﻿548 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  The 
  special 
  commissioners 
  employed 
  as 
  their 
  engineer 
  J. 
  J. 
  R. 
  

   Croes 
  to 
  take 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  investigation 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  

   board. 
  Under 
  Mr 
  Croes's 
  direction 
  investigations 
  were 
  made 
  as 
  

   to 
  possible 
  municipal 
  water 
  supplies 
  for 
  Syracuse 
  from 
  eleven 
  

   sources: 
  Salmon 
  river, 
  Skaneateles 
  lake. 
  Lake 
  Ontario, 
  Seneca 
  

   river, 
  Onondaga 
  creek, 
  Gang 
  wells, 
  Cazenovia 
  lake, 
  Oneida 
  lake, 
  

   Otisco 
  lake, 
  Tully 
  lakes 
  and 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  the 
  Syracuse 
  Water 
  

   Company. 
  After 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  study 
  of 
  these 
  possible 
  sources 
  of 
  

   supply, 
  Mr 
  Oroes 
  submitted 
  a 
  report 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  January 
  26, 
  

   1889, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  recommended 
  that 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  be 
  adopted 
  

   as 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  the 
  municipal 
  water 
  supply, 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  chiefly 
  

   that 
  the 
  water 
  of 
  this 
  lake 
  was 
  superior 
  to 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  others 
  from 
  

   a 
  sanitary 
  point 
  of 
  view; 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  be 
  supplied 
  by 
  gravity, 
  

   and 
  that 
  the 
  cost 
  would 
  be 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  proper 
  supply 
  from 
  any 
  

   other 
  of 
  the 
  available 
  sources. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  special 
  commissioners 
  it 
  is 
  pointed 
  out 
  

   that 
  section 
  6 
  of 
  article 
  7 
  of 
  the 
  Constitution 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  would 
  

   render 
  it 
  impossible 
  for 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  Syracuse 
  to 
  obtain 
  Skaneateles 
  

   lake 
  as 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  water 
  supply, 
  because 
  that 
  lake 
  constitutes 
  

   part 
  of 
  Erie 
  canal, 
  and 
  is 
  therefore 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  and 
  

   can 
  not 
  be 
  disposed 
  of 
  by 
  it. 
  The 
  constitution, 
  however, 
  does 
  not 
  

   define 
  what 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal 
  consists 
  of, 
  but 
  by 
  article 
  1, 
  title 
  9, 
  

   chapter 
  9, 
  part 
  1 
  of 
  the 
  revised 
  statutes, 
  the 
  legislature 
  has 
  enacted 
  

   that 
  the 
  navigable 
  connections 
  joining 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  

   with 
  those 
  of 
  Hudson 
  river, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  side 
  cuts, 
  feeders 
  and 
  other 
  

   works 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  State, 
  connected 
  therewith, 
  shall 
  be 
  known 
  

   by 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal. 
  

  

  The 
  special 
  commissioners 
  held 
  that 
  the 
  constitution 
  did 
  not 
  

   make 
  Skaneateles 
  lake 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal, 
  but 
  that 
  what 
  

   the 
  constitution 
  means 
  is 
  that 
  Erie 
  canal 
  — 
  the 
  channel 
  across 
  the 
  

   State 
  and 
  the 
  waters 
  necessary 
  for 
  its 
  use 
  — 
  shall 
  not 
  be 
  sold, 
  and 
  

   not 
  that 
  any 
  feeders 
  originally 
  designated 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  as 
  forming 
  

   a 
  part 
  of 
  it 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  disposed 
  of 
  and 
  others 
  substituted 
  in 
  

   their 
  places. 
  Further, 
  inasmuch 
  as 
  the 
  constitution 
  has 
  not 
  

   defined 
  what 
  shall 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  the 
  Erie 
  canal, 
  but 
  that 
  such 
  

   definition 
  has 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  legislature, 
  it 
  therefore 
  follows 
  

   that 
  if 
  the 
  legislature 
  were 
  competent 
  to 
  enact 
  that 
  all 
  feeders 
  of 
  

   the 
  Erie 
  canal 
  should 
  become 
  and 
  be 
  a 
  part 
  thereof, 
  it 
  was 
  equally 
  

  

  