already enlarged and improved. The eastern and middle divisions were practically completed, except two contracts; the deficiency was mainly on the western division. Thirteen locks and a guard-lock on that division still remained to be improved, at an estimated cost of $447,000, while other needed improvements on that division would cost $170,000. Of the locks that had been doubled during the enlargement – that is, a second lock placed side by side with the original lock, permitting the passage of boats in both directions at the same time, thus doubling the capacity for traffic – fifty-seven were completed, while fourteen (exclusive of the Black Rock guard-lock) yet remained to be similarly improved. The De Ruyter reservoir, one of the important feeders of the long Rome level extending from Utica to Syracuse, was left uncompleted on September 1. The sum of $32,110 would be required to finish it, and the frequent scarcity of water on that level required the work to be done. The deficiency in amount of water at the Lodi lock (No. 47), at the western end of the Rome summit level, frequently restricted its capacity for lockage during the dry season. It was proposed to obviate this difficulty by a change of grade for a distance of fourteen miles east of the lock, commencing at the Limestone creek [see errata] feeder and gradually deepening the bottom to the lock, the increased depth being fifteen inches at that point, thus increasing the current and the supply of water for lockages. On the western division there were needed also heavier banks, their former construction having proved too light to sustain the pressure of the increased depth of water. These were to be widened and strengthened, bridge embankments were to be built out to proper proportions, and numerous slope walls were required. On the western division there was required also a large amount of bottom to be excavated before the enlargement could be completed.

On certain portions of the canal that were nominally finished there existed a form of construction – slope walls on benches – which had to be changed to a wall of full depth. [see errata] The alteration was never considered a part of the enlargement, although it was rendered necessary by that undertaking, and many miles were rebuilt after 1862. In the eastern division alone there were seventy-five miles of these slope walls, constructed upon an earthen bench that averaged four and one-half feet above the bottom of the canal. There were serious objections to this method of construction. It gave only forty-two feet width of canal-bottom, which permitted the passage of but two boats at a time. Loaded boats could not get nearer than about eighteen feet to the top of the bank, and when both shores were thus occupied, no space remained for a third boat to pass between. These earthen benches had also become disintegrated and had washed away, filling the canal with debris and in many cases permitting the superincumbent slope wall to slide bodily into the bed of the canal. Traffic was thus materially restricted, and it was proposed to reconstruct these slope walls, extending them to canal-bottom and giving a width of fifty-two and a half or fifty-six feet, on bottom, according to the slope of bank adopted. This would permit the passage of three loaded boats abreast. These walls had been constructed prior to 1842, but after the Constitution of 1846 had allowed the resumption of operations, a plan for full depth [see errata] walls had been adopted.

By the system then in vogue, repairs were let by contract, for a gross sum, to maintain the canals in a navigable condition. This was deemed highly objectionable by the State Engineer. Temporary repairs and makeshifts were introduced, where permanent repairs should be made, and numerous claims for masonry work, done outside of the contract, were made. A change to the unit system of paying for repairs, as in construction, was advocated.

The Civil war was then at full tide. Pennsylvania was invaded and New York escaped a similar disaster only by the quick rushing of many thousands of its troops to the aid of its sister State. The blockade of the lower Mississippi by the Confederate force had turned the traffic in western grain to find an outlet to the eastward. The suspension of specie payments, draft riots and the depletion of the working forces of the state by enlistment added to the complications of the period, and all had a bearing upon the policy concerning canal affairs. In view, also, of the loss of trade with the southern states, the Executive of the State called attention to the necessity of providing for the accession of commerce from the West, which then constituted eighty per cent of the traffic of the canals.

The probability also, at this time, of a war between the United States and Great Britain aroused the apprehension of the inhabitants of the cities located on the Great Lakes, as to the consequences to them, in case of active hostilities. Shortly after the treaty of Ghent, a supplementary treaty was made between Great Britain and the United States, by the terms of which each government could maintain as a naval force but one boat on Lake Ontario and one on Lake Champlain and two boats on each of the upper Great Lakes – the boats not to exceed one hundred tons burden, and the armament of each not to exceed one eighteen pound cannon. It was considered that the United States would have no way of bringing war-ships to the lakes to protect the many wealthy and prosperous cities along their shores, while Great Britain had so improved her waterways that she could bring a large fleet of war-ships up the St. Lawrence and place our lake cities at her mercy. It was proposed, therefore, to enlarge the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals and their locks, to permit the passage of boats adequate to defend the northern and northwestern lake coasts. Other schemes were also proposed for bringing vessels from the Mississippi to the harbor of New York. Among them were projects for a ship canal around Niagara falls, together with the enlargement of the canal locks from Oswego to Albany, and the enlargement of the Champlain canal, with better connections between Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence river. ¹

An Assembly resolution of March 7, 1862, directed the State Engineer to examine the Champlain canal with a view to enlarging it to pass gunboats through Lake Champlain from the Hudson to the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario. In answer to the resolution, the report ² of the State Engineer to the Legislature on March 28, 1862, gave $815,000 as an estimate for enlarging the Champlain locks to twenty-five feet in width, admitting boats one hundred and fifty feet long, while the cost of enlarging the prism and mechanical structures to the same size as the existing Erie canal would be $2,157,900; engineering and land damages would add $797,290, making a total of $3,770,190. On March 13, 1862, the Assembly also instructed the State Engineer to make, at the earliest possible moment, an estimate of cost and to report concerning the feasibility of an enlargement of one tier of Erie locks to twenty-five feet width and one hundred and fifty feet length, in order that the General Government might consider that route in connection with the subject of lake frontier defense. The Oswego canal was later included by request. The estimates were: for the Erie, $2,815,900; for the Erie and Oswego route, $3,441,400. The Assembly considered these reports and adopted a resolution referring the matter to Congress, urging an appropriation. ³

The Legislature of 1863 again passed concurrent resolutions, authorizing surveys and estimates for a tier of locks to be located at the side of or near the existing locks on the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals – the new locks to be not less than two hundred and twenty-five feet long and twenty-six feet wide, and to be calculated for seven feet of water in the canal. Other resolutions were also passed, reciting the benefits of such locks to the General Government and its probable desire to secure the right of perpetual passage through the canals, free of tolls, for vessels, troops and munitions of war, and to render a fair equivalent by contributing justly toward the cost. The Federal Government was requested to detail a competent consulting engineer, and Hon. Charles B. Stuart, who had been the first incumbent of the office of State Engineer and Surveyor of New York, was so appointed. The Legislature provided for the expenses of the survey by appropriating twenty-five thousand dollars (chapter 311). The canal board directed surveys to be made upon the Oswego and Erie canals, but omitted the Champlain canal. This was known as the survey for "Gunboat locks." The report ⁴ of the State Engineer to the Legislature, with estimates of cost, was submitted on February 4, 1864. The estimates for this latter survey, it will be observed, were for much larger locks than required by the estimates of 1862, and though not included in the resolutions, it was deemed essential to add the cost of deepening the prism to eight feet of water, to accommodate the draught of gunboats contemplated to be used. The estimates were as follows: for the Erie canal, entire length, one tier new stone locks, $11,902,888.15; removing bench walls, $1,784,185; deepening one foot, $1,789,900; land damages, $425,000; total, Erie canal, $15,901,973.15. By the route via Syracuse and Oswego, similar items aggregated: from the Hudson to Syracuse, $10,399,198.15; and from Syracuse to Oswego, $2,743,000.

From the canal auditor’s report for the fiscal year 1862, we learn that the revenues, other than from taxation, were $4,854,989.67. The expenses of ordinary repair and maintenance were $773,388.32. The total canal-stock debt on September 30, 1862, was $23,981,610.25, on which the annual interest was $1,381,970.76. The sinking fund for redemption of this debt amounted to $3,532,784.32. There were five thousand five hundred and sixty-eight boats in use on the canals, of which eight hundred and fifty were registered as new. The total tonnage for the year was 5,598,785, an increase of 1,091,150 tons over 1861.

In the ensuing year, 1863, the tolls fell off during the latter part of the season about half a million dollars, owing to the breaking of the Mississippi blockade. The total receipts were $5,118,501.35, and ordinary repairs and salaries cost $770,882.52.

During 1863 the policy of widening the canal by removing the objectionable wall benches was inaugurated, but at the close of the year there still remained to be removed over eighty-seven miles of such benches, of which seventy were in the eastern, fifteen in the middle, and two and one-quarter in the western division. In addition to this, in the western division there still remained, to complete the enlargement, a large amount of bottom excavation, weak embankments to strengthen, slope walls to build where needed and, as equally necessary, the doubling of locks already described. The De Ruyter reservoir was practically completed and its added supply of water greatly benefited the long summit level. The canal commissioner of the middle division was instructed to cause that portion of Nine Mile creek feeder from the Erie canal to Camillus to be made navigable for boats plying on the enlarged Erie canal. ⁵

The geographical position of our State had, at all times, drawn the greater share both of foreign commerce and of interior exchanges in the United States. This concentration of trade was commented upon by Governor Fenton in his message, in which he stated that it had increased since the war began, in consequence of the closing of southern ports and the stoppage of trade on the Mississippi. Not only had this tendency become more decided, but the volume of trade had increased, both foreign and domestic, contrary to the predictions of the enemies of the Union and to the surprise of its friends. ⁶

In 1864 the work authorized by the canal board, under the head of extraordinary repairs, was generally finished, including the dam across the Genesee river. The dam across the Mohawk river at Rexford Flats, four miles below Schenectady, was not completed. The benefits arising from the removal of the wall benches were becoming more apparent, and every year’s experience in operating the canals proved that these benches should be removed and the capacity of the prism increased to meet the requirements of navigation. During this year the Legislature appropriated $75,000 for the purpose of constructing two stone side-cut locks in the village of West Troy. ⁷ The supply of water from the completed De Ruyter reservoir was found to be insufficient for the needs of the canal and the construction of Fish creek feeder was advocated. Locks built prior to 1842 had been constructed upon a bed of gravel, which had become undermined and was troublesome. Later construction had been upon a concrete foundation. During 1864 some of these gravel foundations had been repaired with concrete, and it was urged that the old locks should be examined and repaired if necessary. The removal of earth and rock from the bottom of the canal in the western division was carried on extensively during the winter.

The gross receipts from canals for the year 1864 were $4,346,265.52, and the expenses of repairs and maintenance were $1,028,909.46. Increased prices, of course, increased the cost of repairs and maintenance, and it was felt that this must continue until the resumption of specie payment. The interest-bearing canal-stock debt on October 1, 1864, was $21,127,810.25, on which the interest per annum was $1,206,262.76. The sinking-fund balance for its payment was $4,841,130.49. The gross tonnage on the canals for the year was 4,852,941. Three hundred and ninety-nine boats, old and new, were registered.

In 1865 a change was made in the rank of engineers on canal work. Pursuant to chapter 169 of the laws of 1862, each of the three divisions had been in charge of "one engineer and an assistant engineer," from September 1, 1862, to April 17, 1865. At this time, by virtue of chapter 477, Laws of 1865, the act of 1862 was so amended that these engineers should rank as division and resident engineers, their appointment being invested in the canal board, and their duties being prescribed by the State Engineer and Surveyor. During the year further progress was made in the removal of the objectionable benches and at the close of the year only about fifty miles remained, all of which was in the eastern division. According to the State Engineer, the absolute necessity of providing an additional supply of water for the Jordan and Port Byron levels was by this time fully realized. The appropriation of a part, or the whole, of the waters of Owasco creek would enable navigation to be more continually maintained.

At lock No. 39, in Little Falls, a new form of gate called the submerged or "tumble-gate" was tried with gratifying success. This form of gate became quite popular later, wherever circumstances would permit its introduction to displace the ordinary swing or miter-gate, the advantages being the lowered coat of construction and operation and a substantial increase in the length of the lock-chamber without lengthening the walls. It superseded the upper pair of gates, opening up-stream by dropping flat, below the breast wall, the boats passing over it. A wooden quoin-post, with iron journals, fitted into sockets in the walls. The post turned within a hollow quoin, laid horizontally. The gate was loaded with stones to sink quickly, and was operated by chains and gearing at the side. The hollow quoin rested upon an open timber framework in place of the usual miter-sill wall. A platform extended from the hollow quoin to the breast wall, through which horizontal valves permitted the water to drop through the platform and pass to the lock-chamber. It was claimed that its operation caused less commotion in filling the lock, boats rising steadily and upon an even keel; also that one man, operating a single set of machines, would suffice for either single or double locks.

For the fiscal year 1865 the canal revenues amounted to $3,577,465.45, while the expenses for ordinary repairs and maintenance rose to $1,927,373.59. The canal debt was $19,424,585.49, upon which the interest charges were $1,105,249.28. The great cost of the breaks of 1865, which necessarily called for large outlays in addition to the ordinary expenses, was chiefly the cause of the immense increase for repairs and maintenance. The tolls received amounted to $3,839,955, while the entire tonnage amounted to 4,729,654. The number of boats registered during the year was two hundred.

The subject of a canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario, built upon New York ground, was at this period receiving considerable attention from canal advocates. The initiative seems to have come from certain commercial conventions in the West – notably at Detroit in July, and at Morris, Illinois, in November, 1865, where it was urged that cheaper grain rates by way of such a canal and the St. Lawrence should be secured. In Congress a charter was sought, backed by legislative action in some western states toward this end, and a bill had already passed the House, offering the loan of six millions in six percent twenty-year bonds to any company incorporated by any State that would undertake its construction. The General Government was to enter upon and acquire the necessary lands and rights by the power of eminent domain and to transfer them to the corporation when organized. The support came from Massachusetts and the East, which wanted to buy cheap flour, and from the West, which wanted to sell dear wheat, regardless of its effect upon the prosperity of our own State, which had already expended vast sums upon its canal system, largely for the benefit of its neighbors, and whose recent request to Congress for aid in further improvements had been refused. It was then deemed impossible to enlarge our own system to meet the requirements of the proposed ship canal around Niagara falls, which provided for ninety feet bottom and one hundred and five feet surface width, twelve feet of water, and locks two hundred and seventy-five by forty-five feet. Even if our canals were enlarged, the largest vessels could not then pass the Hudson, and would, therefore, seek a foreign channel through the St. Lawrence river. In reply ^{a href="#e08">8} to Assembly resolutions of inquiry on March 12 and 26, 1866, the canal board and the auditor denounced the proposed project in vigorous terms, as being more or less destructive to the prosperity of the canal system of the State and the commerce of the City of New York. It was at the same time urged that the immediate enlargement of the Erie and Oswego canal locks would abundantly provide for any probable traffic.

It is, perhaps, needless to add that the Niagara ship canal has never been built. The project originated under cover of its necessity as a measure for national defence. In 1863 President Lincoln had appointed Charles B. Stuart, C. E., to make report and estimates for a gunboat canal of twelve feet depth, and this report was published as H. doc. 51, 38th Cong. 1st sess. 1864. No action was taken until 1867, when surveys were made for the United States by James S. Lawrence, C. E., and Stephen S. Gooding, C. E. Six different lines were surveyed; three from Lewiston on the Niagara river, and three from Lake Ontario; all being for a depth of fourteen feet. These were published, with maps and profiles, in the report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A., pages 217 to 287, 1868, and again as part of H. rp. 1,430, 51st Cong. 1st sess. 1890.

For the year 1866 the total canal tonnage was 5,775,220. The canal revenues were $4,309,746.12, while the expenditures were $1,434,989.73. The debt was reduced to $18,166,600, upon which the annual interest charge was $1,035,330. The sinking-fund balances, applicable to the payment of the debt, were $2,563,623.23. The season of navigation was from May 1 to December 12, or two hundred and twenty-six days. At the close of the season there still remained sixty-nine miles of wall benches in the eastern division, producing a congestion of traffic at the locality needing the most space of any, especially near the close of the season. It will be observed that a discrepancy in the remaining mileage of wall benches is here apparent. Similar inconsistencies will be noticed in the accounts of subsequent years, which are taken from the contemporaneous reports.

The magnitude which the question of transporting freight through the state had assumed was the subject of earnest discussion by the Governor in his message covering this period, and indeed by the State Engineer and other canal officials. The imperative demands, by outside interests, to the General Government for better facilities for the transportation of their products to the seaboard, and the arguments, which the friends of the canal had hastened to interpose in their defense, seem to have created the official impression that the canals of the state had but narrowly escaped being placed at the mercy of foreign corporations, as competitors, by the contemplated construction of the ship canals. The immediate improvement of traffic facilities upon the Erie canal was, therefore, urged by the authorities, with the added impetus of the argument that it had become a measure of self-protection. It was considered that the canals, as then constructed, were adequate to carry a traffic of four million tons each way during an average season, while so far no demand had at any time been made upon them for more than three-fourths of this amount. By the enlargement of one tier of locks to a chamber-length of two hundred and twenty feet by a width of twenty-five feet at the lower water-surface, boats of six-foot draught could be passed, carrying cargoes of five hundred tons. With an equal distribution of traffic throughout the season, the capacity would be increased to at least five million tons each way, and the cost of transportation reduced from two and sixteen hundredths to one and forty-four hundredths mills per ton-mile – based upon horse-power being used. In the opinion of the State Engineer, the probable substitution of steam-power would doubtless reduce the cost of transportation nearly fifty percent. The surveys and estimates of 1863-4, which were considered reliable, were used as a basis for these deductions, and by certain modifications in lock masonry and construction, in the interest of economy, the total estimate for enlarging the locks was placed at about ten million dollars. This did not include the item of deepening the prism one foot, which, in view of its existing limited width, was considered as of at least doubtful utility. Neither was the sum of $1,794,110, the amount necessary to remove the old wall benches, a measure requisite to improve the working capacity of the canals even without lock enlargement – included in this estimate.

In order to properly appreciate the sequence of important events which followed during the next decade, it is necessary to turn our attention to another phase of the situation and to briefly outline certain matters which not only bore upon, but controlled those events. At no subsequent period within the forty years that have since elapsed have conditions then existing been repeated, nor probably ever will be. The close of the Civil war, in 1865, brought to the people of the Empire State, in common with all the North, renewed peace and prosperity. The channels of trade opened with vigor and commerce sprang into life. Local industries and factories soon employed thousands. The shop, farm and store were thriving as in the past. People invested money in all kinds of business enterprises. The new industrial life demanded increased facilities for transportation. The State was entering upon an era of prosperity, unknown in the past and scarcely dreamed for the future. Wages were high, work was plentiful and money was expended liberally on improvements, both public and private, and, as a logical sequence, not always with the careful supervision which should have been given. With the alternating changes of both State and municipal control in New York, political tension ran high. Under these favorable circumstances it was not strange that numerous contractors and officials should have embraced the opportunity and overstepped the bounds of integrity. ⁹

These conditions were neither a matter of administrations nor of party, but rather of private greed and cupidity. It was becoming a matter of general though unsubstantiated belief that money was being improperly used, and the attention of the Legislature of 1867 was early drawn to the existing condition. In March of that year, by concurrent resolution, ¹⁰ a joint committee, composed of Senators Stanford, Gibson and H. C. Murphy, and Assemblymen Bristol, H. Smith, Gridley, Millspaugh and W. S. Clark, was appointed to inquire into the management of any of the canals of the State and of any department thereof, to investigate the conduct of any person then or theretofore officially connected with the canals, and also of the contracting board, to inquire into the awards made for canal damages and canal breaks, and also to investigate the nonperformance of contracts. The resolution was offered in the Senate on January 30. The public press, without regard to party affiliations, editorially upheld the necessity of an investigation. On January 27 the Albany Argus editorially said that the superintendent and contract systems had after trial both proved failures; that boatmen claimed that their rights were not protected. Charges of favoritism in letting contracts were made and the canal "ring" was denounced. It was alleged that matters growing out of the recent war had absorbed public attention, with this result.

On January 31 the Albany Evening Journal editorially said that immense, long-continued and wide-reaching frauds were matters of general report and belief. It advocated taking the canals out of the hands of those responsible for the frauds, saying that everyone was aware of the condition of things, though no one had, so far, been able to trace the matter to its source.

The report ¹¹ of the investigating committee bears the date of January 22, 1868. It stated that from the testimony taken it was shown that gross frauds had been for a long time perpetrated by various individuals and combinations of men against the State, in the management of the canals; that the abuses thus practiced involved those engaged in permanent construction work and in superintendence and repairs, as well as the trusted functionaries of the State. In regard to the contracting system, it was learned that at the opening of proposals for repair contracts on December 28, 1866, the various contractors had held an organized meeting at Stanwix Hall, Albany, at which the rights to make exclusive bids were put up and auctioned off among themselves, the amount thus realized being divided among themselves, and the successful bidder recouping himself by adding the amount, or more, to his bid, the other proposals being "dummy" bids, which were rejected for technical informalities. The contracting board was found to be guilty of corrupt collusion with the contractors, at least one of their number having had knowledge of the Stanwix Hall combination, when the contracts were made. The committee found that the loss of money to the State by frauds practiced within the preceding ten years amounted to several million dollars. Numerous relief bills had been skillfully engineered through the Legislature, by which the canal board was authorized to render excessive awards and, in general, the committee roundly denounced the repair contract system.

In 1867 there was held a constitutional convention, which met on June 4. This is the only Convention which has ever been held under the twenty-year rule established by the Constitution of 1846. At its session the convention considered fully the subject of canals. Of its work in this respect Judge Lincoln’s recent book has this to say: "It had long been apparent that reform was needed in canal administration. The system of administration had grown up from small beginnings, and from the outset extraordinary powers had been conferred on the canal commissioners." Speaking of Governor Seward’s message, he says that as far back as 1839 the Governor had objected "to the powers exercised by the commissioners.... Experience had justified Governor Seward’s criticisms, ... and the conviction in the minds of experienced statesmen that a remedy was needed had become so strong in 1867 that a change of canal administration was expected as a matter of course, and there was little difference of opinion in the Convention on this subject, except as to the method by which this change should be effected and the kind of administration to be substituted." ¹²

The work of the Convention, except that relating to the reconstruction of the judiciary system, which was its crowning feature, was swept away by the failure of the people to ratify the proposed Constitution, when it was referred to them at the November election in 1869. Judge Lincoln considers that this action was largely instrumental in causing the formation of the legislative Constitutional Commission of 1872, which will be referred to later. A brief synopsis of the changes that the Convention proposed in relation to canal administration may clarify our view of the situation at that time, inasmuch as it shows how radical were the measures, which were deemed necessary by the delegates. The Constitution proposed to abolish the canal board, the contracting board and the offices of canal commissioner, canal appraiser and in effect also that of State Engineer, no provision being made for his election among the State officers; to vest all canal administration, except financial, in a superintendent of public works; to make the comptroller, treasurer and attorney-general the commissioners of the canal fund, and to create a court of claims and a solicitor of claims. Provision was also made for paying the canal debt and for not rejecting any bid for informality until the bidder had been given an opportunity to correct his error. The Convention considered the subject of canal enlargement, but without approval. The purpose of the delegates seems to have been an endeavor to concentrate authority and responsibility in canal management. The rejection of the Constitution may indicate that the people were not in accord with so sweeping a change, and that their position toward canal affairs influenced the final result. However, several of the recommendations, but in a modified form, were later made a part of the Constitution by independent amendments.

Much complaint was made in 1867 concerning the extreme scarcity of water. The De Ruyter reservoir had proved entirely inadequate to supply the needs of the long level during dry seasons or during the plethora of traffic in the fall months or in consequence of breaks. Oneida and Cowassalon creeks were considered available for reservoirs, and Fish and Oriskany creeks could be utilized as feeders at moderate cost. It was suggested that the plan of pumping water from Oneida lake into the canals be also examined. The commissioner of the middle division made a special report concerning the scarcity of water. Insufficient water at Syracuse in the long level delayed lockages and impeded navigation; at no time was there water enough to permit lockages to the full capacity of one hundred and eighty boats per day. The Jordan level could be relieved from Owasco lake. On the western division the supply from Lake Erie was not enough at times.

Three plans were proposed to obviate the delays in lockages at the Port Byron and Syracuse locks – those having an upward lift to the east – as follows: first, to restrict the model and tonnage of boats, as the trouble was mostly, with the heavy, blunt-nosed, western grain boats, built to the full lock capacity and being unable, except slowly, to get the water behind them in the restricted lock-chamber ; second, the use of local steam-power to aid in hauling them through; and third, the addition of another lock at each of these troublesome points.

Tests were made during the year 1867 at lock No. 30 – a double lock of ten and a half feet lift – to determine the time required for lockage. In the trial 194 boats were locked; the shortest time was three minutes; the longest 11.5 minutes; the average time was 5.12 minutes. With double locks, both in action, this would pass 562 boats in twenty-four hours. Increasing the average time to ten minutes would mean 288 boats per day. As the tonnage of down boats was from 210 to 240 tons, and of up boats from 50 to 100 tons, the average would be 150 tons, which would give 43,200 tons per day, and 9,072,000 tons for a season of 210 days. ¹³

The dilapidated condition of the lateral canals (except the Black River canal) was becoming a subject of serious alarm. As all were exempted from sale or lease by constitutional prohibition, the State was under obligations to preserve their usefulness, yet none of them were in good navigable condition, and all were interrupted by structural decay, lack of water, land-slides and other troubles, resulting from the want of systematic and needed repairs.

State Engineer Goodsell, reviewing the situation in 1867, strongly advocated the necessity of a revision of the existing system of construction and supervision. Conflicting statutes led to interferences with the commissioner’s department. The repairs and maintenance of the canals should, in his opinion, be placed under the supervision of the Engineer’s department, which should originate plans and detailed bills, supervise construction and make final estimates for payment by the commissioner. Necessary funds for defraying travel and expense should, of course, be allowed. An exclusive canal system of free telegraph lines was also recommended between collectors’ offices in order to secure prompt knowledge of conditions and prepare to meet them.

The season of navigation in 1867 opened on May 6 and closed December 20, a period of two hundred and twenty-nine days. There were registered five hundred and twenty boats during the season, as against four hundred and twenty-five during the year 1866. The total tonnage carried by canal was 5,688,325, valued at $278,956,712. The canal revenues were $4,050,357.79 and the expenses of repair and maintenance were $1,220,192.65. The canal debt was reduced to $15,722,900, bearing $910,645 interest annually, from which might be deducted sinking-fund balances amounting to $3,214,940.10. During the year there had also been a redemption and purchases of unmatured stock to the extent of $2,497,000.

In 1868 navigation on the canals opened May 4 and closed December 7, an average period of two hundred and seventeen days. The tons of total movement during the year were 6,442,225, valued at $305,301,920. The receipts were $4,477,546.17. Ordinary repairs and collections were $1,184,245.04. The canal debt was $14,249,800, including the balance of the debt of 1846, which was paid later in the year. Against this debt there were sinking-fund balances amounting to $4,017,232.43. The revenues had increased by nearly half a million. The balance of the canal debt of 1846, which amounted to $2,240,860 on the thirtieth of September, was paid during the year. Governor Hoffman said in his annual message to the Legislature of 1869: "It affords me great pleasure to congratulate the Legislature and the people of the State upon the fact that the surplus revenues of the canals for the past fiscal year have been sufficient to pay the balance of the canal debt of 1846, satisfy the other requirements of the Constitution and contribute over a hundred thousand dollars ‘to defray the necessary expenses of the government.’ " ¹⁴ The extinguishment of this debt liberated the canal revenues from the necessity of an annual appropriation of $1,700,000 and enabled the Legislature to make immediate appropriations for the payment of the general fund debts and deficiency loans.

During the year a new method of steam propulsion was tested and its results were favorably commented upon by the department. Unlike the methods by towing propellers, screw and side-wheel paddle propellers and endless chains, which had already been tried, this plan provided for applying the power directly from the engine to an adjustable wheel under the center of the boat, which rolled along the bottom of the canal, propelling the boat by its weight and friction, upon the same principle as a locomotive driving-wheel. In case of very deep water a screw propeller was used. No unusual swell was created and it was claimed that twice the speed of horses could be obtained with less expense.

Also, a remedy was sought for the delay and expense of weighing cargoes, the Legislature of 1866 having made a small appropriation for the purpose. Amsden’s hydrostatic scale, which had been under notice for many years, or since 1841, received a favorable report from the committee in charge and the canal board authorized its limited employment. By its use, the weights of the boat, both light and with its cargo, were ascertained by the amount of water displaced, as registered on a graduated tube placed amidships. The Engineer’s department, however, was opposed to its extended use, mainly for the reason that increased opportunity for fraud was presented by reason of its not being under the control of sworn officials of the State.

The final maps and surveys of the enlarged Erie canal – known as the "blue line" maps, - showing correct position of canal lands and true location of enlarged canal, were about completed during the year. These surveys had been in progress for several years, having been made as the engineers had opportunity after any portion was finished, even before the so-called completion in 1862.

In his annual report for 1868, the State Engineer again urged the removal of the old "bench walls" – preferably termed benches – upon the Erie canal, and also the immediate construction of the Fish creek feeder to supply additional water to the long summit level. These improvements had been repeatedly urged for more than eight years. His report showed that eighty miles of these benches still existed (which, incidentally, was several miles more than had been previously reported) and the estimated cost of their removal was given as two thousand dollars per mile, or $160,000. The estimated cost of the Fish creek feeder, including land damages, – based upon a length of eleven miles, and a section fifteen feet wide on bottom, thirty-one feet at surface, with four feet depth of water, capable of delivering seventy-five hundred cubic feet of water per minute at the canal near Rome, – was $335,000. The doubling of the remainder of the locks on the western division was also urged. The most serious objection to a single lock was deemed to be its liability to accident, in which case the whole traffic of the canals was interrupted until it could be repaired. The cost of this doubling was estimated at $425,000. Now that more of the canal revenues were to be made available by their release from certain constitutional obligations by the extinguishment of the debt of 1846, these much-needed improvements were most strongly urged. ¹⁵ This report again roundly condemned the contract repair system. The project of lock enlargement seems to have remained quiescent for the time being.

The Legislature of 1869 seemed inclined to authorize more extensive improvements than had been undertaken since 1862. In reply to a resolution of inquiry, the canal board submitted to the Assembly, on February 3, an estimate of the cost of completing the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals upon the plan of the recent enlargement, – doubling the locks and removing "bench walls." The Erie was estimated by the engineers to cost $2,418,620 to complete, and the three named, $2,910,220. The work would require three years. ¹⁶ The Legislature was also importuned by various commercial bodies to take some action looking toward the further improvement of the canals. The Assembly committee on canals, on April 23, reported an amendment to the Constitution, authorizing the canal fund commissioners to borrow ten million dollars to improve the canals and asking for the appointment of a special expert commission to examine into their condition and to report the most feasible and economical plan for their improvement. ¹⁷ Although the Legislature failed to sanction this amendment, it made large provision for numerous improvements. By chapter 877, a three-fourths-mill tax was laid for the purpose of extraordinary repairs and new work on the canals, including the removal of wall benches, strengthening of banks, building of slope and vertical walls and doubling of locks on the western division. The construction of Fish creek feeder was also authorized by this law, which appropriated $100,000 therefor. Its necessity and availability as the means of an additional supply of water for the eastern end of the long level was conceded by all who were conversant with the situation. The estimated cost was then placed at $693,280. It was planned for a length of thirteen and three tenths miles from the west branch of Fish creek at McConnellsville to a point on the canal three miles west of Rome. It was to be sixteen feet wide on bottom, four feet in depth, slopes two to one, surface thirty-two feet, with a descent of six inches to the mile and to deliver about eight thousand cubic feet of water per minute. However, this feeder was never constructed. After considering the project more carefully for several years, it was finally discarded, chiefly lest the diversion of water should involve the State in extended suits for damages.

In response to the demands of those who urged that cheaper tolls meant increased business for the canals, concurrent resolutions were also adopted, reducing by about fifty percent the tolls on iron castings and a score of heavy commodities. The experiment was later admitted to be a failure. The freights billed through to Chicago and the West by way of the lakes were placed on board lake steamers, which were either owned or subsidized by the railroads, and the lake rates were promptly raised from two to four dollars per ton, thus nullifying the effect of the change in tolls.

The canal opened for navigation on May 6, 1869, and closed December 10, a period of two hundred and eighteen days. The canal revenues for the fiscal year were $4,161,280.10, while the expenses were $1,278,507.52. The net receipts were applied in two parts, thus: to the sinking fund under section two of the Constitution, $1,500,000; and the remainder, $1,382,772.58, to the sinking fund under section three. The canal debt was $12,564,780, and if the various sinking-fund balances were applied, the net debt would be reduced to $9,351,758.65, a net reduction for the year of $880,968.92. There were then in service 6,870 boats, as stated by the auditor. The canals were over stocked with boats. If all were employed, their tonnage would exceed the capacity of the canals by three million tons. This condition made the business of the carriers unremunerative. According to the auditor, the business of the year exhibited a falling off of $410,528.55, attributable mainly to a late opening of navigation, a short corn crop, a short supply of coal, unremunerative markets for wheat and flour and a reduction of tolls. The tons of total movement were 5,859,080, of the value of $249,281,284.

In their subsequent annual reports covering the period of 1869, both the Governor and the auditor recommended further reduction of tolls; the State Engineer’s department advocated the use of steam-dredges for the purpose of bottoming out the prism. The contract repair system was largely blamed for the accumulated deposits of mud and silt in the bottom. The general change from wood to iron bridges, which had of late become the policy of the canal authorities, was considered as an important factor in the aggregate of expenditures.

By this time the flood of objections to the contract system of repairs had reached its culminating point. By the terms of chapter 55, Laws of 1870, the contracting board and the system of canal repairs by contract were abolished, except that outstanding contracts were not invalidated. Contractors might, at their option, surrender their existing contracts, which the canal board must cancel, or the board itself might, upon the recommendation of the commissioners, annul any existing contract. The canal board was to settle with contractors so surrendering, also to determine the future method or system of repairing the canals, appoint canal patrolmen and make rules to carry out the provisions of the act. By its terms, the canal commissioners were specifically exempted from its operations and were left with their full power and control otherwise provided by law.

By legislative enactments, various methods of steam propulsion were authorized during the year (1870). Chapter 576 granted to Addison M. Farwell and associates the exclusive right to introduce and operate, for towing purposes, a system of chains or cables, laid upon the bottom of the canal. This was known as the European or Belgian system, and had been successfully operated on various foreign canals. But at the close of the season, the commissioners asserted that no action seemed to have been taken by the beneficiaries of these concessions. Chapter 655 authorized Norman W. Kingsley and Charles H. Gardner to construct and operate, under their patents, a system of chains, cables or rails suspended over the canal. Another form of detached boat-scale (Reim’s), for ascertaining the weight of boats, was authorized by chapter 656. All of these improvements were to be under the supervision of the canal board. Some experiments in steam propulsion, however, were made by private enterprise during the year, the canal boat Geo. S. Barnard, capacity two hundred tons, propelled by steam, making an experimental trip up the Hudson river and through the Erie canal to Schenectady and return. The results of the trial proved that steam could be applied to ordinary canal-boats to propel them three miles an hour, or twice the speed of the loaded boats propelled by horses, without any injurious action on the canal banks. The State Engineer thought that the direct solution of the question of the practicability and economy of navigating the canals by steam-power could be more speedily and satisfactorily ascertained by placing the matter in the hands of the canal board. In his annual report for 1870, he reiterated his recommendation of the previous year, in asking that an appropriation of not less than $20,000 be made and that authority be given the canal board to have such experiments and examinations made as would determine the best methods of applying steam to canal navigation. Heretofore the experiments had been entirely at the risk and expense of the inventors, most of whom had not been fully acquainted with the principles involved in the navigation of contracted or artificial channels. As will be noted a little later, this request brought a response from the next Legislature, which offered a prize that finally resulted in the introduction of successful steam propulsion on the canals.

Chapter 767 authorized the deepening and improving of the canal at Black Rock harbor, Buffalo, to the extent of $80,000. The surface width from Buffalo to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls railroad bridge was one hundred and fifty feet; thence to below Ferry street there was only a restricted channel of seventy feet, with a broad channel between that and the Niagara river to the lower end of the harbor, where several large mills were located, using water from the harbor. Without great care water was liable to be used also directly from the canal. Moreover, most of the water required to maintain the canal from Buffalo east to Montezuma, nearly one hundred and fifty miles, passed through this seventy-foot channel, thus creating a strong current, which the loaded, west-bound boats could stem with difficulty. It was proposed to set back the dividing bank, giving a channel one hundred and fifty feet wide, at an expense of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Tumble-gates, invented by George Heath, were put into locks Nos. 44 and 45, and Mr. Heath was also authorized to expend $4,000 in experiments for utilizing the feed-water, passed through the culvert between the locks, by appliances for operating the lower gates and for aiding boats to draw in and out in shorter time. The experiment was made at lock No. 37, at Little Falls. Speaking of the tumble-gates, the State Engineer said that, as the capacity of a canal was measured by its facilities for lockage and as the new gates, after having been tested for the past two or three years, had proved so successful, their general introduction, at least upon the Erie canal, was desirable. The details of their construction have been referred to already. These experiments marked the beginning of the machinery that was later installed and has been used so successfully ever since. The power utilized had formerly gone to waste.

Navigation opened May 10, 1870, and closed December 8, remaining open two hundred and thirteen days. The tons of total movement on the canals for the season were 6,173,769, of the value of $231,836,176. The revenues were $3,107,138.90 and the expenses were given as $1,945,635.92. The outstanding canal debt, on September 30, was $12,564,780 and the sinking-fund balances to meet it were $2,149,884.61. The canal auditor called attention to the recent prevailing practice of providing for all extraordinary expenditures in a single bill, instead of separate local bills, as had been the custom previously. The insertion of items of appropriation for local purposes secured the mutual support of interested legislators and facilitated its passage. During that year, such appropriations for improvements, new work and extraordinary repairs had amounted to $4,168,151.21, a sum nearly equal to the entire cost of the original Erie canal.

In his message covering this period, the Governor said that there had been a falling off of revenue since the preceding season, which, however, was not serious. It was not all due to low tolls. The competitive freights were also low. New York produced 6,000,000 bushels of wheat and consumed 21,000,000 bushels, besides corn, oats, rye and barley. A part of the policy of 1870 had been to put the canals in thorough order. After many years of neglect they had become obstructed and dilapidated. It was to be hoped that in the following year revenues would be larger and expenditures less. The average round trip had been shortened four days. Experiments in steam navigation, he thought, should be fostered. ¹⁸

At the close of the season there appeared to have been still remaining some thirty-six miles of old wall benches in the eastern division; the Jordan, Syracuse and long levels still contained some uncompleted sections, and between Lyons and Newark only about one-third of this form of improvement had been accomplished. It was alleged that wherever they had been removed at least twenty percent had been added to the efficiency of the canal.

By the State Engineer, the division engineers, forwarders, boatmen and others whose interest brought them into contact with the canal, the change in method of repair under the new system, resulting in comparative freedom from breaks and other interruptions to navigation, was considered a marked improvement, after a season’s trial of the new plan. The auditor, however, deprecated the increased cost of maintenance and repairs. In view of the neglected condition of the canals under the old system, however, it may be said that additional expense for a few years was to be expected.

The question of accelerated speed, and consequently cheaper transportation, was at this period given a large share of attention by those interested in the success of the canals. Steam voyages had been made, and with success, but so far at a cost which was prohibitive in comparison with the expense of animal towage. The Belgian system, the trial of which had been authorized by legislative concession in 1870, was exhibited on a section of the canal between Albany and West Troy near the close of the season of 1871, but its results were not considered entirely satisfactory. The suggestions of the State Engineer in regard to placing in the hands of canal officials the subject of introducing steam, as a motor power, upon the principal canals of the State, were to a certain extent carried out by legislative enactment. Chapter 868, Laws of 1871, provided for a commission of ten eminent and practical men to test and examine inventions and "devices" submitted to them for propulsion other than by animal power. George B. McClellan, Horatio Seymour, Erastus C. Prosser, David Dow, George Geddes, Van R. Richmond, Willis S. Nelson, George W. Chapman, William W. Wright and John D. Fay were named as such commissioners. The tests and experiments were to continue throughout 1871 and also 1872, if necessary. They were to be conducted at the expense of the parties offering devices and were to be made with boats carrying two hundred tons of cargo and making an average speed of at least three miles per hour. Because the Belgian system had been otherwise provided for, that system and all other systems of bank propulsion were excluded. The commissioners were empowered, at their discretion, to make certificates of comparative degrees of perfection as to methods employed and results attained. Certificate number one, if the only one issued, on presentation to the Comptroller, would draw a prize of $50,000. If two certificates were issued, they would draw, respectively, $35,000 and $15,000. If three were issued, then $30,000, $15,000 and $5,000, respectively. The commissioners might also grant a further certificate of successful operation and probable general adoption, which certificate would draw a further sum of $50,000, if only one was issued. If more, then the division was to be in the same proportions as in the case of the first-named certificates.

The commissioners organized at Albany in July, 1871, by electing Hon. Van R. Richmond as chairman; David M. Greene, of Troy, was appointed engineer of the commission. Horatio Seymour having declined to serve, the Governor appointed Daniel Crouse, of Utica, to fill the vacancy. To aid inventors, the commission, by resolution, informed them that the chief desideratum was to establish the economy of steam or other motor power as compared with animal power and that former experiments had not failed because of the injury done to banks by reason of the swell from boats or wheels, the commissioners judging that no inherent difficulty was to be expected from that source, with boats carrying two hundred tons of cargo at three miles an hour. The steamer A. H. H. Dawson was the only competing boat that made its appearance on the canal during the season of 1871. While an average speed of three miles per hour was not made, that speed was made at various points.

Other systems of propulsion were also to be given a trial. By chapter 911, Laws of 1871, James Richmond and William S. Farnell were authorized to introduce the "American" system of cable towage, under the usual non-competitive conditions. By chapter 903, of the same year, the Kingsley-Gardner concession was given three years to introduce their system, or forfeit their rights and privileges.

The Assembly made inquiry on February 6, 1871, as to the necessity and expediency of enlarging certain locks on the western division to accommodate boats of two hundred feet in length by twenty-five feet in width. The canal board promptly reported adversely to such enlargement, upon the ground that the canal then had twice the capacity to meet the demands of transportation; that if the locks on the western division were enlarged, the locks on the entire canal must be similarly enlarged; and that such enlargement would cost fifty million dollars. Under an Assembly resolution of February 10, the canal board reported that seven different kinds of boat scales had been under consideration. They recommended "Reim’s Champion Scales" for use if desired, but did not advise the discontinuance of the use of weigh-locks at that time.

The machinery at lock No. 37 proved quite successful. The feed-water was applied to a water-wheel located in a well at the head of the lock. It readily furnished power to open and close both the tumble-gate and the lower miter-gates and to draw boats into and out of the lock with marked ease and rapidity. By the ordinary method, with miter-gates, Mr. Heath computed that it would require 29,631 cubic feet of water for a lockage; using the tumble-gate and the other devices, 10,815 cubic feet, or a saving of about two-thirds of the water; and in lock-tenders’ wages for a season at one lock, the saving was estimated to be $450.

In the month of August a scarcity of water was felt from the increased traffic and consequent loss of water by lockage. Oriskany creek was temporarily diverted as a feeder and by October was in use, furnishing some 4,500 cubic feet per minute. The diversion cost about $32,000. Later the work was permanently appropriated by the State. The feeder was fifty-three miles long; the dam, two hundred and fourteen feet long and eight feet high; the prism, twenty-six feet at water-line, fourteen feet at bottom and four feet deep. Complaints of a scarcity of water were heard at other points along the canal.

Governor Hoffman, speaking of the year 1871, said that the surplus revenues of the canal during that year were nearly double those of the previous year, while the expenditures were materially reduced. To the sinking fund for the payment of the canal debt was carried $981,588.68. The Comptroller’s report, covering the same period, strongly advocated still lower tolls. By the canal auditor’s financial statement, the receipts for the fiscal year were $2,842,549.94 and the expenses, $1,658,617.25, the interest-bearing canal debt being then reduced to $11,966,420. The tons of total movement were 6,467,888, valued at $238,767,691. Navigation opened April 24 and closed December 1, two hundred and twenty days. One hundred and ninety-four boats were registered. About thirty-six miles of old wall benches still remained on the eastern division at the close of the season.

So much complaint had been made of the amount and manner of expenditures upon the canals, with adverse criticism of their management, that on March 11, 1872, the canal board, by formal resolution, requested the Legislature to make a full and searching investigation into the whole question of canal management and finances, both past and present, for the purpose, as the resolution stated of stopping extravagances and adopting an economical policy for their future management.

The Legislature, by the passage of chapter 884, provided for a Constitutional Commission of thirty-two members to consider and propose such amendments to the State Constitution at the legislative session of 1873, as they should deem necessary. This was rendered necessary, as we have previously seen, by the failure of the people to ratify the Constitution provided by the Convention of 1867.

By reason of low water in Lake Erie at times during the season of 1872, boats were compelled to go by way of Niagara river to Tonawanda, taking the canal there. This was not only a dangerous practice, but resulted in a substantial loss of tolls between Buffalo and Tonawanda. The extensive improvements then in progress at Black Rock harbor were expected to obviate this difficulty.

At the close of the season the State Engineer reported the following condition of old wall benches: in the eastern division, under contract for removal, tow-path side, 27.87 miles, and berme side, 31.23 miles; not under contract, tow-path side, 8.83 miles, berme side, 5.06 miles; in the middle division, tow-path side, 6.85 miles, berme side, 13.01 miles, this being mostly on the troublesome Jordan level, which was charged with 4.75 miles on the tow-path side and 11 miles on the berme side. The western division had but 0.91 mile, which was under contract.

The canals were open for navigation only two hundred and two days, or from May 13 to December 1, 1872. The tons of total movement for the year were 6,673,370, of the value of $220,913,321 – the maximum tonnage of the canals thus far throughout their existence. The revenues for the fiscal year were $3,078,247.96, and the payments for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,875,676.61. The canal debt, on September 30, amounted to. $11,396,680, and the aggregate sinking funds for its payment were $1,449,978.15, leaving a balance of $9,946,701.85 unprovided for.

During this season the Belgian or European system of cable towage made further progress, the company having laid a single cable from Buffalo to Lockport. More elaborate and extended tests of steam towage were also made in the contest for the prize offered by the State. Twelve steamers were placed upon the canal during the season, but only three succeeded in making the three round trips between New York and Buffalo, required by the rules of the commission. The first, the William Baxter, left West Troy on her first trip west, on August 29, 1872, and ended her third round trip, at the same point, on November 14. Her mean speed was 3.29 miles per hour and the average coal consumption 31.04 pounds per boat-mile. The second steamer was the William Newman, – mean speed, 2.727 miles per hour. The third steamer was the Port Byron, – mean speed, 2.685 miles per hour. The late date at which the preliminary trial trips were completed prevented the commission from carrying out the further tests which were deemed necessary in order to warrant a decision as to whether any of the boats had fully complied with the requirements of the law. The commission, therefore, at a meeting in February, 1873, resolved to ask the Legislature for a continuance of the offer of rewards, and an extension of one year in the time for competition. The second annual report of the commission on steam towage was made to the Legislature on February 24, 1873, and is published as Senate Document No. 71, of that year.

The Constitutional Commission presented its report ¹⁹ to the Legislature on March 25, 1873. The committee on canals presented various amendments to articles five and seven of the existing Constitution. A new system of management was proposed – by the abolition of the office of canal commissioner and the substitution of a superintendent of public works, with enlarged powers and direct responsibility. Extra compensation to contractors, which had been the cause of much criticism, was forbidden by another amendment, and by another the constitutional prohibition to sell or dispose of certain canals was removed, the exceptions being the Erie, Oswego, Champlain and Cayuga and Seneca canals, and the expenditures for collections, superintendence, ordinary and extraordinary repairs on these canals were limited to their gross receipts for the previous year. The proposed amendments relating to the canal commissioners and superintendent of public works were approved by the Legislature of 1873, but were omitted in 1874. A few years later, however, these recommendations found their way into the Constitution. The other amendments were approved by the Legislature of 1873 and 1874 and were adopted by the people at the November election, 1874. By some legislative method, which subsequent inquiry seemingly failed to disclose, the Black River canal was included in the concurrent resolutions of 1873, among those to be retained as "constitutional canals." An opinion ²⁰ was obtained from the Attorney-General, to the effect that as it appeared there without any evidence to impeach the correctness of the resolution. It stood on the same footing as the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals. In 1874, however, the proposed amendment was approved by the Legislature without the insertion of the Black River canal, and went before the people in that form. The matter of abandoning the lateral canals will be carefully discussed in a chapter devoted to that subject and need not be dwelt upon at present.

The Legislature of 1873 also "assented" to the proposed action of the canal board in reducing the toll rates, not to exceed fifty percent below the toll sheet of 1852, with liberty to change the same at the discretion of the board, during the ensuing season of navigation. A committee of the United States Senate was in session during the year, considering the subject of "Transportation Routes to the Seaboard." By concurrent resolution, a joint committee of five Senators and nine Assemblymen was appointed to represent the interests of New York State before this committee.

Navigation upon the canals opened May 15, 1873, the opening being retarded to enable the completion of certain repairs. The official closing was on December 5, a period of two hundred and five days, which was still further shortened, as navigation practically ceased after November 20, over a thousand boats being frozen in, very few of which reached tide-water. The season was one of the shortest on record, yet the receipts for tolls were nearly as much as in the preceding year. The tons of total movement for the season were 6,364,782, valued at $191,715,500. The number of boats registered, old and new, was 433. The receipts from tolls for the season were $2,976,718. The revenues for the fiscal year ending September 30, were $3,082,452.04, of which toll receipts represented $3,021,603.67 and the expenses for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,459,165.24, leaving a surplus of $1,623,286.80. The total canal debt at this date was $11,352,880, with sinking-fund balances of $1,530,241.21, leaving a net indebtedness of $10,256,655.54, which includes sinking-fund deficiency under article 7, section 3 of $434,016.75.

The increasing disposition to build boats of the utmost size that would pass in the lock-chambers resulted in an increased detention in lockages, by reason of the inability of boats of such dimensions to force their way quickly through the restricted passage. This was especially true in the case of heavily laden boats locking upward to the east, as at locks Nos. 47, 48 and 49. The experiment of widening the lock-chamber to twenty feet had been tried at these locks with the natural result that the time of lockage had been reduced by about one-half. Commissioner R. W. Stroud, of the middle division, therefore urged that the two remaining Erie locks having an upward lift eastward should be similarly widened and tumble-gates introduced, the estimate cost of which improvement he placed at $70,000.

Prior to 1862, it had been the legislative custom to provide for new work, including enlargement, not connected with ordinary repairs, by special appropriations for specific locations and purposes. Chapter 169, of that year, which declared the first improvement completed, compelled the discontinuance of this plan, and thereafter work of this character had been termed extraordinary repairs. In reply to certain criticisms, which had appeared in the public journals, the State Engineer explained the authority of various officials over the funds for this work, saying that for the law directing the work the Legislature was responsible, for the approval of plans and estimates the State Engineer was accountable, and with their adoption the canal board was charged; also that the division and resident engineers determined the character of the work, and the canal commissioners were responsible only for issuing drafts in conformity with their estimates. The funds for ordinary repairs, however, were entirely under the control of the canal commissioners. ²¹

The Legislature having extended the term of the steam towage commissioners for another year, six boats were brought to their attention during 1873, and public trial was held between Syracuse and Utica, of which due notice was given. Of the performances of these boats, that of the steamer William Baxter was conspicuous, not only for the speed attained, but for the extraordinarily low rate of coal consumed – only 14.82 pounds per mile. By reason of certain difficulties in complying with the stringent provisions of the law authorizing the experiments and tests, the commissioners finally submitted the whole matter of awards to the Legislature of 1874, with a draft of a proposed law that would do justice to the several competitors. The Legislature, accordingly, directed the Comptroller to pay to William Baxter, upon the presentation of the certificate of the State Engineer, the sum of $35,000, if he placed upon the canal during 1874 seven steamboats in all respects like his boat the City of New York; to David P. Dobbins, in like manner, the sum of $15,000, if he placed upon the canal three boats like his William Newman, and to Theodore Davis the sum of $5,000, if he placed , upon the canal one boat like his Central City.

The Otisco lake reservoir was completed during 1872, and its full capacity realized during the season of navigation of 1873. [see errata] This was an important addition to the water-supply of the Jordan level, the water being taken into the canal through the Nine Mile creek feeder. The capacity of this reservoir was 784,000,000 cubic feet. Few extraordinary repairs were made on the canal during the year, because of the lack of funds. Four locks on the western division were doubled. The commissioner of the middle division reported that portions of the Erie were greatly damaged by devastating floods.

During the session of 1874 various legislative inquiries were made concerning existing conditions on the canals. In reply to one of these questions, made January 7, the State Engineer furnished an estimate of the remaining wall benches and the cost to remove them. For the eastern division, there were upon the tow-path side 33.63 miles and upon the berme side 32.13 miles. These would cost $645,948 to remove. Of these, there were 11.94 miles of tow-path and 3.62 miles of berme benches under contract for removal. Deducting these there still remained 21.69 miles of tow-path and 28.51 of berme benches, for the removal of which $485,140 would be required. In the middle division there also remained 1.29 miles of tow-path and 14.38 miles of berme benches, the estimate for which was $226,000. The total mileage to be removed was computed at 65.87 and its cost of removal, $711,140. Replying on February 4, to an inquiry as to the cost and revenues of feeders and dams, the canal auditor made the remarkable statement that the canal feeders and dams, from 1846 to date, had cost the State $1,600,599.81, and that the amount received for water rentals for this period of about twenty-seven years was only $59,421.60, or a little over $2,000 a year.

As previously stated, the Legislature of 1874 omitted to approve the constitutional amendments relating to the abolition of the office of canal commissioner and the appointment of a superintendent of public works, but the amendments providing that no extra compensation should be allowed to any contractor, and forever prohibiting the disposal of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga and Seneca canals, and permitting the sale of the others, by inference, and also limiting the expenditures for repairs in any one year to the gross receipts for the previous year, were approved and, at the following November election, were ratified by the people by a substantial majority, to become effective on January 1, 1875.

The State Engineer, at about this time, called attention to the fact that as yet no really practical tests had been made to ascertain the tractive force required for moving boats under various conditions of width and depth of prism, of draught, model and tonnage of boats, either singly or in trains, and of direction and velocity of current. A small appropriation of $2,500 was suggested to cover the expense of such contemplated tests.

During the season of 1874 the Baxter Steam Canal Boat Company was organized, and operated seven boats, becoming the first organized company of its kind upon the canals. It was considered that had the offer of the State to inventors been couched in broader terms, with fewer restrictions, the results would have been better and perhaps have opened the way to utilizing the several thousand horse-drawn boats then in existence. The New York Steam Towage Company had also during 1872, as stated, laid a single cable from Buffalo to Lockport and with two special steamers had been experimenting for two years. As a result, it was claimed that a single tow, carrying 1,400 tons of freight, was drawn by this system at a rate of three miles per hour, at as low a cost as any 200-ton steamboat.

Under existing laws it had been the practice for the State Engineer to prepare the plans for work, after which the canal board authorized the letting of contracts, and subsequent proceedings were entirely within the control of the commissioners. The State Engineer, while subjected to frequent criticisms, as in the case of unbalanced bids, had no voice in the matter. In his annual report for 1874, State Engineer Sweet asserted that the law should be so changed that the incumbent of that office should be associated with, and his approval should be an essential element in, the awarding of contracts. In his opinion, another objectionable feature of existing laws should be remedied. The requirement that the appointment of subordinate engineers should be subject to the approval of the commissioner in charge of the work on which they were employed, frequently led to the selection of objectionable and incompetent men. It was urged that such appointments be made by the Engineer’s department, which was obliged to bear the responsibility for their conduct.

In referring to the capacity of the prism at this time, the State Engineer explained that, although the Erie canal was supposed to have been completed years before and the Legislature had, in 1862, so declared it, it had been known for a long time, especially by persons engaged in canal navigation, that the enlarged prism was not throughout its entire length, seventy feet wide at its surface and seven feet deep. The deficiency in width, amounting in some places to ten or twelve feet, he could not account for. The deficiency in depth was explained by the fact that the gradual accumulation, which had been going on since the completion of the enlargement, had not been wholly removed in many places, owing to lack of time and limited means for the purpose. There existed a need of adequate data concerning the alleged deficiencies in depth and width. It was true that an approximate estimate had been given to the Legislature in February preceding, but an accurate survey of the whole line, with this end in view, was urgently needed, and an appropriation of $10,000 was asked for to cover the expense. ²²

Navigation upon the canals opened on May 5 and closed December 5, in 1874. At the close of the fiscal year the aggregate canal debt was $10,230,430, while the sinking-fund balances were $1,561,018.99, leaving a net indebtedness of $8,669,411.01. The tolls for the fiscal year were $2,921,721.74, a falling off of $99,881.93. The gross receipts were $2,947,972.91, a decrease of $134,479.13. The expenses for the year were $1,469,466.83, an increase of $10,301.59. The total tonnage for the navigable season of 1874 was 5,804,588, valued at $196,674,322, on which the tolls were $2,637,071. The completion of the double lock at Lyons during the winter of 1874-5 is noteworthy as opening the entire length of the Erie canal to double locks. About seven miles of wall benches were removed on the eastern division during the season, according to the report of the canal commissioner.

Because the subject has not been introduced year by year, it must not be assumed that all causes of dissatisfaction with the system of canal management had ceased after the investigation of 1867-8. Nor had the change from the system of repairs by contract in 1870 given the expected relief. New York City was but then emerging from an era of gigantic swindling, in which men of both parties had been bought and used as tools, infamous deals had been made for corporate monopolies and courts and legislatures had been bought up and compelled to aid the schemes for plunder. With their metropolis recently freed from the grasp of William M. Tweed, the "boss" of a corrupt "ring" or "machine," the people of the state were becoming aroused by the repeated cries for general reform, including changes in canal management, to which the same term of "ring" was applied. There appeared to no settled policy of canal management at this time. Both systems – by contract and by commissioners – had been tried and found wanting. It was a case of "many men of many minds." Advocates of either system were not slow to bitterly criticise and condemn the other.

The year 1875, though some thirty years have since elapsed, is still regarded by those familiar with the time, as one of the most memorable in the history of the canals. Samuel J. Tilden, fresh from his overthrow of Tweed, had been swept into the Governor’s chair by the popular demand for reform, and early in his administration, by a special message to the Legislature, he instituted examinations into canal affairs. In his message at the opening of the Legislature he confined his attention chiefly to matters of canal policy – such questions as concerned its material needs, rather than the investigation of alleged frauds. In this message he clearly and ably set forth his views on the canal situation. He considered the Erie canal and its connecting waterways as the "National pass of commerce" between the western states and the Atlantic coast, saying: "The Erie canal remains an important and valuable instrument of transport, not only by its direct services, but by its regulating power in competition with other methods of transportation." ²³ Continuing, he said in substance that New York had maintained a broad and liberal policy toward her canals. They should not be considered solely as revenue producers, but rather should be managed for the needs of the commerce of the whole people. Cheaper tolls primarily benefited the western producer. The price of grain was fixed, even for home consumption, by the condition of the foreign markets. Natural conditions would prevent the traffic of the canal and that of lake and ocean from becoming homogeneous, and would prescribe the style of boat best fitted to its particular channel, demanding transshipment at terminals to vessels adapted to each method of transportation.

The project so often urged within the previous ten years – of enlarging the locks and other structures, without a proportionate enlargement of the waterway, was condemned by Mr. Tilden. He said: "That plan exhibits a singular union of injurious costliness and fatal parsimony. It is founded on the fallacy that the use of a large boat, without reference to its adaption to the waterway in which it is to move, would be economical." ²⁴

In the Governor’s opinion, to perfect the existing canal was the best policy. This done, its capacity was considered to be ample for the traffic of the time. The tolls then charged should be retained, as improvement funds. No rash changes should be made in altering gates or lengthening chambers of locks. The lateral canals were a heavy expense and for that reason the income of the Erie should be increased, by improvements, before discarding the existing income by further reduction of tolls. "What the Erie canal wants," said the Governor, "is more water in the prism." He recommended that its depth throughout be made seven feet, an honest seven feet, as he expressed it. As the first step toward this end, he advised that provision be made to enable the State Engineer to obtain an accurate survey of the Erie, including "cross-sections as often as every four rods of its length." This recommendation agreed with the suggestion of the State Engineer, as already noted. The Legislature did not respond to this request till the following year.

The Governor also suggested a special commission to examine and advise as to which of the laterals it would be best to dispose of, and which should be retained as feeders, but the Legislature saw fit to charge the State Engineer and the canal commissioners with this duty.

On February 9, 1875, the chamber of commerce of the City of New York presented formal resolutions ²⁵ to the Senate as to the vital necessity of bottoming out the trunk canal to the depth of seven feet, as recommended in the Governor’s message, and asking for a survey for this purpose, to be made with the least possible delay. The resolutions further stated that any ulterior questions of enlargement of structures might safely be postponed until the required depth was obtained. Honest and economical management should be secured, and the Governor’s suggestions concerning disposition of laterals were approved.

In both branches of the Legislature active inquiries were made of various state officials concerning canal propositions then under discussion. The quality of material used in doubling the locks on the western division having been criticised, the State Engineer made an examination by request of the Senate and reported favorably upon their condition. ²⁶ Senate Document No. 89 contains the report of the sub-committee on canals, in accordance to the directions of the Senate, concerning terminal charges upon traffic at Buffalo and New York. The report showed excessive terminal charges in New York for handling grain, amounting to nearly five cents per bushel; it declared that dock facilities in New York were insufficient, damaging canal interests; and that by a combination of insurance companies excessive rates were charged. Terminal rates for handling grain at Buffalo were found to be less than at New York, amounting to about one and three-quarter cents per bushel, plus the scalper’s charges, making the total charge at Buffalo nearly three cents per bushel. The testimony showed that grain could be efficiently handled with profit at Buffalo for one-quarter cent per bushel. The Buffalo Elevator Association was termed a trust and severely scored, and it was alleged that these combined grain charges of eight cents per bushel added to three cents canal toll were seriously crippling the commerce of the canals.

On March 19 the canal board submitted a revised toll sheet for the coming season, making sweeping reductions; among them one-third the tolls on grain and about the same on lumber. This reduction met with legislative approval. The Legislature also passed the constitutional amendment changing the control of the canals from commissioner to a Superintendent of Public Works, and recommended the same to the Legislature of 1876, thus forwarding the proposal of the Constitutional Commission of 1872, which had failed to come before the people with the other amendments in 1874, because the Legislature of that year had failed to approve the measure.

On March 19 Governor Tilden submitted to the Legislature a special message relating to the canals, in response, as he asserted, to numerous demands of forwarders, boatmen and others for a further reduction in tolls. The message, however, did not deal exclusively with the question of tolls. It strongly urged increased economy in expenditures; it called attention to the prevalent methods of letting contracts, and to the evil of unbalanced bids and "continued" ²⁷ contracts, and advocated stricter methods of enforcing official accountability; it recommended a return to the plan of awarding contracts through the canal board; it deprecated the practice of the canal commissioners in ceasing to act as a board and in administering the affairs of the canal, each in his separate division, as if he were an independent authority; it suggested the creation of an inspector of public works, and also of a paymaster, accountable to the auditor; and it advocated an enlarged control of the State Engineer over his subordinates. As the Governor said later, it "opened discussion" on the question of official improvidence, waste and corruption.

In response to this message, by concurrent resolution, a joint legislative committee was created, of which three were appointed by the president of the Senate and three by the Speaker of the Assembly, to investigate and examine into the question of fraud or collusion between state officers and canal contractors. The committee was composed of the following: Dan H. Cole, James M. Booth, John C. Jacobs, James Faulkner, Jr., Richard M. Sherman, Frederick W. Seward. On April 5 they organized, appointing Hon. Henry Smith and Rufus W. Peckham as counsel, and their report ²⁸ was dated May 5, although by another enactment their time was subsequently extended through the legislative recess. Their chief criticism was against the practice of awarding contracts on unbalanced bids and of continuing in force original contracts, rather than reletting the work, after an insufficient appropriation had been exhausted and an additional amount obtained. In brief, the recommendations of the committee were as follows: the Legislature should make no further appropriations for "continuing" contracts; the engineering force should all be appointed by and under one responsible head; the commissioners should be forbidden to accept unbalanced bids; every contract should be for a definite amount of material and labor, and then should be closed; any continuance should be by a new letting; the canal board should be prohibited from transferring funds from one purpose to another; the engineer’s estimates and quantity sheets should not be disclosed to bidders until the contract was executed, only a list of kinds of work and required materials being exhibited (a most remarkable recommendation from the standpoint of engineer or contractor); the deposits from bidders should not be so excessive as to prohibit smaller contractors from participating; and finally, legislative changes should be in the direction of increased responsibility, there being no common head of canal officers – no common interest in the joint performance of their respective duties. It was found that nearly $400,000 had been expended on the removal of wall benches in the eastern division alone, and the work was about two-thirds completed. For this the division engineers were severely criticised.

But this was not the only investigation of canal matters. A commission of four persons was authorized by concurrent resolution of the Senate and Assembly on March 26 and 31, respectively, to be appointed by the Governor, with the approval of the Senate, to especially examine into the matters embraced within the scope of the Governor’s special message of March 19. These commissioners were directed to cover at least the period from 1868 to 1875, inclusive, and they might go back further if they so desired. They were instructed to report to the Governor and to the Legislature at its next session the testimony and their recommendations, and to furnish a copy of the testimony to the Attorney-General. The commissioners appointed under this resolution were John Bigelow, Daniel Magone, Jr., Alexander E. Orr and John D. Van Buren, Jr. Evidently the Governor considered that the exigencies of the occasion demanded this unusual procedure of having an investigating commission appointed by the Chief Executive, especially with a joint legislative committee named for the same purpose.

Before considering the work of this commission, it is well to observe the trend of public sentiment at this time – how, from almost a frenzy of enthusiasm for all forms of canal-building in the early days of their existence the feeling had variously fluctuated until now it had reached the point of extreme disaffection for all canals. In his special message the Governor well said: "Unfortunately the abuses now practiced against our canals and their commerce are exciting strong prejudices against the great public works rather than against the wrong-doers and the wrong-doing which tend to destroy them." It is well to remember another circumstance in connection with this investigation – that politics played a conspicuous part. Indeed, it is known that the Speaker of the Assembly at that time, Jeremiah McGuire, of the same political affiliations as the Governor, openly charged Mr. Tilden with prosecuting this investigation in order to gain political capital. This condition will be found more or less true of all canal investigations. The temporarily dominant party has been so persistently assailed for its management of canal affairs, that the truth in these attacks can scarcely be separated from the falsehood.

The report ²⁹ of this commission was presented to the Legislature on February 14, 1876, several partial reports having been rendered to the Governor during the previous summer and autumn. Upon the testimony given before the commission several canal officials were indicted, the canal auditor was suspended from office for unlawfully dealing in canal certificates, a member of the legislature was charged with bribery and legal proceedings were urged against certain contractors. The commissioners mercilessly censured the whole system of canal management, saying: "Our investigation was not long in revealing the fact that the canals have not been managed upon the principles which would govern any man in the administration of his private estate. The interests of the public have been systematically disregarded. The precautions with which the Legislature has attempted to defend this property from peculation and fraud, and secure for it faithful and efficient service, have been deliberately and persistently disregarded; while the responsibility of its agents has been so divided and distributed, as to leave the State comparatively remediless, and at the mercy of the predatory classes, who have been, if they do not continue to be, a formidable political power." ³⁰

The report severely criticised the method of letting contracts, declaring that the requirement of large guarantee funds had discouraged bidders of small means and confined the work almost exclusively to large capitalists; that the acceptance of unbalanced bids had a tendency to preclude honest bidders and that the failure to enforce the forfeiture of deposits had worked to the injury of the State. The discrepancies between quantities in preliminary and final estimates were censured, as were the long established customs of computing excavation for walls and structures at a uniform slope of one on one and of allowing a price for embankment of material obtained from excavation, when it was necessarily handled twice, even if it had not been moved the specified two hundred feet. The report deprecated the use of vertical instead of slope walls, declaring that the latter would have been usually as serviceable and much cheaper. It also charged that the specifications, especially in masonry work, had not been enforced, greatly to the loss of the State. The facilities offered to contractors for legislative relief were condemned. If the canal board had failed to cancel a contract which proved disadvantageous to the contractor, he had often appealed to the Legislature, which usually had allowed awards to cover his losses.

Navigation opened May 18, 1875, and was closed (by ice) November 30, the Hudson river being closed on November 29. A communication from Mr. William Baxter, concerning the progress of steam canal towing in 1875, develops the fact that with the short season of navigation between May 18 and November 25, (as given by him), and the interruptions caused by two breaks of six and sixteen days, respectively, the navigable period was reduced to one hundred and sixty-nine days. The results given by the steamboats were considered satisfactory, but better port facilities and a thorough bottoming out were asked for. The communication was embodied in the State Engineer’s report for the year. According to this report, about twelve miles of wall benches were removed on the eastern division during the year, leaving 51.51 miles remaining.

The tons of total movement during the year were 4,859,858, valued at $145,008,575. The aggregate canal debt, September 30, was $10,086,660, and the aggregate sinking funds, $1,448,345.51, leaving a balance unprovided for of $8,638,314.49. The rate of interest on the canal debt was then six percent. The canal receipts for the fiscal year were $1,925,995.63. The expenditures for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,414,456.94. The net revenues of the canals for this year were less than for any year since 1828, and the gross receipts were lighter than for any year since 1836. These unfavorable financial results may be attributed, in a measure, to the general depression in business, but chiefly to the ruinous competition which prevailed between the rival trunk lines.

It was with difficulty that the canal commissioner of the eastern division had been able to open the canal for navigation in the spring. The Legislature of 1874 had made a large appropriation for removing wall benches, but the funds would not be available until taxes were paid in 1875. In order to gain a year’s time, contracts were let and the work was being executed during the winter of 1874-5, the contractors receiving certificates in lieu of money. The publication of the Governor’s canal message, the agitation of the press upon the subject, the wholesale imputation of fraud against all canal work, and especially against certificates, so impaired public confidence that the contractors were unable to dispose of their certificates to banks and capitalists, and they stopped work, after several miles of old walls had been torn out. This condition continued until within four or five weeks of the advertised time for opening the canals, when finally, after exhausting other resources, the Legislature was appealed to and furnished relief by making some of the repair fund applicable. By extraordinary efforts the work was then pushed to completion in time for the opening.

In connection with supplying the western division with water from Lake Erie, the report of the engineer of that division presents some interesting historical facts. The surveys for the first improvement of Black Rock harbor were made in 1821, and it was constructed by uniting Bird and Squaw Islands by a pier or mole extending from the latter island to the main shore below the entrance of the canal to the basin. In effect this appropriated the deep channel of the river upon the American side for canal purposes, and caused the water in the canal to stand at nearly the level of the lake and five feet above the river level opposite. This head of water was too tempting a business proposition to be allowed to remain as it was and in 1825 the commissioners leased to Henry Kennedy for mill purposes the surplus water at the lower end of Black Rock basin for $3,100 annually. This suicidal policy, during the very year of the completion of the canal, lost to the State what has since cost millions in the attempt to recover. As it became necessary to use greater quantities of water serious difficulties arose from the velocity of the current and often from the want of water. This condition was aggravated by the mills, for it was estimated that they used more water on their wheels than would supply the canal to Montezuma – one hundred and fifty miles. The question of building an independent channel through this harbor was then discussed, but it was finally decided to construct a partition bank from the head of the harbor to Ferry Street island, and a new wall and towing-path, with seventy feet width of water. It was later proposed to set back this wall and widen and deepen the prism, and upon these improvements a large sum of money had been expended. ³¹

In view of the revelations of extravagance and misconduct, as shown by the reports of the investigating commission, the Governor’s annual message in 1876 recommended retrenchment in canal management, a thorough scrutiny of all expenditures, and some disposition of the unprofitable laterals. It also commended the action of the Legislature in approving the constitutional amendment to create a Superintendent of Public Works.

After the report of the investigating commission had been presented on February 15, a review of which has been given already, the Governor sent a special message to the Senate, with several recommendations, among them being the following: that existing contracts for extraordinary repairs be canceled and appropriations for them be repealed; that $400,000 be provided for closing these contracts, upon the certificate of the State Engineer; that $400,000 be appropriated for improving the channel of the Erie to a full seven feet and $15,000 for a survey to determine the real condition of the canal; that further funds be provided to gradually increase the depth to seven and a half or eight feet; and that the canal board be given full powers of investigation and redress in canal matters. In commenting upon his plan for deepening the canal, the Governor said: "It would benefit the boatmen and carriers more, even, than one cent a bushel remission of tolls. It would be of more real utility to navigation than five or ten times its cost expended in the average manner of so-called improvements on the public works. But it is too simple, too practically useful, to enlist the imagination of projectors ... and of engineers." ³²

In reply to a Senate resolution asking for information and opinions concerning this proposition from the Governor, the canal commissioners strongly opposed the project, saying that, without a corresponding change in structures, the gain derived from a deepened channel would be so small as to result in no substantial benefit to navigation nor any cheapening of transportation, and that the cost of adapting locks, aqueducts and culverts to the increased depth would be so large as to exclude such changes from serious consideration. The commissioners estimated the cost of deepening the prism, without altering structures, at $4,500,000, but feared lest the proposed excavations might imperil existing walls. ³³

The Legislature of 1876 earnestly undertook the work of reform, as recommended by the Governor, both in canal affairs and otherwise. The constitutional amendment to abolish the office of canal commissioner and to create a Superintendent of Public Works – to be appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate – was again approved, and at the following November election was adopted by the people by a large majority. The canal board was given the powers of investigation and redress in matters pertaining to the canals, including those of the past (chapter 388). The State Engineer was empowered to appoint the regular engineers of his department, and to employ additional engineers, when necessary, with the consent of the canal board, and all of these men were required to take the constitutional oath of office (chapter 385). Despite the adverse report of the canal commissioners, an appropriation of $400,000 was made for deepening the Erie and Oswego canals to a full seven feet, and another of $15,000 for a survey to ascertain the condition of the Erie. This act also directed the canal board to terminate such of the contracts for extraordinary repairs as in its opinion were not necessary, providing $400,000 to settle these contracts and repealing all former appropriations for this class of work that were still in force (chapter 425). The report of the State Engineer and the canal commissioners, relative to the disposition to be made of the lateral canals, not having proved satisfactory, the Legislature appointed a special commission for this purpose (chapter 382). As this subject is considered in a chapter by itself further references to it will be omitted from this portion of the volume. Improvement in steam propulsion was encouraged by an act (chapter 387) authorizing the setting apart of a portion of the canal in which Hugh Stevenson and Enos W. Pelonbet might experiment with their systems.

Thus the Governor’s reforms were carried into effect. There followed a policy of retrenchment and of little activity in improvements, which was not broken till necessity compelled the lengthening of locks in an attempt to enable the canal to cope with increasing competition. Concerning the general results of this period, the verdict of the standard historians of the state may be safely taken. It is a matter of history that, though comparatively few convictions resulted from many arrests, the power of the "ring" was broken and reformation followed. Tilden’s reform spirit left its mark upon the public conscience, throughout municipality, state and nation. The responsibility of officials was viewed differently and there was a more rigid accountability of public expenditures.

Navigation opened May 4, 1876, and closed December 1. The tons of total movement diminished to 4,172,129, valued at $113,090,379. The canal commissioners reported it a season of excellent navigation at reduced expenses for maintenance, but of continued business depression.

During the year a careful survey of the Erie canal was made by the State Engineer, in accordance with the Governor’s recommendation and the resulting law. This was the survey which, eighteen years later, although obviously of too remote a period to be of much use, had to be depended upon as the chief source of information for making the first estimate for what was later known as the "Nine-million improvement," when the Constitutional Convention of 1894 required such an estimate from the State Engineer within twelve days. The canal commissioners, in 1876, reported that this survey showed that there was no need to use the money which had been appropriated to give the canal a depth of seven feet. Mr. John D. Van Buren, Jr., the State Engineer, taking office in January, 1876, had been a member of the investigating commission, and he brought to his department the spirit of reform, instituting a mathematical examination, which the engineer were required to pass. That, of course, was before the day of State civil service regulations.

The history of the Erie canal for the next few years presents more of economic than of engineering interest. The people of the state had become aroused to the necessity of a careful and economical control of canal expenditures and the administration of Governor Robinson stood pledged to the exercise of rigid economy in the expenses of maintenance. Moreover, a constitutional provision limited the annual expenditures to the gross amount received during the previous year.

The Erie alone of all the canals during 1876 produced a surplus over expenditures, the amount being $508,953.14. Owing to short crops, low rates and competition of tide-water railways, the year was one of unprecedented disaster to boating interests. Every branch of business had been depressed. The receipts from tolls as well as the expenses of maintenance were less than the year before. Of about six thousand boats on the canal system many were laid up, others ran at a loss and none at a profit. It was urged by the Governor that only reform and retrenchment could save the canals of the state from utter ruin. Yet the tolls must be sufficient to pay the expenses of operation and repair. ³⁴

In his next annual message ³⁵ the Governor admitted that conditions had largely improved during the previous year. Railroad competition was less ruinous. Crops were abundant. Better rates of freight prevailed, and all boats were in service. Yet only sixty-nine boats were built during the year – being the lowest number for at least twenty years past.

Not anticipating this traffic improvement, however, the toll-sheet, which was fixed by the Legislature in each year, had been made unusually low, and the canal revenues did not keep pace with improved conditions, being the lowest in forty-five years. A quarter-mill tax was therefore recommended to supply the deficiency. Only the Erie again showed in 1877 a small net surplus over expenses, the amount being $84,840.88 in this year.

A Senate resolution of inquiry as to the expense of lengthening canal-locks forty feet, brought out an adverse report from the Engineer’s department. The difficulty and expense of making the proposed change at Lockport were urged as the chief reasons.

The question of steam versus horse-power propulsion had been anxiously studied for several years, but so far, in the opinion of the State Engineer, the attempts to substitute steam had not displaced animal power. Statutory permission was given to test various methods of steam towage, among which the Stevenson system (chapter 366, Laws of 1877) and the Baker single-rail system (chapter 371, Laws of 1877) were included. State Engineer J. D. Van Buren, Jr., in his report presents some interesting facts and conclusions. An important series of dynamometrical tests were made to determine the tractive force required to move boats through the water of the canal at different speeds.

The average weight of a first-class, horse-propelled, grain boat was then about sixty-five tons; its cargo of grain weighed about two hundred and thirty tons. It was found that an average loaded boat on the canal, at an average speed of about 1.55 miles per hour, developed a tractive pull of about three hundred and thirteen pounds. This was considered as the maximum amount of work which an ordinary pair of canal horses could continuously perform. With similar conditions of boat and speed it was found that steam towage, by means of an ordinary screw-propelled tug, with about three hundred feet of hawser attached, developed a much larger resistance, increasing with the speed. This was owing to the rapid current thrown back by the propeller in the confined waterway of the canal.

The average rate of speed of a horse-drawn boat was shown by comparison of numerous records to be 1.55 miles per hour. There was a slight difference in speed between east-bound and west-bound boats owing to the fact that there is a mean easterly current in the canal of about one-fourth of a mile per hour. Four horses were used to a boat – in pairs – working alternately in six-hour shifts. It was further deduced that the average work thrown upon each canal horse was 20,034 foot-pounds per minute, equal to six-tenths horse-power, or for a whole day of twelve hours (six hours on and six hours off), 14,424,480 foot-pounds. From this it could be seen that canal horses were overtaxed and the condition in which they were kept at that time was not only poor economy but a disgrace to civilization.

The average time of a horse-drawn boat for a round trip from Buffalo to New York and return was thirty days. In an average season of two hundred and ten days there were seven round trips. The cost of carriage of a bushel of wheat by horse-drawn boat, exclusive of tolls and terminal charges, from Buffalo to New York was computed at 5.69 cents. In 1862 the average tonnage of a boat was one hundred and sixty-seven tons and the average time from Buffalo to Troy was eight and one-half days as against ten days in 1877. It was considered questionable whether in view of all circumstances boats were not then above the most economical size.

As among the first efforts at steam propulsion the following may be of interest:

The Baxter boat was ninety-six feet long by seventeen feet beam, with nine feet depth of hold. Displacement, two hundred and sixty-four tons. Capacity, about two hundred and seven tons. With two hundred tons cargo it should draw five feet and ten inches of water, and was propelled by a pair of three-bladed screws, one on each side of the stern, revolving toward each other. An upright boiler and engines completed the equipment. The estimated cost per bushel of wheat from Buffalo to New York by this method was 5.76 cents.

The Belgian cable-towing system consisted of a wire cable laid in the bottom of the canal. A clip drum was mounted upon the deck of a tow-boat over which the cable was lifted and passed. The drum being operated by steam drew the tug and its attached "trailers" through the canal at a speed of about two and one-half miles per hour. The estimated cost per bushel of wheat by this method from Buffalo to New York was 4.79 cents. But the installation of equipment including tugs and cable was estimated at $3,450,000, and the annual cost of maintenance about $1,600,000.

The Frick or Pennsylvania system of coupled boats, either horse-propelled, or by steam-power on the rear boat, was considered an improvement in the way of economy. The speed was computed at about two and one-half miles per hour by steam and the cost of freight per bushel from Buffalo to New York – four hundred and ninety-five miles – at 4.72 cents.

The average canal freight rates per bushel of wheat from Buffalo to New York for the season of 1877, to September 1, was 7.39 cents; for the balance of the season, 9.53 cents.

Commercial interests for some time had teen trying persistently and openly to secure a free canal system, and Auditor Schuyler was an earnest advocate of the plan. In presenting arguments ³⁶ therefor, he stated that 170,000,000 tons of freight had been transported over the canals since their opening. It was alleged by those who opposed free canals that the expenditures for canal purposes, since their opening, exceeded their revenues by nearly $35,000,000, and that this sum represented their net cost to the people, raised by taxes. Admitting this for the purpose of comparison, the State owed by far the largest share of its prosperity to the canals. The total amount of tolls collected since the opening of the canals was $130,034,897.09. But in addition to this, during the preceding forty years, the carriers of the canal were paid for transportation $146,868,964, exclusive of tolls, and the merchants and warehousemen were estimated to have received at least $100,000,000. These sums were direct benefits to the people of the state from the tonnage of the canals, to which should be added the almost incalculable benefits resulting from the increase of wealth and population. The population of New York City had increased from 123,706 in 1820 to 1,046,037 in 1875; the value of real and personal property in New York City had increased from $69,530,753 in 1820 to $1,234,191,178 in 1877; the population of the State had increased from 1,372,812 in 1820 to 4,705,208 in 1875, and its aggregate valuation, real and personal, from $256,021,494 in 1820 to $2,755,740,318 in 1877. The auditor’s strong plea for the abolition of canal tolls asserted that the tonnage of the canals had brought to New York City the commerce of the world, and had made the Empire State what it was.

On February 8, 1878, under the new constitutional amendment, the control of the canals passed from the canal commissioners to the Superintendent of Public Works.

The improvement in transportation which began about July 1, 1877, continued in marked degree throughout 1878; the building of boats was resumed; three hundred new boats were registered during the year, and nineteen steam-propelled boats were in use. The canals were opened April 15 and closed December 7 – a period of two hundred and thirty-seven days as against two hundred and fourteen days in 1877 and two hundred and eleven days in 1876, the average open season for the preceding twenty years being about two hundred and nineteen days. ³⁷

The expenditures under the new system of control were decreased nearly fifty percent under the corresponding period of the previous year. Although the rates for tolls remained comparatively low, both the tonnage and the amount received were largely increased. The net income of the Erie canal for the fiscal year, after deducting all repairs, charges and payments, was $321,403.18.

The State Engineer in his report ³⁸ says of this period: "Only in the years 1861, 1862, 1863, when the Mississippi river and other routes were closed against northern commerce by the war, have the Erie and Oswego canals carried as much grain as during the past season; and this has been done in the face of the lowest prices ever charged by the railroads in their efforts to control the carrying trade."

At one time during this season the rate was four and one-half cents per bushel as against the lowest rate of eight cents in 1874 from Buffalo to New York. It was claimed that this increase in tonnage was caused by low rates and was the controlling factor in opening a larger foreign trade for our products, which resulted in the turning of the balance of trade in our favor to the amount of $250,000,000.

The Comptroller stated that the only debt remaining upon the State was the canal debt, which on September 30, 1877, was represented by outstanding obligations amounting to $9,900,360, exclusive of the sinking fund applicable thereto of $1,270,343.71.

An interesting bit of history was recalled in this connection. That portion of the New York Central railroad originally called the Utica and Schenectady railroad, chartered in 1833, had no right under its charter to carry freight. In 1836 another link, then known as the Utica and Syracuse railroad, could carry freight only by the payment of regular canal tolls to the commissioners of the canal fund. In 1844 all of the railroads along the line of the Erie canal were allowed to carry freight, but only upon payment of similar tolls. By the Legislature of 1851 all railroad tolls were remitted. "Every dollar of tax paid for the canals," said the State Engineer, "is the result of this act." ³⁹

The commerce of the Erie canal was at this time gravely threatened by the approaching completion of extensive improvements, at a cost of over $30,000,000, in the Welland and St. Lawrence system of Canadian canals. These improvements would permit the passage of boats drawing thirteen and one-half feet of water over the lock miter-sills and enable vessels of two thousand tons to load direct for Europe at the docks of Cleveland, Toledo and Chicago.

It was urged by those familiar with the conditions that the cost of transportation by way of the Erie canal should be reduced, not only by the removal of lake obstructions by the United States Government to permit the use of much larger vessels to bring their cargoes at a lower rate to the port of Buffalo, but by improvements to the canal itself. This could be accomplished either by lengthening its locks, or by deepening its channel. State Engineer Horatio Seymour, Jr., advocated ⁴⁰ the deepening of the channel at least one foot, by lowering the bottom in some places and raising the banks in others, thus adding fifty tons or twenty percent to the cargo of each boat then in use. Afterward this became known as the "Seymour Plan" of canal improvements. Power appliances to operate lock-gates and to draw boats through the locks were also advocated. The time then consumed in passing the seventy-two locks of the Erie canal was about eighteen hours. The new method would reduce this time by at least one-half with the existing depth of water. With one foot of water added, both improvements would allow a boat drawing six feet of water to effect a saving of thirty-seven hours in each round trip.

Various commercial interests were constantly effecting a reduction in specific rates of toll. Flour, leached ashes and petroleum were this year added to the free list, which already contained hogs, bacon and salt pork, cattle, salt beef and tallow, sheep and wool, hemp, grass and clover seed, furs and fur skins, boats, lead, leather, tobacco (not manufactured), lard, lard oil, corn meal, coffee, hops, dried fruit, domestic spirits, cotton and domestic cotton and woolen goods. Passengers over ten years of age were charged one-half mill per mile. The canal auditor urged the passage of a constitutional amendment for the abolition of canal tolls as being necessary to meet changed conditions which time and enterprise had wrought. Evidently, official opinions as to canal policy were at variance, as the Superintendent of Public Works, in his report ⁴¹ covering the year 1879, vigorously complained that the toll-sheet was already dangerously low for proper maintenance, and urged the creation of a surplus fund from excess revenues, for extraordinary repairs.

Under the constitutional limitation and the amount of canal receipts applicable to the payment for repairs and maintenance, rigid economy was necessarily the continued policy of canal management in 1879. To use a homely expression, the canals were said to be "living from hand to mouth." Although the open season was shortened to two hundred and twelve days the tonnage was increased by about 200,000 tons. The receipts for tolls were less because the rates were fixed at the lowest point in the history of the canals.

The number of steamboats in use was slightly increased, and three hundred and eighty-two boats were built and registered during the year. Trial of the Cooke system of propulsion, by submerged rail and tractors, or floating locomotives, was authorized by chapter 539, Laws of 1879. The canal was equipped during the season from Rochester to Buffalo with the Belgian towing system, and it was confidently expected that the entire canal would be similarly equipped during the next year and all traffic conducted by steam-power. ⁴²

A deficiency canal tax of three-tenths mill was levied by chapter 27; and it was made a misdemeanor to bribe a lock tender by chapter 403 of the laws of this year.

To the free list were added butter, cheese, flax seed, oil meal and oil cake.

Trade conditions continued to be the leading subjects of discussion. The advantages which the Erie canal possessed, as being the first effort to render available the only natural trade channel between the West and the Atlantic coast, were regarded as imperiled by the results of the competitive struggle between eastern cities for commercial supremacy. Railway rates were then less to Baltimore and Philadelphia than to New York City. The latter exhibited a falling off in the percentage of total receipts from the West by seaboard cities. ⁴³

The auditor complained that the railway lines continued in their efforts to divert from the canal and absorb east-bound traffic, to name ruinously low rates during the season of canal navigation, being able to recoup their losses during the winter.

The requirement that the canal should be self-supporting and still confine expenses within the amount received for tolls, left no margin or fund for extraordinary repairs, and in case of disaster by flood or otherwise the canal was in constant danger of being closed without warning to traffic. These conditions operated to discourage boat-building and boating interests. It was authoritatively stated that the canal as it was at this period was entirely capable of passing double the tonnage thus far transported.

In the report of the Superintendent of Public Works the opinion was expressed that the immense exportation of American cereals for the preceding three years was not due to their cheapness here but to successive failures of crops in foreign countries.

He also intimated that if the same principles of business management and economy, which had made the railroads their successful competitors, were applied to the canals, all fear of losing their share of the carrying trade would vanish. In view of the fact that Montreal is one hundred and forty-seven miles nearer Chicago by way of the Canadian canals than is New York by way of the Erie, the State Engineer again in this year called attention to the danger of Canadian competition.

A glance at the history of the Erie canal during 1880 presents comparatively little of interest to record. The net canal debt, after applying sinking-fund balances, was $6,936,879.83, at the close of the fiscal year. In November the canals were unexpectedly and suddenly closed by an ice blockade in which about a thousand boats were caught in transit. Three-quarters of this number were grain-boats whose cargoes aggregated 6,000,000 bushels. Yet, notwithstanding this drawback, the season of two hundred and twenty days witnessed a further increase in traffic.

The gross receipts of the Erie canal were $1,120,660.13. It may be noted, however, that it required two-thirds of this sum to pay the expenses of maintenance and collection, the net surplus being $442,535.71. The auditor’s report for this period shows the aggregate tonnage of both canal and railroads (Erie and Central) for twelve months prior to September 30, 1880, to be 25,706,586 tons, of which the railroads carried about three-fourths, or 19,248,930 tons.

The number of boats registered was four hundred and eighty-eight, of which four hundred and thirty-three were new. Various methods of towage were given further trial. The award of first prize, out of the one hundred thousand dollars appropriated by the Legislature of 1871 for the purpose of stimulating towage inventions, had been given to William Baxter, but his boat had later been pronounced a failure, and at this period not one was known to be in existence. This boat, however, led to the construction of other forms of steam-propelled boats which were increasing in number. About one hundred and twenty miles of the Belgian cable system had been laid and was in operation during the season, but failed to meet the expectations of its friends. It was said to be not only in the way of other traffic but a menace to the security of the canal bank upon the inner side of curves. The Illinois system of steamer pushing its con-sort was further used but it was determined that longer boats could not be used to advantage on the curves of least radius.

The application of water-power by means of a turbine wheel operating a towing hawser seems to have been in successful operation at lock No. 52. By the aid of the mechanism boats were drawn into the lock at increased speed and time was saved.

The State Engineer reiterated his warning of the year before as to the danger of Canadian competition. In view of the relative percentages of canal and open waterway between the Erie route and its commercial rivals, he pertinently remarked that it cost four times as much to carry grain upon the Erie canal – mile for mile – as upon an open lake waterway.

The increasing free list was the subject of severe criticism by the canal auditor; ⁴⁴ it was held to be without warrant of law, and unfair, resulting in an added tax to supply the deficiency. The growing custom of authorizing the construction of numerous and expensive lift or swing bridges to be paid for out of canal tolls was also condemned, as such bridges were not only of no benefit to navigation, but an obstruction to it. The benefit, if any, was entirely local and should be paid by the locality benefited. In the methods of collecting tolls, moreover, small frauds were beginning to creep into the service, and to correct this a flat rate of toll per ton-mile was advocated, with a more frequent use of weigh-locks.

Excessive terminal charges and various extortions which came out of the boatmen’s pockets were the subject of investigation by a committee on terminal charges, created by the Assembly, March 11, 1881. In New York the committee found ⁴⁵ the charges to be: for elevating, one-half cent per bushel – chargeable to the boat; weighing and storage, one-half cent per bushel – chargeable to the grain; cleaning, one-quarter cent (optional); lighterage from store to vessel, one and one-half cent. Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore elevator charges were from one and one-quarter to one and one-half cents. There was in addition a "shortage" of from five to forty bushels in reweighing, a loss which also fell on the boatman. The committee advocated increased and exclusive wharfage room for canal boats, together with the abolition of the harbor-master’s dues of $1.25 per boat. It was also claimed that the State could, if deemed necessary, exercise statutory control over terminal rates. (See Otto U.S. Reps. vol. 4 – Opinion of Waite, C. J.)

At Buffalo the practice of "scalping" grain insurance premiums had grown to such proportions that for two years at least $50,000 had been paid in "rebates." The average cargo of grain cost $25.00 premium to insure; of this $2.50 went to the broker or "scalper"; $10.00 rebate to the shipper; $3.75 to the insurance agent, and the balance, $8.25, to the insurance company for carrying the risk. All of this, being included in freight charges, was a loss to the boatman.

The season of 1881 was marked by a large falling off in the volume of traffic and receipts. The former amounted to over a million and a quarter tons, or twenty percent, and the latter, over half a million dollars, or forty-five percent. The loss in revenue was partly due to the removal of tolls on west-bound traffic, but as the auditor remarked, this expedient, undertaken as a stimulant to traffic, had, upon trial, proved a failure. Governor Cornell gave as further reasons for the lessened volume of traffic the limited movement of grain products and the unusually strong trunk-line railway competition.

Still lower freight rates prevailed. The average canal rate for a bushel of wheat from Buffalo to New York for the season was 4.88 cents, which included 1.03 cents toll. The carrier’s net profit for nearly five hundred miles of transportation ranged from ninety and one-half to one hundred and twenty-eight cents per ton. The report of the auditor’s department, as to financial results for the fiscal year, was the most discouraging since the opening of the canal; the aggregate revenues were lower than since 1825; for the first time in fifty-six years no payments could be made from the revenues to the sinking-fund or interest accounts; and the revenues were twenty percent below the cost of maintenance. From the boatman’s point of view the situation was even more discouraging. Notwithstanding the continued efforts of the Legislature and the canal board to stimulate traffic by reductions and remission of tolls, his earnings had steadily decreased until no profit remained and a probable loss faced him.

The number of boats – old and new – registered during 1881 was three hundred and sixty-eight, with an average tonnage of one hundred and eighty-eight tons. The Erie canal exhibited this year a net loss, of all payments over receipts, of $27,029.17. The net canal debt September 30, 1881, deducting balances, was $6,560,378.43.

The attention of the Legislature was called by the auditor ⁴⁶ to the probability of a grave crisis in canal affairs in case the income of 1881 should prove to be below the necessary amount required for expenses in 1882. If this should be the case, the canals would have to cease operations for lack of funds. The prompt abolition of the constitutional restriction alone could save them. Two propositions for constitutional amendments were before the Legislature of 1882; the first, to relieve the canal revenues from payments on account of the canal debt, leaving the surplus revenues over expenses, if any, for a deficiency fund, had already been embodied in a concurrent resolution passed by the Legislature of 1880; the second, which had been indorsed by both political parties in their respective conventions, and which provided squarely for the abolition of all tolls and the maintenance of the canals by taxation, had passed the Legislature of 1881. Either of these would remove the constitutional restriction as to expenditures.

The effect which differential freight rates had upon canal traffic and upon the interests of the people of the state, and especially of New York City, had been for some time a matter of anxiety. The auditor strongly commented ⁴⁷ thereon. This "differential," it may be explained, was the result of a traffic agreement as to east-bound freight between all the seaboard rail lines, whereby lines whose terminals were in New York City were to charge an additional sum upon every ton of such through freight over the rate charged by lines whose terminals were in Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Prior to 1870 this "differential" had been for several years about two dollars per ton, an equivalent of six cents per bushel on wheat, and for the same period this had been the average canal rate of toll per bushel. Later the canal tolls were reduced one-half and the differential was promptly lowered to one dollar per ton. In 1880 the toll was 1.03 cents per bushel and the differential was from forty to sixty cents per ton.

The gradual diminution of canal tolls on east-bound grain had been for years followed by corresponding reductions in preferential rates allowed by New York railways. Nevertheless, the percentage of New York receipts of grain by rail at this time, as compared with that of other seaboard cities, had fallen off considerably. The argument was advanced that, without the restraining influence of the canal, the railway differential rates could not be controlled; that values in New York City would suffer an immense shrinkage and that the whole state would reflect the depressing influence of her commercial decline.

Aside from the vexing question of "free canals," which was before the people at the November election of 1882, there appears to have been little of interest to record in connection with the history of the Erie canal during that year. The amendment to the State Constitution, providing for the abolition of canal tolls, having passed the Legislatures of 1881 and 1882, came before the people and was approved by the decisive vote of 486,105 in favor of and 163,151 opposed to the amendment. ⁴⁸

Traffic showed a slight improvement over the previous year. The tonnage in 1882 was 5,421,720, a gain of 277,843; tolls collected amounted to $655,195.51, an increase of $23,574.45. The gross receipts of the Erie for the fiscal year were $591,369.79; gross expenses for the same period, $504,948.77; net income, $86,421.02. Net canal debt on September 30, $6,259,661.43, a reduction of $300,000. ⁴⁹

The navigable season was two hundred and forty-one days as against two hundred and eleven days in 1881. Only ninety-three new boats were registered.

The constitutional amendment became operative on January 1, 1883, and thereafter no tolls were collected upon the canals of the state. As Governor Cleveland said of it, ⁵⁰ the people had now voluntarily surrendered their constitutional safeguard of control over the limit of expenditures in their devotion to the interests of the great highways of the state. But that did not mean that they had forgotten the era of extravagant expenditures which had theretofore made the canals a scandal and a reproach. On the contrary, they demanded continued economy of administration, consistent with the use of the canal to their utmost capacity at the lowest possible cost. All schemes for enlargements or expensive improvements should be stubbornly opposed.

In view of the fact that no more revenues were to be derived from canal tolls the following summary was presented by the auditor: ⁵¹

exclusive of interest on the debt for construction and improvement. But it should also be noted that it is exclusive of the value of the plant at that date.

It was urged by the State Engineer and the auditor ⁵² that remission of tolls alone would not suffice to increase canal tonnage. This theory had been repeatedly tried and proved a failure. The controlling reasons why the canals had not kept pace with the railways had been the niggardly policy displayed in their management. Aside from enlarging the prism and locks, the same antiquated methods and appliances were still in use. Larger boats were in use, it is true, but without doubt they were too large for economical animal towage in the prism of the canal and so consumed more time than was proper in transit. It was essential to increase the speed of boats to compete successfully.

By other routes steam transportation had displaced more primitive modes. It had proved a failure upon the canals because of the faulty design of the boats, which in the constricted waterway and with slow lockage could not reach a remunerative speed. The lengthening of the locks by the use of tumble-gates and a strong organization of boatmen with western agents seeking trade was advised.

In contrast with the canal policy as above outlined, the State Engineer, in his report ⁵³ for 1882, adverted to the progressive policy of the railways since the first canal enlargement was authorized. At that time a commission of prominent engineers investigated the subject of cost of transportation, with the following conclusions: cost of railway transportation – level road – per ton-mile, three and one-half cents; cost of Erie canal transportation – including locks – about one cent per ton-mile. If level, or without locks, still less. This comparison of rates was doubtless a strong factor in shaping the canal policy of enlargement at that time.

In 1835 there were in New York State but one hundred miles of completed railway. In 1882 there were over sixty-six hundred miles, with western connections having vast ramifications reaching out to every portion of the grain belt of the country. Every device for lessening cost of transportation had been put into service; alignments and grades had been straightened and reduced; the Erie had double-tracked and the Central had quadruple-tracked their lines; steel bridges replaced wood; heavy steel T-rails replaced straps; locomotives had quadrupled their power, until in 1882 the cost of railway transportation had been reduced from three and one-half cents to one-half a cent per ton-mile.

The subject of encroachments by railways upon canal lands seems at this time to have been a matter of public interest; so much so, that in the case of the West Shore railroad – then building – it became the subject of legislative inquiry. In response to an Assembly resolution of February 26, 1883, the Superintendent of Public Works stated that it had been the practice of his predecessors to grant permits for such encroachments under suitable conditions as to maintenance of waterway, etc., the permits being based upon the authority of section 17, chapter 276, Laws of 1834, and the general railroad law of 1850, chapter 140. On April 8, 1881, the Superintendent of Public Works revoked these permits, apparently on constitutional grounds, and the matter was then taken to the Supreme Court in proceedings for condemnation and appraisal of damages, and on September 7, 1881, Judge Churchill held that the permits were not unconstitutional. Thereafter new permits were granted. Between Schenectady and Utica about twelve miles were thus occupied, within the blue line, by the West Shore railroad.

In the way of legislation Governor Cleveland recommended abolishing the offices of canal auditor, the board of audit and board of canal appraisers, in the interests of economy, promising a saving of at least thirty thousand dollars. It was noted that the expense of maintenance of the board for the previous year had been – exclusive of awards – nearly forty thousand dollars, of which over fifteen thousand dollars had been paid as fees to attorneys to defend the State against claimants.

By chapter 69, Laws of 1883, the office of canal auditor was abolished, and the records were transferred to and became a bureau of the Comptroller’s office. By chapter 205, Laws of 1883, the offices of canal appraiser and State board of audit were abolished and a board of claims was established, to take effect June 1. By chapter 165, Laws of 1883, the offices of collector of tolls, weighmasters and assistants, were also abolished.

At Little Falls an interesting part of the works of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, known as the "upper lock and stone bridge," were transferred by chapter 448, Laws of 1883, to a commission for preservation as a historical relic.

In 1883 an event occurred, inconspicuous in itself, but which is perhaps worthy of record as being the first public act in the chain of events which may be designated as the modern era of canal improvement. A legislative bill ⁵⁴ was introduced by Assemblyman Leighton to lengthen lock No. 46, at Utica, and to appropriate money for the purpose. The journals of both houses show its passage and transfer to the Governor for his signature, but a careful search among the papers of the archivist and in the offices of the Governor and Secretary of State fails to reveal any record of its reception. It was undoubtedly "a thirty-day bill," and failing to receive the executive signature, expired by limitation and is not of record among the statutes of that year.

The open season of 1883 was but two hundred and nine days. As to traffic conditions remarkable development was shown; the tonnage for the year was 5,775,631, an increase of 324,350 tons.

Governor Cleveland remarked ⁵⁵ that the exhibition of the canal business for the year 1883 fully justified the policy adopted by the people of relieving commerce from the burden of tolls. The grain shipments from Buffalo over the canal were 42,350,916 bushels as against 29,439,688 during the previous year, a proof of the fact that the increased commerce was attracted to this route by the abolition of tolls.

The Comptroller, however, attributed ⁵⁶ the increase to the unusual and general movement of freight through the state. Railway freight traffic was increased and higher rates prevailed. The increase in canal tonnage had been disappointing, he said, and there was no revival of interest in boat-building.

It is extremely difficult for the impartial historian to arrive at a just estimate of the canal situation at this period, owing to the divergent opinions then held by State officers, and freely expressed in their official statements of about the same date. The retiring State Engineer, whose own office at that time it was seriously proposed to abolish, criticised ⁵⁷ the policy of insignificant appropriations which had prevailed, as being sufficient simply to maintain navigation in the dilapidated canals and entirely inadequate to put them in good condition. Local steam-boat and excursion traffic, other than the regular towing boats, at comparatively high speed was constantly washing away the canal banks and doing damage that required many thousand dollars to repair. The accumulated silt in the bottom of the canal, caused by the wash from high ground and from the sewage of many cities and villages along the line, called for a thorough cleaning out of the prism. The experiment of "free canals," said the State Engineer, was a failure; their tonnage was more dependent upon the law of supply and demand than upon tolls, and finally "it was a foregone and inevitable conclusion that the canals must go."

The net canal debt on September 30, 1883, was, after deducting balances, $5,852,606.94, a reduction within the year of $635,200.

In view of this conflict of official opinions, it may be well to seek for outside sources of information. The colossal increase of traffic between the western states and the Atlantic seaboard had by this time caused the question of cheap transportation to become one of national importance. In December, 1872, the President called the attention of Congress to it. A Senate committee made a thorough and elaborate examination of the subject. In the first session of the forty-eighth Congress a bill (H.R. 3538) to aid the State in enlarging its canal by an annual appropriation of $1,000,000 for ten years was reported. The benefits to the City and State of New York have heretofore been summarized in speaking of the events of 1877, so that it is needful here simply to refer to the report of this Congressional committee in the following brief form.

New York State possessed the key to the commercial situation. The Erie canal has done more to advance the wealth, population and enterprise of the western states than all other causes combined. The value of the public lands has been increased. The western grain regions were directly interested in the development, improvement and maintenance of this great waterway. It was of supreme importance to the people of the United States to sustain this great regulator of freight charges. The Erie canal paid the people of New York State well in its period of highest rates, 1862 to 1869, when the tolls averaged six and one-quarter cents per bushel; it still paid when tolls were reduced one-half, 1870 to 1874; and now the people, in a liberal, catholic spirit, had abolished tolls entirely and had thrown open the canal, free to the commerce of the world. The only hope of the people against the combined influence of the power and capital of railway interests lay in the Erie canal. It was directly beneficial to at least twenty millions of people in twelve western states, and had demonstrated that the greater the facilities the less the cost of transportation.

Senator Windom, in a speech ⁵⁸ on the Senate floor in 1878, said that canal rates exerted an influence over all other rates from the Gulf States to the St. Lawrence river, and from the Atlantic ocean to the foot-hills of the Rockies, and in support of this statement introduced a letter from Albert Fink, then Railway Trunk Line Pool Commissioner, who said in substance that wherever rates from Chicago to New York were reduced, by reason of the opening of the Erie canal, this reduction affected rates from all interior cities, as St. Louis, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. If the direct lines from such points did not at once meet the reduced water rates their freights would reach New York by way of Chicago, lake ports and the canal, and the direct lines would be left without business. It also affected Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore rates, and the rates from South Atlantic ports and the southern states generally, until it reached the line of influence of low ocean rates. All rail rates are kept in check by water transportation. The source of this statement, coming as it did from the one who was then acknowledged to be the best-posted railway manager in the United States, would seem to give to it the binding force of testimony elicited on cross-examination.

According to the Governor’s next message, ⁵⁹ the condition of the canals for the season of 1884 – their business and their management – compared favorably with previous years. No substantial improvements had been made for several years, and the Governor recommended that an earnest effort be made to restore and renew the various structures connected with it. Skilled mechanics, however, had been employed upon the masonry and woodwork during the year, with good results. Twelve gravel scows, each with eighty cubic yards capacity, had been put in service, and the tow-path and banks were being raised and put in good condition.

The subject of radical changes and improvements in water-ways for the transportation of western products to the Atlantic seaboard was one which engaged the attention of numerous engineers throughout the country. The inadequacy of the Erie canal, as it then existed, to handle the enormous and constantly increasing traffic and to at least control the rates upon, if not to successfully compete with the vigilant and up-to-date railway systems, was almost universally conceded by those who had made a study of the situation. Various plans were advanced to meet required conditions.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, ⁶⁰ in June of 1884, Elnathan Sweet, the State Engineer, presented a project for a ship canal across the State of New York, to follow the general route of the Erie canal but with radical changes at different points, both in route and profile. The prism was to contain eighteen feet depth of water, by one hundred feet width on the bottom; the locks were to be four hundred and fifty feet long by sixty feet wide; and by a continuous descent to the east the supply of water from Lake Erie was to be discharged into the Hudson river. Summarized, the plan was: to widen, deepen and rectify the worst curvatures of the existing canal from Buffalo to Newark, one hundred and thirty miles; to construct a new canal from Newark to Utica, one hundred and fifteen miles, by a change of alignment to the south near Newark, crossing Canandaigua outlet and thence on the south side of Clyde river, crossing Seneca river near its junction with Cayuga lake outlet, where for, nearly two miles it would require an embankment and aqueduct fifty feet above the river, and recovering the present alignment east of Syracuse; to canalize the Mohawk river from Utica to Troy, about one hundred miles; and to improve the Hudson river for thirty miles south of Troy.

The cost was roughly estimated at from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty millions of dollars, and the probable tonnage from twenty to twenty-five millions per annum. Lake propellers were to pass through this canal to New York without transshipment of cargo.

The discussion which followed was participated in by a score of prominent engineers, members of the American Society of Civil Engineers, with the result of bringing to light various interesting plans as substitutes for the one proposed. As these men voiced the most enlightened public thought, which had been dealing with this subject for the previous quarter of a century, their opinions are pertinent here.

A prominent railway engineer condemned the ship canal as antiquated and doomed to be superseded by railways, suggesting a barge railway as preferable.

Mr. Edward P. North entered exhaustively into the question of rates, noting the rapid increase of railway facilities and the lack of corresponding improvements in the canal. He gave tables showing the great reduction in the cost of transportation year by year, by all routes, remarking that this was a great improvement over the one hundred dollars per ton charged from Albany to Buffalo before the completion of the canal. This apparent reduction, however, was partly attributable to the fact that the earlier figures were given in a fluctuating and depreciated currency, caused by the premium on gold, which later gradually lowered until it finally disappeared with the resumption of specie payment. Arguments were not required to show that the route by the lakes and Erie canal, though no longer the chief factor in the distribution of freight, was a controlling factor in the price received for that service. The grain product of thirteen states – from Buffalo to the Missouri – amounting to three hundred and fifty million bushels, would be affected by the cheapening of canal freights. The figures were from reports of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Willard S. Pope preferred making use of the Canadian system as being nearly three hundred miles shorter from Chicago to Liverpool and with less proportion of restricted waterway.

Mr. E. H. Walker was opposed to the proposed canal as being too expensive and too slow. Vessels of 75,000 to 90,000 bushels capacity would cost a hundred thousand dollars, would require a crew of twenty-five to thirty men, and the round trip from Buffalo east would require about a month. The slow speed required for such an expensive vessel and crew would not compare favorably with a one-quarter cent transfer charge at Buffalo. A ten-foot canal, with miter-sills as they were, locks lengthened, tumble-gates, steamboats of good model, costing fifteen thousand dollars, carrying eighteen or twenty thousand bushels of grain, using a crew of six men – such improvements to cost two or three million dollars, would be better.

Mr. W. W. Evans said that the railway grabbers knew and felt that as long as the Erie canal existed it would exert a very large influence on the cost of transport between the Atlantic coast and the great chain of lakes. No policy could be so suicidal as to sell or close it, and no policy could do as much good towards extending the wealth or influence of the State of New York as that of enlarging or improving this great water line, making it equal in carrying capacity to the Welland canal. A ten-mile branch at Great Sodus bay to catch the Lake Ontario and the proposed Georgian Bay canal traffic was suggested.

Col. W. E. Merrill considered the plan entirely practicable from an engineering standpoint. The strong current at the western end, resulting from the effort to feed the entire length of canal from Lake Erie would be objectionable, but could be modified by retaining Eastern feeders and concreting leaky points. Lock gates, thirty-five feet wide by forty-five feet high for a twenty-five foot lift, would be feasible, but fixed dams in place of the movable type on the Mohawk would be preferable.

Mr. O. Chanute suggested relief by improving boat engines to obtain increased speed on the existing canal. Mr. T. C. Keefer approved the transfer at Buffalo to cheaper barges on the score of economy, and as following the Canadian practice at Prescott.

In traversing some of the foregoing objections, Mr. Sweet claimed in reply to Mr. Chanute that present canal-boats required one and one-fifth horse-power for a speed of one and one-third miles; that the horse-power required increased as the cube of the increase in speed. As to the argument that all canals must now yield to railways, he said that the rule, applicable to small canals with local traffic only, did not apply; railways had reached their limit of development as to gauge, and increased traffic meant more tracks and more trains. With canals the limitation was different. The ratio of resistance and of immersed surface to the amount of cargo decreases with increase in the tonnage of vessels, and consequently economy increases.

The time required to pass by a typical lake propeller, loaded with twenty-seven hundred tons, fitted with one thousand horse-power engines and drawing sixteen feet, was estimated at five miles per hour through two hundred and thirty miles of restricted prism west of Utica; allowing twenty minutes detention at each of eight locks, this would require forty-nine hours. From Utica to New York, two hundred and sixty miles, the river passage would permit a speed of ten miles per hour. Allowing ten hours detention at the locks of the Mohawk, this would make the time from Buffalo to New York eighty-five hours. The would be in effect to extend an arm of the sea nearly to the center of population of the whole country.

Other participants challenged the estimates of cost and placed the amount at two hundred and forty million.

The chief value of this discussion lies in the fact that it represented the most expert professional opinions of that day upon this important subject.

The net canal debt on September 30, 1884, was $4,276,323.15; the gross tonnage for the year was 5,009,488, a decrease of 654,568. The West Shore railway opened for through traffic during the year, but notwithstanding this, railway tonnage also decreased. A restricted crop and less ample market were given as reasons. Only sixty boats were registered, of one hundred and sixty-six tons average tonnage.

By chapter 80, Laws of 1884, the Legislature appropriated $30,000 to lengthen lock No. 50 near Syracuse "in such a manner as to allow the locking of two canal boats of the ordinary size of those running on the Erie canal, at one and the same time, one following the other, and upon such a plan as that while it [would] thus allow the passage of two boats at the same time, [would] also allow, if required, the passage of but one boat by the use of only the present existing lock." The work of construction was substantially done in the winter following the close of navigation. As this improvement was the initial experiment in the way of the lengthening of locks which afterwards took place, a brief explanation is necessary. The use of the double-boat system, or steamer and consort, had by this time become quite common. Canal officials had repeatedly called attention to the loss of time in locking boats through singly and had urged the adoption of quicker means of transportation in order to draw traffic back to the canal route. By lengthening the chamber sufficiently to permit the passage of the steamer and its consort at one lockage, without uncoupling, much time could be saved at each lock, the original lower gate being retained for use in locking a single boat through if required. Time saved meant lower canal freight rates and this in time meant increased traffic. Lock No. 50, at the eastern end of the Jordan summit level, on the middle division, was selected for the first lock to be lengthened, and the results were awaited by canal officials with considerable interest.

The question of insufficient water-supply for the canal, especially on the eastern and middle divisions, had engaged the attention of canal authorities and at this time seemed to be regarded as of vital importance. Various legislative committees had investigated the subject to a greater or less extent and had reported thereon. The enlargements of the canal, the lengthening of locks and other causes, required the use of more water to operate the canal. From denudation of forest lands upon water-sheds supplying canal feeders, from leakages, and more than all from the selfishness and greed of owners of antiquated leases and water-rights along the line, using more and more water for private purposes, the supply was year by year growing comparatively less until the required depth could scarcely be maintained throughout the season. Remedies had been persistently urged to remove the accumulated silt from the bottom and to deepen the prism another foot. But as one discerning official put it, the trouble was not at the bottom but at the top of the water. More water was needed and both the State Engineer and the Superintendent of Public Works ⁶¹ urged the speedy building of additional storage reservoirs in the Adirondack region to provide an increased supply.

The annual message of Governor Hill, covering the period of 1885, is worthy of note from the fact that it did not contain a single word of direct reference to the canals. Other subjects seem to have engrossed public attention. The tonnage fell off about a quarter of a million from that of the previous year, by reason of lessened export demand. Navigation was open only two hundred and five days. The Comptroller, in his statement for the fiscal year to September 30, makes the net canal debt $3,675,971.39.

The experiment of lengthening the berme lock at lock No. 50 to twice its original length, or to two hundred and twenty feet between quoins, leaving the lower gate intact, to be used as a middle gate in case of locking through a single boat, proved very satisfactory. Power derived from a water-wheel was also used in assisting boats through the lock. It was recommended ⁶² that other locks, Nos. 47, 48, 49, 51 and 52, – all locking down westward, be improved in the same manner. It was also urged that the Forestport reservoir be speedily completed to increase the water-supply of the Rome level.

Many people believed that by reason of the commercial advantage and national importance of the Erie canal the Federal Government should bear a portion of the expense of increasing its capacity. Various measures to accomplish this result were advocated. In the Legislature a concurrent resolution was reported, asking the State’s Representatives and Senators in Congress to support the Weber bill (H.R. 1577), then pending. This bill provided Federal aid to the State, to the extent of five million dollars in United States two and one-half percent bonds, on condition that the State maintain a depth of nine feet in the canal, with locks of double length, and a free waterway to the commerce of the United States. The bill, however, did not become a law.

The total tonnage of canals in 1886 was 5,293,982, an increase of 562,198 over the previous year, which was attributed to the partial cessation of a railroad rate war, which permitted higher rates to be maintained and much traffic to be restored to the canals.

Navigation was open two hundred and fourteen days. Department reports contain little of interest for this period. It may be noted that the tendency was to cheapen transportation by quicker lockages and the use of three horses abreast on the tow-path.

The lengthening of lock No. 50 had proved so satisfactory that a similar improvement in other locks was deemed desirable. By chapter 646, Laws of 1886, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars was appropriated to double the length of the five other locks heretofore mentioned, and, after the season of 1886 closed, the work was carried to completion before the canal was opened in 1887. Guard-lock No. 1 was likewise improved.

During this latter year further lock improvements were authorized by legislative enactment. By chapter 113, Laws of 1887, fifteen other locks upon the Erie canal, eight of which were to be east of and the remaining seven west of Syracuse, were authorized to be similarly lengthened, $375,000 being appropriated for the purpose. Chapter 463 of the same year also appropriated $28,000 for the lengthening of lock No. 72 at Buffalo.

The locks selected by the State Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works for improvement under this statute were Nos. 46, 45, 44, 35, 34, 33, 32 and 31, east of Syracuse, and Nos. 53, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61 and 62, besides the designated 72, west of Syracuse. These, together with the locks already lengthened, secured this improvement to the longest possible stretch of the canal. Contracts were let and work was pushed on them at once upon the close of navigation. On lock No. 46, at Utica, the canal authorities became involved in litigation with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company and work was stopped thereon.

The net canal debt September 30, 1887, was $2,583,121.16. The total tonnage for the year was 5,553,805. Navigation opened May 7 and closed December 1. The State Engineer urged the lengthening of the remaining canal-locks, except the flights at Lockport and Cohoes. Also the completion of the partly built reservoirs supplying the Syracuse-Utica long level with water. The duty of registering boats was transferred by chapter 528, Laws of 1887, from the Comptroller to the Superintendent of Public Works.

Governor Hill’s fifth annual message, covering the period of 1888, was, like his previous messages, noteworthy by reason of the entire absence of direct reference to the canals, their history or their needs. Nor do the department reports contain much of general interest concerning that period.

The canals opened May 10 and nominally closed December 1, although the release of east-bound boats continued about two days longer, a period of two hundred and seven days. During the period of lock-lengthening the seasons of navigation were purposely made as short as practicable so as to allow the contractors all possible time for completing their work during the winter.

The total tonnage was but 4,492,948, a decrease which was substantially accounted for by the fact that before the opening of the season canal rates were held by the boatmen higher than shippers were willing to pay. While these rates were in abeyance, railroad agents were unusually active and secured the contracts for carrying large quantities of grain, which would otherwise have been carried by the canals. Other influences were at work toward the same end – short crops, which caused a decrease in export trade, and a combination of traffic interests, which included the Union Steamboat Co. west of Buffalo, the Erie Elevator Co. at Buffalo, and the Erie Railway to New York. The so-called "Hutchinson" wheat corner, a gigantic speculative deal of the time, also retarded shipments. The building of new boats was also inactive, only eighty-five being registered. The net canal debt at the end of September, 1888, was $2,066,370.61.

The locks lengthened under the statute of 1887 were completed before the opening of navigation in 1888, except No. 46, upon which work was not resumed, the injunction thereon not having been set aside. By chapter 416, Laws of 1888, passed May 28, $200,000 was appropriated to lengthen additional locks upon the Erie canal in a similar manner. Five or more of these locks were to be east and two or more west of Syracuse. This statute also carried an additional appropriation of $100,000 with which the Superintendent of Public Works was authorized to deepen the Erie canal by removing the accumulations of dirt from the bottom wherever in his judgment the interests of commerce demanded it, and to restore the waterway to its standard depth of seven feet. The locks to be improved under this statute were to be designated by the State Engineer and the Superintendent of Public Works, so as most to facilitate and improve navigation, and numbers 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 63 and 64 were so designated. But the estimates of cost were later found to exceed the amount of appropriation and it was decided to exclude number 26 from the list. Work on the other six was undertaken and pushed to completion after the close of navigation.

In attempting the work of deepening and cleaning out the bottom of the canal to a standard seven-foot depth under the special appropriation for that purpose, serious difficulties were encountered. The statute required it to be done by contract. It became evident upon investigation by the engineers that the removal of quicksand, clay, loam, hardpan and other changeable materials, found at various points, would endanger the walls and do more harm than good. The appropriation, therefore, was not used, pending a more complete examination by the engineers during the following spring, and it was sought to have the statute so amended that the work could be done directly under supervision of the Department of Public Works. ⁶³

The question of water-supply for the middle division of the canal, which was to a great extent secured from the head waters of the Black river, through the feeder at Booneville and thence by the Black River canal to the Erie, was a subject of prominence. The State Engineer caused careful investigation of the history and locality of this source of water-supply to be made during the year 1888 with special reference to the increase of supply and to the claims of mill owners and others interested. As a result of this investigation, in his following report ⁶⁴ there was presented an interesting and elaborate history of the subject. As a conclusion he urged the raising or completion of the Forestport dam from fifteen feet to its originally-planned height of twenty-one feet, to insure an adequate reserve of water-supply, both to the canal and the interested mill owners. Sixty thousand dollars was named as the estimate of cost.

Claims for damages by reason of leakage from the Erie canal at various points, largely caused from its location and construction during the period of its first enlargement (1836-62) along side-hills and through gravelly or porous soils, had become so numerous and such a never-ending source of loss to the State that the Superintendent of Public Works urged a special appropriation of $20,000 for drainage improvements to mitigate if not abolish this evil. ⁶⁵

By chapter 240, Laws of 1889, $20,000 was appropriated to be expended by the Superintendent of Public Works in properly ditching to carry off canal leakage where necessary to protect the rights of property owners.

Also by chapter 274 of that session $45,000 was appropriated to complete the construction of a storage reservoir above the Forestport pond by a dam not to exceed twenty feet in height.

The canal was open for navigation May 1, and closed December 1, 1889. The number of new boats registered in 1889 was fifty-eight. It may be noted, however, that with increased facilities for speed on the canal and the preponderance of through grain traffic much larger boats were the rule. The average tonnage of new boats for the period of four years ending with 1889 was two hundred and thirteen, while for the period of four years prior thereto and ending with 1885, it was one hundred and fifty-five tons. ⁶⁶

The whole number of bushels of grain of all kinds delivered in New York from May 1 to December 1, 1888 (canal navigation season), was about 75,000,000, of which the New York Central and Erie railways each carried about 11,000,000, the West Shore railway about 7,000,000, and the canal about 33,000,000.

The total canal tonnage for 1889 was 5,370,369, an increase over the previous year of 427,421, and an increase over the average of the past five years of about one-quarter of a million tons. The total number of bushels of grain of all kinds shipped by canal from Buffalo in 1889 was 41,985,824.

The Legislature of 1889 was active in making appropriations for improvements. By chapter 54, Laws of 1889, $10,144.61 was appropriated as an additional sum to complete the lock improvements on the Erie canal, authorized by chapter 113, Laws of 1887, and by chapter 493, an unexpended balance of $1,961.64 under the last named statute was reappropriated for the same purpose. Chapter 110, section 2, conferred the necessary authority upon the Superintendent of Public Works to expend the fund for deepening and cleaning out the canal under the previous year’s appropriation, either by contract or otherwise, as he might determine to be for the best interests of the State, in compliance with the request contained in his report. For the completion of the improvement on lock No. 72, $2,055.51 was appropriated by chapter 70, in addition to the $28,000 previously granted by chapter 463, Laws of 1887.

Further improvements in the lengthening of locks were provided for by chapter 568, Laws of 1889. The Superintendent of Public Works was directed to lengthen one tier of eight or more locks on the Erie canal during the ensuing winter, the locks to be selected by the State Engineer and himself so as to best protect and most facilitate and improve navigation, $215,000 being allowed for that purpose. He was also directed to deepen the prism to the standard of seven feet of water, $120,000 being allowed for this, but, at his discretion, he might use $8,000 of this sum for lock machinery to complete lengthened locks on the western division. The lock-lengthening was to be done by contract, the deepening, whether by contract or day labor, was discretionary, and any surplus of the lengthening fund might be used for deepening.

Lock 46 was not advanced during 1889. The following locks were placed under contract: numbers 23, 24, 25, 26, 65 and 66. These six locks consumed so much of the appropriation that the other two authorized were not designated. Since 1886 twenty-seven locks had been lengthened, and seven more (including lock No. 46) were under contract. When these were finished, three hundred and fourteen miles of canal could be used by double-headers without uncoupling. The remaining locks were near Cohoes, at Little Falls, Newark and Lockport, where the problem of lengthening certain locks involved difficult questions that could not be solved by the ordinary plan of lengthening. ⁶⁷

Under chapter 110, Laws of 1889, amending chapter 416, Laws of 1888, permitting the canal to be "bottomed out" by day labor, a large force of men was employed as soon as the law became operative on April 6, and between that date and the opening of navigation on May 1, about one hundred miles of canal were cleaned out.

In 1889 a revision of former estimates and surveys was made by Captain Carl. F. Palfrey, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., for a twenty-one foot canal on two routes from Lake Ontario to Niagara river and published, with profiles and estimates, as part of the report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A., for 1889, at page 2434. In the same year a bill was introduced in Congress by Representative Sereno E. Payne, as H.R. No. 582, 51st Congress, first session, under date of December 18, providing for a commission to select one of these routes and appropriating one million dollars for construction upon it. No action was taken by Congress. ⁶⁸

As showing the policy of the State to discourage private enterprise that interfered with the public welfare, the following incident is given. A Senate bill directing the construction of a sewer under the canal at Utica was returned by the Governor without approval on the principal ground that it was solely for the benefit of the City of Utica and of no benefit to the canal or the State at large. ⁶⁹

Improvements in appliances for making quicker lockages still occupied the attention of the authorities. Without the aid of machinery it was difficult to get an ascending "double-header" into a lock. A turbine wheel, set in the well at the head of the lock and discharging through the culvert under the central pier wall, operated rope cables which, passing over spools, were used to haul the boats into and out of the lock. Wire cables had been tried but proved unsatisfactory, as they were heavy to overhaul, wore rapidly and broke easily. Iron frames were also substituted for timber frames. These were neat, strong, worked well and saved much time, both in hauling in and starting out boats. Friction brakes were also used. It was considered noteworthy that in 1888, lock No. 54 was passed in nine minutes and forty seconds, and lock No. 56 in ten minutes, by the aid of machinery. It was computed that by using a twenty-two inch turbine wheel with six-inch buckets, 5,406 cubic feet of water would be required for operation, developing 8.18 horse-power.

Interesting experiments were also made under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Works to determine how best to increase the speed of boats passing down the locks, by opening one or more of the paddle valves in the gates, thus creating a current to aid in drawing boats into the locks and in flushing them out. Deputy State Engineer, Arthur S.C. Wurtele, made various deductions from the experiment; among them, that it was most advantageous to use only one paddle for drawing in, as the use of more would render the boat liable to damage the gates and coping, while for "swelling out" the use of two paddles was advised. In drawing water through the valves, the velocity was taken as proportional to the square root of the lift, the velocity in chamber as proportional to the relative area of the paddles used and the chamber, and the velocity of the boat as inversely to these proportions, so that the time of entry would be the same for all lifts, while the time of leaving would vary. The average time for drawing in with one paddle was two minutes and fifty-two seconds, and the average time of swelling out with two paddles was two minutes and fifty seconds. Taking an average lift of nine feet, and considering the time of emptying the lock as proportional to the square root of the lift, it was found that the lockage could be made in eight minutes. The total amount of water used in a nine-foot lock, with a normal capacity of 18,597 cubic feet, was computed at 97,876 cubic feet. As the time of lockage without the use of this method was estimated at about twenty-seven minutes, there was a clear gain of about twenty minutes to each lock, or twenty-four hours on the seventy-two locks of the Erie canal. ⁷⁰

But as against this advantage in time there should be noted the enormous amount of additional water required for lockages, in view of the difficulty which had already menaced the canal from the frequent scarcity of water, especially on the high levels of the eastern division.

In 1889 an exceptionally quick trip was made by the steamer Cortez, loaded with 6,500 bushels of wheat. This was the last boat to leave Buffalo for tide-water, and make the trip in the net time of four days, ten and one-half hours.

Widening the tow-path to eighteen feet was decided to be a necessary measure. Triple teams, drawing double-headers, were the rule that width was necessary to enable two such teams to pass. ⁷¹

Replying to another Senate resolution of inquiry in relation to the waters of Skaneateles lake, which were then being used by the State for the Erie canal. State Engineer John Bogart estimated the cost of providing the amount of water required for the Jordan level, if the supply from Skaneateles lake were cut off, at, approximately, $1,325,000. The inquiry was prompted by the desire of the City of Syracuse to divert the supply from the lake for municipal purposes.

Under the legislative grant in chapter 291, Laws of 1889, application was made by the city water commissioners to the canal board for the use of the water. After protracted hearings, consent was refused, but later their engineers, with a representative of the State Engineer’s department, made a survey of the watershed in question.

Chapters 476 and 493, Laws of 1889, reappropriated a balance from chapter 424, Laws of 1887, and $3,000 for the improvement of Oak Orchard feeder. Chapter 141, Laws of 1889, amended the penal code as to adulterations, restricting the sale of ice cut from the canal, to use only for cooling beer in kegs and to be conspicuously labeled "Canal Ice."

The net canal debt on September 30, 1889, after deducting sinking-fund balances, was $1,585,534.66. Chapter 380, Laws of 1889, became operative on June 6, making $2.00 per day the minimum wages on all public works. This obliged officials to lay off many men during the summer so as to keep within the appropriations and in other ways the law hampered the progress of work.

The net canal debt September 30, 1890, was $1,177,887.51. The total tonnage for 1890 was 5,246,102, a slight decrease from the previous year, due to deficiency in amount of grain carried. Of this total tonnage the Erie carried 3,303,929. Of the total amount of all grain receipts at New York the canals carried 30,082,900 bushels, or 38.72 percent, leaving to be carried by all other routes 47,619,256 bushels.

The season of navigation opened April 28 and closed December 1. The total number of boats on the registry list at the opening of the year was five thousand three hundred and sixty, to which were added seventy-seven new-boats registered during the year.

In 1890 a report, with maps, profiles and revised estimates, was made by William Pierson Judson and was published as part of H.R. No. 283, 52nd Congress, 1st Session, 1892, and as part of Senate resolution of the 54th Congress, 1st Session, 1896, and was also published separately under title of "From the West and Northwest to the Sea, by way of the Niagara Ship Canal." These estimates were for two routes from Lake Ontario to Niagara river and for twenty-one feet depth of water. Reports were also made to Congress in 1890 by Representative Sereno E. Payne, and in 1892 by representative C.A. Bentley, and in 1896 by Representative C.A. Chickering and by Senator Calvin S. Brice, in each of which the commercial and engineering aspects of the case were fully presented and favorably discussed. ^71a

Chapter 314, Laws of 1890, approved May 9, entitled "An Act to Establish and Maintain a Water Department in the City of Syracuse," conferred upon the Syracuse water board the right to take water from Skaneateles lake in a thirty-inch pipe, provided that the board should first increase the storage capacity of the lake sufficiently to store all the ordinary flow of its watershed, the State reserving the first right to use a sufficient quantity for all the requirements of the Erie canal, the rights of the city to be subject to the superior claims of the State.

By chapter 168, Laws of 1890, appropriations were again provided to facilitate commerce by increasing and improving the lockage capacity and depth of the canal. Before the opening of navigation, in 1891, the Superintendent of Public Works was authorized and directed to lengthen one tier of six or more additional locks, to be designated, as before, by himself and the State Engineer "so as best to protect and most facilitate and improve navigation in said canal." One hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars was to be used for lock-lengthening and machinery, and one hundred thousand together with any unused balance of the lock fund, was available for cleaning out and deepening the prism to standard dimensions.

The principal improvement during the winter of 1889-90 was the continuation of lock-lengthening and restoration of the canal prism under the provisions of this statute. Locks Nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, 65 and 66 were so completed. This improvement increased the mileage which could be used for double-headers, without uncoupling, to about three hundred and fifteen, leaving thirty-seven miles still unimproved.

In 1890 an interesting report ⁷² was rendered of a survey that was made during the summer of 1889, under a Senate resolution of that year. This survey was made to determine the feasibility of establishing storage reservoirs in the valley of the upper Genesee for the use of the canals. The report stated that before the completion of the Erie canal, and during the period from 1822 to 1825, the Genesee river was the sole source of supply for the canal as far east as the Seneca river, sixty miles. The Genesee river feeder was located by engineer Canvass White in 1819 and was in later years constructed. After the "Stop law" of 1842 a dam eighteen inches high, built across the river one and one-half miles above Rochester to supply the feeder, was destroyed by the sheriff as a nuisance. Later it was restored and used. Since the completion of the canal, Lake Erie has supplied the western levels, but water from the Genesee river has been used as a reserve supply to be used more or less each years as the exigencies of navigation required.

That portion of the valley lying between the falls of Portageville and Mt. Morris, for a distance of about twenty-five miles, was carefully examined by George I. Bailey, assistant engineer, and party and found to be peculiarly adapted to the purposes of a storage reservoir. The river at that point flows between precipitous bluffs of shaly rock, clay and sandstone, the escarpments being from three hundred to five hundred feet high and from one-eighth to one-fourth mile apart. At Mt. Morris occurs the lower end of this remarkable gorge or canyon of the Genesee. The flow of the river is variable, so that storage is necessary to provide an even supply. The State Engineer reported that it would be of advantage to have a reserve supply of perhaps fifteen hundred million cubic feet, available at the rate of thirty-eight thousand cubic feet per minute. This quantity would probably suffice for all canal purposes.

There was found to be practically no limit to the height of dam which could be constructed, and computations were made to one hundred and seventy-five feet. It was estimated, however, that a dam built with a crest fifty-eight feet above the river surface and at a cost of one million dollars, would provide for the amount of water above stated and would flood about fourteen hundred acres of territory. A suitable foundation of Genesee slate rock was located at an average depth of seventeen feet below the surface of the river. Investigations as to rainfall showed that the watershed would afford a maximum supply of nine hundred and fifty-eight cubic feet per second for every day in the year, and this volume would require a dam of one hundred and seventy-two feet in height. The reservoir would be of importance to the canals for quick filling in the spring, for emergencies and to compensate the Lake Erie supply for retardation, by eel grass, evaporation and leakage.

Navigation was opened May 5, closing December 5, 1891. Lake Erie was open April 13, and the Hudson river from March 24 to December 24.

During the winter of 1890-91, locks Nos. 40, 41, 42 and 43 were lengthened to correspond with the general scheme, as was also lock No. 46 at Utica. It will be recalled that the contract for this lock had been let in 1887, but the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company had obtained an injunction restraining the contractors from proceeding with the work on the ground that the new structure would render the Company’s swing-bridge at the foot of the lock useless, as the plans provided for lengthening at the foot. Finally the railroad company agreed to pay to the State the additional cost of lengthening at the head, and the contractors were ordered to proceed. Upon their refusal to begin under such terms as the State would accept, their contract was canceled and the work was relet on July 8, 1890, and completed ready for navigation the next spring.

The work of lengthening locks upon the canals, which began in 1884 and had been continued each year, was suspended during the winter of 1891-92, owing to the failure of the Legislature of 1891 to grant the necessary appropriation for that purpose. The whole number of locks lengthened on the Erie, up to that time, was thirty-eight, as follows: Nos. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 and 72, leaving thirty-four unimproved. Sixteen of these were at Cohoes (Nos. 3 to 18), having short levels between, averaging one thousand feet and on curves so sharp as to be difficult to adapt to the use of double boats. Five others were the combined locks at Lockport which would be expensive to change; of the remainder, two were at Albany, four above Cohoes, four at Little Falls and three at Newark; all could be changed but at considerable expense. The mileage covered by these improvements was about three hundred and twenty-three, leaving nearly twenty-nine miles unimproved. ⁷³

During the legislative session of 1891 political complications arose which blocked the passage of appropriations, but the Legislature evinced a well-defined mood for investigations. Inquiry by a Senate resolution was made of the Superintendent of Public Works as to the reasons for the increased cost of maintaining the canals for the previous period of seven years. In reply the Superintendent explained ⁷⁴ that the apparent increase was due to the system of lock-lengthening – then nearly completed – and that, aside from this item, the cost of lock-tending and ordinary repairs had remained nearly stationary for the seven years in question, at the sum of six hundred and seventy thousand dollars.

The Assembly, by resolution on April 28, 1891, appointed a committee of seven to investigate as to the management of the canals for the preceding eleven years. The committee held sessions during the year and on February 24, 1892, they reported ⁷⁵ that not a dollar had been unnecessarily appropriated or otherwise than carefully expended; that the letting of contracts was in no wise dependent upon political affiliations, and that no contractor had contributed to either political party by reason of his connection with the canals.

In response to a Senate resolution of inquiry, the State Engineer submitted a list ⁷⁶ of canal bridges built by the State under special laws, since 1854, at points where no bridges existed prior to the passage of the law of 1854 upon that subject.

Chapter 366, Laws of 1891, provided that no more bridges over the canals should be built or reconstructed by the State except where the canal obstructed a road in use before the canal was built, and then only at a cost sufficient to preserve the continuity of the street or road. If more costly bridges were desired the local authorities must pay the additional expense by agreement with the Superintendent of Public Works.

On March 24 the State Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works jointly warned the Senate of the dangerous condition of the great canal aqueducts (lower and upper Mohawk and Schoharie) and asked an appropriation of fifty thousand dollars to make them safe.

The warning seems to have been unheeded, for in his next annual report ⁷⁷ the Superintendent says: "As a, result, the only obstructions to navigation during the past season [1891] were those caused by the giving way of these aqueducts in three different places."

In 1891 Dr. E. L. Corthell, on April 8, read before the Western Society of Civil Engineers at Chicago, a paper entitled. "An Enlarged Waterway Between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Seaboard," in which was given a summary of the routes and projects. This was published in the Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies for April, 1891, and was discussed at some length in the same issue by Messrs. Onward Bates, St. John V. Day, Charles D. Marx and Benzette Williams and also in the December issue by Messrs. Wm. Pierson Judson, J. M. Goodwin and Samuel McElroy." ⁷⁸

The gross tonnage of the canals for 1891 was 4,563,472, of which the Erie carried 3,097,853, an apparent decrease of 682,630, but an unusual tonnage of ice which had been transported from Lake Champlain in 1890, amounting to 467,537 tons, if deducted, would leave the probable real deficit as 215,093 tons. The cause of this deficit was alleged to be the lack of State provision for canal development and quicker transportation to compete with the increasing facilities of the railways. During the season a violent and persistent rate war existed between the canal interests and the combined railways and at once on the close of navigation railway rates doubled. ⁷⁹

The cost of moving freight per ton-mile upon the canal had been gradually reduced from 1.526 in 1872 to 0.645 cents, about $114,000. And if, as Governor Flower hopefully remarked in his message of the ensuing year, there should be sufficient revenues from the canal fund to meet it, "the State has levied its last tax for the payment of the canal debt."

Governor Hill, in a communication ⁸⁰ to the Legislature on April 10, 1891, recommended the application of certain unappropriated money then in the treasury, the result of a refund of the United States direct tax, to the extinguishment of the remaining State debt, including the canal debt. The message does not appear to have been acted upon.

Owing to extremely low water in Lake Erie in 1891, caused by a remarkably dry season and continued northwest winds, it became difficult to preserve the necessary depth of water on the Tonawanda creek and Lockport level. The gates of lock No. 72 at Black Rock were kept open most of the season, although it was very unusual to open them at all.

In reporting to the Legislature of 1892, both the State Engineer and the Superintendent of Public Works urged the necessity for better and more canal improvements, the former presenting an elaborate review of the methods and cost of steam towage as being the only remunerative method of canal transportation at this time.

A legislative joint resolution ⁸¹ authorized the Governor to appoint three commissioners to investigate and report what measures were expedient to carry into effect the suggestions and conclusions of the special report of the State Engineer as to supplying water from the Genesee river to the canal. Evan Thomas, John Bogart and Charles McLouth were so appointed.

In February of 1892, the subject of ship canals across the State of New York, including both the Ontario and Erie routes, was under consideration by Congress. Major D.C. Kingman, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A., presented a general statement of the plans and estimates which had been made up to date, and of the present conditions and cost. This statement, with a full discussion of the commercial aspect of the case was published as a part of H.R. No. 423, 54th Congress, 1st Session, 1892. ⁸²

Legislative appropriations for sundry minor canal improvements were granted but none for continuing the system of lock-lengthening. One act of the Legislature of 1892, is noteworthy by reason of its far reaching consequences in shaping the future policy of canal improvement. By chapter 378, the Legislature provided for the election, in February, 1893, of delegates to a Constitutional Convention to be held in May of 1893, one of its duties being the consideration of amendments relating to the care and improvement of the canals of the state. However, on January 27, 1893, before the time fixed for the election of these delegates, the law of 1892 was amended so that the delegates should be elected at the November election of 1893 and the Convention should assemble in May of 1894. At the ensuing November election delegates were so chosen.

The failure of the Legislatures of 1891 and 1892 to continue the policy of improvement which had been in force since 1884, can not be viewed as indicating a radical change of public sentiment. The lack of funds in 1891 was chargeable to the political deadlock of that year, and the act carrying appropriations the next year, although passing the Legislature, failed to receive the Governor’s approval, because certain objectionable features were included and the act was so framed that it could not be vetoed in part.

The Legislature of 1893 again took up the work of lock-lengthening and bottoming out, in a very limited degree, but the subject of any general improvement was held in abeyance, pending the action of the Constitutional Convention. Following its suggestion, the State entered upon the project of deepening the canal to nine feet, which was not completed before there was vigorously agitated the scheme, which has culminated in beginning a thousand-ton Barge canal. The whole history of the canal has been one of gradual development, but the present phase may be dated from about 1884, when a period of improvement was begun which has extended to the present – a period during which the need of some adequate means of controlling railway competition could not be satisfied till a radical change of plan was adopted.

Of the minor canal appropriations of 1892, the following may be noted: Chapter 494 appropriated $35,000 to complete the reservoir above Forestport pond and $14,000 additional to change adjacent highways submerged thereby. By the close of the season the work had been placed under contract and was well under way. Chapter 476 appropriated $20,000 to remove rocks and obstructions from the canal prism between Commercial and Ferry streets in Buffalo. Chapter 495 appropriated $20,000 to strengthen and protect the berme bank of the canal at Schenectady. Plans were prepared for continuing the stone wall for twenty-three hundred and forty feet. Chapter 471 appropriated $17,000 to be expended upon betterments to certain Madison county reservoirs. An amendment by chapter 274 to section 3 of chapter 412, Laws of 1864, providing for the annual filing of chattel mortgages upon canal-boats, should be noted. Chapter 480 appropriated $15,000 for the purpose of constructing a stone dam to take the place of the old timber dam at Little Falls across the Mohawk river. At the close of the year construction was under way.

Navigation upon the canal for 1892 opened on May 1 and closed on December 5, a period of two hundred and nineteen days. Lake Erie was open April 14. The Hudson river was open from April 1 to December 22. The total tonnage of the canals for the year was 4,281,995, showing a decrease of 281,477 tons. As a cause for this falling off, the Governor in his next message ⁸³ stated that the competing railways had advanced their equipment to a point where they could transport freight as cheaply as the canals. The remedy proposed was more rapid transit, and a plan for doubling the rate of speed by the use of electric power for propulsion was suggested. This power was to be generated by the use of waste water at the locks and should be furnished to boatmen at a rate not to exceed sixty cents per day, per boat. The expense of maintenance for the year was the lowest since 1886 and the management was asserted to be honest, prudent and efficient.

Ordinary repairs and maintenance cost $737,051.63, largely owing to the fact that no breaks occurred. Of the above total tonnage the Erie canal carried 2,978,832 tons. The total grain received at New York by all routes from May 1 to December 1, was 110,024,317 bushels, of which the canals brought 25,496,287 bushels or 23.17 per cent. Of the railways, the New York Central showed a gain of 4,100,176 and the Erie 995,576 tons for the year. There were thirty-five boats registered in 1892, having an average tonnage of two hundred and eleven. Owing to abundant rainfall this year, more care was required to guard against too much water on the middle division levels than the usual anxiety to obtain enough.

In his annual report ⁸⁴ for 1892, State Engineer Martin Schenck called the attention of the Legislature to the resolutions adopted by the canal convention held in Buffalo during October of that year and advocated in accordance therewith the making of a survey and estimates for increasing the depth of water in the canal prism to nine feet, except at aqueducts and locks. He again urged the thorough repair of the great aqueducts for the safety of navigation, and further lock improvements, including the two locks between Cohoes and the upper Mohawk aqueduct and another one mile east of Little Falls.

He said that a measure was then pending before Congress to appropriate one hundred thousand dollars for making a survey for a ship canal from the Hudson river to the Great Lakes, and he endorsed this survey for the information it would furnish, but declared that, as a completed work, such a canal was neither feasible nor was its completion to be expected. The ocean steamer with her tremendous height and bulk would never with any degree of economy pass through a canal three hundred miles in length, nor would any number of the existing lake steamers carry grain to Europe.

"The practical canal of the future, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson river," said the State Engineer, "ought to be one capable of bearing barges two hundred and fifty feet in length by twenty-five feet breadth of beam, of a draft not to exceed ten feet and of such a height that the great majority of bridges that should span this canal might be fixed structures instead of draw-bridges." With this proposed canal (which could be built for a reasonable sum), bearing barges towed in fleets, each boat carrying fifty thousand bushels of wheat, New York would be enabled to hold her commercial supremacy against all comers for many years to come.

This appears to have been the first official presentation of what is practically the present thousand-ton Barge canal.

Prior to this time many thousands of dollars from the ordinary canal repair fund of the eastern division had at times been expended on dredging and cleaning out the silt and sewerage deposits from the Albany basin. A Court of Appeals decision that the Albany basin – though State property – was no intrinsic part of the canal system was noted by the State Engineer in his report. The decision ⁸⁵ was to the effect that the common council of Albany have the same general jurisdiction over the pier and basin and to the same extent as over any other part of its chartered limits, subject to such of the provisions of the act for the construction of the Albany basin as are inconsistent therewith.

For the repair of the aqueducts, which had been urged by State officials in previous years, the Legislature (chapter 5, Laws of 1893) appropriated $75,000 to build or repair portions of the trunks at Schoharie, upper and lower Mohawk and to make such repairs to the masonry as might be needed for their preservation. During the following winter they were placed in substantial condition.

In addition the Legislature of 1893 appropriated several hundred thousand dollars by special statutes for sundry canal improvements, including the lengthening of lock No. 19, $38,000 (chapter 119); deepening or bottoming out the canal and repairing certain structures, as designated by the State Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works, including the cleaning out of the Rocky Rift feeder, $50,000 (chapter 119); deepening and improving the Erie basin and Black Rock harbor, $10,000 (chapter 119); deepening the Erie canal in the city of Buffalo, $10,000 (chapter 119); cleaning out Oak Orchard creek and feeder, $35,000 (chapter 136); extending a culvert for sewerage at Canastota, provided that in the judgment of the Superintendent a legal or equitable obligation to do so existed, $7,000 (chapter 328); cleaning out the State ditch at Liverpool, $5,000; improving Butternut creek, $9,000; ditching to protect private property from damage by leakage from canals, $20,000 (chapter 119); repairing the Mohawk dam at Cohoes, $90,000 (chapter 643); and for improving various feeders and reservoirs, building canal walls and numerous swing or lift-bridges in the various cities on the canal, most of the latter, however, being built under agreements by which the cost was partly borne by the municipality benefited.

The reconstruction of the Buffalo bridges and the one at Clinton street, Syracuse, was mostly completed during the year; the appropriation for drainage was partly expended; lock No. 19 was under contract, and the improvements at Black Rock, deepening the canal in Buffalo and the improvements at Erie basin and in Buffalo harbor were in progress during the year. The channel at Black Rock was deepened to twelve feet by fifty feet in width and at Erie basin to eighteen feet deep by one hundred feet wide, being mostly subaqueous rock excavation and made necessary by the increase of commerce, at the port of Buffalo. The stone dam across the Mohawk river at Little Falls was also completed.

Chapter 405, Laws of 1893, provided another amendment as to filing chattel mortgages upon canal-boats whereby a renewal must be filed annually within thirty days next preceding their expiration, in order to continue valid as against creditors or subsequent purchasers or mortgagees in good faith.

Chapter 119, Laws of 1893, appropriated ten thousand dollars for the purpose of making experiments on the electrical propulsion of boats. During the summer, in connection with the Westinghouse Company, some experiments were made in the vicinity of Rochester, using the boat F. W. Hawley fitted with appliances for use with a trolley system. The electrical expert employed by the State deduced from the experiments that the cost of electrical propulsion would be under ten cents per mile at a speed of three and one-half miles per hour, with double-headers. With better conditions the cost could be reduced to five cents per mile.

On February 2, 1893, the commissioners of the Genesee valley storage reservoir project reported strongly in its favor. Chapter 726, Laws of 1893, appropriated ten thousand dollars for determining the feasibility and desirability of carrying out the commissioners’ plan as reported. Another engineering survey was organized under George W. Rafter, in pursuance of this law, to make a further critical examination of conditions.

Canal navigation in 1893 opened May 3 and closed November 30. River navigation was also shorter than usual – from April 1 to December 6. The lake at Buffalo was open from April 15. The number of boats registered was sixty-two, of which fifty were of two hundred and fifty tons each, the average, however, being but two hundred and thirty-one tons.

Only $150,000 of the canal debt remained at the beginning of the year, due in October, for which payment from the canal fund was already provided, besides leaving an estimated $30,000 therein. The Comptroller’s statement covering the fiscal year closing September 30, 1893, shows an outstanding indebtedness of $60,271.70, including certificates of $660, not presented for redemption, against which there were sinking-fund balances on hand.

The season of 1893 was an unusually prosperous one. The total canal tonnage was 4,331,963, an increase of 49,968 tons. On the Erie canal alone the increase was 256,894 tons, the total tonnage being 3,235,726. During the navigation season the total receipts of grain at the port of New York was 108,962,706, of which the canals carried 43,076,900, or more than thirty-nine and one-half per cent. The increase was attributed to higher railroad freight rates which turned traffic to the canals and made the season a prosperous one for boat owners. There was however, but a slight increase in the cost of grain carrying, perhaps one-fourth of a cent per bushel. The cost of ordinary repairs and maintenance was $726,087.47, the lowest for seven years past. ⁸⁶

With the beginning of 1894, Governor Flower called the attention of the Legislature to the necessity of maintaining the supremacy of the canals and, among the various methods of increasing their efficiency, strongly advocated the use of electricity as a means of propulsion. ⁸⁷

The other State officials also joined in urging extensive and immediate improvements. One of the most feasible plans in the way of economical construction was to deepen the water to nine feet by raising the banks one foot and excavating the bottom an equal amount, except at locks and aqueducts, where eight feet of water was deemed sufficient. This plan included the completion of the system of lengthened locks and the use of "double-header" boats. The State Engineer again recommended an appropriation for a survey and estimates for this purpose. He also urged the retention of State ownership of the canals, saying that the center of political power, once vested in the Empire State, had long since passed on to the west. Who could say that the future interests of those sections might not be the means of defeating measures absolutely necessary to canal maintenance and of our commercial supremacy?

The lengthening of lock No. 20 and a change of alignment, together with the substitution of two twelve-foot lifts in place of the existing three eight-foot locks at Newark was advised. The pending ship canal project, again before Congress, was strongly advocated, not from the apprehension of its actual construction for many years to come, but for the enormous amount of engineering information to be gained by the survey.

The State Engineer again advocated the project for a barge canal one hundred feet in width, with twelve feet of water, capable of bearing boats containing fifty thousand bushels of wheat from Buffalo to New York at two cents per bushel, with profit. The proposed route substantially followed the line of the Erie canal, using hydraulic lifts in pairs in place of the flights of locks then in use. The estimated cost of the plan, using available old material, should not, exceed twenty-five million dollars.

Of the old bench walls on the middle division, which had given so much trouble, some ten and one-half miles still remained. The State Engineer advised the replacing of these by walls extending to the bottom of the canal and that an annual appropriation of about fifty thousand dollars for three years would cover the expense. ⁸⁸

The Legislature of 1894 was evidently favorably impressed by these views, for by chapter 572 it authorized the expenditure of forty thousand dollars to lengthen lock No. 20. Also one hundred thousand dollars to begin the scheme of deepening the canal to nine feet of water at such points, to be selected by the State Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works, as would eventually secure a nine-foot channel throughout the canal, either by raising the banks or deepening the bottom. This was a modification of the "Seymour plan" previously referred to.

Since 1829 some half a hundred different laws had been enacted relating to the administration of the canals of the state. Complaints had been received from subordinate officials that some of their provisions were conflicting and ambiguous, rendering it extremely difficult for canal employees and others interested to ascertain just what their duties were. To avoid misunderstandings, it was deemed advisable to have the entire body of canal administrative law rearranged, simplified and codified, and on April 20, 1894, an act (chapter 338) providing for the administrative control and maintenance of the canals, to be known as the "Canal Law" and as chapter 13, General Laws, went into effect.

Liberal special appropriations were again made by the Legislature, among them being thirty-five thousand dollars to build berme walls or embankments at Schenectady (chapter 24), and ten thousand dollars at Utica (chapter 423); sixty thousand dollars to enlarge the entrance to Ohio basin at Buffalo to a channel eighteen feet deep by forty-five feet wide (chapter 145); three thousand dollars to complete Erie basin to the same depth by one hundred feet wide, on which work was then progressing (chapter 588); twelve thousand dollars for a dam at Schoharie creek feeder (chapter 571); eight thousand dollars for the Rocky Rift dam and feeder (chapter 655); and five thousand dollars more for the great aqueducts (chapter 84). The usual number of special appropriations for heavy swing or lift-bridges was obtained by the cities along the canal, generally upon payment of at least one-half the cost by the State: at Buffalo ten thousand dollars (chapter 668), at Lockport, seven thousand five hundred dollars (chapter 573), at Rochester, twelve thousand five hundred dollars (chapters 559 and 560), at Fairport, ten thousand dollars (chapter 576), at Syracuse, seven thousand dollars (chapter 385), and at Canajoharie, nine thousand dollars (chapter 592), this last sum being later deemed insufficient, so that plans were not prepared.

In May of 1894 the Constitutional Convention to which delegates had been elected in November, 1893, assembled pursuant to the statute. Among the amendments approved by the convention was one (section 10, article 7), providing that the canals might be improved in such manner as the Legislature should provide by law, and that a debt might be authorized for that purpose in the mode described by section 4 of the same article, or the cost of such improvement might be defrayed by the appropriation of funds from the State treasury or by equitable annual tax. It was considered that, although this section conferred no additional powers upon the Legislature beyond those which they possessed under the existing constitution, the vote at the ensuing November election, when the amendments were submitted to the people, was an expression of public approval and a mandate to the Legislature to undertake the improvement of the canal. The amendment was carried by 115,343 majority. ⁸⁹

The season of canal navigation was from May 1 to November 30, or two hundred and fourteen days. The lake opened April 28 and the Hudson from March 18 to December 24.

Another amendment (chapter 724) was made to the law affecting mortgages on canal-boats, making the same valid against creditors or against subsequent purchasers or mortgagees in good faith, as long as the debt which the mortgage secured was enforceable.

It may be noted that the Forestport reservoir, which was commenced in 1884, was declared completed this season. It was asserted that this would create an abundant supply of water for that portion of the canal between Syracuse and Little Falls, this section being absolutely dependent upon this supply and that of the feeder at Rome.

The dam across the Mohawk river at Cohoes, having fallen into disrepair, the Legislatures of 1893 (chapter 643) and of 1894 (chapter 462) appropriated ninety thousand and twenty thousand dollars, respectively, for its rebuilding. The plans for this were deemed worthy of attention, as calling for a sheet-iron apron laid in concrete, a somewhat novel form of construction.

The Genesee river reservoir project was early in the field of public attention. The report of Engineer Rafter was submitted by the State Engineer, with his annual report ⁹⁰ of 1893, to the Legislature. A new location, known as the "Hogback," was selected in preference to any of the several sites previously considered. The natural conformation at this point in the canyon presented many advantages for the purpose and an earthen dam one hundred and thirty feet in height, with a core of masonry and an entirely separate spillway, was advocated, all above fifty-eight feet in height to be built at the expense of riparian owners, who should have in return the use of the surplus water beyond that needed for the canals.

This was followed on February 6, 1894, by a lengthy petition ⁹¹ to the Senate from the mill and other owners interested, urging the construction of a dam and reservoir upon the river.

On April 1, Mr. Rafter made his final report ⁹² on the subject to the new State Engineer, Campbell W. Adams. Extensive tests had meantime been made of the Genesee shales and other available constructive material as to their strength in concrete blocks with a result so satisfactory as to eliminate further discussion of other forms of construction, either at the "Hogback" or the other locations. To insure responsibility and early completion, it would be necessary to let the work in its entirety as one contract.

The report closed with the following résumé, giving the benefits to be derived:

"(1) The furnishing of an adequate supply of water to the western division of the Erie canal, under all circumstances.

"(2) A great increase in the permanent water power of the Genesee river at Mount Morris, Rochester and intermediate points.

"(3) The protection of the Genesee flats and the city of Rochester from destructive floods ...

"Taking the total cost of the Genesee river storage dam, 130 feet in height, at $2,400,000, and the storage at 7,700,000,000 cubic feet, we derive a cost per million cubic feet stored of $311.69.

"On taking the total cost at $2,600,000, and the storage at 7,100,000,000 cubic feet, we have a cost per million cubic feet stored of $366.20."

The total tonnage of all canals for 1894 was 3,882,560, of which the Erie carried 3,144,144. This was a decrease of 449,403 tons under the previous year, and the smallest tonnage since 1859. The principal cause was alleged to be the general stagnation of business from which all modes of transportation suffered about equally. To this was added the customary lack of better and quicker modes of transportation by canal and the perfection of railways for the carrying trade.

The total receipts of grain of all kinds at the port of New York during the season of canal navigation was 85,194,369 bushels, of which the canal carried 42,608,700 bushels, or 50.01 per cent. But, notwithstanding this percentage, it should be remembered that other cities and states diverted over 50,000,000 bushels, causing a loss to the people, at five cents per bushel, of $1,807,770. Sixty-seven boats were registered, averaging two hundred and thirty-nine tons. The aggregate payments for ordinary repairs and maintenance of the canals for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1894, were $780,661.44.

1. Governor’s Annual Message, 1863.

2. Assembly Documents, 1862, No. 174.

3. Assembly Documents, 1862, No. 190.

4. Assembly Documents, 1864, No. 179, pp. 113-203.

5. Laws of 1863, chapter 72.

6. Governor’s Annual Message, 1864.

7. Laws of 1864, chapter 354.

8. Assembly Documents, 1866, No. 172.

9. Anderson and Flick’s History of New York State, p. 246.

10. Session Laws, 1867, p. 2495.

11. Assembly Documents, 1868, No. 32.

12. Constitutional History of New York, Vol. II., pp. 354-355.

13. Assembly Documents, 1870, No. 4, p. 119.

14. Senate Documents, 1869, No. 2, p. 14.

15. Assembly Documents, 1869, No. 11, pp. 20-23.

16. Assembly Documents, 1869, No. 59.

17. Assembly Documents, 1869, No. 193.

18. Assembly Documents, 1871, No. 2, Governor’s Annual Message.

19. Senate Documents, 1873, No. 70.

20. Assembly Documents, 1874, No. 46.

21. Assembly Documents, 1874, No. 24, p. 23.

22. Assembly Documents, 1875, No. 80, pp. 19-21.

23. Assembly Documents, 1875, No. 2, p. 18.

24. Id., p. 20.

25. Senate Documents, 1875, No. 41.

26. Senate Documents, 1875, No. 93.

27. A practice of allowing the contractor to continue a piece of work, under the terms of his original contract, after the first appropriation had been expended and another secured, instead of reletting to a possible new bidder.

28. Assembly Documents, 1875, No. 152.

29. Senate Documents, 1876, No. 48, parts 1 and 2.

30. Id., p. 6.

31. Assembly Documents, 1876, No. 27, pp. 179-186.

32. Senate Documents, 1876, No. 60, p. 3.

33. Senate Documents, 1876, No. 74.

34. Governor’s Annual Message, 1877.

35. Governor’s Annual Message, 1878.

36. Report of Canal Auditor, 1877.

37. Governor’s Annual Message, 1879.

38. Report of State Engineer, 1878, p. 5.

39. Report of State Engineer, 1878, p. 14.

40. Report of State Engineer, 1878.

41. Assembly Documents, 1880, No. 69.

42. Auditor’s Financial Report, 1879.

43. Annual Report of the State Engineer, 1879.

44. Auditor’s Annual Report, 1880

45. Assembly Documents, 1881, No. 114.

46. Auditor’s Annual Report, 1881.

47. Id.

48. Legislative Manual, 1904, p. 191.

49. Canal Auditor’s Annual Report, 1882.

50. Governor’s Annual Message, 1883.

51. Canal Auditor’s Annual Report, 1882.

52. Id.

53. Senate Documents, 1883, No. 9.

54. Assembly Journal, 1883, p. 360.

55. Governor’s Annual Message, 1884.

56. Comptroller’s Report, 1883.

57. Report of State Engineer, 1883.

58. House Report 628, 48th Congress, 1st Session.

59. Governor’s Annual Message, 1885.

60. Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. XIV.

61. Report of Superintendent of Public Works, 1884.

62. Report of State Engineer, 1885

63. Report of Superintendent of Public Works, 1888.

64. Report of State Engineer, 1888.

65. Report of the Superintendent of Public Works, 1888.

66. Report of Superintendent of Public Works. Tonnage Report, 1889.

67. Report of State Engineer, 1889.

68. Report on Barge Canal, p. 975. (Albany, 1901.

69. Senate Documents, 1889, No. 48.

70. Report of State Engineer, 1889.

71. Communication from State Engineer to Senate, March 18, 1889.

71a. Report on Barge Canal, pp. 975-976.

72. Report of State Engineer, 1890.

73. Report of State Engineer, 1891.

74. Senate Documents, 1891, No. 52.

75. Assembly Documents, 1892, No. 57.

76. Senate Documents, 1891, No. 50.

77. Report of Superintendent of Public Works, 1891, p. 14.

78. Report of Barge Canal, p. 981.

79. Report of Superintendent of Public Works, 1891, p. 19.

80. Senate Documents, 1891, No. 71.

81. Senate Documents, 1892, No. 48.

82. Report of Barge Canal, p. 972. (Albany, 1901.)

83. Governor’s Annual Message, 1893.

84. Assembly Documents, 1893, No. 35.

85. 3 Paige 213, affirmed 9 Wendell 571. 23 Barber 33, affirmed 26 N.Y. 472.

86. Governor’s Annual Message, 1894.

87. Id.

88. Report of State Engineer, 1893.

89. Report of Superintendent of Public Works, 1894.

90. Assembly Documents, 1894, No. 21.

91. Senate Documents, 1894, No. 46.

92. Report of State Engineer, 1894, pp. 392-393.