loss to the State of many hundreds of thousands of
dollars. "The corruption is so enormous," said the _World_, "as to
render absurd any attempt at concealment."[1137]

[Footnote 1137: New York _World_, September 27, 1867.

The story of these frauds is found in two volumes of testimony
submitted by the Canal Investigation Committee to the Constitutional
Convention of 1867.]

Republicans offered no defence except that their party, having had the
courage to investigate and expose the frauds and the methods of the
peculators, could be trusted to continue the reform. To this the
_World_ replied that "a convention of shoddyites might, with as good a
face, have lamented the rags hanging about the limbs of our shivering
soldiers, or a convention of whisky thieves affect to deplore the
falling off of the internal revenue."[1138] Moreover, Democrats claimed
that the worst offender was still in office as an appointee of
Governor Fenton,[1139] and that the Republican nominee for canal
commissioner had been guilty of similar transactions when
superintendent of one of the waterways.[1140] These charges became the
more glaring because Republicans refused to renominate senators who
had been chiefly instrumental in exposing the frauds. "They take great
credit to themselves for having found out this corruption in the
management of the canals," said Seymour. "But how did they exhibit
their hatred of corruption? Were the men who made these exposures
renominated? Not by the Republicans. One of them is running upon our
ticket."[1141] On another occasion he declared that "not one of the
public officers who are charged and convicted by their own friends of
fraud and robbery have ever been brought to the bar of justice."[1142]
The severity of such statements lost none of its sting by the
declaration of Horace Greeley, made over his own signature, that
Republican candidates were "conspicuous for integrity and for
resistance to official corruption."[1143]

[Footnote 1138: New York _World_, September 27, 1867.]

[Footnote 1139: _Ibid._, October 16, 22.]

[Footnote 1140: _Ibid._, October 22.]

[Footnote 1141: _New York World_, October 25.]

[Footnote 1142: _Ibid._, October 4.]

[Footnote 1143: New York _Tribune_, September 26, 1867.]

The practical failure of the constitutional convention to accomplish
the purpose for which it assembled also embarrassed Republicans. By
the terms of the Constitution of 1846 the Legislature was required,