Public papers of Roswell P. Flower, governor, 1892-[1894]

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COMPLli^'ENTS OF

State ok New York. ///(
PUBLIC PAPERS

RoswELL P. Flower

GOVERNOR.

1893.

ALBANY:

THE ARGUS COMPANY, PRINTERS,
1894.

A-c,7

2_( 0

Public Papers

GOVERNOR FLOWER.

ANNUAL MESSAGE.

State of IvTew York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, January 3, 1893.
To THE Legislature :

So numerous and varied are the interests of our
great State that each year brings new demands for
legislation. The present year forms no exception.
While the State is in an unusually prosperous con-
dition, and no very great public questions present
themselves for legislative solution, there are numerous
matters in whose proper settlement the people are
interested and whose wise disposition will promote,
the welfare and prosperity of our citizens. We, as
tkeir public servants, should be watchful of their
interests and conduct the business of government
with the same fidelity and zeal which we would
exhibit toward our private affairs.

It has been my pleasure during the recess of the
Legislature to more intimately acquaint myself with
the workings of the various departments and bureaus

4 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

of the State govern-ment, and the recommendations
which will be laid before you in this communication
are based largely upon the impressions obtained by
these personal visits and inspections. I have visited
and inspected all the State prisons and reformatories,
all the State hospitals except two, part of the custodial
asylums, some of the normal schools, the State
Meteorological Station at Cornell University, of which
the Executive is an ex-officio member of the board of
trustees, the Niagara Reservation, the Adirondack
Preserve, the fish hatcheries and the oyster beds, the
Erie and Champlain canals, the State Camp at Peeks-
kill, the Rifle Range at Creedmoor, the Quarantine
Station on Staten Island, the State Fair at Syracuse,
and other local centers of State activity in one form
or another. I take pleasure in testifying publicly to
the efficiency and honesty with which, as a rule, all
of these State interests are administered, and such
suggestions as I have to make are made with the.
view of improvement rather than in any spirit of
captious criticism.

State Finances.
The financial condition of the State is very satis-
factory. There is practically no State debt. The only
outstanding obligations are virtually already provided
for. They consist of $150,000 balance of canal debt,
which matures next October, and for the liquidation
of which there is now sufficient money in the Canal
Fund; and of $300,000 Niagara Reservation bonds,
the last of which do not mature until 1895, but all
of which can be paid at any time from surplus

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 5

moneys now in the treasury, witli the proper legis-
lative authority. The following table shows the
financial operations of the treasury during the last
fiscal year :

Cash in treasury to credit of General Fund,

October i, 1891 $S, 231, 270 46

Receipts from all sources during the fiscal

year ending September 30, 1892 6, 553, 993 16

Total $11, 785, 263 62

Payments from General Fund during fiscal
year ending September 30, 1892 10, 083, 776 60

Balance in treasury October i, 1892. . . $1, 701, 487 02

Considering that no tax was laid during the last
fiscal year for general purposes of government, this
is a particularly gratifying showing.

The principal sources of indirect revenue were
from the inheritance tax and the franchise and organi-
zation taxes on corporations. The former yielded
$1,786,218.47, or more than twice as much was yielded
during the preceding year. This marked increase is
owing to the fact that there was passed last year by
the Legislature and approved by the Executive an
act which placed in the hands of the Comptroller
an appropriation of $25,000 for examining records of
surrogates' offices with a view to collecting delinquent
taxes. The Comptroller has performed his work well,
as the large increase in receipts from this source
shows.

There was also an increase in the receipts from the
franchise and organization tax on corporations, the

6 P UBLIC PAPERS VF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

revenues from this source reaching $1,696,960.99, or

$161,085.88 in excess of the revenues of the preceding

year.

Taxation.

The subject of taxation is likely to occupy consider-
able attention of the Legislature during the coming
session, and no subject is worthier of your profound
and disinterested consideration. The Legislature, at
its last session, appointed a joint committee of Senate
and Assembly to investigate present methods of taxa-
tion and to suggest needed reforms, and also by
another provision authorized the Governor to designate
two persons to examine the tax laws of other States
and to report proposed legislation relating to the assess-
ment and collection of taxes. The efforts of these two
agencies should accomplish some practical g«)od, and
until their reports are submitted to the Legislature I
refrain from making any specific recommendations as
to desired changes in existing laws.

As regards the alleged disparity of tax burdens borne
by personal property and real estate, however, it would
be interesting if the legislative committee on taxation
could take testimony upon the effect of chapter 202 of
the laws of last year, which was designed to prevent
evasion of taxation on personal property. Either
through faulty assessments or the opportunity which
the laws formerly afforded for "swearing off" by
allowing deductions in the assessment of personal
property for all "just debts," it is believed that many
millions of dollars' worth of personal property has
escaped taxation altogether. Indeed, although the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. "J

State has been increasing in wealth at a tremendous
rate during the last twenty years, the actual assessed
valuation of personal property was less in 1891 than
in 1871 by more than $70,000,000. The statute of 1892
alluded to, prohibits the deduction from assessment of
personal property of (i) debts for the purchase of non-
taxable property ; (2) debts on account of indirect
liability as surety, guarantor, indorser or otherwise ;
and (3) debts contracted for the purpose of evading
taxation. This prohibition would seem to be rigid
enough to prevent personal property from escaping
taxation through any lack of verbiage in the statute,
as it has in the past. While the law imposes equal
burdens on real estate and personal property, and
faulty administration or defective phraseology permits
personal property to shirk its share of the burden, it is
not strange that owners of real estate protest against
this inequality and suggest radical remedies. The
legislation of last year ought to tend to equalize these
burdens, and a thorough inquiry into its actual work-
ings would furnish valuable information for future
legislative guidance.

The Buffalo Strike.

[ The peace and good order of the State were threat-'
ened in August last by lawless demonstrations during
the strike of railroad switchmen at Buffalo. The
existence of a labor controversy incited evil-disposed
persons to destroy property and endanger human
lives. The sheriff of Erie county was unable to quell
the disturbance and called upon the commanding

8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

officer of the Fourth Brigade to order out two regi-
ments to assist him in protecting property and
preserving the peace. This demand of the sheriff was
supplemented by the requisition of a judge of the
Supreme Court in that department, and on the morn-
ing of August seventeenth the entire brigade, with
the exception of the Forty-seventh Separate Company,
was on the scene of the disturbance in active service.
Up to this time there had been no call upon the
Governor for military assistance. The sheriff had
refused to request aid from the Commander-in-Chief
until he was satisfied that the troops already on the
ground were insufficient to preserve order. Under
this condition of things, believing that their property
was still in danger and that the local troops were
not sufficient to prevent, violence and lawless inter-
ference with the moving trains,, the representatives
of the various railroads united in a dispatch to me,
describing the situation as critical and urging the
sending of more soldiers, in spite of the refusal of
the sheriff to request them. I replied promptly that
the Executive was justified in ordering out the
National Guard for the suppression of riots only
when the local civil authorities confessed their
inability to quell the disturbance and requested
assistance from State authorities ; and in the absence
of such a request I must refuse to order out any
portion of the militia. Early on the morning of
August eighteenth I received the following dispatch:

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 9

Buffalo, August i8, 1892.
Hon. ROSWELL P. Flower, Governor, Executive Mansion,
Albany, N. Y. .•

We have become satisfied that the situation here in
Buffalo, under the pending strike, has become so serious
that we ask that the National Guard of the State be called
out to protect the lives and property of citizens of this city
and county.

AUGUST BECK,

S/ieriff.
CHAS. F. BISHOP,

Maj/or.

Upon the receipt of this request, orders were at
once issued to the Adjutant-General, and portions of
the First, Second and Third brigades, mustering in
all 5,233 men, were at Buffalo within forty-eight
hours from the issuance of the orders. The Forty-
seventh Separate Company, of Hornellsville, joined
the other troops on August twenty-first, making the
entire force of militia on the ground, including those
of the Fourth Brigade, called out upon request of
the sheriff and judge of the Supreme Court, to
number 7,196 men. The presence of this large mili-
tary force prevented further violence and restored
civil order. On August twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and
twenty-seventh the troops were withdrawn and there
has been no disturbance since.

I have stated the facts relating to the calling out
of the militia in order that the. Legislature may have
before it the necessary information to guide it in
providing for the unusual expense thus incurred,
should it be considered wise to relieve the county of

lO PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER,

Erie from paying the total cost, as the Attorney-
General decides it must do under the statute. Up
to November thirtieth, the total expenditure caused
was $192,647.30. This has been paid with money
advanced by the Comptroller, who, I am informed,
has sought to be reimbursed by the supervisors of
Erie county. The complete amount will probably be
a few thousands of dollars in excess of this figure.

Although regretting the necessity which required
the service of the militia, every citizen must feel
proud of the alacrity and soldierly spirit with which
the National Guard responded to the call of duty.
It was a splendid demonstration of the strength and
efficiency of the citizen soldiery. It was made espe-
cially manifest, however, that the equipment of the
guard is very deficient, and provision should be made
at once to supply the lack. The Adjutant-General
estimates that the equipment can be completed for
$100,000, and I recommend that half of the amount
be appropriated for this purpose at the present
session.

It is a deplorable fact that the controversy at
Buffalo between railroad corporations and their
employes should have led to bloodshed and destruc-
tion of property. Such a result, brought about by
the vicious elements of the community, could not help
but prejudice the cause of the employees, for it
necessitated the presence of military troops, which
have no place in settling labor difficulties. Employees
have the right to strike and peaceably persuade
others to join them, and in their earnest and lawful

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WeR. 1 1

efforts to benefit their condition they may always
feel sure that public sympathy is with them and
against selfish corporations. But every citizen and
corporation, every employee and employer, must
observe and respect the authority of law and gov-
ernment. So long as they keep within the law,
State government will leave them to settle their own
disputes. But law must be observed, persons and
property must be protected, and the lawful use of
property by its owners must not be interfered with.
These are the ends for which the State primarily
exists. For the maintenance of these ends every
dollar of the State's money, the life and services of
every member of the National Guard, and the sup-
port of every law-abiding citizen are pledged.

It should be the aim of the law-making body to see
that our laws confer equal privileges. It is not right
that powers should be granted to corporations to
oppress either their employees or the people. What-
ever can be wisely done by legislation to guarantee
equal rights to all should be done. But law will not
accomplish everything. , Corporations will learn by
costly experience that even from the selfish point of
view it pays to be considerate of the welfare of their
employees. No men or corporation can stop the march
of civilization. Shorter hours of labor, better wages
and the opportunity which these give for education
and enjoyment, are natural human aspirations. They
should be treated as such in a friendly Christian spirit,
not repelled with arrogant manner or impatient con-
sideration. Honest recognition by corporations of

12 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

just demands from employees will solve many, a,' labor
difficulty and prevent many an opportunity for lawless
strife and civil disorder.

The Interests of Labor.

The Factory Act, approved by me last year, gave
tbe State the most effective and most sweeping law
in the Union relating to the inspection of factories.
Its provisions apply to manufacturing establishments
and the hours of employment of women under twenty-
one and boys under eighteen years of age, prohibit
the employment therein of children under fourteen,
and also of children under sixteen who are unable
to read and write simple sentences in the English
language ; authorize the inspectors to require that
elevators, machinery, vats, pans, etc., shall be properly
guarded ; that fire-escapes shall be provided where
necessary ; that women shall have proper retiring and
toilet facilities where they are employed in workshops ;
that exhaust fans to carry off dust shall be attached to
emery wheels and grindstones ; that workshops shall
not be overcrowded, and shall be properly cleaned and
ventilated, and that factory buildings which may be
deemed unsafe shall be condemned. The act embodies
various other requirements of importance, relating
chiefly to the manufacture of certain specified articles
of clothing, etc., in tenement-houses.

The factory inspectors are also required to enforce
the provisions of chapter 388 of the Laws of 1890,
commonly called the "Weekly Payment Law," and

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 3

of ch-aj)ter 934 of th'e Laws of 1 871, 'known as the
" Apprenticeship Law."

To enumerate in detail all the benefits which have
followed the enactment of the Factory Law, as it has
been amended from time to time, is unnecessary here..
However, as preliminary to the recommendation I pro-
pose to make, I may state that the number of children
under sixteen years of age employed in workshops and
factories has decreased from no in each thousand
employees in 1866 to forty -one in each thousand in
1892, thus giving employment to about seven per
cent, more adults, and at the same time materially
increasing the ratio of school attendants. The employ-
ment of children under fourteen in factories is almost
entirely abolished. The hours of labor, which were
sixty-six per week in the textile and other industries
previous to the passage of the law, have been reduced
to sixty per week. About 4,000 fire-escapes have been
erected on dangerous buildings through the orders of
the inspectors, and many lives have indisputably been
saved in consequence. Machines and elevators have
been guarded to the extent of the protection of
thousands of lives more. The sanitary conditions
of hundreds of factories have been improved.

The staff of factory inspectors was none too large
for the accomplishment of these results, but additional
legislation last year, to reach what is known as the
" sweating " system, has imposed new duties and made
necessary an increase in the number of inspectors if
the work is to be thoroughly done.

14 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

This additional legislation aimed to regulate the
manufacture of clothing in dwelling and tenement-
houses, and in buildings in the rear of tenements.
A system had grown up .debasing in its effects upon
those who labored in these places — debauching their
morals, depressing their wages to the starvation point,
and requiring them to work from fifteen to twenty
hours a day in stifling, foul and over-crowded rooms,
at the peril of their own health and the health of the
community, for from these pestilential places the
germs of disease could find easy transmission through
the garments manufactured. The law was a new one,
modeled upon none that had been enacted anjrwhere
before. There are about 60,000 people engaged in the
clothing trade in New York city. Two-thirds of these
work in tenement-houses, or in shops in the rear of
tenement-houses. The rooms in tenements are used
both for domestic and manufacturing purposes, and
the workmen are usually boarders of the head of the
family. As many as possible are crowded into these
places. When the day's labor ceases the work-rooms
become bed-rooms, the clothing worked upon is used
for mattresses and bed covering. Very little regard
is paid to cleanliness or decency. While landlords
are the most outspoken in their denunciations of the
filth and degradation which prevail, they plead that
nothing can be done to improve such people, and
that we should permit this state of affairs to continue,
because if the law is enforced they will lose paying
tenants. The manufacturers, or, in other words, those
who own the raw material from which the clothing

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. I S

is made, also decry the people who make up the
garments and say that they are past and beyond
improvement by the operation of law. Yet the manu-
facturers are not entirely blameless. Instead of
providing workshops for the people who make up
their wares, they farm out the work to a contractor
at so much a piece. This contractor in turn sublets
the work to another contractor, or to a man with a
family who can "take in boarders," and the work is
then made up on the "team" system, z. e., one part
of the garment is given to one operator, another part
to another operator, and so on. By the time the work
reaches the " team " operator the price for making the
garment is so low that the workman can make a bare
subsistance only by long stretches of unceasing labor,
and the middleman takes advantage of every inch of
space and of the workman's ignorance. For defective
work, or work that is alleged to be defective, there is
a heavy fine, and the net result is what has already
been described.

The present law does not go far enough to remedy
all the evils which have grown up under this system.
If the manufacturer escapes the responsibility and
expense of running a factory, he should be compelled
to keep a register of those who are making up his
goods, and no person should be given work who
could not produce a certificate from an inspector
stating that he occupied healthy and suitable quarters
for the purpose of manufacturing. This would be a
proper amendment to the present law, and the import-

l6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

ance of the subject, it seems to me, warrants its
careful consideration.

There is especial need, however, for such change
in the law as will provide for more inspectors. The
law now authorizes the appointment of eighteen.
This is about one to 2,700 factories. Massachusetts
has one to 770 factories ; Ohio, one to 850-; and
New Jersey, one to 870. If the laws are to be
rigidly enforced a sufficient number of inspectors
must be provided.

Common School Education.

The number of children of school age during the
year 1892 was 1,845,519. The number attending the
public schools was 1,073,093, leaving 772,426 children
to be educated in private or parochial schools, or
without instruction in any schools. The total amount
expended for public schools during the year was
$21,134,516 — an increase of $865,398 over the preced-
ing year. If the ratio of public school children to
the whole number of children of school age con-
tinues to decrease it will not be long before half
the latter are educated at private expense or are
not educated at all. It is well known that thousands
of children in the State are growing up without any
school education whatever, and I renew my recom-
mendation of last year for a carefully guarded com-
pulsory education law. Such legislation is only
justified as an extreme measure of protection to the
State and to society, and its provisions should recog-
nize and respect, so far as is consistent with its

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1/

main purpose, the principle of personal liberty and
unnecessary interference with the rights of citizens.

Improvement of the Canals.-
The tonnage of the canals during the season of
1892 was 281,477 tons less than for the season of 1891.
The total tonnage was 4,281,995 tons, comprising the
following classes of freight :

Tons.

Products of the forest i, 249, 381

Products of agriculture i, 038, 85 1

Products of manufactures 125, 781

Merchandise 292, 468

All other articles i, 575, S 14

Total 4, 281, 995

The decrease in tonnage is attributed to the fact
that the railways have advanced their equipment to
such a degree that they are able to transport freight
as cheaply as the canals. About the only canal
boatmen who can now compete with the railroads are
the few who have steam canal boats and tow from
three to five boats with them 'each trip.

The great problem for the canal interests to solve,
in my judgment, is that of more rapid transit. The
maximum speed that the canals will stand is about
four miles an hour, but the average speed attained
now is only about two miles an hour. The doubling
of the rate of speed would enable each boat to make
twice as many trips in a season, double its earnings,
and largely increase the total canal tonnage. With
this improvement and without further enlargement
the capacity of the Erie canal could be increased

1 8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

four times the amount of the present annual ton-
nage. In a letter to the recent canal convention at
Buffalo I suggested whether the use of electricity as
a motive power would not accomplish the much
desired purpose of more rapid transit. Ample water
power for the generation of electricity is accessible
along the line of the Erie canal and could be util-
ized without great expense. The fall of water
between Buffalo and Albany being 569 feet the waste
water at the locks is ample to furnish the power to
propel the boats by electricity. The State, however,
should own and control the electric plant and charge
boatmen a price, sufficient to pay the cost, for the
use of the power. This price ought not to exceed
sixty cents a day to each boatman, and would be
much cheaper than three or four horses or mules
upon which he now depends, and consequently would
enable him to make greater profits in his occupation.
It would seem as if mechanical skill could devise a
method for the application of electricity to canal boat
propulsion which would be both economical and-
effective. The effort has in it so much of promise
for the prosperity of the canals that I regard it
worthy of the careful consideration of the Legislature,
and I recommend that proper provision be made by
law to encourage and facilitate experiments in this
direction under the supervision of the Superintendent
of Public Works.

A personal inspection of both the Erie and Cham-
plain canals during the year satisfied me that the
canal management is honest, prudent and efficient.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I9

The expense of maintenance during the last year
"was the lowest since 1886.

Improvements are needed to increase the usefulness
of the canal system, but I reiterate the opinion which
I expressed in an official communication last spring,
that too great liberality in canal appropriations will
react against the very interests they are expected to
subserve. Careful examination, with the State Engi-
neer and Superintendent of Public Works, of the work
now needed, satisfied me that a large appropriation
will not be required this year to maintain the canal
system in a proper state of efficiency and make
necessary improvements. The required dredging of
the Champlain canal will, not demand a larger
expenditure than $50,000 for the present year. The
expense of repairing the Schoharie creek aqueduct
should not exceed $25,000 ; that of the upper Mohawk
aqueduct $20,000, and that of the lower Mohawk
aqueduct $25,000. These improvements are, however,
imperatively needed and should not be delayed. The
Erie basin at Buffalo should be deepened so as to
give the canals the same facilities at this terminal
point that the railroads have. As regards enlarge-
ment of locks and increasing the depth, of the Erie
canal I refer the Legislature to the very practical
suggestions relating thereto in the report of the
Superintendent of Public Works.

I renew the recommendations made to the Legis-
lature last spring that all appropriations for canal
purposes be included in a single bill.

20 public papers of governor flower.

The World's Fair.
The energy and intelligence which have been dis-
played by the State's World's Fair Commissioners
give assurance that New York will be foremost in the
representation of exhibits at the exhibition which
opens in March next. The New York State building—
an exceedingly creditable structure — was formally dedi-
cated on October twenty-second. The report of the
New York commissioners, which will be subsequently
transmitted to the Legislature, shows the efforts that
have been made to secure a particularly fine repre-
sentation of the State's resources. It is reasonable to
expect from the steps already taken that every New
Yorker will feel a sense of pride in his State's exhibit.
While the present appropriation has been all that
could well be expended during the year, the com-
missioners will need an additional appropriation of
$300,000 to complete their work properly, and that
amount of appropriation is herewith recommended.

Agricultural Interests.

It has long been the policy of the State to give
legitimate encouragement to agriculture by the enact-
ment of wise laws and the appropriation of public
money. Such legislation, it will be conceded, should
be carefully drafted, with the sole view of subserving
a public purpose. One-fourth of the population of
the State is directly dependent upon agriculture as a
means 'of support, and the remaining three-fourths
are vitally interested in its prosperity. Whatever can
wisely be done by legislation to promote this pros-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 21

perity will meet the approval of the whole people.
In ten years upwards of a million dollars have been
appropriated for agricultural purposes. A State experi-
ment station has been established to encourage scien-
tific and economical methods of farming ; a State dairy
commission has been created to prevent deception
in dairy products and to encourage dairy farming ; a
meteorological bureau has been established to issue
periodic bulletins of crop and weather reports ; appro-
priations have been given to State and local fairs, to
farmers' institutes and for the prevention of conta-
gious diseases among cattle.

The people will not begrudge this large expenditure
and liberal State aid if the results are sufficiently
commensurate to the outlay. The present tendency,
however, of agricultural legislation seems to be
marked by somewhat spasmodic and often misdirected
efforts. It has become pretty much a matter of legis-
lative log-rolling. There is exhibited no well-defined
or practical policy. Legislative energy and disposi-
tion are not concentrated so as to produce the best
results. At the last legislative session $279,000 was
appropriated in different measures for agricultural pur-
poses, and the mere statement of the several objects
of expenditure indicates the random and hetero-
geneous character of the legislation, viz., $20,000 to the
New York Agricultural Society for premiums at the
State Fair ; $20,000 to the same society for distribution
to county agricultural societies and to the American
Institute for premiums ; $8,000 each to the New York
and New England Agricultural Society, the Western

22 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

New York Agricultural Society and the Inter-State
Fair; $40,000 to the State Agricultural Experiment
Station at Geneva; $18,500 additional to this station
for various purposes ; $95,000 to the Dairy Commis-
sioner; $5, 000 additional to the Dairy Commissioner
for the employment of experts ; $4,500 for the State
Meteorological Bureau; $15,000 for the maintenance
of farmers' institutes under the direction of the State
Agricultural Society; $5,000 for promoting and extend-
ing dairy knowledge and science, to be expended
under the direction of the State Dairymen's Associa-
tion, and $32,443.95 to the State Agricultural Society
out of the receipts from racing associations.

1 think it will occur to most persons that greater
economy in administration and more practical results
might be attained with the same or less expenditure
of money by the creation of a bureau of agriculture,
which should possess and discharge the functions
now distributed among various officers or irresponible
organizations. The annual cost of all the constitu-
tional departments of State government is not so
great as the sum of last year's appropriation^ for the
miscellaneous legislative agencies created for promot-
ing agriculture.

The establishment of a comprehensive bureau of
agriculture, consolidating under one executive head
the various bureaus and agencies now existing, would
enable the State to adopt and carry out a definite
and intelligent policy of agricultural encouragement.
In refusing to approve a bill last year to appropriate

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 23

$100,000 for premiums at agricultural fairs I took
occasion to say :

" My own observation and experience have convinced
me that the most practical kind of relief which can be
offered to the agricultural communities of the State is that
which, recognizing the changed conditions prevailing now
and created by the opening up of an immense farming
territory in the west, endeavors to discourage our farmers
from the vain attempt to compete with their western
rivals in the production of wheat and corn and other
cereals, and stimulates them to new lines of agricultural
effort more suited to existing conditions and to present
demands. The rapid increase of population in the towns
and cities of the State is of direct benefit to our farmers,
it they would take advantage of it, by offering a greater
market than that possessed by the farmers of any other
State for the sale of the so-called "small" crops — vege-
tables, fruits, etc. — of dairy products, fine butters and
cheese, of poultry and eggs, and other produce, the demand
for which is constantly increasing and in the sale of which
there can not be dangerous competition from the farmers
of neighboring States. Why should our farmers cater to
English tastes by exporting cheese at eight cents a pound,
when there is an abundant home market for fancy cheeses
bringing many times that price ? Legislative measures
carefully drafted and having in view this practical end of
readjusting agricultural methods and aims to meet present
conditions will receive my hearty support and approval,
and I am confident they would give greater satisfaction
to the people of the State than such a measure as this,
whose purpose is already generously provided for by other
legislation, and whose provisions are not sufficiently
explicit to guarantee desirable results from so great an
expenditure."

The alternative which is offered is, practically, a
continuance of these heterogeneous and conflicting

24 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

efforts, involving each year additional expense, or the
establishment of a well-equipped agricultural bureau
which shall voice the actual needs of the State and
give intelligent impetus to agricultural development.
Although I share the popular distrust of new gov-
ernmental bureaus, I am convinced that in this case
it would promote the interests of economy and
efficiency. It would be a consolidation rather than a
new creation. The nucleus of such a bureau is
already found in the Dairy Commission, which
employs a large number of experts and includes in
its work the inspection not only of dairy products
but of vinegar. The Experimental Station, the
Meteorological Station, and eventually the Forestry
Bureau could all be merged into this proposed
department under a single executive head to be
known as the Commissioner of Agriculture.

Many other States have created agricultural bureaus,
and no State has greater interest in developing its
agricultural resources than New York. Six and a half
million people in this State must be fed. In articles
of staple production, like corn and wheat, we cannot
expect to compete with the west, but with our ready
markets and easy communication we can excel the
world in the production of other kinds of food sup-
plies. To the extent that our farmers have broken
away from old traditions and have sought to adjust
themselves to modern conditions their progress has
been marked. We stand to-day in the first rank in
value and variety of our agricultural products. in
our dairy products the beneficial effect of judicious

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 2$

legislation is recognized not only by the protection
■whicli it has afforded the public against deception
and adulteration, but in the increased markets and
prices which it has enabled our producers to secure.
Intelligent suggestions from ofi&cial sources with
regard to the care, feeding and breeding of cattle,
are conceded to have decidedly increased the average
production of milk from each cow, amounting in the
aggregate to an increase of over a million dollars a
year in the receipts to milk producers. It is con-
ceded also that the State's product of cheese has
much improved in quality since practical instruction
in cheese-making was made a feature of the dairy
bureau's work by legislative action, and it is estimated
that the higher price realized by this improvement in
quality has largely increased the value of the annual
product. The value of the butter product has also
largely increased.

What intelligent encouragement has done for the
dairy interest it might also do for other kinds of agri-
cultural effort. Agricultural prosperity means general
prosperity. But the taxpayer in the cities as well as
on the farms wants to see public money expended so
as to produce the best results, and with miscellaneous
appropriations agregating nearly $300,000 per annum
for agricultural purposes, it would seem as if prudence
and foresight both demanded the adoption of a com-
prehensive, consistent and intelligent policy. I am
convinced that for considerably less than is now
expended annually much more satisfactory results
could be obtained by the application of systematic

26 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

business methods under intelligent and comprehensive
direction ; and I submit to the consideration of the
Legislature whether the establishment of an agricul-
tural bureau with ample powers is not the most
feasible means to this end.

Scientific Work in Agriculture.

In line with this suggestion I desire to call the
attention of the Legislature to the advantages offered
by the State Land Grant College, Cornell University,
for carrying on the scientific work of agricultural pro-
motion which is now divided among several agencies,
and which should be concentrated under the direction
of such a bureau as I have recommended. I think it
will be conceded that more effective scientific work
of this nature can be done in connection with a great
educational institution, and the grouping of these now
scattered departments of agricultural effort at one
place and under one general supervision will also be
a considerable saving of expense in maintenance.
Cornell University furnishes an excellent nucleus for
carrying on this State work, and its facilities and
instructors might be utilized by the State with great
advantage to agricultural interests. The State Meteoro-
logical Bureau is already located there. There is also
an agricultural experiment station already established
and doing effective work. Moreover, the institution
has established practical courses of instruction in agri-
culture, botany, horticulture, dairy husbandry, animal
industry, poultry keeping and veterinary science. It
offers free of charge and without examination, to all

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 27

persons who are sixteen years of age, competent
instruction in these subjects for one or more terms.
The country boy or girl who desires to avail him-
self or herself of these opportunities can, in one or
two college terms, obtain practical instruction in the-
preparation of the soil, fertilizers, harvesting and
marketing for general and special crops, laying out
and improving farms, drainage and irrigation, farm
buildings and fences, with their location, plans and
construction, the composition, manufacture, preserva-
tion and application of farm-yard manures and com-
mercial fertilizers, business customs, farm, accounts,
rights and privileges, the employment and direction
of laborers, the use, care and repair of farm imple-
ments and machinery, grasses and forage plants, weeds
and their eradication, swine, sheep and horse
husbandry, breeds and breeding, vegetable garden-
ing, etc.

The dairy-house practice comprises the making of
butter and cheese by the most approved raethods ;
testing of milk as to purity and fat content ; the use
and care of centrifugal separators and other creaming
devices, and the details of creamery and cheese fac-
tory management, etc. Lectures also are given on
the origin and formation of the various breeds of
dairy and beef cattle ; their selection and improve-
ment ; the improvement of native cattle and the
formation of new breeds ; the composition of stock
foods and their combination into rations suitable for
various purposes. It is worth noting in this connec-
tion that the average product of milk per cow on the

28 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

university farm is three times as mucli as the average
product of the dairies of the entire State.

All this is exactly in line with what the State
is now trying' to accomplish through miscellaneous
agencies for the encouragement of modem methods
of agriculture. The question presented is, whether
official efforts cannot be combined with these private
efforts in the interest of both economy and efficiency.

There are considerations of justice as well as of State
profit in the State's utilizing Cornell University for
the accomplishment of this purpose. Under the terms
of the Federal Land Grant act the 990,000 acres
allotted to the State were sold at about sixty cents an
acre, and the proceeds made the endowment fund of
the land grant college. The income from this fund
is now about eighteen or twenty thousand dollars a
year, and is practically the extent of the State's favor
toward Cornell University. As a condition of being
designated as the land grant college, however, the
university was compelled to receive annually one
student from each Assembly district of the State for
free instruction. Under the natural construction of
this provision there might at any time be 128 stu
dents receiving free instruction at the institution, but
not more. In reality the number for some time was
much less, inasmuch as some Assembly districts fur-
nished no competitors for the scholarships. After
some years the State insisted that the university
should not only take annually one student from
each Assembly district, but keep these 128 free
students four years. Although contending that

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 2g

this construction of the law was contrary to the inten-
tion of the charter, the university made no protest
and has been for years educating free of expense
512 State students. At the present rate of tuition
fees this would represent an annual value of nearly
$60,000, which is $42,000 a year in excess of the income
from the original endowment granted by the State.
Beyond this, the university also educates free of expense
all students enrolled in the agricultural course.

Other States have been much more liberal toward
their land grant colleges than the State of New York.
Most of them have made appropriations for buildings
and equipment. Since 1887 the State of Pennsylvania
has provided several large buildings, among them an
agricultural hall and creamery. The State of Ohio
has appropriated $258,000 for the same purpose. The
land grant college in California has received nearly
$2,000,000 for buildings, equipment, etc., from the
State. The Legislature of Wisconsin has given at
least $350,000 for this purpose to its land grant
college. Other States have made similar provisions.
New York, however, has never voted a cent from the
State treasury for Cornell University.

It is entirely, however, with a view to State advan-
tage that I would urge the concentration at Cornell
University of the various agencies for promoting
scientific agriculture. To carry out this suggestion
would not only enable the State to do more effective
work immediately and at less expense, but would
permit the State from time to time to extend its field
of usefulness in this direction without the creation of

30 PUBLIG PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

new boards and new offices. The proper diffusion of
knowledge with reference to the preservation of our
forests is of vital interest to the future welfare of
the State and could be attained through such an
agency. The same is true of the spread of veterinary-
science. Public attention has only lately been called
to the vast importance of this subject — not merely
as it affects the value of our live stock, but because
of its intimate relation to the question of public
health. Modern science has demonstrated that a large
proportion of human diseases is directly traceable to
diseases in animals, conveyed through milk, meat,
eggs and other animal food. Thousands of milch
cows in this State, suffering from tuberculosis, are
furnishing milk to families and thereby endangering
human lives by the transmission of this dread disease.
A proper regard for the health of the community
will eventually demand scientific protection against
dangers of this kind. Our State has already taken
the initiative in this direction. But the chief obstacle
to a correction of this evil is the lack of experienced
and capable veterinarians.

Our State is too thoroughly committed to the
encouragement of agriculture to abandon it. State
energy and public money, however, should not be
frittered away by misappropriation and misdirection.
The time is ripe for the adoption of some compre-
hensive, systematic and intelligent policy which shall
assure the best results at the least expenditure.
Whether the suggestions I have outlined are the best
for accomplishing these results I leave to your judgment.

public papers of governor flower. 3 1

Registration in Towns and Villages.
The requirement of personal registration each year
in the cities of the State as a. necessary preliminary
to the exercise of suffrage has been a most effective
agent in diminishing fraudulent voting. While it
imposes hardships and to some extent discourages
voting, its advantages are greater than its disadvan-
tages, and it is now recognized as one of the best
features of the reform electoral legislation of 1890.
There is no good reason, however, why the safeguards
thus thrown around the ballot in cities should not
be extended to the towns and villages of this State.
Such laws should, so far as possible, be uniform in
their application. I therefore renew the recommenda-
tion contained in my annual message of last year,
that the personal registration law be extended so as
to include the remainder of the State within the
territory of its operation.

Prisons and Pardons.

The State prisons last year came within $140,498.90
of being self-supporting. Prisoners were employed on
about twenty-two different industries, and the earnings
were $81,707.72 greater than those of the preceding
year. At Auburn prison the earnings exceeded the
cost of care and maintenance. Legislation at your last
session wisely prohibited or restricted certain' kinds of
manufacture which were known to compete unfairly
with free labor, and conditions will undoubtedly
compel a similar readjustment of industries from time
to time in order that convict labor may work no

32 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

injtiry to free men. It would seem that after the
State has assumed charge of the dependent insane
a large part of the cost of maintenance might be
saved by utilizing prison labor in the- manufacture of
clothing, shoes, etc., for the use of the inmates of the
State hospitals. This would tend largely to solve
the prison labor question and would be an economical
policy for the State. In this connection I recom-
mend that the Superintendent of Prisons be properly
authorized by law to employ some of the prisoners
at Dannemora in road building in the vicinity of the
prison. The State controls the roads for about twenty
miles around the institution and about 200 convicts
could be employed in this work with benefit both to
themselves and to that portion of the State. Clinton
prison is so situated that the employment of convicts
on roads outside the prison walls is not open to the
same objections that it would be at the other State
prisons.

There is now standing unused at Auburn the hand-
some State building formerly occupied as a prison for
insane criminals. I recommend its conversion into
a prison for female felons. From a humane and
reformatory point of view there is' need of such a
prison. It was the policy of the State prior to 1877
to maintain a separate prison for females, but since
that year they have been sent to county penitentia-
ries, the State paying a per diem amount for their
board and keeping. There are now 155 female felons
thus confined. The unoccupied building at Auburn
is admirably adapted for such inmates. It would

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOV Eli NOR FLOWER. 33

easily accommodate 200 prisoners, and is ready for
use immediately. It could be used for tliis purpose
better tlian for any other. The reasons for a separate
prison for women readily suggest themselves — espe-
cially for female felons, who, as a rule, are not
so depraved a class as the female prisoners with
whom they are now thrown in contact at the county
penitentiaries. '

While at the State prisons during the year I gave
personal hearings to convicts who had applied for
Executive clemency. A large ntimber of prisoners,
many of whose applications had been on file in the
Executive Chamber for years, were heard and many
worthy applications for clemency were granted. The
full list of pardons, with my reasons therefor, will
be subsequently transmitted to the Legislature, as
required by law.

It is suggested that more convicts might be perma-
nently reformed after leaving prison if they could be
kept from their former evil associates and vicious
surroundings and allowed an opportunity to redeem
their' characters by beginning life anew in parts of
the country where they and their criminal past are
not known. Slight changes in the law would
empower the State agent for discharged convicts to
find such homes and employment for these persons,
and through this practical philanthropy many a
criminal might be permanently reformed. The sug-
gestion is respectfully submitted to the attention of
the Legislature.
3'

34 public papers of governor flower.

The Coal Combination.

During the last year there has been formed a
powerful combination between certain railroads and
coal companies with the apparent purpose of exacting
higher prices from the consumers of anthracite coal.
The combination differs from similar organizations in
certain respects which make competition absolutely
impossible. So far as is now known, practically all
the anthracite coal in the world is contained in three
counties in Pennsylvania, and eighty-five per cent, of
the entire traffic is controlled by the coal combination.
The consumers are at the mercy of the combina-
tion. It can raise the price of anthracite coal as high
as it can find purchasers. The price has increased
seventy-five cents a ton within a year. The only
apparent limit to the extortion is the refusal of the
people to buy. In that case they must use bitu-
minous coal or wood, or perish with the cold.

These conditions present a state of affairs that chal-
lenges serious consideration. Have the people of this
State any means of legislative relief against such a
monopoly of a natural and necessary product? The
question is worthy of your earnest attention. If the
companies engaged in this combination enjoy public
privileges granted by the State of New York, the
State should exercise its undoubted right to impose
conditions upon the enjoyment of those privileges,
and such conditions should at least guard the people
from unwarrantable exactions in return for privileges
which the people through their representatives have
conferred.

public papers of governor flower. 35

The Adirondack Park.

The preservation of its forests, and thereby the
protection of its water courses, has become the estab-
lished policy of the State. It is a movement which
is heartily approved by the people. It is of vital
importance to the future of the State. The practical
working out of the policy, however, is full of difificul-
ties, and the State has taken varying attitudes as to
modes of procedure. It must be confessed that the
results to-day, after nearly seven years' effort to
establish an Adirondack park, are disappointing.
While much good has been accomplished, there has
been a lack of well-defined policy and business-like
management which has prevented a full measure of
success. Part of this has been due to the law and
part to its administration.

Last year the Legislature passed an act which
defined the limits of the proposed park and authorized
sales of all State forest lands outside of those limits
and, with the proceeds, the purchase of new lands
within the limits. It was estimated that the State
owned then about 900,000 acres, half of which was
located in detached pieces around the edge of the
forest and could be sold at a price per acre sufficient
to buy a larger number of acres within the limits
of the proposed park. This is well enough so far
as it goes, provided the sales and subsequent pur-
chases are conducted on a business-like basis. But
the trouble with this policy is that it puts the gov-
ernment in the market as a buyer and seller, and
opens the way to all kinds of impositions and frauds.

36 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

While it must answer the temporary purpose of
getting rid of lands useless for a forest preserve
and acquiring other lands needed, so far as the
proceeds of the sales will permit, it will not do for
a permanent and exclusive State policy.

If it is the desire of the people that the State
should absolutely own two or three million acres of
the forest preserve, the lands should be acquired at
once by right of eminent domain. The operation
should be comprehensive and decisive, and performed
in this way it would be vastly more economical in
the long run than the present policy of purchase by
driblets.

If on the other hand the people are indifferent as
to whether the ownership of the bulk of the great
forest is in private persons or in the State, so long
as the forest is preserved perpetually from destruction,
then by a new departure the purpose of preserva-
tion can probably be accomplished without any great
expenditure of public money.

It is well known that vast tracts of the Adirondack
forest are now owned by individuals or by private
associations and are used mainly for purposes of
recreation. These large private preserves, I venture
to say, could be forever guarded against the danger
of denudation by a sufiSciently liberal contract between
the owners and the State, and would thus serve the
main purpose of the public preserve. These private
owners at -present are as much interested in the
preservation of their tracts as the State could possibly
be, and some of them, I know from personal assur-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 37

ance, -would be willing to enter into an arrangement
witli tlie State whereby, in consideration of forest
protection furnished by the State and exemption
from State taxation, they and their grantees would
refrain forever from removing the timber except
under certain conditions imposed by the State. I feel
confident that hundreds of thousands of acres could
thus be practically added to the State preserve at
comparatively little expense. Whatever land it might
be necessary to buy outright could be bought under
proper safeguards. Such a policy, it seems to me, if
it could be carried out, would give greater satisfac-
tion to the people, for it would save large expense,
and — what is worse — great possibility of scandal.

If this suggestion should meet the approval of the
Legislature the necessary legislation to carry it into
effect should be enacted without delay, for each
year's devastations of forest land is making more
difficult the attainment of the State's object. With
such legislation I recommend the reorganization of
the Forest Commission. It does not seem to me
wise that this should be a permanent commission as
at present. I think that much more satisfactory
results could be obtained were the commission created
for a fixed time and for the definite purpose of
establishing the proposed park within that time.
Energy, promptness and intelligence are greatly
needed. A special commission appointed for a definite
purpose would bring aspiration and pride to the
performance of its great mission. The commission
should consist of at least five persons, nominated by

38 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and
should be composed of active, capable and honest
men, selected for their peculiar fitness to discharge
this task creditably to themselves and to the State.
After such a commission has completed its labors, its
services should be discontinued, and the detail work
of maintenance, oversight and protection of the forests
should be left to trustworthy and competent officers
under the direction of the Comptroller or State
Engineer, or under a commissioner of agriculture,
should such an office be established. A bureau of
forestry, as a part of a well-organized department
of agriculture, would be the most natural and most
desirable disposition, and should accomplish much
good, not merely in guarding the forest preserve, but
in subserving the agricultural interests of the State.

The establishment of a great forest preserve could
be made to pay all or a large part of its cost under
intelligent and wise legislation and supervision.
Without injury, but rather with benefit, the State
could acquire considerable revenue by granting per-
mission to fell trees above a certain diameter on
State lands. Additional revenue could be obtained
from leases of small parcels of land to individuals
for the establishment of summer homes under proper
regulations, as is provided in the existing statute.

I would .also call the attention of the Legislature to
needed amendments in the laws governing the can-
cellations of tax sales. Upon flimsy pretexts of one
kind or another the State has lost nearly 100,000 acres
of forest land since 1886 through these cancellations.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 39

The State having legitimately come into possession
of large tracts of Adirondack lands through failure
on the part of owners to pay taxes, it should not be
exposed to the loss of this now valuable possession
by technical defects in legislation or administration
which are taken advantage of by Adirondack specu-
lators. Not another acre of State land should thus
be yielded up. The present laws are defective and
should be promptly amended before there is any
further loss of timbered land.

Uniformity of Legislation.
Substantial progress has been made by the commis-
sion appointed to promote the uniformity of legislation
in the United States relative to the subjects of mar-
riage and divorce, insolvency, notarial certificates, etc.
New York took the initiative in this movement and
has succeeded in interesting many other States in its
success, although there are some which have yet
failed to provide for the necessary commissioners to
represent them at the conferences. The movement
is a praiseworthy one because it is founded on the
recognition of the principle of State sovereignty, and
aims to secure uniformity of legislation among the
several States by the voluntary co-operation of each
rather than by federal legislation. It should receive
the continued encouragement of the Legislature.

Care of the Insane.
The policy inaugurated by the State in 1890 of
assuming the entire care and custody of the dependent
insane will go into final effect during the present year.

4° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

The work of preparation is nearly finished ; nine State
hospitals, costing upwards of $10,000,000, have been
put in readiness; about 7,900 patients from the county-
poor-houses have been placed in the State hospitals,
and the remainder (about 700) are expected to be
transferred before May first. It will be incumbent
upon the Legislature, therefore, to make provision for
the maintenance and support of nearly 9,000 patients.

This obligation is a serious one in its relation to
taxation, and demands close scrutiny. It will con-
siderably increase the annual State tax rate. It
has been carefully computed by the Commission in
Lunacy that the aggregate cost to be provided for
by legislative appropriations, including salaries, cloth-
ing, transportation, etc., will be about $1,300,000.
The State has been in the habit of providing for
about $200,000 of this sum, so that the actual ordinary
increase of taxation will be about $1,100,000. In
addition the Commission in Lunacy estimates that
provision will have to be made for an increase of
440 patients for the year ending October i, 1894.
These additional accommodations can be supplied by
judicious enlargement of existing hospitals rather than
by the construction of new institutions.

Of course the assumption of this burden by the
State relieves the counties to that extent. In fact
the relief is much greater, for by the State Care
Act the counties of New York and Kings are
exempted from its provisions, and those counties will
continue to care for their own dependent insane, and
must necessarily share at the same time the cost of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4I

maintaining the State insane. Until they shall avail
themselves of the privileges of the State Care Act
the effect of State care will be to afford a large
saving to almost every county in the State.

If the total cost to the State shall be in the
neighborhood of $1,300,000 annually, the State tax
rate -will be increased by about one-third of a mill
on last year's valuation. I recommend to the Legis-
lature that all appropriations granted for the State
hospitals for the insane be hereafter included in one
act, and that the rate of tax for this purpose be fixed
and levied separately from the general tax for the
support of government. Thus the people will always
know exactly what they are paying for the mainte-
nance and support of these institutions.

I am convinced from personal examination that
the policy of the State's caring for its poor insane
is a most praiseworthy philanthropy when compared
with the county system which had prevailed for so
many years previously, and which in many cases
justly excited the horror and disgust of^ all friends
of humanity. But the great danger of this assump-
tion of responsibility and expense by the State is
maladministration. Corruption, extravagance and the
improper injection of politics into hospital manage-
ment will be constant foes, which if not combated
and overcome will bring reproach upon the State
and prevent the accomplishment of much good.
Legislation should be designed to require strict
accountability, and all possible avenues for extrava-
gance should be closed. I have observed that there

42 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

are remarkable differences of cost now between tbe
different institutions in the same classes of expendi-
ture. For instance, in one hospital the cost of fuel
has been proportionately much higher than in other
institutions ; in another the cost of various articles of
food was proportionately greater, and so on. The
difference in environment did not seem to account
entirely for these decided variations, and the conclu-
sion was inevitable that the management was at
fault. This could all be remedied by proper legisla-
tion and careful administration. As one means of
accomplishing this end the Legislature should require
that all moneys should be paid on the warrant of
the Comptroller upon monthly estimates prepared
and approved as in the case of the State prisons,
and that all receipts of the State hospitals shall be
turned into the State treasury. It is worth calling
attention to that during the past three years there
has been a steady reduction in the per capita cost
of maintenance in every hospital except two, and
these exceptions were not occasioned by any fault in
administration, but by changed conditions.

The hospital buildings, which I have had the
pleasure of inspecting during the past year, are
without exception creditable to the State and well
adapted for their purpose. The increased accommo-
dations provided by recent acts of the Legislature
are of a comparatively cheap type, but are of excel-
lent material and show substantial workmanship.

The number of committed insane in the State on
October i, 1892, was as follows:

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 43

State hospitals 7, 832

Licensed private asylums 902

Asylums of New York and Kings counties 7, 887

In county poor-houses awaiting removal 802

Total 17, 423

Propagation of Fish.

At the last legislative session I vetoed two bills
establishing new fish hatcheries. A personal investi-
gation during the summer into the work of the
Commissioners of Fisheries, including visits to some
of the existing hatcheries, persuaded me that only
three out of the five hatcheries are located properly
for the successful propagation of fish. It is unfortu-
nate that public money has been thus misappropriated.
I suggest that hereafter, when in the judgment of the
Legislature new hatcheries are needed, the location
of the same be left to the discretion of the Commis-
sioners of Fisheries. They are presumably bettei
qualified by reason of their expert knowledge to judge
of the comparative merits of different localities as
places for fish culture, and such a transfer of responsi-
bility would check a tendency recently observable in
the Legislature to make the creation of one new
hatchery depehd upon the creation of one or more
others.

The Commissioners of Fisheries are continuing the
stocking of lakes and streams and with apparently
good results. Their efforts should be directed mainly,
however, to increasing the supply of food fish. Merely
as conservators of sportsmen's interests their official

44 FUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

existence and powers would scarcely be justified by
the taxpaying public. The scope of their responsi-
bility and the measure of their opportunity are much
wider than is prescribed by any such narrow field.
There are 1,500 square miles of water within the area
our State, capable of producing an unlimited supply
of fish food — thus cheapening in large degree the
cost of living to the people, creating additional employ-
ment and adding to the State's wealth. Every stream
might be made to yield largely to the food supply of
the farms through which it runs, and every lake might
give means of livelihood to more men and furnish
cheap, palatable food to more families. Liberal stock-
ing of Lake Ontario with white fish, pike and lake
trout, assisted by proper regulations for catches, would
build up an important industry in that vicinity, pro-
fitable alike to the fishermen and to the public.

As a step in this direction I am informed that about
10,000,000 white fish will be placed in Lake Ontario
during the coming year.

I bespeak for this subject the earnest consideration
of the Legislature, believing that with comparatively
small expenditure great good can be accomplished.

Oyster Culture.

I inspected with great interest during the summer
the oyster beds along the southern shore of Long
Island sound. The State has the opportunity here to
develop an important industry, giving employment
to thousands of men, enriching the people by millions
of dollars and yieldihg, under proper laws, consider-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVEKNOR FLOWER. 45

able revenue to the State treasury. It was in 1887
that the act to encourage oyster planting in Long
Island sound was enacted, and up to that time very
little had been done in the deep-sea cultivation of
oysters, the planters who supply the markets relying
almost entirely upon Virginia for sea oysters for culti-
vation. During the last five years the industry has
made such rapid progress that now conservative esti-
mates place the value of the oysters lying on the beds
of Long Island sound at $1,500,000 and the number of
men employed in the industry at 10,000. During the
past year 116,000 barrels of oysters, valued at $580,000,
were shipped to Europe from New York city.

There are about 400,000 acres of water area in the
sound which are available for oyster culture under
the provisions of the act of 1887. Of this number
upwards of 17,000 have now been leased. The law
provides that plots may be granted to the highest
bidder for a perpetual lease. So little has been
known about the industry that the greater number of
these grants has not brought to the State more than
one or two dollars an acre. It has been demonstrated,
however, that while the business is attended by con-
siderable risk, there is an extraordinary percentage of
profit when it is at all successful. For this reason
recent bids for grants have been somewhat higher,
and the prospect is that hereafter the desire to secure
oyster beds will bring a larger revenue to the State.

These are destined to become valuable franchises,
however, and in my opinion the law does not suffi-
ciently protect the interest of the State in this regard.

46 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

The State's leases should not be perpetual, but for a
reasonable period of years. It is alleged that these
grants are perpetual only in name, since the beds
become exhausted after a period of years and after
non-usage revert to the State; but notwithstanding
this defense it would seem a wiser and more business-
like policy if the Commissioners of Fisheries were
empowered to make leases for only a limited period
of time, so that at the expiration of old leases the
State might be in a positioh to impose new condi-
tions that would insure a reasonable annual rental to
the State in case the franchise should then be found
to be very valuable.

In the development of the oyster industry the State
can take just pride, and all proper legislation should
be afforded for its encouragement. But valuable
public franchises should be made to yield a revenue
to the State commensurate with the value of the
privileges granted.

Constitutional Convention.

So far as the Executive can ascertain, there seems
to be a strong current of popular sentiment through-
out the State in favor of the postponement of the
election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention
from the second Tuesday of February till the general
election in November. The expense of an election in
February would be between six and seven hundred
thousand dollars, which should be saved to the tax-
payers if possible. It would be possible, of course, for
the law to be amended, so as to permit the election

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. A7

of delegates at charter elections and town meetings.
But this would not obviate the necessity of a separate
election in New York and Brooklyn, and the election
of delegates would not take place concurrently in all
election districts of the State — a condition which, I
fear, might lead to complications in the choosing of
delegates.

The only argument in favor of the separate election
is that a better class of delegates is likely to be chosen.
Even were this true, and the contention in my judgment
is open to question, there is grave doubt whether
the advantage would not be nullified by the apparent
disinclination of the people to have an election at this
time, so soon after the exhaustion of a presidential
election — a disinclination that would probably result
in the polling of a very light vote, because of lack of
interest.

The act itself providing for a constitutional con-
vention is somewhat faulty in construction, and it is
asserted by competent legal authority to be of doubtful
constitutionality in its provisions authorizing the
appointment of delegates. These provisions were
designed to give minority representation to labor and
prohibition interests, whose voting strength is not
sufl&ciently concentrated to enable them to secure
representation by the ordinary means of election. In
my judgment that sort of representation should
also have been allowed to women suffragists, as the
bill originally provided. But if minority representa-
tion by appointment is unconstitutional, the suggestion
is respectfully submitted whether it cannot be secured

48 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOiVER.

by election without violation of the Constitution.
While it may be conceded that minority representation
is unconstitutional when applied to the election of the
usual State and local officers, there is ample precedent
for its application to the election of delegates to a
constitutional convention. The Constitutional Conven-
tion of 1867 included thirty -two 'delegates at large, of
whom no elector could vote for more than sixteen,
and the present judiciary article of our Constitution is
a part of that convention's work, and nobody has
ventured to question its validity. If it should be
deemed best to retain that feature of the present
Constitutional Convention Law, and it is necessary to
abandon the provision for appointment, I would suggest
its modification to the extent of permitting representa-
tion of more than one minority interest. It would
add to the representative character of the convention if
organized labor, prohibition and woman suffrage
advocates might in this way participate as full members
in the proceedings.

So important a measure as that providing for a
constitutional convention cannot be too carefully
drafted. It should be constructed so as to assure
complete representation and at the same time able
representatives. If the Constitution is to be revised
the revision should be in capable, safe hands. Owing
to the limited time before the date fixed for the
election of delegates, legislative action must be prompt.
If it is not the desire of the Legislature to postpone
the election, the law should at least be modified in its
faulty and unconstitutional features.

public papers of governor flower. 49

The Use of Money in Elections.

The part of our electoral machinery which now-
most needs strengthening by legislation is that relating
to the use of money in elections. The Legislature has
made it impossible to bribe voters with any degree of
assurance that they will vote as they have been
bribed, but notwithstanding the statutory safeguards it
is notorious that money is still spent in elections for
corrupt purposes. The active agents in the corruption
are apparently either willing to trust the corrupted
voter to vote as he has been bribed, or the corruption
takes the form of pecuniary inducement to the elector
to remain away from the polls.

I am not confident that ,this state of affairs can be
thoroughly remedied by law. The most potent instru-
ment of reform is wholesome public opinion. No law,
however stringent, can be effective without the
earnest support of popular sentiment.

But every law aimed at this evil and every agitation
of it are influential in properly shaping public opinion.
An end must come soon to wholesale bribery. Persons
familiar with campaign management stand aghast at
the rapid increase of purchasable voters from year
to year. A reaction towards honester- methods of
conducting elections will be welcomed by political
managers no less than by the general public. Agitation
and legislation are at least aids to this end.

A defect in what is now known as our Corrupt

Practices Act is that political committees are not

required to file certified statements of their receipts

and expenditures. While the statute compels this duty

4

50 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

on the part of candidates, it leaves political committees
and agents free to conceal both the source of their
revenues and the purposes of their expenditures. The
extension of the provisions of the law to political
agents and committees would make the financial
transactions of such committees a matter of public
record as they should be, and would tend to discourage
the contribution of large amounts of money by
individuals. Such a law. is now in force in Massachu-
setts, having been enacted recently. It should be
drawn with rigid provisions which will permit no
evasion.

Another proposed remedy for the evil of corruption
is such legislation as will make proof of bribery on
the part of candidates or their political agents or
committees sufficient cause for forfeiture of office.
Great Britain has such a law. Our laws already
disfranchise those who are convicted of bribing voters,
but they practically protect the beneficiary of this
crime by leaving him in possession of the office unless
it can be proved that the bribed votes which he received
more than equaled the amount of his plurality.
Candidates and committees would hesitate to expend
money corruptly if proof of the act would be a dis-
qualification for office. Properly administered, such a
law might be a complete check on corruption.

I recommend these proposed changes in our election
laws to your attention, and trust that some practical
good in the direction of diminishing bribery may be
accomplished at the present legislative session.

public papers of governor flower. 51

Good Roads.

The subject of good roads is exciting a remarkable
interest througliout the country. By popular .agitation
and through the newspapers the movement is beginning
to find expression in State legislation, and if it goes
on with its present momentum will revolutionize
conditions now prevailing in nearly all rural localities.

While having no sympathy whatever with that phase
of this movement which seeks the establishment of a
national bureau of roads and the consequent building
of national roads through the country, I am thoroughly
convinced that the prosperity of our own State, and
especially the interests of its agricultural sections,
demand prompt and effective efforts to improve the
condition of our highways. It has long been admitted
generally that our present system of highway improve-
ment is indefensible, either from the point of view of
economy or from the point of view of efficiency. Yet
annual spasmodic efforts have been made here and
there to establish permanent and durable roads, or
even to change the antiquated method which has so
long prevailed. As is well known the principal features
of our highway legislation and practice is what is
comprehended by the so-called " working " system, and
with a view of getting at reliable statistics as to the
actual cost at present of highway maintenance and
construction under this system, I have sent communica-
tions to the town clerks in the State, requesting them
to furnish me with figures which would be of use in
such a computation. I have received replies from only

52 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

about a third of the towns. Yet the figures received
afford a reasonable -opportunity of computing with
more or less degree of accuracy the approximate cost
in each county. I have endeavored chiefly to ascertain
the total number of days' work performed in a year
on the highways of each county, and also the total
cash expenditures for highway improvement in each
county for one year. The following table presents
the results of my computation. In estimating the total
money cost in each county I have added to the cash
expenditures the number of days' work performed as
valued at one dollar for each day. The figures do not
in any case include the cost of road improvement in
cities and villages. The table is as follows :

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

53

COUNTIES.

Albany

Allegany. . . .

Broome

Cattaraugus ,

Cayuga

Chautauqua. .
Chemung . . ,
Chenango.. . ,

Clinton

Columbia . . .

Cortland

Delaware ...
Dutchess . . , .

Erie

Essex

Franklin . . . .

Fulton

Hamilton . .
Genesee ....

Greene

Herkimer ...

Jefferson

Kings

Lewis

Livingston . . .

Madison

Monroe

Montgomery .
New York. . . .

Niagara

Oneida

Onondaga . . .

Ontario

Orange

Orleans

Oswego

No. days'

work
performed.

43,704
48,070
31, 876'
65,109
29,127

36,475

25,608

28,749

23,968

30,842

i8,o6o-

32,623

23 , 280

77,448

43,074

41,496

16,960

33,278
14,014
28,785
55,968

20,178
28,883
44,884
42,284
32,390

28,548

42,432
52,060
43,136
48,256
17,640
47,250

Cash
expenditures.

^15,831
33,996
1-5,780
28,347
10,455
30,925
15,037
34,681
18,402
21,056

6,060

1,800
35,340
22,882

9,936
18,691

8,230

19,512
5.712
6,650

33,792

14,076
14,365
10,724
25,850
15,000

13,236
30,522

16,359
29,248
24,890
12,000
10,962

Total
annual cost.

$59,535
82,066
47,656
93,456
39,582
67,400
40,645
63,430
42,370
51,898
24,120
34,423
58.620
100,330
53,010
60,187
25,190

52,790
19,726

35,435
89,760

34,254
43,248
55,6c8
88,134
47,390

41,784
72,954
68,419

72,384
73,146
29,640
58,212

54

PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

COUNTIES.

Otsego

Putnam

Queens

Rensselaer . . .

Richmond

Rockland

St. Lawrence.

Saratoga

Schenectady .
Schoharie . . .

Schuyler

Seneca

Steuben

SufEolk

Sullivan

Tioga

Tompkins . . .

Ulster

Warren

Washington . .

Wayne

Westchester . .
W)'oming . . . .
Yates

Total .

No. days'

work
performed.

45,400
14,760

31,840

68 , 203
30,280

25,484

12,661

64,704

31,272
25,182
21,720
55,560

28,764
40,746
io,gTO
31,568
20,805

Cash
expenditures.

pl8,540
3,555

ig,i2o

20,832
14,172

10,490

6,140
40 , 000

4,854
10,000

8,000
61,126

7,276
9,790

74,407
9,744

11,454

Total
annual cost.

$63,940
18,315

50,960

89,035
44,452

35,974

18,801
104,704

36,126

35,182

29,720,

116,686

36,040
50,536
85,317
41,312
32,259

^2,715,761

Where insufficient returns upon which to base an
average have been received from any county no
estimate is made for that county.

It will be observed from this table that fifty
counties in the State are now paying annually in
labor and cash about $2,700,000 upon their highways.
This is an average of about $54,000 for each county.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 55

I venture the assertion, which I think will be gen-
erally corroborated by those who have seen the
methods of work now employed on country roads,
that a large proportion of this expenditure is practi-
cally wasted. With no greater expenditure, but under
a different system, each county might be covered
with fine macadam roads with all the resulting advan-
tages in appreciation of property and in economy of
transportation. It is difficult to estimate the average
cost of macadam roads in our State because of the
varying conditions in different localities ; but a rea-
sonably conservative estimate by engineers is $7,000 a
mile as the cost of first construction, with an annual
cost for maintenance and repairs of about $300 a
mile. If this estimate is correct, the present average
cost of highway improvement each year in the
counties of the State, reducing the labor performed
to a cash valuation, would pay the interest and pro-
vide for the sinking fund on a sufficient issue of
bonds to construct 150 miles of road in each county —
viz. : The cost of 1 50 miles of macadam road at
$7,000 a mile would be $1,050,000, the interest on
which would be $42,000 per annum at four per cent.,
leaving $12,000 a year to be applied to a sinking
fund. From the table given above, with an accurate
knowledge of the cost of construction of macadam
road in their locality, the citizens of each county
can ascertain more precisely how many miles of good
highway may be built in their locality without any
greater outlay of money and labor than is required
by the present system with its wretched results. Of

56 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

course a good gravel road would cost much less
than a macadam road — probably not to exceed $3,500
per mile on the average.

There can be no substantial improvement in the
country roads of this State so long as the law com-
pels the continuance of the present system of sub-
division into minute road districts, averaging scarcely
more than a ,niile each in length. Whether the
repairing of the road in each district be done by
actual labor of the inhabitants thereof, or by
employees paid by money commutation for such
labor, the unsatisfactory result will be substantially
the same, for two principal reasons :

First. The tendency in each little district is to
make roads only for its own inhabitants and not
for the inhabitants of other districts. The character
of each leading market road throughout its entire
length thus tends 'to be kept down to that of the
worst road in any one of the little districts into
which it is subdivided. The load the farmer can
carry to market is determined by the worst point
in the entire road he must traverse. The people of
each district naturally say, " If the other districts
will not make good roads for us, they do not
deserve that we should make good roads for them,
and there is but little advantage in our making such
short strips of good road for ourselves." Under
such a system there can be no concerted action for
a uniformly good market road, and the inevitable
result is a uniformly bad road.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. S;

Second. The smaller the area of taxation the more
economical will be the taxpayers, whether the tax be
paid in labor or money. The country road district
is the smallest area of taxation in the State, and by
the inevitable tendency of human nature the country
roads receive the stingiest treatment of any of the
public works. Each locality is extravagant enough
in its demands for local improvements at the State
expense, for each inhabitant of the locality thinks
that the rest of the State pays the entire tax. But
each inhabitant of a road district naturally seems to
think that he is paying all the expense of any
improvement in his local road.

The primitive system of repairing country roads
has long been outgrown, but is imbedded in the law,
and the practice must continue so long as the law
remains unchanged. The Legislature cannot make
better roads, but it can remove any obstructions to
road improvement which exist in the laws.

Between the two extremes of extravagance in State
expenditures and stinginess in local expenditures for
local improvements, the county-road system is sug-
gested as the golden mean. At least the leading
market roads in each county should be maintained
by county taxation, expended under the supervision
of a competent county engineer, subject to the gen-
eral direction of the board of supervisors.

It is suggested that the Legislature should pass a
general law prescribing certain kinds of improved
roads, outlining the methods of raising and expend-
ing the necessary moneys, and authorizing any county.

5 8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

upon the vote of the board of supervisors, to avail
itself of the provisions of the statute.

It seems needless at this stage of the movement
toward better roads to point out the material advan-
tages of improved means of communication over
country highways. Not only will good substantial
roads improve the value of every acre of land in
their vicinity, but they are of direct pecuniary advan-
tage in saving expense of transportation, and in
bringing the farmer into closer and therefore often
more profitable communication with the towns. Care-
ful estimates have shown that an ordinary horse will
draw on macadam roads over three times the load
he can draw on a dirt road. This saving of trans-
portation in itself would amply compensate every
locality for whatever extra burdens of taxation, if any,
the construction of macadam roads would impose.

I earnestly invite the attention of the Legislature

to this great question, impressed as I am with its

material importance to the interests of the whole

State.

Quarantine.

During the months of August, September and Octo-
ber last the country was threatened with the intro-
duction of cholera from infected foreign ports, and
the quarantine facilities at the port of New York
were shown to be entirely inadequate for coping
properly with this dread disease under existing cir-
cumstances. Owing to the vigilance and fidelity of
the health officer and his deputies, however, cholera
was prevented from gaining an entrance through this

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 59

port, and both our own citizens and those of other
States were fortunately spared from the pestilence.

Between August thirty-first and October fourteenth
there were over 80,000 inspections at Quarantine, and
at one time during this period several thousand
passengers on cholera-infected vessels were detained
until danger of conveying the disease was passed.
The quarantine facilities were insufficient to accom-
raodate this unusual population, and in the emergency
the Executive authorized the Health Officer to pur-
chase additional accommodations on behalf of the
State. This was done by the purchase for $210,000
of the Surf Hotel and grounds at Fire Island, which
seemed to be the only suitable place then available
for quarantine purposes. An additional expense of
about $20,000 was incurred by the necessity of calling
out part of the National Guard and the Naval
Militia to protect the State in the possession of ' its
purchase at Fire Island, and other unusual expenses
amounted to about $26,000. These extraordinary
expenses must be provided for by legislative appro-
priation, and it will also be incumbent upon the
Legislature to ratify the purchase of Fire Island and
make such permanent disposition of it as may seem
best. Whether the place is well adapted for a
quarantine station should be carefully considered.

While cholera was successfully kept from our State
in this instance, it behooves the Legislature to make
ample preparation against a possible invasion of the
disease during the approaching spring and summer.
The scenes attending the detention of steamship

6o

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

passengers at Quarantine last September should not be
allowed to occur again by reason of any lack of
quarantine facilities. The people will justify liberal
expenditure if this is necessary to secure ample pro-
tection to public health, and any invasion of disease
arising through legislative negligence or official
incapacity will receive, as it should, the severest
condemnation of the public. The Quarantine Commis-
sioners and the Health Officer of the port of New
York will recommend certain improvements at Hoffman
and Swinburne islands, and certain additions to present
facilities, the aggregate cost of which is estimated at
between two and three hundred thousand dollars.

Such legislation as is necessary should be promptly
enacted, so that the work of improvement may begin
as soon as possible.

Legislation is also needed to strengthen somewhat
the power and resources of the State Board of Health.
Protection against disease is required not only at the
port of New York but also along the northern border
of the State. During the threatened epidemic last
year inspectors of the State Board of Health were
placed at all points of entry from Canada, and a rigid
inspection was enforced. This is scarcely less import-
ant than ample quarantine facilities in New York
harbor, and the State Board of Health should not be
hampered by insufficient funds or lack of authority in
critical emergencies.

The subject of an exclusive national quarantine is
just now exciting considerable popular discussion, and
seems to commend itself to the approval of many of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 6 1

our citizens. I cannot but think that this is a super-
ficial conclusion, formed upon impulse and based upon
theoretical rather than practical conditions. It has
become too much the tendency of our time to appeal
to the federal government for the correction of all
evils, the accomplishment of all public works, and the
performance of all public functions. I confess that I
am not yet convinced that the old-fashioned JefEer-
sonian theory of self-government must be laid aside
for the adoption of a centralized government exercising
a great variety of functions which the States or the
people can best discharge for themselves.

All departures from the Jeffersonian idea have been
made upon impulse in the name of the public welfare,
and the present agitation for an exclusive national
quarantine finds justification in the same plea. While
it may be conceded that there would be advantages in
such a quarantine, I question whether the people of
this State would willingly intrust so important a
matter as the preservation of the public hqalth to the
exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
With as much reason could the people of the State be
asked to surrender to the federal government the
control of their militia, or the people of New York or
Brooklyn be asked to surrender< to the State.., govern-
ment the control of their local police. Jurisdiction
over the public health is analogous to jurisdiction over
public order and should be kept as closely within the
control of the State. The people of other States, to be
sure, are closely concerned lest disease find an entrance
to the country through the State of New York, but so

62 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

they are lest railroad traffic be stopped for days or
weeks because of a riot in this State, and the remedy
is no more to be found in the federal goverment's
usurping the quarantine powers of the State in the
one case than it is in the federal govenment's usurp-
ing the police powers of the State in the other case.
Inefficiency of State quarantine or inefficiency of State
militia is no reason in itself for supremacy of federal
quarantine or for supremacy of federal jurisdiction
over State militia. The people of each State are
more vitally interested in the preservation of health
and the preservation of order within their own borders
than the people of other States, and better service
will be secured from administrative officers who are
directly accountable to the people of their own State
and locality than to the federal government.

I am not opposed to a national quarantine, but to
an exclusive national quarantine, such as is urged in
contemporary discussion. There is a field in which
the federal government must exercise quarantine
powers. This field offers opportunity for realizing
all the advantages urged for an exclusive national
quarantine, without incurring any of the disadvantages.
Our great danger from cholera and other pestilent
diseases is not from their origin in this country, but
from their introduction from abroad. The important
thing, therefore, is to prevent this foreign invasion.
The federal government already has it within its
power, through its consular service, to exercise as
stringent a quarantine against the importation of
infectious and contagious diseases into this country

'PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 63

as could be accomplished in any other way. Except
at its own peril no vessel containing infected baggage,
freight or passengers can leave any foreign port for
this country without the connivance or neglect of
federal officers. Every consul, his agent or medical
representative, is compelled by law to ascertain
whether a vessel sailing for this country is entitled
to a clean bill of health, and without that clean bill
of health and consular certificate the owners of every
vessel know that it is impossible for her to enter the
port of New York. Why did cholera reach the port
of New York last summer? Because of the failure of
United States consuls to discharge their full duty —
because of the failure of federal quarantine. Why
did cholera practically not get beyond the gates of
our harbor? Because of the efficiency of the State
and local quarantine.

Not a case of cholera came from Bremen, because
the medical inspection there under the direction of the
United States consul was competent and alert. But at
Hamburg the steamship companies were practically
their own medical inspectors, and from that port came
nearly all our cholera.

It is absurd to think that any quarantine. State or
national, at the port of New York can forever cope
successfully with cholera if steamship companies are
allowed to deposit shipload after shipload of infected
immigrants and baggage at our quarantine station
without restriction exercised at the place of departure.
The place to detain cholera is on the other side of
the ocean, not in New York bay. The quarantine

64 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER..

facilities here can easily be made amply sufficient to
handle all cases of disease which may have broken out
aboard ship after departure from the place of sailing.
A rigid system of inspection at foreign ports, under
the direction of the consular service, would form the
best kind of national quarantine. As for the rest, it
can safely be left to State jurisdiction and control.
A complete federal quarantine within the legitimate
field of federal power will fitly supplement a com-
plete State quarantine within the natural field of
State power, and both supplementing each other in
this way will afford the securest protection to the
public health.

Careless Engrossing and Construction of Legis-
lative Bills.

I particularly urge upon the attention of the Legis-
lature the necessity of an improvement in the
construction and engrossing of bills. No less than
seventy-two bills which reached the Executive Chamber
last year during the legislative session were so faultily
drafted that they had to be recalled for the correction
of merely verbal or rhetorical errors, and similar
defects prevented many measures from receiving
Executive approval during the thirty, days after the
Legislature had adjourned. These do not include a
vastly greater number which contained engrossing
errors — errors in transcribing from the bills actually
passed — and which were sent back to the engrossing
rooms for correction.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 65

It is no business of the Governor to extend his
scrutiny beyond the engrossed bill, but had he followed
this strict interpretation of his duty during the last
session, the printed Laws of 1892 would be a standing
contradiction of the journals of the two houses, and
would have overwhelmed the law-making body with
the censure and ridicule of the people of the State.

The interest of clean and clear legislation demands
a radical reform in this direction. Either the com-
mittees of the Legislature should exercise greater care
in the construction of bills and more competent men
should be placed in the engrossing rooms, or legislative
counsel should be provided for consultation in the
drafting of bills and the antiquated method of engross-
ing bills be done away with. Either or both changes
would make the Executive Chamber less of a factory
for renovating and reconstructing defective bills.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
5

66 PUBLIC PAPEJiS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION OF UNITED
STATES SENATOR MURPHY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

To THE President of the Senate of the United
States :
In obedience to the statute of the United States,
the Executive of the State of New York certifies
that Edward Murphy, Junior, an inhabitant of said
State and of the age of thirty years and upward, and
who has been nine years and more a citizen of the
United States, was, by the concurrent vote of the two
branches of the Legislature of the State of New York,
on the eighteenth day of January, 1893, duly elected
in conformity to the provisions of the Constitution
and Laws of the United States a Senator to repre-
sent the State of New York in the Senate of the
United States for the term of six years commencing
on the fourth day of March, 1893.

Given under my hand and the great seal of

the State of New York, at the Capitol in
[l. s.] the city of Albany, this first day of February

in the year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

Frank Rice,

Secretary of State.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 6/

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH SENATE BILL
No. 107, MAKING APPROPRIATION FOR
CONTINUING WORK ON THE CAPITOL.—
APPROVED.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, January 30, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. loy, entitled^' An act
making an appropriation for continuing work upon the
Capitol. ' ' — - Approved.

This bill appropriates $700,000 to be expended
toward the completion of the Capitol. In approving
a larger appropriation last year I quoted the estimate
of the Commissioner of the Capitol that the total
amount needed for the completion of the structure
was then $2,251,025.32, and that by the expenditure
of $800,000 that year, $700,000 this year and the
remainder $750,000 next year, the Capitol would be
finally completed. I stated then that in my judgment
a proper regard for economy requires the speedy
completion of the building, and in line with that
policy I cheerfully approve this additional appropria-
tion. The experience of the year just ended shows
that a large appropriation can be expended to better
advantage than a succession of small appropriations,
and the advance in the work made under last year's
appropriation gives assurance that the estimate of
the Commissioner of the Capitol will cover the total
cost of completing the structure.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

68 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 67, TO LEGALIZE
ACTS OF BROOKLYN AND KINGS COUNTY
OFFICIALS RELATING TO THE COLUMBUS
CELEBRATION.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, February 6, 1893.
To THE Senate:

Senate bill No. 6^, entitled "An act to legalize, to

ratify and confirm certain acts of the county of

Kings and its board of supervisors and the public

officers of said county, and certain acts of the city

of Brooklyn and its board of aldermen and the public

officers of the said city, in the joint celebration of

the completion of the soldiers and sailors' memorial

arch and of the discovery of America, held in the

city of Brooklyn and county of Kings in October,

1892," is herewith returned without approval for the

following reasons :

I. The bill appears to be in violation of article 3,
section 16 of the Constitution, which provides: "No
private or local bill, which may be passed by the
Legislature, shall embrace more than one subject, and
that shall be expressed in the title." This measure
legalizes and ratifies certain acts of the board of
aldermen and public officers of the city of Brooklyn,
and also certain other acts of the board of super-
visors of the county of Kings — thus embracing two
subjects within the same local bill.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 6g

2. The bill is of questionable propriety, and, in my
judgment, its enactment would be averse to the best
public interests of the city of Brooklyn, the county
of Kings, or, indeed, of the entire State.

The Legislature is often called upon to legalize
and ratify acts of officials done in some critical
emergency without precise authority of law, or to
correct certain technical failures to comply with the
full provisions of law, either through inadvertence
or ignorance. Bills of this kind are made necessary
at nearly every legislative session and in most cases
it is quite proper that they should be enacted.

But the case in question presents a particularly
flagrant violation of law committed under circum-
stances which scarcely justify wholesale ratification
by the Legislature.

So far as the actions of the board of aldermen
and public officers of the city of Brooklyn are con-
cerned, these circumstances were about as follows :

The common council, recognizing its inability to
incur bills against the city without warrant of law
and desiring to make provision for the celebration
of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery
of America, passed on March twenty-first last, the
following resolution :

" Resolved, That the corporation counsel be and he
hereby is authorized and directed to prepare a bill
to be presented to the Legislature for its passage,
authorizing the comptroller of this city to transfer
the sum of thirty thousand dollars from the revenue
fund to the contingent fund of the board of alder-
men, the said sum, or so much thereof as may be

70 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

necessary, to be used in payment of expenses to be
incurred by said city for the celebration of the four
hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America."

No such legislation was ever obtained, but the
committee of aldermen, appointed to arrange for the
celebration and directed to confer with the mayor,
went ahead and made the plans and incurred the
expenditures without authority of law and apparently
with the knowledge that they had no authority of
law for their actions.

But this was not all. The charter of Brooklyn
prescribes that " all contracts and agreements by which
the city shall be held liable to pay money shall be
under the authority of the common council " (except
in certain specified instances) and that no contract for
work or material exceeding $250 shall be given out
except to the lowest bidder upon public advertisement
for bids. Notwithstanding this provision, bills exceed-
ing $250 and aggregating altogether about $50,000 were
incurred by this committee of the board of aldermen,
without contract and without bids being invited by
public advertisement.

Moreover, the charter again provides that " no bill
or claim shall be audited unless the same be made out
in items." As a matter of fact most of the bills were
not made out in items but were stated in most general
terms and were thus received, audited and paid by
auditor, mayor and comptroller. They have since been
shown to be very extortionate, if not fraudulent — a
fact which would have been more readily revealed had
the separate items been stated.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 71

Again, the charter prohibits the mayor from signing
any warrant or other obligation unless a proper voucher
therefor shall have been first "examined and certified
to by him." He naturally could not certify properly
to unitemized bills, yet the bills in question received
his certification in their illegal form.

Thus the most fundamental safeguards for economy
and honesty in the administration of the government
of Brooklyn were unjustifiably broken down and ignored
by aldermen and public officers of the city. The
restrictions imposed by the charter on the expenditure
of public money were too familiar features of municipal
government to permit a justification of these illegal
acts upon the ground of ignorance. Such ignorance
would be inexcusable, and such lax administration of
public affairs and such careless custody of public
money ought not to be encouraged by hasty legalizing
acts, of the Legislature.

The circumstances under which the county bills were
incurred by the board of supervisors were scarcely
more favorably for a legislative justification of the
illegal acts than those under which the city bills were
incurred.

I not only doubt the propriety, as it affects the
public interests, of legalizing and confirming such
careless and perhaps criminal acts of public officers,
but I question whether the bill would not, if enacted
prevent any successful criminal prosecution against
officials who may have been guilty of penal offences
in their relations to this local scandal. I know that
the bill does " not purport to exonerate any officials

72 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOH'ER.

from criminal prosecution, and has a provision in it to

guard against sucli a result ; but this provision is

artfully worded and I doubt seriously whether it would

be effective after " the procedure of the payment of

all expenses " has been ratified and confirmed by

legislation. Legislation should not be doubtful in its

terms at any time, but particularly when such grave

interests are at stake. If local officials are guilty of

misconduct the law should take its course and no

legislative aid should be invoked to save them.

To legalize and confirm such flagrant misdeeds of

local officers would be to encourage municipal officers

everywhere in maladministration. To fix on them the

civil and criminal liability of their illegal acts will be

to inculcate a wholesome lesson through all municipal

governments.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 73

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH ASSEMBLY

BILL INTRODUCTORY No. 374, RELATING

TO SUPERVISORS IN KINGS COUNTY.—
APPROVED.

'State of New York.

Executive Cliamber,

Albany, February 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill introductory No. jfd,
entitled " An act to ainend section eighteen of title three of
chapter five hundred and eighty-three of the Laws of
eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, entitled ' A n act to revise
and combine in a single act all existing special and local
laws affecting public interests in the city of Brooklyn^
relating to filling vacancies in the office of supervisor." —
Approved.

The sole object of this bill is to provide for filling
vacancies in the offices of the supervisors of Kings
county who are elected from the city of Brooklyn.
Heretofore the only method of filling such a vacancy
for the remainder of an unexpired term has been by
special election. This bill proposes that the common
council of the city of Brooklyn shall fill such vacancies
by appointment for the remainder of the unexpired
term. As the remainder of an unexpired term is
but a short period at best, and, under the new-
election laws, the expense of the special election is
very burdensome, the change proposed by this bill
from special election to appointment by the common
council is certainly in the interests of economy, and
ought to result in as judicious a selection as the exist-

74 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

ing method. The only serious objection made to the
bill has been, not upon its merits, but upon constitu-
tional grounds.

Article lo, section 5 of the Constitution authorizes the
Legislature to provide for filling vacancies in elective
offices by appointment. Other provisions of the Con-
stitution provide that supervisors shall be originally
elected and that the Legislature shall not pass a
private or local bill providing for their election. It is
obvious from these references that this bill is entirely
consistent with the constitutional system, that super-
visors shall be originally elected in pursuance of
general laws, but that the Legislature may provide
either by general or special law for filling vacancies
in such otfices either by appointment or by special

election.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

MESSAGE RELATING TO THE USE OF
BUTTERINE IN STATE HOSPITALS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, February 16, ^893.
To THE Legislature :

The Dairy Commissioner has called my attention to
the discovery made by his subordinate officers that
about two tons of "butterine," — so-called and labeled,,
but pronounced by the Chemist of the Dairy Commis-
sion to be "oleomargarine," — have been purchased by
direction of the superintendent of one of the State

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 75

hospitals for the use of the inmates of that institution
in the place of genuine butter. I have referred the
matter to the State Commissioners in Lunacy, for them
to take such action in reference to this particular
case as may seem to them proper, but the discovery
reveals a serious omission in the existing law against
the sale and manufacture of adulterated dairy products,
namely, that at present there is no prohibition against
the use of such products in the State institutions.

It would certainly be a paradoxical condition of
affairs that when the State is spending thousands
of dollars every year for the suppression of traffic in
oleomargarine, the public institutions of the State
should be permitted to encourage that illegal traffic.
So long as it is the declared policy of the State to
protect the public from imposition in the sale of
dairy products, thereby protecting as well our 250,000
farmers in an honest and legitimate industry, no
opportunity should be allowed those in charge of
public institutions to frustrate the carrying out of that
policy. That any public officers should thus defy the
declared policy of the State is strange and inde-
fensible, even though done in ignorance as was
probably the case in this instance, but proper legisla-
tive precaution would suggest the absolute prohibition
hereafter of the purchase or use of adulterated or
imitation dairy products by any State institution.

I respectfully recommend to your consideration the
enactment of such an amendment to the existing laws
as will accomplish this object.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

76 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH ASSEMBLY BILL
No. 202, TO INCREASE THE SALARY OF THE
SURROGATE OF RENSSELAER COUNTY.—
APPROVED.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, February 21, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 202, entitled "An
act to ame7id subdivision thirty-nine, section two hundred
and twenty -two of the county law." — Approved.

Essentially the same bill as this came before me
last year and was not approved because there was not
before me at that time any satisfactory evidence that
the people of the county of Rensselaer desired the
compensation of their surrogate increased. At that
time I expressed my convictions with reference to
legislative measures increasing the salaries of local
officers as follows : " I believe that as a rule all salaries
and the compensation of local officers should be
regulated by the localities themselves. The people
who pay the taxes are the best judges of what that
compensation should be. So far as is possible general
laws should be passed relegating this jurisdiction to
the proper local authorities." I pointed out, however,
that in the case of county judges and surrogates this
reform could only be accomplished by constitutional
amendment, but I refrained from approving the bill
until there should be a definite expression of opinion
from the board of supervisors of Rensselaer county in

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 77

favor of the proposed increase in the surrogate's salary.
The sentiment of the board of supervisors is now well
reflected in the petition which has been filed with
me signed by twenty-two members of the board
requesting my approval to this measure. In addition
to this there has also been filed with me a long
petition signed by leading members of the Rensselaer
county bar making a similar request. The sentiment
of the locality having been so clearly manifested,
therefore I have no hesitation in approving the bill.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PROCLAMATION ORDERING A SPECIAL ELEC-
TION IN THE NINTH SENATE DISTRICT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, a vacancy exists in the office of State
Senator for the Ninth Senate District of the State of
New York in consequence of the death of Edward P.
Hagan.

Therefore, by virtue of the ' authority vested in me, a
special election is hereby ordered to be held in and
for the said Ninth Senate District, as the same was
constituted prior to April 30, 1892, on Tuesday, the 21st
day of March next, for the purpose of choosing a
Senator in the place of said Edward P. Hagan,
deceased, whose term of office began on the ist day of
January, 1892, and will expire on the 31st day of
December, 1893.

78 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

[l. s.] this twenty-third day of February in the year

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and

ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 144, PROVIDING FOR

A CANAL BRIDGE AT PHCENIX, OSWEGO

COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, March 22, 1893.
To THE Assembly:

Assembly bill No. 144, entitled "An act to authorize
the construction of a bridge over the Oswego canal,
at Bridge street, in the village of Phoenix, New
York," is herewith returned without approval.

I am informed by the Superintendent of Public
Works, who has caused an examination to be made,
that the present bridge can be placed in good con-
dition at an expense of $100, and that in his judg-
ment there is no necessity for the construction of a
new bridge. The appropriation of $5,000 is there-
fore disapproved.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 79

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 58, PROVIDING FOR

AN EVENING HIGH SCHOOL IN NEW YORK

CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, March 23, 1893.
To the Assembly:

Assembly bill No. 58, entitled "An act to provide
for an evening high school in the city of New
York," is herewith returned without approval.

This bill has received the unanimous opposition of
the board of education of Ncav York city. The
board already has power to increase the number of
evening high schools, whenever in its judgment addi-
tional educational facilities of this kind are needed.
Already four of these institutions have been thus
established, and, in the opinion of the board of educa-
tion, there is at present ample accommodation for
the class of students for whom these schools are
intended. The enactment of this measure would be
an unwise interference with the functions of the local

board.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

8o PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH ASSEMBLY BILL
No. 877, FOR SANITARY PROTECTION OF
THE WATER SUPPLY OF NEW YORK
CITY.— APPROVED.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, March. 23, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. Sjy, entitled "An
act to provide for the sanitary protection of the sources of
the water supply of the city of New York." — Approved.

There is practically no objection to the enactment
of this bill, but a statement has been filed with me
by a committee representing the New York Academy
of Medicine, which critizes the measure in respect to
its alleged failure to provide for the immediate
sanitary protection of the water supply of the city.
It is argued by this committee, with considerable
force, that the proposed process of securing protec-
tion by condemnation of lands in the Croton water-
shed, while good so far as it goes, is too slow a
method to prevent danger of cholera infection during
the coming summer, and it is urged that either a
commission or the superintendent of public works
should be invested with broad enough powers to
permit the summary removal or abatement of what-
ever causes of infection may exist. The city author-
ities, on the other hand, contend that such powers
are already conferred on the superintendent of public

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 8 1

works by existing provisions of the consolidation acty
and are properly supplemented by this pending
measure.

It will be conceded by all citizens that the amplest
measures of relief should be provided to guard the
water' supply of New York from pollution. In the
event of the outbreak of cholera in the vicinity of
New York the greatest danger of a spread of the
disease will be in the contamination of the water,
for cholera germs find a favorable opportunity for
development in that medium. No sanitary precau-
tions within the city could stop the epidemic if the
water supply once became infected with the germs
of this disease. If there is any doubt, therefore,- as
to the sufficiency of powers vested by this act or by
existing laws in the loc^l authorities for the sanitary
protection of the watershed, the Legislature should
not hesitate to remove that doubt by the enactment
of a supplementary measure suitably comprehensive
in its terms. No important difference of -legal
opinion should be allowed to exist in the presence
of so great a possible danger. It is better always
to legislate on the side of safety, and the preserva-
tion of the public health is too serious a matter to
risk by allowing any ambiguity to remain in the law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

82 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH ASSEMBLY BILL
No. i6o, PROVIDING FOR THE CARE OF
THE INDIGENT INSANE BY THE STATE.—
APPROVED.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, March 25, 1893,.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 160, entitled ''An
act to appropriate money for the care, medical treatment,
clothing, support, transportation to State hospitals of the
insane poor, under the provisions of chapter 126 of the Laws
of iSgo." — Approved.

This bill marks an epoch in an important matter
of State policy. It is the culmination of the agitation
■which has gone on in this vState during many years
for the State care of the indigent insane. The so-
called State Care Act of 1890, prescribed that when
accommodations in State hospitals should be provided
for all the insane poor, the cost of clothing, main-
tenance, care, treatment, salaries of officers and
employees, and transportation of the insane should
cease to be a charge upon the counties of the State
and should become a direct charge upon its revenues
from funds to be specifically raised for that purpose.
In December last the certificate required by law was
made that accommodations would be in readiness by
the first of October, 1893, and this bill provides the
necessary tax and appropriation for carrying the State
Care Act into effect.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 83

Heretofore each county has boarded its poor insane
in the State hospitals at rates which, for many years,
were arbitrarily fixed by each local board of man-
agers, but which subsequently were made uniform
throughout the State by the Commission in Lunacy.
The amounts of these board bills were required to
be raised each year by the board of supervisors of
each county, and the money was turned into the
hospital treasury. The counties will now be relieved
from local taxation for this purpose. The tax of
one-third of a mill, imposed by this bill, will yield
in round numbers $1,350,000, which together with
the sum raised from the patients, whose support is
paid by relatives and friends, and the sum received
from miscellaneous sources, will amply provide for
the expenses of the State hospitals for the fiscal
year beginning with the first day of October, 1893.
So long as New York and Kings counties refuse to
avail themselves of the privileges of State care the
saving to the remaining counties will average more
than fifty per cent.

In order that the people may see for themselves
just how this redistribution of taxation affects the
various counties, I make no excuse for inserting here
a table showing the relative cost to each county
under the old county care system and under the
new State care system. This table is as follows:

84

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

COUNTIES.

Albany

Allegany

Broome

Cattaraugus .

Cayuga

Chautauqua . .

Chemung

Chenango . . . ,

Clinton

Columbia

Cortland

Delaware

Dutchess

Erie

Essex

Franklin

Fulton

Genesee

Greene

. Hamilton

Herkimer

Jefferson

Kings

Lewis

Livingston. . . .

Madison

Monroe.. . . .. .

Montgomery .

New York

Niagara

Oneida

Onondaga

Ontario

Orange ...

Orleans

Oswego

Cost by-
county tax.

Cost by
State tax.

Gain.

$84,500
12,844
21,111
13,013
26,181
19,128

20,773

15,027

13,168

20,266

8,760

16,210

42,898

109,977

7,943

8,943

14,168

6,253
12,464

1,014
11,295
16,534

11,478

13,999
15,858
80,107
19,083

23,660
76,050

49,743
19,942
34,462
5,408
25,012

$30,076
4,745
9,192

5,217
10,066

9,137
7,040
5,458
2,603

9,193
3,348
4,395
14,735
68,103
4,530
2,696
3,658
6,999
4,281

435
6,844
8,716
154,046
2,650
8,785
6,468

40,351

8,249

596,288

9,628

17,539

24,305
9,696

14,624
4,944
7,907

$54,424
8,099

11,919
7,796

16,115

9,991
13,733

9,569
10,565
11,073

5,412
11,815
28,163
41,874

3,413

6,247
10,510

Loss.

8,183

579

4,451

7,818

8,828

5,214

9,390

39,756

10,834

14,032
58,511
25,438
10,246
19,838
464
17,105

$746

154,046

596,288

PUBLIC PAPfiRS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

85

COUNTIES.

Cost by
county tax.

Cost by
State tax.

Gain.

Loss.

Otsego

Putnam

Oueens

$14,520

4,887

50,644

64,347

15,589

10,802

19,252

21,449

10,802

9,802

8,943

15,351

27,519

23,970

11,309

11,309

12,830

37,152

8,605

11,478

14,337

59,770

3,887

9,957

$6,968

2,325
20,461

21,073
4,593
4,433
9,052
7,842
4,504
3,458
2,219
4,976
8,795
6,570
1,750
3,969
4,241
8,516

2,514
6,218

8,073

31,953

5,240

3,867

$7,552

2,562

30,183

43,274

10,996

6,369

10,200

_ 13,607

6,298

6,344

6,724

10,375

18,724

17,400

9,559

7,340

8,589

28,636

6,091

5,260

6,264

27,817

Rensselaer

Richmond

Rockland.

St. Lawrence

Saratoga

Schenectady

Schiivler

Seneca ....

Steuben

Suffolk

Sullivan

Tioga

Tompkins

Ulster

Washington

Westchester

$1,353

Yates

6,090

As I said in my message to the Legislature at the
beginning of the present session, "the great danger
of this assumption of responsibility and expense by
the State is maladministration. Corruption, extravag-
ance and the improper injection of politics into hospital
management will be constant foes, which, if not
combated and overcome, will bring reproach upon the
State." With a view to establishing abundant safe-

86 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

guards around the expenditure of this vast smn of
money I recommended legislative provision compelling
the purchase of all supplies on advance monthly
estimates which should have the scrutiny of the State
Commission in Lunacy. This suggestion, I am pleased
to note, the Legislature has incorporated in the bill,
besides imposing additional safeguards to promote
economy of administration. The people are to be
congratulated that the assumption of this great
responsibility by the State has thus been placed upon
a business-like and economical basis. The revelations
of the recent investigation into the affairs of the
Hudson River State Hospital at Poughkeepsie have
demonstrated, if demonstration were needed, the
necessity of maintaining the strictest system of financial
administration. Under the provisions of this bill there
can exist no purchases of supplies at a higher cost
than the market values, and competition will prevail
against favoritism and incompetent financial manage-
ment. The superintendents of the various hospitals
will meet each month with the Commission in Lunacy
for an exchange of views and with the purpose of
promoting uniformity in the purchase of supplies.
These safeguards, inciting and insuring economical
methods, are vital to the permanence of the system of
State care of the insane.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 8/

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 187, TO AMEND, THE
CHARTER OF THE ONONDAGA HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION, AND

SENATE BILL No. 155, TO AMEND THE CHAR-
TER OF THE SOUTH SIDE SPORTSMEN'S

CLUB.

State of New York.

Executive Cham'ber,

Albany, March 27, 1893.
To THE Senate :

Senate bill No. 187, entitled "An act to amend an
act, entitled ' An act to incorporate the Onondaga
historical association, passed April twenty-ninth, eigh-
teen hundred and sixty-three ; ' " and Senate bill No.
155, entitled "An act to amend chapter three hundred
and forty-six of the laws of eighteen hundred and
sixty-six, entitled ' An act to incorporate the Southside
Sportmen's Club of Long Island,' " are herewith returned
without approval.

These bills are unnecessary. See section 12 of the
General Corporation Law, and Laws of 1889, chapter
191, as amended by chapter S53 of the Laws of 1890.

ROSWELL R FLOWER.

88 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 725, TO AMEND THE
CHARTER OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, March 28, 1893.
To the Assembly :

Assembly bill No. 725, entitled " An act to repeal
section one hundred and sixty-nine of chapter one
hundred and forty-three of the Laws of eighteen
hundred and sixty-one, entitled ' An act to amend and
consolidate the several acts in relation to the charter
of the city of Rochester,' " is herewith returned with-
out approval.

The section of the charter of Rochester which this
bill repeals, prohibits the common council from laying
out any street so as to run across or over the site of
any building of the value of fifty thousand dollars,,
without having obtained the consent of the owner of
such building in writing, or, without having purchased
the building. This provision of the charter seems to
me to be wholesome and proper, and I am informed
that there is no general sentiment among the people
of the city in favor of its repeal. Under these circum-
stances, and in view of the fact that the bill appears to
be urged in order to meet a particular case — namely,
the opening of a street through land now occupied
by a public library — I feel compelled to heed the
protest which has been filed against my approval
of the measure, and to return the bill to the Assembly.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 89

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 162, TO AMEND
THE EXECUTIVE LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 3, 1893.
To the Assembly:

Assembly bill No. 162, entitled " An act to amend
the Executive Law," is herewith returned without
approval.

The change in the law sought to be accomplished
by this bill has already been made by chapter 248 of
the Laws of 1893. The proposed legislation is there-
fore unnecessary.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

DESIGNATION OF JUDGE PARKER TO THE
GENERAL TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In accordance with the statute in such case made
and provided, the Honorable Alton B. Parker, a
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Third Judicial
District, is hereby designated as Associate Justice of
the General Term for the First Department of the
Supreme Court from and after the date hereof, in
the place of the Honorable Willard Bartlett, whose
designation as such Associate Justice was, at his own
request, revoked.

go PUBLIC Papers of governor flower.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the
[L. s.] State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

this fifth day of April, A. D. 1893.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

MESSAGE RELATING TO PRESERVATION OF
FORESTS ON STATE LANDS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 10, 1893.
To THE Legislature:

I desire to call the attention of the Legislature to
a matter of vital concern to the preservation of the
State's forest preserve.

There are now on file in the Comptroller's ofiice
over 300 applications for the cancellation of tax sales
of Adirondack lands, covering about 150,000 acres of
State lands in that wilderness. Unless chapter 217
of the Laws of 1891, under which these applications
are filed, is speedily and radically amended, the State
is likely to be deprived of this great area of forest
land and one-third of its present holdings in the
Adirondack Park will be turned over to the devasta-
tion of lumbermen.

That would be a calamity to be regretted by every
friend of forest preservation, and to permit it to

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VER NOR FLO WER. 9 1

happen without opposition or protest would justly-
subject the Legislature to severe criticism.

Let me explain the exact situation which confronts
the State to-day. By innumerable tax sales in years
gone by, the State has come into possession of about
900,000 acres of forest lands. Prior to the passage of
chapter 217 of the Laws of 1891 the only person who
could compel the Comptroller to cancel a tax sale was
the purchaser at such sale. The proceedings for the
cancellation of tax sales were held to be for the pur-
pose of affording relief to persons who purchased at
such sales and paid their money to the State in good
faith and afterwards discovered that, through some
defect in the proceedings by which the tax was
levied, the sale was ineffectual to pass title to the
purchaser. Upon the cancellation of such a sale the
purchase money is refunded to the purchaser.

In a proper case the Comptroller has power to cancel
such sales where he discovers that the proceedings
are so irregular as to pass no title to the purchaser,
although the application is not made by the pur-
chaser, but the only person who could compel the
Comptroller to act prior to the passage of chapter 217
of the Laws of 1891 was the purchaser.

By this statute, however, the following amendment
to the existing laws was inserted :

" All applications heretofore or hereafter made to the
Comptroller for the cancellation of any tax sale by any
person interested in the event thereof, shall be heard and
determined by him," etc.

The general term of the third department has just

92 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

decided that this amendment makes a radical change
in the law, the effect of which is to compel the Comp-
troller to take and pass upon all pending applications
for cancellations if made by any person interested in
the lands to be affected by the application. It was
this amendment of 1891, enacted apparently without
a clear understanding by the Legislature of the scope
of its provisions, which has brought this flood of appli-
cations for cancellations to the Comptroller's office, and
which now threatens the State with a loss of nearly
every acre of forest land acquired by tax sale.

The amendment was not in the interest of wronged
or innocent owners — they had then and have now
their means of redress — but in the interest of land
and timber speculators, who by acquiring some remote
interest in the lands sold and by proving some tech-
nical defect or oversight in the original assessment of
taxes or in the tax sale might be able to cancel the
sale and for a mere song get possession of lands long
held by the State without dispute over title.

There is now pending in the Legislature a bill to
correct this evil by amending the present law so as
to restore the conditions of cancellation existing prior
to 1 89 1. There remain but two weeks of the legisla-
tive session and this measure is still unacted upon. It
naturally is opposed by selfish interests which seek to
profit by the present law. But the interests of a half
dozen individuals — for this small number is said to
include all the persons who are financially concerned

in the 300 applications for cancellations now on file

should not control the action of the Legislature against

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 93

the broader interests of six millions of people. I sin-
cerely trust that no adverse influences will defeat the
passage of this bill at the present session, but that
the Legislature will supplement the great public ser-
vice which it has just rendered in the enactment of
the Forestry Law by interposing its fiat against the par-
tial destruction of the Adirondack Park now threatened.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 292, PROVIDING FOR A
FISH HATCHERY ON WATKINS CREEK.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 12, 1893.
To TiiE Senate :

Senate bill No. 292, entitled " An act authorizing
the commissioners of fisheries to establish a fish
hatchery on Watkins creek, in the county of Oneida,
and making an appropriation therefor," is herewith
returned without approval, for the reason that the
expenditure is not deemed advisable at the present
time. Already one additional fish hatchery has been
provided for by the Legislature during the present
session and a bill, which I shall approve, is now
pending before me for the establishment of still
another. These ought to be sufficient for the pur-
poses of fish propogation for the present and I do
not think the interests of economy justify this addi-
tional appropriation this year.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

94 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOIVER.

IN THE MATTER OF THE CHARGES

PREFERRED AGAINST SHERIFF HOXSIE

OF ONONDAGA COUNTY.— NOTICE AND

SUMMONS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges against John A . Hoxsie, Sheriff
of the county of Onondaga. — Notice and summons.

To John A. Hoxsie, Sheriff of the County of Onondaga :

You are hereby notified that charges of misconduct
in office and neglect of duty have been preferred
against you by Edward N. Packard as president and
Herbert A. Manchester as secretary of the Ministerial
Association of Syracuse in this State, and a copy of
such charges is herewith served upon you.

You are therefore required to show cause why you
should not be removed from the office of sheriff of
the county of Onondaga, and to answer the said
charges within eight days after service of this order
and a copy of said charges upon you.

In witness iArhereof I have signed my name and

afhxed the privy seal of the State, at the

[l. S.J Capitol in the city of Albany, this fourteenth

day of April in the year of our Lord one

thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 9S

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 337, ESTABLISHING A
MEMORIAL HALL AT WHITE PLAINS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 17, 1893.
To THE Senate:

Senate biU No- 337> entitled "An act to establish the
memorial hall of the State of New York at White
Plains," is herewith returned without approval.

The design of this bill is to secure the erection of
a memorial hall by the State, at a cost of $25,000, on
the site of the old court-house at White Plains, in which
the Declaration of Independence was formerly ratified
and approved by the Provincial Congress of the Colony
of New York.

I am in thorough sympathy with those patriotic
impulses which would perpetuate in suitable manner
the memory of historic places and events. Such
manifestations of praiseworthy sentiment serve to
stimulate patriotism. But it seems to me that move-
ments of this kind should originate and be carried out,
as far as possible, by the people of the locality in
which the memorial is to be placed. There is, I am
sure, sufficient pride and public spirit in Westchester
county to secure the object sought to be accomplished
by this bill without recourse to State aid. There are
a dozen other historic places which have an equal
claim for patriotic recognition by the State, and if one
is honored by State appropriation another must be.
The result is likely to be much more satisfactory when

96 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

patriotic purposes of this kind are accomplished

spontaneously and voluntarily by the people of the

vicinaee.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 102, PROVIDING FOR
A STATUE OF HENRY HUDSON.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 17, 1893.
To the Assembly :

Assembly bill No. 102, entitled " An act to provide
for the construction of a statue of Hendrick Hudson
on Polopels island in the Hudson river, and appro-
priating money therefor," is herewith returned without
approval for reasons similar to those contained in nay
message to the Senate of this date, disapproving
Senate Bill No. 337, entitled " An act to establish the
Memorial Hall of the State of New York, at White

Plains."

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

IN THE MATTER OF CARLYLE HARRIS.—
APPOINTMENT OF A COMMISSIONER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Application for executive clemency having been made
to me by and in behalf of Carlyle W. Harris, who

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 97

■was convicted in the county of New York of the crime
of murder in the first degree and was thereupon
sentenced to be executed, I do hereby nominate and
appoint George Raines, an attorney and counsellor
at law of the city of Rochester, N. Y., to conduct the
hearing in the matter pertaining to said application for
clemency, and to take proof of the facts and circum-
stances relating thereto and the testimony of all
witnesses who may be produced before him ; and upon
the conclusion of the hearing to forward to me without
delay the testimony so taken ; and

I do hereby order and direct that for the purposes
aforesaid the said George Raines, have and exercise
power and authority as provided by chapter 213 of the
Laws of 1887.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my
name and affixed the privy seal of the State,
[l. s.] at the Capitol in the city of Albany, this
twenty-second day of April in the year of
Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-
three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.
7

98 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

PROCLAMATION OF A PUBLIC HOLIDAY.

State of New York.

Executive Cliainber.

The Legislature having designated Thursday, the
twenty-seventh day of April, instant, as a public
holiday, I do hereby appoint that day as one to be
observed with thanksgiving for the blessings of peace
and prosperity, and especially for the evidence of
friendship and good feeling among the nations of the
earth, as will be exemplified by the peaceful proces-
sion of battle-ships in the harbor of New York on
that day.

Let thanksgiving be supplemented by reasonable
recreation, and both be crowned with prayer for
continued peace and prosperity and the fraternity
of nations.

Done at the Capitol in the city of Albany,
this twenty-second day of April in the
[l. S.J year of our Lord one thousand eight hun-
dred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 99

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 607, TO AMEND
THE CIVIL SERVICE LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 25, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 6oy, entitled "An
act to amend chapter three hundred and fifty-four of the
Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-three, entitled '■An
act to regulate and improve the civil service of the State of
New York.' " — Not approved.

This bill threatens the integrity of the civil service
law. If enacted it would exempt physicians who are
applicants for positions in the civil service of cities,
villages, towns and counties from the regulations pre-
scribed for their appointment and tenure of office. It
would be an entering wedge for the breaking down
of the entire system. In no . department of municipal
and State government have the beneficial results of
the civil service law been so marked as in those
requiring expert medical knowledge, demonstrated by
competitive examinations. In my judgment it would
be a great injury to the efficiency, of administration,
after such a successful experience, to .exempt physi-
cians from the operations of the act. The principle
of appointment by competitive examination is espe-
cially adapted to such positions as they occupy, and
if they are to be exempted, the law-making power
cannot consisterttly refuse demands for further exemp-
tions. The next logical step to such legislation as

lOO PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

is proposed by this bill would be its extension to
include, among the exempted, physicians in the State
service as well as those in municipal service. That
would make positions in our State hospitals dependent
solely on political influence, thereby demoralizing the
service and damaging its efficiency.

I am in favor of maintaining an honest and prac-
tical administration of the civil service law, and for
this reason I cannot give my approval to a measure
which seems to me to attack severely the principle of

civil service reform.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL INTRODUCTORY No. 674,
TO LEGALIZE CERTAIN ACTS OF ONEIDA
COUNTY SUPERVISORS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 29, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill Introductory No. (5/^,
entitled "An act to legalize and confirm the audits and
allowances of certain accounts by the boards of supervisors
of Oneida county." — Not approved.

I am surprised to find that this bill is again before
me. The same measure was recalled from the Execu-
tive during the closing days of the session in order to
escape a veto. I had communicated to the introducer
of the bill my determination not to allow it to become
a law, and at his personal request I consented to a

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. lOI

recall to save him any possible embarrassment from a
veto message. I am at a loss therefore to understand
why the bill has been again sent to the Executive,
unless it was with the hope of inducing me to
reconsider my determination.

This I have no idea of doing. The purpose of the
bill is to legalize certain extortionate and illegal
charges allowed by the board of supervisors to certain
ofi&cers of the county of Oneida, and the measure is
the last resort of the accused officers to prevent a
judgment of the courts against them. The excessive
charges in dispute are said to amount to about forty-
five thousand dollars. Suits are now pending in
behalf of the people for the recovery of these
excessive and illegal charges. I question the propriety
of the Legislature interfering in this litigation. Thus
far the courts have sustained the cause of the people.
The money in dispute, if recovered, belongs to the
people of Oneida county, and if they are desirous of
discontinuing the suits, proper expression of that
desire, through the board of supervisors, would be the
natural course of action for accomplishing this result.
But it seems to me unjust to the tax-payers of Oneida
county that a legislative act should intervene between
them and the accused county officers from whom
excessive charges are sought to be recovered.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

I02 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

IN THE MATTER OF CARLYLE W. HARRIS-
DENIAL OF APPLICATION FOR CLEMENCY.

State of New York.

Executive Cliamber,

Albany, May 4, 1893.

In the matter of the application of Carlyle W. Harris for
Executive clemency. — Denial of application and opinion.

The evidence adduced upon the trial of Harris
established beyond reasonable doubt that Helen Potts
died from morphine poisoning, and compelled, as
strongly as circumstantial testimony can compel, the
irresistible conclusion that the poison was administered
by the defendant with the intent to kill. The Court
of Appeals, in denying the application for a new trial,
reviewed carefully and impartially the evidence
presented before the jury and pronounced it conclu-
sive in establishing the guilt .of the defendant.

With this judgment of the jury and the courts, con-
sidering the nature and circumstances of the crime, I
should have promptly refused to interfere had it not
been for the second attempt to procure a new trial,
based upon alleged evidence in affidavits submitted to
the recorder to show that the deceased, Helen Potts,
was for some time prior to her death addicted to the
use of morphine. No such evidence had been produced
upon the trial of the defendant, and if established
would at least create a doubt whether the deceased
did not die from poison administered by her own hand.
A close analysis of these affidavits and the affidavits

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I03

in rebuttal presented by the district attorney convinced
the learned recorder that they could not have changed
the verdict of the jury had they been introduced upon
the trial, and the second application for a new trial
was accordingly denied. The publication of this
supplementary testimony, however, incited the pre-
sentation before the Executive, upon the application
for clemency, of further evidence of the same nature,
besides many conflicting statements from interested
persons relative to the matters contained in the
affidavits before the recorder.

Under the provisions of the code the recorder was
unable to take the verbal testimony of the witnesses
who made the affidavits. This privilege, however, is
permitted to the Executive in determining applications
for clemency, under chapter 213 of the Laws of 1887,
and desiring to give the accused defendant the benefit
of every doubt by permitting him to furnish satis-
factory evidence that the deceased was a confirmed
morphine user and might have taken her own life, I
availed myself of 'the provisions of this statute and
appointed Hon. George Raines, of Rochester, to take
the testimony of witnesses upon the questions raised
in the affidavits laid before Recorder Smyth and in
the testimony subsequently placed in my hands.

Every opportunity was afforded at the hearing to
invite evidence upon the questions at issue, but a
careful examination of the testimony taken can lead
to but one conclusion. The witnesses for the defendant
have entirely failed to establish the alleged fact that
Helen Potts was addicted to the use of morphine. No

I04 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

valid evidence has been produced to prove that she
ever took morphine except on a few occasions for
medicinal purposes.

Indeed the result of this hearing, taken in con-
nection with certain affidavits filed after the determi-
nation of the case by the courts, tends to support
more strongly than before the theory of the defend-
ant's guilt. The evidence of Dr. Kinmouth, Miss
Waddel, and Miss Jackson might all be considered
as establishing that Miss Potts was a morphine eater,
but the testimony of all these together would weigh
little against the affidavits of her schoolmates and
one of her teachers as to her utterances on the night
when she took the fatal pill. These supply a most
important link in the chain of evidence and their
accuracy was not assailed in any manner upon the
hearing before the referee. I quote from the affidavit
of Miss Rockwell, one of the deceased's schoolmates :

" On the return of Miss Carson, Miss Cookson and
deponent from the New York symphony concert and
while proceeding to the room wheire Miss Potts was,
Miss Reed, one of the teachers, warned this deponent
and the others to keep quiet ; Miss Reed said Miss
Potts had requested her to ask the party to be
quiet because she (Miss Potts) had taken a pill which
Carlyle W. Harris had given her, and in order to
obtain the proper effect of which, the said Carlyle
W. Harris had advised Miss Potts to keep absolutely
quiet and not to talk; Miss Reed stated that Miss
Potts had said that Harris had told her (Miss Potts)
that the reason the former pill which he had given
her and which she had taken had not acted
properly was due to the fact that the said Miss

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 105

Potts had talked ; on reaching the room Miss Potts
was in bed ; she did not speak for several minutes ;
then she said ' Oh, girls, I have had such lovely-
dreams ; I wish they would go on forever ; I have
not really been asleep — only tying here dozing ; '
then she became quiet ; soon after the gas was
turned off Mary H. N. Potts began to talk and to say ;
' Oh, girls, I think I am going to die ; I never
felt like this before ; Carl said I could take one of
these pills for twelve nights in succession — he said
he had taken them himself ; Carl would not give
me anything that would hurt me.'

' Miss Carson, at this time, was beside the bed of
Miss Potts and was rubbing her head ; Miss Potts
said ' Frances, I can hardly see you ; I can hardly
feel you ; rub harder ; ' Miss Carson rubbed harder
and then Miss Potts said, ' Now I can see you ; now
I can feel you ; ' the tones of Miss Potts were as
though she were receding or being overcome by a
stupor which she could not control.

Then she exclaimed : ' If anybody else but Carl
had given this to me I would think I was going to
die ; but of course Carl would not give anything to
me but what was right.'

After she made these remarks she repeated the
exclamation, 'Oh, Carl, Carl, Carl,' as though she was
crying ; her voice was apparently choked with emotion.

Then deponent and her room-mates tried to com-
pose Miss Potts and told her to go to sleep, that she
would be all right in the morning ; to this she replied :

'If I do it will be death's sleep.'

'You go to sleep, Helen,' rejoined Miss Carson,
' and I will be right here, and you can call me if
you want me.' The dying girl replied :

' All right ; only look every few minutes and see
if I am still breathing.'

These were her last words."

I06 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

This inquiry into the case by the examination of
"witnesses and otherwise leaves no doubt in my mind
as to my official duty. I have endeavored to give
to the application for clemency that impartial and
conscientious study which the fate of any human
life demands and which the popular interest in this
case certainly calls for. But' so far as jury and
court could determine Harris was guilty of a heinous
crime, revolting in its conception and in the depravity
of its perpetrator, and no satisfactory considerations
have been presented to the Executive to justify his
intervention in the execution of the sentence.

The application for clemency is therefore denied.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 996, TO ABOLISH
THE BERLIN RAILROAD COMMISSIONER-
SHIP, RENSSELAER COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. gg6, entitled, "An
act to abolish the office of railroad commissioner in the
town of Berlin, in the county of Rensselaer." — Not approved.

Section thirteen of the General Municipal Law pro-
vides for accomplishing the object sought by this
bill. The measure is, therefore, unnecessary.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I07

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1165, FOR AN
EXPERIMENT STATION ON LONG ISLAND.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 116^, entitled, "An
act to establish an agricultural experiment station on Long
Island." — Not approved.

I do not think the establishment of an agricultural

experiment station on Long Island is advisable at the

present time. Moreover, if such an institution be

established, it should . be under the direction and

control of the Commissioner of Agriculture. This

the bill fails to provide.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1430, TO EXEMPT

FROM TAXATION THE LADIES' DEBORAH

NURSERY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 14.30, entitled " An
act releasing from taxation certain real estate of the Ladies
Deborah Nursery and Child's Protectory." — Not approved.

This is a special bill exempting the real estate of
a charitable institution from taxation. I have refused

I08 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

to approve special bills of this character, and a gen-
eral law sufficiently liberal in its scope has been
enacted to meet this objection. This general law
probably embraces the institution referred to in

this bill.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1436, TO INCOR-
PORATE THE BAYARD HOMCEOPATHIC

COLLEGE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 14.36, entitled
"An act to incorporate the Bayard Homceopathic College,
Hospital and Dispensary." — Not approved.

No special act is necessary for the incorporation of
this institution. Moreover, it contains special and
somewhat sweeping provisions relative to the exemp-
tion of its property, both real and personal, from
taxation. I see no reason why such an institution
should not be placed on an equal footing in this
respect with all similar institutions and be subject
to the provisions of the general statute governing
exemptions from taxation.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. IO9

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1396, AMENDING
THE GAME LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ijg6, entitled "An
act to amend the Game Law." — Not approved.

I fear that this would be an unwise interference
with the rights of owners of private property. The
mere fact that private ponds or streams have been
stocked from the fish hatcheries of the State at public
expense does not justify the State in depriving the
owners from control over their property in the matter
of trespassing for fishing or shooting purposes.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 839, AMENDING
THE GAME LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 839, entitled ''An
act to amend the Game Law." — Not approved.

By reason of previous legislation affecting this
section of the Game Law, the enactment of this bill
might lead to embarrassment and confusion. Its

I lO PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

purposes can be effected by the boards of supervisors
of the counties named should its provisions be deemed
important in those localities.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 625, FOR THE
PROTECTION OF GAME.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 62 j, entitled "'An act
for the protection, preservation and propagation of birds,
fish and wild animals in the State of New York." — Not
approved.

This bill is objectionable in form inasmuch as it
fails to amend the Game Code. Independent acts
relative to the protection of fish and game tend to
confusion and destroy the harmony and consistency of
the genera] law on that subject. Moreover, the act is
unnecessary. It imposes additional restrictions which
may already be imposed by the board of supervisors.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF CO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 1 1

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 698 PROVIDING FOR A
STATE SANITARY INSPECTOR.

State of New Yojrk.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 6g8, entitled "An act
to regulate the sanitary disinfection of public ferry houses,
steamboat and railroad stations, cars and steam or sailing
vessels, and to appoint a state sanitary commissioner to
enforce the same." — Not approved.

The enactment of this measure would mean, practi-
cally, the creation of a second State Board of Health.
The objects which it seeks are virtually all provided
for by existing law, enforced under the direction of
the present State Board of Health. The creation of
the office of a sanitary inspector, with power to appoint
an unlimited number of. deputies, would duplicate
existing machinery at unnecessary expense and with
doubtful benefit. Such a law as this, in addition to
those already on the statute books, would lead to
confusion and possible injury. Such additional precau-
tions for the preservation of public health as the
possibility of an epidemic might suggest are incorpo-
rated in the enactments of the public health law

now pending before me.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

112 PUBLIC PAI-ERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 397, TO EXEMPT FROM
TAXATION THE ROCHESTER HOMCEOPATHIC

HOSPITAL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. jgj, entitled "An act
to amend chapter four hundred and fifty-three of the Laws
of eigliteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled 'An act to
incorporate the Rochester Homeopathic Hospital,^ passed
May twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and to
exempt said hospital from taxation." — Not approved.

Since the introduction and passage of this bill its

object has already been provided for by the general

law relative to exemptions from taxation of certain

property of charitable and other institutions including

hospitals.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VEKNOR FL 0 WER. 1 1 3

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 364, TO PROVIDE
BUILDING SITES FOR THE NEW YORK CITY
FIRE DEPARTMENT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum, filed with Senate bill No. j6/f, entitled" An act to
provide for the acquisition of sites for buildings for the use
of the fire department of the city of New York." -Not approved.

This bill in its present shape is objectionable to
the local authorities and they have requested me to
withhold my approval from it.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 602, RELATING TO
THE NEW YORK CITY DOCK DEPARTMENT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Mem-orandum filed with Senate bill No. 602, entitled "A n act
to am.end section seven hundred and twelve of chapter four
hundred and ten of the Laws of eighteen hundred and
eighty-two, entitled '■An act to consolidate into one act and
to declare the special and local laws affecting public interests
in the city of New York,' relating to the dock depart-
ment."— Not approved.

The principal provisions of this bill are incorpo-
rated in chapter 397 of the Laws of 1893. There is

1 14 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

no necessity, therefore, for this measure and its enact-
ment would repeal chapter 397, which in its terms
is more acceptable to the local authorities than this

pending bill.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1068, FOR CORREC-
TION OF SEWER ASSESSMENTS IN TWENTY-
SECOND STREET, NEW YORK CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed zvith Assembly bill No. 1068, entitled "An
act to authorize the board of revision and correction of
assessment-lists of the city of New York to reconsider and
examine into an assessment for alteration and improvement
to sewer in Twenty-second street, between First and Third
avenues, in the city of New York." — Not approved.

The local authorities have requested me to with-
hold my approval from this measure on the ground
that it is adverse to the best public interests, and
inasmuch as the proposed legislation is entirely local
in its character I comply with their request.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 1 5

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL INTRODUCTORY No. 1397
FOR THE ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN LANDS
BY -THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 5, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill Introductory No. i^gj,
entitled "'An act to provide for the acquisition of lands for
public use between the Tenth avenue and other streets and
the Harlem, river, in the city of New York, adjoining and in
addition to the lands authorized to be acquired by chapter
two hundred and forty-nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred
and ninety, and chapter one hundred and two of the Laws
of eighteen hundred and ninety-three." — Not approved.

This measure seems to have been put through the
Legislature in the closing days of the session without
the knowledge or approval of the local authorities.
If enacted it would probably involve the city in an
expenditure of millions of dollars without compensating
advantages, or without the consent of the people's local
officers. The mandatory provisions of the bill are
reprehensible. The measure is strongly opposed by
the local authorities, and believing it to be subject to
criticism both in the manner of its passage and in the
nature of its provisions, I cheerfully comply with their
request to withhold my approval.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

1 1 6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL ' No. 179, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF HENRY L. SCHWARTZ, ASSIGNEE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. lyg, entitled "An
act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear, audit and
determine the claim of Henry L. Schwartz, assignee of
Louis M. Brock and Magnus Wiener, comprising tJie firm,
of Brock and Wiener, for work and labor done and
performed, and materials and goods furnished by said
Louis M. Brock and Magnus Wiener in -making, alter-
ing and repairing uniforms for the sixty-fifth and
seventy-fourth regiments of the National Guard of the
State of New York, and to award compensation tliere-
for." — Not approved.

This is an old claim. It was never a legitimate

claim against the State. The indebtedness was incurred

by officers, most of whom have been for a long time

out of the service. It was not incurred under or

pursuant to any law of the State, and there was no

misapprehension about the law, at least so far as the

officers were concerned. It was a personal matter

between the dealers and the officers giving the order.

I do not think the claim should be sent to the Board

of Claims.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 117

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 347, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF ROSS & SANFORD.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. J^7, entitled "An
act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear, audit and
determine the claim of Ross & Sanford against the
State of New York for work, labor and services
done and perform.ed in the years iSSy and 1888, in and
about the construction of the Shinnecock and Peconic bays
canal, and for the amount of money deposited by Ross
&• Sanford as security for the performance of said
work, and to make an azvard thereon." — Not approved.

If this claim had been a just one I see no reason
why it should not have been presented to the Board
of Claims within the statutory time. By deferring
presentation the claimants have placed the State at a
disadvantage, for the reason that the State officers then
interested in the contract upon which the claim is
based are not now occupying the official positions
which they held at that time, and the State is, there-
fore, unable properly to present its side of the case.
To permit the claimants to go before the Court of
Claims now would be to encourage similar delays on
the part of claimants, probably to the injury of the

State's interests.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

IlS PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOH'ER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1218, FOR REGULA-
TION OF PROPERTY SOLD FOR TAXES IN
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTIETH STREET,
NEW YORK CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1218, entitled
"An act to authorize the adjudication and settlement of
the taxes and assessments and the interest thereon for the
non-payment of same upon property in 120th street in the
city of New York, sold by the mayor, aldermen and comm.on-
alty of the city of New York to Henry McCaddin." — Not
approved.

This bill is of doubtful propriety and is objected to

by the local authorities.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 399, TO AMEND THE
CHARTER 'OF CORNING.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. jpp, entitled "An
act to amend chapter fifty-eight of the Laws of eighteen
hundred and ninety, entitled ^An act to incorporate the
city of Corning.'" — Not approved.

These amendments to the charter seem to be. opposed

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 1 9

"by a large number of prominent citizens of Corning,
and no sentiment in their favor has manifested itself
during the pendency of the bill before me. The pro-
visions are of somewhat doubtful propriety, and no
harm will result from postponing action until the next
session of the Legislature, when any desired changes
in the charter can be more carefully considered.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1189, RELATING TO
THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. iiSg, entitled
"An act to amend chapter two hundred and seventy of
the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled
'An act for the preservation of the public health and the
registration of vital statistics.' " — Not approved.

This measure is unnecessary, full power to accom-
plish its purposes being already granted to local boards
of health under general laws.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

120 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 126, FOR CERTAIN
WORK ON THE CAYUGA AND SENECA CANAL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 126, entitled "An
act to provide for the protection of the Cayuga and
Seneca canal by repairing the berme bank and breakwater
at the foot of Seneca lake, in the counties of Seneca
and Ontario, between the outlet and the canal bridge at
Geneva ." — JVot approved.

Both the title and substance of this bill seem to be
misleading. The alleged liability of the State is
questioned, and the canal is not in pressing need of
the protection proposed to be provided for.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 121

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 120, FOR A CANAL
WALL AT ROME.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 120, entitled "An
act to authorize the Superintendent of Public Works to
construct a wall from where the present wall of a dam
built across the Mohawk river for the purpose of feeding
the Erie canal ends, along the west side of said Mohawk
river at the rear of lots on Bouck ^street, in the city of
Rome, Oneida county, and to continue said wall to a
railroad bridge where the New York Central and Hudson
River Railroad crosses the Mohawk river, and to make

' appropriation therefor and regulating the loading and
unloading of canal boats." — Not approved.

This bill provides for greater expenditure than is
needed, in the opinion of the Superintendent of Public
Works, and contains general legislation relative to the
discharging or loading of cargoes which is regarded by
the Department of Public Works as objectionable.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

122 PUBLIO PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 525, FOR THE PRO-
TECTION OF A HIGHWAY AT OWASCO LAKE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 525, entitled "An
act making appropriations for protecting the highway
along the foot and west shore of Owasco lake." — Not
approved.

A similar bill was vetoed by me last year. As I
stated in my veto message at that time there is con-
siderable doubt about the liability of the State.
Inasmuch as litigation to test this question is now
pending in the courts, it would seem to me to be
unwise to prejudice the litigation by any such assump-
tion of the State's liability as the enactment of this

bill would imply.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 23

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 349, FOR A MONU-
MENT TO GENERAL HERKIMER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. j/j-g, entitled "An
act to provide for enlarging and enclosing in a suitable
manner the family burial lot upon which are interred
the remains of General Nicholas Herkimer, and also to
erect thereon a monument to his memory, and making an
appropriation therefor." — Not approved.

This bill is objected to for the reasons stated in my
message to the Senate April 17, 1893, in disapproving Sen-
ate bill No. 337, entitled " An act to establish the Mem-
orial Hall of the State of New York, at White Plains'.'

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 459, TO ESTABLISH
A COLONY FOR EPILEPTICS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ^5g, entitled
"An act to establish an epileptic colony." — Not approved.

My observation of the management and workings of
our State charitable and reformatory institutions has
impressed upon me the grave responsibility which

124 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

rests upon the Legislature and the Executive in
authorizing the establishment of any new institution
to be built and maintained at public expense.

So great has been the demand in recent years from
charitable associations and social reformers to extend
the field of the State's activity in this direction, that
the number of these institutions has been largely
multiplied and the capital- invested has reached a
stupendous sum. For the insane alone the State has
established nine great hospitals at a cost of about
$11,000,000, while the money invested in other institu-
tions would probably reach at least nine millions more.
The appropriations for charities at the present session
of the Legislature have been the largest in the history
of the State. They approximate over $4,200,000, of
which $2,856,000 was for the insane ; $240,000 for the
deaf and dumb; $85,000 for the blind; $537,000 for
youthful offenders, and $177,000 for idiots and feeble-
minded persons. This is nearly half the total appro-
priations from the general fund by the Legislature.
It is almost as much as the total State revenues from
indirect sources including the inheritance tax and taxes
on corporations.

I do not mention these figures in criticism or
complaint, but merely to focus attention upon the
magnitude of the undertaking which the State has
gradually assumed. So spasmodically have these
institutions come into existence and so insidiously have
they increased the annual budget of appropriation that
few taxpayers, I dare say, are aware of the proportions
which the State's charities have now assumed.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 25

It is these huge proportions which force home to
me, in considering legislation of this character, the
grave responsibility of determining whether measures
to thus extend the scope of the State's efforts are
surrounded by the necessary safeguards to insure
economy and efficiency of administration. It is a
surprising commentary on legislation of this kind in
the past that the very measures enacted for the
improvement of society should be so lax in their con-
struction as to invite and encourage the grossest
extravagance and carelessness in official administration.
The management in most cases has been intrusted to
subordinates appointed by boards of honorary officials,
which have no direct responsibility to the State and
are so constituted as to discourage watchful and
responsible supervision. Until the State Care Act of
the present year was passed, no legislation of this
character had in it the ordinary precautions which any
business man would insist upon relative to the purchase
of supplies or the auditing of expenditures.

With these convictions, together with others which
I shall state, I find myself unable to approve this
measure in its present form and at the present time.
Until the State has fully solved the problem of
establishing on a firm, economical, business-like and
intelligent basis the charities which it has already
undertaken, I question seriously the propriety of under-
taking any new project, no matter how forcibly its
object may appeal to humane instincts. The establish-
ment of a colony of epileptics as a State undertaking
is undoubtedly a needed and worthy movement, but

126 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

an appropriation for this purpose, particularly in the
present stage of State charities, would be a wrong- use
of public money were the measure embodying it not
wisely drawn and insufficiently guarded for the pro-
tection of public interests.

Aside from its appearance at an inopportune time
the bill has the great objection of placing the manage-
ment of the proposed institution in the hands of a
board of managers consisting of seven men and two
women, each selected from one of the eight judicial
districts of the State and one additional member from
New York. Practically the whole responsibility there-
fore would rest upon this board, not chosen from the
immediate locality where they could exercise personal
scrutiny over the institution, but scattered all over
this State. Judging from experience of this kind in
the past it is a safe prediction that however carefully
chosen such a board of managers might be, it would be
unable to give the necessary attention to the practical
administration of the institution. Moreover the bill
nowhere imposes on the managers any direct respon-
sibility to any officer or department of the State
government, prescribes no safeguards of value sur-
rounding the purchase of supplies or the audit of
accounts, and merely directs the State Board of
Charities to certify what appropriations may be
necessary. In the absence of reasonable safeguards in
its provisions I cannot conscientiously give my approval
to the measure.

The State is now engaged in an earnest endeavor to
carry into effect the provisions of the act for the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 12/

public care of the insane. To place the 440 patients
now in county poor-houses in the State hospitals, has
required extraordinary expenditures during the present
year for the completion of the necessary buildings.
Until these insane are transferred and the State Care
Act is firmly established no new undertaking of a
similar kind should be assumed by the State, and any
measure establishing a new public institution should
be framed in accordance with an intelligent scheme
for insuring honest and economical management.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 455, FOR THE PUR-
CHASE BY THE STATE OF THE ULSTER
COUNTY INSANE ASYLUM.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. .^55, entitled
"An act to authorise the purchase by the State of
certain lands and buildings in the county of Ulster, used
formerly as a county asyluin for the insane, and to
appropriate the money necessary therefor." — Not approved.

The State has no use for the property proposed by
the provisions of this bill to be purchased. Neither is
there any obligation on the part of the State to buy.
The county of Ulster at its own risk accepted a license
from the State Board of Charities under the provisions

128 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

of the so-called " Willard Exemption Act." The license
■was subject to forfeiture when there was a failure to
comply with the terms of the grant. The county-
failed to comply with the terms of the license, and
the only just ground upon which the State could take
possession of the property would be to utilize it as a
part of the system of State institutions. The State,
however, has no present use for the property, and the
expenditure called for by the bill is entirely

unnecessary.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 633, FOR THE CON-
STRUCTION OF A RAILROAD TO THE STATE
REFORMATORY AT ELMIRA.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 6jj, entitled
"An act to provide improved transportation facilities for
the New York State Reformatory at Elmira." — Not
approved.

From personal estamination I am inclined to think
that it would be economical for the State to construct
a railroad between the State Reformatory at Elmira
and the regular lines of railroad running through the
city. Such communication would save considerable
money in the hauling of supplies. I do not believe,

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 29

however, tliat it is advisable or economical for the
State to " equip, maintain and operate " such a railroad.
I would be willing to approve a reasonable appropri-
ation for building the necessary tracks so that railroads
carrying freight to the Reformatory could run their
cars over these tracks, but this is as far as the State,
in my judgment, should go in the railroad business.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1263, FOR THE
PURCHASE OF LANDS FOR A RIFLE RANGE
IN RENSSELAER COUNTY. .

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 126J, entitled
"An act to acquire additional land for the State rifle
range at Bath-on-the-Hudson and making an appropria-
tion therefor." — Not approved.

This appropriation is not approved for the reason

that the expenditure authorized is not deemed advisable

at the present time.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

130 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 626, TO PROVIDE
WASTE-GATES IN THE STATE DAM AT
CARTHAGE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 626, entitled
"An act to provide for waste-gates in the State dam.
across Black river at Carthage, and appropriating money
to construct the same, and providing for a keeper thereof." —
Not approved.

Both the State Engineer and the Superintendent of
Public Works report to me that the sum appropriated
by this act — namely, four thousand dollars — is by no
means sufficient to construct such waste-gates as would
answer the purpose of the bill, if indeed any gates at all
would accomplish the purpose. There is danger also that
the undertaking would involve the State in numerous
suits for damages. A measure of such doubtful
advantage should not receive Executive approval.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I3I

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1251, FOR A CANAL
BRIDGE IN SYRACUSE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 12^1, entitled
"An act to provide for the construction of a swing or
hoist bridge over the Erie canal, at Crouse avenue or
Beach street, in the city of Syracuse, and making an
appropriation therefor ; and to authorize the city of
Syracuse to levy a tax to provide the means to defray
its share of the cost of such construction." — Not approved.

I am informed by tbe Superintendent of Public

Works that the present bridge is in good condition.

The State has expended an unusually large amount of

money — several hundred thousand dollars — this year

in rebuilding canal bridges, and the interests of

economy demand that no more expense should be

incurred for this purpose except where the conditions

imperatively require.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

132 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1039, FOR EXPENDL
TURE ON THE STATE ARMORY AT WALTON.

State of New York.

Executive Chaftiber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. loj^, entitled
"An act to provide for the making of repairs and
im.provements in and about the State armory at Walton,
Delaware county, and making an appropriation there-
for."— Not approved.

From protests wliich have been filed with me from
citizens of Delaware county, I should doubt the expedi-
ency of this appropriation at the present time.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 133

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1040, RELATING TO

THE EASTERN NEW YORK REFORMATORY;

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1129, TO PROVIDE AN

INSTITUTION FOR INEBRIATES, AND

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1250, TO ESTABLISH A
BOYS' INDUSTRIAL HOME.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 104.0, entitled
"An act in relation to the Eastern New York Reforma-
tory, located in the town of Wawarsing, Ulster county.
State of New York, established by and under section one,
chapter three hundred and thirty-six, Laws of eighteen
hundred and ninety-two." — Not approved.

Assembly bill Noi 11 2g, entitled "An act to provide for the
appointment of a commission to locate an Institution for
Inebriates in the State of New York." — Not approved.

Assembly bill No. 12^0, entitled "An act to establish the
^ Boys' Industrial Home of New York State.'" — Not
approved.

These bills all contemplate the establishment of new
corrective institutions, to be built and maintained at
State expense. The general objections stated in my
memorandum disapproving the bill to establish an
epileptic colony apply with equal force to these bills.
They are besides faultily drafted, and apparently with
the main purpose of committing the State to the

134 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

establishment of tlie institutions — leaving to subsequent
Legislatures tbe responsibility of outlining tbeir scope
and imposing suitable safeguards I am convinced
that there is no present necessity for at least two of
the measures, and, moreover, that any new reforma-
tory institution should be under the supervision of the
Superintendent of Prisons and subject to the restric-
tions and safeguards which that control would imply.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1204, TO AMEND
THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE RELATING
TO JUDGMENTS AGAINST EMPLOYERS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 120^, entitled
"An act to amend sections thirty-one hundred and
thirty-one and thirty-one hundred and twenty-one of the
Code of Civil Procedure, relating to judgments in actioiis
by employees for wages and the enforcing of the
same." — Not approved.

This measure is very defectively drafted. It is

doubtful what purpose it is intended to accomplish,

and still more doubtful whether it would accomplish

such purpose as it has.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 135

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1432, AMENDING
THE RAILROAD LAW AS TO ELECTRIC-
LIGHT AND POWER COMPANIES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 14.32, entitled
"An act to amend the Railroad Law, in relation to
electric-light and power corporations becoming railroad
corporations." — Not approved.

This bill confers novel and perhaps unwise privileges
upon electric-light and power corporations. It does not
seem to be framed to meet any general demand, but
is intended undoubtedly to affect some special interest.
While this is no ground for disapproval, the terms of
the measure are so questionable that I am constrained
to withhold my signature.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

136 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR ELOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1188, RELATING TO
THE FLOW OP SURFACE WATERS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 11 88, entitled
"An act to prohibit the obstruction to the flow of sur-
face waters, within the State, so as to prevent the
natural discharge thereof from lands above such obstruc-
tion: ' — Not approved.

I doubt the propriety of the enactment of this
measure. Its provisions are too broad. Sufficient legal
remedies for the abuse described already exist.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 137

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1344, FOR THE
INTRODUCTION OF THE MYERS VOTING
BOOTH AT VILLAGE ELECTIONS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1344, entitled
"An act to amend chapter one hundred and twenty-
seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-two,
entitled ^An act to secure independence of voters at
town meetings, secrecy of the ballot, and provide for
the use of the Myers' automatic ballot-cabinet^ so as
to include village elections." — Not approved.

This bill extends to villages the power to use the
so-called Myers' automatic ballot-cabinet at village
elections. It is clearly in violation of art. II,
sec. 5 of the Constitution, which reads : "All elec-
tions by the citizens shall be by ballot except for
such town officers as may by law be directed to be
otherwise chosen." I doubt whether any lawyers
would seriously contend that voting by this machine
was voting by ballot within the meaning of the

Constitution.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

138 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1209, TO INCORPOR-
ATE THE WOLF ISLAND BRIDGE COMPANY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. I20g, entitled
"An act to incorporate the Wolf Island Bridge Com-
pany for passengers and other traffic, together with the
appurtenances, approaches thereto and stations." — Not
approved.

I object to this bill because it is too sweeping in
its terms. The company was originally restricted to
building a bridge from some point in the State of
New York to a point at or near Kingston, in the
province of Ontario. This restriction is proposed to
be removed, and the company is to be allowed to build
a bridge anywhere over the Saint Lawrence river
between Ontario and the State of New York. Inasmuch
as several charters for the construction of bridges at
various specific places along the river between this
State and Canada have been granted, it would be
unfair to give to this one corporation the exceptional
and sweeping privilege of locating its structure any-
where it might choose.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VEKNOR FLO WER. 1 39

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1482, TO AMEND
THE WHITE PLAINS CHARTER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 14.82, entitled
"An act to amend chapter five hundred and eighteen
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-seven,
entitled 'An act to amend an act to incorporate the
village of White Plains,' passed April third, eighteen
hundred and sixty-six, passed April twenty-second,
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, as amended by chap-
ter eight hundred and five of the Laws of eighteen
hundred and seventy-one, and to amend chapter three
hundred and fifteen of the Laws of eighteen hundred
and seventy, entitled "An act to amend chapter five
hundred and eighteen of the Laivs of eighteen hundred
and sixty-seven, entitled 'An act to am,end an act to
incorporate the village of White Plains,' " passed
April third, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the
several acts amendatory thereof." — Not approved.

Tbis bill is too defective in its construction to
permit it to become a law. Its enactment would
lead to confusion and embarrassment.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

I40 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1380, TO AMEND
THE PENN YAN CHARTER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum, filed with Assembly bill No. 1380, entitled
"An act to amend chapter one hundred and nineteen
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-nine,
entitled 'An act to amend, revise and consolidate the
laws in relation to the village of Penn Yan, in the
county of Yates.' " — Not approved.

The local authorities have requested me to withhold

my approval from this measure, and I comply with

their request.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1261, TO ESTABLISH
A FIREMEN'S PENSION FUND IN ROCHESTER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill Int. No. 1261,
entitled "An act to establish a pension fund for the
paid fire department of the city of Rochester, New
York!' — Not approved.

I would not object to any well-considered measure to
establish a pension fund for members of the paid fire

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 141

department, but the objectionable feature of this bill is
that which would divert from the pension fund
established for the benefit of exempt and volunteer
firemen, their orphans and widows, one-half of the two
per cent, tax on foreign insurance companies. The
revenues from this source are now set apart for
volunteer and exempt firemen, their widows and
orphans and disabled members of the paid fire depart-
ment, and to divert one-half of the income from this
worthy object would be a grave injustice to those who
served without pay in the old volunteer department.
The bill should be modified so as to eliminate this
unjust provision from its requirements.

The local authorities are in favor of the measure,
but I cannot allow this fact to compel my approval of
a provision which in my opinion would be unfair to
volunteer firemen and their families. I have served
among them and sympathize with the risks and hard-
ships which they have taken and endured.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

142 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1399, RELATING TO
A ROAD DISTRICT IN HERKIMER COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 6, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ijgg, entitled
"An act to amend chapter four hundred and thirty-
two of the Laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight,
entitled 'An act to constitute a separate road district
in the towns of Fairfield, Manheim and Little Falls,
Herkimer county.'" — Not approved.

There seems to be considerable local hostility to the
enactment of this measure. The supervisors of the
towns affected are opposed to it, and no good reason
has been advanced why it should become a law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1381, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF JOHN ROBERTS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 13 81, entitled

"An act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear, audit

and determine the claim of John Roberts." — Not approved.

This bill involves a somewhat novel claim against

the State. In 1877 Jolm Roberts was convicted of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 143

burglary in the first degree and sentenced to imprison-
ment at hard labor in State prison for the term of
twenty years. On October 21, 1878, he was pardoned by
Governor Robinson, who said in granting the pardon :
" After careful investigation there is a grave doubt as
to the guilt of the prisoner. This is concurred in by
District Attorney Downing, who conducted the prose-
cution, Judges Pratt and Armstrong, the Sheriff and
County Clerk, and the Justices of Sessions."

Upon this ground of his innocence and in order to
secure from the State some pecuniary redress for his
unjust imprisonment of twenty-one months, this bill is
passed to enable Roberts to go before the Board of
Claims and prove his right to compensation. It will
be seen that this presents an interesting and novel
question of legislation. Individually it would seem to
every honest and law-abiding citizen that an unjust
imprisonment, involving disgrace, and loss of time and
occupation, would in equity entitle him to just remun-
eration at the hands of the State, and even a generous
money consideration would seem to be slight com-
pensation for the personal loss sustained. Yet it has
not been the policy of the State to recompense
innocent persons for damages of this sort, and to
permit such a bill as this to become a law would be
establishing a precedent of doubtful propriety. Not
only would it extend beyond its original scope the
jurisdiction of the Board of Claims, but it would lead
to a strange mixture of legal powers in that tribunal,
inasmuch as the first fact to be established in deter-
mining such a claim would be the innocence of the

144 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

claimant or the injustice of his conviction and imprison-
ment. The criminal trial must of necessity be gone
over again, and at a time probably when evidence
would be hard to collect. It would puzzle any court,
moreover, to estimate the amount of damages which
such a claimant might be entitled to, for it would be
almost impossible to determine the money value of a
false imprisonment.

If this bill were to become a law there would be a
number of similar bills before the next Legislature
and there is no telling what such a departure from
established State policy would lead to. The questions
presented are too serious to warrant me in allowing

the bill to become a law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 83, RELATING
TO THE CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOL
DISTRICTS.

State of.. New York.. .

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 8j, entitled
"An act to amend chapter three hundred and five of
the Laws of eighteen hundred- and fifty-seven and the
acts amendatory thereof." — Not approved.

This bill should have been approved prior to the first

Tuesday of May to have been of use. To enact it now

would create confusion.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I4.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1244, AMENDING
THE VILLAGE LAW AS TO CONSTRUCTION
OF CROSSWALKS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May g, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. I2i^^, entitled
"An act to authorize and empower the board of
trustees of villages incorporated under chapter two
hundred and ninety-one of the Laws of eighteen
hundred and seventy, entitled 'An act for the incor-
poration of villages,' to construct and repair crosswalks
and assess the cost for the same on the property bene-
fited. ' ' — IVot approved.

The bill is defectively drafted and somewhat impractic-
able. The construction and repair of crosswalks should
be a general charge upon all the taxpayers of a
village, rather than upon the property owners in the
immediate vicinity.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
10

146 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1397, FOR THE TREAT-
MENT OF DIPSOMANIA IN PENITENTIARIES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1397, entitled
"An act to prescribe the medical treatment, in certain
cases, of persons coinm.itted to penitentiaries for intoxi-
cation in public places." — Not approved.

Until modern treatments for intemperance shall have
been clearly demonstrated to be effectual and without
danger, I question the advisability of the State's enact-
ing such mandatory legislation as that contained in
this bill. Moreover, if such treatment is found to be
practicable the law should be extended to include
county jails, where most of the prisoners are victims
of intemperance.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 147

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 418. AMENDING THE
CHARTER OF THE ST. VINCENT'S RETREAT.

State of New York.

Executive Ciiainber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. jf.18, entitled
"'An act to amend chapter four hundred and thirty-one
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-four,
entitled 'An act to amend the charter of the Saint
Vincent's Retreat for the Insane.'" — Not approved.

This special bill is rendered unnecessary by the
enactment of chapter 498 of the Laws of 1893.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1171, FOR PAYMENT
OF RENTS FOR SCHOOLS IN LONG ISLAND

CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 117 1, entitled
"An act to provide for the payment of rent for certain
buildings in Long Island City, used for educational
purposes by said city." — Not approved.

This bill is unnecessary. Chapter 646 of the Laws of
the present year makes ample provision for the deter-

148 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

mination of valid claims against Long Island City.
Moreover the courts have adjudged the claim in
question to be without existence in law or fact.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 554, RELATING TO
MEDICAL TREATMENT OF THE INDIGENT
SICK IN LONG ISLAND CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 55^, entitled
"An act to provide for medical and surgical aid and
treatment for the sick poor of LoHg Island City, and
county of Queens." — Not approved.

The Mayor of Long Island City protests against the

enactment of this measure chiefly on the ground that

its enactment would deprive the city of all available

funds for suppressing epidemics of contagious diseases.

The city has recently been invaded by small pox, and

the possibility of an extension of that disease or the

entrance of another would seriously cripple the city's

financial resources. I am constrained therefore to

withhold my approval.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 149

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1067, FOR CERTAIN
STREET IMPROVEMENTS IN LONG ISLAND
CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

. Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed tvith Assembly bill No. io6y, entitled
"An act in relation to the improvement of Grand
avenue and Main street in Long Island City, and to
provide for a part of the expense thereof." — Not approved.

The improvement already undertaken on these
streets has evidently not given satisfaction to the
people of the city, and three-fourths of the property
owners along the so-called improvement have filed with
me a protest against the enactment of this measure.
The Mayor joins in this protest, with the further
suggestion that the work already done is so inferior in
quality that part of it will have to be done over again.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

ISO PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL INTRODUCTORY
No. 1394, FOR THE ACQUISITION OF LANDS
IN NEWTOWN FOR CEMETERY PURPOSES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 9, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill Introductory No. 1394-,
entitled "An act to authorize the board of trustees of
the First German Methodist Episcopal Church in the
city of New York to hold certain lands for cemetery
purposes. ' ' — Not approved.

This bill authorizes the trustees of the First German
Methodist Episcopal Church to acquire not exceeding
twenty-five acres in the town of Newtown, in the county
of Queens, for cemetery purposes.

A pathetic protest has been filed with me by the
citizens of Newtown against legislation authorizing the
establishment of any more grave-yards in their town.
The dead inhabitants are rapidly crowding out the
living. There are twenty-four cemeteries and they
cover one-eighth of the town. The live population is
less than 20,000 ; the dead population is upwards of
1,350,000. There are more than 33,000 funerals a year
and the people pay $43,000 a year to keep the highways
passable for hearses and carriages.

Every new grave-yard exempts so much more of the
township from taxation and leaves a heavier burden
for the living to carry. The tax rate for the past

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. I 5 I

twenty-one years has averaged over $3.70 upon every
hundred dollars of valuation, not including school taxes
at all. The land not used for cemetery purposes is
owned chiefly by farmers, gardeners and small property
owners, who can hardly afford to move away, but must
stay and endure the burden of high taxes and melan-
choly surroundings.

Moreover the presence of so many cemeteries seems
to affect seriously the health of the community, for
the death rate is higher than in any town in the State.

So melancholy a picture is sufficient reason for with-
holding my approval from this measure. It suggests
the necessity for some more economical means of
caring for the bodies of the dead of great cities. To
enable societies and associations to acquire for this
purpose the most available sites of towns in the
suburbs of New York and Brooklyn and gradually to
take possession of a generous part of the township,
and thereby secure exemption from taxation, presents
serious questions, for which the rapidly increasing
populations of the cities and the cemeteries demands

speedy and wise solution.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

152 P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO fVER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. iioi, 'FOR AN
IRON BRIDGE OVER LONG LAKE, HAM-
ILTON COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. iioi, entitled
"An act to provide for the construction of an iron
bridge across Long Lake, in Hamilton county, and
making an appropriation therefor." — Not approved.

This bill appropriates forty thousand dollars to build
a bridge across Long Lake in the Adirondacks. Such
a bridge would serve a useful purpose in furnishing
communication between two parts of the Adirondacks
now separated by this long sheet of water, but I see
no present reason why the State should build the
bridge. If, as a feature of the improvement and develop-
ment of the Adirondack Park, the Forest Commission
should in the future consider this bridge to be needed
there might be justification for the State's undertaking
the project, but I think under present circumstances
the people of the State would hardly justify so great

an expenditure.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 153

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 39, TO ESTABLISH A
STATE NAUTICAL SCHOOL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. jp, entitled "An
act to provide and maintain a nautical school for the
State of New York and to merge therein the Present
nautical school maintained by the board of education
of the city of New York." — Not approved.

This proposed transfer to the State of the nautical
school now maintained by the board of education of
the city of New York is urged upon the ground of
enlarging the usefulness of the school and giving boys
from all parts of the State an opportunity to avail
themselves of the benefits of a nautical education.
While such an extension of the advantages of this
school would be valuable, I doubt whether they are
sufficient to justify the State in assuming control of
an additional institution. The State has at present
about as many institutions of an educational nature as
it can well care for and no new responsibility should
be assumed except where it is for the unmistakable
good of the State and the great majority of its people.
Moreover, the bill provides for a perpetual appropria-
tion of $40,000 a year.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

154 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 687, FOR THE DREDG-
ING OF THE OHIO BASIN AT BUFFALO.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 687, entitled "An
act to provide for dredging the Ohio basin, its entrance
and its slip to Elk street, in the city of Buffalo, and
to make an appropriation therefor." — Not approved.

This bill is objected to and disapproved for the
reason that the expenditure of the twenty thousand
dollars provided for is not deemed necessary or advis-
able at the present time.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1419, TO INCORPO-
RATE THE NEW YORK FINANCE COMPANY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 141 9, entitled
"An act to incorporate the New York Finance Com-
pany. ' ' — Not approved.

In addition to the powers granted to this company
to guarantee contracts, it is also authorized by this

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 155

bill to do a trust company business with the following
advantages over trust companies incorporated under
general law :

1. Its capital is placed at $100,000. Other trust com-
panies in the city of New York are obliged to have a
capital of at least $500,000.

2. It can invest its capital in any securities it sees
fit. Other trust companies are obliged to invest in
permanent securities.

3. It is relieved from the operation of the usury
laws. Other trust companies are subject to the usury
laws.

4. The stockholders of this proposed company are only
individually liable for the amount of stock held by
them respectively. Stockholders in other trust com-
panies are individually liable not only for the amount
of stock subscribed by them, but for a corresponding
amount in addition thereto.

There are other provisions of the bill whereby the
company is relieved from obligations imposed upon
other trust companies. The last trust company incor-
porated by special charter was in the year 1884. All
companies organized since 1884 have been incorporated
under the general act. I see no reason why special
legislation conferring unusual advantages should be
bestowed upon this corporation.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

156 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1223, TO RE-CHAR-
TER THE CITIZENS' LOAN AGENCY AND
GUARANTEE COMPANY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 122J, entitled
"An act to amend chapter five hundred and fifty-three
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty five, entitled
'An act to incorporate the Citizens' Loan Agency and
Guarantee Company.' " — Not approved.

I suspect that the main object of this bill is to
resuscitate a defunct corporation. It gives a special
advantage to this company over other companies in
authorizing it to incorporate with only half the amount
of capital stock which the general law for the incor-
poration of trust companies requires in the case of
companies located in New York city. In the opinion
of the Superintendent of Banks, moreover, the bill is
objectionable in authorizing the issue of both preferred
and common stock, inasmuch as the company is a

banking corporation.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

wP UBUC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 5 7

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL INTRODUCTORY
No. 1266, AMENDING THE GAME LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill Introductory No. 1266,
entitled "An act to amend section one hundred and
thirty -six of the Game Law." — Not approved.

This bill amends the same section of the Game Law
as is amended by chapter 573 of the Laws of 1893,
which I have recently approved. To sign the bill,
therefore, would nullify the provisions of the prior
amendment whose enactment is more desirable, in my
judgment, than that now before me.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1153, TO INCOR-
PORATE THE VILLAGE OF SARANAC LAKE.

State or New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1153, entitled
"An act in reference to the incorporation of the village
of Saranac Lake." — Not approved.

The Constitution says that the Legislature shall not
pass a private or local bill incorporating villages.

IS8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

While in title this bill does not incorporate the village
of Saranac Lake, in substance it certainly appears to
have that object. In my judgment, therefore, it is
unconstitutional.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 672, FOR THE
RELIEF OF POLICE JUSTICE BELLIS OF

PENN YAN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 6y2, entitled
"An act to legalize the official acts of Delos A. Bellis
as police justice of the village of Penn Yan, county of
Yates and State of New York.' — Not approved.

This bill is too sweeping in its terms and fails to
specify the particular acts which are intended to be
legalized.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 159

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1327, TO REGULATE
THE BUSINESS HOURS OF COUNTY CLERKS.

State of New York.

Executive Ciiainber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 132"/, entitled
"An act to am.end the county law." — Not approved.

This bill is defectively drafted and no harm can
come from postponing its enactment till another year,
when more care can be taken with its construction.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1070, TO AMEND THE
MECHANICS' LIEN LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 10, 1893.

Memorandum, filed with Assembly bill No. loyo, entitled
"An act to amend chapter three hundred and forty-two
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty five, entitled
'An act for the better security of mechanics, laborers
and others who perform labor or furnish materials for
buildings and other improvements in the several cities
and counties of this State, and to repeal certain acts
and parts of acts' " — Not approved.

The amendment proposed by this bill is evidently

l6o PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

well-intended but the ' language is too confused to make
sense. The measure is therefore disapproved.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 645, AMENDING THE
PENAL CODE AS TO FALSE PRETENSES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 6/f.^, entitled
"An act to am,end the Penal Code, relating to pur-
chases of property by false pretenses." — Not approved.

As section 544 now stands, a false pretense which
relates to the purchaser's ability to pay is not criminal
unless it is in writing and signed by the party to be
charged.

The reason for this restriction was, doubtless, the
danger of holding a person criminally liable for merely
casual conversation respecting his means, which might
be easily misunderstood or even by a slight variation
materially misrepresented. A vendor of goods might
be strongly tempted to misuse a more lax statute to
collect a debt rather than to punish a crime.

The proposed amendment would modify this section by
providing that when a previous written statement has
been made, a false verbal statement of the purchaser that
his means or ability have not changed, or a fraudulent
concealment of any such change, shall be criminal.

P UBLIC PAPERS OP GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 6 1

Such an amendment would restore the old danger
of misunderstanding or misrepresenting verbal state-
ments. That danger is just as great when the con-
versation refers to a prior written statement, and
even greater where there is claimed to be a failure
to make known any change in the purchaser's circum-
stances. A new written statement can be always
required if a new credit is asked for. Then there can
be no misunderstanding as to the exact representations
made by the vendor. It is right that a seller should
be protected against actual fraud and the section as it
now stands is sufficient for that purpose.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 967, AMENDING THE
CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AS TO
JURISDICTION OF COURTS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. pdy, entitled
"An act to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure." —
Not approved.

I would cheerfully approve the second section of

this bill, which provides for the personal examination

and cross-examination of persons who make affidavits

for use on a motion for a new trial on the ground of

II

1 62 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

newly-discovered evidence, if it stood alone, but the
first section amends section $6 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, and does not embody the important amend-
ments to that section contained in chapters 150 and
570 of the Laws of this year. To approve this bill,
would, therefore, lead to much confusion, and besides,
it is doubtful if the jurisdiction of a court of special
sessions should be restricted to the town, city or
village in which it is held.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1094, AMENDING
THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, AS TO
LIMITATION.

State of New ITork.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. log^., entitled
"■An act to amend the Code of Civil Procedure." —
Not approved.

The second section of this bill, if it became a law,
would reduce to two years the time within which an
action may be commenced to recover for damages to
property, or to procure an injunction where the cause
of action arises from damages to property, caused by
the construction, maintenance and operation of a
railway.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERN' OR FLOWER. 163

It is said with some force that the present periods
of limitation (six and ten years), are unreasonably long,
and that no injustice would be done to the owners of
property along the line of a railroad by requiring
them to bring suit within a much shorter time. It is
probable that a less period — say three years — would
ordinarily suffice. Such a measure, however, should be
submitted for legislative action or executive approval
on its merits, and without the defects which render
impossible the favorable consideration of this bill.
After providing that the cause of action "is to be
deemed to have accrued from the time of the actual
commencement of the operation and the opening to
the public for the purposes of transportation of that
portion of the railway which is adjacent to the property
for injury to which the action is brought," the bill
goes on to say : " Except that in cases where a railway
has been in operation before the passage of this act,
the cause of action is to be deemed to have accrued
at the time of the passage of this act." These are not
apt words with which to amend an act which became
law in 1876, nor would it be fair to either a private
individual or a railway company to compel tedious
litigation m the courts over language, the construction
of which is so -manifestly uncertain.

Again, the third section of the bill, with which the
other must stand or fall, is especially objectionable.
It allows a court in or to which an appeal is taken to
supply defects in an attempted appeal, even an omission
to file or serve any notice of appeal whatever, if a
case or exceptions are filed with the clerk or served on

164 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR. FLOWER.

the adverse party. To give the courts power to thus
extend the , time to ;appeal would be a radical innovation
and is certainly contrary to the public interests which
require reasonable certainty in the time within which
appeals from one tribunal to another must be taken.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1197, RELATING TO
TREES IN PARKS AND STREETS IN NEW
YORK CITY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 11 gj, entitled
"An act to provide for the care and preservation of
the parks and trees on the Boulevard and West End
avenue in the city of New York." — N-ot approved.

The local authorities of New York are opposed to
the transfer of control provided for in this bill and
have requested me to withhold my approval from it.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. l6S

VETO;- ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1208, RELATING TO
; THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF BROOKLYN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1208, entitled
"An act to amend chapter five hundred and eighty-
three of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-eight,
entitled 'An act to revise and combine in a single act
all existing special and local laws affecting public
. interests in the city of Brooklyn^ relating to the depart-
ment of fire." — Not approved.

The local authorities are opposed to this bill. Any
meritorious case arising under its provisions they have
now ample authority to determine without the neces-
sity of special legislation. Moreover, that feature of
the bill which purports to regulate the salaries of
subordinate officials in a municipal department is on
general principles worthy of condemnation.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

l66 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1078, FOR THE
ACQUISITION OF WATER FRONT BY THE
CITY OF BROOKLYN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed ivith Assembly bill No. loyS, entitled
"An act to provide for the acquisition of water front
for the city of Brooklyn." — Not approved.

This bill authorizes the appointment of a commission
consisting of the Mayor, Comptroller and President of
the Board of Aldermen to investigate the "wisdom,
expediency and policy " of the acquisition of the
entire water front of the city by purchase or condem-
nation. I am informed that the mayor regards such
a scheme of purchase impracticable and likely to
involve the city in the expenditure of a great many
millions of dollars. ^ The appointment of a commission
therefore, and the expenditure of $10,000, authorized
for its expenses, are a doubtful use of public money.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 167

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 684, RELATING • TO
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EIGHTH WARD OF
BROOKLYN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum, filed with Senate bill No. 684., entitled "An
act to amend chapter three hundred and sixtyfive of
the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled
'An act to provide for certain improvements in the
eighth ward of the city of Brooklyn,' as amended by
chapter four hundred and fifty-two of the Laws of
eighteen hundred and ninety." — Not approved.

Identically the same bill is now a law constituting
chapter 587 of the Laws of 1893.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

l68 P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO VVER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 568, TO CLOSE A PART
OF CLYMER STREET, BROOKLYN, AND

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1183, TO CLOSE A PART
OF HEYWARD STREET, BROOKLYN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 568, entitled "An
act to close a portion of Clymer street, in the city of
Brooklyn, and strike the same from the commissioners^
map of the city of Brooklyn." — Not approved, and

Assembly bill No. Ii8j, entitled "An act to close a
certain part of Heyward street, in the city of Brooklyn,
and to strike the same frorn the commissioners' map." —
Not approved.

I have just signed a bill amending the charter of
the city of Brooklyn so as to give the common council
" power, with the consent of the mayor, to lay out
streets in said city and to place the same on the com-
missioners' map and to change said map by closing
and striking therefrom or altering the lines of any
street now on or hereafter placed on said map."

These bills are therefore unnecessary.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GaVERNOR FLOWER. 169

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1290, FOR
FURTHER WORK ON THE STATE
ARMORY AT CATSKILL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. i2go, entitled
"An act to provide for the completion and betterment
of the State armory at Catskill, New York, and making
an appropriation therefor." — Not approved.

I am informed by the Adjutant-General that there

is no particular necessity for the enactment of this

bill at the present time.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 189, RELATING TO
THE PENNY BRIDGE IN ROCKLAND COUNTY.

State. OF New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum, filed with Assembly bill No. i8g, entitled
"An act to define and declare the responsibility for
maintaining a certain bridge over Minisceongo creek in
the county of Rockland, a navigable tide-watir stream,
said bridge being' knownr as the Penny bridge, and having
a draw to permit the passage of vessels plying in such
stream ." — Not approved.

I am not aware that there is any obligation on the

1 70 P UBLICJ'AJt££S OF GO VERNOR JPLO WER.

part of the State to assume charge of and maintain

this bridge.

ROSWELL P. p-^LOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 732, FOR CER-
TAIN HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS IN NEW
UTRECHT, KINGS COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. J32, entitled "An
act to provide for improvements in streets and highways
in towns within counties containing upwards of six
hundred thousand inhabitants." — Not approved.

Although general in terms, this bill affects exclusively

the town of New Utrecht. The scheme of the act is

to provide for a system of local improvements and it

authorizes an expenditure of not exceeding $800,000

for these purposes. I have already approved a bill

authorizing the expenditure of $500,000 for purposes

of local improvement in this town and so great

appears to be the local opposition to this additional

measure that I am compelled to withhold from it my

approval.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 7 1

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1028, FOR AN
ANATOMICAL SCHOOL AT SENECA FALLS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May ii, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1028, entitled
"An act to authorize the Seneca Falls School of
Anatomy to procure, receive and dissect dead bodies." —
Not approved.

There is no such school of anatomy now incorporated.
If it is intended indirectly by this act to incorporate
said school, the bill is unnecessary, inasmuch as a
general law already provides for the incorporation of
such institutions. As to the authority conferred by
this bill to procure, receive and dissect dead bodies
that is sufficiently taken care of by the public health law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1014, TO ESTABLISH
A STATE BOARD OF UNDERTAKERS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. loi/j., entitled
"An act to establish a State board of undertakers and
to regulate the practice of undertaking." — Not approved.

I am constrained to refuse my approval to this act.

1/2 P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOIi FLO WER.

It is Opposed by the State Board of Health., which
fears that, as present drafted, the measure would create
conflict between that board and the State examining
board of undertakers which it is proposed to establish.
This objection woijld control my action on the bill
regardless of any opinions which I might have as to
the substantial merits of the measure.

• ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 927, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION TO
GRANT RELIEF TO COUNTIES IN CERTAIN
INSTANCES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 11, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ()2'j, entitled
"An act for the relief of certain counties." — Not
approved.

It is extremely doubtful whether counties included
under the provisions of this proposed act have any
equitable claim against the 'State. Any building or
buildings which were erected prior to April 15, 1890,
to be used solely as a county asylum for the insane,
were constructed at the risk of the counties and in
pursuance of licenses granted by the State Board of
Charities which were expressly revokable at pleasure
in their terras'.

PUBLIC PAPERS Of GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1/3

This bill, moreover, ■ does not submit to tbe Board of
Claims the question of whether liability exists on the '
part of the State, but assumes such a liability,' and
merely authorizes the Board of Claims to fix the
amount of such liability.

There is scarcely a county in the State, except Kings
and New York, whose injuries by reason of the State
Care Act are greater than the benefits conferred by
that act. Its provisions and operation save to each
county almost fifty per cent of the amount which the
county formerly raised by taxation for the support of its
insane under the old county care systein. The figures of
actual saving were presented by me some time ago in
my memorandum approving the appropriation for carry-
ing into effect the provisions of the State Care Act.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

174 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 232, TO REGULATE
HOURS OF LABOR ON SURFACE AND ELE-
VATED STREET RAILROADS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 2j2, entitled
"An act to am.end chapter five htmdred and twenty-
nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred a7id- eighty-seven,
entitled 'An act to regulate the hours of labor in the
street surface and elevated railroads chartered by the
State, in cities of one hundred thousand inliabitants
and over.' " — Not approved.

While ostensibly in the interest of employees of
street surface and elevated railroads, this bill repeals
more privileges than it confers. Its chief advantage is
the extension of the ten-hour law to cities of more
than 75, 000 inhabitants. This would affect two cities not
included within the operation of the law at present.

The bill's great disadvantage is that it exempts
New York city and its thousands of street surface and
elevated railroad employees from the beneficial effects
of the existing ten-hour law. I am not aware that
the workingmen employed upon street railroads in
that great city care to be exempted from the provis-
ions of an act which they were largely instrumental
in passing, and which has served a useful purpose in
shortening their hours of labor.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 175

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 38, AMENDING THE
CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE AS TO DELIVERY
OF ACKNOWLEDGED INSTRUMENTS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. j8, entitled "An
act to am.end section nine hundred and thirty-seven of
the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to the proof and
acknowledgment of instruments and the effect of the
same as evidence." — Not approved.

If I Was sure that the effect of this bill would be
simply to change the existing rule of law as to the
presumption of the date of delivery of an instrument
which has actually been delivered, I would not with-
hold my approval , but it applies by its terms, taken
literally, to all acknowledged instruments whatever,
and might well be construed to raise a presumption of
delivery where none now exists.

In view .of the temptation which might thus be
afforded to evade the law respecting taxable transfers
of property, I deem it better that the bill in its present
form should not become a law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

176 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 496, AMENDING THE
LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF TRADE-
MARK BOTTLES, ETC.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed tvitli Assembly bill No. ^g6, entitled
"An act to amend ■ chapter three hundred and seventy -
seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, entitled 'An act to protect the owners of bottles,
boxes, syphons and kegs used in the sale of soda waters,
mineral or aerated voaters, porter, ale, cider, ginger ale,
milk, cream, small beer, lager beer, zveiss beer, beer,
white beer or other beverages.'" — Not approved.

I fear that this bill is too sweeping and radical in
its provisions. The inconvience and possible injustice
■which it would involve are hardly to be compensated
by the advantages of the measure.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. IJ?

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 975, RELATING TO
ONTARIO COUNTY EXCISE MONEYS.

State of New York.
* Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 975, entitled
"An act to provide for the disposition of excise tnoneys
in the county of Ontario." — Not approved.

This bill establishes a different rule for Ontario
county in the disposition of its excise moneys than
for the other counties of the State. It seems to me
that such an act should be uniform in its application.
I question the advisability of excise revenues from
towns being turned into the county treasury as this
bill proposes, but such a law if enacted at all should
be uniform throughout the State.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
12

178 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1534, FOR THE TAK-
ING OF CEMETERY LANDS IN BUFFALO FOR
STREET PURPOSES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. IJJ4., entitled
"An act to authorize and empower the city of Buffalo
to extend Parkside avenue in said city from Agassaz
place southwesterly to Delavan avenue, and to take
lands of the Buffalo City Cemetery Association for that
purpose." — Not approved.

The officers of the Buffalo City Cemetery Associa-
tion, through "which it is proposed by this bill to
extend Parkside avenue, have filed with me a state-
ment in which they protest against the bill's enactment
on the ground, chiefly, that the association would be
compelled to pay an immediate expense of $22,400 for
paving and $3,360 for sidewalks, as its assessment for
the improvement. Inasmuch as the cemetery associa-
tion depends entirely for its revenues upon its sale
of lots and as all its revenues have been devoted to
embellishing and caring for its cemetery lands, there
would seem to be an injustice in compelling the
association to bear so much of the cost of the improve-
ment. With this view I have been unable to affix my
signature to the measure.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VEKNOR FLO WEK. 1 79

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 466, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF CARTER H. MORGAN.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. /f.66, entitled
"An act to authorize the State Board of Claims to
hear, audit and determine the claim of Carter H.
Morgan agaitist the State for damage to his property
caused by the State in the construction of a channel
from impart of the way), Oil creek reservoir, town of
Cuba, New York, to the Genesee valley canal, and for
work and labor done for said State." — Not approved.

It is understood that this bill is not intended to
relieve the claimant from the operation of the short
statute of limitation ; but insofar as it is intended to
legalize the employment of said Morgan by some
engineer, it attempts to revive a claim at least a
quarter of a century old.

As to that part of the act which" gives jurisdiction
to the Board of Claims to hear the claim for land
appropriated by the State, it has been represented that
no statute of limitations has run against the claim, for
the reason that no notice of the appropriation has ever
been served by the State authorities upon Morgan and
no map of the property appropriated has ever been
filed pursuant to statute.

l8o PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Therefore, so far as that part of the act is concerned,
it is unnecessary, because the claimant may file his
claim in the Board of Claims pursuant to law without
reference to this act ; and as to the other part, the
Legislature cannot revive the claim for services, more
than six years having elapsed since the employment.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 517, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF JOHN R. PUTNAM.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 577, entitled ''An
act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear, audit
and determine the claim of John R. Putnam against
the State, for damages to his property caused by the
State, and losses sustained and growing out of the man-
agement of the Erie canal, and to make an award
therefor. ' ' — Not approved.

The circumstances under which the passage of this
bill has been asked from the Legislature indicate that
its purpose is to affect pending legislation before the
Board of Claims. I am convinced that the measure
has not sufficient merit to warrant its enactment.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 1 8 1

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 71, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF CHARLES McKINSTRY.

State of New York.

Executive Ctiamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 7/, entitled "An
act conferring jurisdiction upon the Board of Claims
to hear, audit and determine the claim, of Charles
McKinstry against the State of New York." — Not
approved.

I do not believe tbat this claimant has any just
claim against the State. McKinstry seeks by this act
to get reimbursed for the value of certain hogs on his
premises destroyed by cholera. He seeks to hold the
of&cer appointed by the Governor responsible for his
loss. As a matter of fact the Executive agent
examined the hogs at the owner's personal request,
and made suggestions relative to the treatment of the
disease. He reported at the time that a large nuraber
of the hogs -would undoubtedly die, which I am
informed was the case. Probably more of them would
have died had the State Veterinarian not interested
himself in the case. To enact this bill would be to
establish a dangerous precedent for the future. The
law in such cases is well defined. It does not con-
template destruction of cattle except where destruction
is necessary to prevent a spread of the disease, and it

1 82 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

only contemplates indemnity for cattle destroyed wiien

the destruction takes place upon the order of the

Governor or his agent.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 735, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF THOMAS BENWAY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 12, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 7J5, entitled
"An act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear,
audit and determ.ine the claim of Thomas Benway,
Junior, against the State for loss and damage to his
property caused by the State, and to make an award
therefor." — Not approved.

I fear that such legislation as this would open a
field of similar bills, and would revive a number of
claims that have already been disposed of. The act of
1870 (chapter 321, section i) expressly provided that
there should be no liability for damages arising from
the navigation of the canals.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 83

APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY
CIRCUIT, SPECIAL TERM AND OYER AND
TERMINER, AT BELMONT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public
interest requires it.

Therefore, in accordance with the statute in such case
made and provided, I do hereby appoint an Extraordi-
nary Term of the Circuit, Special Term and Oyer and
Terminer of the Supreme Court, to be held at the
court-house in Belmont, county of Allegany, on Monday,
the twelfth day of June, 1893, at ten o'clock in the
forenoon of that day, and to continue so long as may
be necessary for the disposal of the business that may
be brought before it ; and I do hereby designate the
Honorable Hamilton Ward, a Justice of the Supreme
Court, to hold the said extraordinary term of the
Circuit, Special Term and Oyer and Terminer of the
Supreme Court as hereinbefore described.

And I do further direct that notice of such appoint-
ment be given by publication once in the Allegany
County Democrat, a newspaper published at Wellsville.
Given under my hand and the privy seal of the
State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany, this

[l. s.] twelfth day of May in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

l84 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY
SPECIAL TERM AT BELMONT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public
interest requires it,

Therefore, in accordance with the statute in such case
made and provided, I do hereby appoint an Extraordi-
nary Special Term of the Supreme Court to be held
at the court-house in Belmont, county of Allegany,
on Monday, the twenty-eighth day of August, 1893, at
ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day, and to continue
so long as may be necessary for the disposal of the
business that may be brought before it ; and I do
hereby designate the Honorable Hamilton Ward, a
Justice of the Supreme Court, to hold the said Extra-
ordinary Special Term of the Supreme Court.

And I do further direct that notice of the appoint-
ment aforesaid be given by publication of this order
once in the Allegany County Democrat, a newspaper
published at Wellsville.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the
State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany, this

[l. S.J twelfth day of May in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 85

IN THE MATTER OF JOHN A. HOXSIE,
SHERIFF OF ONONDAGA — ORDER DIS-
MISSING CHARGES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges preferred against John A.
Hoxsie, Sheriff of the county of Onondaga. — Order dismiss-
ing charges.

Charges of misconduct in office and neglect of duty-
having been heretofore preferred by the Ministerial
Association of Syracuse against John A. Hoxsie, Sheriff
of the county of Onondaga, and a copy of such
charges having been duly served on the said Hoxsie
and after a hearing before me at which the said Minis-
terial Association, after due notice, appeared and were
heard in support of such charges but failed to produce
any testimony or witnesses to sustain the accusation
preferred against said sheriff, and the said sheriff
having appeared in person and by counsel and with
witnesses to prove that he exercised due diligence in
the matter upon which the accusation against him was
preferred ; now therefore, after due consideration given
to the arguments and testimony before me, it is hereby

Ordered, that the charges against said John A.
Hoxsie be and the same are hereby dismissed.

l86 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany, this

[l. s.] twelfth day of May in the year of our Lord

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

MEMORANDUM FILED WITH SENATE BILL
No. 514. EXTENDING TIME FOR COMPLETION
OF THE YONKERS RAILROAD.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 13, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 57^, entitled ''An
act to extend the time within which the Yonkers Rail-
road Company shall complete the several portions or
sections of its railroad." — Approved.

An explanation of my p.pproval of this bill is due to
the parties interested. On May eleventh, I filed a
memorandum of reasons for disapproving the measure,
and I learn now that the statement of facts upon
which the disapproval was based was incorrect. The
bill was disapproved on two grounds :

First. That the time for the completion of the road,
making due allowance for legal proceedings, expired
on February 11, 1893, and that therefore the bill was

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 87

Open to the constitutional objection of being a special
bill authorizing a corporation to lay down railroad
tracks. The information on which this conclusion was
based was furnished from the Railroad Commission. I
have since been shown, however, a certified copy of
an order of the Supreme Court, dated February 4, 1893,
extending the time for the completion of the road
until the determination of an injunction suit pending
at that time and still pending. Had this information
been lodged with the Railroad Commission or the
Executive the mis-statement would not have been made
and this ground of disapproval would not have existed.
Second. That the bill might be obnoxious to art. 1 1 1 ,
sec. 16 of the Constitution, in that it not only sought
under one title to extend the time for the completion
of the road but also to release the company from the
obligation of constructing its road on certain streets
and avenues in the city of Yonkers. As a matter of
fact I learn now that this provision does not release
the company from any obligation of this kind, for the
company's charter never authorized it to construct a
railroad on those streets. The provision was inserted
in the bill at the instigation of persons who feared
that the charter did give rights to occupy those streets.
Consequently there is no releasing of obligations in

the bill.

I regret any embarrassment to the company which
my previous action raay have caused, and with the
facts thus presented to me I cheerfully approve the bill.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

1 88 p UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

IN THE MATTER OF JAMES MARTELL, A CON-
DEMNED MURDERER.— APPOINTMENT OF
COMMISSIONERS.

State of New York.

Executive Cliamber,

I hereby appoint Samuel B. Ward, M. D., of tlie city
of Albany, and Carlos F. MacDonald, M. D., of the city
of New York, commissioners to examine James Martell,
now confined in Clinton prison under sentence of death.,
and to report their conclusions as to his present sanity,
such report to be made to me in writing at their
earliest convenience.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany, this

[l. s.] fifteenth day of May in the year of our Lord

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1S9

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. ;so MAKING THE

ERIE COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE A SALARIED

OFFICE.

State of New York.

Executive Cliamber.

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 750, entitled
"An act to amend chapter five hundred and two of the
Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty five, entitled ' A n
act to make the office of the county clerk of Erie
county a salaried office, and regulating the management
of said office.' " — I\lot approved.

This bill is defectively drafted. It ovferlooks an
intermediate amendment of the same chapter con-
tained in chapter 149 of the Laws of 1891.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 561, RELATING TO
THE POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE STATE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 561, entitled
"An act in relation to the political divisions of the
State, constituting chapter three of the general laws."^-
Not approved.

I am forced to withhold my approval from this bill by
reason of an error contained in the repealing schedule.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

1 9° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 730, RELATING TO
EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. yjo, entitled
"An act to amend section thirty-four of title three of
chapter six of part two of the Revised Statutes relative
to executors and administrators." — Not approved.

I am not convinced that this amendment is a wise

one, but -whether wise or unwise it conflicts with the

provisions of the surrogates' law which I recently

approved.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 581, TO REGULATE
THE SALE OF ANTHRACITE COAL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ^81, entitled
"An act concerning the sale of anthracite coal and defin-
ing the grade thereof." — Not approved.

This is a bill unnecessarily interfering with private
business, and would not, in my opinion, accomplish the
good results which it is intended to accomplish.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. I9I

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 300, RELATING TO

SURROGATES' CLERKS AND THE SUCCESSION

TAX.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. joo, entitled "'An
act to amend section nineteen of chapter three hundred
and ninety-nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, entitled 'An act in relation to taxable trans-
fers of property.' " — Not approved.

This bill allows tlie county treasurer of each county,
except the counties of New York and Kings, to retain
from the receipts of the so-called succession tax two
dollars for every estate reported by the surrogate, to
be applied to providing the surrogate with a transfer
tax clerk. I approve of the purpose of the bill, but I
think the salary of the clerk should paid out of the
fees of the county treasurer for collecting the succession
tax and not out of the State's net revenues from that
tax. Should this bill be enacted it would reduce by
perhaps fifty thousand dollars each year the revenues
to the State from this source. A thorough enforcement
of the succession tax imposes additional duties upon
the surrogates and they should be supplied with
sufficient clerical service, but it is the design of the
law that the expenses of collection should be met out
of the fees retained by the county treasurer and this
bill should have been drafted with that in view.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

192 P UBLIC_ PAPERS OF CO VERNOR FLO WER..

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1357, RELATING TO
TAXABLE TRANSFERS OF PROPERTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1357, entitled
"An act to amend chapter three hundred and ninety-nine
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and ninety- two, entitled
'An act in relation to taxable transfers of property.' " —
J\lot approved.

While this bill has some desirable amendments to
the law affecting the administration of estates, I am
constrained to disapprove it for a similar reason to
that stated in my memorandum of disapproval of
Senate bill No. 300, entitled "An act to amend section
nineteen of chapter three hundred and ninety-nine of
the Laws of eighteen hundred and ninety -two, entitled
'An act in relation to taxable transfers of property.' "
The increased salaries provided should not be paid
out of the net revenues from the succession tax in the
county of New York, but should be paid out of the
fees which the Comptroller of New York is allowed to
retain for collecting said tax.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 93

I

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 518, FOR RENEWAL
OF LEASES OF STATE SALT LOTS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. §18, entitled "An
act authorizing the renewal of the leases of the fine salt
manufacturing lots on the Onondaga Salt Springs Reser-
vation. ' ' — IVot approved.

There appears to be some question whether the

enactment of this bill would not by implication involve

the State in a serious liability. Inasmuch as the sale

of the salt springs is quite likely to be authorized

by the forthcoming Constitutional Convention, I think

it would be just as well to allow this bill to go over

for fuller consideration at a subsequent session of

the Legislature.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 11 22, AMENDING
THE HIGHWAY LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 11 22, entitled
"An act to amend the highway law." — Not approved.

No town is liable for any damage resulting to
13

194 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

person or property by reason of the breaking of any

bridge by transportation on the same of any vehicle

and load which together weigh four tons or over.

The proposed amendment would increase this maximum

weight to five tons or over. With the prevailing

condition of highways throughout the State, it seems

to me that the law as it stands at present is

preferable.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1453, FOR THE

OPENING OF REMSEN AVENUE, KINGS

COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 14.53, entitled
''An act to provide for the opening, grading, paving
and improving of Remscn avenue, tn the towns of Flat-
lands and Flatbush, in Kings county T — Not approved.

There seems to be such widespread local opposition
to this measure that public interests will not suffer
if the proposed amendment is delayed until it is
abundantly demonstrated that the improvement is
desired by a majority of the taxpayers.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 195

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 416, FOR THE
APPOINTMENT OF A COLLECTOR OF COL-
LATERAL INHERITANCE TAXES FOR
KINGS COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ^16, entitled
"An act to make provision for the collection in the
county of Kings of the tax under chapter three hundred
and ninety-nine of the Laws of eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, entitled 'An act in relation to taxable trans-
fers of property^ by authorizing the appointment of a
certain officer and making provision for the salary
thereof, and for the paym.ent of certain expenses inciden-
tal to such collection." — Not approved.

Aside from being open to the same objection of
principle stated in my memorandum disapproving some-
what similar bills for the county of . New York and
the remainder of the State, this bill is defectively
drafted, and, if enacted, would inadvertently abolish
the present surrogate's transfer tax clerk in the county

of Kings.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

196 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 181, MAKING AN
APPROPRIATION FOR POSSIBLE AWARDS
BY THE BOARD OF CLAIMS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 181, entitled ''An
act to make an appropriation for the payment of the
awards of the Board of Claims, in claims other than
those on account of the canals of this State." — Not
approved.

This is particularly miscbievous legislation — mis-
chievous because general legislation of a vicious kind
is incorporated in the provisions of a desirable appro-
priation bill.

The original intention of the bill was to provide
for a deficiency of $17,000 in last year's appropria-
tions for canal awards, and to appropriate $75,000 for
awards other than canal awards to be made during
the present calendar year.

But as the bill has reached the Executive it con-
tains in addition to these appropriations a general
provision of independent legislation, to the effect
chiefly that upon claims for damages for breach of
written contracts interest shall be allowed from the
date of the breach, provided an appeal has been heard
and the award affirmed. This independent legislation
is, in my opinion, thoroughly bad and the appropria-

PUBLIC- PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 97

tions associated witli it, whicli standing by themselves
I would readily approve, must suffer the fate of bad
company.

This general legislation is intended to cover a
particular case where the claimant has already been"
defeated in the courts, but it would apply as well to
any similar cases. The case in question is one in
which a claim for damages for breach of contract
on the part of the State was awarded by the Board
of Claims, and the award was sustained by the Court
of Appeals, but the Board of Claims, while allowing
damages to the amount of $75,000, refused to allow
interest from the date of the breach of contract, and
this refusal was affirmed by the Court of Appeals,
who said in their opinion: "If. this had been a
common law action against an individual to recover
damages for breach of contracts under precisely the
same conditions, we are of opinion that interest could
not legally have been allowed to the plaintiff, even
from the commencement of the action. The claim is
in every sense unliquidated. There was no possible
way for the State to adjust the same and ascertain the
amount which it was liable to pay, and hence within
the decision of White v. Miller (71 N. Y., 118 ; 78 id., 393),
it was not liable for interest. The law in reference to
the allowance of interest is not in a very satisfactory
condition, but it is believed that no decision in this
court has yet gone the length of allowing interest in
such a case."

K If interest could not lawfully be collected in actions
Kimilar to this between individuals, there is no reason

198 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

■why it should be allo-wed in actions against the State.

To allow this bill to become a law would not only be

establishing a different principle of law for claimants

against the State than obtains for claimants against

individuals, but under the guise of general legislation

would permit claimants who have had their day in

court and whose claims have been finally adjudicated

by the courts to set judicial opinions at defiance and

obtain gratuities from the State treasury through

legislative favoritism. Even were it deemed wise to

establish for future cases such a principle of law as the

bill embodies there would be no justification in applying

it to cases which have been definitely determined.

The interest involved in the one case which I have

mentioned would now amount to over $75,000, and the

enactment of this bill would mean this amount at least

taken immediately from the treasury without a show

of equitable claim.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 1 99

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 385, AMENDING

THE LAW ESTABLISHING THE BOARD OF

CLAIMS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 16, 1893,

Memorandum filed tvith Assembly bill No. j8^, entitled
"An act to amend chapter two hundred and five of
the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-three, entitled
'An act to abolish the office of Canal Appraiser and
the State Board of Audit, and to establish a Board
of Claims and define its powers and duties'" — Not
approved.

The blind and sweeping phraseology of this measure
makes it a dangerous bill to sign in its present
shape, even though its particular purpose were recog-
nized and approved. As presented the bill assumes a
liability on the part of the State "in any case in
which a State tax, based upon the capital stock of a
corporation, has been computed and paid upon a
basis greater than the amount of the capital stock
of such corporation employed within the State, or in
case a corporation has paid a State tax under an
unconstitutional law," and the Board of Claims, with
which the claim may be filed, is practically given no
alternative in the matter except to audit the claim.
Such phraseology merely seems to submit a question of
liability to a judicial tribunal, while in reality it
deprives that tribunal of any power except to grant an
award. Moreover such blind and general phraseology

200 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

might include a number of cases in whicii there is not
a shadow of State liability either in law or in equity,
and the determination of which in this summary
manner might take hundreds of thousands of dollars
from the State treasury.

So far as the language of the bill can be readily
translated, it is intended to include what has been
known for years in the Legislature as the claim of the
Western Union Telegraph Company for a tax assessed
upon its entire capital stock in the year 1881, and paid
several years afterward in pursuance of a judgment of
the courts. Deferring for a moment the possibility of
some other and ulterior purpose in the measure, which,
as will be seen, is of itself sufficient to condemn it, let
us consider the bill first merely as a legislative
recognition of the validity and equity of the Western
Union claim, and in this connection it is important
that the facts should be frankly stated.

In 1883 an action was begun by the State against
the Western Union Telegraph Company to recover
taxes assessed on the entire capital stock and due
November i, 1881. The company resisted on the
ground -that only such portion of the capital stock as
was actually employed within the State should serve
as the basis of taxation, and after the case had been
stubbornly contested in the courts final judgment for
$179,571.18 was entered on April 10, 1885, in pursuance of
the decision of the Court of Appeals in a similar action
against the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, which
decision by prior stipulation between the parties was to
control in the action against the Western Union Company.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLO WER. 20I

While this action was pending and before its final
determination another action had been begun against
the Western Union Company for taxes for years
subsequent to 1881.

So that after the decision of the Court of Appeals
early in the year 1885, the Western Union Company
was liable to the State for the amount of the judgment
recovered for the tax on its entire capital stock for
the year 1881, and was by virtue of this decision also
liable for a similar tax on the entire capital stock, for
the following years 1882, 1883 and 1884. With this •
condition of affairs confronting it, and before payment
of the judgment entered, the company through its
counsel entered into a stipulation with the Attorney-
General and the Comptroller, the main points of which
were as follows :

1. That upon the enactraent by the Legislature of a
bill then pending, whereby thereafter only the capital
employed within the State should form the basis
for taxation, the company would within ten days
pay the full amount of the judgment, with costs and
interest.

2. That upon the enactment of such a bill, the
company would pay in the saxne way and within the
same time all claims that the State then had against
it for taxes, penalty or interest, and all costs of suits
then pending and not included in the action in which
judgment had been rendered, but the taxes accruing
after 1881 should be computed by the Comptroller
upon such portion of the capital stock of the company
as was employed within the State.

202 PUBLIO PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

3. If no such law were passed then the company-
should not waive its right of appeal from the
judgment of the Court of Appeals to the Supreme
Court of the United States, but would carry the case
to that tribunal.

The law passed in June, 1885, and is chapter 501 of
the laws of that year. The company fulfilled its part
of the stipulation after some delay and paid the
judgment. The State fulfilled its part of the stipulation
and relieved the company from paying on the full
■amount of its capital stock during the years subsequent
to 1881.

Now the company by this bill seeks to have the
stipulation set aside so far as the payment of the taxes
for 1 88 1 is concerned, and to get back from the State
the amount of the judgment, less the proportion which
represented taxation based solely on the amount of
capital employed in the State. In behalf of this claim
the company contends that in assessing the tax of 1881
upon the whole of its capital stock the State discrim-
inated unjustly against this corporation, that the
Western Union Company was practically the only
corporation against which the law of 1 881, as construed
by the courts, had been • enforced, and that the State
having admitted the injustice of this construction by
the enactment of chapter 501 of the Laws of 1885
ought in equity to release from its harsh operation
the only corporation which had been obliged to suffer
under it. If this statement is true, that the Western
Union Telegraph Company is practically the only
corporation against which the tax levied was based

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 203

Upon the entire capital stock, instead of on that part
employed within the State, I am inclined to think that
the company would have a claim in equity against the
State ; but inasmuch as the company itself voluntarily
stipulated to pay, and did pay, the full amount of the
tax assessed in 1881 as part compensation for the
relief for the future furnished by >the act of 1885, it
has debarred itself from being able to ask with equity
any redress from the State. As the trustee of the
people's money the Legislature is hardly justified in
paying back to a corporation taxes which, however
unjust, were paid both in pursuance of judicial
decisions and with the hope and expectation on the
part of the corporation that their prompt payment
would bring legislative relief for the future, as it
actually did.

So much for that part of the bill's phraseology which
seems to refer to the Western Union claim. Another
part of the language quoted above assumes a liability
on the part of the State in any case where " a corpora-
tion has paid a State tax, under an unconstitutional
law." What class of cases is intended to be covered
by this clause I am not able to say. Evidently it is
a different class of cases from that which includes the
Western Union claim. If the bill did not in another
provision except taxes levied on real estate, it might
be considered to reach all corporation taxes paid under
chapter 734 of the Laws of 1872 which levied a general
tax of 3^ mills and which was subsequently declared
to be unconstitutional, or it may include as it stands
any personal taxes paid by corporations under that

204 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

unconstitutional act. At any rate tlie language is too
uncertain and sweeping and should condemn the bill,
regardless of any other provisions.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 692, RELATING TO
TAXES IN ROCKLAND COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 16, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 6g2, entitled
"An act to enforce the collection of taxes levied in the
county of Rockland." — Not approved.

Chapter 711 of the Laws of 1893 makes this bill

unnecessary.

ROSWELL P, FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 758, RELATING TO
TAXES IN CLINTON COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamoer,

Albany, May 16, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. y^8, entitled
"An act to enforce the collection of taxes levied in the
county of Clinton." — Not approved.

Chapter 711 of the Laws of 1893 makes this bill

unnecessary.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 205

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1085, RELATING TO
TAXING LANDS OF NON-RESIDENTS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 16, 1893.

Memoranckmi fded with Assembly bill No. 108^, entitled
"An act to amend chapter five hundred and fifty-six
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled
'An act further to amend chapter four hundred and
twenty-seven of the Laws of eighteen hundred and
fifty five, entitled An act in relation to the collect ioti
of taxes on lands of non-residents, and to provide for
the sale of such land for unpaid taxes' " — Not approved.

This bill attempts to amend and add to a law
which is repealed by chapter 711 of the Laws of 1893.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 380, TO AMEND THE
PENAL CODE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill N,o. 380, entitled
"An act to amend the Penal Code." — Not approved.

The provisions of this bill are all contained in
chapter 692 of the Laws of this year.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

2o6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 389, TO AMEND

SECTION 2724 OF THE CODE OF CIVIL

PROCEDURE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. j8g, entitled
"An act to amend section twenty-seven hundred and
twenty-four of the Code of Civil Procedure, relative to
judicial settlement of accounts." — Not approved.

The enactment of this measure is not considered
advisable owing to the approval of the general surro-
gates bill which now constitutes chapter 686 of the

Laws of 1893.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1206, TO AMEND

SECTION .2348 OF THE CODE OF CIVIL

PROCEDURE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed zvith Assembly bill No. 1206, entitled
"An act to amend section twenty-three hundred and
forty-eight of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to
the sale of real property of infants, lunatics and habit-
ual drunkards." — Not approved.

Senate bill No. 425, which has already received my
approval, contains provisions very similar to those in

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 207

this bill. The enactment of this measure therefore
would be unnecessary and might promote confusion.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 205, TO AMEND
SECTIONS 992, 995, 996 AND 997 OF THE CODE
OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 20^, entitled
"An act to amend sections nine hundred and ninety -
two, nine hundred and ninety-five, nine hundred and
ninety-six and nine hundred and ninety-seven of the
Code of Civil Procedure, relating to exemptions and
case on appeal.^' — Not approved.

The apparent object of the amendments proposed
is to allow an exception to be taken to any remark or
comment of a presiding judge, during trial, and to
provide for a review thereof on appeal.

If the amendments would accomplish no other change
in the practice there would be no occasion for with-
holding Executive approval.

But the amendment proposed to section 997 radically
and objectionably changes the practice affecting the
making and settling of cases on appeal.

It permits a party appealing after a judge has
settled and signed a case to prepare and present to

208 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

the appellate court a supplemental case containing-
whatever he may see fit to allege to have been evi-
dence, proceedings, rulings, decisions, remarks or com-
ments with exceptions thereto.

It matters not that the matters contained therein
do not ■ appear in the stenographer's minutes, and that
on a settlement it may be determined that there were
no such proceedings, evidence and rulings, he may
nevertheless present it to the appellate court.

It is apparent without considering other objections

that such proposed practice is not only faulty in that

it does not provide for a settlement of the proposed

supplementary case, but it also opens the door for

fraudulent practice by unscrupulous attorneys, who

might not hesitate to , insert alleged evidence, rulings

and comments which were not before the court nor

made in the hope that some advantage might result

to them.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1561, ESCHEAT TO
WILLIAM T. FROST.

State of New York,

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1561, entitled
"An act to release to William T. Frost all the right,
title and interest of the people of the State of New
York in and to certain real estate in the village of
Millerton, Dutchess county, New York." — Not approved.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 2O9

There is nothing on the face of this bill to show

"why its object cannot already be accomplished under

the general escheat law.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No, 792, ESCHEAT TO
NICHOLAS MUNCH, AND

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 530, ESCHEAT TO HOWARD

WINSHIP.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 'jg2, entitled
"An act to grant and release to Nicholas Munch all
the title and interest of the people of the State of
New York in and to certain real estate in the town
of Tonawanda, county of Erie and State of New York,
under the zvaters of Niagara river." — Not approved, and

Assembly bill No. §30, entitled "An act to release to
Howard Winship all the right, title and interest of
the people of the State of New York, in and to cer-
tain real estate in the city of Buffalo, county of Erie
and State of New York." — Not approved.

The objects sought to be attained by both of these
bills can be accomplished without special legislation
through the medium of the Commissioners of the

Land Office.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
14

210 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 444, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF HARRISON HOLDRIDGE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 444., entitled
"An act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear,
audit and determine the claims of Harrison Holdridge
against the State for money paid into the State treasury
for land bought of the Comptroller, the title to which
proved defective." — Not approved.

No information has been furnished me relative to
the precise nature of this claim. Whether it is a
proper case to be submitted to the Board of Claims
I am unable to say, but the bill is defective in form
in that it should have provided the right of appeal
to either party. If the claim is large and the State
should be defeated unjustly it should certainly have
the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 2 1 1

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 498, FOR AN IRON

BRIDGE OVER THE CANAL AT MECHANIC-

VILLE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. ^g8, entitled "An
act authorizing the construction of an iron bridge over
the Champlain canal at North street in the village of
Mechanicville, in the county of Saratoga, and making
an appropriation therefor." — Not approved.

I am informed by the Superintendent of Public
Works that the present bridge is sufficient for all
purposes, and that the construction of a new one can
well be deferred for a number of years.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

212 p UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 iVER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 206, RELATING TO

THE DOCK BOARD OF THE CITY OF NEW

YORK.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 206, entitled
''An act to amend sections one hundred and forty-three
and seven hundred and fourteen of chapter four hundred
and ten of the Laws of eighteen hundred and
eighty-two, entitled 'An act to consolidate into one act
and to declare the special and local laws affecting
public interests in the city of New York,' in relation
to the Dock Board." — Not approved.

No reason has been advanced why this bill should
become a law. _ The local authorities on the other
hand, have given reasons why it should not become a
law and I therefore withhold my approval.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 2 1 3

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1057, FOR AN ADDI-
TIONAL STENOGRAPHER IN THE EIGHTH
JUDICIAL DISTRICT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. lo^j, entitled
"An act to authorize the justices of the Supreme Court
of the eighth judicial district to appoint an additional
stenographer for such district." — Not approved.

This bill authorizes the appointment of an additional
stenographer for the eighth judicial district at a cost
to the State of twenty-five hundred dollars per year.
It should have made provision for collecting this sum
from the counties in said judicial district.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 864, TO AMEND THE
TOWN LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 86^, entitled
"An act to amend the town law." — Not approved.

The enactment of this bill would require adjoining
land owners to maintain "necessary" division ditches
on the same basis as division fences are now main-

214 P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

tained. It does not seem to me that there is the
same necessity for requiring the maintenance of division
ditches that there is for the maintenance of division
fences, and the operation of such a law would prob-
ably lead to unreasonable hardships.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 252, RELATING TO
CONTRACTS FOR CONDITIONAL SALES.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 252, entitled
"An act amending chapter three hundred and fifteen
of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty- four ,
entitled 'An act requiring contracts for the conditional
sale of personal property on credit to be filed in the
town clerk's and other offices.'" — Not approved.

In my judgment the amendment proposed by this
measure would broaden too much the scope of the
statute. No sufficient reason has been advanced why the
amendment should be enacted and the absence of such
a reason is the best reason for leaving the statute as it is.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 2 1 5

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 793, TO PROMOTE
THE CONSUMPTION OF CHEESE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. ygj, entitled
"■An act to promote agriculture." — Not approved.

This is an act to promote the consumption of cheese.
It compels the agents and wardens of the various
State prisons and the officers in charge of all other
penal institutions to furnish to each inmate of these
institutions daily rations of American cheese. It also
compels the Adjutant-General of the State to furnish
daily to each member of the National Guard while
on duty at the State camp at Peekskill, American
cheese as part of the rations supplied by the State.
No other reason has been advanced for my approval
of the bill than that it would increase the market
for American cheese. If I should give it my approval
I could not well refuse to sign a similar bill next
year for the producers of honey, or another for the
benefit of potato raisers, or another for the advantage
of bean growers and so on. Such legislation enacted
in the interest of any particular class of workers
and to increase the consumption of any State product
by artificial means is a gross reflection on the manli-
ness of the workers in that industry. Our natural
resources and the intelligence of our farmers have
placed the Empire State in the lead of all other

2l6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

States in the production of butter and cheese, and I

have too much respect for our dairy farmers to think

that they would approve any such ridiculous measure

as this, which if enacted would justify almost any

kind of similar legislation in the interest of particular

industries or occupations.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 588, TO ALLOW
INTEREST IN THE ONEIDA LAKE CANAL
CLAIMS AWARDS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 17, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. §88, entitled
"An act to allow interest to claimants on awards of
the Board of Claims in certain cases." — Not approved.

The purpose of this bill is to secure from the State
about $24,000 in interest on $17,000 of awards in what
are known as the Oneida Lake Canal Claim cases.
A similar bill was before me last year and was vetoed.

Immediately after the bill was vetoed, the counsel
for the claimants and the representative of the
Attorney-General, on May 25, 1892, in open court in
the city of Syracuse, stipulated and agreed to settle
the claims (in all numbering thirty-two) for the
aggregate sum of $17,000, which represented a valua-
tion of $172 per acre for all the land involved in
the claims. This was $120 an acre more than the

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 2 1 ^

records and the undisputed testimony of a witness
show an individual ever paid for a farm in that
locality. It is fair to assume that in fixing the high
price paid in the settlement some allowance was made
for the costs of litigation and for interest.

The claimants having agreed to the terms of this
settlement, it seems to me that whatever equity they
may have in their case they are debarred by reason
of that stipulation from seeking any further redress or
compensation through legislation. In the hearing
before me upon the bill the Attorney-General's
representative offered to have the legal question of
the claimant's title to interest taken before the Board
of Claims and the Court of Appeals immediately, for
a judicial construction, but this proposal was not
accepted.

Under these circumstances, the claims having been

finally settled by the agreement of all parties, it

would be improper in my judgment to over-ride the

stipulation and give by legislation what could not be

obtained by litigation. To approve such a law would

be establishing a precedent which would rob every

stipulation between State officers and claimants of its

sacred character, and would hold out the hope to

every claimant that whatever was surrendered by

stipulation could be supplied by the generosity of

the Legislature.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

2l8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1562, TO AMEND
SECTION 389 OF THE PENAL CODE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 18, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1362, entitled
"An act amending section three hundred and eighty-
nine of the Penal Code, as amended by chapter six
hundred and eighty-nine of the Laws of eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven." — Not approved.

I am unwilling to sign this bill in its present
shape. It is altogether too sweeping in its provisions.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 543, TO AMEND
THE COUNTY LAW.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Albany, May 18, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. j^j, entitled
"An act to a^nend the county law." — Not approved.

The provisions of this measure might lead to
undesirable conflict of jurisdiction between boards of
supervisors and boards of trustees of incorporated
villages.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 2ig

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1259, TO AMEND
,THE CHARTER OF THE VILLAGE OF NOR-
WICH.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May ,18, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. izsg, entitled
"An act to revise, amend and consolidate the several
acts relating to the village of Norwich, and to repeal
certain acts and parts of acts ; and to provide a revised
charter for said village."— Not approved.

This bill is so defectively drawn that its approval is
not deemed advisable in its present shape.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, SENATE BILL No. 275, GIVING THE
BOARD OF CLAIMS JURISDICTION IN THE
CASE OF THE CITY OF ROCHESTER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 18, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Senate bill No. 2^5, entitled

"An act to authorize the Board of Claims to hear,

audit and determine certain claims of the city of
Rochester against the State." — Not approved.

It has not been the -policy of the State to construct

220 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

at State expense new bridges over the canals at^ streets
in cities or villages wliere the bridges were made
necessary by the growing demands of those munici-
palities. In this particular case there was no com-
plaint that the existing bridges were not firm and
substantial but the improvement of certain streets
required that they should be replaced by new bridges.
The improvement was particularly a local one, and
was carried out voluntarily by the city of Rochester
for its own interest. Under these circumstances I
do not see why the State should assume the liability
or be placed in a position of being compelled to pay
for a part or all of the expense of the new structures.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

VETO, ITEMS IN ASSEMBLY BILL No. 1275—
THE SUPPLY BILL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 18, 1893.

Statement of items of appropriations objected to and not
approved, contained in Assembly bill No. I2y^, entitled
"An act making appropriations for certain expenses
of government and supplying deficiencies in former
appropriations.

The several items herein enumerated, contained in
Assembly bill No, 1275, entitled "An act making appro-
priations for certain expenses of government and

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 221

supplying deficiencies in former appropriations," are
objected to and not approved for the reasons herein-
after stated.

' ' For the betterments of the road leading from the State camp to
Roa Hook dock and for the construction of a military road to connect
the State camp with the river road near Highland's station, twenty-
thousand dollars or so much thereof as may be necessary."

The thirty thousand dollars appropriated for improve-
ments of State arsenals, armories and State camp is
ample for all necessary repairs including the small sum
required for betterments on the road leading from the
State camp to Roa Hook. This appropriation is there-
fore unnecessary unless it is deemed advisable to use
it for the benefit of private property, which I do not
conceive to be the function of legislative appropriations.

" For the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for printing circulars
and programmes relating to the observance of Arbor day, for distribu-
tion among the school districts of the State, and for other expenses
relating to the observance of that day, in the year eighteen hundred
and ninety-three, pursuant to the provisions of chapter one hundred
and ninety-six of the Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, one
thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary."

The same item appears in the appropriation bill ; it
probably was inserted here by error.

"For the purchase of the historical painting by James Walker,
representing the decisive blow for victory in the repulse of Long-
street's assault by the Union troops on the third day of the battle of
Gettysburg, to be placed in some suitable room in the Capitol, thirty
thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be paid
on the approval of the Governor, the Adjutant-General and the Chan-
cellor of the University, who are hereby designated as a commission
for that purpose, but not to be paid within one year from the passage
of this act."

Until the Capitol is completed I do not think it

wise to embellish it with pictures.

222 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

For the New York State Experiment Station — ' ' for the erection of a
permanent building on the State fair grounds for exhibits of the
station, one thousand dollars."

The State has appropriated twenty-five thousand

dollars already for buildings on the State fair grounds,

and this is as far in that direction as it is wise to go

at present.

For the New York State Experiment Station — "for the erection of
buildings for the residence of the chief chemist and other employees,
three thousand five hundred dollars. "

I am not convinced of the necessity of this appro-
priation at the present time.

"For a new boiler for the tug 'State of New York,' seven thousand
dollars. "

The appropriation for the care, maintenance and
repair of quarantine establishment is fifteen thousand
dollars in excess of that of last year. This item can
well be taken from the excess of appropriations for
that purpose.

" For artesian wells on Swinburne and Hoffman islands, four thousand
dollars,"

I am advised that these wells are impracticable.

" For painting interior and exterior of buildings on Hoffman and
Swinburne islands, six thousand dollars."

This may also be taken from the excess of appro-
priation for maintenance, care and repair of quaran-
tine establishments.

" For extension and enlargement of Hoffman island, concreting the
same and erection of new dock, two hundred and sixty thousand
dollars; the work herein provided for to be let upon contracts there-
for to the lowest responsible bidders, by the State Engineer and
Surveyor, after suitable advertisement."

P.UBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 223

The items allowed to stand ia this bill include
large appropriations for quaarantine purposes. There
is $35, 000 for the care, maintenance and repair of
the quarantine establishment; $33,000 for a three-
story frame building and furnishings on Hoffman
island; $15,000 for three new boilers and chimney, for
heating apparatus, fire extinguishers on Swinburne
island ; $6,200 for ice-house, furnaces for superin-
tendent's house, disinfecting chest, hoisting apparatus,
for coal and baggage and repairs to crematory on
Swinburne island; $10,000 for bath-house and registra-
tion room on Hoffman island ; $7,000 for a two story
dock shed for receiving baggage ; $22,500 for erecting
boilers and making alterations to disinfecting apparatus
on Hoffman island ; $10,250 for filling up slip and
extending dock on Hoffman island; $21,078.84 for bills
and liabilities contracted by the health officer during
the cholera epidemic last fall and as yet unpaid, and
$9,281.83 for reimbursing the health officer for the
amount expended by him during that epidemic-,
making in all an aggregate appropriation of $169,310.67.
Most of these are extraordinary appropriations made
necessary in order to guard the State against admission
of cholera. While not criticising the liberal spirit
displayed by the Legislature in this emergency, it
seems to me that any unnecessary expenditure ought to
be carefully guarded against. The purpose sought to
be accomplished by the appropriation in this particular
item could not possibly be attained within one year or
a year and a half, and may not be necessary at all for
the reason that the United States government has

224 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

completed its quarantine camp at Sandy Hook, and for
the further reason that the State has acquired the
Fire island property which may be used for quarantine
putposes if necessity requires.

For the Western House of Refuge for Women — " to be expended
under the direction of the local board of managers, for farm build-
ings, consisting of a house, barn and pig-pen, eight thousand five
hundred dollars."

In view of premeditated extensions of the property
of this institution the acquirement of which will
probably include suitable barns and other buildings
already standing, I do not deem it for the best
interests of the institution to authorize this appropriation.

For the Western House of Refuge for Women. — ' ' for assembly
hall, school-rooms, wash-rooms and library-room, twenty-nine thousand
dollars."

This appropriation is not deemed expedient at the
present time.

For the St. Lawrence State Hospital — "for erecting, finishing and
furnishing a building for the accommodation of one hundred emploj'ees,
sixty-nine thousand six hundred and sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents."

On account of the delay in the completion of this
institution caused by the recent fire the building of
this proposed structure will be unnecessary during the
present year.

For the St. Lawrence State Hospital — "for roads and necessary
grading about the buildings, five thousand dollars."

This is a light work which the patients in the
institution might be put at without detriment to
themselves and with the advantage of economy to the
State.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 22$

\
For the Utica State Hospital — "for new tin roof for center build-
ing and repairs of gutters, forty-one hundred and forty-two dollars
and fifty cents."

This item seems to be excessive and for that reason
is disapproved.

For the Utica State Hospital — "for printing press, with suitable
equipment, nine hundred dollars."

This appropriation is not deemed necessary at the
present time.

For the Willard State Hospital — " for furniture and repairs on second
floor of main building, five thousand dollars; for new floors, ceilings
and other repairs in group number two, three thousand dollars." * * *
" For addition to east barn for stabling cows, sixteen hundred dollars.''

The surplus hospital funds are sufficient to provide
for these expenditures.

For the Hudson River State Hospital — ' ' for completing house for
night-nurses, six thousand dollars." » * * '■ For completing reservoir
for the State care cottages, ten thousand dollars."

These improvements are not deemed necessary at
the present time.

For the Binghamton State Hospital — " for the erection and furnishing
of an entertainment hall, twenty-five thousand dollars." 'f » * "For
a steam road-roller and steam crusher, four thousand seven hundred
dollars."

These appropriations can well be dispensed with for
the present year.

For the Binghamton State Hospital — "the balance remaining
unexpended of the sum of fifty thousand dollars, appropriated by
chapter three hundred and thirty-three of the Laws of eighteen hundred
and ninety-one, ' for the purpose of paying one-half the cost of construct-
ing a sewer from the premises of the Binghamton State Hospital in the
city of Binghamton to a point below the rock-botton dam on the Susque-
hanna river,' being the sum of three thousand dollars, is hereby
re-a.ppropriated and may be expended in extending the sewer from the
point of beginning to the man-hole on the Hospital grounds and for the
repair of the coal trestle."

IS

226 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

This amount has already been re-appropriated by a
special act which I signed some time ago and a second
re-appropriation is unnecessary.

For the Matteawan State Hospital for Insane Criminals — "for horse
barn, farm, wagon and tool storage house, eight thousand two hundred
and eighty dollars and seventy-one cents. " * * * " For building and
cellar for storage for vegetables and fruit, four thou:and two hundred
and seven dollars and twenty-five cents; for plumbing and water supply
for above-named buildings, three thousand eight hundred and cighty-:ix
dollars." * * * " For crushed stone for road- ways, walks and drive-
ways, five hundred dollars. ' '

These expenditures are not deemed expedient at the
present time.

For the New York State Custodial Asylum for Feeble-iMinded Women —
"for new cottages, seventeen thousand dollars. "

This appropriation can well be deferred until another

time.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

[The vetoed items aggregate in round numbers
$530,ooo.J

DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE LANDON FOR THE
OTSEGO CIRCUIT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, It appears that the Circuit Court and
Court of Oyer and Terminer appointed to be held in
and for the county of Otsego on the first Monday of
June, 1893, is in danger of failing by reason of the
illness of the Honorable Gerrit A. Forbes, the Justice
of the Supreme Court designated to hold the same ;

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 22/

Now, therefore, in accordance with the^ statute in such.
case made and provided, I do hereby designate and
appoint the Honorable Juds.on S. Landon, a Justice of
the Supreme Court, to hold the said Circuit Court and
Court of Oyer and Terminer in the place of the said
Honorable Gerrit A. Forbes.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capital in the city of Albany,
[l. s.] this twenty-sixth day of May in the year of

our Lord one thousand eight hundred and

ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY

OYER AND TERMINER FOR ALBANY

COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public
interest requires it ;

Therefore, in accordance with the statute in such case
made and provided, I do hereby appoint an extra-
ordinary court of Oyer and Terminer to be held at
the court-house in the city of Albany, on Monday the
fourth day of September next, at ten o'clock in the
forenoon of that day, and to continue so long as may
be necessary for the disposal of the business that may

228 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

be brought before it ; and I do hereby designate the
Honorable Martin L. Stover, a Justice of the Supreme
Court, to hold the said extraordinary Court of Oyer
and Terminer.

And I direct the district attorney of the county of
Albany to issue a precept in accordance with the
statute in such case made and provided, directed to
the sheriff of the said county of Albany, requiring him
to do and perform all that may be necessary on his
part in the premises.

And I do further direct that notice of such appoint-
ment be given by publication thereof once in each
weeek for three successive weeks in the Argus, a news-
paper published at Albany.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the city of Watertown, this seven-

[l. S.] teenth day of June in the year of our

Lord one thousand eight hundred and

ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 229

IN THE MATTER OF FURNACE AND
WEINAUG, EXCISE COMMISSIONERS —
NOTICE AND SUMMONS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges preferred against Fred

Furnace and William Weinaug, Excise Commissioners

of the town of Allegany, in the county of Cattaraugus.

To Fred Furnace and William Weinaug, Excise

Com.m.issioners of the town of Allegany, in the county

of Cattaraugus :

You are hereby notified that an order removing you

from office, upon charges of misconduct, has been

presented to me by the County Judge of Cattaraugus

county for approval, pursuant to section 6 of chapter

401 of the Laws of 1892. A copy of this order with the

reasons for such removal is herewith served upon you.

You are, therefore, hereby required to show cause

within eight days after service of this notice why the

said order of the County Judge of Cattaraugus county

should not be approved.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my

name and affixed the privy seal of the State,

[l. s.] in the city of Watertown, this nineteenth day

of June, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and

ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor:

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

230 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

IN THE MATTER OF FRANK MALONE, EXCISE
COMMISSIONER — NOTICE AND SUMMONS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of charges preferred against Frank Malone,
an excise commissioner of the city of Mount Vernon
in the county of Westchester.

To Frank Malone, Excise Commissioner of the city of
Mount Vernon in the county of Westchester :

You are hereby notified tliat pursuant to section 6
of chapter 401 of the laws of 1892, the Mayor of
the city of Mount Vernon, has filed with me for
approval his reasons for removing you from office
upon charges of misconduct. A copy of the Mayor's
communication is herewith served upon you.

You are, therefore, hereby required to show cause
within eight days after service of this notice why
the said removal by the Mayor of the city of Mount
Vernon should not be approved.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my

name and affixed the privy seal of the

[l. s.] State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

this thirtieth day of June, A. D. eighteen

hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUB.LIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 23 1

APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY

OYER AND TERMINER FOR SARATOGA

COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public
interest requires it :

Therefore, In accordance with the statute in such
case made and provided, I do hereby appoint an
extraordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer to be
held at the court-house in the village of Ballston Spa,
in the County of Saratoga, on Tuesday the eighteenth
day of July at ten o'clock in the forenoon of that'
day, and to continue so long as may be necessary
for the disposal of the business that may be brought
before it ; and I do hereby designate the Honorable
Leslie W. Russell, a Justice of the Supreme Court,
to hold the said extraordinary Court of Oyer and
Terminer.

And I direct the district attorney of the said
county of Saratoga to issue a precept in accordance
with the statute in such case made and provided,
directed to the sheriff of said county of Saratoga,
requiring him to do and perform all that may be
necessary on his part in the premises.

And I do further direct that notice of such appoint-
ment be given by publication thereof three times in
the Saratoga Democrat and once in the Saratoga Sun,
newspapers published in the village of Saratoga
Springs.

232 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVKRNOR FLOWER.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of

the State, at the Capitol in the city of

[l. s.] Albany, this fifth day of July in the year

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred

and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE STOVER TO THE

SARATOGA EXTRAORDINARY OYER AND

TERMINER.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, By an order issued on the fifth day of
July, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, an extra-
ordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer was appointed to
be held at the court-house in the village of Ballston
Spa, in the county of Saratoga, on Tuesday the
eighteenth da}?- of July, at ten o'clock in the forenoon
of that day ; and

Whereas, The Honorable Leslie W. Russell, a Justice
of the Supreme Court, who was designated in said
order to hold the said extraordinary Court of Oyer and
Terminer will be unable to hold the said court by
reason of absence from the State ;

Therefore, I do hereby designate the Honorable
Martin L. Stover, a Justice of the Supreme Court,

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 233

to hold the said extraordinary Court of Oyer and
Terminer in the place of the said Honorable Leslie W.
Russell.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the city of Watertown, this tenth
[l. s.] day of July in the year of our Lord one

thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

IN THE MATTER OF FURNACE AND WEINAUG,
EXCISE COMMISSIONERS — APPROVAL OF
ORDER OF REMOVAL FROM OFFICE.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of removal of Fred Furnace and William
Weinaug, Excise Commissioners of the town of Alle-
gany in the county of Cattaraugus.

Whereas, The county judge of Cattaraugus county
by an order made on the eighteenth day of May, 1893,
has removed from the office of excise commissioner
Fred Furnace and William Weinaug, of the town of
Allegany, in the county of Cattaraugus, after allowing
them an opportunity to be heard, and has filed with
me for my approval as required by law a statement
of his reasons for such removal ; and

234 PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Whereas, After giving the accused an opportunity
to be heard in opposition to such removal, and after a
careful examination of the reasons presented by said
county judge, I have come to the conclusion that the
said removal was proper and justifiable ;

Now, therefore, It is ordered that the removal of the

said excise commissioners be and is hereby approved.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol'in the city of Albany, this

[l. s.] thirteenth day of July in the year of our Lord

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

IN THE MATTER OF FRANK MALONE,
EXCISE COMMISSIONER — DISAPPROVAL
OF THE MAYOR'S ORDER OF REMOVAL.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, the Mayor of the city of Mount Ver-
non, in the county of Westchester, pursuant to sec-
tion 6 of chapter 401 of the Laws of 1892, has filed
with me for my approval a statement of his reasons for
removing from office Frank Malone, an excise com-
missioner in said city ; and

Whereas, I have read carefully such statement of
reasons ,and the whole testimony before the Mayor

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 23 5

on wliicla his order of removal was based, and liave
come to the conclusion that the charges preferred
against the said Malone were not sustained by said
testimony, and that the said testimony did not prove
the accused to have been guilty of wilful neglect of
duty or of misconduct in office, within the meaning
of the statute ;

Now, therefore, I do hereby withhold my approval
from the removal of said Malone and from the state-
ment of reasons filed in reference thereto by said
Mayor.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of
the State, at the Capitol in the city of
[l. s.] Albany, this fourteenth day of July in the

year of our Lord one thousand eight hun-
dred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE BRADLEY TO THE
GENERAL TERM, FIFTH DEPARTMENT.

State of New York,

Executive Chamber.

In accordance with the statute in such case made
and provided, the Honorable George H. Bradley,
a . Justice of the Supreme Court of the Seventh Judi-
cial District, is hereby designated as Associate Justice

236 PUBLIC P^APERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

of the General Term for the Fifth= Departme»t* of the
Supreme Court from and after this date, in the place
of Francis A. Macomber, deceased.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of

the State, at the Capitol in the city of

[l. s.] Albany, this sixteenth day of October A. D.

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL R FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION.

State of New York.

Exectitive Chamber.

In accordance with a praiseworthy custom, and by
virtue of power vested in me by the laws of this
State, I do hereby appoint Thursday, November thir-
tieth, to be observed as a day of general thanksgiving
and prayer.

This annual festival, although associated as it is to
most persons with rest from secular employments and
with family reunions at bounteous tables, should also be
recognized by public expression of our gratitude and
obligation as a people to God for the manifestation
of his many mercies. Let us therefore supplement
our domestic rejoicings with public prayer and praise.
Let the people assemble in their houses of worship,
and there, rendering thanks to the Divine Giver of all

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 237

good things, -devotitly •beseeeli a continuance of His
■watchful care during the year that is to come.

Let us also on that day particularly give full
expression to the spirit of human fellowship — reflect-
ing the love of our Heavenly Father by deeds of
kindness toward the poor, the afflicted and the unfor-
tunate, and manifesting toward all men that broad
charity which marks the perfect character of the indi-
vidual and the State.

Done at the Capitol, in the city of Albany, this
[l. s.] fourth day of November in the year of our

Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PROCLAMATION RELATING TO VIOLATION
OF ELECTION LAWS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It is essential to our liberties and to the fair name
of our State that the expression of popular judgment
at the polls shall be absolutely untrammeled and honest.

Recent enactments by the Legislature have established
almost every possible safeguard around the sanctity of
the ballot. It but remains for every citizen to obey
these laws and for every election and peace officer to
see that they are enforced. More important to our

238 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

State than the success of any party is that this success
should be the free and uncorrupted decision of legally
qualified voters.

I therefore call upon the people of this State to see
that the election to-morrow, November seventh, shall
be an honest one. I call also upon all election officers,
all district attorneys, all sheriffs and all peace officers
to see that the laws are rigidly obeyed, to the end that
good order may prevail at the polls and the right of
honest franchise be sacredly guarded ; and I give
warning that all failures on the part of such public
officers to discharge their full duty in the complete
enforcement of the laws shall be considered sufficient
cause for their removal.

Done at the Capitol, in the city of Albany, this
[l. s.] sixth day of November in the year of our

Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams, \

Private Secretary.

APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY
OYER AND TERMINER FOR KINGS
COUNTY.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public
interest requires it,

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 239

Therefore, In accordance with the statute in such case
made and provided, I do hereby appoint an extra-
ordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer to be held at
the court-house in the city of Brooklyn, on Monday
the eighteenth day of December next, at ten o'clock in
the forenoon of that day, and to continue so long as
may be necessary for the disposal of the business that
may be brought before it ; and I do hereby designate
the Honorable Edgar M. Cullen, a Justice of the
Supreme Court to hold the said extraordinary Court of
Oyer and Terminer.

And I direct the district attorney of the county of
Kings to issue a precept in accordance with the statute
in such case made and provided, directed to the sheriff
of the said county of Kings, requiring him to do and
perform all that may be necessary on his part in the
premises.

And 1 do further direct that notice of such appoint-
ment be given by publication thereof once in each week,
for three successive weeks, in the Brooklyn Eagle, and
the Brooklyn Citizen, newspapers published in the city
of Brooklyn.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

[l. s.] this twenty-first day of November in the year

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred

and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor:

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

240 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

DESIGNATION OF JUDGE TRUAX FOR THE
FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SUPREME COURT.

State of New York,

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction, upon the applica-
tion of the Honorable Charles H. Van Brunt, Pre-
siding Justice of the General Term of the First
Department of the Supreme Court, that the public
interest requires it ;

Therefore, in accordance with the statute in such
case made and provided, the Honorable Charles H.
Truax, a Judge of the Superior Court of the city
and county of New York, is hereby designated to
hold Special Terms and Circuit Courts of the said
Supreme Court for the First Judicial District, at the
court-house in the city of New York, in the months
of January, February, March, April, May, June, Octo-
ber, November and December in the year 1894, and
to hold Special Terms of the said Supreme Court
for the First Judicial District, at the court-house in
the city of New York, in the months of July, August
and September in the said year 1894.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

[l. s.] State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

this twenty-second day of November, A. D.

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC J'APERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 24I

DESIGNATION OF JUDGE BEACH FOR THE
FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT, SUPREME COURT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction, upon the applica-
tion of the Honorable Charles H. Van Brunt, Pre-
siding Justice of the General Term of the First
Department of the Supreme Court, that the public
interest requires it ;

Therefore, in accordance -with the statute in such
case made and provided, the Honorable Miles Beach,
a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the city
and county of New York, is hereby designated to
hold vSpecial Terms and Circuit Courts of the said
Supreme Court for the First Judicial District, at the
court-house in the city of New York, in the months
of January, February, March, April, May, June, Octo-
ber, November and December in the year 1894, and
to hold Special Terms of the said Supreme Court
for the First Judicial District, at the court-house in
the city of New York, in the months of July, August
and September in the said year 1894.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,
[l. s.] this twenty-second day of November, A. D.

one thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

16

242 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

THE MATTER OF THE CHARGES AGAINST
SHERIFF BECK OF ERIE COUNTY— NOTICE
■ AND SUMMONS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges preferred against August Beck,
Sheriff of the county of Erie — Notice and summons.

To August Beck, Sheriff of the County of Erie :

You are hereby notified that charges of malfeas-
ance in office have been preferred against you by
George P. Sawyer, Thomas Hodgson and W. C. Jacus,
of the city of Buffalo in this State, and a copy of
said charges is herewith served upon you.

You are therefore required to show cause why you
should not be removed from the office of Sheriff of
the county of Erie, and to answer the said charges
within eight days after service of this order and a
copy of said charges upon you.

In witness whereof I have signed my name
and affixed the privy seal of the State, at
the Capitol in the city of Albany, this
[l. S.J twenty-fifth day of November in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor:

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 243

APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONER BENTLEY
TO TAKE TESTIMONY IN TTTB MATTER OF
SHERIFF BECK.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In the matter of the charges preferred against August
Beck, Sheriff of the county of Erie.

Charges having been preferred against August Beck,
Sheriff of the county of Erie, by George P. Sawyer,
Thomas Hodgson and W. C. Jacus of the city of
Buffalo, and a copy thereof having been served upon
the said sheriff with notice to show cause why he
should not be removed from such office, and the said
Beck having filed his answer to the charges pre-
ferred therein ;

I do hereby appoint Hon. Henry W. Bentley, of
the village of ' Boonville, in the county of Oneida,
commissioner to take the testimony and the examina-
tion of witnesses as to the truth of said charges and
to report the same to me, and also the material facts
which he deems to be established by the evidence.

It is hereby further ordered that the said exam-
ation before such commissioner proceed with all con-
venient speed.

244 PUBLIC PAPERS, OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of
the State, at the Capitol in the city of
[L. s.] Albany, this eighth day of December in the

year of our Lord one thousand eight hun-
dred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor:

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

THE MATTER OF EXCISE COMMISSIONER
TREDE, OF MOUNT VERNON— DISAPPROVAL
OF THE MAYOR'S ORDER, WITH OPINION.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, The Mayor of the city of Mount Vernon,
in the county of Westchester, pursuant to section 6
of chapter 401 of the laws of 1892, has filed with
me for my approval a statement of his reasons for
removing from office George Trede, an excise com-
missioner in said city ; and

Whereas, I have read carefully such statement of
reasons and the whole testimony before the mayor
on which his order of removal was based, and have
come to the conclusion that the charges preferred
against the said Trede were not sustained by said
testimony, and that the said testimony did not prove
the accused to have been guilty of wilful neglect of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. , 245

duty or of miscondtict in of3[ice within the meaning
of the statute ;

Now, therefore, I do hereby withhold my approval
from the removal of said Trede and from the' state-
taent of 'reasons filed in reference thereto by said
mayor.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of

the State, at the Capitol in ' the city of

[l. s.] Albany, this eleventh day of December in

the year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary^

OPINION.

In the matter of the removal by the Mayor of Mount
Vernon of George Trede, ah excise commissioner in said
city. — Opinion.

Pursuant to chapter 401 of the laws of 1892, the
Mayor of the city of Mount Vernon has filed with
me his reasons for removing George Tredje from the
office of excise commissioner of that city. Under
the statute the removal is not valid unless it receives
my approval.

The testimony taken on the hearing before the
mayor has been filed with me, together with a copy

246 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

of the charges, and I have given diligent and thorough
consideration to the same. The first charge is as
follows, viz : —

" That you have wilfully neglected and failed to per-
form the duties of excise commissioner in that you did
not attend any meetings of said board of excise from July
12, 1893, to October 19, 1893 ; although a large amount of
business was to be acted upon and only a small portion of
the matters requiring the attention of said board had been
considered ; that several licenses granted had not been
signed, that a large number of applications for licenses
had not been passed upon and various other business
neglected whereby the public interests of the city of
Mount Vernon have been prejudiced and jeopardized."

Upon this charge the testimony hardly sustains any
allegation of wilful neglect of duty or misconduct in
office on the part of the said Trede. Section 17 of
the excise law provides that the board of excise of
a city " shall meet on the first Monday of each
month and at such other times as the board may
deem necessary." The evidence shows that while no
meeting of the board of excise was held from July
12 to October 19, the failure to hold a meeting was
not due to the accused Trede. There were but two
members of the excise board — Messrs. Trede and
Malone. Malone during this time was absent from
the city and subsequently his office became vacant
by his removal from the county. It is shown that
with the exception of the first Monday in Septem-
ber, which was a legal holiday, the accused Trede
was at the place of meeting on the first Monday of
each month ready to take part in a meeting of the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER., 247.

board were a quorum present. There seems to have
been an understanding between the commissioners
that in case a regfular meeting night came upon a
legal holiday, the next meeting would be held on the
following Monday night. In pursuance of this under-
standing Trede called at the place where the meet-
ings of the excise board were held, but not finding
Malone or the clerk present he remained a reason-
able length of time and then departed. It would seem,
therefore, that there was no justification in holding
Trede responsible for the failure of the excise board
to meet on the regularly appointed nights. The
responsibility for that neglect was apparently upon his
associate Malone. It is quite well established that the
failure of the board to meet regularly during the
time between July 12 and October 19 did occasion
considerable inconvenience inasmuch as a number of
licenses which were granted at the meeting of July
12 remained unsigned during the interval and that
a number of applications for licenses remained unacted
upon ; but inasmuch as the evidence shows that the
failure to hold a meeting was not the fault or
neglect of Trede it would be hardly fair to remove
him from office on account of any inconveniences caused
by conditions for which he was not responsible. I
do not feel, therefore, that it would be a just exer-
cise of Executive power to assent to the removal of
Trede upon this unsupported charge.
The second charge is as follows :

" That you have wilfully neglected and refused to make
any report of the proceedings of said board of excise to

248 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

the Mayor of the city of Mount Vernon, or other proper
authority, although one Frank Malone associated with
you as commissioner of excise of said city had not
appeared in said city or attended any meeting of said
board for over three months, and retained and appropri-
ated to his own use a large amount of money received by
said board of excise for licenses."

The only report which the excise law compels
boards of excise to make is an annual report to be
filed with the county clerk. This report seems to
have been properly made and filed. There is a pro-
vision in the city charter, however, which reads as
follows : —

" Every officer must report to the common council in
writing on the first day of every month all moneys, fees,
fines or penalties received by him, for what received, and
how disposed of."

If this section applies to excise commissioners,
which was a controverted point upon the hearing, it
seems to have been generally disregarded for at least
a year by the excise board of Mount Vernon, and
the accused testifies that he did not understand that
it was the duty of excise commissioners to present
monthly reports to the mayor or other officer. More-
over, no testimony is brought out to sustain the
charge that Trede refused to make any report of the
proceedings of the board to the mayor. Only one
report seems ever to have been requested of the
excise commissioners by the mayor and this it appears
Avas promptly furnished. It should also be stated in
this connection that Trede received no excise moneys
whatever. The treasurer of the board was Malone —

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 249

the absent comraissioner. While Trede may be justly
criticised, in my opinion, for not being more vigorous
in attempting- to correct the existing unsatisfactory
condition of the business of the excise board, there
is not shown to have been in his conduct, or so far
as this charge is concerned, any such "wilful neglect
of duty " or " misconduct in office " as would warrant
his removal.

The third and last charge is as follows — the fourth
having been abandoned :

, " That you have wilfully neglected your duties as such
excise commissioner, and been guilty of misconduct in
office in that you illegally and unlawfully clandestinely
called a meeting of said board of excise, and in company
with said Malone removed one Elias G. Pease, the clerk
of said board, without any notice to him, and appointed
one Albert F. Gescheidt, the bondsman of said Malone,
the clerk to the said board, and directed the delivery of
all books and records of said board to said Gescheidt
although you knew that said Malone had misappropriated
a large amount of the moneys of said board, and that the
documents which would show such misappropriation con-
stituted a portion of the documents you so directed to be
delivered to his bondsmen."

This charge is unsupported by the evidence. The
testimony shows that the meeting in question was not
illegally called nor was it, according to the uncon-
tradicted declaration of witnesses, a clandestine meet-
ing. The removal of the clerk appears from the case
as presented to me to have been within the power
of the board, while it is also shown by uncontra-
dicted testimony that at the time Malone's bondsman,
Gescheidt, was chosen as the successor, Malone was

250 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

not, as intimated in this charge against Trade,
indebted to the city. The money remaining in his
(Malone's) hands from licenses had been paid over to
the city treasurer on the afternoon of that day.
Trede himself testifies that Gescheidt was appointed
clerk because of his good character and competency
and that the fact of his being Malone's bondsman
was not thought of at the time. Trede also swears
that no excise moneys ever reached his hands, but
that all went to Malone as the treasurer of the board ;
that he (Trede) did not know how Malone's accounts
stood with the city and that he did not deem it his
duty to inquire inasmuch as he had given a bond as
excise commissioner, as had Malone also, and he sup-
posed the city would have its redress if there should
happen to be any shortage on the part of Malone.
While citizens of Mount Vernon seem to have had
just cause for complaint as to the manner in which
the business of the excise board was conducted, I am
not convinced from the evidence before me that the
mayor was justified in removing Commissioner Trede,
and I am obliged, therefore, to withhold my approval
from the order of removal.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 2 5 I

OPINION IN THE MATTER OF THE CHARGES
PREFERRED AGAINST THE SUPERINTEN-
DENT OF BANKS.

State of New York.
Executive Chamber,

Albany, December 13, 1893.

In the matter of charges preferred by a committee of
depositors of the Commercial Bank of Brooklyn against
Charles M. Preston, Superintendent of Banks. — Opinion.

These charges are not well defined, being embodied
in a communication which attacks the management of
the Commercial Bank by its officers and directors and
requests the appointment of an associate receiver.
The mismanagement of the bank is of course a matter
for the consideration of its stockholders, its depositors
and the grand jury of Kings county, and the appoint-
ment of an associate receiver is a matter for the
courts. The only question which comes before the
Executive is whether the Superintendent of Banks
failed to do his full duty under the law in ascer-
taining the bank's condition, in inquiring into its
management arid in compelling compliance with the
law's requirements in the administration of its affairs.

The most serious charge is that during the last three,
years the bank has been insolvent and that the Super-
intendent of Banks was therefore negligent in not
taking charge of its affairs prior to August 12, 1893.

The law compels the Superintendent to examine
banks at least once a year, and permits him to

252 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERN'OR FLOWER.

examine them as often as he deems wise in addition.
These examinations are supposed to reveal the bank's
actual condition. The first examination into the affairs
of the Commercial Bank, under the direction of the
present Superintendent, was made on June 30, 1 890, and
showed the bank to have a surplus of $84,881.17 over
and above all its liabilities, including its capital stock.
The next examination was made on December fifth,
of the same year, and after disallowing the entire
amount of past due paper, amounting to $84,055.14,
showed an impairment of the bank's capital amount-
ing to $14,030.97. Immediately upon the receipt of
the report of this examination the Superintendent
addressed an order to the of&cers of the bank, as he
was required to do by law, directing them to make
good the impairment at once. Under the law the
bank had sixty days in which to make good this
impairment, at the end of which time if the impair-
ment still existed it was the duty of the Superin-
tendent to report the fact to the Attorney-General,
who was required to institute proceedings as against
an insolvent corporation. Within three days, however,
from the time of the Superintendent's order, there
was paid into the bank in cash $31,284.88, and within
sixty days $10,760.89 more, making a total of $42,045 "jy,
or a surplus of about $28,000 above all its obligations.
During this period the bank seems to have been under
the constant surveillance of the Department.

The next regular examination was on September 10,
1 89 1, and revealed, according to the examiner's esti-
mates of resources, an impairment of $37,115.58. Upon

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 253

the receipt of this intelligence the Superintendent
"went himself to the bank and made a personal exam-
ination of the assets. He was convinced that the
examiner's valuation of the banking house and lot,
$47,000, "was too lo"w — three offers of $100,000 having
been made for the property — and he increased the
valuation to $75,000. In addition to this there "was
paid into the bank in cash $15,773.88 "within three
days, and $23,098.88 "within sixty days, so that the
impairment of capital existed only three days after
the examination of September tenth.

The next regular examination, on October 4, 1892,
showed a surplus after throwing out a lot of paper
which the examiner considered worthless.

Thus the bank was subjected to four regular exam-
inations in three years, and each impairment of capital
discovered was made good almost immediately after
notice from the Superintendent. Under these circum-
stances the Superintendent could not under the law
report the bank to the Attorney-General as insolvent.
In addition to the regular examinations the bank's
officers were repeatedly warned by the Superintendent
of Banks that they must conduct its affairs more
conservatively.

The Superintendent is criticized for not requiring
the entry on the books of the bank of notes of some
of the directors for $80,000 The fact seems to be
that these notes were not given to repair the bank's
impairment of capital, as stated by the depositors'
committee, but as collateral security to the notes of
one Hassel which had been discounted by the bank,

254 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

and they, therefore, did not properly belong on the
books. This security was nearly the amount of the
Hassel notes and I am informed has been mostly paid
to the receiver. Both this Hassel loan and the
Grening loan, to which allusion is made in the
charges, subject the bank officers to just censure, in my
judgment, as to the management of the bank's affairs
(considering that the capital was only $108,000), but I
am unable to see that, upon the information before
the Superintendent, he was culpable with regard to
these loans in the manner indicated by the depositors'
committee.

One more charge remains to be considered. The
depositors' committee cite several instances in which
the report of the examinations of the Commercial
Bank by the Superintendent of Banks does not agree
with the sworn statements filed quarterly with the
Superintendent by the officers of the bank, and they
seem to regard the Superintendent responsible for this
discrepancy. I cannot but think that this conclusion
is reached without careful consideration. The Superin-
tendent of Banks is not responsible for what bank
officers report. If they swear to false statements and
file them with the Superintendent, they commit an
indictable offense and the law provides a method of
punishment. If the Superintendent knows that a
statement filed by bank officers is false, and willfully
so, it is of course his duty to report the fact to the
prosecuting officer of the county, — so is it also the
duty of all good citizens possessing such information ;
but the difference between the statement filed by the

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 255

bank officers and the report of the Superintendent's
examination, is often a difference of opinion as to the
valuation to be placed on the bank's assets. If in
this case the Superintendent's figures were much
lower than the sworn figures of the bank officers, the
difference might have been due to his more conserva-
tive estimates or to perjury on the part of the bank
ofiicers. If the latter, then the criminal law points
the remedy.

The charges seem to me to fail entirely to show
any neglect of duty on the part of the Superintendent
of Banks and are therefore dismissed.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE C. F. BROWN AS

PRESIDING JUSTICE FOR THE SECOND

DEPARTMENT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In accordance with the statute in such case made
and, provided, the Honorable Cjeiarles F. Brown, a
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Second Judicial
District, is hereby designated as the Presiding Jus-
tice of the General Term for the Second Department
of the Supreme Court, from and after the first day
of January, A. D., 1894, in the place of Honorable
Joseph L. Barnard, whose designation as such Pre-
siding Justice is about to expire by reason of the
ending of his term of office.

2S6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the

State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

[l. s.] this fourteenth day of December, A. D. one

thousand eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

RE-DESIGNATION OF JUSTICE MERWIN TO
THE GENERAL TERM, FOURTH DEPART-
MENT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

In accordance with the statute in such case made
and provided, the Honorable Milton H. Merwin, a
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Fifth Judicial
District, is hereby designated as Associate Justice of
the General Term for the Fourth Department of the
Supreme Court, from and after the first day of Jan-
uary, A. D., 1894, his previous designation as Associate
Justice for said department being about to expire.
Given under my hand and the privy seal of
the State, at the Capitol in the city of
[l. s.] Albany, this fourteenth day of December,

A. D. one thousand eight hundred and

ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 257

PROCLAMATION ORDERING A SPECIAL
ELECTION IN THE FOURTEENTH CON-
GRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, A vacancy exists in the office of Repre-
sentative in Congress for the Fourteenth Congressional
District of the State of New York caused by the resig-
nation of John R. Fellows, whose term of office would
have expired on the fourth day of March, 1895 ; and

Whereas, The Constitution of the United States pro-
vides that " When vacancies happen in the representa-
tion from any State, the Executive authority thereof
shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies ; " and

Whereas, The laws of the State provide that " Upon
the occurrence of a vacancy in any elective office,
which cannot be filled by appointment for a period
extending to or beyond the next general election at
which a person may be elected thereto, the Governor
shall make proclamation of a special election to fill
such office, specifying the district or county in which
the election is to be held, and the day thereof,
which shall be not less than twenty nor more than
forty days from the date of the proclamation ; "

Now, therefore, I, Roswell P. Flower, the Governor
of the State of New York, do hereby direct that an
election for a representative in the Fifty-third Congress
of the United vStates for the Fourteenth Congressional
District of said State, in the place of the said John
17

258 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

R. Fellows, be held in the said Fourteenth Con^
gressional District on Tuesday, the twenty-third day
of January, 1 894 ; said election to be held and con-
ducted in the manner prescribed by law for the elec-
tion of Representatives in Congress at general elections.
In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my
name and affixed the privy seal of the
[l. s.] State, at the Capitol in the city of Albany,

this twenty-ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hun-
dred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

PROCLAMATION ORDERING A SPECIAL
ELECTION IN THE FIFTEENTH CON-
GRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

Whereas, A vacancy exists in the office of Repre-
sentative in Congress for the Fifteenth Congressional
District of the State of New York caused by the resig-
nation of Ashbel P. Fitch, whose term of office would
have expired on the fourth day of March, 1895 ; and

Whereas, The Constitution of the United States pro-
vides that "When vacancies happen in the representa-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 259

tion from any State the Executive authority thereof
shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies ; " and
Whereas, The laws of the State provide that "Upon
the occurrence of a vacancy in any elective office,
which cannot be filled by appointment for a period
extending to or beyond the next general election at
which a person may be elected thereto, the Governor
shall make proclamation of a special election to fill
such office, specifying the district or county in which
the election is to be held, and the day thereof,
which shall be not less than twenty nor more than
forty days from the date of the proclamation ; "

Nozv, therefore, I, Roswell P. Flower, Governor of the
State of New York, do hereby direct that an election
for a representative in the Fifty-third Congress of the
United States, for the Fifteenth Congressional Dis-
trict of said State, in the place of the said Ashbel
P. Fitch, be held in the said Fifteenth Congressional
District on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of January,
1894; said election to be held and conducted in the
manner prescribed by law for the election of Repre-
sentatives in Congress at general elections.

In witness whereof. I have hereunto signed
my name and affixed the privy seal of
[l. s.] the State, at the Capitol in the city of
Albany, this twenty-ninth day of Decem-
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor ;

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

Public Addresses

AND

CORRESPONDENCE

OF

Governor Roswell P. Flower,

1893.

ADDRESSES,

GOVERNOR FLOWER'S ADDRESS TO
COL. CAVANAGH,

When Conferring upon him the rank of Briga-
dier-General BY Brevet, at the Executive
Chamber, Albany, February 8, 1893.

Colonel Cavanagh :

You have come to Albany at the request of the
Commander-in-chief for a purpose which I dare say
you did not guess. The object of your summons
here is made possible by the many honorable years
of service which you have given to your country and
to your State. Your career as a soldier began at a
time when patriotism incited military ardor, and
whether in war or in peace few soldiers have ever
shown greater fidelity in their service than yourself.
You fought bravely and with distinction in the great-
est cause for which human blood was ever shed.
You fought for your country and for the equal rights
of your fellow men. You infused your energy and
devotion into your commands and inspired your asso-
ciates with your own courage and persistence.

Entering the military service of the State as a pri-
vate in Company E of the 69th militia in 1852, you
became successively first lieutenant and captain, and

264 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOJi FLOWER.

when the war of the rebellion broke out you were
among the first in battle. The return of your regi-
ment from three months' service after the first battle of
Bull Run, on July 21, 1861, did not quench your patri-
otism. From your comrades in the 69th militia you
were largely instrumental in the raising of the 69th
regiment of New York volunteers, of which you were
commissioned major. With this regiment you served
in the campaign of the Army of the Potomac on the
Peninsula of Virginia, and took part in the seige bf
Yorktown, and the battles at Fair Oaks, Gaines Mills,
Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill and later at
Antietam, in which contest you received high com-
mendation from General Hancock for your gallant
conduct. Severely wounded in the battle of Fred-
ericksburgh, Va., you were discharged from the army
in May, 1863, but a few weeks later, having been
commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 69th militia,
you were again at the front, serving in the Gettysburg
campaign. In November, 1867, you were commis-
sioned colonel .of your regiment, a position whicli you
have held ever since.

You are now the senior colonel on the active list
of the National Guard of the State. Your manly
disposition and soldierly abilities have endeared you
to your thousands of friends in the National Guard
and have given you the respect and admiration of
thousands more who have not the privilege of your
personal acquaintance. Your long service and credit-
able record deserve the fullest recognition. The Mili-
tary Code authorizes the Commander-in-chief to confer

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 265

brevet commissions of a grade next higher than the
ordinary or brevet commission held by ofl&cers of the
National Guard, for gallant and meritorious services
therein, upon the recommendation of their superior
commanding officers. Availing myself of this author-
ization and acting upon the recommendation of the
adjutant-general, I now have the honor of conferring
upon you the brevet commission of Brigadier-General.
I believe this is only the second time that such a
commission has ever been conferred upon a colonel
in active service. You have earned it by your long
and illustrious record, and as your friend and your
Commander-in-chief, I take great pleasure in present-
ing you with this honorable commission.

ADDRESS TO SUNDAY-SCHOOL CHILDREN,

Upon the Sixty-fourth Anniversary of the Brook-
lyn Sunday-School Union, Brooklyn, May 25,
1893.

{From the New York World report. May 26, iSgj.l

The Governor arose, and the audience got up too,
and three resounding cheers were given for the genial
Executive. Governor Flower said in response :

"Mr. President, Teachers and Children:

I thank you for this kind and warm reception.
I assure you that I was never more embarrassed in
my life than now as I stand before you. I suppose
I am the only Episcopalian present."

266 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

President Silas M. Giddings, of the Union, assured
the Governor that he was -with him in that faith.

"Dr. Talmage did not say anything about Episcopa-
lians," continued the Governor. " Ho-wever, I am used
to Methodists. When I was young the Episcopalians
were so poor that they used to unite and hold serv-
ices in the same churches with the Methodists- — one
denomination in the morning and the other in the
afternoon. I feel now like the Episcopalian minister
who went to preach in a strange town and discovered
that his baggage had gone astray. After struggling
through a sermon as best he could he said : " In what
I have said to-day I have had to depend entirely upon
the Lord. This evening I promise to do much better.
I will give you one of my own sermons.'

"This afternoon," added the Governor, "I must
depend upon the Lord and the bright faces before
me. I remember as a young man trying to teach
children the Bible. The most important thing to
instil into a young mind is the difference between
right and wrong, and that you can not save your soul
by your own power. A ship may have good sailors, but
it won't get to the end of the voyage unless it has a
compass. Let the clouds obscure the sky and the ship
may land fifty miles from where it ought. So the
place to look for heaven is a pretty hard thing to
find out."

The Governor then related a story about a rich man
who heard a beautiful sermon about heaven. After-
wards he remembered that the preacher had failed to
locate the New Jerusalem. A friend told him that he

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 267

could locate heaven for him ; that it was in a
tumbled-down shanty on the hill where an old woman
was dying in want attended by her two daughters, all
suffering from hunger. The rich man went to the
cottage with a load of provisions. He took the hand
of the dying woman and comforted her. He had
found heaven and the angels were hovering around.

"I want you to learn to govern yourselves," con-
tinued the Governor, addressing the children. '^When
you all learn that, there will be no need of police or
military force. Then you will have a government as
firm and endless as the rocks on which our country
rests."

NEW YORK'S EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the State Normal
School at Potsdam, N. Y., June 27, 1893.

I have just returned from that wonderful fair at
Chicago and I know I can interest you students of
this institution in no better way than by telling you
what a fine educational exhibit our State has out
there. We sometimes have to go away from home
to find out how great we really are as a people. It
was something of this feeling which impressed me as
I went about the various buildings on the exposition
grounds and studied the exhibits of different states
and countries. Every New Yorker must feel proud,
as I did, at the splendid showing the Empire State
has made. In every department of art and industry

268 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

New York's supremacy is at once revealed and is
generally recognized. The first building I entered
after inspecting the New York State building was
the Women's Building, and I was taken to a hand-
some library, which they told me comprised 5,000
volumes written by women, and over 2,500 of them
were contributed by the brains of the women of
New York State ! So it is throughout the entire
exposition — New York supreme everywhere.

New York has always taken a generous interest in
the education of her inhabitants. Two years after
the revolution, when the State Legislature established
the Land Office and made provision for the disposi-
tion of unappropriated lands, the law directed the
Surveyor-General to mark one lot on the map in
each township for "gospel and schools," and one other
lot " for promoting literature," and these lots (640
acres each) were not to be sold, but were to be
applied to promoting religion, education and literature
in the State. Even before this, at the very first ses-
sion of the Colonial Legislature after the Revolu-
tionary war, the great scheme of the State Univer-
sity was created and given the vital force of statutory
recognition. This broad statesmanship laid the founda-
tion for our intellectual progress and assisted our mate-
rial prosperity, and to-day, as we look back over a
century of development, we may well thank the
"gospel and schools" for our proud supremacy.
Wherever you find the school-house and the church
you have the two greatest influences which bring the
highest civilization.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 269

So New York lias made no mistake in exhibiting
to the world her varied and numerous facilities for
education. The most conspicuous thing in her edu-
cational exhibit is the most suggestive thing of the
entire exposition. It tells the story and gives the
reason of her greatness. It is a broad, long map of
the State, covering a generous portion of the wall
and dark with black disks. Every disk stands for a
school-house and there are 12,000 of them ! Nothing
in all the exposition is more impressive than that
map with its black disks. There is no county in the
State, not thickly sprinkled with them. It is the first
time such a map has been made and the credit of
its making belongs to the pupils of the high school
at the capital of the State.

The next thing that strikes the eye in the depart-
ment of education at the World's Fair is the extent
of the New York exhibit. We are just one-forty-
fourth of the Union — only one State out of forty-
four — but our educational exhibit occupies one-seventh
of the whole space devoted to this department. No
other State has so large an exhibit. No other State ■
has its exhibit so nicely installed. You walk down
one aisle and you see a representation of our great
common school system of education — kindergarten,
primary schools, grammar schools, high schools and
trade schools, — the great bulwark of our State — the
great hopper, as I said once in an ofl&cial paper, into
which the untrained juvenile minds of Irish, English,
Italian, German, Swedish, Bohemian or American
parentage, with their hereditary ideas and tendencies.

270 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

are tumbled together and shaken up to form the sub-
stantial qualification of the American citizen. You
walk down the opposite aisle and you see exhibited
our elaborate system of higher education comprised in
the University of the State of New York — academies,
colleges, professional and technical schools, univer-
sities— a scheme of educational effort unequalled in
scope by the educational system of any State, and
copied many decades ago because of its excellence by
the Government of France.

One may see in these various cases specimens of
the handiwork of the pupils in all kinds of schools —
drawings, carvings, penmanship, etc. He may even
put his ear to a phonograph and hear the voices of
the pupils in songs and recitations. He may also see
12,000 photographs of school buildings and views of
school work.

The scope of our educational efforts is well exhibited
by the statistical charts, hung so that even the hur-
ried sight-seer may read. From these the world may
learn, what many of us New Yorkers I fear do not
.know, that last year there was expended for educa-
tion in this State the enormous sum of $26,000,000.
Nineteen millions of this was for our common schools,
and seven millions for the higher education furnished
by academies, colleges, universities and technical and
professional schools, We paid nearly $12,000,000 in
wages to common school teachers. We had over
17,000 teachers attending teachers' institutes. We
raised over $12,000,000 by local taxation for school
purposes and over $3,600,000 by direct State taxation.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 27 1

Nearly half of all our State tax goes to the support
of education.

These figures will have their effect in calling the
attention of people of other States and countries to
our unrivaled educational resources, but they will also
fill our own citizens with pride and impress upon them
the responsibility of demanding that every dollar and
every energy expended shall be used for the best
ends and for the greatest public service. You young
men and women will soon take your place among the
citizens of the Empire State. You will assume the
duties of citizenship fresh from these scholastic halls.
Your honored institution has in its life witnessed
much of the development of the State's educational
system. From your environment in such an insti-
tution you may feel more keenly than others
the responsibility resting on each of you to use the
learning which you have acquired here for the ele-
vation of citizenship. From its educated citizens
the State must expect its best advice and sugges-
tions for broadening and making more practical its
facilities for education. The great end is not that a
few persons may become highly educated, but that the
benefits of education and learning may be generally
diffused among the masses of the people. A people
are great and strong in proportion to the diffusion of
intelligence among them. Keep that thought in mind,
and let all your influence be cast for the attainment ,
of that end.

272 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

HIGHER EDUCATION.

Governor Flower's Remarks to the Graduating
Class of the St. Lawrence University at Can-
ton, N. Y., June 28, 1893.

Ladies and Gentlemen :

I have come to you to-day as a neighbor, as a
Regent of the University of the State of New York,
and as Governor. You may receive me in whichever
capacity you prefer, but if you will allow me to
express a preference then I am here as your friend
and neighbor.

There is an unusual kinship of feeling among the
people of Northern New York. I do not know whether
a similar spirit of fraternity and mutual interest exists
between counties in any other section of the State.
We have grown up together, faced the cold northern
winds together, been associated in business, social, reli-
gious and political relations together — all as if no
county lines divided one set of homes from the other.
I have often wondered in which county I have the
most friends — whether in Jefferson, where I have
spent the greater part of my life, or in St. Lawrence
which in many ways seems to me a good deal like
home, and from whose people I have reason to be
grateful for many courtesies. Some philosopher has
said that friendship which is proof against religion
and politics is indestructible. If this is so ours must
be pretty safely grounded, for we have not yet run
against each other on religious differences — except

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 273

now and then in raising churcli funds — and as to
politics, I should have felt pretty blue in the cam-
paign of 1 89 1 if I had not relied very confidently
on my Republican friends in old St. Lawrence.

So I am particularly pleased to be with you on
this anniversary occasion and to greet you both as
your neighbor and as your Governor. You have the
only college or university in the State north of the
Mohawk Valley. Numerous as are our institutions of
higher learning, all have chosen their homes near the
centers of population except the university to which
you belong. Voluntarily you have relinquished the
opportunities which situation in a thickly settled com-
munity gives for large attendance and liberal endow-
ments, and have been willing to do what you could
in a modest way for the advancement of learning in
this part of the State. The State recognized the
importance of the movement which led to the estab-
lishment of the St. Lawrence University by appro-
priating $25,000 for the purpose. How well the
founders and trustees of the institution have succeeded
in elevating the standard of intelligence in this vicinity
and ' in offering excellent opportunities for higher edu-
cation to the youth of northern New York I am glad
to testify from personal knowledge. You have set your
standard high. You have been among the first of
our colleges and universities to admit women to the
same privileges with men in scholastic halls. Your
instruction and your educational ideals have been
liberal. Your graduates have become strong men in
the world's affairs. Your theological school is, I

274 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

believe, the oldest of its kind in the country, and
the religion which it teaches and the ministers which
it has sent out have well reflected the liberal atmos-
phere of your associations and ambitions.

Separated though your institution is geographically
from the other colleges of the State, it is in intimate
relation with them in educational progress and in
unity of educational work. This is the advantage of
our educational system. No other State has a system
so perfect. Its scope extends from kindergarten
and primary to college and university. One> branch
comprises our great system of common schools. Did
you ever think how young that full-grown system of
free education is ? It is younger than your univer-
sity — not much older than some of you graduates.
It was only about twenty-six years ago that the
system of free schools was permanently established
as the main feature of State educational effort. We
had common schools from the beginning of our State-
hood ; we had legislative appropriations for them and
administrative supervision, but no general system of
free schools. This great educational giant, who is
now our chief defense against un-American ideas, has
grown up and attained his immense strength in less
than a quarter of a century. I told the students of
the Normal School at Potsdam yesterday that the
most impressive exhibit in the World's Fair at Chicago
is a map of New York State covered with 12,000
black disks, for every disk marks the location of a
school-house. That shows more vividly than verbal
description to what dimensions our free school sys-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 275

tern has grown. We raised last year for its support
more than $15,000,000 by State and local taxation.

Then there is our great system of secondary and
higher education comprised in what is called the
University of the State of New York. It supplements
the work done by the Department of Public Instruc-
tion for the common schools. Originally it comprised
both common school and collegiate education. It is
supposed to have been the creation of the mind of
that political genius, Alexander Hamilton. Its estab-
lishment antedates the Constitution of the United
States. No sooner had our New York patriots stopped
fighting England in the war for independence than
they laid the foundation for Statehood by building
school-houses and creating systems of public education.
Hamilton's scheme of a great university, stimulating
and directing the educational movement, was one
result. It was modified and elaborated later, and now
for many years its relations have been entirely with
secondary and higher education — academic, collegiate
and university. In that relation your institution is an
integral part of it. Through it your educational
efforts and results are brought to the notice of other
institutions, and those of other institutions are brought
to your attention. The certificates of its examinations
are accepted, I dare say, by your faculty in their
requirements for admission.

In all advanced educational efforts the Board of
Regents, representing that ideality known as the
University of the State of New York, constitutes
a particularly favorable medium for encouraging a

2/6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

healthy rivalry among colleges and academies and for
elevating their standards. Thus your institution,
though remote from others of its kind, feels the
impulse which this association and relation give, and,
however unconsciously, you are working in perfect
harmony with the teachers and students of other
institutions to advance learning and diffuse its benefits
through the masses of the people.

The State can well afford to expend money for
education if the effort is not misdirected. Twenty-six
million dollars were expended last year, but even that
stupendous sum can well be spared if it brings pro-
portionate gain in diffusion of intelligence and spread
of sound ideas. Intellectual advancement ought to go
hand in hand with increase in material prosperity.
Material and mental effort ought not to be disasso-
ciated. This is no age for the scholarly recluse.
Education to-day is not for the few, but for all. It
must be adapted to material wants as well as to
intellectual aspirations. This age in which we live,
throbbing as it is with the rapid current of great
achievements, is an age to stimulate the highest ambi-
tions and offers to earnest and persistent efforts the
richest rewards. No contestant is debarred by race or
family. Brains and industry are the sole require-
ments— brains and industry everywhere — in business,
in manufactures, in professional pursuits. Never were
they in greater demand. That is why our schools
thrive and parents deny themselves to give their chil-
dren educations. That is why the State encourages free
instruction for those who cannot pay for it themselves.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 277

Education is needed to make good citizens, to increase
wealth, to promote general comfort and prosperity.
But how lamentably education will fail if it is not
practical ; if it is not adapted to the wants of this
busy age ; if it makes men and women intellectual
snobs ; if it breeds and disseminates false ideas ; if it
encourages socialism and anarchy ; if it undermines
patriotism and brings republican institutions into scorn.
To some of you to-day this occasion is fuller of
meaning than to others. This day marks your separa-
tion from the institution where you have studied and
your entrance into the great field of active struggle
for life and its pleasures. Of advice you will get
plenty — take it all. Every word that is uttered by
your teachers, your ministers, your parents and your
friends upon such occasions as these will have its
good effect. Let me give you one as your Governor.
Be true to your State and to your Country ; be good
citizens. The State and the Country need such men
and women as you are — not as their critics but as
their co-operators. Every man or woman who receives
a college education ought to be a better citizen because
of his college diploma. I regret to say that not all of
them are. The influence of education on some is to
make them mistake their function or to be impatient
of attaining the millennium. This results in indiffer-
ence and neglect, and worse men come to the front.
Take an interest in public affairs. Make yourselves
familiar with public questions. Study them for your-
selves not through others' glasses. Be partisans if you
will — convictions will not hurt you — but be manly

2/8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

and fair always, placing patriotism above party and
honor above success. Take pride in the growtb and
development of the State. Do what you modestly
can in your own sphere for the uplifting and advance-
ment of society, but don't take upon yourself the
entire burden and responsibility.

Above all have faith in humanity and a Divine
Providence !

THE GETTYSBURG DEDICATIONS.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the Dedication of
THE New York State Monument at Gettys-
burg, July 2, 1893.

Mr. Chairman, Comrades and Friends :

This impressive scene is the homage which a great
State renders to its martyr sons. The bidding of
6,000,000 people has sent us here to dedicate their
token of love to the memory of their soldier dead.
The battle in which these fought was one of the
great battles of history; the cause, the highest for
which human blood was ever shed; the scenes of
bravery and hardship are embedded in the memory
of every American, and the victory here won determ-
ined the integrity of the Union and insured the
establishment of human freedom in this land. For
participation in such a conflict and in aiding the
accomplishment of such ends, no homage of a grate-
ful State is too profuse — no mark of appreciation is
too generous — no expression of love is undeserved.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 279

But in this presence and amid these hallowed sur-
roundings, as I look upon the scarred faces and
maimed bodies among these thousands who accom-
panied us from our State to be present at these
ceremonies, and to visit once more the battle ground
they helped to win, I feel that out of her boundless
gratitude and generosity our great State could have
rendered no. more grateful tribute to the memory of
those who sleep beneath the sod at Gettysburg, than
to send hither, as she has, 7,000 living survivors of
that terrible conflict which took place on these hills
and in these valleys. You, comrades, of all the
living, are most deserving to be here to-day. The
great State which I have the honor to represent on
this occasion, and which we are both proud to call
our home, delights to pay this mark of respect and
appreciation to your services. To you, equally with
those who sleep around us, belong the praise and
gratitude of your State and Nation. Thirty years ago
to-day, 30,000 of you, all from New York, risked your
lives, with your countrymen from other States, on
this field against the attack of as brave an enemy
as ever fought — ready to pour out your blood to
save your country. Over a thousand of that noble host
fell in battle and are buried beneath these stones.
Some gave up their lives in other battles, and Time,
the great reaper, has gathered thousands of others to
their last resting place. Only you are left, and many
of you are bowed and gray. A few years and you
will join your comrades on the other side of the Great
River. But you have the proud satisfaction of know-

28o PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

ing what those of your fellows who went before do
not know, unless from Heaven they look down upon
these exercises, that neither time nor space nor events
have effaced from the hearts of your countrymen, or
ever can efface a profound sense ■ of admiration and
gratitude for the patriotic service which you rendered
to mankind. The ceremonies of to-day have this
double significance — that in commemorating the
virtues of the dead they bear vivid testimony to the
heroism of the living.

Broad and liberal in her judgments as is the Empire
State, tolerant as she is of radicalism in political or
religious ideas, her heart has ever beat true to the
harmony of Union and she has ever steadfastly
adhered to the maintenance and preservation of the
federal system in all its original integrity. Her. patri-
otism has never been halting or sparing. Within
her borders the first scheme for a union of the colo-
nies in resistance to the tyranny of Great Britain
was formulated. Her territory was the scene of many
struggles of the Revolution. Her sons were foremost
in constructing the federal government. So, when
Sumter was fired on and disunion threatened the
proud nation which she had done so much to estab-
lish and build up, the Empire State was found in
the van of patriots, pouring out men and money and
inspiration to preserve the union intact and inviolable.
No sooner had the President of the United States
issued his proclamation on April 15, 1861, calling on
the States for militia, than New York responded with
men and arms. The quota assigned to New York was

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 28 1

13,280 men, and on the day following the President's
proclamation Governor Morgan ordered all the avail-
able organized militia, numbering 19,000 men, to hold
themselves in readiness to march to Washington ;
while on the same day the Legislature passed a bill
providing for the enrollment of 30,000 volunteers to
serve two years and* appropriating $3,000,000 for
expenses. Within a week from the firing on Sumter
the Seventh Regiment left New York for Washing-
ton, and within three weeks 46,000 armed men had
gone from the State to fight for their country. In
New York city 200,000 men and womon met in mass
meeting to take action on the affront to the Ameri-
can flag, and the wave of popular indignation there
started swept like a tide through the loyal States.
The city of New York appropriated a million dollars
towards suppressing the rebellion, besides the hun-
dreds of thousands subscribed by individual citizens.
Nearly a score of the members of the Legislature
enlisted and went to the front.

Here was a splendid demonstration of the spirit
of the people and of the soldierly qualities of the
organized militia. Throughout the war this exhibition
of patriotism was continued. Under Governor Sey-
mour tens of thousands of men were put into the
field — so many, in fact, that when the New York
riots broke out there were but few companies of
militia remaining in the State, and the rioters had
their own way for a time. Because Seymour went
to the metropolis, and in seeking to suppress disor-
der addressed the disturbers as "my friends," he was

282 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

maligned by opponents for lack of sympathy with
the Union cause. But Seymour's sympathy was
demonstrated in a more practical way, He had sent
all available State troops to fight for the Union at the
seat of war and was not looking for enemies to fight
in his own State. In all, New York furnished for
the defense of the Union 400,000 men, or over one-
fifth of her entire male population. The cost to her
in actual outlay of money is conservatively estimated
at about $200,000^000, while the loss of human life
in actual service comprised 52,993 men. Patriotism is
not usually measured by statistics, but figures such
as these, the equal of which no other State can pre-
sent, must forever stand as a monument of New
York's courageous devotion to Liberty and Union.

In the great battle fought on this hallowed ground
New York's part was prominent and the bravery of
her men conspicuous. No small share of the Union
victory is hers. Most of the heroes of the struggle
were her sons. A third of the soldiers on the Federal
side were in New York regiments. In cavalry, artil-
lery and infantry organizations, equivalent to seventy-
three regiments, New York had not much less than
30,000 enlisted men and officers on the field. The
battle was opened in the morning of July first by
videttes and skirmishers of the Eighth New York
Cavalry, and Buford's Cavalry, of which the Sixth,
Eighth and Ninth New York formed part. They
engaged the enemy stubbornly until the infantry
arrived, and then effectively supported the latter
during the day. The division of James S. Wads-

PUBLIC PAPE.RS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 283

■worth, a son of New York, of the First Corps, arrived
first on the field, and came to the relief of the cavalry.
In this division there were the Seventy-sixth, Eighty-
fourth, Ninety-fifth and One Hundred and Forty-
seventh New York Volunteers ; the latter regi-
ment lost that forenoon 207 killed and wounded
out of 380 men ; the Seventy-sixth lost 169 killed
and wounded out of 375 men ; while the Eighty-
fourth and Ninety-fifth Regiments, in a charge
with the Sixth Wisconsin, captured nearly the
whole of a rebel brigade. About the time this
occurred, General Abner Doubleday, of our State, and
the Second and Third Divisions of the First Corps,
the former commanded by John C. Robinson, also a
New Yorker, and in them the Eightieth, Eighty-third,
Ninety-seventh and One Hundred and Fourth New
York Volunteers, arrived on the field and at once
took part in the struggle. In one attack on a brigade
of Robinson's division, the Eighty-third and Ninety-
seventh received high commendation and the latter
regiment captured a battle-flag. The Eightieth,
Ninety-fourth and One Hundred and Fourth are also
praised in the official reports, and General Robinson
says : " Soldiers never fought better or inflicted
severer blows upon the enemy." In this day's fight-
ing, Reynolds' Batteries L and E of the First
New York Artillery bore their share and earned
deserved commendation.

About the time all of the First Corps was engaged
and later, the Eleventh Corps and in it Battery I
of the First Artillery, the Thirteenth Battery, the

284 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Forty-first, Forty-fifth, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-eighth, Sixty-
eighth, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth, One Hundred
and Thirty-sixth, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth and
One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiments, New
York Volunteers, arrived and took position and their
part in the engagement. Francis C. Barlow, Von
Steinwehr and Carl Schurz, all New Yorkers, com-
manded the divisions of the Corps.

The fighting of this, the first day, was of a desperate
character, and those engaged deserve all praise for
their bravery. While they were compelled to give
way, they finally held the position at which the
battles of the succeeding days were fought.

With the Commanding General of the Army of
the Potomac, General Meade, there arrived on the
field of battle his Chief of Staff, General Daniel
Butterfield, of our State, who had served not only
in our volunteers, but also in New York's militia
before the war commenced.

By the forenoon of the second day all of the
Third Corps, commanded by General Sickles, had
reached the field, the first division arriving there in
the evening of the first. In the afternoon it was
attacked by a superior force and a furious conflict
began. Our State was represented in this corps not
only by its gallant commander, but also by General
Joseph B. Carr, J. H. Hobart Ward and Charles
K. Graham, the Fourth Battery and Battery D,
First Artillery, the Fortieth, Seventieth, Seventy-first,
Seventy-second, Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, Eighty-
sixth, One Hundred and Twentieth and One Hundred

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 285

and Twenty-fourtli Regiments of Infantry. I need
not remind you that it was here in this plucky fight
our brave presiding ofl&cer lost his leg. His courage
won for him immortal fame and the conduct of his
troops found deserved eulogy in the reports of the
division and brigade commander.

The Fifth Corps arrived in the forenoon of this day
and with it the Twelfth, Forty-fourth, One Hundred and
Fortieth and One Hundredth and Forty-sixth Infantry,
and Battery C of the First Artillery, of the New York
Volunteers. Of its general officers, Romeyn B. Ayers
and Stephen H. Weed, were also of New York. In
coming to the support of the Third Corps, the Fifth
took possession of the Round Top Ridge, a most
important position, and maintained their hold. The
loss suffered was very severe and among the killed was
General Weed. The corps commander reports that the
men of the Fifth Corps sustained their reputation.

The Second Corps arrived on the battlefield on the
morning of the second and was placed in position.
Its first division assisted the Third and Fifth Corps in
the battle of the afternoon, in fact, nearly the whole
corps became engaged in repelling the enemy's attack,
made originally on the Third Corps. The Tenth,
Forty-second, Fifty-second, Fifty-seventh, Fifty-ninth,
Sixty-first, Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, Sixty-sixth, Sixty-
ninth, Eighty-second, Eighty-eighth, One Hundred and
Eighth, One Hundred and Eleventh, One Hundred and
Twenty-fifth and One Hundred and Twenty-sixth
Regiments of Infantry, Battery B, First Artillery and
the Fourteenth Battery, served in this Corps, and

286 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

General Samuel K, Zook, a New Yorker, was killed in
the conflict, General Alexander S. Webb, another
New Yorker, also served in this Corps.

The vSixth Corps arrived on the afternoon of the
second, and worthily assisted the Fifth Corps in its
struggle with the enemy. In this Corps, were the New
York Thirty-third, Forty-third, Forty-ninth, Sixty-second,
Sixty-fifth, Sixty-seventh, Seventy-seventh, One Hun-
dred and Twenty-first and One Hundred and Twenty,
second Regiments of Infantry, the First and Third
Batteries, and Generals J. J. Bartlett, D. A. Russell,
and Alexander Shaler, of this State.

General Henry W. Slocum, whose noble heroism
and military skill his country honors equally with the
Empire State, commanding the Twelfth Corps on
this occasion, had arrived and taken position on the
evening of the first. On the second, in the afternoon,
portions of his corps moved to the assistance of the
Third and Fifth Corps, and soon thereafter the
remainder of the corps, commanded by General George
S. Greene, another New Yorker, who is also with us
to-day, had a severe engagement of nearly three
hours duration, but, supported by parts of the First
and Eleventh Corps, held its ground. New York's
representatives in this corps were, besides Generals
Slocum and Greene, the Sixtieth, Seventy-eighth, One
Hundred and Second, One Hundred and Seventh, One
Hundred and Twenty-third, One Hundred and Thirty-
seventh, One Hundred and Forty-fifth, One Hundred and
Forty-ninth and One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiments
of Infantry and Battery M, of the First Artillery.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 28/

Gregg's Cavalry division, in- which served the Second,
Fourth and Tenth New York, arrived on the second
and had a severe engagement in the afternoon.

Kilpatrick's Cavalry division (Kilpatrick was a New
York volunteer before being promoted Brigadier-
General), in which the Fifth New York served, arrived
late in the afternoon of the second, and also had a
successful engagement with the enemy.

Early on the morning of the third, the whole of
General Slocum's Twelfth Corps having been united
during the night, it returned the attack of the pre-
vious evening, and the ground lost was fully regained ;
two brigades of the Sixth and some regiments of the
First Corps supported this attack. The Sixtieth New
York captured two battle flags.

Soon after noon of this day the enemy opened a
tremendous artillery fire and the artillery reserve, in
which were the Fifth, Eleventh and Fifteenth Batteries
and Batteries G and K of the First Artillery, which
had arrived on the second and portions of which were
engaged that day, took part with the other batteries
in reply to this cannonade, and in the final repulse
of the charge which followed it. The report of the
Chief of Artillery of the Army of the Potomac
speaks well of their work and bravery.

About two hours after the commencement of the
artillery fire, the enemy advanced and charged the
position held by the Second Corps. They made a
gallant charge, but were finally repulsed at all points.
Of the troops who directly assisted in the repulse,
the Eightieth New York was especially mentioned;

288 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

the Eighty-second captured two, the Forty-second one
and the Fifty-ninth two battle flags. While this
charge was made principally on the Second Corps,
there were engagements all along our line, and
Kilpatrick's division, with the Fifth Cavalry, had a
sanguinary action with the enemy. Victory every-
where rewarded the bravery of our troops.

I make no excuse, before 7,000 veteran survivors,
for recalling the proud parts which you and your
absent associates took in this great battle. Before
you I need but state the bare outlines of these three
days' engagements. At every point, in every action,
the .men of the Empire State were found in the van,
doing their full duty, with credit to themselves and-
the State. The daring deeds of officers and men, the
hair-breadth escapes, the wounds, the deaths, the miser-
ies, the anguish, the courage, the hopes, the despair, the
triumphs — all these your memory recalls among these
scenes more vividly than brush could paint or pen
narrate. Sweet to you must be the proud conscious-
ness of having gone down into the valley of death
for your country's sake. And sweet to you particu-
larly must be the revived memories of this field
since you have been spared to witness the fruition
of its hardships and sorrows in a restored and peace-
ful Union.

To us of maturer age the battles of the Revolution
were firmly impressed in our memories as we read
their history, not by gas or electric light, but by
tallow candle, and we gazed long and intently at
the pictures of the heroes and heroic struggles of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 289

those days. The picture of " Old Put " riding down
the steep hill, Washington crossing the Delaware, all
in steel engraving, are vividly impressed on my
mind to-day. But no picture of the past is worthier
of an honored place in our memories than this of
to-day. Here are Sickles and Slocum and Butterfield
and Greene and other brave officers, and this mag-
nificent background of 7,000 New York veterans — all
joint participants in this fight for Union, and all
sharers in its glorious triumphs. Soon they, too, will
be in steel plate, and our children will revere and
remember them as we revere and remember those
who fought for our freedom and won it lOo years
ago.

We are here to-day as New Yorkers, bringing sad
but proud associations to the celebration of the deeds
of neighbors and kinsmen in a great national battle,
but we are on the territory of another State, and we
are here to turn over to the custody of another people
the monuments which our hands have built and which
our acts to-day dedicate. But not to strangers do we
confide this token of our love — not to people indifferent
to the sentiment which attaches to our action. The
blood of Pennsylvanians is mingled here with the
blood of New Yorkers. The memory of the battle is
sweetened with the thought of the Christian charity
which Pennsylvania's sons and daughters showed
towards the dead and injured on this field. Gentle
hands bound the wounds and ministered to the wants
of our mangled comrades. Sympathetic hearts sent to
many a sorrowing home the last messages of dying
19

290 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

soldiers. The deeds of valor in tlie battle were not
more memorable than the acts of self-sacrifice among
the sufferings of the -wounded. Charity here knew
neither State nor section, neither Union nor Confederate
soldiers, but suffused its tender mercies among all alike.

This is pre-eminently the battle-field of the nation.
Men of nearly every State participated in its action.
Nearly every State contributed to the exhibitions of
bravery, and no less brave were those who fought in
the Union army than those who followed the Con-
federate flag, and fought behind their superb leader,
General Lee. No charge in martial history was ever
more daring or courageous than that of Pickett's men.
It has an immortal place among military annals.

Around us sleep the dead of nearly every State.

The same green sod covers the grave of Union soldier

and Confederate soldier, and the firm texture which

nature has woven over the dead bodies of those who

were once in mortal conflict here, is symbolic of that

close feeling of affection, sympathy and respect which

now binds together the people of the north and south,

and forgets, in one common, fraternal and patriotic

impulse, the wrongs and injuries of days gone by. In

dedicating these monuments to our own heroes, we do

not forget or withhold the praise due to the heroes of

sister States, but in our exercises here merely reflect

the attachment and respect which extend to all. We

have always —

"Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray."

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 29 1

Standing here on this ground thirty years ago next
November, and consecrating this burying-place for the
dead, Abraham Lincoln, before the war was yet over,
in what has been called the most eloquent speech of
his life, gave utterance to these words:

" In a larger sense we can not dedicate — we can not
consecrate, we can not hallow — this ground. The
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or
detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here. It is for us, the living, rather to
be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
who fought here have thus far nobly advanced. It
is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great
task remaining before us — that from these honored
dead we take increased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure of devotion —
that we have highly resolved that these dead shall
not have died in vain — that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom — and that govern-
ment of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth."

To this solemn task no man gave truer devotion
than the great martyr who uttered the sad and
earnest injunction. Before the work was completed
he was taken away. He was only allowed to behold
a stricken nation, torn by dissension, wasted by war,
its integrity saved, but the embers of civil strife
still burning and complete reconciliation still invisible.
You, his associates in this task, have been spared to

292 PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

see its full accomplishment. To-day the civil war
is but a part of history. Time and the fraternal
instincts of one people have effaced all bitterness and
discord. Great as was the magnitude of the Rebellion
terrible as it was in its effect, the great lesson
which it taught was to future ages worth the teach-
ing and the memory which it left will be a perpetual
warning. For generations to come — let us hope,
forever — there can never be in this country another
civil war. The ties of friendship and love are now
too closely knit together to permit the arraying of
one section against another in deadly conflict. It
would be the everlasting shame of the United States
if, advanced as they are in civilization and with the
warning of the Rebellion behind them, they should
permit any difference of political opinion to lead
them to warfare. We are confronted with dangers,
but not from sectional conflicts. Peace and order
will be threatened, but such outbreaks must neces-
sarily be spasmodic, and the strong arm of the law
will be put forth to quell them. For this purpose
we must equip and m^ntain our citizen soldiers, our
State militias, in sufficient numbers and in proper
discipline. They are our mainstay against riot and
disorder. They were the first to rush to the defense
of the Union and were the nation's main reliance.
They must be maintained and encouraged, not for
the cultivation of a warlike spirit, but for the pre-
servation of peace and order. The existence of an
efficient militia prevents the engendering of disorder,
not by use of weapons, but by the moral presence

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 293

of military discipline and strength. We need our
militia to prevent riots as well as to suppress them.

The real dangers which confront us, however, are
not from martial conflicts or clash of arms. They
operate more insiduously. They sap our moral strength
and warp our political ideas. In the battle against
these enemies we are all soldiers under the same flag.
For our inspiration we come to these historic scenes
and drink anew the patriotism which springs from
noble deeds and brave words. If the immediate task
in which Lincoln invited your co-operation thirty
years ago is done, the banner of Liberty and Union
which he carried must still be held aloft, and the
nation which he and you defended must be preserved
from corruption and decay. In that work let the
memory of Gettysburg cheer us on, and make us all
true Americans consecrated to America's highest welfare.

Remarks of Governor Flower at the Dedication
OF THE Monument of the Excelsior Corps,
New York Volunteers, at Gettysburg, July 2,
1793-

Comrades :

I am especially glad to be with the members of the
Excelsior Corps and its gallant commander upon this
occasion. Your record in this great battle was a proud
one. The only criticism I have ever heard passed
upon your conduct is that you were too anxious to
fight. Indeed, if it had not been for your impetu-
osity there perhaps would not have been a battle of

294 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Gettysburg, with all that that implies. Your valor
at that time on this field turned the tide of the
rebellion, and what would have happened but for your
precipitation of the conflict here none of us can pre-
dict. Your corps deserves therefore a special place
in the history of Gettysburg, and the dead whom
this monument commemorates are deserving of the
grateful remembrance of the American people.

In these days, recalling the dangers and sufferings
which you brave soldiers incurred for your country
on this battlefield, we must all admit that no reward
of an appreciative country can be too generous for
her true defenders. We now and then read newspaper
criticisms of the government's liberality in the matter
of pensions to her veteran soldiers, but it seems to
me as I go over this battlefield and hear retold the
stories of these scenes that even the newspaper critic,
if he could have been on this ground and heard the
bullets whizzing around his head, if he could have
seen the brave acts of valor and the intense suffering,
if he could have seen the Union soldiers falling one
after another, and amid these surroundings had been
communicating to his paper hundreds of miles away,
I fancy that he might have telegraphed back : " Give
all surviving soldiers pensions, give their widows and
children pensions, give their grand-children pensions,
and if necessary give their hired girls pensions, but
for God's sake let me come home ! "

Comrades, I am glad to be here to show even in
this small way my appreciation of your courage and
your patriotism.

public papers of governor flower. 29s

Governor Flower's Remarks Before General
Greene's Brigade, Slocum's Corps, at Gulp's Hill,
Gettysburg, July 2, 1893.

Comrades :

It is not on the programme for me to make a
speech, so I will not occupy your time. You fought
in this battle and you fought well. You belonged
to the best disciplined army in the world. Unlike
the soldiers of Europe, who struggle for the honor of
princes and of kings, you fought to make your enemies
equal to you and to save for them and their children
their homes and their firesides, the blessed principles
of liberty. On this spot was the crisis of the national
life. This battle rolled back the top-most wave of
civic strife, and from east to west the lines moved
forward and on to victory. Time will do you justice
and this battle will be to your descendants a land-
mark in the records of your families. I wish you
all success and hope that each one of you may live
to be as old as your grand commander. General
Greene. I wish to God I had been here with you
myself. I know no better epitaph and could wish
none other written on my tomb when I am dead

than this :

" He was a Union soldier."

296 public papers of governor flower.

Remarks of Gov. Flower, July 3, 1893, at the
Dedication of the 44TH N. Y. Volunteers' Mon-
ument, on Little Round Top, Gettysburg.

Comrades :

I am glad to be with you on this historic ground
to-day. As I look over this field of battle I am
reminded that thirty years ago two civilizations met
here for mastery — that of Cavalier and that of
Roundhead: I am also reminded of a parallel in his-
tory. The Romans taught their sons to war and also
to till the ground. The Spartans taught their children
to war, while their slaves tilled the ground. Trace
the parallel as you will. You accomplished two pur-
poses — you emancipated the slaves and you saved the
Union. This hill stayed the flood-tide of the Con-
federacy. When you rolled Lee's army back you
little thought you had accomplished so much and
that so much depended upon the battle on this
ground. You fought better than you knew, for in
this battle you saved the Union of these States and
guaranteed human freedom throughout them forever.

You fought one of the great battles of history-
on this field and against men worthy of your steel.
You fought in a great cause. The soldiers of the
old world fought to make their rulers great. It was
said of Napoleon that

" His game was Empire,
His stakes were thrones,
His tables earth,
His dice were human bones."

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 297

But you fought to preserve this glorious Union —
to save this priceless legacy to the people and their
children forever.

The Confederacy, by coming to Antietam and Gettys-
burg, demonstrated that the republic is well founded,
and on the strongest possible pattern. The Germans,
knowing that J'rance was a centralized republic,
appointing its mayors of the different cities from
Paris, surrounded Paris and when it surrendered
France was prostrate in Germany's hands. The Eng-
lish captured Washington, but did not destroy the
republic. When the Confederates began to march on
Antietam and Gettysburg, in the northern States, in the
school districts, in the towns, villages and cities, we
just began to get mad, and marched to defend our
country, because the common school system had taught
all our citizens their duty to their country, and we
soon had the Confederates marching back towards
their homes. Our Government is like a monument —
we laid our foundation stones in the school district, and
so built up through town, city and State, that it is
firm and enduring as the rocks on which the conti-
nent rests.

There is room for but one flag in this country.
I am of the opinion that you and I, in our genera-
tion, or our children in theirs, will not have another
war, one section of the country with another. We
know the valor of the Southerners, and they know
ours. We are bound together by commercial inter-
ests and by ties cemented on the battlefield. We
know each other better now, and are one people.

298 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

A WELCOME TO TEACHERS.

Governor Flower's Address to the University
Convocation in the Senate Chamber, Albany,
July 5, 1893.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This is one of tlie few New York institutions I have
not heretofore had the pleasure of inspecting. I think
I may safely call it a New York institution, for the
Convocation has become a permanent feature of the
work of our so-called State University. You come
here every year under the auspices of the Regents of
the University, from academies, high schools, normal
schools, colleges and universities, to consult together
and get the benefit of each other's ideas on educa-
tional subjects. No more dignified body, representing
so much learning and intelligence, meets annually in
any part of the world. The teachers of New York
are a noble host — more essential to the State's welfare
than its National Guard — and when they assemble as
they do here from all parts of the State, representing all
kinds of schools and all kinds of ideas, but intent on
one great object — the diffusion of Knowledge and the
spread of Truth — they form an army of workers that
will put ignorance and materialism to ignominious flight.

On behalf of the State government, representing its
administrative departments, I bid you a hearty wel-
come to the capitol and to this chamber. I am sure
I speak the sentiments of my associates in the
administrative offices when I assure you of our

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 295

earnest wisli for your co-operation in advancing the
educational interests of our State. Our educational
machinery is unsurpassed, our liberality is almost
prodigal — let lis see that the opportunities which these
two essential factors present are taken advantage of in
producing the wisest results. Let us remember that
all learning is vain which does not tend to perfect
human character and advance civilization. The State
is not justified in taxing its inhabitants millions of
dollars every year for the benefit or scholarly advance-
ment of a few of its citizens, but this taxation and
expenditure must be employed to make learning
democratic, to make better citizens of us all and
more devoted patriots.

To the teachers of our youth we must look for
these results. Do not let your pupils make learning
their master, but their slave. Do not let them worship
it as a fetish, but teach them to regard it as the
servant of their highest comfort and success in life.
This is what distinguishes the learning of to-day
from the learning of past ages — that it is not for the
few but for the many, and that it is not an ornament,
an accomplishment, but a practical requirement in all
our daily struggles. We must adapt our teaching
therefore to these changed conditions — realizing that
it is to reach and permeate all classes of people, and
that it is worse than wasted if it does not help every
man in his daily occupation and make of them all
better citizens.

I am glad to bear testimony from knowledge gained
by personal visits to our institutions of learning that

3O0 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

this is -what our schools are trying to do, and I hope
it will continue. You are the workers in this modem
movement. You will find a keen sympathy from
legislative and administrative branches of government.
Your ideas and ours may not always agree — the
tendency of your lives and thoughts may lead too
much towards the theoretical, while our tendency may
be too much towards the practical. But we can not
ever be very far apart in our sympathies and objects,
and between the extreme views on either side we
ought to find a very desirable middle-ground of effort.

I am glad to welcome you here and to get
acquainted with you. It is a good thing for the
people to get acquainted with their official servants,
and it is an .equally good thing for the official ser-
vants to get acquainted with their masters, the people.
Both know each other better then, and in government
it is alienation rather than familiarity which breeds
contempt. We get the advantage of your ideas and
know better how to suit your wishes, and on the
other hand you perhaps begin to appreciate that
there are a great many people to please in as big
a State as this and you become a little more tolerant
towards those who have to do the pleasing.

I shall not detain you longer now, but hope to have
the pleasure of seeing you individually and welcoming
you more informally.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 3OI

CONFIDENCE IN SAVINGS BANKS.

Address of the Governor to Depositors During
A Run on the Jefferson County Savings Bank
AT Watertown, July 6, 1893.

Fellow Citizens :

I have examined the assets of this bank and find
that they have nearly $1,000,000 in good bonds and
mortgages on improved property at one-half its value.
The balance of their investments is in government
bonds. State, county and city bonds. When the State
agent examined this bank he found it in splendid
shape.

The bank has a surplus of $250,000. This belongs
to the depositors when it is divided. These officers
are merely your agents, and while they only allow
you four per cent, interest, the amount they get for
their money over that sum, after paying the secre-
tary and teller, etc., goes to the surplus fund and is
your money when thought wise to divide it. I know
whereof I speak, and after having carefully examined
the condition of the bank, I say I would advise you not
to withdraw one dollar, unless you actually need it.

In panicky times like these; when the people all
want their money, you by your actions force the
banks to keep a larger amount on hand than usual.
To get this money the bank officials have to refuse
to loan money on mortgages and also refuse to loan
it on commercial paper, and, therefore, you restrict
trade and thereby throw labor out of employment.

302 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

To illustrate what this bank is, suppose that each
of you has twenty dollars, you place it in a bank,
with it the banker buys good bonds or discounts a
note for some merchant or takes a mortgage on some
farm, afterwards you demand your money from the
bank ; by your action you force the bank to fore-
close on the mortgages held by it ; the merchant is
compelled to pay his note or suspend business and
the bank is forced to dispose of its bonds. Thus,
by your action in this instance in demanding money
which you do not want, you are forcing the fore-
closure of mortgages and driving men from their
homes and compelling the suspension of business
industries generally.

When you know that this bank is perfectly solid
and has good security for all of your money and a
surplus of $250,000, I do not believe that you will
desire to draw any more than you actually need.

THE STATE'S CHARITIES.

Extract from Governor Flower's Remarks at the
Teachers' Picnic at Summit, Schoharie County,
August it, 1893.

The teachers of New York State form a noble host.
They comprise an army of workers more than twice
as large as our National Guard. Their influence for
the preservation of order and the observance of law,
though differently exercised from that of the military-
body, is even more potent. The spread of education

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 303

promotes the cause of good order and makes military
organization less necessary. Essential as the existence
of a well-equipped and -well-trained citizen militia is
to a State, it is even more essential that the causes of
social disorder — ignorance and vice — should be pre-
vented by the thorough diffusion of learning and
religion among the people. This is the broad field
in -which our teachers have to -work. It is a glorious
mission — - full of great opportunities, but attended also
-with vast responsibilities. The -workers in it cannot
fail, ho-wever, if the keynote of their influence and
instruction is the promotion of patriotic citizenship
and the highest -welfare of society. If the influence of
education is to make men and -women less patriotic, to
cause them to take any less interest in public affairs
or to shirk any responsibilities of citizenship, then the
State is -wasting its money in its liberal efforts to
afford proper instruction for its youth.

The educational system of our State has attained a
remarkable development. T-wenty-six million dollars
all told were spent in educational purposes last year.
This is more than is expended in any other State
in the Union. Of this amount $19,000,000 was for
common schools and $7,000,000 for the higher edu-
cation furnished by academies, colleges, universities,
and technical and professional schools. Fifteen mil-
lions were raised by local- and State taxation, and
more than half of all our State tax during the past
two years was for school purposes. We paid last
year nearly $12,000,000 in wages to common school
teachers.

304 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

I mention these figures to give you an idea of
the important place which education holds among the
energies of government, State and local. With so
great an expenditure great results should certainly
be expected. These, I think, we may readily per-
ceive. We have a population of high intelligence
generally diffused. When one thinks of the hun-
dreds of thousands of foreign immigrants who seek
this land of liberty through the gates of our harbor,
and never see more of it than is contained within
the borders of the Empire State, he might be jus-
tified in fearing that the influx of so varied and
sometimes so -findesirable a population would seriously
contaminate our society and imperil good government.
But this danger is averted by influences which prevail
in the opposite direction. The ignorant immigrant, or
the immigrant with perverted notions of government,
in his daily occupation rubs up against intelligent and
cdmmon sense American workmen, imbued with the
spirit of our institutions, and the effect of the con-
tact is to gradually transform the new-comer into a
good citizen. But more powerful still is the influ-
ence of our common schools upon the children of
foreign birth. The inspiration of a free country,
where all raen have equal rights and privileges, and
the enthusiasm for American ideas instilled into
youthful minds by the teachers in our public schools,
permit no seeds of socialism and anarchy to find root
here. It is the glory of our State and its educational
system that amid such adverse conditions good order
and good government are so universal and so con-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERsVOR FLOWER. 305

tinuous. Let us watch lest no false ideas or relaxed
attention invite mal-administration or social disorders.
Let our common school system breathe forth sturdy
American ideas, inspiring all youth to give their best
energies for proriioting the highest civilization and
encouraging the highest type of citizenship.

Let me digress somewhat from the subject of State
educational effort to speak of another field of gov-
ernmental activity. I refer to our system of public
charities. Few persons are aware of the extent of
the development in this direction during recent
years. I allude now not to the innumerable institu-
tions established for charitable purposes by private
beneficence or naunicipal taxation, but solely to those
objects of charitable endeavor promoted and main-
tained by State appropriations. If the development
of her charities is the test of a State's civilization,
then the Empire State must easily lead all the rest.
Ten years ago the expenditures for these purposes
were coraparatively light. To-day they are one of
the greatest burdens of our annual budget. Gradu-
ally and quite insidiously one institution after another
has been added to the list of the beneficiaries of
State taxation, until to-day there are not less than
thirty "institutions of a charitable nature which are
supported in whole or in part by State appropriations.
During the legislative session recently ended, appro-
priations for these institutions reached the enormous
sum of $4,200,000, and this amount would have been
considerably increased had the law-making body con-
20

306 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

sented to the establisiiinent of yet other institutions
demanded by influential associations of citizens.

These figures in their aggregate were a surprise
to me, I confess, and I take it they will be to most
of you. They are even more suggestive when com-
pared with other State expenditures. Four million
dollars are nearly half the total appropriations for
general purposes of government. Take out of the
annual budget the appropriations for schools, chari-
ties and canals, and the remainder would be an
insignificant sum. The charities alone require greater
taxation than the schools by a million dollars, greater
than the canals and all public improvements by at
least two million dollars. The time has come when
we must scrutinize most closely every new demand
to increase this burden, and inquire carefully into
expenditures for this purpose.

Let me give you some figures for the last fiscal
year that will give you a more vivid idea of what
the State is doing for the helpless classes of its popu-
lation. We expended for the insane over $1,000,000;
for the deaf and dumb in seven asylums, $188,000; for
the blind, $83,000 ; for the State Board of Charities in
administrative work, $54,000 ; for various reformatory
institutions (not under the department of prisons),
$793,000 ; for feeble-minded children, $86,000 ; for
feeble-minded women, $5,000, and for miscellaneous
purposes, in addition to those enumerated, several
hundred thousand dollars. But the expenditures last
year were considerably less than they will be here-
after, for beginning next October the State assumes

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 3°7

the care of all its pauper insane and must, therefore,
provide an additional tax sufficient to yield nearly a
million and a-half of dollars.

I would be the last to lift my voice against reason-_
able magnanimity on the part of the State towards
the helpless and unfortunate creatures among our
fellow-men. The love which prompts a great State to
stretch out its merciful hand to these unfortunates is
an exhibition of advanced civilization and a laudable
indication of the growth of Christianity. And in
anything I have to say on this subject I beg you
will not accuse me of any feelings of opposition to
state thoughtfulness and effort of this kind. But in
grouping together these figures and presenting them
to your attention in the aggregate, I desire first to
attract your thought to their enormity and then to
indicate how by lax legislation or insufficient safe-
guards around administration many thousands of dol-
lars may be wasted and the good which the charity
aims at be not attained in the fullest measure. It is
poor charity indeed which is prodigal of resources and
barren of the be^t results. Custodians of the public
welfare would be unworthy of their trusts if they
refused to insist that business principles should char-
acterize the administration of the State charities as
well as that of its public improvements.

As has been pointed out, these various institutions
of a charitable or reformatory character have not
been established in accordance with any systematic
plan. They have been spasmodic in their growth
and quite independent in their action. Some have

308 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

no accountability to the State whatever. Others are
managed by local boards of honorary officials, who
may or may not take an active interest in the admin-
istration. I think if there is any conviction which our
political experience has forced home to us it is that
where public money or public energy is to be
expended there must be official accountability and
direct responsibility. These two conditions of good
and economical administration are to a great extent
lacking in our present system of State charities. The
dangers of extravagance and mal-administration arising
from this la6k are real and should be averted. The
enormous development of our system of charities and
its increasing burden upon the taxpayers demand that
there should be immediate reform in this direction.

I take pleasure in saying in this connection that the
great task which the State has this year assumed in
the care of the pauper insane has been placed upon a
proper basis and is open to none of these objections.
The law has been carefully drafted to secure both
economical and efficient administration. Every proper
safeguard has been placed around the purchase and
use of hospital supplies. A careful system of audit
has been provided and no extravagance or mis-
appropriation of money can occur except through the
connivance of a large number of officials. While each
great hospital has its local board of managers, one
central commission exercises general supervision and
control. Had these safeguards not been imposed the
entire system might have been jeopardized by extrava-
gant or loose administration.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 309

I should say further in this connection that while
the assumption of this charge by the State imposes
additional burdens of State taxation it will be an
actual saving to all but four counties in the State.
This arises from the fact that New York and Kings
counties do not avail themselves of the act, and not
'only pay for the care of their own insane but a
large share of the expense of maintaining the State
insane besides. This makes a saving to fifty-six
counties of the State of about fifty per cent, as com-
pared with the cost to them under the old state of
things. Schoharie county will save about $6,000 by
the change. These savings will be welcomed by the
taxpayer in these hard times.

NEW YORK AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

Remarks of Governor Flower at the Celebration
OF " New York Day," World's Columbian
Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, September 4, 1893.

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Commission and Fellow-
Citizens of New York and Other States :

We came here nearly a year ago, representing the
Empire State, to dedicate this building to the pur-
poses of the Exposition. We brought with us our
best wishes for the great success of the national
enterprise, and we pledged our best efforts for the
accomplishment of that end. To-day we have returned
to witness the result of your labor and ours — to

310 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

celebrate a triumph made possible by the stupendous
enterprise of this western metropolis and shared
■without jealousy by the people of the entire country.
If, upon this occasion, devoted particularly to the
celebration of New York achievement, we congratu-
late ourselves also on New York's part in the work
and the triumph, our fellow-citizens of other States
will, I am sure, indulge us in our felicitations and
justify our enthusiasm, for they cannot have seen
much of this Fair if they have not detected the
prominent place which New York has taken in it.

This whole magnificent and unrivalled Exposition
has been held .to commemorate the discovery of
Columbus that opened a new world to civilization
and a new home to freedom. It is, therefore, fitting
that the day which the Empire State has chosen as
her own at the Exposition should mark the date in
her history which connects her with the achieve-
ments of another great navigator. It was on the 3d
of September, 1609, that Henry Hudson, in command
of the "Half Moon," dropped anchor inside of Sandy
Hook and began that memorable exploration which
prepared the way for coming commerce and marked
the path by which was to be developed the future
wealth and greatness of the State of New York. It
was a short cut to the Indies that Hudson sought;
it was a highway into the heart of a new continent,
destined to become richer than the Indies, that he
found. Baffled and disappointed, a victim to the
treachery of his own crew, Hudson died, leaving
the profitless search for a north-west passage to Asia

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 WER. 3 1 1

to serve as a lure for adventurous navigators for full
200 years more. But the commerce for which he
prepared the home at the mouth of the noble river
which bears his name was not long in becoming a
solid fact, and it is to-day one of the most notable
manifestations of human enterprise on the face of
the globe.

There is abundant evidence of the extent and
variety of the trade of New York to be found in
the contents of the beautiful buildings in this ^ark.
Out of all the 176 groups of the Exposition classifi-
cation, there are very few in which some New Yorker
does not exhibit, and in most of them the New
York exhibits fix the standard of display. Representa-
tive firms from New York are in the front rank of
exhibitors in every commercial department of this
Exposition ; the artists of ■ New York stand for the
major part of American achievement in painting and
sculpture, and the State has come in as an exhibitor
here on a scale worthy of its imperial status. I had
occasion to say in this building on the twenty-second
of October last, that New York would join this con-
gress of nations, bringing the best she has of tlie
bounty of nature and the art of man. I outlined
the character of the display which the State proposed
to make in seven of the great departments of the
Exposition, and, I am happy to say, we have been
able to do all and more than all that we promised.
There is no more complete and carefully classified
presentation of the farm products of any State than
is to be found in the New York pavilion in the

312 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERN'OR FLOWER.

Agricultural Building. It has been a revelation to
the western visitor to find how vast and varied is the
range of the field crops of New York and how well
fitted most of them are to stand comparison with the
very best which the ■ country has to show. From
its cereal crops to its tobacco, from the beans in
whose production it excels all the rest of the Union
to its hops, its flax and its grasses, New York's
display of agricultural wealth has been among the
surprises of the Exposition.

In the Agricultural building, New York has also
made a unique exhibit of apiculture. Here may be
found several colonies of bees actively at work and
passing in and out of the building to bring their spoil
from the flowers of the wooded island, or of the parks
and fields far beyond the limits of the Exposition.
Here too may be seen the fruit of the labors of the
bee from the comb all through the series of its
ingenious conversions into articles of food or medicine.
As the greatest dairy State in the Union, New York
has an exhibit commensurate with the importance of
its butter and cheese product, and the nine millions of
pounds of its annual wool clip do not lack adequate
representation. The native and naturalized trees of
this State have never been shown as they are here.
It is equal to an education in forestry to study the
transverse, radial and tangential sections. of the trees of
New York represented by io6 species, and illustrated
by photographs and pressed or artificial specimens of
leafage, flower 'and fruit. And, if the pre-eminence
of New York in the production of fruit and flowers

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 313

has ever been doubted, it will not again be called in
question after seeing.^the long procession of her garden,
greenhouse and orchard growths, which has unfolded
itself here from week to week and month to month.
In the scope, beauty and extent of its floral display
New York has been admittedly first among the States.
It has planted an old-fashioned flower garden and it
has made a fine orchid display. From the great bay
trees at the main entrances of the Horticultural Build-
ing to the aquatic plants in the basin of the fountain,
from the fancy beddings which it has kept filled at
the side of the building to the roses and rhododendrons
on the wooded island. New York is represented every-
where that there is foliage or bloom in the beautiful
park before us. Of all the fruits grown in this country,
save only the semi-tropical kinds, New York has shown
a greater number of varieties than any other State,
and of grapes and their products it has made a showing
worthy of a commonwealth whose grape crop has a
higher cash value than that of any other in the Union.
Though New York does not rank as a mining State,
its mineral products are rich and varied. Its clay
alone supplies the raw material for a brick industry
worth eight millions and a-half a year. Neither
money nor pains has been spared to make an adequate
display in the department of mines and mining, and
the State has installed in its pavilion here a very fine
exhibit of building stones, clays and sands, of limestone
and marl, gypsum and brine and rock salt, iron ores,
shale, graphite, feldspar, quartz, garnet and talc. The
petroleum product of the State is represented as well

314 P UBUC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

as its world-famous mineral waters. It has erected an
obelisk showing the whole series of its geological
formations, and it has sent from the State Museum a
scientific collection of minerals the result of years of
careful selection and of the highest educational value.
To the botanical exhibit it has contributed a rare
collection of edible and poisonous fungi, and to the
zoological exhibit that unique specimen known as the
Cohoes mastodon and a collection of the land and
fresh water shells and of the mammals of the State.
Por the illustration of the aboriginal life of the
continent, New York has sent representatives of the six
tribes of the Iroquois confederacy with their long
house wigwams, canoes and characteristic occupations,
customs and ceremonies. The physical contour of the
State is shown in the mining building in a superb
relief map, and its canal system is delineated on
another relief map in the transportation building. In
the same section is the illustrative material showing
the railroad system of the State in all its ramifications.
By land and water New York remains what nature has
made it — the gateway of the continent.

One-seventh of the entire space devoted to educa-
tional exhibits in the Department of Liberal Arts is
occupied by New York. At its entrance hangs a map
which indicates the reason of this proud pre-eminence,
for on it may be found marked the location and grade
of every school and college in the State, figured by dots,
which are as the stars of the heaven for multitude.
From the kindergarten to the university, the whole
scheme of education is represented here. There are

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 31$

sj^dmens of the simplest kind of manual training,
and examples of the highest forms of intellectual
exercise. The school work is classified grade by grade,
and shows in successive groups the nature, appliances
and results of the system by which' the State pre-
serves its ^citizenship from the blight of illiteracy.
The growth and development of the school system
of the State for the last twenty-five years may be
studied in statistical charts, and, from a complete
collection of text books to the phonographic repro-
duction of musical work, no detail has been omitted
by which the world may judge of the value of New
York's contribution to the education of the people of
the United States. The business colleges of the State
make a good showing, and there is a fine collective
exhibit of the New York City Art Schools, the Art
Students' League and other institutions of similar
scope. Conspicuous among the exhibits of schools
devoted to manual and technological instruction
is that of the Pratt Institute, of Brooklyn, and
the unique product known as the Chautauqua system
of education is amply and ably illustrated here.
There is no older school system in the country than
that of New York, and there is no part of its civil
organization of which it is more justly proud.

The great work which New York State and its
civil subdivisions do for the relief of pauperism, for
the care of the insane and the education of the
defective classes, has been demonstrated at this
Exhibition as it has never been before. The whole
range of activity of the charitable, correctional and

3 1 6 P UBLIC PA PERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 WER.

reformatory institutions of the State has been shown
in a way which makes the subject clearer than
volumes of reports could do. It is the boast of our
Christian civilization that it cares for those whom
pagan civilization neglected. The private and public
beneficence of New York transcends all limitations
of sect or creed, and its graphic delineation here may
well challenge the attention of the world.

In all the work of woman at the Fair the women
of New York have done their full share. They have
decorated and furnished the library in the Women's
Building ; they have been the largest contributors to
its exhibit of works of art, and its collection of articles
of historical interest. The trained nurses exhibit was
made under the supervision of the New York Board of
Women Managers, and the New York cooking school
exhibit was organized under their auspices. They have
installed one of the most interesting and instructive
exhibits of the Fair in a grouping of the results of the
education of the women of the Afro-American race.
The representatives of the women of New York at the
Columbian Exposition have shown in every field of
effort which has been open to them their characteristic
capacity, enterprise and far-reaching sympathy with all
that is best and noblest in human effort.

New York has built two houses at the Fair. One is
the palatial structure before us, a fitting representa-
tion of the dignity and opulence of the Empire State.
The other is a humble structure at the opposite end
of the park destined to show how a workingman and
his family may be enabled to live with due regard to

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 3 1 7

the requirements of sanitation and healthful nutri-
ment for five hundred dollars a year. The house in
which we stand has been one of the sights of the
Fair.' It has been a matter of pride to every New
Yorker visiting Jackson Park that the headquarters
of his State were so beautiful, so commodious and
so popular. He has found here the conveniences of
a club, the educating influence of a museum, and the
rest and refreshment of a summer villa. The true
attitude of the people of New York toward this Expo-
sition has nowhere been more fitly represented than
in the superb proportions and princely magnificence
of this their State house of call. But if this be New
York's idea of the regal attire which befits her as a
guest at the table of nations, the other edifice — the
model workingman's home — is no less typical of her
care for the welfare of the lowly and her sense that
the qualities which' go to make her great are those
which are nourished in the homes of the toilers.

And, for all this and more than I have been able
to specify in detail, New York has had her reward.
Judged by the most practical standard, the foremost
commercial State of the Union could afford to be
represented here generously, even lavishly. Her pro-
ducers and merchants could not if they would have
been swayed by any narrow sectional prejudice, and
it would have been foreign to all the history and
alien to every great tradition of the State to have
left any question about the frank and friendly rivalry
with which it sought to enhance the glories of the
Columbian Exposition. That has been recognized by

31 8 fUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

&-si&i:y visitor to the Fair, and by none more cordi-
ally than by this great, progressive and whole-souled
■western people with whose interests our own are so
closely bound. Their triumph here has been largely
ours, and in their satisfaction with the grand, the
world-famous result, we can participate not only with-
out jealousy but with the calm assurance that we have
done our full share toward rendering it immortal.
Had the Fair, as most of us hoped, been held within
our own borders, there would have been no grudging,
halting co-operation from the west. Carried out as
it has been on a scale more splendid and more com-
prehensive than we had ever dreamed of, it is a
proud satisfaction to be able to say on behalf of
New York, " We are in it as no other State is ; we
are of it as no other State could be ; we shall come
out of it with laurels which will be among the most
cherished of our possessions, and the most enduring
part of the legacy which the Empire State of to-day
will transmit to the remotest posterity."

I cannot close without adding my contribution to
the many tributes of respect that have been paid
to the memory of the late Donald McNaughton, the
chief executive officer of the Board of General Man-
agers of the State Exhibit. No man could have
worked more assiduously, more laboriously than he
did in preparing for an adequate representation of
the State at the Columbian Exposition. With every
detail of the process he was familiar, and no one
can have felt more genuine satisfaction with the
result. His whole public career was marked by

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 3 1 9

absolute devotion to the interests of those whom he
represented, and he brought to the discharge of his .
duties, in connection with this Fair, a self-sacrificing
conscientiousness which is not so common as to pass
without special notice. The State is fortunate which
can command the services of such men; the State is
great which, out of the ranks of its citizenship, can
at all times summon such men to assume public
responsibilities. Donald McNaughton was a genuine
son of New York, and his pride in his native State
was of that noble kind which made him ambitious
to add to its historic lustre. The career of such a
man is a legacy of which the income never ceases
to grow. For the example which he set and the
public spirit which he diffused survive him in the
lives of those who came within the sphere of his
influence, and so, in ever-widening circles, the impulse
derived from a good man's life helps the work of
regenerating the world. Mr. McNaughton lived long
enough to see the fruit of his labors here and died
amid the very triumphs which he helped to create.
There will be no need to fear about the future of
New York while it is served by men so capable, so
disinterested and so patriotic as Donald McNaughton.

320 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

NEW YORKERS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the Reception
Tendered to him in the New York State Build-
ing, Columbian Exposition Grounds, Chicago,
BY the Sons of New York in Chicago,
September 5, 1893.

Gentlemen :

In my remarks in this building yesterday I
did not allude to the most important exhibit
which the State of New York has in this great
White City. I purposely withheld mention of it
for this occasion. This exhibit is not formally a part
of the Exposition ; it is not installed in any particular
place; it does not come before any jury of awards — but
the visitor encounters it all over these grounds. It is
visible in the architecture of the best of these beautiful
buildings and in the wonderful landscape setting which
has helped so much to reveal their beauty. It was
prominent in the energy and business ability which
made the success of the Exposition assured. It is
found in the administration of all the great depart-
ments of the Fair. It is represented here to-night in
this hospitable home in . numbers and in enthusiasm,
and I ask you is there any finer exhibit than the spirit
and presence of the Sons of New York?

I did not expect you would answer yes. Everywhere
the sons and daughters of the Empire State are
leaders. Everywhere in this broad land they reflect
credit and praise upon the home of their nativity.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 32 1

The energy, ability and progressiveness which have
made their native State the first in wealth and intelli-
gence and population and material resources have made
her sons foremost in building up the civilization and
prosperity of every section of the country. This
marvelous western metropolis which most of you have
made your adopted home is New York's grandchild.
New York made possible Chicago's great growth when
she opened through her territory the Erie Canal,
thereby connected the seaboard with the prairie and
provided all-water transportation for the products of
the west. The importance of that bold and stupendous
achievement in the development of the west cannot
be over-estimated. In the States around the shores of
the Great Lakes are congregated now fully half the
people of the nation. The same waters flow past
the borders of eight powerful states, linking them all
in one commercial fraternity, with common interests
and ambitions. Into this rich and resourceful region —
now the busiest and most productive of any similar
geograpical extent in the land — New York sent out
her sons in great numbers. They have plunged into
its industries and business. They have helped build
its great cities and create its enormous wealth. They
have aided in the establishment of its schools and
churches and in all that has conserved to advance its
ideals of civilization. You who are here to-day — the
Sons of New York in Chicago — know better than I
can tell you what hardships were gone through, what
obstacles were overcome, but we of the East do know
21

322 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

what victories you have won and what undreamed-of
success your efforts have attained. And when we
reflect in how large a part are these victories and this
success due to the Sons of the Empire State, we are
more than ever convinced that the motto of our fore-
fathers which is emblazoned on our escutcheon is no
empty language but the constant aim and hope of a
splendid race wherever they are found — Excelsior !

I need not say we are particularly glad to meet our
Chicago relatives to-night. We feel that it is largely
owing to your efforts not only that the Columbian
Exposition is so great a success but that New York
has been able to occupy so prominent a part in it. I
am sure I voice the sentiment of the New York
managers as well as that of the State officers and the
citizens for whom I speak when I give testimony to
the uniform courtesy and good will which have marked
the attitude of the managers of the Exposition towards
our State. We feel that for this kind treatment and
consideration we are in no small degree indebted to
the Sons of New York in Chicago. It was your
loyalty to your native State, your pride in its
resources and your love for its pre-eminence, that have
smothered all jealousies, smoothed out. all difficulties
and enabled New York and its people to be adequately
represented in this greatest of International Expositions.
As Governor of New York I am glad of this oppor-
tunity to thank you on behalf of the State for your
splendid services and to meet here personally those
who have proved themselves true and noble Sons of
the Empire State.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 323

THE STATE CANALS.

Extract from Governor Flower's remarks at the
Lewis County Fair, Lowville, September 13,
1893.

I want to say a word to you to-day about the canals.
This is a subject which comes quite directly home to
you, and that is the reason I' want to talk to you about
it. Lewis county, unlike Jefferson county where I have
lived, and unlike many other counties not on the line
of the State canals, is supposed to be what is called a
canal county and not to cherish the opinion that it
would be wiser policy for the State to abandon the
Erie canal than to continue lavish appropriations in a
vain attempt to promote its usefulness. Such a senti-
ment, though not taking so extreme a form, perhaps,
has always been more or less manifest in various parts
of the State, and has been the cause of sharp divisions
at the polls and in the Legislature. To stich an extent
has the canal question been prominent in State politics
that it has in some quarters been regarded a delicate
subject for Executive allusion. But the people have a
right to expect frankness and honesty in public officials,
and there is no public question which I am afraid to
discuss frankly with the intelligent people of this State.
Believing as I do in the maintenance of the canals I
have no hesitation in saying so even among their
opponents. This is a big State and a patriotic people,
and if State officials and the people can't exchange
ideas on live public topics our style of government

324 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

must be a failure. We are all stockholders in this
enterprise of government and it is a good thing to get
together now and then and talk matters over.

Sectional opposition to the canals began with the
first suggestion for their construction at public expense,
and has continued ever since. While the project of
building the Erie canal was under discussion in the
early part of the century, a member of Assembly from
Delaware county declared that such a waterway would
ruin the farmers of his locality by enabling western
farmers to compete with them, and this cry was taken
up by the representatives from the northern and
southern counties and by those even from the counties
along the Hudson. So great was the opposition that
the canal could probably not have been built, had the
expense not been provided for by indirect taxation and
by assessments on the counties along the proposed
route, an assessment of $250,000 being levied on the
lands twenty-five miles each side of the canal. The
counties off the proposed route could not object on the
ground of taxation, for they were not taxed to build
the canals, but their great fear then was from western
agricultural competition.

This was undoubtedly a short-sighted opposition.
The western competition was sure to come sooner or
later. It could not be stopped. The western country
was opening up and its produce must find an outlet
to the seaboard. The question presented was whether
that outlet should be through the borders of New
York State, or whether the enormous wealth of the
west should flow through Canada and down the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 325

Mississippi. It was a critical time for New York.
The future was vividly forecast by DeWitt Clinton
when he gave reasons to the Legislature why the
Erie canal should be built. "The trade," he said, "will
be turned from Montreal and New Orleans, to which
places it has begun to flow, agriculture will find a
ready sale for its products, manufacturers a vent for
their fabrics and commerce a market for its com-
modities. It will make New York the greatest
commercial city in the world. Villages, towns and
cities will line the banks of the canal and the shores
of the Hudson from Erie to New York. ' The wilder-
ness and solitary places will become glad and the
desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose.' It will
cheapen the cost of manufactured articles to those
residing in the remote portions of the State." Clin-
ton's prediction has in great part been realized, and
the commercial history of the last seventy-five years
has shown quite conclusively that New York would
not now be enjoying her commanding place among
the States had she failed to seize this opportunity
of bringing the agricultural wealth of the continent
to her feet. Even her great natural resources would
not have insured her supremacy. The Erie canal
undoubtedly injured our agriculture by hastening the
development of the west, but without the Erie canal
the same disastrous competition would have been felt
in time and we would not then have had the com-
pensating advantages which the canal has given us.

The immediate result of the canals, however, even
from the agricultural point of view, was beneficial

326 PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

to the farming communities. The improved means
of transportation and communication attracted thou-
sands of people, and great new areas of agricultural .
land were cleared and settled. The population in
the counties remote from the canals made rapid
increase. In Chautauqua, from 1814 to 1835, it rose
from 4,200 to 44,000 ; in Allegany, from 3,800 to
35,000; in St. Lawrence, from 8,200 to 42,000. So
popular were the canals immediately after their con-
struction that petitions were sent to the Legislature
from all parts of the State for additional waterways.
Fear of western competition in agriculture is now
no longer a reason for opposition to the canals.
The farmers of the State recognize that it is much
too late to attempt to check that. Even if the Erie
canal were filled up, the competition would be as
great. The form of the opposition now is an
expression against general taxation for the support
and improvement of the canals, when the benefits of
such an expenditure are not shared by counties
remote from the canals. Even were this statement
true, advocates of the canals could, with justice, ask
for liberal appropriations, for up to the present time
the Erie canal has paid to the State more in actual
cash than the State has expended for the canal.
The balance in favor of the canal was $42,000,000
up to the time tolls were abolished in 1882. Now
it is considerably less, but still a credit balance.
But the assumption is not true that the benefits of
the canals are not shared by all the people in the
State. Every dollar added to the valuation of the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 32/

cities directly benefited by the canals increases by so
much the wealth of the entire State and decreases
the rate of taxation. In 1824, the year before the
Erie canal was opened, twenty-five so-called anti-canal
counties paid eighteen per cent, of the State taxes.
Now, although their aggregate valuation has increased
tenfold, they only pay eleven per cent, of the State
taxes and most of them get that proportion back in
school money. Here is a direct and practical illus-
tration of the benefit to the so-called anti-canal
counties by the adoption of a broad scheme of public
policy. You taxpayers in Lewis county paid a little
less than five-tenths of one per cent, of the State
taxes in 1 824 ; now you pay less than two-tenths of
one per cent. Your saving is nearly two-thirds.

But the canals give direct benefit to all parts of
the State otherwise than by adding to the wealth
of the counties through which they pass and thereby
reducing the taxes elsewhere. They not only regu-
late freight rates on most articles coming into the
State and consumed by its inhabitants, thereby cheap-
ening the cost, but they are powerful regulators of
freight rates on internal traffic. This is a fact some-
times overlooked. Nearly half the total tonnage of
the canals is of so-called way freight — freight taken
at different points along the canals between Buffalo
and New York — much of which undoubtedly comes
to the distributing points from the interior. This
consists chiefly of wheat, corn, lumber, coal, rye, oats,
potatoes, apples, . etc., — all of which carried last year
was valued at upwards of $75,000,000 and weighed

328 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

1,824,000 tons. Probably the saving in freight rates
on way freight alone would more than pay the annual
expenditures for the canal.

If the canals regulate and cheapen freight on internal
commerce within the State, there is more reason
than ever before why their maintenance is essential
to the agricultural sections of the State. Modern
influences are rapidly changing our agricultural con-
ditions. We must give up the vain attempt to
compete with the west in raising wheat and corn,
and devote our energies to those products in which
there is a profit to our farmers. There was a time
when the State supplied most of the food products
which its people consumed. Now it is estimated
that the State does not produce more than a quarter
of the food products it consumes. We must increase
this proportion by changing our crops and our
agricultural methods to suit modern conditions. These
conditions include rapidly increasing centers of popu-
lation — demanding greater and greater quantities and
more and more kinds of food which our lands can
more easily supply than those of other States. These
are the markets our farmers must strive for — six
and a half million people to be fed. We will get
our flour and corn-meal more cheaply from the west
than you can give it to us. But our butter, and
milk, and cheese, and fruits, and vegetables and so
on, you can supply better and more cheaply than
the people of any other State. There is almost
unlimited scope for your efforts in this direction.
Under these changed conditions farming can be made

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 329

once more a profitable, as it has always been an
honorable pursuit. Farm lands will increase in value
and farm products will find ready sale. When agri-
culture is thus thoroughly adapted to present condi-
tions, it will be to the interest of all engaged in
that occupation to encourage the development of our
cities in wealth and population, so that there may
be more mouths to feed and more appetites to satisfy.
All that conduces to that end — canals, railways, good
roads and other public improvements which promote
prosperity — should be encouraged by farmers as well
as by the inhabitants of our cities. Not only will
they increase the farmers' market, but they will fur-
nish him with those improved means of communica-
tion which are absolutely essential to the supply of
these markets. It is a pleasant prospect to look
forward to, when a new life shall have sprung up
in our farming communities and a busy, contented
rural population shall be profitably engaged in minis-
tering 'to the wants of the inhabitants of hundreds
of rich towns and cities within our borders — people
of all sections brought into close relation with each
other by waterways, railroads and good highways,
and all employed harmoniously in advancing the
Empire State's proud supremacy.

As much now as ever before in her history does the
State of New York need the maintenance of substan-
tial waterways. The same danger threatens her
supremacy now which threatened three-quarters of a
century ago and led to the construction of the Erie
canal. The opening of that great waterway turned

33° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

the tide of commerce towards our gates. To-day
Canada, perceiving the success of that experiment,
aspires to contest with us for the traffic of the great
lakes, and unless we are alert much of it may be
turned from us. We have done too much for the
development of the west to sit supinely by and let
others reap the best of the rewards. There is no
parallel in history to the rapid increase of wealth
and population which has marked the progress of
the country around the great lakes in less than
seventy-five years. In the States upon the shores of
the great lakes there are nearly thirty millions of
people, almost half the total population of the nation.
The industrial and commercial capacity of that produc-
tive and populous region is almost unlimited, and the
natural pathway of its products is now and must
ever be through the great lakes to the east. Rail-
roads alone cannot carry all the product of this
region ; development would be checked if dependence
was alone on the railways. But railways and water-
ways together, not antagonistic, but mutually essential,
will year by year carry increasing burdens from
these treasuries of wealth to the seaboard and take
back the products which our industries supply in
return. The great wheat fields of the world are
located in this region. The most valuable deposits
of iron and copper are there, and the mineral wealth
of Idaho and Montana are just beyond. The tonnage
of commerce which passed through the lakes in 1889 is
said to have been ten millions greater than the
combined entries and clearances of all the seaports

PUBLIC PAPERS OF CO VERNOR FLO WER. 331

of the United States, and three millions greater than
the combined entries and clearances of Liverpool
and London.

These figures are stupendous, and no wonder Great
Britain is reaching out her hands to grasp part of
this great traffic. Canada has already spent upwards
of $60,000,000 in improving and building canals. She
is building a new canal through her territory at the
Sault Ste. Marie and is making a clear, fourteen feet
channel all the way from Lake Superior through the
Welland canal and the St. Lawrence river to the sea.
The United States government is deepening the
channels through the lakes to twenty feet. It is,
therefore, more than ever the interest of New York
to develop the carrying trade of the Erie canal so
that as large a share as possible of this rich traffic
may come through our borders, enriching our State
and giving employment to its people.

How shall this be done?

The canals of the State carry now on the average
about five million tons a year. This is more than
half the tonnage passing through the Suez canal,
but it is not more than half the present capacity
of our canals. This is in spite of the fact that the
boating facilities have been increased by the expen-
diture of about $3,000,000 during the last seven years
in lengthening the locks so that two boats could
pass through the locks at the same time. That
improvement, it was supposed, would be a great
boon to the canals, but it has not proved so, although
all but eleven of the locks which it is feasible to

332 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOJR FLOWER.

enlarge have been remodeled in accordance witli the
plan. It has been suggested and is now urged quite
strenuously in some quarters that the canals should
be deepened and enlarged so as to admit boats of
larger burden. That undoubtedly would promote their
usefulness, but such an undertaking would be enor-
mously expensive and it is a question in my mind
whether the results would not be disappointing. The
real difficulty, in my judgment, is in the slow means of
transit. It is a striking commentary that in this bustling
age of progress the same old motive power is still used
on the canals that was used in their infancy, mules
and horses. Steam is used to some extent, but not
with perfect satisfaction. The average speed now
attained is two miles an hour, while the canals will
stand a speed of four miles an hour. A new motive
power which will increase the average rate of speed
to the maximum of four miles an hour, will enable
boatmen to make twice as many trips during the
season, and would double the present tonnage. If
the present capacity of the canals was fully employed
under such improved conditions of transit, the anntial
tonnage would be quadrupled.

In my last annual message to the Legislature I
called attention to these facts and suggested the
propriety of authorizing experiments with electricity,
to ascertain whether that might not offer a solution
of the transit problem. The Legislature acted promptly
upon the suggestion and made an appropriation for
such experiments. The discussion of the subject has
aroused considerable interest among electricians and

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 333

arrangements are now being made for various tests
along the canals. The outcome will be watched with
interest. If electric motors are found to be feasible,
a new life of prosperity ought to begin for the Erie
canal. There is a fall of water of 569 feet along
the Erie canal, from Buffalo to Albany. The waste
water from the locks and the numerous water powers
along the route offer an unusual opportunity to
generate electricity for application to canal-boat pro-
pulsion. The cost of transportation will be cheapened
greatly, which would mean a greater reduction in
freight rates and a larger volume of freight. In
addition to all this, which would be of tremendous
advantage to the State, the cost of the improvement
would be comparatively slight and it probably could
be made to pay for itself.

It is easy enough to stir up an apparent popular
sentiment in some sections of the State for large
canal appropriations. One or two competent secre-
taries of commercial organizations can engineer what
seems to be a loud demand for improvements costing
millions of dollars, and he who ventures to question
the methods or the amounts naturally brings upon
himself the denunciation and criticism of these boomers.
But the duty imposed upon public officers is to find
out what improvements are necessary and practical
and how they can be most cheaply obtained. This
duty those intrusted with the management of the
canals are endeavoring conscientiously to perform.
I assert with confidence in the truth of my assertion
that never were the canals of this State more

334 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

honestly, economically and efficiently managed than
they are to-day. The Superintendent of Public Works
is a capable, honest and practical man, stubborn and
immovable as a rock in -what he thinks is right, and
-watchful as a man can be against unnecessary appro-
priations of public money. The State Engineer and
Surveyor, -whose professional ability and advice are
at the command of the Superintendent of Public
Works, and -who is charged also -with responsibility
for canal management, is equally imbued -with pride
and earnestness in the successful and prudent preser-
vation of our -waterways. These are the kind of
public officers that the people -want — men intent
on serving the best interests of the State, but
-watchful that every dollar raised by taxation for
public purposes shall be honestly and economically
expended.

The pre-eminence of our State should be the con-
stant aim of every public officer and every private
citizen. No narro-w-minded or selfish public policy
should find a place in administration or advocacy
among the people. Our energies should be harmoni-
ously employed in building up our State's prosperity
on a broad and substantial basis. But he is an
enemy of the State's prosperity and untrue to his
fello-w-citizens -who -would encourage extravagance or
unnecessary appropriations in the name of the public
-welfare.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 335

PANICS.

Extract from Governor Flower's Remarks at
Cortland County Fair, at Cortland, September
14, 1893.

Our country is just recovering from a very severe
panic. Banks have failed, mills have closed, thousands
of men have been thro-wn out of employment, for-
tunes have been swept away and business everywhere
has become exceedingly depressed — all in the space
of a few short months. Why? That is not so easy
to answer. Everything seemed fairly prosperous
before the panic began, except for financial troubles in
Europe which had some effect on the sale of American
securities. It is comparatively easy to trace the
specific causes for each failure, and a large number
of failures would easily explain depression in business.
But the conditions which make failures numerous are
more easily described than explained. It is a con-
dition of fright, but what produces the fright is
every man's guess.

The whole thing is more easily understood when
we reflect how business is done in these days.
Sixty-four millions of people in this country are every
day trading with each other and with the people of
other countries. There is in the country about
$1,600,000,000 of money, or twenty-five dollars for each
man, woman and child. When you consider the
magnitude of exchanges which occur every day
among these 64,000,000 people, you will see in an

33^ PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

instant that there would not begin to be enough
money in the country to answer the purposes of
these exchanges if every trade was on a cash basis.
Exchanges go on faster than we could hand over
the money if we had it. So we have gradually
come to do without the actual transfer of money in
every transaction. We use checks and drafts and bills
of exchange and other substitutes for cash, so that
now, with our net work system of banks connecting
all parts of the country, it is estimated that over
ninety per cent of all our trades or transactions is
done without the use of actual money — that is, it is
done on faith that the actual money exists, is sound,
and can be had if anybody wants it in place of the
credit paper.

You observe in the first place what an intricate
and extensive structure of credit we have built up —
how like a house of straw it is — how if weakened
in one part the whole structure is likely to topple
and fall. And you see in the second place how
necessary it is that this great structure of credit
should have a very substantial basis of actual money
as its foundation ; how if that foundation becomes
unsound or too narrow the whole superstructure
trembles and threatens to tumble. So this straw
house of credit may be set to shaking in two ways —
either from influences above the ground, such as bad
banking, loose business methods, dishonesty, excessive
competition, over speculation or from some influence
below the ground affecting the foundation, such as
unsound money or too little money to support so

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 12)7,

large a structure of credit. To whichever cause lack
of confidence may be attributable the effect is the
same — a shattering of credits, a shrinkage in the
volume of business, a hoarding of money, so that
when we get down on the ground floor each will
get hold of as large a part of the solid foundation
as he can lay his hands on. Of course such a
scramble means disaster and ruin for all who are
not strongest or most fortunate.

Let me give you an illustration of how such a
panic may start. Somebody starts a rumor that a
large bank in Wall street is insolvent. It holds
millions of dollars of other people's money, deposited
subject to the depositor's orders. Each depositor
hearing the rumor rushes to the bank to get his
money. The bank pays out the cash it has on hand ;
it draws in and pays out to the hungry depositors
all their money which it has loaned and is able to
get back on short notice ; then, having paid out all
the cash it has or can collect, and not yet having
satisfied the . demands of its depositors, it is forced
to suspend. The fright of the depositors, the sus-
pension and the withdrawal of money from circulation
excite alarm in other quarters. Other banks, not
knowing when similar runs may be made upon them,
restrict their loans and increase their reserves. The
restriction of loans curtails business, checks new
enterprises and produces financial embarrassments.
These effects in turn create wider alarm- -until
finally it extends over the entire country and the
straw-house of credit is almost a mass of ruins.

22

338 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

A panic may start in another way. The sound-
ness of the currency may be assailed, whether justly
or unjustly makes no difference, if the popular con-
fidence in it is shaken. This causes the worst kind
of panic, for it affects the very foundation of our
credit-house, and confidence can only be restored by
convincing the people that every dollar is as good as
any other dollar, and that the entire foundation will
be maintained in sound condition for the support
of its superstructure.

Whether the present panic — the present shaking
up of our straw-house of credit ■ — was due to causes
from above affecting the superstructure directly, or to
causes below affecting the foundation directly and
the superstructure indirectly, there is a difference of
opinion. Probably it was a combination of both
causes. At any rate, the straw-house has received a
very severe shaking, and it will need a strong
revival of faith to restore it to its old condition.

It is hard to see, under our system of business,
how panics can be avoided. They are sure to come
every few years. The period of plenty and pros-
perity is certain to be followed by the period of
want and misery. The best we can do is to encourage,
sound business, sound banking and sound money.
Honesty, economy and conservatism are qualities
possessed in large degree by our business men, but
they must be ever present ideals if we are to have
sound business. Our bankers possess enormous power
for good or evil and this imposes enormous responsi-
bility. Panics are things they should and do most

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 339

dread and guard against. But in panics they can
and do render noble services. That is a time for
bravery and the exhibition of a prudent unselfishness,
and, as a class, they have well discharged their duty
to the public during these recent troublous times.
But the banks must ever realize the important part
■which they form in this superstructure of credit —
they are really the rafters which hold together this
house of straw — and they must never set aside
honest and conservative methods.

More important than all, however, in the avoidance
of panics, is a sound currency. Every dollar must be
sound, and there must be enough of them. So large a
superstructure of credit must have an ample foundation.
No matter whether it is all needed in ordinary times
or not, it must be there when we want it. No nation
ever suffered from having too much good money. Many
a nation has suffered from too much poor money, and
many a nation has suffered from not enough good
money. So let us not fear inflation if the money is all
sound. We need a large volume of currency in this
country both as a medium of exchange and as a measure
of value. So rapidly are our transactions increasing
that there is required a large increase each year in our
circulating medium, and so enormous is the amount of
our deferred payments and so important a part do they
play in our commercial and industrial prosperity, that
there must be no conscious tampering with the standard
measure of value. The volume of money which forms
that measure of value must increase relatively with the
increase of business and trade.

340 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

As to what constitutes the best money there are honest
differences of opinion in this country, as elsewhere. We
must learn charity in discussions of finance as in all
other things. I do not believe there is any considerable
body of people in any part of these United States who
would have anything but an honest dollar. Such a
person would justly be held up to scorn in this great
country. So I deprecate the sectional feeling which
recent financial discussion has aroused over the
money question. I have served too long in Congress
with men from the south and west to suspect for
an instant their honesty of purpose in advocating
their financial views. Some of them I know have
made the subject .of finance a profound study, and
they are quite as likely to be right as those
who combat their views. At any rate, let us all
start out in this discussion as true Americans, giving
every man the credit of desiring what is best for his
country's interests, and striving earnestly together to
reach the wisest conclusion.

I am glad to be able to speak of the panic of 1 893 as
a panic which has now practically disappeared. We
cannot lose confidence for any great length of time, in
this country. Already confidence is largely restored and
the people are anxious to set the wheels of industry in
motion again at the old pace. Before six months have
rolled around we shall begin to wonder why we got
frightened.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 34 1

FARMERS AND FISH CULTURE.

Extract from Governor Flower's remarks at
THE Washington County Fair, at Sandy Hill,
September 15, 1893.

I doubt if many of you know what an important
work is being done for the public interests of the
State in the matter of fish propagation. This is a
comparatively new feature of State effort, but it is
beginning to assume considerable proportions. Our
State Fish Commission was established somewhat more
than ten years ago. I presume it owed its existence
to the sportsmen, who wanted to see our lakes and
streams stocked with fish and the game . laws care-
fully enforced. If that was the principal object of
its creation we owe a good deal to our sportsmen,
for the Fish Commission has done much to preserve
the fine old sport of fishing from going to decay by
the exhaustion of fish from our waters. To-day,
thanks to our sportsmen and the Fish Commission,
our waters and streams are alive with good fish, and
public officers and game associations are working
hard to Qompel observance of the laws which have
been passed to protect our fish.

But our State Fish Commission is not devoting its
whole time to subserving sportsmen's interests ; it is
engaged in still more important work. There would
not be justification for much of its expenditure
of State money if it were merely an adjunct of
sportsmen's associations — stocking private preserves

342 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

and promoting solely the cultivation of game fish.
That would confine its usefulness to comparatively a
small part of the population. But its chief work now
is to encourage the propagation of food-fish in all
available streams and waters, so tha;t all the people
of the State may be direct participants in the benefits
to be gained. This is conspicuously laudable work
and when it is generally understood will receive the
popular encouragement which it deserves.

We have been so accustomed to regard land as the
great source of food that we have ignored the
enormous possibilities of water as a food-supplier.
Our fifteen hundred square miles of water surface in
New York State have never been regarded as a
particularly important part of our territory, measured
merely by the extent to which they could be utilized in
feeding our population. But we are beginning to pay
more attention to our water areas now. Naturalists
have told us with what wonderful rapidity fish
multiply under favorable conditions, and science is
showing us how much artificial effort may do in
encouraging propagation. We are beginning to see
that these 1,500 miles of water area may be turned
into profitable and abundant sources of food supply,
and it is the encouragement of this enterprise that
forms the principal task of our Fish Commission,
and is now the principal reason for its existence.

Already a great deal has been done in this direction.
Since 1887 the culture of oysters in the waters of
Long Island Sound has grown into a thriving and
profitable industry, employing now nearly 10,000 men

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 343

and representing a value of $1,500,000 in the oyster
beds. About 400,000 acres of water area in the
sound are available for oyster culture and as yet
hardly a tenth of them has been leased for this
purpose. The extent of the industry when fully
established may thus be imagined. It should become
a considerable source of wealth to the State, besides
furnishing an edible article of diet at small cost.

In fresh waters the effort has been to cultivate such
fish as are most desirable for general use as a cheap
and palatable food. Ten million white fish are to be
placed in Lake Ontario this season, in the attempt to
make that body of water abound in this delicious fish.
To succeed in this effort would be to supply an
occupation for thousands of fishermen and to bring
within the reach of nearly every household in the
State an article of food which they now rarely see,
and at half the cost which it is to them now.

The Hudson river is being stocked with shad and
salmon. For the first time in fifty years salmon are
now in the river above Troy. They have been caught
in the last two years nearly opposite where we are to
day. They are by no means numerous yet, but by
diligent perseverance in stocking and in building fish-
ways around the dams there would seem to be no
reason why our noble river might not hold millions
of this magnificent fish.

Besides these efforts, the Fish Commission has been
sending millions of other fish to the lakes and streams.
Lake trout, brook trout, muskallonge, bass, perch and
pike have gone from the State fish-hatcheries to

344 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOiVER.

populate the waters for whicli they are best adapted.
At the present rate of progress fish will in a few
years be one of the commonest, best and cheapest
foods we can select for our tables.

I call your attention to these facts because it seems
to me that they suggest a good opportunity for the
farmer to improve his condition in certain respects.
How many idle ponds and streams lie in our farms
which might be made to yield a revenue by the
supply of nutritious food fish ! Not every farmer is so
well situated that he can turn fisherman at intervals,
but through many a farmer's lands there runs a cold
stream which might be utilized in a dozen profitable
trout ponds. On many another farm there are water
courses which could be made a prolific source of other
kinds of fish. No person can drive far through the
country without seeing niany a golden opportunity
slipping through the farmer's hands by his failure to
utilize to their best advantage these kind gifts of
nature. I am told that in this county of Washington,
not including those portions of the county which
comprise parts of the Hudson river and Lake Cham-
plain, there are 10,000 acres of water area. This is in
lakes, in ponds, in streams almost any part of which
could be made to minister to the food supply of your
tables. All that is necessary is intelligent stocking and
care and the bureau of your State government, to
which I have alluded, will furnish you with both advice
and fish. The cost of maintaining a supply of fish in
streams or ponds, after they are once successfully
stocked is comparatively slight. I have seen many a

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 34S

spring brook running through a farm and used only
for watering stock which, devoted to trout culture,
might be worth hundre4s of dollars a year to the
owner. The profit of that little stream might be
greater than twenty or thirty acres of land.

It is these little economies and chances for profit
which our farmers particularly are obliged to look out
for, for theirs is a peculiarly hard struggle just now
when agricultural conditions are changing and they
have not yet reconciled themselves to the changes.
Every source of profit on a farm must be utilized. If
fish culture is practicable it should not be overlooked,
and I venture to say. you will find it' more profitable
than growing wheat at seventy-five cents a bushel.

THE ARMY OF THE UNEMPLOYED.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the State Fair,
Syracuse, September i6, 1893.

Surrounded by the best products of the harvest season
as we are to-day, revealing an abundance of nature's
bounty, it is hard to realize that in other parts of our
State men and women, deprived of work, see destitution
and misery confronting them if industrial and com-
mercial conditions do not speedily change. That is one
of the results of our recent panic. Its effects on the rich
are bad enough ; many a rich or well-to-do family has
in an instant had all its property swept away, and
hands unused to toil have had to begin life's striiggle
over again against tremendous obstacles. But sad and

346 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Startling as these effects are, they have occurred merely
in individual cases, and are not to be compared in the
extent of the misery which they bring to the effects
upon the thousands of persons who have been thrown
out of employment and deprived of the wages which
yield them their daily bread and clothing and shelter.
How vast this army of unemployed is nobody can
accurately estimate. Every day, thank heaven, it is
growing less. Every day's news brings reports of
mills reopening and work resumed. Such depression
as has characterized business during the last two
months cannot continue long. There is work for
everybody to do in this busy country under normal
conditions, and the American people are too energetic
to remain long under the influence of commercial
fright or disaster.

But while it lasts such industrial conditions bring
much suffering. Those of you who pursue the quieter
occupation of agriculture, remote from the great cities,
do not feel its effects so keenly, but in the great
centers of population, where the support of thousands
depends upon their daily wages, even temporary loss
of work means intense affliction. The present destitu-
tion seems to be particularly severe in the city of
New York, not among the workers in all trades, but
conspicuously among those in a few, including the
manufacture of clothing.

What to do in this emergency is a serious question.
From the labor organizations in New York has come
an appeal to municipal, State and federal authorities
to begin great public works, so that the unemployed

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 347

may find something to do. Such a communication
came to me, but unfortunately for its prompt response
it was addressed to me at Watertown, remained
unopened there a week, while I was in the Adirondacks,
and finally was sent on to me at Albany and was
there answered immediately. To my surprise I find
that the committee of workingmen, to whom my reply
was addressed, have reported to their fellow-workers
that my "letter is an evasion of the issue." "While
the great population of this Empire State is plunged
into unprecedented disaster," says this report, " the
Governor is gracious enough to make the urgency of
the situation secondary to his inspection of fairs.
While tens of thousands of homes are suffering untold
misery and many thousands of able-bodied, unem-
ployed people are on the verge of starvation, with this
condition staring us in the face and winter near our
door, we are told by the Chief Executive of the State
to wait another month before he can meet yoiir com-
mittee to discuss with them means of relief."

It is necessary, perhaps, and always will be, that
public officers should be subject to misrepresentation,
but it was a surprise to me that men whom I have
been proud to call my friends, and men whose efforts
to raise the standard and condition of labor have
always shared my warmest sympathies, from the time
that I drove a pair of oxen around a brick yard to
earn money enough to go to school, should accuse me
of evading "the issue," or of making light of their
request. There is no issue in public or private life I
am afraid to face, and there is no serious request from

348 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

any citizen of this State I would treat otherwise than
with respect. The letter which I received from
Mr. Gompers, on behalf of the committee, was of
itself an intimation that I should not commit myself
on the merits of the request which they proposed
making until they had had the opportunity of present-
ing their views. " It is not our purpose in this letter
to urge the reasons for this step," said Mr. Gompers,
in his letter, " but merely to request you to state a
time when the committee may have an opportunity of
nieeting you in the city of New York, so that the
ground upon which our request is based may be
presented to you for your favorable consideration and
action." The unmistakable inference from this was
that the committee did not wish me to prejudge the
case until I had heard their views, and inasmuch as
my official engagements previously formed would not
permit me to go to New York in some time, I suggested
to them that they communicate their views by letter
and assured them that the communication would
receive prompt consideration. To this letter I have
received no reply and I am still without information
of the suggestions which it was their intention to
submit. But I read in the newspapers that the inten-
tion of the Governor and Legislature is to be "forced"
by a public demonstration of workingmen.

There is at least one member of the committee
appointed to arrange for this public meeting, who
knows whether the Governor of this State needs to
have his attention " forced " upon any matter that
concerns the interest of honest labor. It is something

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 349

more than a year ago that there was presented to
me an application for the pardon of a young man
who had been convicted of extortion tinder the laws
of this State, and whose conviction had been sustained
by the highest court. I listened intently to the
story which this young man's friends told of the
crime — if such it could be called — how as a condition
of the settlement of a strike of cloakmakers he had
insisted upon and obtained from the employers $ioo.
For his own use? No. But to feed the starving
employees who had been without work. I heard the
pathetic story of his unselfish efforts among his
fellow-men, how at the sacrifice of his own health
and comfort he carried food to the hungry and
m.edicine to the sick, how his deeds of kindness and
words of cheer brightened many a household, and I
said to myself, here is a hero, not a criminal !
Technically, though I believe ignorantly, he was
guilty of a violation of law ; but morally he
deserved to be enrolled among public benefactors, and
I thought the proudest thing I could do in my career
as Governor was to make Joseph Barondess a free man.
But this is not all. Before Joseph Barondess was
pardoned the work of improving the condition of his
fellow-men in which he was engaged won the recogni-
tion and sympathy of State officers and the State
Legislature, and one of the most humane acts of the
law-making body was that which I had the pleasure
of signing last year to abolish the so-called " sweating "
system. Human slavery was not worse in its effects
than this barbarous method of employment in which

3 so PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

60,000 people in New York city found a meagre
livelihood — men and women crowded together in foul
rooms, breathing a poisonous atmosphere, and working
at the peril of their lives at starvation wages for
fifteen and twenty hours a day. No better law was
ever put on the statute books than that, and if it
does not accomplish its purpose, or if it is not rigidly
enforced, I want to know it, and all the power of
the Executive will be exerted to make its provisions
and enforcement right.

No greater mistake could be made than to imagine
a lack of sympathy between the men who are charged
with administering the government of this State and
making its laws, and the noble army of workers who
honor us with their suffrages. What is their interest
is ours. Most of us have toiled for our daily bread as
they toil, and no part of our lives gives us greater
pride in the retrospect than that in which we literally
earned our bread by the sweat of our brows. My
proudest recollection is that I was a member of the
first labor organization created in this State. I have
become well acquainted with the law-making body of
this State during the last two years, and I don't believe
there is a legislative body anywhere in the world more
in sympathy with the interests of labor and more will-
ing to enact all just measures designed to elevate and
improve the condition of working men and women.

But there is a limit beyond which law-makers and
administrative officers cannot go. That limit is the
line prescribed by the nature of our government and
the character of our American institutions. In this

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 351

country firm lines separate our political ideas from
those of European countries. In America the people
support the government ; it is not the province of the
government to support the people. Once recognize
the principle that the government must supply public
work for the unemployed, and there -will be no end
of official paternalism. The security of Democratic
government is its purity and simplicity. Break down
those safe-guards, and you invite corruption, socialism
and anarchy. From foreign lands, where paternal
governments have brought untold misery upon the
people, thousands of persons have fled to this free land
where the well-spring of our political ideals is that
that government governs best which governs least.
To cherish and preserve intact and uncorrupted this
vital political principle is a duty and responsibility
imposed upon all citizens and all public officers. To
allow it to be ignored or abandoned will entail more
evils and distress than any temporary afflictions to
which that abandonment is due.

If the Legislature should be called into extraordinary
session to authorize public works solely for the relief
of the unemployed, not only would it be the establish-
ment of a dangerous precedent for the future, justifying
paternal legislation of all kinds and encouraging
prodigal extravagance, but there would be practical
difficulties in the way of enacting such measures and
still greater difficulties in making them accomplish the
ends sought. What public works would be authorized ?
Where would they be located? What should they
cost? Those are questions which any one familiar

352 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

with, legislation knows are large apples of discord.
They would lead to log-rolling and combinations,
which would mean excessive and unnecessary appro-
priations and consequently increased burdens upon
taxpayers, industries, and rent-payers. A Legislature
convened for the avowed purpose of creating schemes
and levying taxation for the promotion of public
works, merely to give employment to perhaps one
hundredth of the population, would mean a raid on
the treasury such as our State has never seen in its
most extravagant days, and such "a raid, I dare say, as
all classes of people would never wish to See again.
Who would pay for it ? The taxpayers. But wbo are
the taxpayers ? Not the rich alone, nor in small part.
They do not pay as much taxes as the poor, propor-
tionately to their wealth, owing to our defective system
of taxation. So the burden must fall chiefly on the
poor, or well-to-do, and not on personal property, for
most of that evades taxation, but upon real estate. So
the owners of real estate must bear the burden, and
half of it in valuation is located in the cities of New
York and Brooklyn and consists largely of residences
and tenements where people live and pay rents, and
is there any tenant in any house or room, however
humble, who does not know that when the State
imposes these heavy taxes upon real estate, he will
pay them in increased rent and not the landlord
and owner? Where, then, will be the benefit of this
new enterprise of government? Who will pay the
greater part of it but the tenement house population
of New York and Brooklyn?

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 353

Moreover any work projected by the State must of
necessity be construction work, not the manufacture of
cloaks or garments., and I am told that only a small
percentage of the present unemployed could avail
themselves of the opportunity for employment on
State works if they were projected.

Better than to start such an expensive and impracti-
cable experiment would be to raise money by taxation
for intelligent distribution during periods of want.

So far - as public works are already authorized by
statute, however, it would be a public wrong, while
thousands of men are out of work, not to expedite
them by beginning or hastening construction. I
rejoice to say that our State officials have been prompt
to appreciate this duty and every possible contract
has recently been let so that work might begin.
Eleven hundred men are now employed in the con-
struction of the new capitol and hundreds of others
are employed in building hospitals, schools and armories
and in improving canals and waterways.

But there is a better, more natural and more health-
ful way to solve these difficulties than by dependence
upon government. The duty of the State is one
thing, and the duty of society is another. The
responsibilities of the State are limited and easily
defined. But the responsibilities of society are diffused
and broad. They are shared equally by all the
members of society, and their scope comprises all
human wants and misfortunes and miseries. There
never has been a time in the history of our country

23

354 P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

when distress, or trouble, or destitution, once known,
has not appealed to the generous instincts of our
people and met a prompt response from their hearts
and their purses. Villages and cities have been swept
by flood, or fire, or wind, and their inhabitants rendered
homeless and foodless, but from thousands of generous
homes have raiment and food and money gone out to
those in distress. I cannot believe that the destitution
now said to exist in New York will be long unheeded
by those able to relieve it. No city in the world has
better organized charities. No city in the world has
more generous citizens. I do not need to appeal to
them to come to the front in this emergency. Let the
facts be brought home to their attention and not one
hungry household should exist in all New York.
Such a manifestation of human sympathy and fraternity
is the strongest pillar of government. It makes the
whole world akin. Encourage that and you have
gained more than temporary comfort for the
afflicted ; you have cemented ties of co-operation and
helpfulness that are the surest safe-guards of society.
Neither wealth, nor poverty, nor prosperity, nor
distress, should be barriers to mutual good will and
trust. The path to the social millennium is not
through fiats of governments but through the general
recognition of individual obligation in society. Let us
all then as individuals sharing mutual responsibilities
do what we can in our own sphere and according to
our own means to relieve present distress and bring
about that happy condition of affairs when every man
can find reasonable employment and competent wages.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 355

LEGISLATURE AND FARMERS.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the Orange County
Fair, Warwick, N. Y., September 20, 1893.

The Legislature did a great thing for the farmers
of this State last spring when it created a department
of agriculture in connection with the State govern-
ment. The bill provoked some opposition in certain
circles and was criticised as a political measure, but
my official acquaintance with the opposition to the
bill convinced me that if there had been more com-
missionerships of agriculture to go round there would
have been less opposition to the measure. Human
nature is pretty much the same everywhere, so I
suppose I ought not to have been surprised to find
that the men who raised the loudest objections to the
bill when it was before the Legislature were among
the first to file applications for appointment with me
when the bill had become a law.

I never have had any doubt that a department
of aigriculture, propei-ly conducted, might be of great
use in developing the occupation of agriculture in the
State. The reasons for such a separate department
were given ^ me in my last annual message to the
Legislature. I pointed out that the State was expend-
ing about $300,000 a year for agricultural purposes
without any well-defined idea, and without the' best
practical results. Appropriations of this sort had
become largely a matter of legislative log-rolling.
The legislation was of a random and heterogeneous

3S6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

character. Most of the money appropriated was
expended by various associations only indirectly con-
nected with the government. There was a fine
opportunity for waste and extravagance. All the con-
stitutional departments of State government together
didn't cost so much to maintain as the total amount
of these miscellaneous appropriations for agriculture.
The State's energies and efforts were spasmodic and
scattered, and consequently of no practical or substan-
tial benefit to the farmer. My observation convinced
me that the establishment of a comprehensive depart-
ment of agriculture, consolidating under one executive
head the various bureaus and agencies then existing,
would enable the State to adopt and carry out
a definite and intelligent policy of agricultural
encouragement.

The enactment of the law has started this work of
encouragement. The law is by no means perfect and
the powers of the Commissioner of Agriculture are as
yet quite limited, but the department once established
will, it is hoped, demonstrate clearly its claim to public
confidence and gradually have its field of- usefulness
expanded. The chief features of the new law are that
it groups all existing agricultural- efforts around the
Department of Agriculture, and gives the commissioner
certain powers of supervision and direction. Tlie
department is as yet not authorized to promote the
encouragement of any lines of agriculture not hereto-
fore recognized by statute, but such authority can
gradually be extended. The Commissioner of Agri-
culture is charged with the same responsibility .for

PUBLIC. PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 357

preserving the purity and elevating the standard of
dairy products as was formerly imposed on the Dairy
Commissioner. In short, he takes the_ place of the
Dairy Commissioner. He is also charged with the
inspection: of vinegar, the suppression of contagious and
infectious diseases in cattle and the prevention of
diseases among bees and among fruit trees. All
agricultural societies receiving moneys from the State,
the State Experiment Station and the State Meteoro-
logical Bureau are obliged to make to him annual reports.

The importance of the office has been manifested
quite clearly during the past summer, in connection
with the dairy exhibit of New York at the World's
Fair. Without some central executive head to stimu-
late interest and make arrangements for the transporta-
tion and proper exhibit of butter and cheese from
various parts of the State from month to month, the
State of New York could not have taken the principal
awards each month as she has thus far. But every
month our exhibitors are encouraged to their best
efforts and offered every necessary facility, with the
splendid result that New York cheese and butter lead
all the rest. Canada, which won the awards of excellence
at the Centennial Exposition, does not dare enter the
monthly competition at Chicago against New York.

That is one of the advantages of our new State
department and the. world-wide fame which this
summer's work has given to New York butter and
cheese is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to
New York, farmers. The value of our annual products

358 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

of the dairy now amounts up above $60,000,000 — an
enormous industry, as big as all the silver ' product of
the United States.

What we have done for the intelligent promotion of
dairy agriculture we can do for other kinds of farming.
Whenever I have an opportunity among farmers I beg
them to break away from the old traditions and
customs of farming and adapt themselves to new con-
ditions, which demand new crops and new agricultural
methods. Their great object should be to gratify the
expensive tastes and wants of our six and a-half
millions of people. That is more profitable than a
vain attempt to compete with western farmers in
raising wheat and corn. The cultivation of wheat
yields about fifteen dollars an acre in this State on
the average, and that of corn about eighteen dollars
an acre. How much more profit there is in raising,,
sweet corn for canning purposes at $50 an acr6,
asparagus at $180 an acre, beets at $150, celery at
$200, cabbage at $130, water-melons at $80, musk-
melons at $150, peas at %6'j, sweet potatoes at $75,
tomatoes at $165, grapes at $122, peaches at $150, straw-
berries at $300, currants at $120, and so on indefi-
nitely, or in using farms for making choice dairy
products to sell at fancy prices, breeding good horses,
or raising poultry, the consumption of whose products
is increasing faster than the consumption of wheat
and corn and the value of whose product in the entire
country is greater than that of the wheat crop.

But in this adaptation to new methods and demands
the farmers need stimulus, and intelligent direction.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 359

These can be supplied in no better way than by-
giving force and system to the various energies which
the State is from time to time putting forth. The
cost is slight compared with the benefits. A depart-
ment of agriculture was urged in the interest of
economy as well as of agriculture. It can be useful
in checking extravagant or unnecessary appropriations.
Better than all, however, it can be of great practical
good to farmers and thus directly to the State, for the
persons engaged in agriculture or dependent on it for
their living comprise one-fourth of our population, and
prosperity is of vital interest to the whole State. I
hope our farmers will take a live interest in the
workings of this new department devoted to their
occupation and endeavor to make it fulfill satisfactorily
the purpose it is intended to fulfill.

GOOD ROADS.

Extract from Governor Flower's Remarks at the
Orleans' County Fair, Albion, N. Y., September
21, 1893.

Whenever I am among farmers I try to impress
them with the importance of good highways. I do
not believe any public movement in this State has
the promise in it of so much material benefit to the
people generally and to the agricultural interests
particularly as the good roads movement. It appeals
to common sense and to sentiment. It enlists all

360 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

classes of people, but strange to say it makes the
least headway among those who would be the largest
recipients of its benefits — I mean the farmers.

I cannot help thinking that it is the question of
cost which frightens the farmer when he begins
considering the subject of good roads. It is too true
that many of our farmers are reduced to that
condition where the paying of an extra dollar of
taxation is harder than having a tooth extracted.
But the average farmer is too sensible a man to
complain of taxation if the results are going to put
more money in his pocket and make his life more
comfortable ; and it may take some time to prove
conclusively to him that this is exactly what good
roads will do ; but when he is convinced, he will be
one of the most earnest agitators in the movement.

It has been shown by many statistics and various
calculations that good roads are cheaper than bad
roads. I tried to show in my annual message to the
Legislature last January that the counties of the State
now expend in actual money and in day's labor,
valued at one dollar a day for each man, about
$3,000,000 a year upon their roads, exclusive of the
time and money spent on road and street improve-
ment in villages and cities. This is an average of
$50,000 for each county. That amount of money
scientifically expended each year would build over
seven miles of good macadam road at a cost of
$7,000 per mile. Or if the county preferred to build
roads faster, this annual expenditure would pay the
interest and provide a small amount for the sinking

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 361

fund on an issue of bonds sufficient to construct over
140 miles of macadam roads. I venture to say there
is not a county in this State which, if it would bond
itself for a million dollars and invest the money in
the scientific construction of highways, would not in
five years have increased the valuation of its real
estate twice the amount of the investment. But that
would be only a small part of the gain. The greater
part would be in the saving of wagon transporta-
tion— a saving in vehicles, a saving in horses, a
saving in time, a saving in labor, a saving in risks,
a saving in markets.

Every farmer knows that bad roads sometimes
keep him from town when prices of grain are high and
thereby cost him a good profit. Every farmer knows
how long it takes him to travel over bad roads. Every
farmer knows how much larger a load his team would
pull if the roads were hard and smooth. Every farmer
knows what a considerable item in his annual
expenses is the repair of wagons and harness, whose
strength and safety have been crippled by bad roads.
Every farmer knows how much more it costs to keep
three or four horses instead of one or two as he
might with equal service with a system of good
roads. Every farmer knows that his farm would
increase in value if, by good highways, it could be
brought into speedy communication with village or
city. All these things our farmers know when they
think of them, and they know that the sum of these
pecuniary advantages in favor of good roads would
vastly outweigh the cost of procuring them.

3^2 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

But in spite of these advantages wliich I have seen
or heard no man deny, and the demonstration of
which is easy, good roads are slow in coming, and we
cling to our old-fashioned habit of once or twice a
year plowing up the sides of a highway into the
middle and calling that road improvement. We have
reached a stage of development in this State where a
net-work of smooth highways is absolutely necessary
for future progress. Our cities are becoming so big
and require so much food that our farms must be
brought into close contact with them or the farms of
other States, which have good roads or better railroad
facilities in the agricultural regions, will usurp our
markets. There was a day when for the development
of our State we built canals and all parts of the State
clamored for their construction. There was another day
when we built railways in order to connect one center
of population more closely with another, and towns
and counties, appreciating their advantage, hastened to
bond themselves for large amounts to secure their
construction. To-day we have reached another stage
in the progress of transportation. Canals and railways
having been established wherever practicable and
profitable, we need improved means of communication
between them and the farms. To the residents of the
farms, to the merchants in the towns, to the canals, to
the railroads, to the large army of employees, to the
consumers in the cities, in short to all interests and
citizens the close communication of farm and city is
most desirable from business and commercial reasons
alone. Good highways not only stimulate rapid

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 363

exchanges of products and closer communication of
people, but they attract to the country tens of thousands
of our own citizens and thousands of those from other
States, who love nature and find her greatest charms
within the varied territory of the Empire State.

I could give another reason why good roads are
essential. This is an age of wonderful inventions.
What is more likely than that the next wonderful step
will be the perfection of automatic vehicles which will
do away with beasts of burden altogether? We have
already such a vehicle for men and women in the
bicycle and tricycle ; it is not unreasonable to expect that
much more will be accomplished. When this hope
is realized the essential condition for the use of such
machines must be smooth roads, and the region of
country which has them -will reap the greatest benefit
from this labor-saving and time-saving' invention.

To-day there exists in the statutes of the State a
law which will enable any county to take the
practical steps towards highway improvement. It was
enacted by the Legislature last winter in pursuance
of the recommendation of my annual message. It is
simple and optional. If taken advantage of it may
be effective and satisfactory. If generally followed
it will give the State a fine system of highways at
county expense. Let me explain to you its provisions
and how you may take advantage of them in this
county. It provides in the first place that your
board of supervisors, by at least a majority vote, may
formally adopt the county road system, and shall
then designate as county roads such highways as

364 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWEH.

they may deem best for this purpose outside the
limits of incorporated villages or cities. The intention
of the law is that so far as possible these designated
county roads shall be the leading market roads of
the county. Thereafter the expense of rebuilding or
maintaining these county roads is to be a county
charge, and the necessary amount of money for this
purpose is to be appropriated each year by the board
of supervisors. It may be little or much, according
to their judgment, or the wishes of their constituents.
All the repairs or improvements thus authorized are
to be done' under the supervision of a competent
county engineer, whose appointment by the board is
provided for. The idea of such an officer is to secure
intelligent road building under the direction of a
scientific expert. The engineer and the board of
supervisors are to have sole jurisdiction over these
county highways, and the local highway commissioners
are to have their own powers restricted to this extent.
Obviously, if public sentiment in any county favors
improved highways, that sentiment should express
itself through the board of supervisors. Here is local
option to perfection. But it was felt that the policy
of appropriating money each year, with consequent
uncertainties of action or lack of assurance of con-
tinuance, was a kind of hand-to-mouth arrangement
which would not give much satisfaction and would
not result in any permanent system of highway
improvement. So it was provided in the law that
any board of supervisors might borrow money and
issue the bonds of the county therefor, in order to

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 365

provide the necessary funds for building highways in
a comprehensive and systematic way. Such bonds
are not to run for more than twenty years and are
not to bear interest at a higher rate than five per
cent.

The effect of such permission is to enable any
county at once to undertake a comprehensive scheme
of road improvement and distribute the expense
thereof equitably through a series of years. The cost
would not fall on present taxpayers alone but on the
taxpayers through the succeeding generation, who
would be the chief beneficiaries. Probably the
increased valuation given by highway improvement
to the property would in much less time pay for the
improvement.

In Orleans county you have 405 square miles of
territory. How many miles of highway you have I do
not know, but I venture to say that it would not
require more than sixty miles of highway to connect
the county seat, Albion, with every town in the county.
Now, what would it cost your county, to construct
sixty miles of the best macadam roads connecting,
every township with Albion ? You, with your famil-
iarity with the topographical conditions here, can
answer that question better than I, but conservative
engineers place the average cost of first construction
'of good macadam roads at $7,000 a mile. I should
think it would be less than that in this county,
judging from your soil and the accessibility of . stone
quarries, but we will call it $7,000 a mile, or $420,000
for sixty miles. Should you bond your county for this

366 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

amount the interest charge at four per cent, would be
$16,800 a year, or if you paid off one-twentieth of the
bonds each year in addition, the total cost of this
issue of bonds would be, the first year, something over
$37,000, which would mean a tax of about two and
one-half mills on each dollar of valuation. The
interest charge would decrease by nearly a thousand
dollars a year until the whole debt was paid off.
Now, according to returns which your town clerks
furnished me you already pay about $30,000 a year on
your county roads, including the days' work as <valued
at a dollar a day for each man. Are your present
results satisfactory, or would it not be more economical
to change your system and build good roads at county
expense for all time ?

In my own opinion there is but one answer to this
question. Good, substantial roads leading out to the
rural towns from the principal business community in
each county cannot help stimulating business in that
community and developing the country round about it.
They greatly shorten the distance between the farthest
points and bring all citizens into closer communication.
They are as advantageous in elevating the social and
intellectual life of the rural population as they are in
improving its material condition.

In order to stimulate interest in road improvement
the Legislature did not stop with enacting the law I
have described to you. It also extended the terms of
supervisors from one to two years, in order that a
board of supervisors disposed towards good roads
might have sufficient time to inaugurate such a move-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 367

ment. More than this it authorized experiments in
building roads with convict labor within twenty miles
of Clinton prison. Still further it made the neces-
sary provision for placing, at slight expense, in the
hands of every supervisor, highway commissioner and
town clerk, a manual containing a codification of the
highway laws and some practical suggestions on the
subject of road building.

These legislative efforts should do much toward
providing the State with good roads. They depend of
course for their success upon the spirit of the people
of each county. They are the most practical step in
the direction of road reform. A State road system,
involving an elaborate scheme and a great exj)ense
not equitably distributed, would not find popular favor
I fear, and is, I believe, unnecessary. The county
local option system will accomplish even better results
and give greater satisfaction. The only thing neces-
sary now is for the people of 'each county who believe
in good roads to continue to agitate the subject until
their county legislature takes the necessary steps pro-
vided in the law. Continuous agitation will bring
about the success of any good cause. Fortunately the
cause of good roads not only compels conviction but
excites enthusiasm. It is gaining more friends every
day. It will not be long before it penetrates all parts
of the State and secures the generous support of all
citizens.

368 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

OUR DAIRY PRODUCTS.

Extract from Governor Flower's Remarks in
Awarding Prizes for the best Dairy Products,
AT the Jefferson County Fair, Watertown,
N. Y., September 22, 1893.

One thing which our farmers need to learn in these
days is to emulate the example of the shop-keeper in
making his goods look attractive. One of the secrets
of successful shop-keeping is to attract customers by
the manner in which goods are displayed. So shop
windows are elaborately decorated with contents of the
store and various devices are resorted to to show wares
to their best advantage.

This is getting to be just as necessary for the farmer
as it is for the shop-keeper. A little thought
expended in this direction will result in greater profits.
When a farmer makes a choice quality of butter he
ought to study how to get the best prices for it. He
can bring it to the market in bulk along with inferior
butters and get the market-price, or, by some extra
care in putting it up in dainty pound packages, so that
it will attract attention, and in trying to sell it among
people especially who are looking for fine butters and
are ready to pay for them, he can add several cents a
pound to his profit. Our cities have thousands of
people who are willing to pay well for good articles
and who are always attracted by the manner in which
these good articles are put before them. This is a task
that the wives and daughters on the farm can be put

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 369

at, and with a little care of this kind a good deal of
additional money can be earned.

With cheese it is the same as with butter. Well-fed
families and clubs all over the State are ready buyers
of these dairy products when they are good in quality
and attractive in looks. Neat stone or glass jars, with
the maker's brands on them, make a great difference
in the sale and price of the product. Here in Jefferson
county your butter and cheese makers have won the
first prizes at the World's Fair against all the world.
Now why not take advantage of this acknowledged
superiority and sell all you can of this fine butter and
cheese? Put your cheese up in dainty boxes or jars,
give it a World's Fair brand as a prize winner and
send it to all our large city markets. Don't you think
people would be glad to get it and pay good prices
for it? Farmers everywhere ought to study this art
of selling. It is one thing to do good farming and
another thing to sell farm products where they will
bring the most money. That is where the business
element comes in in farming. Whether it is fruits, or
flowers, or dairy products, or vegetables, the great
thing is to reach the best market. When this can be
accomplished by adding to labor a little commercial
thought and ingenuity, the extra profits ought to
reward sufficiently the extra pains. Business traits are
just as essential in trading in agricultural products as
they are in any other kind of trading.

The farmers of this State now send millions of
pounds of cheese to London every year in cheap
boxes costing perhaps twelve and a-half cents, and
24

370 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. ,

get from eight to ten cents a pound for the cheese.
Permit me to suggest to them that, now they have
earned the award for making the best cheese in the
world, they pack it in a more expensive and attractive
box and brand it as the World's Fair Premium
Cheese, and make a special effort to bring it to the
attention of all Europe as a superior quality of cheese,
which should bring a superior price. I have no doubt
you could greatly increase your profits thereby.

Another suggestion. Be careful how you send your
cheese to market. See that it is well taken care of on
the -route, not injured by heat and rough treatment.
Send a man along with it to see that the journey to
market is made in the cool of the day so that the
cheese will be in good condition when it gets there.

■The growth of the dairy industry in this State has
been a remarkable one and has great possibilities in it
yet. Thirty years ago our farmers began to break
away from the old-fashioned methods of individual
butter and cheese making and established the modem
system of associated dairying. The result has been
remarkable. In i860 the annual product of milk in
this State, not including what was used on farms, was
365,000,000 gallons; in 1870 it had increased to
483,000,000 gallons; in 1880 to 576,000,000 gallons and
in 1890 to over 700,000,000 gallons. During this period
the increase in production from year to year has been
much faster than the increase in the number of cows,
showing conclusively the effect of intelligent effort to
increase the yield by careful attention to breeding and
feed. For instance, the average yield per cow in i860

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 371

was 325 gallons while in 1880 it had crept up to 401
gallons, and is now probably considerably higher. It
is a New York State cow which, at the World's Fair,
has taken the premium for being the best cow in the
world, producing the largest number of pounds of milk .
per year of all the cows in the world. The Commis-
sioner of Agriculture of this State has published a
statement in which he shows that during the last
season in the factories alone our New York farmers
produced over 19,000,000 pounds of butter and over
130,000,000 pounds of cheese. When the amount of
butter and cheese made on farms is added to these
figures the proportions of our dairy industry will be
seen to be enormous. New York leads all other States
in the amount and value of her dairy products', yet I
believe there are greater possibilities still before her,
and greater profits to the dairy farmer if he will apply
to his occupation, skill, scientific methods and business
instincts, and study to satisfy that increasing demand,
especially in our own State, for the finer and more
remunerative qualities of butter and cheese.

I know a farmer in Monroe county who is making
fifteen per cent, per annum on land worth $200 per
acre by making a grade of butter which sells for fifty
cents a pound, and in some New York city hotels it is
preferred to the famous Darlington butter, which
formerly cost one dollar a pound. The price of the
best New York butter, quoted by one of the leading,
grocers in New York city, is only thirty cents a pound,
while butter quoted at sixty-five cents a pound comes
from another State. I know of no reason why New

372 PUBLIC PAi'ERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

York dairymen should not have the advantage of
satisfying these expensive tastes of our urban
population.

With cheese it is the same as -with butter. The
great bulk of our cheese is low-priced, competing with
the world's markets in London, and bringing less than
ten cents a pound. Yet I hold in my hand a price
list furnished me by one of the leading firms of
grocers in New York city, which shows that practi-
cally all the higher-priced cheeses are made outside
our borders. Here is the list :

Mild cheese (Oneida and Jefferson counties, N. Y.),
fourteen cents per pound.

Young American (N. Y. State), eighteen cents per
pound.

English dairy cheese (Otsego county, N. Y.), twenty-
five cents.

Pineapple cheese (Goshen, Conn ), fifty-five and
ninety cents each.

Edam cheese (Holland), one dollar each.

Roquefort cheese (France), forty cents per pound.

Parmasan cheese (Italy), forty cents per pound.

Gruyere cheese (Switzerland), thirty cents per pound.

Stilton cheese (England), forty-five cents per pound.

Cheddar cheese (England), thirty cents per pound.

It will not do to say that these cheeses cannot be
profitably made in this country and in this State.
Here and there through the State successful work is
being done in this direction. I know a woman in the
county of Jefferson who earns a splendid income by
selling at the best New York restaurants French

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 373

cheeses, which she learned how to manufacture by-
sending her son to France to study the process. That
woman's energy and good sense deserve emulation by
her masculine neighbors. Our farmers cannot all send
their sons abroad to learn cheese-making, I know, but
we have in this State a splendid nucleus for such
instruction in the Experiment Station at Geneva, in
the agricultural department of Cornell University, and
in the perambulating dairy schools, for which our
Legislature has recently provided.

There seems no reason why the United States
should import eight or nine million pounds of cheese
every year, when, by well-directed efforts, our own
farmers could get this -market.

STATE TAXES.

Extract from Governor Flower's Remarks at the
Ontario County Fair, Canandaigua, Septem-
ber 27, 1893.

There is no public question which comes home to
people more directly than the subject of taxes, but
few persons in this State appreciate how small a part
of their taxes each year goes to the support of the
State government. The State tax is usually combined
with the town and county taxes and collected at the
same' time, so people have no way of readily ascer-
taining what proportion of it is local and what general.
During the last two years the State tax rates have
been phenomenally low, and this year would have been

374 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

considerably lower than last year had it not been for
extraordinary expenditures occasioned by the Buffalo
strike, the invasion of cholera, the payment of the
balance of the State debt and the assumption by the
State of the care of the pauper insane.

The total tax rate for the support of the State
government this year will be two and fifty-eight
hundredths mills on each dollar of assessed valua-
tion— a trifle more than a farthing — or two dollars
and fifty-eight cents on each thousand dollars of
assessed valuation. Every man or woman in the State
will pay a little more than one farthing this year on
every dollar's worth of his property as assessed for
the support of the State government. He will pay
almost ten times as much for the support of his city,
town and county governments. There never was so
good a government managed at so little cost to the
people as the government -of the State of New York
to-day. No large corporation is managed with greater
economy. I say this from observation of, and expe-
rience with, corporate management. I am proud to
say of my associates in the various State offices that
they are as zealous in the discharge of their duty
toward the people as are the of&cers of any corporation
with which I am acquainted toward the interests of
their stockholders.

Of this tax rate of two and fifty-eight hundredths
mills on each dollar, nearly one mill is levied for the
support of schools ; a little more than a third of a
mill is for the canals ; another third of a mill goes
to the support of the pauper insane ; about two-thirds

P UBLIC PA FERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 WER. 3/5

of a mill goes to charities and reformatory institutions,
and the remainder goes to miscellaneous purposes of
government.

But this analysis does not give you a complete idea
as to the operation of State taxation. It is a fact that
in a large number of counties there is no actual Statje
tax -whatever. In these counties it is not a question
of what they pay for the support of the State, but
what the State pays for the support of them. There
will be twenty-eight of these counties this year which
will receive from the State more than they pay in
taxes to the State treasury, and this estimate does not
include the amounts appropriated by the Legislature
for expenditure in the counties.

This result is brought about in several ways. In
the first place a large part of the proceeds of the
State school tax is refunded to the counties. In the
next place the Legislature, during the last year, has
changed the method of publishing the session laws,
which results in an average net saving to each
county of about $2,000. In the third place, the State
has assumed the care and support of the pauper
insane, which, heretofore, has been paid by the coun-
ties. This alone effects a saving of at least fifty per
cent, for this purpose in each county. In the fourth
place the State government has been economically
managed and millions of additional revenues have
been collected by State officers from corporation and
inheritance tax laws.

376 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

I present here a table, No. i, wliicli shows (i) the
amount of taxes assessed against each county this
year; (2) the amount of school moneys to be refunded
this year ; (3) the saving to each county by the State
care of insane act; (4) the saving by the sessions
law act; (5) the total of moneys refunded and saved
for each county ; and (6) the surplus to the credit of
the State or to each county, as the case may be, by
the operation of these laws:

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

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380 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

It will be observed from these figures that not
only do twenty-eight counties practically pay no State
taxes this year, but they will actually have a surplus
ranging from $400 to $31,100 to their credit as a
result of their operations with the State. These
counties, with the amount of money to their credit
this year over and above all State taxation, are as
follows :

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

381

TABLE No. 2.

COUNTIES.

"Will pay to
State.

Will receive
from State.

Credit to
county.

Allegany

Cattaraugus..
Chautauqua..

Chenango

Clinton

Cortland

Delaware

Essex

Franklin ....

Fulton

Greene

Hamilton

Jefferson

Lewis

Oneida

Oswego . ...

Otsego

Saratoga ....
Schoharie . . .

Schuyler

St. Lawrence

Steuben

Suffolk

Sullivan

Tioga

Tompkins

Ulster

Warren

$36,600
53,200
71,700
39 , 600
18,000
25,800
37,200
27,500
22,000
29,100
33,300

3,300
70,400
20,400
134,800
60,900
53,800
60,400
26,700
17,000
71,400
68,400
52,800
13,600
30,700
33,000
66,400
18,000

$50,400
63,900
75,800
51,800
49,100
33,200
61,200
34,400
41,200
39,200
34,800

7,179
74,000
39,800
150,600
77,100
57,400
60 , 800
36,200
24,400
89,800
90 , 000
57,700
38,000
37,500
38,500
84,100
31,600

$13,800
10,700

4,100
12,200
31,100

7,400
24,000

6, goo
19,200
10,100

1,500

3,879

3,600

19,400

15,800

16 , 200

3,600

400

9,500

7,400

18,400

21,600

4,900

24,400

6,800

5,500

17,700

13,600

382 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

But how about the counties which do pay more to
the State in taxes than the State .--pays to .±hem?
There are thirty-two of them. I have arranged them
in tabular form, (Table No. 3) giving the amount of
State taxes charged up to them, the amount of money
refunded and saved to them by the State, the amount
of net taxation, and the rate of net taxation in mills
on each dollar of the assessed valuation of the
county :

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

383

TABLE No. 3.

COUNTIES.

Albany

Broome

Cayuga ....
Chemung. .
Columbia. . .

Dutchess

Erie ,

Genesee

Herkimer . .

Kings

Livingston . ,
Madison. . . .

Monroe

Montgomery
New York. . .

Niagara

Onondaga. . .

Ontario

Orange

Orleans

Putnam..., .

Queens

Rensselaer .
Richmond. .
Rockland . . .
Schenectady

Seneca ,

Washington.

Wayne

Westchester.
Wyoming . . .
Yates

"Will pay to
State.

"Will receive
from State,

$236,400

77,000

77,000

54.400

69,000

114,000

586,000

55,600

52,800

1,242,800

64,400

50,000

338,700

64,800

4,708,000

8o,6oO'

191,700
75,000

114,400
38,300
17,800

168,300

162,000
36,300
34,200
36,200
38,000
48 , 200
62,100

259,000
39,800
29,200

^143,700
64,600
68,500
49,100
44,700
78,700

222,100
27,000
43,400

411,500
37,200
49,000

156,500
41,400

708,100
59,700

123,300
51,100
81,900
26,664
14,700

104,000

117,300
35,700
26,400
27,100
32,100
47,700
47,200

105,000
29,600
24,800

Net
taxation.

$92,700

12,400

8,500

5,300

24,300

35,300

363,900

28,600

9,400

831,300

27,200

1,000

182,200

23,400
3,999,900

20 , 900
68,400
23 , 900

32,500

11,636

3,100

64,300

44,700

600

7,800

9,100

5,900

500

14,900

154,000

10,200

4,400

Rate of

net taxation

in mills..

4
2

25

9

3

6

3

45

7

05

3

9

I

6

9

8

7

7

4

9

7

04

6

6

4

02
6
5
6

4

384 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

This table shows that although thirty-two counties
join in paying the State taxes, not one of them pays
a higher rate than two and one-tenth mills, and
twenty-four of them pay a lower rate than one mill.
In Onondaga county the rate will be only nine-tenths
of one mill, and while the net tax the county will
pay is $68,400, it will receive this year in direct
appropriations for public improvements, etc., $262,000.
So you will see that the State tax rate doesn't cut
much of a figure this year in Onondaga county.
Indeed, the county will have to its credit this year
$193,600 as a result: of its financial operations with
the State. It will get this' year from the State
Treasury, to be expended in the county, $54,000 for
canal improvements, $75,000 for the salt springs,
$108,000 for the Institution for Feeble-Minded Chil-
dren, and $25,000 for new buildings on the State
fair grounds.

I could show you similar figures for nearly all the'
other large counties which pay a large part of the
State taxation. For instance, there is Albany county
whose net taxation this year, over and above what
it will receive back from the State for school moneys,
care of the insane and publication of session laws,
will be $92,700. Now Albany county also comes in
for a slice of legislative appropriations to the extent
of $196,000, including $131,000 for canal improvements,
$16,000 for improving the channel of the Hudson
river, $23,000 for a national guard armory and $26,000
for its normal school. All this large sum of money
will be expended in the county for the benefit of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 385

its citizens. The net result of its financial trans-
actions with the State will, therefore, be a balance
to its credit of $103,300.

Take Monroe county, whose net State taxation this
year will be $182,200. But over against that pay-
ment to the State, Monroe county will receive $441,700
from the State Treasury in appropriations to be
expended within the borders of the county. This
large sum is made up of $17,000 for canal improve-
ments, $20,000 for the Brockport Normal School,
$69,000 for the Rochester State Hospital, $312,000 for
the State Industrial School and $23,700 for the Institu-
tion for Deaf Mutes. The net result of Monroe
county's transactions with the State Treasury, therefore,
will be $259,500 to the county's credit.

Take Erie county, at the other end of the State.
This county will not only get $222,100 back from the
State in school moneys and insane moneys this year,
but it will also receive from the State Treasury the
magnificient sum of $650,000, of which $263,000 is for
the State Hospital at Buffalo, $18,000 for the Institu-
tion for Deaf Mutes, $39,000 for the Normal School
at Buffalo, $50,000 from the sale of its County Insane
Asylum, $67,000 for canal improvements and $213,000
for the expenses of the National Guard in the recent
strike at Buffalo. The net result of Erie county's
transactions with the State will this year be $286,100
to the credit of the county.

This condition of affairs must convince the agri-
cultural sections of the State that they have a very
direct and vital interest in all that tends to develop

25

386 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

and etirich our great cities. The greater the assessed
valuations of New York and Brooklyn and the other
more populous counties, the greater the dividends
which the rural counties get from the State — for as I
have pointed out it has ceased to be with them a
matter of tax rate and is now a question of dividend
rate.

But successful as our State financing has been in
recent years, we may confidently look forward to the
time when direct taxation on the people will be a
thing of the past. The various laws which have been
enacted for raising revenue otherwise than by direct
taxation have operated with great success, owing to
the efforts of our administrative officers to enforce
theni. The Legislature last year gave the Comptroller
an appropriation of $25,000 for assistance in enforc-
ing the corporation and inheritance tax laws and he
has increased the receipts from these sources during
the year by $2,000,000. Careful economy and additional
revenues from various indirect sources ought, in a
few years, to make a direct tax unnecessary,
i Nearly all the principal departments and bureaus
of the State government do not cost the people a
penny in direct taxation. The executive department,
since 1886, has yielded to the State Treasury more
in notary fees that its total expenses and salaries.
The fees taken in the office of the Secretary of State
are nearly double the expenses and salaries of that
office. The work of the Attorney-General and his
deputies has saved the State millions of dollars in
contesting unworthy claims and defending tax assess-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 387

ments before the courts. The State Treasurer has
so deposited • the State funds as to earn in interest
for the State more than three times the amount of
the salaries and expenses of his office. The State
prisons are nearly self-supporting. The expenses of
the Railroad Conamission are paid by the railroads ;
those of the Banking Department by the banks ;
those of the Insurance Department by the insurance
companies. Indeed, practically all our direct State
taxation is for schools, charities and canals.

As a people we have a right to feel proud of our
financial condition. So great a State as this, consider-
ing all its public improvements and agencies for
promoting the general welfare, out of debt and
managed without burden to the taxpayers, is a glorious
sight and a vindication of our American institutions.
Let us hope that this proud standard may never be
lowered, but that the same high ideals which have
brought our government to its present prosperous
condition may continue to inspire those intrusted with
its care.

HOW TO KEEP THE BOY ON THE FARM.

Gov. Flower's Remarks at the Dutchess County
Fair, Poughkeepsie, September 28, 1893.

I have been around among farmers considerably
of late, and everywhere I go I find the farmers and
their wives complaining that it is impossible to keep
their boys and girls at work on the farms. The

388 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

boys want to go to town to " clerk it," and the girls
to hire out at service or to get employment in shops
or factories. So the old folks are left at home with
a scarcity of farm help and no thrifty children to
bequeath their farms to when they get ready to leave
this life for a better one.

This is a melancholy condition of affairs, not only
from the domestic point of view, but from the
standpoint of agricultural prosperity. If farming were
a profitable occupation farmers would have no reason
to complain that their children preferred to earn a
living elsewhere. The truth must be faced that
farming is not as profitable an occupation as it
formerly was in this State, and that there seems to
be no way of improving the condition of agriculture
except by a radical change in methods.

Present agricultural methods are not suited to the
wants and conditions of to-day, but to those of
generations ago.

The beginning of agricultural depression in this
State dates from the time of opening vast fields in
the west devoted to the production of wheat and
corn. Improved means of communication between
the east and these western fields, cheaper freight
rates and the application of steam to agricultural
work in the west, have made it absolutely impossible
for the New York farmer to coinpete with his
western rivals in the. production of these cereals.
Yet it is an astonishing fact that to-day about as
many acres in this State are devoted to the production
of wheat and corn as were devoted to these crops

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 389

twenty-five years ago ; about as many bushels of
wheat and cofn are raised to-day as were raised
twenty-five years ago. Fourteen hundred thousand
acres of the improved farming lands of this State are
given up to this vain endeavor to grow wheat and
corn in competition with the vast grain fields of the
west and north-west. When the ordinary business
man becomes acquainted with these facts he asks —
does it pay? and the invariable answer must be that
it does not pay. Our high-priced lands yielded over
twenty-three dollars an acre in corn on an average
from 1 870 to 1 880, and only eighteen dollars an acre from
1880 to 1890. The average value of our wheat yield
from 1870 to 1880 was twenty dollars an acre, and
between 1880 and 1890 it had fallen one-quarter, to
fifteen dollars' an acre. It would seem to be merely
slow suicide for our farmers to keep tip this vain
struggle.

What is to be done? How is agriculture to be
made once more a profitable occupation? How are
the boys and girls to be kept at home on the farm?
For when agriculture becomes a profitable occupation
there will be no difficulty about farm help or keeping
the children at home. In my various talks to farmers
at county fairs this fall I have endeavored to give
them some practical suggestions in answer to these
questions. I have endeavored to show them how, by
getting their boys interested in new crops and new
ideas about agriculture, based on the application of
business principles and science to that pursuit, they
will keep their boys at home and make more money

390 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

for themselves and their families. Let me repeat
some of these suggestions to you farmers of Dutchess
county. Some of you can doubtless give me more
information in the same line than I can give you,
for you have in this county some of the best kinds
of modern farms to be found in the United States,
because you have adapted yourselves to modern
agricultural conditions, and have sought to satisfy the
most profitable modern demands.

Take the subject of vegetable gardening or truck-
farming. There isn't a rarer sight in the country
than a farm with a good garden. Farmers do not
even supply their own tables with as large a variety
or as good a quality of vegetables as they might.
Put your boys at work in the garden department of
your farm and encourage them to get interested in
it. If you are within range of good markets, as many
farmers are, make vegetable gardening a feature of
your farm and give the boys charge of it. If they
are bright boys, and you give them the right sort
of stimulus and direction, I venture to say they will
soon be making greater profits on their vegetables
than you will on your wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley
and other cereals. Did you ever think how much
greater profits per acre there are in truck-farming
than in grain-farming? Truck-farming is a compara-
tively new industry in this country. Most of us
might have watched its growth from its infancy
during our lifetime. For the first time in 1890 we
got some statistics from the census bureau as to the
extent of this industry. These figures, though prob-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 39 1

ably deficient because of the difficulty of getting
accurate information, show that half a million acres
in the United States are devoted to this industry,
and that the money value of the yield in that year
was $76,000,000. They also show the average net
income from the growing of certain kinds of vege-
tables in New York State. Asparagus is said to net
$183 per acre; beets, $150; celery, $214; cabbage,
$133; watermelons, $81; other melons, $158; peas, %(i7 ;
sweet potatoes, $75; spinach, $80; tomatoes, $165, and
so on. I know some farmers' boys in another part
of the State who make fifty dollars an acre by rais-
ing sweet corn for canning purposes. Why can't a
number of farmers club together and establish a
canning factory, out of which they can make large
profits in furnishing the vegetables or fruits? When
we reflect that wheat production averages only fifteen
dollars an acre and corn eighteen dollars, the com-
parative profit in these other kinds of production is
very attractive. There are tens of thousands of acres
in the vicinity of our large cities which could make
their owners rich by intelligent vegetable farming.

Fruit growing is another branch of rural industry
that the boys can be interested in. We have the
best natural advantages for raising certain kinds of
fruit and the best markets in the western continent.
No better apples, no better peaches, no better berries,
hardly any better grapes are grown anywhere than
those raised in New York. Less than fifty years ago
a fruit grower near Keuka lake broke the New York
market by a shipment of 300 pounds of grapes. In

392 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

1890 there were shipped from this same part of the
State 40,000,000 pounds, and from the whole State
98,000,000 pounds. We lead every State in the Union,
except California, in the production of grapes, and
the average market-value of our crop in 1889 was
four times as much per ton as that of California's
yield. The grape industry in New York now covers
over 40,000 acres, and the value of its product in
1889 was about five and one-half millions of dollars, or
over $122 per acre — a pecuniary return equal to five-
eighths the value of our wheat crop for that year,
which covered fifteen times as many acres. The
extensive cultivation of peaches is but yet in its
infancy, and the value per acre of average yield two
years ago was upwards of $150. In small fruits
there is even more money. A well-informed writer,
basing his judgment upon his own experience, estimates
that with proper culture strawberries can be made to
yield $320 an acre, or a net profit of $150; rasp-
berries $300 an acre, with about the same net profit ;
and currants $120 an acre, but with greater propor-
tionate net profit than either strawberries or raspberries.
The popular taste for fruits of all kinds for ordinary
diet is growing much faster than the population,
and the consumption of our cities is increasing at an
astounding rate.

Another suggestion in this line. Build cold storage
houses if you can afford them ; if you can't, get a
number of your neighbors to join with you and build
one, charging each farmer who uses it a small price
in proportion to the extent of his use. Then put in

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 393

this cold storage all the fruit you can't dispose of
during the season and along in the winter or spring
bring out that fruit and sell it at the fancy prices
which will then prevail in our city markets. I know
farmers who keep apples in this way, and along in
the winter ship them to London for splendid prices.
Out at the World's Fair in June last, I saw no
varieties of New York apples which had been kept
sound and hard in a cold storage house since last
September. I saw also a great many varieties of grapes
preserved in the same way.

Get your wives and daughters interested in floricul-
ture. There are possibilities of considerable pin-money
in that. Very few farms have any flower-beds worth
speaking of. If you live near a big city your wives
and daughters can earn enough out of selling cut
flowers and flowering plants to. pay for their dresses
and clothing. Mentally as well as pecuniarily floricul-
ture is an improving occupation, and your households
would all be pleasanter homes when its inmates learn
to love God's beautiful flowers.

Flower gardens will help bee culture, too. Those
of you who have been out to the World's Fair — and
I advise you all to go if you haven't been — may
have seen in the New York exhibit there a swarm
of bees passing in and out of the Agricultural
building, and making honey behind a glass case
before all visitors who cared to watch them. It was
an interesting sight to watch the operations and work
of these busy and intelligent little creatures, and I
don't wonder men get so interested in them that

394 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

they devote wliole lives to studying their habits.
Give your boy an insight into bee culture and see if
he doesn't get absorbed in it, too. He can earn more
money at selling honey, if he goes at it in the right
way, than he can in "clerking it," and there is no
comparison between the relative pleasure to be gotten
out of the two occupations.

The production of sugar beets will soon become an
important industry in this country It is estimated
that we shall produce 25,000 tons of them this year.
There are some parts of our State particularly adapted
to their cultivation. Their chief care is at a time of
year when the farmer hasn't a great deal to do, which
makes them additionally profitable. A number of
farmers in a neighborhood could club together and
establish the necessary plant for extracting the juice
from the beets. The refuse matter could be used for
fodder. There ought to be a great deal of money in
beet sugar. The consumption of sugar in the United
States has been doubling about every twenty-five years,
and now we consume about sixty pounds per capita a
year.

Poultry raising offers fine opportunities for your
boys. Nobody can accurately estimate the enormous
growth in this industry in fifty years. The last
statistics I have seen were for 1882, when the value
of the poultry products in this country was estimated
at $560,000,000. This was $100,000,000 greater than the
value of the wheat product and more than two-thirds
the value of the corn product. The demand for
fresh eggs and chickens for food is almost unlimited.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 395

Get the boy an incubator and let him hatch chickens
by the wholesale. Give him all the profits he makes
and you won't find him anxious to leave the farm.

Many of you farmers, I dare say, have a cold spring
on your farms. Utilize it for trout ponds. This is
splendid work for your boys. You can get plenty of
trout to stock them with from the State Fish Commis-
sion. After the ponds are once built and stocked they
will not be much care. Your boy can catch a fine
mess of trout now and then, pack them in ice, ship

them to New York and get a fancy price for them. If
you have other streams not of the right temperature
for raising trout, clean them out and stock them with
other kinds of fish, which will supply your table
with food and add to your yearly income.

The subject of forestry is one which is beginning
to attract the attention of our people. It has not
yet come to be a feature of farming. Yet, with the
disappearance of our forests, it will eventually become
necessary to devote some part of our lands to the
cultivation oi, timber, and I have no doubt such
cultivation will some time be profitable in a pecun-
iary way as well as in other ways. This is a subject
in which your boys could be interested and the
uncleared wooded lands on your farms could be made
to yield a revenue.

The dairy branches of agriculture offer untold
opportunities. Our annual dairy products have
reached an enormous value. The making of fine
butters and cheeses, which will satisfy the daintiest
tastes and fetch the biggest profits, the packing and

396 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

marketing of these products, the care and breeding
of stock — all are subjects that should receive not
only the study and attention of the farmer himself,
but also of his sons and daughters. Get them inter-
ested in these things and they will cease to be
discouraged about the future of agriculture.

I have enumerated some of the features of agri-
culture which might be developed for the sake of
keeping the boys and girls on the farm. I hope you
will also find them suggestive of how agriculture
may be diversified and made profitable. The great
aim of our farmers should be to cater to the wants
of the people in our cities and villages. The urban
population is increasing at a very rapid rate. Mil-
lions of people must be fed. Their tastes and wants
are increasing every year. Their ability to satisfy
these tastes and wants is increasing every year.
Let us give up the old crops and methods that have
been proved unprofitable and impoverishing and take
up new crops whose production is profitable and
study new methods which science and the applica-
tion of business principles to agriculture have shown
to result in economy and a large margin of profit.
Instead of a discouraging and profitless occupation,
agriculture can be restored to its old-time splendor
as an honorable and remunerative pursuit.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 297

VALUES IN AGRICULTURAL LANDS.

Extracts from Governor Flower's Remarks before
THE Palmyra Agricultural Society, September
29, 1893.

" This is probably the last agricultural fair I shall
have the pleasure of visiting this autumn. I have
visited a good many and have been pleased to see
the interest which they arouse and the success with
which they are managed. There seems to be no
immediate likelihood of the abandonment of this
annual harvest custom. Agricultural fairs are very
useful in giving farmers new ideas and valuable
suggestions, and they undoubtedly stimulate interest
in good farm work. The fairs which I have visited
this fall have been largely attended, and the farmers
seem to be about the only class of people in this
State who haven't felt the pressure of hard times.
Their exhibits are numerous and of a high grade,
and the large attendance indicates the interest dis-
played. My impressions of the State fair were par-
ticularly favorable. It distinctly surpassed the State
fair of last year."

Referring to the recent depression in values in
farm lands. Governor Flower said :

" During the last term I was in Congress I voted
and spoke against all efforts to appropriate large
sums of money for irrigation purposes in the west,
because in the first place, there was no demand or
necessity for the opening up of new farming lands;

398 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

in the second place, only the very large land owners
would get any benefit from it ; and in the third
place, the cost would be paid almost entirely by the
people of the more thickly settled States, whose lands
had already depreciated largely in value, owing to
the development of the western country, and who
should not be compelled still further to provide the
means for improvements which were not for the
present interest of the country, and which would
only result in bringing the production of more cheap
lands into competition with that of our high-priced
farms. I think this sentiment is generally shared by
our farmers.

" The late depreciation of land values in the thickly
settled sections of the east and their rise in the
sparsely settled sections of the west present an
anomaly to be explained only by the cheapening
rates of transportation which place the western pro-
duct at the dock for foreign shipment as cheaply as
that grown in its immediate vicinity. It costs no
more to-day to move a car-load of freight from Min-
neapolis, Minn., to New York, a distance of 1,400
miles, than it cost twenty-five years ago to move a
car-load of freight from Rochester to New York, a
distance of 374 miles. Again, on land worth $5 per
acre in Minnesota, the interest per acre, at seven per
cent., is thirty-five cents per annum. The interest
on land in New York at $50 per acre is $3.50, or a
difference of $3.15. Now, for this $3.15 you can ship
the crop from one acre of land in Minneapolis to
Liverpool, England.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 399

" From a comparison of values of farm lands in
the United States, taken in 1870 and 1880, it
will be found during that decade that, -while
Colorado advanced $21,723,475, Vermont declined
$30,041,065 ; that while Dakota advanced $20,315,819,
New Jersey declined $66,627,543 ; that while Cali-
fornia advanced $120,811,254, Pennsylvania declined
$67,792,172 ; that while Kansas advanced $144,851,896,
New York declined $216,681,025. If the figures were
at hand for 1890 they would show a still greater
decline of land values in the east.

" In Great Britain the agricultural losses of the
Kingdom, incurred within twenty years, are stated
to have been ;^ 1,000,000,000. Russia, Australia, the
Argentine Republic, and other nations are under the
same depression.

" England has built her railroads in India and
Canada, pushing them forward and developing agri-
cultural resources, which tend to cheapen. Russia
has also pursued the same policy over vast tracts of
land. These causes tend to develop the farming
industry in all these countries with an artificial
growth.

" Our lands have been cheapened by this low rate
of freight and overproduction, the same as the rate
of interest has been lowered in this country by lay-
ing cables that reach immense sums of money, at
a low rate of interest, in London, Paris, Berlin and
Holland. When the cables were established the legal
rate of interest in New York was seven per cent.
To-day it is six per cent., and will soon be five.

400 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Whenever a scarcity of money arises a cable transfer
from the cheapest market tends to make the rate
uniform, and consequently continually lowers the
rate of interest.

" In the same manner the immense lines of domes-
tic telegraph and railroads which have brought our
country closer together in all its parts, combined
with good banking facilities and a uniform currency,
have solidified it and gradually affected the rate of
interest in every State by the easy communication
with New York. So this overproduction and cheap
freights, like the swing of a mighty pendulum, first
shrunk the values of lands in the east, is now
beginning to be felt in the west, and if, by the
stimulus of irrigation the area of production is still
further enlarged, will again in time react upon the
east.

"Let it be borne in mind that I am not speaking
against cheap transportation, for the dependence of
the east upon it (Massachusetts can furnish bread
to her people for only a half day in the year) goes
without question. But the unnatural stimulation of
farming in the west, together with cheap transporta-
tion, has often filled our warehouses with many million
bushels of wheat to be added to next year's crop.

" It is far better that the people who may desire to
settle in the arid belt help themselves than that they
should look for aid in a subsidy from the general
government. It encourages them to be independent
and teaches them the duty of taking care of
themselves.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4OI

"I am inclined to think, however, that in our State
the level of the depression in farm lands has been
reached. I observe, from the figures lately published
by the Census Bureau at Washington, that while the
total real estate mortgage indebtedness of this State
has increased something over 148 per cent, during
the ten years intervening from 1880 to i8go, scarcely
any of this increase represents an increase in the
mortgage indebtedness on farms. In 1889 the amount
of mortgage indebtedness on farms was actually less
than that in the years 1882, 1883 and 1884. I do not
expect to see prices go much, if any lower. This
conviction is largely based on the new conditions to
which our farmers are adapting themselves gradually —
the conditions presented by a rapidly increasing
population in our cities, which demands something
more from our farms than wheat and corn. These
conditions will compel a diversification of farm pro-
ducts — a tendency already well-started — and all our
improved agricultural lands will be needed in furnish-
ing those various products which our own people
consume in greater and greater proportions each year.
Our State population is increasing at the rate of a
hundred thousand people a year. We now average
130 persons to the square mile. In England the
average is nearly 500. We can reasonably look for-
ward to as great a density of population. That means
greater economy in the use of our lands and better
prices for them. It means more work for farmers
and more money. It means agricultural prosperity
26

402 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

instead of agricultural distress. The sooner our farm-
ers generally will tliorouglily readjust themselves to
changed conditions the sooner their lands will recover
their value and the greater will be the rewards for
their efforts."

ADDRESS TO TEACHERS.

Informal Remarks of Governor Flower at the
Opening of the Teachers' Lecture Course,
American Museum of Natural History, New
York City, October 14, 1893.

Professor Bickinore, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Teachers
of the Common Schools of this Vicinity :

I expected when I came here this morning to be
instructed first by the lecture of Professor Bickmore,
in order to get some ideas about which I might say
something to you afterwards. He, however, being the
professor in this school, has forced me to speak to
you first ; and were it not that you are teachers, and
that I feel somewhat at home with teachers, having
been a teacher myself, and knowing how great and
glorious is this occupation, knowing that upon the
30,000 teachers of our common schools in this State
depends the perpetuity of our great State, I would not
attempt to address you. The mother, when her child
is four or five years of age, puts him in the hands of
the teachers of the State, and I know that on you,
therefore, depends, more than on anybody else, the
rightful use of the powers which nature gives the

P UBLIC PA PEPS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 WER. 403

child. If you can wield these powers in such a way as
to make the children ■ govern themselves, if you can
teach the children also to be governed, if you can
teach them our form of government in its rudimentary
principles, you can make this the most powerful and
the greatest government that the world has ever
known.

This common school system of ours (of which you
are the finished product, because you have gone
through the regular gradations of common school,
high school and normal college) is the greatest system
existing in any State in this Union.

This lecture course is one which I permitted for the
teachers of the pupils of this State. It is, like the
American Museum, an object lesson to those who
cannot go abroad, to those who want to have a little
better education, to those who want to learn a
little more of the world than they can find in the
common school books. These lectures, like those to
which you are about to listen, put the polish on the
pupils of the common schools. After you teachers
have heard them you can enlarge the conceptions of
your pupils. I presume that many people in New
York have never been out of New York island. This
is a great country, and I suppose that in the lectures
that are delivered here you get enlightened on the
Old World as well as the New, and in this way you
broaden the views of those you are instructing.
Further than this, the people of the State do not like
to go in their expenditure of moneys, for the reason
that beyond this rich men should take up the effort

404 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

in the academies, in the colleges, in the universities,
and provide the polishing which higher education
gives. But as far as this the State is bound to go as
a police regulation to protect her citizens against all
kinds of theories of government except our own.

I am told that in this great city over 300,000
people cannot read and write the English lan-
guage. They come here because this government
is an asylum for all the people of the Old World.
We bid them welcome ; but we ask them merely to
put their children into our common schools ; and no
matter what their brogue is, whether it is Irish,
German, Scotch, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, or what
else it is, we ask them to put their children in this
hopper of the common schools, knowing that their
brogue will be rubbed off in a year, and they will
become able and good American citizens. The people
of this State and of this Union will then possess the
right kind of blood, drawing it from the rich ancestry
of the Old World and mixing it with the New, making
this one of the greatest nations in the world. And if
the children are properly taught in these common
schools, no matter what their brogue was six months
or a year before they entered them, they will soon be
taught to snuggle up beside the American boy, and
then they will march on through life as scholars and
teachers themselves. After they have been here a
few years, as far as they are concerned, this govern-
ment will be safe, for the reason that the flag that
floats above the school-house is known, and the princi-
ples that it represents are appreciated by every pupil

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 40$

and by every teacher in the schools ; and no matter
whence trouble comes, whether from internal strife or
from abroad, whenever the government is in danger,
the boys and girls who have been taught in these
schools will rally to the defense of the flag of the
Union and of the government.

This the American people have thought to be the
strongest safeguard of government possible — to spend
their money in educating the children in the school
district, in the town, in the village, in the county,
in the city and in the State. They believe that the
State, which has all these educational facilities thrown
around its children, buttresses the general goverment
with the strongest kind of guarantee against all
attacks.

Let ine,'-for instance, illustrate the two forms of
republics. Take France, in 1870 ; she was what I call
a consolidated republic. The president of the republic
appointed the different governors, the different
mayors and the different of&cers throughout France,
while we elect them by the people. In 1870, when
the Germans wanted to take France, what did they
do? They put their army around Paris, and when
Paris capitulated France lay prostrate in their grasp.
They demanded an indemnity, and it was paid, but
until then they would not leave Paris. Why?
Because when the Germans had captured Paris they
had captured all that there was of the republic.

Ours is a different kind of a republic. In 18 12, the
British captured Washington ; they burned it ; but
they did not capture the republic. When the con-

4o6 PUBLIC FAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

federates, from 1861 to 1865, attempted to marcli
around Washington, and take it, by way of Antietam
and Gettysburg, did they capture the republic? No.
Why? Because the strength of this republic lay in
the school district ; in the village ; in the town ; in
the county ; in the city, , and in the State. The
farmers' and merchants' boys throughout this broad
land, when the Confederates attempted to capture
Washington, rallied in their might, because they knew
they were living under the freest and the best govern-
ment that the world had ever seen ; and when they
rallied to the defense of that government the enemies
of the republic, instead of taking Washington, landed
on the Gulf, and the Union was saved for all.

The State of New York is spending $19,000,000 a
year for common schools. Greater facilities are offered
in this respect in this State than in any other State
in the Union. About . $7,000,000, I believe, is paid for
higher education, but not by the State. When I was
at the World's Fair in October, in my feeble manner
trying to arouse the people of this great common-
wealth to the idea that they had the greatest State in
this Union, and when I happened to remark that New
York was ahead of all the States of the Union in the
variety of its agricultural products, and especially in
its educational facilities, there was a Boston lady
present, and she said :

"That Governor of yours doesn't give the Almighty
credit for anything ! " You know, if there is anybody
around from Massachusetts, and you don't own right
up that Massachusetts is ahead on educational facilities,

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 407

"why there is trouble right off. So, when I came home,
I took up the statistics, and I found that in Brooklyn,
including the Pratt Institute, in that city alone, more
people had been graduated from educational institutions
than in all of Boston and all of Cambridge.

As the professor will show you, if he goes into the
minutiae of what New York State has at the World's
fair, I am sure that he will make you all feel proud
of our State. Why, in the cereal department, in the
grains and provisions shown there, there is the pret-
tiest and most unique show of the whole building.
There is no corn-cob palace, but there are twenty-
eight different kinds of wheat ; there are nine differ-
ent kinds of spring wheat, twenty-seven different
kinds of oats, eleven different kinds of barley, twelve
different kinds of rye, and thirty different kinds of
corn, and so on down through the list. The hop
culture, from the time men commence to plant the
hop till they pick it and bale it, is shown there.
The present generation don't know what flax is, but
every grandmother in this State knows what it is ;
and the ' flax from which linen is made is shown
you from the seed that makes the flax, through the
different processes ; and there is the hackle flax and
the flax ready to be spun into thread, and from the
thread into linen — all made in the State of New
York, and all shown in a box not over eight by
nine feet in size.

Take maple syrup and maple sugar. They seem to
taste better in that little exhibit from New York
State than from any other State in this Union. They

408 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVEKNOR FLOWER.

look better and whiter. When I was a boy, up in
a northern county of New York State (and some of
you teachers have probably heard this story), the old
people up in the country, around my school district,
used to say, when they would take a poor scholar and
try to make him do something that he could not do,
that you could not make a whistle out of a pig's
tail. But I saw four of such whistles out there in
our fair exhibit. And it just shows that anything is
possible with the farmers of New York State.

To my surprise I saw the New York State exhibit
showing great quantities of honey, twenty-two different
varieties, every one of them in fine shape, and the
farmers represented there seemed to me to know
more about bees than any farmers in all the western
prairies, where they have flowers enough to supply all
the honey that could be wanted if they had the bees
to do the work. But a great product of the State of
New York is honey, and we had 40,000 bees in the
World's Fair going to and fro at the north-east
corner of that building away out on those prairies ;
and amid this great show of flowers and of landscape
gardening that New York State gave them there (the
best show of any State in the Union) these bees were
gathering honey, and they gathered this summer 250
pounds of honey, and the people there said that the
Governor of New York was entitled to a couple of
pounds of it, and so he took it home as his part. Our
bees — New York State bees — were out there — not
western bees ! That is one of the features in the Fair.
Professor, have you got that in your pictures ? I pre-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 409

sume now you -will have it in. But that was to me
one of the wonderful things to see. Hundreds of
other things I saw, but I won't enumerate them,
because the professor will give you enough to take
home to your pupils, I have no doubt, to make them
all better.

I am very glad to be here in this building. This
is one of the buildings for whose construction I had
the honor to sign the bill. I believe it is one of
those institutions which the people of New York city
want. This audience that is here is a wonder to
me, having been, as a business man, down in the
lower part of the city nearly all my life, thinking
that nothing was going on in the city except around
my individual headquarters ; and I presume that
Mr. Constable, my old friend, who accompanied me
here this morning, thinks the same way. This is
a new thing to him. No, it is not, because he, with
other gentlemen, has advanced this museum and ena-
bled it to reach out through the State and do all the
good it can by such a course of lectures as this, and
by bringing choice selections of specimens from all
the countries of the world, so that the people of the
United States might see them. In this way this insti-
tution will prove a lasting good to the people of this
city and to the people of this State.

I thank you for your presence here this morning,
and I hope that you will all be instructed by the
lecture. Having been for the last two or three weeks
busily engaged in going around to the country fairs,
to the different normal schools of this State, and

410 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

seeing the general thrift and the general interest
taken in education, I feel glad to be here at a teacher's
institute, as you might call it, and hope, in the course
of my next year in office, to attend more of these
teachers' institutes and see what work they are doing.
I have attended many of the different colleges and I
have seen their commencements ; but I must say,
teachers, that at the normal schools I heard essays,
from both the gentlemen and the ladies, who were
graduating to become teachers, that were well up to,
and some of them very far in advance of, the essays
of those who were taking a college course.
I will now give way to the professor.

THE BATTLE OF TRENTON.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the Dedication
OF THE Battle Monument at Trenton, N. J.,
October 19, 1893.

Ladies and Gentlemen-.

New York is proud to participate in the exercises of
this occasion. Her generosity has provided one of
the bronze tablets which adorn the base of this
noble monument, and that tablet commemorates the
conspicuous part which a New Yorker took in the
battle whose memory is here celebrated. But these
considerations alone have not drawn us hither. By our
presence we would also indicate the patriotic interest
of our citizens in all efforts to perpetuate the memory
of the heroic deeds of the American revolution.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 41 1

The battle-fields of a nation are the reminders —
as they have been the scenes — of its severest
struggles. We recall them, not as Byron described
them, merely —

"Weltering fields of the tombless dead,"

scenes of mere physical encounter and combat, but
as ground hallowed by patriotic sentiment. Their
story is the broad outline of the nation's history.
Around them cluster memories of a nation's hopes and
its fears, of its days of gloom and of sunshine, of its
strength and its weakness, of its heroes and its cowards,
of its joys and its sorrows, of its triumphs and its
defeats. No battle-field can be dear to a people where
the blood shed was not consecrated to a good cause.
For this reason we Americans love our battle-fields.
They speak to us of rare courage, of high ambition, of
noble purpose and of signal triumph over almost
insuperable obstacles. They have been stepping-stones
to a better and more powerful civilization. They should
ever be the stimulus and inspiration of patriotism.

If I could have my way I would have every
American battle-field marked by a suitable monument,
and, where possible, set apart and preserved as conse-
crated ground. In no more vivid way can the story
of our national struggles be illustrated. Such historic
.landmarks awaken interest, refresh memories and
suggest patriotic thoughts and aspirations. They are
potent teachers of our children. Books alone do not
convey the full appreciation of famous battles. They
lack the realistic sense and the inspiration given by
personal observation oh the field. One may be familiar

412 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

with the story of Gettysburg, but until he has himself
visited the scenes of the battle, studied the locations
of the various commands, and pictured to himself the
action of the conflict, he cannot appreciate the full
measure of that bitter contest. Nor can one who was
not engaged in that battle vividly realize the sacrifice
of the soldier dead till, visiting the field, he gazes on
the granite colums and marble slabs which mutely
indicate the resting places of hundreds of brave heroes.

The time is approaching, and, in some instances, has
come, when the lines of our famous battle-fields will
become effaced and forgotten, if they are not
preserved by suitable monuments. It is now more
than a hundred years since the Revolution, and
tradition cannot often retain for longer than a century
geographical boundaries which nature and man are
gradually, effacing. We owe it to ourselves and to our
posterity that these historic places be no longer
neglected, but preserved to recall to future generations
the struggles of their forefathers to make America
independent and free.

This sentiment finds ample expression in these
exercises to-day. The battle of Trenton was not a
great battle, measured by usual military standards
alone. But for Americans it must ever have a peculiar
interest because of the circumstances under which it
was fought, the influence of the victory upon the
fortunes of the Revolution, the exhibition which it
afforded of superb American courage, and, above all,
the splendid demonstration which it gave of the
majestic character of Washington. The picture of

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 TVER. 4 1 3

Washington crossing the Delaware on that December
night, amid floating ice, is impressed on the mind of
every schoolboy, while the plan of the attack and its
successful carrying out against such great obstacles
justly give the battle and its participants a proud
place in the annals of American heroism. In com-
memorating that achievement, by the erection of this
beautiful shaft on the very ground where Washington
stood in directing the battle, the people of New
Jersey have performed a praiseworthy service to the
people of the entire country. The representative
character of this audience indicates the wide-spread
interest in the event. The battle-field and the
monument belong to New Jersey, but the memory
of the battle, the heroism and the victory are shared
alike by every American, and are the pride of our
common country.

It falls to my lot to-day to formally present to the
people of New Jersey the bronze bas-relief which the
State of New York has placed upon the base of this
memorial column. New York is proud to do this
honor — proud especially because by this act she also
perpetuates in bronze the part played in the battle of
Trenton by one of her most brilliant sons. This
casting represents the opening of the fight by Captain
Alexander Hamilton and his New York company of
artillery. Hamilton was then scarcely past his majority.
He had left school to organize a military company
and join the continental army. The ability and dis-
cipline of his command attracted the attention of his
superior officers and he won their favor and confidence.

414 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

In this battle his bravery was marked. Although his
fame does not rest upon his military achievements, it
is another leaf to his laurels that he suffered the
hardship of this historic contest and shared its well-
earned honors.

Gentlemen of the Association, on behalf of the
State of New York, I present this token of our
interest in your work, and trust that it may both
emphasize our good will towards our sister State and
attest our unity of purpose in the commemoration
of this American victory.

THE NATIONAL GRANGE.

Informal Welcome by Governor Flower upon the
Occasion of the Annual Convention at Syra-
cuse, N. Y., November i6, 1893.

[From the Syracuse Standard, November 17, iSgj.]

Gov. Flower was introduced as the Flower of the
country. " Indeed," said he, " it is a great pleasure
to me to extend the welcome of this great Empire
State of New York. The more I have traveled
through this union of states, and I have done the
Yosemite, have enjoyed the mild climate of southern
California, have been through Texas and Florida, all
over in fact, but the more I have traveled, when I
return to New York and think of its glorious possi-
bilities and its glorious accomplishments, all other
States are to New York as a farthing candle is to

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. A^S

yonder shining electric light." This was received with
great applause and laughter.

Gov. Flower then said that "the Grange had done
much to make the State so great. The moment the
great waterway was built through her fertile fields,
from the lakes to the sea, New York became the
Empire State. New York helped to inhabit the west-
ern States and it does a great deal to sustain them
now." * * * He went on in his familiar jolly
way to tell the grangers how New York State had
cleaned them all out at the World's fair, and every
claim he made was allowed and cheered with gen-
erous applause. His advice on catering to the tastes
of the city was timely and pertinent. The reason for
the depreciation of land and of wheat in the east
was expounded by the Governor. It was held to be
the governmental grants in the west. Gov. Flower
held that governmental irrigation of lands in the
west would be robbery of the New York and New
England farmers. All the countries of the world seem
to have joined with each other in trying to down
farmers of this country in the matter of wheat.
Russia, India and the Argentine Republic have
opened up their wheat fields in competition. The
remedy for the American farmer is to change his
crops. Gov. Flower mentioned some of the products
for which there is a great demand in the large cities
of the east. He spoke particularly of the profits
which one Long Island farmer had made on mush-
room beds. Gov. Flower prophecied the introduction
of the trolley on the Erie canal within a very short

4l6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

time. He said he was going to inspect the experi-
ments in Rochester next Saturday and was almost
certain that the plan would be put into practice.
The Governor said that he was glad that New York
State had 700 granges and he wished they were 7,000.
He said he believed that in the grange the farmers
were taught all the new ideas of crop raising. Gov.
Flower's welcome was again repeated and he sat
down feeling, as he had good reason to feel, that
his speech had made a decided hit and was just
what was wanted for the occasion.

BUSINESS MEN IN POLITICS.

Abstract of Governor Flower's Remarks at an
Informal Reception tendered him by the
Chamber of Commerce, Rochester, November 17,
1893.

\From the Rochester Union and A dvertiser, November i8, i8<pj ]
» ******

The regular order of business was suspended and
the Governor was asked to say something about good
roads or any other topic which he might be inclined
to discuss. He spoke extemporaneously, and after
thanking the Chamber of Commerce for its cordial
reception said that he liked to be in, touch with such
organizations. " I am a member of the Chamber of
Commerce of New York, whose charter dates back to
the time of King George. We annulled that charter
in 1776 and took a new one under which we now

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4^7

flourisli. I know the character of the members
of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and that it
contains a body of active, vigorous, brainy men.
These are the men who ought to direct and control
the municipal affairs of your city. The cities of this
State would not go very far wrong if the business
men would attend to their duty. How many of you,
while you frequently complain of your aldermen and
your supervisors, attend the caucuses of your party ?
You neglect the primaries which lie at the bottom of
our governmental system and then hurry down to
Albany and complain when things go wrong. You
would rather stay in your houses, enjoying a cigar
after dinner, than go to a caucus if it be but ten rods
from your door.

" If matters go wrong in your city you are to blame,
for you do not exercise your right of local self-
government which you ought. If you should show
one-quarter of the interest in the primaries that you
do in your business, municipal matters would go much
more smoothly.

" If this government goes wrong you are to blame.
If you would take an active and uninterrupted interest
in public affairs there would be no occasion for you
to rise up once in ten years in your might to put
down someone who had done wrong. If there are
machines in politics, you ought to be in them. You
should belong to them and keep their management in
good hands. It is as necessary to have an executive
head in a political party as in a family or in a
business enterprise.
27

41 8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

"I think I have a right to lecture you because I
did not come here to make a speech. I thought
I should come here and meet my friends, have a
lunch and get away without being asked to say any-
thing. I see nearly all of you plead guilty by your
faces, so don't let it happen again."

Governor Flower said that he had been criticised
often during his gubernatorial career, as had probably
all of his predecessors, and provoked a laugh at the
expense of George C. Buell by saying : " Why, even
my friend on my right here was highly indignant
because I signed the twenty-ward bill and took him
out of a silk stocking ward and put him in one of a
lower grade."

The speaker then took up the subject of the canals
and presented a mass of statistics and information
that showed he had made the water highways a
matter of much study. "You business men know the
importance of commerce and what great strides this
State took when the Erie canal was completed and
that great waterway tapped the fields of western com-
merce. Cities and villages sprang up all along the
line. These cities and villages didn't spring up along
the line of the Central Hudson Railway, but along the
line of the Erie. Very few people to-day appreciate
what the canal is to this State. When you see a canal
boat you don't know what it represents. A single
canal boat carries as much grain as twenty ordinary
freight cars. This waterway must be maintained, if
the Empire State is to maintain her supremacy.
Three million more tons of freight go through the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 419

great lakes, annually, than go through the ports of
the great cities of Liverpool and London combined.
Isn't that traffic worth providing for? It is going to
increase from year to year. Isn't it worth while to
provide for this increase so that all this commerce
shall find its way through New York State? England
is reaching out for it. The Canadian government is
deepening the St. Lawrence channel and the Welland
canal channel to fourteen feet. What does that mean?
Canada is to-day spending more than $60,000,000 on
the improvement to her canal and waterway system.

" When her fourteen foot channel is completed, a two
thousand ton boat can go through her waterways from
the great lakes to the ocean. We must do something
if we expect to be ready to meet this competition.
The United States are already doing something. It is
making a twenty foot channel all the way from
Duluth to Buffalo. When that is completed we can
compete with Canada with the advantage on our side,
for three thousand ton boats can then come as far as
Buffalo, and with their advantage in size will take
freight away from the Canadian boats. The problem
will be then to find an outlet for this commerce from
Buffalo to the sea.

" How to do this is the question. I have been
importuned to favor a ship canal through the State.
I do not believe this to be necessary, at present, at
least, and it would not only be enormously expensive
but perhaps impracticable. We must remember that
at present the Erie Canal does not carry half of what
it is capable of carrying, largely because of the slow-

420 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

ness of transit. Increase the speed and you increase
the tonnage and the capacity. That is where this
scheme of electrical propulsion is to come in.

" If power can be obtained from Niagara, as it is
suggested it can be, fifty cents a day will get the
power for a canal boat that requires four mules and two
men now. That means cheapening the rates for
carrying freight. It means that two cents and a-half
will carry a bushel of grain from Buffalo to New
York. Another two cents and a-half is going to
deliver it in Buffalo from Duluth. Five cents bring
a bushel of wheat from the wheat fields to the
. metropolis. Isn't that going to beat the Mississippi route
or the Canadian route, or any other route? When
this is done wheat is not going to stop in Minneapolis."

The Governor then referred to the experiment of
employing electricity as a motive power.

From the canals he branched off to the subject of
good roads. He said he had Monroe county in mind
when he prepared that portion of his last annual message
which related to this subject. In his remarks upon
this topic the Governor addressed himself more par-
ticularly to the supervisors present. He said he had
thought it would be a good thing to extend the
length of their term of office, so that if they made an
appropriation for road improvement the people would
not have an opportunity to turn them ovX of office
until the benefits of the improved roads began to be
apparent. The farmers would not complain of the
expense, so the Governor thought, because the burden
of the cost would fall on the cities.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 42 1

The Governor spoke enthtisiastically of the State's
common school system, and said he believed the edu-
cational system of New York was the best in the
country. He also said that he had made a careful
inspection of the institutions for the insane and feeble-
minded throughout the State, and had found them
conducted on an excellent and business-like basis.

In closing Governor Flower said : " I want you and
every business man in this State to see that we have
an honest ballot and a fair count. You can't afford
to allow any man to vote four times while you are
voting once. Maintain the purity of the ballot.
Do your duty towards your government ; it's worth
preserving."

ELECTRICITY ON THE CANALS.

Governor Flower's Remarks at the Conclusion of
THE Experiments near Rochester, November i8,
1893.

\From the Rochester Post-Express reports, November iS, iSgj.~\

As the boat passed into the first lock three rousing
cheers for the State of New York were given and
these were immediately followed by three cheers for
the Governor of the Empire State. The crowds on the .
bank joined in the shout.

As the boat passed out of the lock the Governor,
who had taken his position in the stern, made a brief
speech in which he expressed satisfaction over the
result of the test.

422 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

In his speech Governor Flower said: "In 1825
when Dewitt Clinton started from Buffalo for Albany
on a canal boat, he had a military company as an
escort, but there was no electricity to move boats or
transmit news. They sent the fact of his starting,
from Buffalo to New York, by the successive
discharge of cannon along the bank, and the time
occupied was an hour and fifty minutes. The people
gathered along the canal rejoicing at the improve-
ment. Only forty tons of merchandise were sent
from Buffalo to New York that year, but now 3,000,000
tons are sent through annually. I believe when
this electric system is perfected there will be 12,000,000
tons sent from the west to the seaboard and without
great cost to the people for canal purposes. This
experiment will give new life to the commerce of
States along the great lakes and make the transporta-
tion on the Erie canal equal to that on the Mississippi.

" I regard it as a great privilege, as Governor, to
witness this experiment which marks the change from
horse and mule power on the canal to electricity,
which I believe will quadruple the usefulness of the
canal."

The Governor was loudly cheered at the close of
his speech.

CORRESPONDENCE.

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO LEGISLATION AFFECT-
ING LOCAL OFFICERS IN THE CITY OF BUFFALO.

Buffalo, N. Y., April 20, 1893.
Hon. RoswELL P. Flower, Governor , Albany , N. Y. .

Charges have been preferred to the Mayor of Buffalo against Joseph E.
Gavm, Comptroller, of misconduct in office, which, if sustained, would
disqualify him for exercising the power of appointing police and excise
commissioners, which is given to him by the bill rushed through the
Legislature yesterday. On behalf of the committee of citizens appointed
at a public meeting on last Monday, I ask you to withhold your approval
of the bill until these charges can be investigated.

J. N. ADAM,

Chairman.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, April 20, 1893.

J. N. Adam, Esq., Chairman, etc., Buffalo, N. Y,:

Your telegram received. I am directed by the Governor to say in
reply that while under ordinary circumstances he would willingly grant
you a hearing upon any bill pending before him, the dignity of the law-
making branch of the government is not to be insulted by hastily planned
and arbitrary efforts on the part of local authorities to nullify the laws of
the State by the summary removal or suspension of local officers charged
by statute to perform specific duties within a specific time. Whatever
just difference of opinion may exist as to the wisdom of the recent
legislation relative to the appointment of police commissioners of Buffalo,
the Mayor of that city was, in the Governor's judgment, by no means
warranted in preventing the operation of the act by hastily suspending
from office one of the persons directed by the Legislature to carry out
the provisions of the statute without giving him an opportunity to be
heard on the charges preferred against him until after the date set for
the performance of the duty had elapsed. The intimation conveyed in
your dispatch that similar official action may be taken to prevent the
carrying out of a subsequent act of the Legislature precludes the
Governor from any thought of granting a hearing, whose chief purpose,

424 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

as implied in your telegram, is to gain time for nullifying the proposed
statute. He, therefore, respectfully declines to comply with your request.

T. S. WILLIAMS,

Private Secretary.

THE TONA WANDA STRIKE.

TELEGRAMS BETWEEN LUMBER DEALERS AND GOVERNOR
FLOWER RELATIVE TO CALLING OUT TROOPS.

ToNAwANDA, June 22, 1893.
Hon. RoswELL P. Flower, Governor :

We comprise the lumber firms doing business in Tonawanda, Erie
county. We cannot land our lumber on our docks because no protection
can be obtained from the sheriff, and none from the village authorities,
sufficient to induce our men to attempt to unload vessels now here or to
arrive. North Tonawanda, Niagara county, is protected by military.
Laborers are working there, and we have been obliged to transfer our
vessels to the docks in that county to unload barges. We cannot do that
with all vessels due this week, and we urgently appeal to you for military
protection so that we may be able to transact our business on our docks
and property in Erie county. We have a full force of men who want to
work, and they have consistent reason for the fear which leads them to
refuse to work without ample protection. We respectfully demand
of you, as our chief magistrate, immediate relief from our present
embarrassing position.

EASTERN LUMBER CO.

L. C. W. FASSETT & BELLINGER.

HUMBOLDT & BELLINGER.

Watertown, N. Y,, June 22, 1893.

P. W, ScRiBNER, Eastern Lumber Company, etc., Tonawanda, JV. Y. :
The sheriff of Erie county has ample power, and it is his duty, to pre-
serve the peace of his county. He can summon a posse of citizens, and
when they fail he can summon the National Guard of his and adjoining
coimties to his aid. When they are all insufficient he can ask the
Governor to aid him. But he is the judge of the situation. I have wired
him the substance of your dispatch and have asked him to do his duty,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Watertown, N. Y., June 22, 1893.
August Beck, Sheriff, Buffalo, N. Y. :

The lumber dealers of Tonawanda, through P. W. Scribner, wire me
that they cannot land their lumber as it arrives on the boats because they

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 42S

have no protection for their men, and that you have refused to aid them.
Your duty is a plain one, and I expect you to do it. You have power to
summon the law-abiding citizens of Erie county to aid you, and the
National Guard of your and adjoining counties, if necessary. Peace
and good order must be maintained at any cost.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

THE CIVIL SERVICE LAW.
CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO ALLEGED VIOLATIONS.

Governor Flower to the Civil Service Commission.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, July 5, 1893.

To THE Civil Service Commission, Albany, N. Y. :

Gentlemen . — I observe in the pubUc press charges of appointments in
State departments in violation of the civil service law as to competitive
examinations.

Will you inform me whether any appointments have been so made con-
trary to the law; when Such appointments, if any, were made; how many
of such appointments there are, and such other information and sugges-
tions relative thereto as 3'ou may deem necessary to a full understanding
of the present operation of the law?

I desire to have the civil service law, as well as all other laws, faithfully
administered during my incumbency of the executive office.

Yours truly,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Reply of the Commission.

State of New York.
New York Civil Service Commission,
Albany, July 5, 1893.
To THE Governor:

Your communication of the fifth is received, and in answer we desire to
say that the matters therein referred to have had our careful consideration
since the formation of the present commission in the early part of the
present year.

At our first meeting we discovered that there existed 154 seeming
violations under schedule D and a number under schedules B and C of the
civil service rules. Subsequent investigation showed that most of these

426 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

violations had existed for a long time, some of them as early as 1886.
Many of the violations had grown up through ignorance or misinterpreta-
tion of the law. We also found that the former chief examiner of the
civil service commission had entered into an arrangement with the Comp-
troller by which the men thus appointed should remain undisturbed upon
the condition that the Comptroller should refuse in future to pay any
person coming under civil service rules who did not have a certificate
from the civil service commission that he had been placed upon the
eligible list, which agreement the Comptroller states he has carried out.
There were a number of violations, notably in the Asylum for Feeble
Minded Children and the Industrial School at Rochester, where the former
chief examiner of this commission had made no provision whatever for
examinations, although requested by the institution so to do, and the
appointing powers were obliged to violate the strict letter of the law in
order to carry on the work of their several institutions.

At every meeting of our commission since its formation we have done
our best to remedy the existing state of affairs, and are pleased to be
able to report at this time that we have reduced the number of violations
from 154 to 34, under schedule D, and have largely reduced the number
of alleged violations under schedule B. This has been accomplished
largely through the co-operation of the appointing powers, who have
treated all our communications in regard to these matters courteously and
with an evident desire to obey both the letter and spirit of the law, and
more particularly we have been aided by your indorsement and approval
of our acts.

With reference to the remaining violations we are confronted by this
difficulty : Many of the appointees have been long in service and have
proven valuable ofBcials. In addition to this, we are unable under the
existing law to enforce the rules, there being no adequate provision in
the civil service laws for that purpose During the latter part of the
last session of the Legislature, at your suggestion, we had several
conferences with yourself and Prof. Collin with reference to amending
the law so as to render such violations impossible in the future, but were
unable in the limited time before the adjournment to procure such
legislation. We are now at work upon such amendments as we believe
would cure the defects of the present law and insure its enforcement in
the spirit which your letter manifests, and respectfully suggest that such
recommendations as we may make be allowed to appear in your forth-
coming message, to the end that the Legislature may promptly aid us
in carrjring out the work for which the commission was created.

Yours very respectfully,

E. PRENTISS BAILEY, Pres.
W. D. McKINSTRY,
DE F. VAN VLEET,

Commissioners.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 42/

In Regard to an Address issued by the New York Civil Service
League — Letter from Hon. Matthew Hale.

Law Offices of Hale & Bulkley,
25 North Pearl street,

Albany, N. Y. , October 31, 1893.

My Dear Governor Flower. — I was surprised to find on the evening
of Fridaj' last, au " Address to the People of the State " which purported
to be signed by myself as President and by the Secretary of the New
York Civil Service League, containing some derogatory statements in
regard to you.

t was not present at the meeting at which the so-called "address"
was adopted, never signed it or authorized anyone to sign my name
thereto. The statements with respect to you therein, I entirely disapprove
of, and as soon as I saw the document, notified the Secretary of the
League of my disapproval.

I have since been informed that the paper was left with a person here
with instructions not to publish it unless it was submitted to me and
approved by me; but it seems that by mistake these instructions were
disregarded.

Very possibly you may not have seen this document ; but I feel that in
justice to myself, I should apprise you of the facts as above stated. I
have requested the Secretary not to continue in any way the publication
of the paper, and he has assured me that it will not be done.

Regretting very much that my name should have appeared signed to
a document which I regard as unjust toward you, I remain

Very truly yours,

MATTHEW HALE.
Gov. Roswell p. Flower:

P. S. — I should have written earlier, but understood you were away
from home.

M. H.

NEW YORK AND THE WORLD'S FAIR

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PRESIDENT HIGINBOTHAM
AND GOVERNOR FLOWER.

President Higinbotham's Letter

World's Columbian Exposition.
Executive Department,

Chicago, September 22, 1893.

The Hon. Roswell P. Flower, Governor of New York, Albany, N Y. :

Sir. — By direction and on behalf of the management of the World's
Columbian Exposition, I am delegated to express its appreciation of the

428 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

personal and official interest taken by yourself and the representatives of
the State of New York in the Exposition. That this interest succeeded
in evoking the active and intelligent co-operation of the citizens of your
Commonwealth is clearly exemplified in the creditable display of exhibits
made by the citizens of New York, and by the fact that upon New York
Day the co-operation of the citizens of New York gave to the Exposition
an attendance greater by many thousands than we have had on any other
Monday since the opening of the Exposition season.

Moreover, the Board of World's Fair Managers of your Commonwealth
has at all times afforded the management of the Exposition most generous
and hearty assistance, and a debt of gratitude is due them for their zeal
and earnestness at many stages of the Exposition season.

For all the manifestations of patriotic interest in this national under-
taking which the management has experienced at the hands of yourself
and the members of the Board of World's Fair Managers of your State,
I beg to assure you that the people of Chicago and the State of Illinois
are deeply grateful.

With assurances of most distinguished consideration and regard I am,
with respect, your obedient servant,

H. N. HIGINBOTHAM,

President.

Governor Flower's Reply.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, October 9, 1893.

H. N. HiGiNBOTHAM, EsQ., President World's Cohimbian Exposition:

Dear Sir. — Upon my return to Albany, after an absence of several
days, I find your letter of the twenty-second ultimo, written on behalf of
the World's Columbian Exposition, and I beg to express my warm appre-
ciation of the kind sentiments which it conveyed.

I am sure I express the feeling of the people of New York when , in
reply, I assure you, and through you, the gentlemen associated with you
in the management of the Exposition, and also the citizens of Chicago,
that we feel as though we had been particularly favored in the facilities
which have been afforded our people for the exhibition of the State's
products and resources. Without such generous treatment from the
officers of the Exposition and the people of Chicago, our best efforts
must have failed to attain the success which is now our pride.

The Exposition has brought closely together the metropolis of the East
and the metropolis of the West, and the mutual respect and courtesy thus
generated cannot fail to have an excellent effect in cementing the ties
which bind the two cities.

The Exposition has deservedly aroused for Chicago the admiration of
the world. No other city could have done what she has done in prepara-

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 429

tion for and consummation of the Fair. Her people worked against great
obstacles. They found little sympathy from the press of the east or from
eastern people. They had difficulty in securing government aid. But
their victory is all the greater for these obstacles, and the Exhibition will
be well worth, in the universal praise and admiration which it has won
for the people of Chicago, all and much more than it has cost in money.

Personally I am glad my own confidence in the enterprise and energy
of Chicago has been so splendidly vindicated, and both personally and
officially I feel under obligations for the courtesy and generous treatment
which have been manifested by your Board toward New York State.
Again thanking you for the kind expressions of your letter, believe me.

Very truly yours,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

KINGS COUNTY ELECTION TROUBLES.

CORRESPONDENCE AND OFFICIAL ACTION RELATIVE
THERETO..

Citizens to Governor Flow^er.
[Telegram.]

Brooklyn, N. Y., November 7, 1893.

To RoswELL P. Flower, Governor, Albany, N. V. :

Dear Sir. — You doubtless know of violent interference by McKane,
chief of police and others aiding and abetting, in the, town of Gravesend,
Kings county, with fair election and rights of electors, and also con-
temptuous and violent interference by those men since Saturday last and
with citizens acting under decision of Supreme Court. All this was
followed this morning by criminal exclusion of lawful watchers protected
by orders of Supreme Court, violent assaults upon those watchers and
their illegal imprisonment accompanied by open denunciation and defi-
ance of Supreme Court. Orders of Supreme Court of no avail. Appeal
to sherifi made in vain for protection. He peremptorily refuses. We
citizens of Kings county ask your instant interference as Governor of the
State in this grave and unprecedented emergency. We ask this in behalf
of citizens generally and of law, order and fair play.

Respectfully,

WILLIAM G. LOW.
FRED W. HINRICHS.
EDWARD M. SHEPARD.
A. AUGUSTUS HEALY.
J. WARREN GREEN.
THOMAS G. SHEARMAN.
GEO. FOSTER PEABODY.

43° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

The Governor's Reply.
[Telegram.]

Albany, N. Y., November 7, 1893.

To William G. Low and Others, Brooklyn, N. Y. :

Your telegram just received at 4.15 o'clock after my return from New
York. It does not state in what respect the sheriff has failed to do
his duty, but I have wired him that complaint has been made against him
and have directed him to do his full duty under the statute in the preser-
vation of order and the enforcement of law, to the end that an honest
election and a fair count shall be had. All public officers over whom I
have the power of removal must do their full duty or they will be removed

from ofiSce.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Governor Flower to Sheriff Courtney.
[Telegram. ]

Albany, N. Y. , November 7, 1893.

To John Courtney, Sheriff, Brooklyn, N. Y. :

It has been represented to me by citizens of Kings county that you have
peremptorily refused to do your legal duty in the matter of to-day's trouble
at Gravesend. I am not in possession of exact facts in the matter, but I
call your attention to my proclamation of yesterday, published in this
morning's papers, and I shall expect you to do your full duty under the
statute in the preservation of order and the enforcement of law, to the end
that there shall be an honest ballot and a fair count in your county.
Failure to do this will be considered cause for your removal from oflBce.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Sheriff Courtney's Reply.
[Telegram.]

Brooklyn, N. Y., November 7, 1893.
Hon. Roswell P. Flower, Albany, N. Y. :
Telegram received. No truth whatever in the report made to you.

JOHN COURTNEY,

Sheriff.

e UBLIC PA PERS OF CO VERNOR PL 0 WER. 4 3 1

Mr. Gaynor to Governor Flower.
To the Governor : Brooklyn, November n ,1893.

You must already be generally informed of the grave crimes against
the franchise and against individuals committed in the town of Gravesend
before and at the recent election. It was my desire to go to Albany at
once and confer with you, but as I have not been able to do so I now
write to you.

I respectfully request that you have the Attorney-General at once
appoint one or more special prosecuting oflScers for this county, to pro-
ceed forthwith to collect the evidence and prosecute the guilty.

The district attorney of this county, openly in court, in the newspapers,
and in public campaign speeches, sided with McKane and the other
officials of Gravesend in the gross crimes which they were committing.
Since the election he has, of course, done nothing to bring them to justice.

We have no other official authority under and through which the evi-
dence, now easily at hand, may be collected and systematized before it
becomes disdpated. The general public does not always reflect how
precisely and carefully such things have to be done. It is easy to hurry
into court, but fatal to get there without due foresight and preparation.

I shall not here fully recount the crimes committed at Gravesend, but
shall outline some of them.

With a population of 8,418 in the town of Gravesend, as shown by the
State census last year, 6,218 names of alleged voters were put upon the
registry lists this year.

McKane and the inspectors of election then entered into and carried out
a conspiracy to prevent the registry lists from being inspected and copied.
Application being made to the courts, the inspectors concealed themselves
to prevent the service of notice of legal process on them, and, as I am
informed, left the State.

McKane brutally assaulted and locked up the copyist sent to the town
to demand the registry lists in order to copy them.

The district attorney openly sided with McKane and the other officials
in the commission of these acts. In addressing a large public meeting on
Monday evening before the election he ridiculed, by name, a candidate
for office who was striving to get the lists, and said he could not bulldoze
the officials of Gravesend, and that on the day after election he could eat
all the votes he could get in the town of Gravesend.

I regret to write down such language here, but I desire to make you
understand the actual situation. The brutal assault committed by
McKane and his officers on election morning upon twelve citizens of
Brooklyn of the highest standing, who, as volunteers, had gone down
to the polls there as legal watchers, was the natural result of the conduct
of the district attorney.

432 PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

McKane was warranted in feeling that he would be safe, from pubUc
prosecution, and no one here is at all surprised that the district attorney-
has not taken a single step to bring to punishment those who committed
these enormous and shockmg crimes.

Anticipating the course which McKane intended to take, an injunction
was obtained from the Supreme Court forbidding him to prevent these
lawful watchers from taking their places and performing their duties.
They went down to Gravesend with this injunction in their hands and
under its protection, but it was defied openly and treated with ridicule
and contumely.

Holding it up as a shield these citizens were brutally struck down, cut,
bruised, kicked and trampled upon, and four of them were carried off and
locked up in the police station.

I have been elected to an office which disqualifies me from prosecuting
the perpetrators of these crimes ; but I cannot and shall not sit silent and
see these gross outrages against honest people go unredressed. I shall
resign the office first. I feel safe in appealing to you, and I am certain
that you will act as speedily as may be.

I also respectfully request you to have the Attorney-General give an
opinion as to the Governor's power to remove the officials, including two
justices of the peace, who joined in, connived at, or encouraged the
crimes to which I have called your attention.

Respectfully,
W. J. GAYNOR.

District Attorney Ridgway to Governor Flower.

District Attorney's Office,

Brooklyn, N. Y. . November 13, 1893.

The Hon. R. P. Flower, Governor, Albany, N. V. :

Dear Sir. — I have observed in the public press a letter addressed to
you by "William J, Gaynor of this city in which he requests that you
' ' have the Attorney-General at once appoint one or more special prose-
cuting officers for this county, to proceed forthwith to collect the evidence
and prosecute the guilty" concerned in the recent election performance
at Gravesend. The ground for this unusual request is the lack of confi-
dence which Mr. Gaynor professes to have in the disposition of the present
district attorney to prosecute the alleged offenses.

I have no desire to take issue with Mr. Gaynor as to the sincerity which
marks the discharge of my official duty, and I pass over without comment
his personal allusions to myself. I am answerable for my official acts,
not to him, but to the people of Kings county, who have four times
honored me with their confidence, and, if I have violated, or am violating,
my official oath, the law provides the method of my removal from office,
as you are aware.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 433

I desire to say, however, that, while not skirking any proper responsi-
bility, I hope you may see fit to comply with Mr. Gaynor's request, so far
as it may be in your power. From a hasty consultation of the statutes
I am not sure that they give you or the Attorney-General the authority to
appoint a special prosecuting officer, who would have access to the grand
jury, but I wish to relieve you of any such embarrassment by asking you
to suggest to me the names of one or more capable and honest lawyers
whom I can appoint as my assistants, and to whom I can turn over the
entire care and responsibility of collecting the evidence and conducting
the prosecutions of all persons who have been guilty of violating the laws
in the recent election troubles in Kings county. I shall cheerfully appoint
such persons as you may suggest, and shall see that the entire facilities
and powers of the district attorney's office are placed at their disposal for
the discharge of their duties. They will have access to the grand jury,
wiU act for the district attorney before the grand jury, and will, undoubt-
edly, co-operate with committees of citizens in bringing all offenders to
justice.

Such a course would be in harmony with the law, and would obviate
any possible legal objections which might be raised against the direct
appointment of special prosecuting officers, while it would accomplish in
effect the same purpose.

I trust that this request may receive your affirmative consideration,
and that you will recommend to me such persons as you think are best
fitted for this responsible task. With respect, I remain.

Very truly yours,

JAMES W. RIDGWAY.

Telegram from Mr. Gaynor to Governor Flower.

Brooklyn, N. Y., November 14, 1893.

Governor Flower, Albany :

I see some doubt expressed about power. I trust you will not act

definitelv one way or other till I may see you.

W. J, GAYNOR.

Governor Flower to District Attorney Ridgway.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, November 14, 1893.

James W. Ridgway, 'E.^q,. , Distnct Attorney, Brooklyn, N. Y. .-

Dear Sir. — I am in receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, and,
agreeably to your suggestion, I would recommend as suitable persons to
28

434 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

prosecute the recent election oflEenders in Kings county, in behalf of the
district attorney, Messrs. George G. Reynolds and Edward M. Shepard.
These gentlemen are well known in Brooklyn, and nobody, I think, will
question their fitness for this task. Both have been identified with pre-
liminary movements ot citizens having for their object the discovery and
punishment of recent election outrages. There should be no partisanship
in such an undertaking, and I have accordiagly named one Republican
and one Democrat.

Permit me to assure you that the Executive and law departments of the
State government stand ready to afford every possible assistance to the
successful prosecution of these or any other offenses against order and
law, and the full power of the State will be exerted to see that crimes
and criminals are brought to justice,, whether found in Kings county or
in any other county of the State.

Yours respectfully,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER

Governor Flow^er to Mr. Gaynor.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, November 14, 1893.

Hon. William J. Gaynor, Brooklyn, N. Y. :

Dear Sir. — Your letter of the tenth inst , in the matter of the recent
election outrages in Gravesend, was received yesterday. You request
that I "have the Attorney-General at once appoint one or more special
prosecuting officers for this (Kings) county to proceed forthwith to collect
the evidence and prosecute the guilty," and you give as your reason for
this request the alleged disinclination of the district attorney to bring the
offenders to justice.

You can be no more desirous than am I that speedy and complete
justice shall be meted out to all who have been guilty of illegal acts, and
I desire to assure you, at the outset, of my earnest sympathy with your
determination not to sit silent and see these outrages go unredressed.
But as you observed in your letter, " It is easy to hurry into court, but
fatal to get there without due foresight and preparation " For this
reason I have delayed answering your communication until I should
have conferred with the Attorney-General as to the exact extent of his
and my official powers in the present emergency. There is no doubt that
the Governor or a justice of the Supreme Court may require the Attorney-
General to " attend the courts of Oyer and Terminer for the purpose of
managing and conducting a criminal action or proceeding therein," but
the question has been suggested whether such a prosecuting ofiicer as
you desire to have appointed could take the place of the district attorney

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 435

in his relations with the grand jury. The proper determination of this
question is, of course, important, for it would not be wise to risk a failure
of justice by any possible legal defects in the manner of the procuring
of an indictment.

As intimated in your telegram to-day, I have no doubt you have given
serious attention to this point, and I should be glad to consult you further
in the matter, but the letter of the district attorney which I received last
night and which is published in this morning's papers, makes unnecessary
any determination of this question at present, and opens a clear and
straightforward path for attaining the same ends. The district attorney
requests me to recommend to him the names of one or more suitable
persons to whom he may give official standing as assistant district
attorneys with full power and facilities for representing ■ himself, both
before the grand jury and on the trial in all criminal matters rising
out of the recent election troubles. This request is manly and fair, and
I have to-day recommended to him two persons for this task, both of
whom I dare say will strongly commend themselves to you as eminently
fitted for the work in disposition, in integrity and in ability. One is
Hon. George G. Reynolds, formerly city judge of Brooklyn, a much
respected and thoroughly competent man. The other is Edward M.
Shepard, a prominent lawyer, a fearless man and a citizen who has been
especially active with yourself in endeavoring to prevent election outrages.
Because partisan considerations should have no weight in any vindication
of justice or punishment of crime, I have preferred to recommend to the
district attorney one Republican and one Democrat. These gentlemen,
if they will accept this official duty and responsibility, will have all the
facilities of the district attorney's office at their command, will apoear
for him before the grand jury in all these matters, and, as he suggests
in his letter to me, will undoubtedly co-operate with committees of citizens
in ferreting out the law breakers and in bringing them to justice.

This action will, I have no doubt, secure the thorough and vigorous
prosecution of all accused officials or others, in Gravesend or in any other
part of Kings county, who have been guilty of violating the law at or
before the recent election. If these measures are not sufficient, you may
rely upon the Governor and the Attorney-General to exercise the full
powers of their offices to right what indeed seems to have been a gross
outrage on liberty and honest elections.

You also request me " to have the Attorney-General give an opinion as
to the Governor's power to remove officials, including two justices of the
peace, who joined in, connived at or encouraged the crimes to which you
have called my attention." So far as the justices of the peace are con-
cerned, that question is answered by article 4, section 18 of the State
Constitution, which provides that "justices of the peace and judges or
justices of inferior courts not of record, and their clerks, may be removed,
after due notice and an opportunity of being heard, by such courts as may

43^ PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

be prescribed by law,'' and the law (viz , sec. 132 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure) provides that they are removable by the Supreme Court at a
General Term. The Governor, therefore, has no authority to remove
justices of the peace.

What other officials "joined in, connived at or encouraged" these
crimes in Gravesend I have no exact information, and you do not mention
them by title or name. The Governor has no power to remove the chief
of police or election inspectors. He has the power to remove sheriffs or
district attorneys, after giving to such officer a copy of the charges against
him and an opportunity of being heard in his defense. Although I have
been asked by individual citizens to remove the sheriff of Kings county,
because of his failure to do his duty, and although your letter attributes
bad faith to the district attorney, not a specific charge of misconduct in
office has been filed with me against either ofl&cer. I need not assure
you again, for I have already assured the people of the State in the
proclamation which I issued before the election, that any willful violation of
the law by any sheriff or district attorney will be considered cause for
his removal. But until specific charges against public officials are laid
before the Governor, or until he has specific information of violation of
duty, he is bound to assume that the officials are discharging their duties.
Arbitrary and unlawful acts on the part of the Executive would be even
more reprehensible than lawlessness on the part of his subordinates. The
organic law of the State prescribes that no person shall be deprived of his
property without due process of law ; it is equally just that no public
officer should be disgraced in the sight of his fellow-men by removal from
office upon frivolous or unsupported charges. There must be specific and
willful violations of the law and duty, and where these exist it is the duty
of every good citizen to make them known in the proper way to the proper
authority for their rebuke and correction. So far as my official power
and responsibihty go, citizens of any locality may rest assured that all
honest efforts to secure the removal of unfaithful and negligent officers
will receive, at my hands, prompt, fearless and impartial consideration.

Rest assured, my dear sir, that I sympathize with you and aU good
citizens in the punishment of wrong-doers, and you and they may rely
upon my hearty support and co-operation in any cause which has for its
object an honest ballot and pure government. Let there be no mistake
about this.

Yours truly,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 437

Telegram to Messrs. Reynolds and Shepard.

Albany, N. Y, , November i6, 1893.

Hon. George G." Reynolds, Brooklyn, N. V. :

I see, by published interviews, that you have some hesitation in accepting
the commission of the district attorney to take charge of the prosecutions
in the recent election frauds. I sincerely hope you will not refuse to
undertake the task. Your name was suggested by me to the district
attorney, after careful reflection, and I believe you are particularly fitted
for undertaking the work, and the approval which your .selection has
received from the public shows how much confidence the people have in
you. I am assured by the district attorne}"- that the entire machinery of
his office will be placed at your command, and that you will have sole and
complete charge of these prosecutions. If this is not sufficient you may
count on the active co-operation of myself and the Attorney-General to
the full extent of our power. If you are hampered in any improper way
in bringing criminals to justice I shall expect you to inform me of it and
you shall have whatever assistance I can give you in the premises. Be
assured that there is no other disposition here than to vindicate the law and
to bring the guilty to justice, no matter where they may be found.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

[A duplicate of the above was simultaneously dispatched to Edward
M. Shepard, Esq.]

Mr. Gaynor's Second Letter to Governor Flower.

Brooklyn, November 16, 1893.
To the Governor :

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of November 14, 1B93,
in answer to my letter to you of November 11. I sent you a tele-
gram on November 14 requesting you not to take action until some
of us could be heard, because- I saw from the newspapers that a
doubt existed in the Attorney-General's office as to the power of that
officer to act. I renew my request that some of us be heard before a final
disposition be made of this important matter. I had, from boyhood, seen
the Attorney-General intervene in criminal prosecutions, and had no doubt
of his power to do so in the present instance when I wrote to you, though
I had not had the time to look up the precise statutes which give him
that power.

I beg now to call your attention to section 52 of the Executive law, as
revised in 1892. Subdivision 2 thereof says, in so many words, that the
Attorney-General shall, ' ' whenever required by the Governor or a justice
of the Supreme Court, attend the Courts of Oyer and Terminer for the

438 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

purpose of managing and conducting a. criminal action or proceeding
therein." Instead of applying to a justice of the Supreme Court, as this
provision permits, the disposition was and is to apply to the Governor, as
it also permits, and that is what I have done- If the Attorney-General
be required to proceed under the provision I have cited, he and his depu-
ties will have the power to go before the grand jury, which I need not
say to you is the most important point of all. Indeed, that is the chief
thing which those who have these prosecutions at heart have in mind.

But how is it with regard to the special counsel which you request the
district attorney to have appointed? Will they have any right to go
before the grand jury, and secure a proper hearing there, and be the
official advisers of that body ? I suppose you are aware that the district
attorney would officially advise the grand jury that they are without
jurisdiction to indict for misdemeanors. Such was the advice given by him
in the Columbian wrongs, and adhered to by him in the street-franchise
wrongs. To send such cases to police justices would be ludicrous.

I suppose your recommendation to the district attorney is based on
section 204 of the county law, as revised in 1 892. I beg to call your atten-
tion specially to the fact that that section only enables the district attorney,
with the consent of the county judge, to employ counsel to assist him in
the actual trial of a cause. It does not seem that counsel so employed
would have the right to go before or advise the grand jury. Indeed, if
such counsel advised the grand jury, would not that fact require the court
to set aside an indictment found under such advice ? It does not seem
that such counsel may be appointed at all until after an indictment is found.

I trust that time will be found, in spite of your many pressing official
duties, to give a hearing to those here who would regard a wrong step in
this matter as a public misfortune. The chief thing they want is an
official representative before the grand jury. It is useless to talk of the
mere trial of the indictments. The matter in hand now is to have a
proper hearing before the grand jury, and have indictments found which
shall be worth something on the day of trial.

I shall now be obliged to take leave of this matter, and should, there-
fore, like to reter you to Mr. Edward M. Shepard.

Yours respectfully,
W. J. GAYjSTOR.

Governor Flower's Reply.
[Telegram.]

Syracuse, N. Y., November 17, 1893.
To the Hon. W. J. Gaynor, Brooklyn N. Y.:

I perceive in the morning papers a letter addressed by you to me in
the matter of the Gravesend prosecutions. I do not believe you would
intentionally misrepresent my attitude in the matter, but if you will refer

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 439

to my letter of the fourteenth instant to yourself, also to the published
correspondence between District Attorney Ridgway and myself, and
again to my published telegram yesterday to Messrs. Reynolds and
Shepard, you will see that at no time have I had any other idea than
that the special prosecuting officers should have access to the grand jury.
It was because of my insistence upon this point that I hesitated to
comply with your original request to require the Attorney-General '"to
at once appoint one or more special prosecuting officers " for this pur-
pose. I had no doubt of my power to require the Attorney-General to
appear in criminal prosecutions in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and
in my letter to you I quoted this statute, which you now refer me to as an
original discovery. But the ground of my hesitation was, as I wrote
you, whether such a prosecuting officer would legally have access to the
grand jury. You seem to think he would — other equally distinguished
lawyers assured me that there was a doubt about it, and I was referred
to one case where an indictment was quashed because a special prosecut-
ing officer, representing the Attorney-General, had appeared before the
grand jury. My anxiety to avoid any miscarriage of justice was so great
that I did not wish to take the risk of a quashing of an indictment through
a technicality. So, when the district attorney offered to appoint as
assistant district attorneys the gentlemen whom I should name, I quickly
accepted his suggestion, for, when clothed with the power of assistant
district attorneys, there could be no question of their right to appear
before the grand jury.

You ask me: " How is it with regard to the special counsel which you
request the district attorney to have appointed? Will they have any
right to go before the grand jury ?"

I never requested the district attorney to appoint special counsel. His
assurance to me was that he would appoint these men assistant district
attorneys, as you will see from his letter, and if he has not done so he
has violated his promise I have to-day wired him that I shall expect
him to do as he promised, even if necessary to require the resignation of
two of his present assistants.

Following the precedent established in the Henry Bergh case, who

was made assistant district attorney and also subsequently was endowed

with the written authorization of the Attorney-General to appear for

him in a certain prosecution, I have asked the Attorney-General to confer

also upon Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Shepard power as deputies to represent

him, so that they will be doubly fortified, and if there is any doubt about

their ability to appear before the grand jury as representatives of the

Attorney-General, there will be no doubt as assistant district attorneys.

Permit me to say that I shall gladly avail myself of your suggestion to

conduct further correspondence on this matter with Mr. Edward M.

Shepard, and I shall also be pleased to include in my conferences, although

not named by you, Mr. Reynolds, his associate, and the members of the

citizens' committee of twenty-five.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

44° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Telegram to District Attorney Ridgway.

Syracuse, November 17, 1893.

James W. Ridgway, District Attorney, Brooklyn, N. Y. :

I observe that you have designated Messrs. Reynolds and Shepard as

'■counsel" to assist the district attorney in the prosecution of election

offenders. There is some question whether such " counsel" could legally

represent you before the grand jury, and any doubt of this kind should

be removed by their appointment as assistant district attorneys. In

your letter to me you promised to give them such legal standing, and it

was upon that assurance that I accepted your proposition and named the

prosecutors. I shall expect you to abide by your promise in this matter

and appoint Messrs. Reynolds and Shepard as assistant district attorneys,

even if it is necessary to require the resignation of two of your present

assistants in order to make way for the new appointees. These men

must have all the powers before the grand jury or upon the trial which

you yourself possess, and must be unhampered in their work of bringing

law breakers to justice.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Telegram to Attorney-General Rosendale.

Syracuse, N. Y. , November 17, 1893.

Hon. Simon W. Rosendale, Attorney-General, Albany, N. Y. :

Under authority conferred by the Executive law, I hereby direct you
in person, or by representative, to appear and take part to the full extent
of your power in the criminal proceedings in Kings county against all
offenders in the recent election troubles, and I suggest that you go at
once to Brooklyn and there confer with the citizens' committee of twenty-
five and with Messrs. Reynolds and Shepard in regard to the prosecutions.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

Mr. Shepard to Governor Flower.

Parsons, Shepard & Ogden,

Trinity Building, No. iii Broadway,

New York, i6th November, 1893.

His Excellency, Roswell P. Flower, Governor :

My Dear Sir. — I have your telegram of to-day. I appreciate most
highly the confidence which you have reposed in me with reference to
the prosecution of offenders in Kings county against the election laws.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 44I

The people of that county are, I am sure, grateful to you for your resolute
determination to let no person guilty of those offenses escape justice.
Your designation of myself to conduct, with Judge Reynolds, the prosecu-
tion brings me, however, great embarrassment by reason of the situation
of my private business. But it would be difficult, with proper regard to
the public obligations resting on citizens, for me to decline such a request
as I have from the Governor of the State. If the law permit the devolu-
tion upon my associate and myself of power according to the tenor of
your communication, it is my expectation that I shall accept. There are
possibly, however, legal difficulties in the way of an adequate devolution
of power upon counsel who are not public officers. I am making as
rapidly as possible an examination of that subject. As soon as my con-
clusion is reached I shall at once advise Your Excellency.

Very respectfully yours,

EDWARD M. SHEPARD.

Mr. Reynold's Declination.

Brooklyn, N. Y., November 17, 1893.
To his Excellency, Roswell P. Flower, Governor of New York :

My Dear Sir. — Before receiving your telegram of the sixteenth I had,
upon careful reflection, concluded that I could not accept the appointment
tendered to me on your designation in relation to the Kings county elec-
tion cases.

The tenor of your communication, however, caused me carefully to
reconsider. But the more I think of it the more I feel sure that my first
impression was right. The pressing demands already made upon my
strength, the magnitude of the work proposed, my little acquaintance
with criminal practice, my age and the state of my health, all show me
that I must not enter upon the undertaking. The very kind opinion you
express in regard to my fitness for the work assigned is certainly very
gratifying to me, and I can but hope that your confidence is not entirely
misplaced.

This conclusion has no reference to any difficulty arising out of the
present form of appointment. I should have felt assured of the entire
and cordial support of yourself and the Attorney-General, as well as of
the district attorney, in whatever course might be thought advisable.

Yours, respectfully,

GEO. G. REYNOLDS.

442 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Letter from Edward M. Shepard.

Parsons, Shepard & Ogden,

Trinity Building, No. iii Broadway,

New York, i7tli November, 1893.

To his Excellency, Roswell P. Flower, Governor:

Dear Sir. — I beg to inclose to you a copy of the letter which I have
just addressed to the district attorney of Kings county. Judge Reynolds
has to-day also written to the district attorney that his personal situation
and strength disable him from undertaking the work.

Judge Reynolds has suggested the substitution, in his place, of General
Benjamin F. Tracy, lately the Secretary of the Navy and formerly a
judge of the Court of Appeals. General Tracy, as Your Excellency is
probably aware, was for several years United States District Attorney
for the Eastern ■ District of New York, and before that was district
attorney for one of the interior counties of this State. Both his pro-
fessional distinction and his especial experience make his selection seem
to me very wise. I concur in Judge Reynolds' suggestion; and I am
advised by the chairman of the Executive Committee of the committee
of twenty-five appointed by the citizens, that that committee also concurs
in a recommendation that General Tracy be selected to take Judge
Reynolds' place.

I have a telegram from the Attorney-General saying that he will be
here to-morrow to see me. I shall submit to him the suggestion that
the proceedings take place according to my suggestion to the district
attorney. If he and you shall concur in such a procedure, I shall further
suggest to him the propriety of your appointing an Extraordinary Court
of Oyer and Terminer of the county of Kings, to be held on or about
eleventh December next. The statutes requite twenty days notice; and
it is quite probable that the persons deputed by the Attorney-General
will hardly be ready with the details of their work for the grand jury
before that date.

It is proper for me to add that I have General Tracy's permission to
use his name.

Permit me to add another expression of my sincere appreciation of the
resolute energy which Your Excellency shows in dealing with the present
emergency.

Very respectfully yours,

EDWARD M. SHEPARD.

[Note.— General Tracy was subsequently recommended by the citizens
committee and its choice was confirmed by the Governor and district
attorney .J

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 443

Proclamation for an Extraordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber.

It appearing to my satisfaction that the public interest requires it,

Therefore. In accordance with the statute, in such case made and
provided, I do hereby appoint an Extraordinary Court of Oyer and Term-
iner, to be held at the court-house, in the city of Brooklyn, on Monday, the
eighteenth day of December next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day,
and to continue so long as may be necessary for the disposal of the business
that may be brought before it ; and I do hereby designate the Honorable
Edgar M. CuUen, a justice of the Supreme Court, to hold the said
Extraordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer.

And I direct the district attorney of the county of Kings to issue a
precept in accordance with the statute in such case made and provided,
directed to the sheriff of the said county of Kings, requiring him to do
and perform all that may be necessary on his part in the premises.

And I do further direct that notice of such appointment be given by
publication thereof, once in each week, for three successive weeks, in the
Brooklyn Eagle and the Brooklyn Citizen, newspapers pubhshed in
the city of Brooklyn,

Given under my hand and the privy seal of the State, at the Capitol
[l. s.] in the city of Albany, this twenty-first day of November in the ,
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- three.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.
By the Governor :

T. S. Williams,

Private Secretary.

To the Attorney-General.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

November 23, 1893.

Hon. Simon W. Rosendale, Attorney-General, Albany, N. V. :

Dear Sir. — I have appointed an Extraordinary Court of Oyer and
Terminer, to be held at the court-house, in the city of Brooklyn, on Mon-
day the eighteenth day of December next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon,
which court is to take cognizance of alleged violations of the election laws
and of any other crimes or misdemeanors committed in connection with
such alleged violations

444 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

In pursuance of section 52 of the Executive law, I do hereby require
you to attend the said Extraordinary Court of Oyer and Terminer, either
in person or by representative, for the purpose of managing and conduct-
ing any criminal actions or proceedings therein as hereinbefore referred to.

Very respectfully yours,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

ERIE COUNTY.

Lettkr to Franklin D. Locke in the Matter of the Appointment
OF Commissioner Bentley, to take Testimony upon the Charges
AGAINST Sheriff Beck.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, December 20, 1893.

Franklin D. Locke, Esq., 28 Erie Street, Buffalo, N. Y..

Dear Sir. — Your letter of the thirteenth instant, with inclosed afBdavit
protesting against the appointment of Hon. Henry W. Bentley as com-
missioner to take testimony in the matter of charges preferred against
August Beck, sheriff of Erie county, is received.

Your objection, according to your own statement, is not against
Mr. Bentley's character or ability, but is based on the fear that his
afBliations with the Democratic party would in some way prejudice the
examination into charges against a public officer belonging to that party.
Such an objection would disqualify all the Democratic judges in the State.
If sound, it disqualifies me from exercising any official responsibility in
any matter affecting Democrats. Such a perverted view of partisanship
is degrading and dangerous in its effect upon public opinion.

If you knew Mr. Bentley as I know him you would regard such a sug-
gestion as insulting. I selected him for this commission because I wanted
above all an honest man. I knew his ability and fairness, and my only
charge to him when I handed him his commission was to ascertain and
report the facts, whatever they might be. I did not consult you with
reference to his appointment, nor anybody else, for my sense of official
responsibility precluded the idea that either accused or accusers should
be consulted about such an appointment. To consent to a revocation of
his commission, therefore, on the grounds which you suggest, is entirely
out of the question.

Until your letter was received, I had no idea that political considera-
tions had anything to do with the investigation of these charges. I
gave warning prior to election that all failures on the part of public
officers to do their duty in the enforcement of law would be considered

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 445

cause for renioval, and in the interest of honest and orderly elections it
is essential that all willful neglect or misconduct of this kind should
receive prompt punishment, irrespective of political considerations. So
far as I am concerned the charges which your clients have preferred
against Sheriff Beck will be thoroughly investigated. Until the receipt
of your letter I had assumed that your interest in the matter would
guarantee a thorough and honest prosecution of the charges by yourself as
counsel, and a frank acquiescence in the decision, whatever it might be,
and I, therefore, did not avail myself of the privilege, which the statute
gives me, of directing the Attorney-General to conduct the examination.
Your letter, however, shows that my confidence was misplaced, and
suggests the reflection that the interests of a dignified and fair prosecu-
tion would be better subserved by intrusting it to the people's legal
representative. I have, therefore, to-day directed the Attorney-General
to conduct the examination into the charges. He will, undoubtedly, be
pleased to have you furnish him with all the information in your posses-
sion tending to substantiate the truth of your client's charges, and will be
willing to co-operate with you in all fair ways to secure a thorough
investigation.

Yours truly,

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

STATEMENT

OF

PARDONS,

Reprieyes and Commutations of Sentence

GRANTED BY

ROSWELL P. FLOWER,

Governor,
DURING THE YEAR 1893

PARDONS.

February i, 1893. John Mineski. Sentenced November 10, 1892;
county, Orleans; crime, petit larceny; term, 180 days; prison. Monroe
County Penitentiary.

On condition that he abstain from the use of intoxi-
cating liquors for the period of one year from date.

Mineski was induced to participate in the theft
while grossly intoxicated. He was never before
accused of a crime. He is an industrious man and
has a large family to support. He pleaded guilty,
and, therefore, the circumstances were not fully
explained to the magistrate, who writes that if they
had been he would not have imposed so severe a
sentence, and he earnestly recommends that a pardon
be granted.

February 2, 18^3. Edward Wilber. Sentenced September 27, 1890;
county, Fulton; crime, violation of the excise law; term, ninety days;
prison, Albany County Penitentiary.

Granted on the recommendation of the judge who
sentenced the prisoner, and of other prominent
citizens of Gloversville. Wilber has served enough
of the term imposed to answer the demands of justice.

February 7, 1893. Henry Schmidt. Sentenced November 28, 1892;
county, New York; crime, assault, second degree; term, two years;
prison. Sing Sing.

The facts of this case, as stated by the district
attorney, who favors the application, are that the
2Q

45° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

complainant, without cause or provocation, violently
assaulted the prisoner, and he, in repelling the attack,
struck his assailant with a bottle of acid which he
had procured a short time before for a proper and
innocent purpose. No serious injury was inflicted.
The jury accompanied their verdict with a recom-
mendation of mercy. While the prisoner may have
been technically guilty, the element of malice was
altogether wanting and further punishment is not
called for.

February g, 1893. Marion Canning. Sentenced August 11, 1891;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, first degree; term, seven years;
prison. New York Penitentiary.

On condition that she at once depart for and
proceed to Ireland and do not return to the United
States until after the expiration of five years from
date.

This application is made by the prisoner's father,
who lives in Ireland and who agrees to take her home,
if released. The evidence on the trial did not present
a strong case against her and there is reason to
doubt the correctness of the verdict. She is still
young, and, if released and sent home, may be saved
from a life of vice and crime, a result which is not so
likely to be attained if she is made to serve out
her term. I have, therefore, concluded to resolve the
doubt as to her guilt in her favor and to grant
the pardon upon the condition above stated.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 45 1

February ai, 1893. Patrick Mahoney. Sentenced January 31, 1893;
county, Herkimer; crime, public intoxication; term, sixty days; prison,
Herkimer County Jail.

Since the prisoner's term began his father has died
and the pardon is granted so that he may attend the
funeral.

February 28, 1893. John Anderson. Sentenced April 3, 1890; county.
Kings; crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five years; prison,
State Reformatory.

This pardon is granted for the reason that the
judge, who sentenced the prisoner, and the district
attorney, who prosecuted him, report that in their
opinion he is innocent, such opinion being based
upon evidence produced before them since the trial
and presented with the application for clemency.

March 8, 1893. Chalmers O. Driggs. Sentenced March 4, 1893;
county, Schoharie; crime, public intoxication: term, sixty days; prison,
Albany County Penitentiary.

On condition that he abstain from the use of
intoxicating liquors for the period of one year from
date.

There was nothing in the circumstances of this
case to justify punishment by imprisonment. A fine
would have been ample. The pardon ^s granted on
the recommendation of a large number of the most
prominent citizens of Middleburgh.

452 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

May 23, L893. William F. Neuer. Sentenced December 15, 1888;
county, Chemung; crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five
years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Matteawan State
Hospital.

Neuer was sentenced in December, 1888, and remained
at the Reformatory until May, 1 892, wlien tie was trans-
ferred to Matteawan. He was only fifteen years of
age when his imprisonment for this, his first offense,
began, and his punishment has been much greater
than it would have been had be been an old and coUr
firmed criminal. His friends will see that he is
properly cared for.

June 21, 1893. Matthias D. "Willing. Sentenced August 10, 1891;
county. New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four
years; prison, Sing Sing.

Recommended by Judge Cowing, who imposed the
sentence. Willing was no doubt insane when he
committed the larceny, and he is hopelessly insane
now. Arrangements have been made to remove him
to a private asylum.

June 21, 1893. George Conners. Sentenced January 20, 1893; county,
Jefferson; crime, petit larceny; term, eight months; prison, Monroe
County Penitentiary.

The prisoner has now served five months of his
sentence and cannot live through the remainder of it.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 453

June 21, 1893. Arthur Kinsella. Sentenced March 12, 1892; county,
Richmond; crime, manslaughter, second degree; term, four years and
six months; prison. Sing Sing.

Recommended by judge, jury and district attorney.
This was Kinsella's first offense. He has consumption
and cannot live more than a few weeks.

July 13, 1893. Frank Brown. Sentenced June 8, 1893; county,
Steuben; crime, violating health laws; term, ninety days; prison,
Steuben County Jail.

Brown tore down a scarlet fever notice which had
been posted- on his house by the Board of Health.
He has now served one month of the term imposed,
and his further detention will occasion great hardship
to his family. His release is recommended by the
health officer, by the magistrate who sentenced him
and by other citizens.

July 17, 1893. James Foster. Sentenced August 11, 1892; county.
New York; Crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four years;
prison, Sing Sing; transferred to Clinton.

Granted on the application of the warden of Clinton
prison, in consideration of the prisoner having disclosed
a plot formed by a number of the convicts to kill two
of the guards and escape.

November i, 1893. Georgiana Bishop. Sentenced November 22, 1892;
county, Dutchess; crime, arson, third degree; term, one year and one
month; prison, Albany County Penitentiary.

Granted on the recomrriendation of the judge, the
district attorney, six of the jury and many citizens.

454 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

The judge says that the prisoner was about fourteen
years old at the time of the trial and would not have
been convicted but for the confessions she was sworn
to have made ; that he gave her the lightest sentence
possible and would have suspended sentence, had
he possessed the power.

November 3, 1893. James F. Depew. Sentenced February £4, 1893;
county, Sullivan; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, one year
and six months; prison, Clinton.

There is some doubt as to Depew's guilt, and his
pardon is recommended by the judge and the district
attorney.

November 15, 1893. "William P. Cannon. Sentenced May 25, 1891;
county, New York; crime, violating chapter 377 of the Laws of 1887, as
amended by chapter 181 of the Laws of 1888; term, sixty days and fine
twelve dollars and fifty cents; prison. New York Penitentiary.

The main object of the prosecution was to establish
the constitutionality of the act of the Legislature,
under which the indictment was found, and that object
having been accomplished, the judge and the special
district attorney, who represented the people, recom-
mend that the punishment be remitted.

November 22, 1893. William AUoway. Sentenced August 2, 1893;
county, Herkimer; crime, indecent exposure; term, four months; prison,
Herkimer County Jail.

Since the prisoner was sentenced, his mother has
been seriously injured, so that her life is despaired of,
and she is very desirous of seeing her son before she

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 455

dies. The justice, before whom he was convicted, and

many other residents of Little Falls, unite in the
petition for clemency.

November 22, 1893. Julia Hand. Sentenced September 14, 1893;
county, Onondaga; crime, petit larceny; term, six months; prison,
Onondaga County Penitentiary.

Recommended by a number of the most prominent
citizens of Syracuse. The prisoner is very poor and
has two small children dependent upon her, and was
tempted by the necessities of her impoverished condi-
tion to commit the offense charged against her. She
has served two months of the sentence.

456 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

COMMUTATIONS.

Januarys, 1893. John McHalpin. Sentenced June 4> 1873; county,
Kings; crimes, burglary first degree, grand larceny and assault with
intent to kill; term, thirty years; prison. Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of nineteen years and seven
months, actual time, from June 5, 1873.

By an allowance of full commutation McHalpin would
have been discharged in August, 1891, but one-half
of it has been withheld for the reason that soon after
his term began he attempted to escape. With this
exception his conduct has been free from fault, and,
in view of his long imprisonment, the time already
served for the attempted escape is deemed a sufficient
atonement.

January 10, 1893. Edward Webler. Sentenced February 18, 1891;
county, Onondaga; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, three
years; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, ten months and nine
days, actual time, from March 3, 1891.

Granted on the recommendation of the judge and
the district attorney. The prisoner's term will be
out in July next, but his mother cannot live until then
and she pleads very earnestly that her son may be
released before her death.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4S7

January lo, 1893, James Burns. Sentenced May 18, i88g; county,
Herkimer; crime, robbery, first degree; term, thirteen years; prison.
Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of three years, seven months 'and
twenty-two days, actual time, from May 20, 1889, on
condition that he abstain from the use of intoxicating
liquors for the period of five years from date.

The judge who sentenced the prisoner writes that
in his opinion Burns has been sufficiently punished,
provided his conduct during imprisonment has been
such as to lead to the conclusion that he has reformed
and will avoid criminal acts if restored to liberty.
The district attorney concu-rs. Burns' conduct has
been in all respects commendable, and I think it safe
to release him, subject to the above condition.

Note. — Soon after his discharge Burns was arrested
and returned to the prison to serve out his term for
violating the condition upon which the above com-
mutation was granted.

January 12, 1893. John Doyle. Sentenced May 15, 1874; county.
New York; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of eighteen years, seven months
and twenty-one days, actual time, from May 23, 1874,
on condition that forever hereafter he totally abstain
from the use of intoxicating liquors.

Doyle pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree,
but a very careful examination of the case creates
considerable doubt as to whether upon a trial he

458 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

could have been convicted of that crime. A verdict
of manslaughter would have been more satisfactory
and a juster view of the circumstances. The Hon.
John R. Brady, by whom Doyle was sentenced, in a
letter written in September, 1886, recommends the
case as a proper one for clemency, and the application
has been very strongly supported by many prominent
citizens of New York. Before this offense Doyle had
always borne a good character and has been con^icuous
for good conduct during his confinement. He has now
been in prison for a term equal to thirty years, less
the time allowed by statute for good behavior, which
he would have earned had his sentence been for a
term less than life, and I think has been punished
enough.

January 17, 1893. Noah Richards. Sentenced February 3, i8q2; to be
executed; county, New York; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in Sing
Sing prison.

The Hon. Charles H. Van Brunt, who presided at
the trial, writes concerning this application as follows :
"Noah Richards was convicted of murder in the first
degree, having killed a policeman by cutting his throat.
The jury hesitated a considerable time before the
rendition of this verdict, some of the members of the
jury being of the opinion that there might be some
doubt as to the responsibility of Richards because of
the low order of his intelligence. No such defense
was offered during the progress of the trial,, and the
impression, which was produced upon the jury in this

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 459

respect~-waB tliat which they derived from the appear-
ance of Richards upon the ■witness stand. They, there-
fore, accompanied their verdict with a recommendation
that his mental condition should be inquired into.
I, therefore, appointed a commission, consisting of
Dr. Carlos F. MacDonald and Dr. Dana, to examine into
his mental condition and report thereon. The com-
mission reported that he was sane and responsible, but
in conversation with the commissioners, subsequent to
making of this report, I learned that they were of the
opinion that Richards is a man of a very low order of
intellect, that he is a negro, brought up in the South,
has had no education, and, undoubtedly, although he
may be said to be responsible, yet he is but little
removed from an idiot. At the time of this murder,
if the evidence is to be believed, he had been brutally
clubbed by the policeman in question and his worst
passions had thereby been aroused ; but if responsible
he was undoubtedly guilty of murder, as the killing
took place after the clubbing had been inflicted. Upon
the whole case it would seem to me that the interests
of justice would be conserved by the commutation of
his sentence to that of imprisonment for life."

The district attorney concurs in the views thus
expressed by Judge Van Brunt. The sentence is com-
muted accordingly.

January 25, 1893. James Donovan. Sentenced March 27, 1891; county,
Fulton; crime, burglary, third degree, second offense; term, six years
and six months; prison, Clinton; transferred to Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton and
Sing Sing prisons for the term of one year, nine

460 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

months and twenty-nine days, actual time, from
March 28, 1891.

Donovan was indicted with three others, and separate
trials being demanded, he was tried first and convicted.
It was clearly proved that three persons, and only
three, wejre engaged in the burglary, but the evidence
to identify Donovan as one of them was, by no means,
conclusive, and the evidence adduced on the trial of
one of his co-defendants, which took place shortly
afterwards, was altogether inconsistent with Donovan's
guilt. Neither of his co-defendants was convicted, but
two other persons were afterwards indicted and pleaded
guilty, and were sentenced to imprisonment ; and a
third, who is in prison for another offense, was sworn
on the part of the people, on one of the trials,
acknowledged his own guilt and testified that Donovan
was not a participant in the crime. If these three are
guilty, as to which there does not seem to be any
substantial doubt, Donovan must be innocent. The
judge, before whom he and his co-defendants were
tried, expresses grave doubt as to Donovan's guilt,
and, upon a careful consideration of all the facts, I
have deemed it best to relieve him from further
imprisonment.

January 26, 1893. Patrick Nichols. Sentenced May 3, 1882; county,
Rockland; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of ten years, eight months and
twenty-three days, actual time, from May 5, 1882, on

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 46 1

condition that forever hereafter , Ije totally abstain from
the use of intoxicating liquors.

Recommended by the judge, who presided at the
trial, and by many citizens of Rockland county.
Nichols and the deceased, both being somewhat intoxi-
cated, became engaged in a fight, in which the latter
seems to have been the aggressor. Nichols left
and went towards his home, and the deceased followed
him. The fight was renewed and the deceased was
killed. Upon a careful consideration of the evidence,
I am clearly of the opinion that a conviction of man-
slaughter would have been more in keeping with the
circumstances, and that the sentence ought to be
commuted accordingly.

January 31, 1893. John M. Reinhart. Sentenced March 9, 1891;
county, Albany i crime, forgery; term, five years; prison, Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton
prison for the time of one year, ten months and
twenty days, actual time, from March 12, 1891.

The prisoner obtained a small sum of money upon
a forged order. The circumstances, as represented to
me, tend strongly to show that he was merely the
tool of the real culprit, and did not know that the
order was not genuine, and, in view of the doubt as
to his guilt, has been punished enough. The judge
who sentenced him recommends that his application
for clemency be granted.

462 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

January 31, 1893. James Conover. Sentenced April 9, 1889; county,
Erie; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years and nine months;
prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of three years, nine months and
fifteen days, actual time, from April 17, 1889.

Recommended by the judge and many other leading
citizens of Buffalo. The prisoner can get employment,
if released now, and the commutation takes but three
months from his sentence.

January 31, 1893. Addison Fagan. Sentenced July 28, 1892; county,
Erie; crime, rape, term, one year; prison, Erie County Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Erie County
penitentiary for the term of six months and four days,
actual time, from July 28, 1892.

Recommended by the judge and the district attorney.
The evidence, upon which the prisoner was convicted,
was quite conflicting, and there is considerable doubt
as to his guilt. But, if guilty, the term he has now
served is sufficient for the circumstances of the case.

January 31, 1893. James Mulvanney. Sentenced October 6, 1887;
county, New York; crime, robbery, first degree; maximum term, twenty
years; prison, State -Reformatory; transferred to Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Clinton prison for the term of five
years, three months and twenty-six days, actual time,
from October 6, 1887.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4^3

The prisoner was but sixteen years old when he
was sent to the Reformatory. He was transferred to
the State prison at Dannemora in June, 1892. He has
now been in confinement for more than five years, and,
if he completes his term in the prison must remain
there Until January 21, 1902. No such result was
contemplated by the court. His punishment has been
ample and he ought to be released.

January 31, 1893. Abraham Doblin. Sentenced September 4, 1890;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; maximum
term, five years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of two
years, four months and twenty-two days, actual time,
from September 9, 1890.

Doblin has now served a longer term than his crime
deserved or the court intended, and further imprison-
ment would be unjust.

February 3, 1893. Andrew Boehanski. Sentenced January 13, 1892;
county, Schenectady; crime, grand larceny, second degree; prison,
Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton prison
for the term of one year and twenty-four days, actual
time, from January 13, 1892, on condition that he
abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors for the
period of one year from date.

Boehanski took a sum of money from the pocket
(not the person) of the complainant. It was not his

464 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

habit to become intoxicated, but he was so on this
occasion. Upon being accused of the theft on the
following morning he acknowledged it and restored
the money, and when arraigned on the indictment he
pleaded guilty. He was then twenty-two years of age
and had never before been accused of a criminal
offense. He was the oldest of eight children and had
been of great assistance to his widowed mother in
the support of the family. He has served considerably
more than half the sentence and the judge and other
prominent citizens of Schenectady recommend that
his application for clemency be granted.

February 9, 1893. Andrew McKenzie. Sentenced May 7, 1880; county,
Erie; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of twelve years, nine months and
one day, actual time, from May 11, 1880.

McKenzie was indicted for murder in the first degree
and pleaded guilty of murder in the second degree.
Soon after this application for clemency was filed Judge
James Sheldon, who pronounced the sentence, wrote,
under date of May 16, 1885, strongly urging a commuta-
tion, saying that when McKenzie offered to plead guilty
of murder in the second degree, it was determined,
from an examination of the circumstances, not only
to accept the plea, but that a lighter sentence than
one for life might properly be imposed, if the statute
allowed, and the convict was then told that, if he
behaved himself well, the court would, in a reasonable

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 465

time, be willing to recommend a commutation. The
Hon. Robert C. Titus, who was district attorney at
the time of the conviction, also favors the application
and says that punishment for some degree of man-
slaughter is all that the facts warrant. Until the
commission of the crime McKenzie had always sus-
tained an excellent character. He has now served
more than the maximum punishment for manslaughter
in the first degree, deducting the commutation pro-
vided for good conduct, which is enough for all the
purposes of justice.

February 15, 1893. William Matheson. Sentenceci June 21, 1889;
county, New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, six years;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years, seven months and
twenty-four days, actual time, from June 22, 1889,
on condition that he abstain from the use of intoxi-
cating liquors for the period of five years from date.

The prisoner forged his employer's name to a check

for twenty-five dollars. It was his first and only

offense. Allowance being made for good conduct, he

has served all but six months of his term, and, in view

of his previous good character, has been sufficiently

punished.

30

466 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

February 23, 1893. "Ward Young. Sentenced December 31, 1891;
county, Herkimer; crime, burglary, first degree; term, fifteen years;
prison. Auburn. '

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of twelve years, subject to com-
mutation, from December 31, 1891.

Granted on the special application of the district
attorney of Herkimer county in consideration of aid
given by Young in securing the conviction of his
accomplice and co-defendant.

February 23, 1893. George Dillon. Sentenced February 7, 1889;
county, Albany; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison,
Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton
prison for the term of sixteen years, subject to com-
mutation, from February 9, 1889.

Granted on the recommendation of the district
attorney, who writes, that while he cannot consistently
recommend an absolute pardon, he is still convinced
that the crime was more in the nature of manslaughter
than of murder, and that the punishment should be
readjusted accordingly, and that, in his opinion, the
ends of justice would be accomplished by commuting
the sentence to ten years.

The commuted term will expire in ten years from
the commencement of Dillon's imprisonment, provided
he earns the statutory commutation for good behavior.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. A^7

February 24, 1893. Andrew Crooks. Sentenced March 4, 1887;
county, Richmond; crime, burglary, second degree; term, ten years;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of five years, eleven months and
twenty-one days, actual time, from March 5, 1887.

The prisoner was seventeen years old at the time
of his conviction. He committed the crime under the
influence of older companions and all of them received
the same sentence, imprisonment for ten years, being
the highest penalty for burglary in the second degree.
He has now served all but six months of the sentence,
less the usual deduction for good condilct, and, in view
of his youth, of the circumstances under which he
was induced to engage in the commission of the
crime, and of his having pleaded guilty, may, I think,
be properly relieved from serving the remainder of it.
The judge favors his application.

March i, 1893. Benjamin Borkheim. Sentenced February 19, 1892;
county. New York; crime, bigamy; term, two years; prison, Sing Sing;
transferred to Chnton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Clinton prisons for the term of one year and
twelve days, actual time, from February 20, 1892.

Borkheim contracted the second marriage while
under the influence of liquor and with a woman who
was fully aware of . his former marriage. Before he
committed the offense his character for industry,
honesty and sobriety was excellent, he had supported
his family well and was, in all respects, a good

468 PUBLIC PAPERS OI' GOVERNOR FLOWER.

citizen. He has served more than half his sentence.
His family are in great need of his services, his wife
being an invalid, and I have no doubt that he will
return to them and provide for their support as he
was formerly accustomed to^ do.

March 7, 1893. William H. Parker. Sentenced May 27, 1892, to be
executed ; county, Niagara; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in
Auburn prison.

In an affray, which arose among a number of work-
men employed upon the tunnel at Niagara Falls, John
Ritsko was killed and several others were seriously
wounded. Parker, Charles Kelly and William Chambers
were indicted for the murder of Ritsko. Parker's trial
. resulted in a verdict of murder in the first degree ;
Kelly's, which took place afterwards, in a verdict of
murder in the second degree ; and Chambers then
pleaded guilty of manslaughter in the first degree.
Judge Green, who presided at both trials, has furnished
the usual report in the case, in which he says that it
is difficult to say, from the conflicting evidence, who
it was that fired the shot which killed Ritsko. The
only revolver that was used was clearly shown to
have been in Kelly's hands immediately afterwards,
but who had possession of it at the moment was not
very definitely proved. Most of- the witnesses were
ignorant and of a low moral standing, and there
seemed to be an effort on the part of each of the
persons implicated to fasten the blame upon the others.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4^9

He says, further, that Parker was fully as reputable as
the other defendants, and, in his opinion, was guilty
of no greater crime than was Kelly ; that it seems
unjust that Parker should suffer the death penalty
while his companion in crime is allowed to escape
with a lesser punishment, and he recommends that
the sentence be commuted. After a careful examina-
tion of the whole case I am convinced that equal and
substantial justice will be attained by commuting the
sentence to imprisonment for life.

March 7, 1893. Thomas Jones. Sentenced January 30, 1893; to be
executed; county, Rensselaer; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in
Clinton prison.

The judge writes that, while the evidence permitted
the verdict rendered and was sufficient to support it,
still he should have felt that a due administration
of the law had been subserved had the jury found
(as he expected they would) a verdict of murder in
the second degree.

The prevailing sentiment among all classes of people
in the city of Troy, where the homicide occurred,
seems clearly to be that the prisoner ought not to
have been convicted of any higher crime than that
above indicated by the judge, and the petition for a
commutation of the sentence is signed by nearly all
the members of the bar of Troy and by many other
citizens. The circumstances do not seem to demand
the death penalty. Imprisonment for life will fully
vindicate the law.

47° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

March 8, 1893. Frank Savignano. Sentenced September 29, 1892;
county, New York; crime, assault, second degree; term, one year and
three months; prison. New York Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
Penitentiary for the term of five months and nine
days, from October i, 1892.

The district attorney, in his report upon this
application, says that the prisoner was an industrious
man of good character, and that there were mitigating
circumstances attending his quarrel with the com-
plainant. Very little injury was inflicted, and a
verdict for simple assault would have been quite
sufficient. Several of the jurors and a number of
other citizens unite in asking for the prisoner's release.

March 13, 1893. Adam Smith. Sentenced April 18, 1882; county,
Erie; crime, robbery after petit larceny; term, twenty years; prison.
Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of ten years ten months and
nineteen days, actual time, from April 26, 1882.

Very strongly recommended by Hon. William W.
Hammond, who sentenced the prisoner, by Hon.
Edward W. Hatch, who was district attorney at the
time, and by Hon. Tracy C. Becker, who, as assistant
district attorney, conducted the prosecution. A sen-
tence for ten years would have been ample, but
under the statute the judge had no discretion, but
was obliged to make the tsrm twenty years.

FUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 47 1

March 13, 1893. Frank O'Reilly. Sentenced March 7, 1890; county,
New York; crime, receiving stolen goods; maximum term, five years;
prison, State Reformatory; "transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of
three years and eight days, actual time, from March 7,
1890.

In sentencing the prisoner to the reformatory it
■was the intention of the court, as the judge informs
me, to impose such mild restraint as the prisoner's
youth and previous character and the nature of the
act to which he pleaded guilty seemed to require.
But, by his transfer from the reformatory to the
prison, the sentence is practically converted into the
severest penalty prescribed for his offense. This is
manifestly unjust. The three years he has now
served is punishment enough.

March 13, 1893. Peter Shultz. Sentenced November 7, 1892, to be
executed; county. Kings; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in.
Sing Sing prison.

Schultz was jointly indicted with one Adam Haas
for the murder of a young child. After the con-
viction of Schultz, Haas was tried, and, upon precisely
the same state of facts, the jury rendered a verdict
of murder in the second degree. The district
attorney writes me that he can see no reason why
any distinction should be made in the punishment
of the two defendants, and, therefore, he recommends
that the sentence passed upon Schultz be commuted

472 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

to imprisonment for life. Judge Moore, before whom
both defendants were tried, concurs with the district
attorney, and the petition for clemency is signed by
nine of the jury. Schultz was only sixteen years old
at the time of his trial.

March i6, 1893. Edward Herman. Sentenced September 3, 1S89;
county, New York; crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five
years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonjnent in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of
three years, six months and one day, actual time,
from September 20, 1889.

The time now served by the prisoner is almost equal
to a term of five years, time for good conduct being
deducted, and the prison physician reports that Herman
is dying with consumption.

March 17, 1893. John Sullivan. Sentenced October 23, i88g; county,
Erie; crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five years; prison,
State Reformatory; transferred to Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Clinton prison for the term of three
years, four months and twenty-six days, actual time,
from October 23, 1889.

Recommended by the judge, the district attorney
and other residents of Buffalo. The circumstances
of the case did not demand great severity, and, with
the usual commutation, Sullivan has served almost
the maximum term prescribed for the crime of which
he was convicted.

PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER. 473

April 1, 1893, Michael T. Sliney. Sentenced June 28, 1892, to be
executed; county, New York; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in
Sing Sing prison.

Upon the presentation of this application, I appointed
Dr. Carlos F. MacDonald, of New York, and Dr. Selden
H. Talcott, of Middletown, commissioners to examine
and to report their conclusions as to Sliney 's sanity.
Their report has been filed, in which they state
that they have made the required examination,
and that, in their opinion, Sliney is now suffering with
that form of mental unsoundness known as imbecility,
and that he was in that condition when the crime, of
which he stands convicted, was committed.

I have also received a communication from
Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton, of New York, in which
he says that he was called to see Sliney in the city
prison, before the trial ; that he learned, from
reputable and trustworthy persons, that Sliney had
manifested peculiarities of disposition and evidences
of a weak mind, from time to time, ever since early
childhood ; that, after a sunstroke some years ago, he
developed epileptic fits, and that he had actually had
attacks during his imprisonment ; and that throughout
his confinement his whole manner and conversation
indicated to those about him that he was indifferent
to his surroundings, did not appreciate the true
nature of his alleged crime, and cared little as to the
future. This was verified, upon examination, when
physical evidences of his weak-mindedness and
epilepsy were discovered. Dr. Hamilton further says

474 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

that when a person has epilepsy, he cannot be said to
be at all times responsible; that where a crime of
violence has been committed by an epileptic, and
the evidence of such crime is purely circumstantial,
or is disclosed by the testimony of the accused, no
witness being present, it is absolutely beyond the
power of anyone to say what the mental condition
of the individual was when the deed was done.

I think the circumstances of the crime itself tend,
in some degree, to establish Sliney's mental deficiency,
and although I am not, by any means, convinced
that it is so complete as to exempt him frora criminal
responsibility, still, I feel that ample justice will be
done by commuting the sentence to imprisonment
for life. The petition for clemency is signed by the
twelve jurymen who rendered the verdict, and by
many prominent citizens.

April 4, 1893. George H. Drew. Sentenced May 26, 1890; county,
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; maximum term, five
years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of two
years, ten months and seven days, actual time, from
May 29, 1890.

The physician reports that Drew is suffering from
Bright's disease, is very feeble and has but a short
time to live. The complainant joins with others in
asking for his release.

I'UBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 475

April 5, 1893. Jacobus J. Berkhout. Sentenced April 13, 1891; county,
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four yearS;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for tlie term of one year, eleven months and
twenty-three days, actual time, from April 14, 1891.

Berkhout has now served nearly two-thirds of his
sentence, and, in view of his previous -good character,
which is abundantly vouched for, and of the fact
that his wife and children greatly need his support,
I have concluded to remit the remainder of it. A
former employer will take him into his service again.

April 5, 1893. James T. Montgomery. Sentenced June 17, 1892;
county, New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, two years and
three months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of nine months and eighteen
days, from June 18, 1892.

The judge, the district attorney and other citizens
of New York, among them the complainant, recom-
mend the granting of this application. Measured by
the amount involved, the crime was not a serious
one, and no loss accrued to any person on account
of it. It was a first offense and the punishment has
been sufficient.

April 6, 1893. Patrick McDonald. Sentenced December 6, 18S7;
county. New York; crime, robbery, second degree; term, eight years;
prison. Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of five years, four

476 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

months and one day, actual time, from December 7,
1887.

McDonald lost one-half of his statutory commutation
by attempting to escape during the fire, which
occurred at Dannemora, in December, 1890. He was
absent but a short time and claimed to be returning
when recaptured. Hon. Austin Lathrop, Superintendent
of .State Prisons, and the warden of Auburn prison,
earnestly recommend that the forfeited commutation
be restored. McDonald will be taken to England
immediately.

April 6, 1893. Thomas R. Crawford. Sentenced April 4, 1889; county,
New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, six years and six months;
prison. Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of four years and
twenty -eight days, actual time, from April 4, 1889.

Recommended by the complainant and many others.
The prisoner's term will expire in September, so
that the commutation reduces his sentence by about
five months. He has been of unusual service in the
prison and can obtain immediate and permanent
employment if released.

April 6, 1893. "William A. Stroud. Sentenced February 18, 1891;
county, New York; crime, manslaughter, second degree; term, nine years
and six months; prison, Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of five years, subject
to commutation, from February 19, 1891.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. A77

Stroud was a resident of Virginia. He arrived in
New York on August 4, 1890, and registered at a
hotel, where he remained awaiting the arrival of
some friends whom he expected to meet him there.
During the day he made frequent visits to the bar-
room and finally became intoxicated, and the bar-
keeper then refused to furnish him with more liquor and
ordered the porter, a colored man, to put him out,
and during the struggle which ensued the porter
received the injuries which resulted in his death.
Stroud was indicted for murder in the first degree.
The jury rendered a verdict of manslaughter in the
second degree, with a recommendation to mercy. I
have very carefully examined the evidence and am
convinced that the sentence was more severe than
the facts required. Stroud is clearly shown to have
been a man of most excellent character and is highly
recommended by those who knew him, and the cir-
cumstances were such as to render adequate a com-
paratively light punishment. Under the statute, as it
stood when Stroud was sentenced, manslaughter in
the second degree was punishable by imprisonment
for not less than one year nor more than fifteen
years. Five years, subject to the usual commutation,
will, in my judgment, be quite enough.

4/8 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

April II, 1893. Charles Bornstein. Sentenced February 28, 1879;
county, New York; crime, arson, first degree; term, life; commuted
December 30, 1889, to imprisonment for fifteen years from March 10, 1879;
prison. Sing Sing.

, Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of fourteen years, one month
and three days, actual time, from March 10, 1879.

In 1889 the sentence was reduced to fifteen years,
actual service, on account of the amendment of the
statute changing the penalty from imprisonment for
life to imprisonment for not less than ten years.
Something less than a year now remains unserved of
the reduced term, and out of consideration for the
prisoner's family and of his exceptionally good con-
duct during a long confinement, I have deemed it
proper to further commute the sentence as above
stated.

April 13, 1893. William Deesten. Sentenced November 19, 1889;
county. New York; crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five
years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Clinton prison for the term of
three years, four months and twenty-seven days,
actual time, from November 19, 1889.

Deesten, with two others, Frank Curran and John
Brown, broke into the cellar of a store and were
there found and arrested. All of them were indicted
for burglary in the third degree, and pleaded guilty.
Curran was an ex-convict. Deesten and Brown were
boys of good character and had unquestionably been
led into the crime by their older companion. Curran
was sentenced to State prison for three years and

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 479

six montlis, and Deesten and Brown were committed
to the State Reformatory. Curran completed his
term and was discharged almost a year ago. But
Deesten, upon whom the court intended to impose a
milder punishment, is now in the State prison, hav-
ing been transferred from the Reformatory, and must
remain there until June, 1894, unless sooner dis-
charged by the interposition of executive clemency.
This injustice the commutation will prevent.

April 15, 1893. William Ellsler. Sentenced September 10, 1890;
county, Greene; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years; prison,
Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton
prison for the term of two years, seven months and
six days, actual time, from September 12, 1890.

I saw Ellsler at the prison in June, 1892, and
heard his statement and was fully convinced of his
thorough reformation. He is an old man and is suf-
fering for his first offense. A favorable opportunity
to secure employment is presented if he can regain
his liberty at once, and, as no serious loss was occa-
sioned by his wrongful act, a commutation of the
sentence may properly be granted.

Apcil 22, 1893. Charles T. De Baum. Sentenced June 24 1889;
connty. New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years and
six montlis; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years, ten months and
five days, actual time, from June 27, 1889.

48o PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

A very earnest appeal is made by many prominent
citizens of Brooklyn for the remission of the few-
remaining days of the prisoner's term. The judge
who sentenced him and the officers of the bank he
defrauded favor the application, and I think it may
be granted without detriment to the interests of
justice.

April 24, 1893. Thomas S. Findley. Sentenced September 29, 1891;
county, New York ; crime, grand larceny, second degree (two indictments) ;
term, seven years and three months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of one year, six months and
twenty-seven days, actual time, from September 29, 1891.

The complainants, who were Findley's employers,
and were the only losers by his wrong-doing, make
this application for his release, and the judge and the
district attorney recommend that it be granted. The
object of punishment seems to have been fully
accomplished, and to prolong it would bring unneces-
sary distress upon his family. Suitable employment
will be provided for him.

May 2, 1893. William C. Duncan. Sentenced July 10, 1891; county,
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four years and
five months; prison, New York Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
penitentiary for the term of one year, nine months
and twenty-three days, actual time, from July 11, 1891.

Granted in consideration of the youth and previous
good character of the prisoner and at the instance of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 481

friends -who guarantee to provide him with perma-
nent employment. He was only sixteen years old
when he committed the crime, and has been in
prison nearly two years. The punishment already
imposed is deemed sufficient, and if he is released
now his reformation seems more likely to be secured
than if he were required to serve the full sentence.

May 4, 1893. Otto Kruhm. Sentenced April 27, 1891; county, New
York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four years; prison,
Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years and seven days,
actual time, from April 29, 1891.

Recommended by the district attorney and very
strongly urged by the complainant. Deducting the time
provided by law for good behavior he has now served
all but one year of his term, and as this was his first
offense, clemency may be properly exercised in his
favor.

May II, 1893. John V. Bender. Sentenced April 11, 1887; county,
Oneida; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison. Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of ten years, subject to commuta-
tion, from April 30, 1887.

The prisoner shot and killed the deceased during
a fight between them on one of the public streets
in the city of Utica, and, under an indictment for
murder in the first degree, was convicted of murder
in the second degree, and sentenced to imprisonment
31

482 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

for life. The Hon. Jolin C. Churchill, before whom
the case was tried, writes that he should have been
as well satisfied if the verdict had been one of man-
slaughter in the first degree, and that he should
regard, as a proper disposition of the application for
clemency, a commutation of the sentence to ten years,
leaving to Bender such reduction of that time as the
law gives for good conduct.

The petition is signed by the twelve jurymen and
by many other residents of Oneida county.

May II, 1893. Thomas Sheridan. Sentenced July 7, 1870 to be
executed; county, New York; crime murder, first degree; comhiuted
August 5, 1870, to imprisonment for life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of twenty-two years, nine months
and twenty days, actual time, from August 12, 1870.

The jury rendered a verdict of murder in the first
degree with a recommendation to mercy. Governor
Hoffman commuted the sentence to imprisonment for
life and Sheridan has now been incarcerated for nearly
twenty -three years. He was a man of the best character
and the crime was committed under the most exasper-
ating circumstances. About ten years ago a petition
.signed by six of the jury, all who could then be found,
and by a large number of citizens, was presented,
asking for his pardon, but it was thought too soon for
favorable action. I think he has now fully atoned for
his offense and that the petition ought to be granted.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 483

May II, 1893. Felix Lavelle. Sentenced February 21, 1879; county,
New York; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence comrauted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of fourteen years and eight months,
actual time, from February 24, 1879.

The term to which the sentence is commuted is
equal to twenty-four years, with time for good behavior
deducted, and is deemed fully sufficient for the circum-
stances of the case. The petition, which was filed in
1884, is signed by ten of the jurors and by many
other reputable citizens.

May ig, 1893. Cornelius A. King Sentenced July 24, i8gi; county.
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four years and
five months; prison Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years, actual time, from
July 25, 1891.

Granted on the application of the complainant and
on the recommendation of Governor Werts, Senator
McPherson and other prominent citizens of New
Jersey. Considering the prisoner's previous good
character two years actual service will be sufficient.

May 23, 1893. James Hughes^ Sentenced June 5, 1891; county,
Monroe; crime, extortion; term, one year; prison, Monroe County
Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Monroe
County penitentiary for the term of five months from
February 6, 1893.

484 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERN'OR FLOWER.

The complainants were clothing manufacturers in
the city of Rochester. A dispute arose between them
and their employees as to the number of apprentices
to be kept in the business, and, as the outcome of this
dispute, a boycott was laid upon the complainants' goods
by the labor organization of which the employees were
members, and Hughes was principal officer, and the
extortion of which he was convicted consisted in com-
pelling payment by the complainants to him, as
such officer, of the sum of one thousand dollars, by
means of a threat that if not paid the boycott would
be continued and increased so as finally to destroy
their business.

The offense was a grave one and deserved punish-
ment, but there were some questions of law in the
case which were not well settled, and I have no doubt
that in acting as he did Hughes believed that he was
merely exercising a legal right, and that he had no
thought of committing a crime, and, therefore, am of
the opinion that no greater punishment ought to be
inflicted than may be sufficient to serve for a warning
to himself and others not to engage in like enterprises
hereafter. In this view of the matter service of one-
half the term imposed will suffice.

June 3, 1893. Alfred Sheridan. Sentenced September 4, 1884, county,
New York; crime, robbery; term, fifteen years; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of nine years, actual time, from
September 5, 1884.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 4^5

This was Sheridan's first offense. He has conducted
himself well during a long imprisonment and asks that
his sentence be commuted so as to release him in
September, as he can more easily c)btain employment
then than at the expiration of his term in February
next.

June 30. 1893. "Wells Hamilton. Sentenced October 9, 1891; county,
Otsego; crime, burglary, third degree; term, three years and three
months; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, eight months and
twenty days, actual time, from October 12, 1891.

The prisoner, while intoxicated, broke into an
unoccupied house, where he was arrested. No injury
was done nor was any property appropriated. The
sentence was quite severe and the complainant asks
and the district attorney recommends that it be
commuted.

July 5, 1893. William Kennedy. Sentenced April 11, 1890; county,
New York; crime, assault, second degree; term, four years and ten
months; prison. Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years, two months and
twenty-five days, actual time, from April 12, 1890.

The three months now unserved of Kennedy's term
are remitted upon the very urgent application of his
father, who was the complainant against him, and in
the belief that the punishment already administered
has been sufficient to accomplish his thorough
reformation.

486 PUBLIC PAPER OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

July 13, 1893. Stanislaus De Borkewitch. Sentenced March 27, 1890;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, first degree; term, five years;
prison, Sing Sing; transferred to Matteawan State Hospital

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison and Matteawan State Hospital for the term of
three years, one month and seventeen days, on con-
dition that he forthwith depart for and proceed to
Russia, Europe.

The prisoner has nearly completed his term, and
the commutation is asked for by the State Commis-
sioners in Lunacy, who will make provision for his
transportation to Russia.

July 13, 1893. Daniel Shea. Sentenced January 26, 1888; county,
Washington; crime, assault, second degree; maximum term five years;
prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of
three years, one month and eighteen days, actual
time, from May 27, 1890.

Granted on the application of the district attorney
who conducted the prosecution, and who makes a
very urgent appeal for clemency on the ground of
excessive punishment and the prisoner's illness.

July 14, 1893. Charles P. Leask. Sentenced April 7, 1891; county,
New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years and nine
months.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years, three months and
fifteen days, actual time, from April 11, 1891.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOiVER. 4^7

Recommended by judge, district attorney, com-
plainant and a number of leading merchants of New ,
York. The judge writes that were it not that the
statute, at the time, provided a minimum penalty,
he would have imposed a much lighter sentence.
Imprisonment for the commuted term is all that
justice requires.

Jtdy 14, 1893. Amos M. Witrow. Sentenced July 9, 1890; county,
New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, six years; prison, Sing
Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years and five days,
actual time, from July 11, 1890, on condition that he
abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors for the
period of five years from date.

Judge Martine, who sentenced the prisoner, recom-
mends that, in view of the small amount involved
and of the fact that it was Withrow's first offense,
the sentence be reduced to four years, subject to
statutory commutation, in other words to three years
actual service. Withrow has been of much service
during his confinement, and the officers of the prison
recommend him as worthy of clemency.

July 14, 1893. Evaristo M. Hernz. Sentenced February 5, 1892;
county. New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, six years and
six months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of one year, five months and
ten days, actual time, from February 6, 1892.

488 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

Recommended by the judge and the district attorney
on the grounds of strong mitigating circumstances,
and the prisoner's previous good character. He has
a family dependent upon him, and immediate
employment is promised.

July 14, 1893. Charles C. Hearne. Sentenced March 16, 1891; county,
New York; crime, grand larceny, first degree; term, seven years and
seven months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years, three months and
twenty-nine days, actual time, from March 17, 1891.

The evidence adduced upon the trial, while legally
sufficient to sustain the verdict, did not very clearly
establish the commission of the offense of which
the prisoner was accused.- He has now served about
half of the sentence, and, in view of the doubt as
to his guilt, ought not to be further detained in
prison. The judge and the district attorney, although
not questioning the verdict, recommended his release
on the ground that he has been sufficiently punished.

July 14, 1893. JohnEnnis. Sentenced April 24, 1890; county, Albany;
crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five years; prison, State
Reformatory; transferred to Clinton prison.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Clinton prison for the term of
three years, two months and twenty-two days, actual
time, from April 24, 1890.

Ennis was convicted with two others, who were
sent to Clinton prison and have long since been

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOPVER. 489

discharged. All were equally guilty, but he was
entitled to more leniency than the others, on account
of his youth, and the court intended to award punish-
ment on that basis, but the intention has been
frustrated by transferring the prisoner to Dannemora,
to serve out a maximum term. The judge recom-
mends executive clemency.

July 14, 1893. John Pierson. Sentenced May 23, i8go; county. Kings;
crime, burglary, third degree; maximum term, five years; prison, State
Reformatory; transferred to Auburn prison.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of
three years, one month and twenty-three days, actual
time, from May 23, 1890.

The prisoner has consumption and will not live
long, and he has been fully punished for his offense.

July 14, 1893. James Lockwood. Sentenced October 20, 1892; county.
New York; crime, burglary, first degree; term, five years; prison. Sing
Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of eight months
and twenty-five days, from October 20, 1892.

Granted on the recommendation of the judge and
the district attorney. It is quite doubtful if a
burglary was committed, but, in any view, the offense
was not one requiring severe punishment.

49° PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

July 18,1893. Thomas Jacques. Sentenced February 25, 1881; county;
Oncmdaga; crime, burglary, first degree; two indictments; term, forty
years; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of twelve years, four months and
twenty-two days, actual time, from February 28, 1881.

With legal commutation, the prisoner has now
served a twenty years' term, being one-half the
sentence imposed. The judge who sentenced him
writes : " I am inclined to think he has been
sufficiently punished, considering that he was under
age at the time and led on by older and worse
thieves." The district attorney, who procured the
conviction, concurs with the judge. Justice does not
require further punishment.

July 26, 1893. William A. Martin. Sentenced April 30, i8gi; county.
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four years;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years, two months and
twenty-six days, actual time, from May 2, 1891.

Martin received from a jeweler goods on what is
known as a sale or delivery upon memorandum, that
is, the goods were delivered to him with authority
to sell them, and account to the person delivering
them for the purchase-price. He did not so account,
and for his failure to do so was convicted of grand
larceny and sentenced to imprisonment for four years.
I do not think the circumstances demanded so long a
term. The punishment already undergone is severe
enough.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 49I

July 26, 1893. John P. Rosensteel. Sentenced June 29, 1889; coiiaty,
New York; crime, robbery, first degree; maximum, term, twenty years;
prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Clinton prison for the term of four
years and one month, actual time, from June 29, 1889.

The jury convicted the prisoner of robbery and
recommended him to the mercy of the court, and he
■was thereupon sentenced to imprisonment in the
State Reformatory, whence he was transferred about
a year ago to Clinton prison, there to serve out the
unexpired portion of a term of twenty years. The
judge who sentenced him is dead, but I feel quite
sure that he never intended that punishment of such
severity should be inflicted. The district attorney is
very earnestly in favor of a commutation.

July 26, 1893. Samuel P. Gross. Sentenced November 10, 1S90;
county. New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; maximum
term, five years; prison, State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of two
years, eight months and eighteen days, actual time,
from November 10, 1890.

The district attorney, in his report upon the applica-
tion, says that, judging from the ordinary standards
prevailing in such cases, imprisonment for the maxi-
mum period is excessive and unjust, and that, in his
judgment, it is fit and proper that executive action
should be taken, whereby the prisoner may receive the
benefit of the judicial clemency which it was intended

492 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

to allow him at the time of his sentence, and which
the circumstances of the case warrant. The judge
concurs in the views of the district attorney. A sen-
tence for three and one-half years would have been
unduly severe, and Gross has now served more than
that, deducting legal commutation.

July 26, 1893. Louis Dreschler. Sentenced October 16, 1891; county,
Onondaga; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, three years and
three months; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, nine months and
eight days, actual time, from October 20, 1891.

Dreschler has served more than half of his term and
is dying with consumption.

August I, 1893. Abram North, Sentenced March 12, 1892; county,
Ulster; crime, assault, second degree; term, two years and eight months,
prison, Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton
prison for the term of one year, four months and
nineteen days, actual time, from March 15, 1892.

The judge and the district attorney recommend a
commutation on the ground that the sentence was
too severe. The judge writes : "Had the amendment
to the Penal Code, conferring unlimited discretion as to
the minimum of sentence, been in operation at the
time of North's conviction I should have sentenced
him to imprisonment in the Albany penitentiary for

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 493

one year. Having, however, no discretion in the
matter, I sentenced him to imprisonment in the State
prison for the shortest term then permitted by the
statute."

August I, 1893. Ishmael Freeman. Sentenced April 24, 1861; county,
Dutchess; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of thirty.two years, three months
and four days, actual time, from April 29, 1861.

Freeman was arrested in December, 1859, U-pon a
charge of murdering his wife by poison and has been
in confinement ever since. 'He was tried twice ; first
in March, i860, when the jury failed to agtee, and
again in April, 1861, when he was convicted of murder
in the second degree and sentenced to imprisonment
for life. At this late day it is impossible to procure
a copy of the evidence or to learn with certainty the
character of the proof given upon the trial, but the
verdict itself seems to imply a doubt in the minds
of the jury as to the prisoner's guilt. Intentional
killing by poison is necessarily deliberate and pre-
meditated, and cannot possibly be anything less than
murder in the first degree, and a verdict for a lesser
degree is altogether inconsistent with the idea that
the evidence was of so convincing a nature as to
exclude all reasonable doubt of guilt. The prisoner
has always strenuously asserted his innocence and
claimed that his conviction was due to the absence
of his witnesses, who disappeared in the year that
elapsed between the first and second trials.

494 PUBUC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

During his long confinement he has so conducted
himself as to win the respect • and confidence of all
the prison officers, who very earnestly favor his applica-
tion for clemency. It is also supported by prominent
residents of Westchester and Dutchess counties.
Under all the circumstances I am of the opinion
that the case is a proper one for executive clemency.

August I, 1893. George Mullen. Sentenced August 17, 1888; county,
New York; crime, robbery, second degree; terra, nine years and five
months; prison. Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of four years, eleven
months and sixteen days, actual time, from August, 1888.

Mullen has but little more than a year to serve to
complete his term. He is ill with consumption and
cannot live the year through.

August I, 1893. John Mead. Sentenced August 13, i8gi; county.
New York; crime, attempt to commit burglary, second degree; maximum
term, five years; prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of one
year, eleven months and twenty-one days, actual time,
from August 13, 1891.

The physician reports that Mead is quite ill ; that
he may live another year, but cannot do so in ■ prison.
His conduct since his transfer from the Reformatory
has been excellent, and he has served, with com-
mutation, more than half the maximum term for
his offense.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 495

Augusts, 1893. Paul Gaugi. Sentenced June 1, 1885; county, New
York; crime, arson, first degree; term, fifteen years; prison. Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of eight years and four months,
actual time, from June 2, 1885.

Gaugi was convicted in May, 1884, and sentenced
to imprisonment for fifteen years, and was at once
taken to Sing Sing and commenced the service of
his term. The judgment was reversed, and a new
trial was had in May, 1885, when he was again
convicted and sentenced, as before. In the meantime,
a period of something over a year, he remained in
confinement, either at Sing Sing or in the city prison
in New York. He asks that the sentence be com-
muted so as to give him this year as part of his term
under the second conviction, and I have thought it
just to grant his request.

August 8, 1893. John F. MuUoney. Sentenced February 10, 1893;
county, Kings; crime, petit larceny; term, one year; prison, Kings County
Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Kings
County penitentiary for the term of six months, from
February 10, 1893.

Granted on the recommendation of Hon. Henry
A. Moore, by whom the prisoner was sentenced.
MuUoney is reported by the physician to be in a
dying condition.

496 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

August 10, 1893. Michael Cassello. Sentenced April 25, 1893; county,
Kings; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of fifteen years, subject to com-
mutation from April 26, 1893.

August 10, 1893. Angelo Sartori. Sentenced April 25, 1893; county.
Kings; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of fifteen years, subject to com-
mutation from April 26, 1893.

Hon. Edgar M. CuUen, before whom these prisoners
-were tried, recommends that the sentence in each
case be reduced to the term of fifteen years. He
writes : " The facts of the case are briefly as follows :
On the evening of January second last, on a ferry-
boat plying between New York and Brooklyn, one
Peter J. Eccles had an altercation with some Italians,
by whom he was assaulted. In the assault he was
stabbed by one of the number, from which wound
he died on the following day.

"All of the party of Italians, seven in number, were
indicted for murder in the first degree. Sartori was
first put on trial ; Michael Cassello next, and Bruno
Cassello third. Until the trial and conviction of
Bruno Cassello the prosecution did not know, nor did
the evidence disclose, which prisoner used the knife.
On Bruno's trial it did appear that he was the person,
and he subsequently in court admitted his guilt.

"The first two defendants were tried and convicted
as participators in the common design, regardless of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 497

whether the weapon was used by either of them
or not. As the evidence stood in the case on their
trial, in my opinion, the judgment of the jury was
entirely correct. But, after the trial of Bruno Cassello,
I am inclined to the opinion that there is doubt as
to whether the first two named defendants were
participators in this design to use the weapon,
although they certainly did join in the assault on
the deceased, and also prevented interference by
other persons in the deceased's behalf.

" For these reasons, though the two prisoners named
certainly deserve severe punishment, I think there
should be made a discrimination between their punish-
ment and that of the principal offender."

August 10, 1893. James Cook. Sentenced December 4, 1889; county,
Monroe; crime, robbery, first degree; term, twelve years; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of three years, eight months and
five days, actual time, from December 6, 1889.

Recommended by the judge, eleven of the jury
and many leading citizens of Rochester. This was
Cook's first offense of any kind, and he has been
abundantly punished for it.

August II, 1893. Nicola Greco. Sentenced June 5, 1891; county, New-
York; crime, assault, second degree; term, three years and ten months;
prison, Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of two years, two
months and nine days, actual time, from June 6, 1891.
32

498 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

The prisoner is very ill and his friends desire to
take him home before his death. He has served all
but eight months of his sentence, less deduction for
good conduct.

August 15, 1893. Mary H. Martin. Sentenced December 30, 1892;
county, Kings; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, two years;
prison, Kings County Penitentiary; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Kings
County penitentiary and Auburn prison for the term
of seven months and nineteen days.

Upon a careful examination of all the circumstances
of this case, I am clearly of the opinion that the
prisoner has been amply punished for her offense,
and, considering her youth and her previous orderly
life and good conduct, further imprisonment would,
in my judgment, do more harm than good. I have,
therefore, determined to grant her prayer for
clemency.

September i, 1893. Edward Geoghan. Sentenced February 14, 1893;
to be executed; county, Kings; crime, murder, first degree.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment for life in
Sing Sing prison.

Insanity was the only defense upon the trial, and
is the only ground urged in support of the applica-
tion for clemency. The evidence before the jury
was, however, altogether insufficient to establish the
defense, and, if the determination of the question
here depended exclusively upon the same evidence,
the application could not be granted. But, upon a
thorough examination of the prisoner, made at the

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 499

prison by a competent and experienced physician, it
clearly appears that Geoghan is insane, and although
his mental derangement may not be of such a char-
acter as wholly to exempt him from criminal respon-
sibility, still I think the case a proper one for relief
from the death penalty.

September i, 1893. William H. Best. Sentenced June 30, 1891 ; county,
Kings; crime, bigamy; term, two years and eleven months; prison.
Kings County Penintentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Kings
County penitentiary for two years, two months and
six days, actual time, from June 30, 1891.

The prisoner's term will end in October, but as he
can secure a desirable and permanent situation if
released now, and might not be able to do so if he
were to remain in prison until the expiration of his sen-
tence, I have concluded to order his immediate discharge.

September 11, 1893. William Diffin. Sentenced February 13, 1892;
county, Tompkins; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years;
prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, seven months and
seven days, actual time, from February 13, 1892.

The judge recommends clemency in this case, say-
ing that if the law, recently enacted, repealing the
minimum penalty for forgery had been in force at the
tinle of the conviction the sentence would not have
been for a longer term than the prisoner has now served.
The district attorney also favors the application.

5Q0 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

October 5, 1893. George B. Grant. Sentenced January 28, 1891;
county, Tompkins; crime, forgery , second degree; term, five years;
prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of two years, eight months and
six days, actual time, from January 31, 1891.

Granted on the recommendation of the judge, the
district attorney and other residents of Tompkins
county. The prisoner was indicted for forging his
father-in-law's name to a promissory note. He had
signed the name to such notes on former occasions
with his father-in-law's knowledge and acquiescence,
but he failed to take up the note in question, and his
father-in-law refusing to pay, complaint was made
and he was indicted. He has now served three and
one-half years, less time allowed for good conduct,
and his family are in great distress.

October 5, 1893. Samuel E. Wayman. Sentenced September 5, 1890,
to be executed; county, Livingston; crime, murder, first degree; com-
muted October 2, 1891, to imprisonment for life; prison. Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of two years and ten days, actual
time, from October 2, 1891.

Wayman is serving a life sentence for the murder
of Emory Thayer in 1885. He was convicted in 1890,
upon the testimony of one Swartz, who swore that
while he and Wayman were committing a burglary'
in Thayer's house, Wayman shot Thayer. Wayman
was sentenced to death, but on account of the doubt
as to his guilt. Gov. Hill commuted the sentence to

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 50I

imprisonmemt for life. About a year ago Swartz,
who was serving a term in Auburn prison for burg-
lary, was taken sick and died, but shortly before his
death he confessed to the chaplain of the prison
that his testimony at Wayman's trial was false, and
that Wayman was entirely innocent. After a careful
consideration of the whole case I have become con-
vinced that Wayman was unjustly convicted, and,
therefore, ought to be released.

October 13, 1893. William E. Carpenter. Sentenced June 30, 1892;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, first degree; term, nine years;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of one year, three months and
seven days, actual time, from July 8, 1892.

The cashier of a firm of brokers in New York city
stole from them money and securities aggregating in
value $60,000, and deposited all but about $S,ooo with
the prisoner (who was employed by the same firm
as clerk), with the understanding that the prisoner
should hide the property until the cashier sent for
it, and that it should then be divided equally between
them. The cashier then left the country. The theft
having been discovered. Carpenter was taxed with
complicity in it, which he at first denied, but shortly
afterward made a complete disclosure of all he knew
about the matter, returned to the firm all the prop-
erty left in his custody, and gave such information
to the authorities as resulted in the capture and
return of the cashier and the recovery of all but a,

502 PUBLIC PAPERS OP GOVERNOR FLOWER.

small part of the funds which he took with him.
Carpenter pleaded guilty to the indictment and was
sentenced to imprisonment for nine years. The judge
who imposed the sentence writes that, considering all
the facts of the case, the contrition and regret shown
by the prisoner for his acts, and his ability to earn
a livelihood for himself and wife, no interest of jus-
tice would, in his opinion, suffer, should the applica-
tion be granted. He, therefore, joins with the district
attorney in recommending that clemency be extended
to the prisoner. The petition is signed by many
leading bankers and business men of New York city.

October 13, 1893. Edwin A. Mallett. Sentenced. April 29, 1892;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, two
years and six months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing- Sing
prison for the term of one year, five months and
fourteen days, actual time, from- April 30, 1892.

Recommended by the complainants, who were the
only sufferers on account of Mallett's misdeed, and
by the district attorney. There is good reason to
believe that the prisoner was induced to commit the
act charged against him, under the advice of counsel,
to the effect that he thereby simply exercised a legal
right. In any view of the case he has fully expiated
his offense.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 503

October 13, 1893. John White. Sentenced October 13, 1892; county,
Chenango; crime, bribery; term, one year and ten months; prison.Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of eleven months and twenty-
two days, actual time, from October 22, 1892.

Granted on the recommendation of many citizens
of Chenango county, including the judge and the
district attorney, on the ground that the prisoner has
been sufficiently punished.

October 13, 1893. William A. Bowry. Sentenced July 29, 1892; county,
Kings; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, two years and six
months prison. Kings County Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Kings
county penitentiary for the term of one year, two
months and sixteen days.

The crime of which the prisoner pleaded guilty
was not of an aggravated nature, and it was his
first offense. He has been adequately punished for
it, is sick and cannot recover.

October 13, 1893. John Stone. Sentenced October 7, 1892; county.
New York; crime, burglary, third degree; term, two years; prison, Sing
Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of one year and
seven days, actual time, from October 8, 1892.

Released on account of ill health. Stone can live
only a short time, and he has served more than half
the sentence imposed.

504 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

October 13, 1893. Henry Koenig. Sentenced February 23, 1892;
county, Erie; crime, burglary, third degree; term, five years; prison,
Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, seven months and
twenty days, actual time, from February 25, 1892.

Recommended by the judge, the district attorney,
the mayor and other prominent citizens of Buffalo.
Koenig is in the hospital seriously ill, and can live
only a few weeks.

October 24, 1893. Albert F. Avery. Sentenced March 4, 1893; county,
Monroe; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, one year; prison,
Monroe County Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Monroe
county penitentiary for the term of seven months
and eighteen days, from March 8, 1893.

The sentence is commuted . upon the ~ recommenda-
tion of the judge who pronounced it, and upon the
petition of a large number of the best citizens of
Rochester. All the purposes of punishment seem to
have been fully accomplished, and to keep the pris-
oner longer in confinement would inflict serious
hardship on his family.

October 25, 1893. Thomas A. Keeler. Sentenced May 4, 1892; county,
Monroe; crime, forgery, second degree; term, five years and seven months;
prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, five months and
twenty days, actual time, from May 7, 1892.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. 505

The prisoner lias been in the hospital since May
last, and is in the last stage of consumption, and his
relatives desire to take charge of him. The judge,
the district attorney and many other citizens join in
the application for clemency.

October 26, 1893. Frank Benware. Sentenced November 28, 1891;
county, Franklin; crime, rape; term, eight years and two months; prison,
Clinton.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Clinton
prison for the term of one year, ten months and
twenty-one days, actual time, from December 7, 1891.

Granted on the recommendation of the judge and
the district attorney, who say that the sentence was
too severe, and that the prisoner has now received
all the punishment the case demands.

November 1, 1893. Joseph HofEman. Sentenced December 23, 1890;
county. New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, seven years;
prison. Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of two years, ten
months and six days, actual time, from December
27, 1890.

The district attorney informs me that, at the time of
the sentence, the complainant presented to the Court
a statement alleging that Hoffman had defraiuded him
out of a much larger sum of money than that
involved in the charge specified in the indictment,
and that in passing sentence, the judge was, no

506 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

doubt, • influenced thereby. This statement was, how-
ever, not verified and was not in harmony with the
sworn statement contained in the complainant's orig-
inal affidavit. The district attorney regards the case as
worthy of clemency, in view of the severe sentence,
the small amount of the note forged, and the pris-
oner's previous unblemished character. Under all the
circumstances, the two years and ten months now
served, being equal to almost four years, with the
allowance for good behavior deducted, are enough.

November i, 1893. Warren B. Brazington. Sentenced June 29 1S92;
county, Orange; crime, burglary, third degree; term, four years and
six months; prison. Sing Sing; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
and Auburn prisons for the term of one year, four
months and two days, actual time, from July i, 1892.

Brazington is very low with consumption, and the
commutation is granted so that he may return home
before death.

November 2, 1893. George W. Curtis. Sentenced October 9, 1890;
county, New York; crime, grand larceny, first degree; term, seven
years; prison. Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years and six months,
actual time, from October 10, 1890.

The district attorney recommends that, as the pris-
oner was a young man of refined associations and
good character, upon whom the lesson of imprison-
ment must fall with especial force, and as the offense
to which he pleaded guilty did not imply any great

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVEKNOK FLOWER. 507

degree of moral turpitude, the term be reduced to
three years. Upon due consideration of all the cir-
cumstances, I have reduced it to three years and six
months, actual service, which will release him in
April, 1894.

November 3, 1893. James E. Booth. Sentenced February 20, 1884;
county, Allegany; crime, rape; term, ninteen years and six months;
prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of nine years, eight months and
fifteen days, actual time, from February 20, 1884.

The prisoner was covicted of an offense deserving
severe punishment, but as this was his first trans-
gression of any kind, his previous good character
being satisfactorily established, I think that the full
penalty prescribed by the statute was not demanded.
He has now served nearly ten years, being equiva-
lent to sixteen years, with commutation, and the judge,
who sentenced him, and the district attorney, who
prosecuted him, recommend that his prayer for
clemency be granted.

November 3, 1893. Max H. Hersey. Sentenced October 24, 1892;
county, New York; crime, abduction; term, two years; prison, New York
Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
penitentiary for the term of one year and three days,
actual time, from November 2, 1892.

Granted on the recommendation of the district
attorney. One year is sufficient for the offense
committed.

508 FUBLIC -PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

November 3, 1893. Selden Jordan. Sentenced October 28, 1892;
county, New York; crime, forgery, second degree; term, two years and
six months; prison, New York Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
penitentiary for the term of one year and six days,
actual time, from October 29, 1892.

Granted on the application of the prisoner's mother.
Jordan is about eighteen years of age, is now in
prison for his first offense, and has served one year
of his sentence. According to the physician's report,
he can live only a very short time if kept in con-
finement, but, if released, his life may be prolonged
for several years. Under the circumstances, justice
does not require his further detention.

November 3, 1893. Henry Cook. Sentenced November 14, 1892;
county. New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, two
years and four months; prison. New York Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
penitentiary for the term of eleven months and
twenty days, from November 15, 1892.

The prisoner was in custody in the city prison for
three months before his sentence, and has now been
in the penitentiary but little short of a. year, and
the judge and. the district attorney write that in their
opinion he has been amply punished, and recommend
that the remainder of his term be remitted.

November 14, 1893. John Murray. Sentenced June 10, 1890; county,
New York; crime, grand larceny, second degree; maximum term, five
years; prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. S09

three years, five months and two days, actual time,
from June 14, 1890.

Murray has served all but two months of the time
necessary to complete a five years' term (being the
maximum for the crime he committed), less the statu-
tory commutation. He is ill beyond recovery, and
is released so that he may be cared for at home.

November 14, 1893. George Wilson. Sentenced September 25, 1891;
county, Tioga;' crime, burglary, third degree; term, three years and six
months; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of two years, one month and
twenty days, actual time, from September 26, 1891.

Some months ago the prisoner underwent a severe
surgical operation, and has been in the hospital ever
since. He cannot recover and asks that he may go
home for the little while he has to live. He has
served the greater portion of his sentence.

November 22, 1893. David H. Crowley. Sentenced May 18, 1885;
county. New York; crime, rape; term, seventeen years and six months;
prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of eight years, six months and
twelve days, actual time, from May 19, 1885.

This commutation, under which the prisoner will
be released on November thirtieth, reduces the sen-
tence by about two years and four months, and is
granted on the recommendation of Recorder Smyth,
who sentenced him, and of District Attorney NicoU,

5IO PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER.

who took part in the prosecution. The application for
clemency has been very earnestly supported by
Hon. George Bliss, Hon. Elihu Root, Hon. Joel E.
Erhardt, Hon. Daniel E. Sickels, Hon. John I, Daven-
port and others.

November 27, 1893. Frank Davis. Sentenced October 13, 1891;
county, Cayuga; crime, forgery, second degree; maximun term, ten
years; prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of two
years, one month and nine days, actual time, from
October 20, 1891.

Davis signed his employer's name to an agreement
guaranteeing the payment of a week's board bill and
was sent to the reformatory, whence he was transferred
to the State prison to serve the remainder of a term of
ten years. The punishment is too severe. The appli-
cation for his release is made by the person whose
name was forged, and the judge and the district
attorney recommend that it be granted.

November 29, 1893. Florence Donoghue. Sentenced January 31, 1890;
county, New York; crime, manslaughter, first degree; term, twenty
years; prison,' Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of three years and ten months,
actual time, from February i, 1890.

There were strong mitigating circumstances in this
case which, together with the prisoner's previous excel-
lent character, entitled him to great leniency. He has

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 5 1 1

now served sometliing more than the minimum penalty
for manslaughter in the first degree, and I think may-
be restored to liberty -without prejudice to the due
administration of justice.

December 5, 1893. Frank Le-wis. Sentenced September 30, 1891;
county, Chautauqua; crime, grand larceny, second degree; term, four
years; prison, Erie County Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Erie county
penitentiary for the term of t-w-o years, f-wo months
and seven days, actual time, from September 30, 1891.

The prisoner is seriously ill and cannot recover, and
his brother desires to take him home.

(Le-wis died before the commutation -was received
at the penitentiary.)

December 5, 1893. James Finn, Sentenced January jz, 1891; county,
New York; crime, abduction; term, five years; prison. Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of t-wro years, ten months and
t-wenty-five days, actual time, from January 13, 1891.

The prisoner is of -weak intellect and his mental
responsibility at the time of the offense is quite
doubtful. The circumstances do not require his further
punishment.

December 5, 1893. George T. Mercer. Sentenced April i, 1892;
county. New York; crime, seduction under promise of marriage; term,
four years and ten months; prison, Sing Sing.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison for the term of two years and six months,
subject to commutation, from April 2, 1892.

512 p UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER.

The sentence was for the longest term that could
be imposed for the crime of which the prisoner was
convicted. As he was only twenty years of age when
he committed the act and had always before then
sustained a good character, I think a lighter sentence
would have been fully justified. Imprisonment for the
term as commuted will be enough.

December 6, 1893. Thomas Ownes. Sentenced May 21 1892; county,
Herkimer; crime, burglary, third degree; term, three years; prison,
Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, six months and
fifteen days, actual time, from May 23, 1892.

The prisoner was but twenty-one years of age
when convicted of this, his first offense. He has now
served more than half his term, and the judge and
the district attorney are of the opinion that he has
been punished sufficiently, and unite with the com-
plainant and other citizens in asking that he be
released.

December 8, 1893. Theodore Garlick. Sentenced June i, 1893;
county, New York; crime, burglary, third degree; term one year and
three months; prison. New York Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in New York
penitentiary for the term of six months and three
days, from June 7, 1893.

The prisoner's guilt is too doubtful to warrant his
further detention. The judge and the district attor-
ney recommend the case as a proper one for executive
clemency.

PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOWER. SI3

December 9, 1893. Herman Miller. Sentenced April 6, i8gi; county,
Oneida; crime, grand larceny, second degree; minimum term, five years;
prison. State Reformatory; transferred to Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in the State
Reformatory and Auburn prison for the term of two
years, eight months and six days, actual time, from
April 6, 1 89 1.

Miller is seriously ill and not expected to live.
He has now served, with commutation, a term of
over three years, and his relatives ask the privilege
of taking him home, where he can be suitably cared for.

December 20, 1893. Thomas Erwin. Sentenced April 20, 1892; county,
Onondaga; crime, assault, first degree; term.five years; prison, Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year and eight months,
actual time, from April 22, 1892, on condition that
he wholly abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors
for five years from date.

The district attorney recommends that this applica-
tion for clemency be granted, saying that before the
offense Erwin was an industrious man of the best
character, and that, the assault consisted more in
threats of violence than in actual violence done. The
application is also supported by many of the most
prominent citizens of Syracuse.

33

5 1 4 P UBLIC PA FERS OF GO VERNOR FL 0 WER.

December 20, 1893. Daniel Grady. Sentenced October 12, 1892;
county, Cayuga; crime, burglary, second degree; term, five years; prison,
Auburn.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Auburn
prison for the term of one year, two months and
two days, actual time, from October 20, .1892.

Granted on the special application of the physician
of the prison, who says that Grady can live only a
few days and his parents, residents of Cayuga county,
are anxious to have him die outside the prison.

December 21, 1893. Mary E. Johnson. Sentenced January 9,1865;
county. Orange; crime, murder, second degree; term, life; prison, Sing
Sing; transferred to the State Prison for Women.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Sing Sing
prison and in the State ' Prison for Women for
the term of twenty-eight years, eleven months and
fifteen days, actual time, from January 9, 1865.

Mary E. Johnson is a colored woman. When she
was sixteen or seventeen years old she was convicted
of murder in the second degree for killing her illegiti-
mate child.' For that degree of homicide the statute
then permitted a sentence for any term not less than
ten years, and while punishment of some severity
was demanded in this case, still taking into con-
sideration the prisoner's youth and inexperience and
the desperate circumstances in which she was placed
when she committed the crime, I think the full
penalty ought not to be exacted. She has now been
in prison but little short of twenty-nine years, and no

P UBLIC PA PERS OF GO VERJ^Q^FL 0 WER. 5 1 5

useful purpose can be subserved by keeping- ligr tbere
longer. Responsible persons have gfuaranteed to lur-
nisb her with employment and a home.

December 30 1893. Pietro Russo. Sentenced March i. 1892; county,
Kings; crime, assault, second degree; term, two years and eight months;
prison. Kings County Penitentiary.

Sentence commuted to imprisonment in Kings
county penitentiary for the term of one year, ten
months and one day, actual time, from March i, 1892.

A surgical operation is necessary to save the pris-
oner's life, and the physician of the penitentiary
desires to remove him to a hospital, where he can
receive proper care and attention.

5l6 PUBLIC PAPERS OF GOVERNOR FLOJVER.

RESPITES

March 13, 1893. James L. Hamilton. Convicted of murder, first
degree, in the county of Queens and sentenced July 14, 1892, to be
executed.

Respite granted until March. 20, 1893 ; and Marcli
17, 1893, again respited until April 3, 1893.

Granted on application of the prisoner's counsel,
who desire to make a motion for a new trial.

May 12, 1893. John Fitzhum. Convicted of murder, first degree, in
the county of Erie and sentenced May 26, 1892, to be executed.

Respite granted until May 29, 1893 ; and May 27,
1893, again respited until June 26, 1893.

Granted to afford sufficient time to examine the
papers filed on an application made by Fitzhum for
a commutation of the sentence.

August 18, 1893. Martin Foy, Jr. Convicted of murder, first degree,
in the county of Saratoga and sentenced February 2, 1893, to be executed.

Respite granted until October 23, 1893.

Granted on the application of the warden of Clin-
ton prison, to give time to make necessary prepara-
tions for the execution.

P UBLIC PAPERS OF GO VERNOR FLO WER. 5 ^ 7

SUMMARY.

Applications for clemency remaining on file December 31, 1892 422

Applications filed during year 1893 463

S85

Commutations and pardons granted 128

Applicants died or terms expired 129

Executed 10

Remaining on file December 31, 1893 618

VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 108 1, RELATING TO
THE SALE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS.

State of New York.

Executive Chamber,

Albany, May 15, 1893.

Memorandum filed with Assembly bill No. 1081, entitled
"An act to amend chapter four hundred and one of
the Laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-two, entitled
' A n act to revise and consolidate the laws regulating
the sale of intoxicating liquors' " — Not approved.

Section eight of the chapter thus amended has
already been previously amended during the present
session of the Legislature, and the amendment is
embodied in chapter 271 of the Laws of 1893. To
approve this would be to repeal, by implication, the
provisions of chapter 271, which, apparently, was not
the intention of the measure. Aside from this diffi-
culty in form, the bill is of questionable propriety

in substance.

ROSWELL P. FLOWER.

I N DEX,

MESSAGES.
To the Legislature : page.

annual , 3

relating to use of butterine in State hospitals 74

relating to the State's forest preserve go

Addresses: MISCELLANEOUS.

Agricultural Lands, Values in, at Palmyra 397

Business Men in Politics, at Rochester 416

Canals, Electricity on the, at Rochester 421

Canals, the State, at Lowville 323

Charities, the State's, at Summit 303

Col. Cavanagh, when conferring the rank of Brevet Brigadier-
General upon 263

Columbian Exposition, New York at the 309, 320

Dairy Products, at Watertown 368

Education, Higher, at Canton 272

Educational Facilities, New York's, at Potsdam 267

Farmers and the Legislature, at Warwick 355

Fish Culture and Farmers, at Sandy Hill 341

Gettysburg Dedications 278, 293, 295, 296

Good Roads, at Albion 359

Grange, the National, at Syracuse 414

How to Keep the Boy on the Farm, at Poughkeepsie 387

Panics, at Cortland 335

Saving Banks, Confidence in, at Watertown 301

Sunday School Union, to the, at Brooklyn 265

Taxes, State, at Canandaigua 373

Unemployed, Army of the, at Syracuse 345

Teachers, to, at New York city 402

Teachers, welcome to, at Albany , 298

Trenton, the Battle of 410

Beck, August, sheriff, in the matter of:

notice and summons 24*

appointment of commissioner 243

Certificate of the election of U. S. Senator Edward Murphy, Jr 66

Commutations of sentence 456

Correspondence, relating to;

Buffalo legislation 423

Civil Service Law, the 425

Erie county election 444

Kings county election trouble 429

New York and the World's Fair 427

Strike at Tonawanda 424

520 INDEX.

Miscellaneous — (Continued ) :

Designations: page.

Judge Beach to the Supreme Court, First Judicial District 241

Justice Bradley to the General Term, Fifth Department 235

Justice Brown as Presiding Justice, Second Department 255

Justice CuUen to the extraordinary Oyer and Terminer, Kings

county 238

Justice Landon to the Otsego Circuit 226

Justice Merwin to the General Term, Fourth Department 256

Judge Parker to the General Term, First Department 89

Justice Russell to the extraordinary Oyer and Terminer, Sara-
toga county 231

Justice Stover to the extraordinary Oyer and Terminer, Albany

county. 227

Justice Stover to the extraordinary Oyer and Terminer, Sara-
toga county 232

Judge Truax to the Supreme Court, First Judicial District. . . . 240

Justice Ward to the extraordinary Circuit, etc. , Allegany county, 183
Justice Ward to the extraordinary Special Term, Allegany

county 184

Furnace, Fred, excise commissioner, in the matter of:

notice and summons 229

approval of order of removal of 233

Harris, Carlyle, in the matter of;

appointment of commissioner to take proof 96

denial of application for clemency 102

Hoxsie, John A., sheriff, in the matter of :

notice and summons 94

dismissal of charges against 185

Malone, Frank, excise commissioner, in the matter of :

notice and summons 230

disapproval of order of removal of 234

Martel, James, appointment of commissioners to examine 188

Memoranda filed with approved bills :

Capitol, appropriation for the State (S. 107) 67

Indigent insane, for care of by the State (A. 160) 82

Kings county, relating to supervisors of (A. I. 374) 73

New York city water supply, for sanitary protection of (A. 877), 80

Rensselaer county surrogate, increasing salary of (A. 202) 76

Yonkers Railroad, extending time for completion of (S. 514.). . . 186

Pardons 449

Reprieves 516

Superintendent of Banks, in the matter of the:

dismissal of charges against 251

opinion in same 251

Supreme Court appointments :

extraordiilary Circuit, Special Term and Oyer and Terminer at

Belmont 183

INDEX. 521

Miscellaneous — (Continued):

Supreme Court appointments: page.

extraordinary Special Term at Belmont 184

extraordinary Oyer and Terminer at Albany 227

extraordinary Oyer and Terminer at Saratoga 231

extraordinary Oyer and Terminer at Brooklyn 238

Trede, excise commissioner, in the matter of;

disapproval o£ order removing 244

opinion in the same ..., 245

Weinaug, William, excise commissioner, in the matter of :

notice and summons 229

approval of order of removal of 233

PROCLAMATIONS.

Appointing April 27th a public holiday 98

Ordering a special election in the Ninth Senate district 77

Ordering a special election in the Fourteenth Congressional district, 257

Ordering a special election in the Fifteenth Congressional district. . 258

Relating to violation of election laws 237

Thanksgiving 236

VETOES.

Anthracite coal, to regulate the sale of (A. 581) igo

Appropriations for :

Binghamton State Hospital (2 items) (A. 1275) 225

Boys' Industrial Home (A. 1250) 133

Buffalo, for dredging basin at (S. 687). 154

Canal Bridge at Phoenix (A. 144} 78

Canal bridge at Syracuse (A. 1251) 131

Canal wall at Rome (S. 120) 121

Cayuga and Seneca canal repairs (S. 126) 120

Claims, Board of, possible awards by (S. 181) 196

Eastern New York Reformatory (A. 1040) 133

Epileptic colony (A. 459) •. 123

Experiment station on Long Island (A. 1165) 107

Fish hatchery on Watkins creek (S. 292) 93

Gettysburg, painting of the battle of (A. 1275) 221

Hudson, Hendrick, statue of (A. 102) 96

Hudson River State Hospital (A. 1275) 225

Institution for Inebriates (A. 1129) 133

Iron canal bridge at Mechanicville (S. 498) 2n

Iron bridge over Long lake (A. iioi) 152

Matteawan State Hospital (A. 1275) 826

Memorial Hall at White Plains (S. 337) 95

Monument to General Herkimer (S. 349) 123

Oneida Lake canalclaims awards, interest for (S. 588) 216

Owasco Lake highway improvement (S. 525) 122

522 INDEX.

Vetoes — ( Continued ) :
Appropriations for: page.

Purchase of Ulster County Insane Asylum (A. 455) 127

Quarantine establishment (4 items) (A. 1275) 222

Railroad at State Reformatory (A. 633) 128

Rifle range in Rensselaer county (A. 1263) 129

Saint Lawrence State Hospital (2 items) (A. 1275) 224

State armory at Catskill (A. 1290) 169

State armory at Walton (A. 1039) 132

State camp military road (A. 1275) 221

State Custodial Asylum (A. 1275) 226

State Experiment Station (2 items) (A. 1275) 222

State Nautical School (S. 39) i53

State Sanitary inspector (S. 698) m

Superintendent of Public Instruction (A. 1275) 221

Utica State Hospital (2 items) (A. 1275) 225

Waste gates in dam at Carthage (A. 626) 130

Western House of Refuge for Women (2 items) (A. 1275) 224

Willard State Hospital, for furniture repairs, etc. (A. 1275) 225

Bayard, Homoeopathic College, to incorporate the (A. 1436) 108

Bellis, Police Justice, for the relief of (A. 672) 158

Berlin Railroad Commissioner, Rensselaer county, to abolish the

(A. 996) 106

Binghamton State Hospital, for constructing Sewer at (A. 1275) 225

Bingham ton State Hospital, for entertainment hall and road

(A. 1275) 225

Board of Claims, amending law establishing the (A. 385; 199

Board of Claims, appropriation for possible awards by (S. 181) 196

Board of Claims to hear claims of :

Benway, Thomas (A. 735) 1S2

Holdridge, Harrison (A. 444) 210

McKinstry, Charles (S. 71) 181

Morgan, Carter H. (A. 466) 179

Putnam, John R. (S. 517) 180

Roberts, John (A. 1381) 142

Rochester, city of (S. 275) 219

Ross & Sanford (S. 347) 117

Schwartz, Henry L. (S. 179) 116

Sundry counties (A. 927) 172

Boys' Industrial Home, to establish a (A. 1250) 133

Brooklyn :

for acquisition of water front by (A. 1078) 1G6

for improvements in the Eighth ward of (S. 6S4) 167

relating to fire department of (A. 1208) 165

to close a part of Heyward street in (A. 1183) 168

to close a part of Clymer street in (S. 568) 168

Brooklyn and Kings county officials, to legalize action of (S. 67). . . . 68

Buffalo cemetery lands, for street purposes (A. 1534) 178

INDEX. 523
Vetoes — (Continued ) : pa'be.

Buffalo, for dredging the Ohio basin at (S. 687) 154

Carthage, for waste gates at (A. 626) 130

Catskill, for improvements on State armory (A. 1290) 1G5

Cayuga and Seneca canal, for repairs on the (S. 126) i2o

Cheese, to promote the consumption of (A. 793) 215

Civil Procedure, Code of:

amending, (A. 380) 205

amending, as to judicial settlements (A. 389) 206

amending, as to infants' real property (A. 1206). 206

amending, as to exemptions and appeals (S. 205) 207

amending, as to limitations (A. 1094) 162

amending, as to delivery of acknowledged instruments (S. 38). . 175

amending, as to judgments against employers (A. 1204) 134

Citizen's Loan agency, to recharter the (A. 1223). 156

Civil Service law, to amend the (A. 607) 99

Clinton county, relating to taxes in (S. 758) 204

Collateral inheritance tax in Kings county, relating to the (A. 416). . 195

Conditional sales, relating to contracts for (A. 252) ...... 214

Corning, to amend the charter of (S. 399). ■ Ii3

County Clerks, to regulate business of (A. 1327) 159

County law, to amend the (A. 543) 218

Criminal Procedure, to amend as to jurisdiction of courts (A. 967). . 161

Dipsomania in penitentiaries, for treatment of (A. 1397) 146

Dredging Ohio basin of Buffalo (S. 687) 154

Eastern N. Y. Reformatory, relating to the (A. 1040) 133

Epileptics, to establish a colony for (A. 459) 123

Erie county clerk, to be a salaried officer (A. 750) i8g

Escheat to William T. Frost (A. 1561) 208

Escheat to Nicolas Munch (A. 792) 209

Escheat to Howard Winship (A. 530). 209

Executive law, to amend the (A. 162) 89

Executors and administrators, relating to (A. 730) 190

Experiment station on Long Island, for an (A. 1165) 107

Fish hatchery on Watkins creek, for a (S. 292) 93

Frost, William T., escheat to (A. 1561) 208

Game, for the protection of (S. 625) no

Game law, to amend the (A. 839) 109

Game law, to amend the (A. 1396) 109

Game law, to amend the (A, L 1266) 157

Gettysburg, for historical painting of (A. 1275) 221

Herkimer county, relating to a road district in (A. 1399) 142

Herkimer, for a monument to Gen. (S. 349) 123

Highway law, amending the (A. 1 122) 193

Hudson, Hendrick, for a statue of (A. 102) ; 96

Hudson River State Hospital, for improvements and reservoir

(A. 1275) 225

Institution for Inebriates, to establish an (A. 1129) 133

524 INDEX.

Vetoes — (Continued ) : page.

Intoxicants, relating to sale o£ (A. 1081) 517

Kings county, .for a collector of collateral inheritance taxes in .

(A. 416) 195

Kings county, for opening Remsen avenue in (A. 1453) 194

Kings county officials, to legalize acts ol certain (S. 67) 58

Labor on surface and elevated railroads, to regulate hours of

(A. 232). 174

Ladies' Deborah Nursery, to exempt from taxation the (A. 1430). . . 107

Long Island City indigent sick, relating to the (A. 554) 148

Long Island City schools, for payment of rents of (A. 11 71) 147

Long Island City street improvements, for certain (A. 1067) 149

Long Lake, for a bridge across (A. iioi) 152

Matteawan State Hospital, for additional buildings at (A. 1275). . . . 226

Mechanics' lien law, to amend the (A. 1070) 159

Mechanicville, for an iron canal bridge at (S. 498) 211

Munch, Nicolas, escheat to (A. 702) 209

Myer's voting booth, for introduction of the (A. 1344) 137

Newtown, for additional cemeteries in (A. I. 1394) 150

New Utrecht, Kings county, for highway improvements in (S. 732). 170
New York city -.

acquisition of lands by, for the (A. 1397) 115

dock department, relating to the (S. 602) 113

dock board, relating to the (A. 206) 212

evening high school in, providing for an (A. 58) 79

fire department, for building sites for the (S. 364) 113

increased salaries and the succession tax in, relating to (A. 1357), 192

regulation of property sold for taxes, for the (A. 121S) iig

trees in parks, relating to (A. 1197) 164

Twenty-second street sewer assessments, to correct the (A. 1068}, 1 14

New York Finance Company, to incorporate the (A. 14 19) 154

Non-residents, taxing lands of (A. 1085) 205

Norwich, to amend the village of (A. 1259) 219

Oneida County Supervisors, to legalize acts of (S I. 674) 100

Oneida Lake canal, claims award, to allow interest on the (S. 588). . 216

Onondaga Historical Association, to amend charter of (S. 187) 87

Ontario county excise moneys, relating to (A. 975) 177

Owasco Lake highway, for protection of the (S. 525) 122

Penal Code, to amend the (A. 645) 160

Penal Code, to amend section 389 of (A. 1562) 218

Penal Code, to amend the (A. 380) 205

Penn Yan, to amend charter of (A. 1380) 140

Phoenix, Oswego county, for canal bridge at (A. 144) 78

Political divisions of the State, relating to the (A. 561) 189

Public health, relating to the (A. 1189) 119

Public instruction. Superintendent of, for printing (A. 1275) 221

Quarantine, for artesian wells on islands (A. 1275) 222

Quarantine, for enlargement of Hoffman Island at (A. 1275) 222

INDEX. 525
Vetoes — (Continued): page.

Quarantine, for painting buildings, at (A. 1275) 222

Quarantine tug, for new boiler for (A. 1275) 222

Railroad law, amending the (A. 1432) I35

Railroad, surface and elevated, to regulate labor on (A. 232) 174

Rifle range, Rensselaer county, for purchase of a (A. 1263) 129

Rochester;

amending charter of (A. 725) 88

Board of Claims to hear claim of city of (S. 275). 219

Firemen's Pension fund, to establish a (A. 1261) 140

Homoeopathic Hospital, to exempt from taxation the (S. 397). . . 112

Rockland county, relating to taxes in (A. 692) 204

Rockland county, Penny bridge, relating to the (A. 189) 169

Rome, for canal wall at (S. 120) 121

Saint Lawrence State Hospital, for additional building (A. 1275) 224

Saint Lawrence State Hospital, for roads and grading at (A. 1275). . 224

Saint Vincent's Retreat, to amend charter of the (A. 418) 147

Sanitary inspector, for a State (S. 698) iii

Saranac Lake, to incorporate the village of (A. 1153) 157

School districts, for consolidation of (A. 83) 144

Seneca Falls, anatomical school, for a (A. 1028) 171

South Side Sportsmen's Club, to amend charter of (S. 155) 87

State armory at Catskill (A. 1290) 169

State armory at Walton, repairs (A. 1039). 132

State Board of Undertakers, to establish a (A. 1014) 171

State camp, for military road at (A. 1275) 221

State Custodial Asylum, for new cottages (A. 1275) 226

State Experiment station, for building at State fair grounds

(A. 1275) 222

State Experiment station, for additional buildings at (A. 1275) 222

State Nautical school, to establish a (S. 39) 153

State Reformatory, for a railroad to the (A. 633) 128

State salt lots, for renewing the leases of (S. 518) 193

Stenographer Eighth Judicial District, for an additional (A. 1057). . ZI3

Superintendent Public Instruction (A. 1275') 221

Supply bill, items in the (A. 1275) 220

Surface waters, relating to the flow of (A. 1188) 136

Surrogates clerks, to provide for additional (S. 300) 191

Syracuse, for a canal bridge at (A. 1251) 131

Town law, to amend the (A. 864) 213

Trade-mark bottles, amending law relating to (A. 496) 176

Ulster County Insane Asylum, for purchase of by the State (A. 455), 127

Utica State Hospital, for printing press, etc. (A. 1275) 225

Utica State Hospital, for repairs (A. 1275) 225

Village law, to amend as to cross-walks (A, 1244) 145

Walton State armory, for improvements in the (A. 1039) 132

Western House of Refuge for Women, for assembly hall, etc.

(A. 1275) 224

526 INDEX.

Vetoes — ( Continued ): page.

Western House of Refuge for Women, for farm buildings at

(A. 1275) 224

White Plains, for a memorial hall at (S. 337) 95

White Plains, to amend charter of (A. 1482) 139

Willard State Hospital (A. 1275) 225

Winship, Howard, escheat to (A. 530) 209

Wolff Island Bridge Company, to incorporate the (A. 1209) 138

COMMUTATIONS.

Avery, Albert F 504

Bender, John V 481

Benware, Frank 505

Berkhout, Jacobus J 475

Best, William H 499

Boehanski, Andrew 463

Booth, James E 507

Borkheim, Benjamin , 467

Bornstein, Charles 478

Bowry, William A 503

Brazington, Warren B 506

Burns, James 457

Carpenter, William E 501

CasseUo, Michael 496

Conover, James , 462

Cook, Henry 508

Cook, James 497

Crawford, Thomas R 476

Crooks, Andrew 467

Crowley, David H 509

Curtis, George W 506

Davis, Frank 510

De Baum, Charles 1 47g

De Borkewitch, Stanislaus 486

Deesten, William 473

Diffin, William 4gg

Dillon, George ■ 466

Doblin. Abraham 463

Donoghue, Florence 510

Donovan, James 45q

Doyle, John 457

Dreschler, Louis , 492

Drew, George H , 474

Duncan, William C 480

EUsler, William 47g

Etinis, John 488

Erwin, Thomas 513

Fagan, Addison 462

Findley, Thomas S 480

INDEX. 527
Commutations — (Conlinued)i page.

Finn, James , 511

Freeman, Ishmael 493

Gaugi, Paul 495

Garlick, Theodore 512

Geoghan, Edward 498

Grady, Daniel 514

Grant, George B. . , 500

Greco, Nicola ,,.... 497

Gross, Samuel P 491

Hamilton, Wells 485

Hearne, Charles C 488

Herman, Edward 472

Hernz, Evaristo M 487

Hersey, Max H 507

Hoffman, Joseph 505

Hughes, James 483

Jacques, Thomas 490

Johnson, Mary E 514

Jones, Thomas 469

Jordan, Selden 508

Keeler, Thomas A , 504

Kennedy, William 485

King, Cornelius A 483

Koenig, Henry 504

Kruhm, Otto 481

Lavelle, Felix 483

Leask, Charles P 486

Lewis, Frank 511

Lockwood, James 489

MaUett, Edwin A 502

Martin, Mary H 498

Martin, William A 49°

Matheson, William. 465

McDonald Patrick 475

McHalpin, John 456

McKenzie, Andrew 464

Mead, John 494

Mercer, George T 511

Miller, Herman 5i3

Montgomery, James T ■> 475

Mullen, George 494

MuUoney, John F 495

Mulvanney, James 462

Murray, John 508

Nichols, Patrick 460

North, Abram 492

O'Reilly, Frank .• 471

528 INDEX.

Commutations — (Continued): page.

Owens, Thomas 512

Parker, William H 4(JS

Pierson, John 489

Reinhart, John M 461

Richards, Noah 458

Rosensteel, John P 491

Russo, Pietro 515

Sartori, Angelo 496

Savignano, Frank 470

Shea, Daniel 486

Sheridan, Alfred 484

Sheridan, Thomas 482

Shultz, Peter . 471

Sliney, Michael T 473

Smith, Adam 470

Stone, John 503

Stroud, William A 476

Sullivan, John 472

Wayman, Samuel E 500

Webler, Edward . 456

White, John ' 503

Wilson, George 509

Witrow, Amos M 487

Young, Ward 466

PARDONS.

AUoway, William 454

Anderson, John 451

Bishop, Georgiana , , ^^j.

Brown, Frank. -j.

Canning, Marion 450

Cannon, William P 45 ,

Conners, George 4,2

Depew, James F 4,4

Driggs, Chalmers O 45 j

Foster, James 45,

Hand, Julia 4,,

Kinsella, Arthur ,,-

Mahoney, Patrick 4-1

Mineski, John 440

Neuer, William F 4-2

Schmidt, Henry ^_

Wilber, Edward 440

Willing, Matthias D ' ' " 452

RESPITES.

Fitzhum, John jjg

Foy, Martin, Jr cjg

Hamilton, James L 5 jg