contract provided for clearing the river from Lyons Falls to Carthage, to enable the floating of lumber from Lyons Falls down the river to market; the extensive lumber interests along the Black river having intrenched upon its navigability and utilized its waters for power purposes.1 It was not completed until 1861 at a cost of $108,699.43, and included the waterway 421⁄2 miles long, with a prism 60 feet wide at the surface, 40 feet wide at the bottom, and 5 feet deep. It had two lift locks 160 feet long by 30 feet wide, built of wood.

The Black river canal, the Black river improvement, the Boonville feeder and the Moose river improvement above Lyons Falls and other intersecting navigable streams, constituted an aggregate navigable mileage of 9334 miles and yielded a revenue down to September 30, 1882, of $301,098.63. They cost the State for the collection of tolls, superintendence and ordinary repairs, the sum of $1,552,229.96, in addition to the cost of construction and improvements, which aggregated $3,894,952.39.

The greatest tonnage carried on the Black river canal was 143,561 tons in the year 1889. The traffic extended from Central New York northwesterly up to the waters of the Black river and down that stream into Lake Ontario, and brought the commerce of that territory immediately into touch with that of Central and Eastern New York. Although difficulties have arisen from time to time between the owners of mill privileges along the Black river and the State officials with reference to the diversion of the waters of that stream, some of which have been carried into the courts, still it is generally conceded that the canal served a most important function in the early development of that portion of the State by bringing its cities, towns and villages within easy water communication with the metropolis.

There were presented to the Legislature, on April 20, 1825, petitions from the counties in the Genesee valley, requesting the Canal Commissioners to cause examinations, estimates and surveys to be made of the most eligible routes from "Rochester to Allegheny river at Olean, through the

1. Annual Report, N. Y. Canal Commissioners, 1855.

valley of the Genesee river; from Scottsville, by the way of Le Roy, to the upper falls of the Genesee river; from Lake Erie to Allegheny river, through the valley of the Conewongo, and from the Allegheny river at Olean to the Erie canal by way of the village of Batavia.'

991

This was one of seventeen separate canals for which surveys were authorized to be made by the act of 1825.

In 1827, a company was incorporated "to improve the navigation of the Cassedaga and Conewango creeks and the Chautauqua outlet," but the company accomplished nothing.

In 1830 the Genesee Valley route was authorized and residents in other counties and the city of New York joined in a petition to the Legislature, requesting the enactment of "necessary legislation for the opening of intercourse with Pittsburg and the inexhaustible beds of bituminous coal of western Pennsylvania by means of the canal system of the State." 2

The canal committee recommended a minute survey of the Genesee valley and on April 30, 1834, an act was passed authorizing the same and for a "side-cut from the village of Dansville down the Canaseraga creek to the Genesee valley line at or near Mount Morris." " Great difficulties were encountered in the route and it was at first considered necessary to construct a tunnel a thousand feet or more through a cliff of rock, but the work did not proceed. Many petitions were presented to the Legislature in the year 183536, and as a result chapter 257 of the Laws of 1836, was enacted authorizing the construction of the Genesee Valley canal, "from the Erie canal in the city of Rochester, through the valley of the Genesee river, to a point at or near Mount Morris; and from thence, by the most eligible route, to the Allegheny river, at or near Olean; and also a branch of the same, commencing at or near Mount Morris, and extending up the valley of the Canaseraga creek, at or near the village of Dansville." If the Canal Commissioners were of the

I. Laws of New York for 1825, ch. 236.

1 "History of the Canal System . . of New York," 710, 711.

2.

opinion, however, that the construction of the said canal would injure the hydraulic privileges at Rochester, then they were required to connect the said canal with the Genesee river, above the feeder dam above Rochester, and from thence to construct a navigable canal to the Erie canal, or improve the Erie feeder from that place, as might best promote the public interest. The act further provided that "the Canal Commissioners shall determine on the width and depth of the said canal and branch and shall borrow, on the credit of the State

such sum or

sums of money as shall be required for the same, as they shall deem best for the interest of the State, not exceeding two millions of dollars." 1

The Genesee Valley canal was authorized on May 6, 1836, and completed to Olean in 1857, at a cost of $5,827,813. Its length was 12434 miles. The size of the prism was 42 feet at the surface, 26 feet at the bottom and 4 feet deep. It had 112 lift locks, 90 feet long and 15 feet wide; 2 guard locks built of stone, wood and concrete, and admitted of vessels carrying from 70 to 76 tons. Its greatest tonnage was 158,942 tons transported in the year 1854. The total revenues received from the operation of the Genesee Valley canal down to September 30, 1882, amounted to $860,164.78. The cost of collection of the tolls, superintendence and repairs on that canal aggregated $2,814,808.67, producing a loss of $1,954,643.89. The cost of construction and improvements aggregate the sum of $6,737,430.56.

This canal was to be constructed through one of the most picturesque valleys of the State, within which is located the beautiful Letchworth Park, given to the State by Hon. William P. Letchworth, and accepted pursuant to Chapter I of the Laws of 1907. During the building of said canal it became necessary to construct the Portage tunnel, which is 1082 feet in length, which was abandoned, and a new contract let for an "open cut" in place of the tunnel, a saving of many thousand dollars to the State.

In the spring of 1841, 36 miles of the canal were completed. The entire canal was completed in 1862 and shortly after navigation was opened throughout its entire length.

The matter of the abandonment of the lateral canals was beginning to receive consideration and at the fall election of 1874 the State Constitution was so amended as to permit the Legislature to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any canals in the State except the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and the Cayuga & Seneca canals. This was undoubtedly proposed at the instance of rival railways, which were in competition with the waterways of the State, and unfortunately public sentiment was not on the alert to prevent the abandonment of several lateral canals.

In 1866 there were 439 locks on the so-called lateral canals of the State, most of which were wooden structures, and shortly after their construction began to show evidences of decay and the necessity of extensive repairs. This was the principal difficulty in the construction of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company. Wherever wooden structures were used, it was not long before repairs thereto, or the rebuilding thereof, were necessary to keep the canals in operation. This entailed upon the State, from time to time, a large expenditure of moneys that would have been obviated had substantial structures been provided originally in the construction of the State waterways. The estimated cost of rebuilding the locks on the Chenango, Genesee Valley, Crooked Lake and Oneida Lake canals in 1866 was $2,310,000.1

XV. "CANAL FRAUDS" AND INVESTIGATIONS.

The annual reports of the State officials charged with the responsibility of canal supervision, contain detailed statements of moneys expended for ordinary and extraordinary repairs, and estimates for further improvements along the lines of the several canals then in operation.

This gave rise to serious complaints on the part of rival political parties and assumed such proportions that they I. State Auditor's Report for 1866, p. 81.

were denominated by parties not in power as "canal frauds," which are considered in this connection.

We have already stated that charges of fraud were made against some of the early contractors and other charges were made against later contractors from time to time and against officials charged with the responsibility of letting and supervising canal contracts. Matters assumed so grave a condition in the year 1846 that it led to the appointment of a commission, consisting of Sidney Lawrence, L. S. Viele, George T. Pierce, Andrew G. Chatfield and John T. Bush. This commission made its investigation in the year 1846 and travelled over the Erie and other canals taking testimony. Scores of witnesses were examined and the testimony fills 1200 printed pages and is known as Document 100 of the Assembly of 1846. The investigation was conducted in a judicial manner and revealed many flagrant abuses of public trust and attempted fraud, but the Commission presented no specific charges against individuals which were grave enough to warrant indictment.

It is impossible in a review like the present to enter into a discussion of all the matters involved in such an investigation. Human nature is the same the world over and many evidences of fraud have been disclosed from time to time in canal construction in the State, and especially so in the construction of the Genesee Valley canal and in the construction of the new channel in the Black Rock Harbor under the improvement authorized in the year 1835, which it was claimed did not include new work of that character.

The Black Rock Harbor was begun a few days before the great storm of October 18, 1844, which brought with it the greatest flood in the history of Buffalo and submerged the lower part of the city and carried away 210 feet of the Bird Island Pier. It was claimed that the commissioners tacitly permitted the Superintendent of the Western Division to repair the breach in the pier without authority and that more than $17,000 were expended before the work was stopped; but no prosecution followed. The commission found that there had been a squandering of public funds in