﻿530 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  necticut, 
  Vermont, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  Virginia, 
  West 
  Virginia, 
  Ken- 
  

   tucky, 
  Mississippi, 
  Alabama, 
  Missouri, 
  Indiana, 
  Iowa, 
  Illinois, 
  

   Michigan, 
  Nebraska, 
  Minnesota, 
  Kansas, 
  North 
  Carolina, 
  Ten- 
  

   nessee, 
  Georgia, 
  Delaware, 
  Arkansas, 
  Florida 
  and 
  Oregon, 
  or 
  in 
  

   twenty-eight 
  States 
  in 
  all. 
  In 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  

   wedded 
  to 
  the 
  single 
  idea 
  of 
  canals 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  never 
  enacted 
  a 
  

   mill 
  act. 
  That 
  this 
  failure 
  has 
  been 
  to 
  the 
  material 
  disadvantage 
  

   of 
  the 
  State 
  may 
  be 
  easily 
  shown. 
  

  

  Special 
  mill 
  acts 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  While 
  no 
  general 
  mill 
  act 
  has 
  

   ever 
  been 
  enacted 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  nevertheless 
  the 
  legislature 
  has 
  

   in 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  cases, 
  in 
  effect, 
  recognized 
  the 
  principle 
  which 
  they 
  

   embody. 
  As 
  for 
  instance 
  in 
  chapter 
  235, 
  laws 
  of 
  1854, 
  an 
  act 
  for 
  

   the 
  improvement 
  of 
  the 
  Saranac 
  river 
  and 
  lakes; 
  chapter 
  505, 
  

   laws 
  of 
  1865, 
  an 
  act 
  for 
  the 
  improvement 
  of 
  the 
  navigation 
  of 
  the 
  

   Oswegatchie 
  river, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  hydraulic 
  power 
  thereon, 
  and 
  to 
  

   check 
  freshets 
  therein; 
  and 
  in 
  chapter 
  289, 
  laws 
  of 
  1868, 
  an 
  act 
  to 
  

   provide 
  for 
  the 
  improvement 
  of 
  the 
  hydraulic 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  

   Chazy 
  river 
  and 
  to 
  check 
  freshets 
  therein. 
  1 
  

  

  None 
  of 
  these 
  acts 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  subjected 
  to 
  the 
  tests 
  of 
  the 
  

   courts. 
  By 
  their 
  terms 
  commissioners 
  are 
  appointed 
  who 
  may 
  

   erect 
  dams, 
  and, 
  if 
  possible 
  to 
  agree 
  on 
  terms 
  with 
  the 
  owners, 
  

   purchase 
  the 
  necessary 
  lands, 
  taking 
  a 
  conveyance 
  thereof 
  to 
  

   themselves, 
  their 
  heirs 
  and 
  assigns 
  forever. 
  If 
  they 
  can 
  not 
  agree 
  

   on 
  the 
  terms 
  of 
  purchase, 
  then 
  title 
  may 
  be 
  acquired 
  under 
  the 
  

   general 
  condemnation 
  laws 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  Under 
  the 
  provisions 
  

   of 
  the 
  act 
  applying 
  to 
  the 
  Kaquette 
  river, 
  a 
  dam 
  was 
  constructed 
  

   a 
  couple 
  of 
  miles 
  below 
  Kaquette 
  pond 
  about 
  1872. 
  This 
  dam 
  

   stored 
  water 
  over 
  Kaquette 
  pond, 
  Tupper 
  lake 
  and 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   smaller 
  ponds 
  in 
  that 
  vicinity. 
  It 
  was 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  people 
  

   of 
  the 
  vicinity, 
  as 
  the 
  writer 
  recollects, 
  about 
  1875. 
  Under 
  the 
  

   provisions 
  of 
  the 
  act 
  applying 
  to 
  the 
  Oswegatchie 
  river, 
  a 
  dam 
  

  

  i 
  There 
  are 
  a 
  considerable 
  number 
  of 
  similar 
  acts, 
  of 
  which, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  

   known, 
  the 
  following 
  is 
  a 
  complete 
  list: 
  Salmon 
  river, 
  chap. 
  268, 
  laws 
  of 
  

   1872; 
  Raquette 
  river, 
  chap. 
  90, 
  laws 
  of 
  1869; 
  Raquette 
  river, 
  chap. 
  432, 
  

   laws 
  of 
  1872 
  ; 
  Raquette 
  river, 
  chap. 
  425, 
  laws 
  of 
  1873 
  ; 
  Raquette 
  river, 
  chap. 
  

   269, 
  laws 
  of 
  1874; 
  Raquette 
  river, 
  chap. 
  148, 
  laws 
  of 
  1877; 
  Oswegatchie 
  

   river, 
  chap. 
  505, 
  laws 
  of 
  1865 
  ; 
  Grasse 
  river, 
  chap. 
  83, 
  laws 
  of 
  1869 
  ; 
  Saranac 
  

   river, 
  chap. 
  684, 
  laws 
  of 
  1871; 
  Saranac 
  river, 
  chap. 
  685, 
  laws 
  of 
  1871; 
  

   Moose 
  river, 
  chap. 
  94, 
  laws 
  of 
  1872 
  ; 
  Great 
  Chazy 
  river, 
  chap. 
  289, 
  laws 
  of 
  

   1868 
  ; 
  and 
  Chateaugay 
  river, 
  chap. 
  652, 
  laws 
  of 
  1874. 
  

  

  