The canal and banking company is hereby authorized to procure and employ such legal and technical aid and to employ such administrative officers, clerical assistants and laborers as it may require for the purpose of enabling it to administer, in accordance with the terms of this chapter, the property, the title to which is vested in it in trust for the state of New Jersey. The canal and banking company is hereby authorized to enter into such agreements with independent contractors as its board of directors may deem advisable in order to carry out the directions contained in this chapter; but no such agreement involving the expenditure of more than one thousand dollars shall be entered into unless first approved in writing by the governor of this state; nor shall any such agreement be entered into in excess of existing appropriations available therefor and applicable thereto.