A. L. Bishop — The State Works of Pennsylvania. 239 



The cost of tlie same sections at the time of their sale, as shown 

 by the reports of the auditor general and. state treasurer, was as 

 follows : — 



Philadelpliia and Columbia railroad $5,277,278.00 



Eastern division of canal 1,737,285.00 



Juniata division 3,575,966.00 



Portage railroad 2,708,672.00 



Western division 3,173,434.00 



Total $16,472,6351.00 



From the above it appears that there was added to the cost of the 

 main line after its completion the sum of $4,365,927,511/2. Simi- 

 larly, a detailed statement of the original and final cost of the lat- 

 eral works (see page 284) shows an increase of the latter over the 

 former of $904,468.66. In both cases, this increase admits of expla- 

 nation. The expenditures were divided into two classes, ordinary 

 and extraordinary. The former included only such items as were 

 clearly chargeable to the current yearly expenses- and represent the 

 "expenditures" shown in the tabular statement in Appendix VI. 

 The appropriations for repairing breaches, damages by floods, 

 renewals of locks and dams, and numerous other items were placed 

 in the extraordinary list and added to the original cost of the works. 

 By this means the cost of the main line and lateral branches by the 

 time of their sale had increased, as we have seen, $4,365,927,511/^ 

 and $904,468.66 respectively. 



Another feature of the accounting system of the canal commis- 

 sioners resulted in suppressing the whole truth regarding the cost 

 of, and expenditures upon, the various section^ of the works. Their 

 own expenses, those of the boards of appraisers, the salaries of 

 collectors, weighmasters, and lock-keepers, and the cost of the var- 

 ious exploratory surveys did not appear in their financial reports. 

 Consequently all such statements which showed the yearly profits 

 obtained in operating any section were made just as if no expense 

 had been incurred for any or all of the above items. Yet, 

 from 1826 to 1858, they amounted to about two and one quarter 

 millions of dollars. 



In order to illustrate the way in which the accounting of the 

 canal commissioners misrepresented the actual financial conditions 

 of the public works, a comparison will now be made of their 



