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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



merit of the water storage capacity of New York streams to its 

 fullest degree. 



Another mistake in New York has been in largely confining the 

 agriculture to the production of grain and dairy products. Had 

 manufacturing been the general policy of the State for the last 

 hundred years, the population would easily be anywhere from 

 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 greater than it is under present conditions 

 and a much larger proportion of the agriculture would be garden 

 truck, fruits and berries than it now is. These products yield 

 very much better profit to the producer than grain, cattle, dairy 

 products, etc. The result of this policy would have been that 

 the aggregate wealth of New York farmers would be much higher 

 than it is, and the same thing is true of all other classes. 



The construction of the 1000-ton barge canal is expected to 

 greatly increase the manufacturing possibilities of the State by 

 bringing into it the raw material for the manufacture of iron and 

 steel. These industries have clustered around Lake Erie, at 

 Lorain, Cleveland, Ashtabula, etc. but the industry at these points 

 is burdened by the necessity of bringing coal and limestone for 

 flux by railway transportation from a considerable distance. 

 The barge canal will permit of the development of iron and steel 

 manufacturing at points very near the coal and flux. This manu- 

 facturing ought to develop extensively along the line of the canal 

 between Rochester and Utica. 



Another difficulty has been, until within a year or two, the 

 great cost of incorporating companies in this State. Previous 

 to 1902 the State tax required from corporations was one-eighth 

 of one per cent. The result was that nearly all large corpora- 

 tions were incorporated in New Jersey, but in 1902 this was so far 

 modified that the fee now is merely nominal. 



At the legislative session of 1904, an act was passed authorizing 

 the appointment of a permanent River Improvement Commission, 

 and while this act is hardly all that can be desired, nevertheless 

 it makes a begiuning towards the rational improvement of the 

 streams of the State to their fullest extent. We still need a mill 

 act which will permit of constructing dams on the smaller streams 

 without any further grant of powers from the Legislature than 

 those granted in the general act. ^Ve also need to repeal all acts 



