New York Contract Bidding for Canal Projects Amendment (February 1854)
| New York Contract Bidding for Canal Projects Amendment | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Ports and harbors and Public works labor and contracting |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
New York Contract Bidding for Canal Projects Amendment was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in New York on February 15, 1854. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported this constitutional amendment to require that canal project work go to the person making the lowest offer, with security for their performance. |
A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment to require that canal project work go to the person making the lowest offer. |
Election results
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New York Contract Bidding for Canal Projects Amendment |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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185,771 | 75.43% | ||
| No | 60,526 | 24.57% | ||
Text of the measure
Constitutional language
- See also: New York Constitution
The ballot measure added the following provision to Section 3 of Article 7 to the New York Constitution:[1]
All contracts for work or materials on any canal shall be made with the person who shall offer to do or provide the same at the lowest price, with adequate security for their performance. No extra compensation shall be made to any contractor; but if from any unforeseen cause the terms of any contract shall prove to be unjust and oppressive, the canal board may, upon the application of the contractor, cancel such contract.[2]
Background
Bennett Liebman, a Government Lawyer in Residence at Albany Law School, wrote, "Reviews of the canal system showed extensive corruption in the system’s operation.” In 1853, a legislative investigation “revealed that the superintendents of the three divisions of the Erie Canal had divided equally among supporters of the Democratic and Whig parties the contracts authorized under the $9 Million Act of 1851.” In 1853, the Assembly impeached Canal Board Commissioner John C. Mather on matters related to awarding contracts. The New York State Legislature referred the Contract Bidding for Canal Projects Amendment to the ballot for February 15, 1854.[1]
Path to the ballot
Per the 1846 New York Constitution, the New York State Legislature needed to pass a constitutional amendment by a simple majority vote during two successive legislative sessions to refer the measure to the ballot for voter consideration.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Liebman, Bennett. 2017. “What Are You Going to Do About It?” Ethics and Corruption Issues in the New York State Constitution. Albany Law School.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ New York State Constitution, "Article XIII," accessed February 6, 2022
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