The great canal scrip fraud

the long version

Canals seemed to have been the bane of early state governments in most of the Great Lakes States, as the States accumulated huge debts for internal improvements that in most cases failed to live up to the economic benefits that had been predicted. Fraud and corruption were often associated with these projects. The first half of this publication consists of a transcript of testimony taken by the Grand Jury, and the second half is a “Review of Testimony” by the Finance Committee of the Illinois State Senate and the Grand Jury of Sangamon County, Ill., which also provides an explanation of this particular scheme.