Canal Ring (New York)

This served as a direct appeal to the people, and so aroused public opinion that the legislature was forced to authorize the governor to appoint a canal commission.

The reports of this commission resulted in a marked diminution in the appropriation for canals and the indictment of several officials for defrauding the State.

[5] The canal fostered a population surge in western New York and opened regions farther west to settlement.

By 1869, railroads finally surpassed the canals in terms of tonnage, and the routes financial troubles were compounded by the Long Depression beginning in 1873.

[9] The Canal Ring made money by charging low prices for major works, but extremely high ones for minor things, in what was termed an "unbalanced bid".

In 1862, the enlargement of the canal was deemed finished in an effort to curb corruption, but new improvements were soon necessitated by the increased traffic due to the Civil War.

In 1867 at the state Constitutional Convention, Erastus Brooks alleged canal contracts of being awarded to the highest bidder.