NK\V YORK. 



141 



Soon after, a bill was introduced in tho 

 >. n.-ito and carried through the Legislature, 

 iil.nlisliin^ tin- Contracting Hoard and tlio 

 ulmlr -\stcm i.f n-p:iiring the canals by con- 

 tract. Under the provisions of this act, per- 

 altv.idy having contracts could surrender 

 tin-in, and tho Canal Hoard, on the recom- 

 mendation of tho Canal Commissioners, could 

 at any time "cancel and annul any contractor 

 contracts tor repairs of tho canals heretofore 

 made, by a resolution to be entered in tho 

 minutes of tho said board." The duty of keep- 

 in;.' the canals in repair, and superintending 

 their ^r lu-ral condition, is imposed upon this 

 < 'anal Board. Not only was tho waste- 

 ful svM.-iu of repairing the canals by contract 

 done a\vay with, but tho tolls on the most 

 important articles transported were reduced 

 60 per cent. Provision was also made for the 

 settlement of claims against the State on ac- 

 count of the canals. A beginning was thus 

 made for a reform in tho management of these 

 works which had been loudly called for during 

 many years. Tho Commercial Union did not 

 remain satisfied with what was thus far ac- 

 complished, but issued an address to the peo- 

 ple in June, and in July held a second conven- 

 tion at Rochester, which adopted a large num- 

 ber of resolutions demanding still further im- 

 provements. 



Tho canals of the State are now 900 miles 

 long in tho aggregate, and connect the great 

 lakes, by way of Buffalo and Oswego, with the 

 Hudson River at Albany. The tolls are 

 pledged by tho constitution for the specific 

 purpose of paying, first, for their maintenance, 

 supervision, and management ; second, the in- 

 debtedness of the State on their account ; 

 third, to reimburse tho Treasury for the taxa- 

 tion upon the people ; and fourth, for the sup- 

 port of tho government. The tonnage of mer- 

 chandise carried through them in 1869 ex- 

 ceeded by over 1,000,000 tons the capacity of 

 all the vessels entered at the ports of New 

 York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New 

 Orleans, and San Francisco. The tolls'the same 

 year amounted to $1,278,507.52. The principal 

 rival linos of transportation are the Erie and 

 the New York Central Railroads. The follow- 

 ing is a comparative statement of the total ton- 

 nage movement over tho New York State ca- 

 n:iN. N\-\v York Central Railroad, and Erie 

 Railway, each from 1860 to 1809, inclusive : 



Tom moved on* 

 mile. 



1-,:. 

 1864. 

 is.;:,. 

 1866 

 1887., 



1S..V 



863,623,507 

 1,123,548,430 

 l,034.1.'!ii.0i'i 



871,835,150 



843,915,779 

 l.(IK>.llsn:;t 



968.863.968 

 1,088,761^68 



919,153,611 



New York Cent'l 

 Railroad. 



Too* mnred one 

 mile. 



TOM moved on* 

 mile 



i:i.->:)l.: 

 J.'!7.:!:i'.>.!l7t 

 296.963.492 



lil-.'. l'.C,.7!i 



:!ii.(isi..tio 

 2G4,!93,tJ2B 

 :j::i.n7.vr,7 

 :;i,-j.iso..;if, 

 866.1!W,786 

 474,419,726 



Erie Railway. 



211,081.395 

 408 1 <7Q,861 



r.;ir..f,'(!i.-.-.'.-. 



.si7..s^(.l'.M) 



The following shows tho cost of construc- 

 tion and i-iiniiiin.'iit of tlio three lines: 



Mil*. 



Ncw-Yortt flute CanaU $80,710,88t MO 



New-York Central JUllroad 87,608,607 509 



ErieiUilway 65.131.080 MS 



1189,446,488 S,81 



The total number of tons moved one mile 

 on all tho canals and railroads in the State, in 

 the ten years from 1860 to 1869, inclusive, was 

 19,602,593,782; of this amount the canals, 

 with an average season of less than seven and 

 one-half months in each year, trans) 

 48A per cent., or very nearly one-half, and 

 all the railroads, in operation tho whole time, 

 transported 51,' ff per cent. In several of these 

 years the canals transported more freight in the 

 seven and one-half months than all tho railroads 

 in the State did in the whole twrlvo months. 



The following is a statement showing the 

 total amount of work done during the fiscal 

 year ending September 30, 1870; also, the 

 amount of work remaining to be done on all 

 existing contracts upon the New-York State 

 canals under supervision of the Engineer De- 

 partment : 



Total for ordinary and extraor- 

 dinary repairs $1,549,553 25'$1.361,919 33 



VOL. x. 85 A 



The canal debt, amounting to over $9,000,- 

 000, will all fall due in 1878, or sooner. A 

 bill passed the Legislature -for the funding of 

 this indebtedness, but, being submitted to tho 

 people for their approval at the election in 

 November, it was rejected. The question of 

 devising some means for navigating the canals 

 by steam has attracted much attention, but has 

 not found a solution. 



Under the provisions of the new judiciary 

 article of the constitution, an election was 

 held on the 17th of May for a chief justice and 

 six associate justices of the Court of Appeals, 

 each party being allowed to put only four cnn- 

 didates for associate justices in the field. Tho 

 Republicans met at Rochester on the 28th of 

 April, and nominated Henry R. Selden for 

 Chief Justice, and Charles J. Folger, Charles 

 Andrews, Charles Mason, and Robert S. Hale, 

 for Associates. They also adopted the follow- 

 ing resolutions : 



Rxolved, That tho Republican party of New York 

 is determined to preserve the purity of the judicial 

 office, and that we present to the people of the State 

 our candidates for Judges of the Court of Ap} aK 

 with the confidence that they will bring to their offices 

 the high qualifications of mind and character which 

 those should possess who, in the court of last resort, 

 interpret laws which affect tho property, the life, and 

 the liberty of the citizen. 



JfaolceJ, That while wo recognize that this-is not 



