councils to avert them; and for a firm and unanimous determination to devote everything that is dear to us to maintain our rights and national honor.

Being thus circumstanced, it becomes our duty to be assiduous in providing for the welfare and security of the persons and property of the citizens of this state. The appeal to the general government for an efficient and permanent fortification of the city of New York has not failed to excite their serious attention to that subject. The plan which has been undertaken, the degree to which it has progressed, the operations contemplated to be pursued, and the measures to which your sanction is desired, will be communicated to you without delay.1

Although our anxiety is alive to the protection and safety of the city of New York, and although our exertions to obtain complete security for that important capital should continue ardent and unceasing, we ought not, at the same time, to be unmindful of the exposed situation of our brethren upon the northern and western frontiers of our state. That enterprising portion of the community which has penetrated the wilderness and extended civilization and improvement to the very borders of our expanded territory looks to you for assistance and protection at this momentous period. The hardships and difficulties to which they have submitted, their dispersed situation, their remoteness from the deposits of military stores, and the markets at which they may be purchased, the scarcity of money incident to new settlements, their exposure to the sudden attacks and merciless cruelties of unrelenting savages, and the unanimity with which they have tendered

1 An act to contribute to the defence of this State and for other purposes, Chap. 131, passed April 6, appropriated $100,000 for the defence of New York, to be expended under the Governor's direction. Chap. 48, passed March 11, made provision for a powder magazine in New York, and chap. 61, passed March 19, authorized the erection of a State arsenal in that city.

their services at the call of their country, combine in giving force to their entreaties to be furnished with the means of self defence.2

It affords me sincere satisfaction to inform you, gentlemen, that the detachment and organization of our quota of one hundred thousand men has been accomplished, and a return thereof for the war department nearly completed. The patriotism displayed on this occasion by every description of our fellow citizens, merits the greatest applause. All the artillery of the detachment, and most of the cavalry and infantry are volunteers; and thousands beyond the complement required have tendered their services with promptitude and zeal. This generous conduct affords a pleasing evidence of the alacrity of our militia in advancing to the defence of their country, and of the valor which they will display in supporting its honor and freedom.

The obstacles encountered by the militia officers in detaching and organizing this quota, suggest the propriety of some alterations in the act, organizing the militia of this state. By the 3d and 5th sections of that act, it is provided, that the cavalry and artillery shall parade for annual inspection under the orders of the brigadier generals of infantry. It does not require the inspectors of infantry to transmit copies of the returns to the cavalry and artillery officers. When therefore the latter are directed to detach any of their men, their ignorance of the number and equipments of the several corps, precludes the possibility of an immediate compliance with the order. This defect may be remedied either by appointing brigade officers of artillery and cavalry, to inspect and make inspec

2 Chap. 7, passed February 12, provided for the defence of the northern and western frontiers. Chap. 131, passed April 6, made various military and other appropriations, including $20,000 for use on the northern and western frontiers. Another act, chap. 168, passed April 8, authorized the purchase of an additional quantity of ordnance, arms, and ammunition.

tion returns of their brigade to the general officers thereof, or the additional duty of furnishing them with copies of the returns, might be imposed on the brigade inspectors of the infantry. Should a sudden emergency produce the necessity of calling for a quota of militia, in any one year after the parades of that year had taken place, it may be questioned whether the men so detached could be compelled to assemble again in the same year, without compensation as for actual service, and it is therefore respectfully submitted whether it would not be discreet to direct in such case, an additional parade of the detached corps for the purpose of obtaining muster-rolls and inspection lists. The expensive equipments of the cavalry, and the propriety of affording them equal encouragement with other uniform troops, suggest the expediency of extending to them the privileges enjoyed by the artillery.3

The officers appointed by an act of the last session to cede to the United States the jurisdiction of certain parcels of land, have not met for that purpose; as their power did not extend to those places of which jurisdiction has been requested, it became unnecessary to convene them. The places to which this request relates, will be specified in a separate communication.*

The proceedings under the act of 1806 for procuring ordnance and ammunition will also be speedily submitted.

The sum of three thousand dollars, granted for the purpose of erecting a powder magazine near the city of New York, has not been expended. The act contemplated a different site from that on which the old magazine is situated, and the sum appropriated proved inadequate to the purchase of another eligible tract and the erection of a building. [See note 1.]

3 General amendments to the militia law were made by chap. 154, passed April 8.

4 The jurisdiction of the cession commissioners was extended by chap. 51, and they were thereby enabled to take the action indicated in the Governor's message.

I have deemed it a duty to exercise the discretion confided by the constitution to the chief magistrate," in respiting the execution of John Williams, lately convicted of murder in the county of Greene. The evidence adduced upon his trial, accompanied by the opinion of the presiding judge, will be immediately communicated for your consideration. The importance to the public, and to the individual, of every question, the decision of which involves the life of a fellow creature, imposes the duty of affording to this case, impartial inquiry and solemn deliberation."

The persons authorized by an act of the last session to confer and agree with those appointed by the legislature of New Jersey, respecting certain claims of jurisdiction and territory, have adjourned without adjusting and without a prospect of settling the controversy arising upon those claims. The measures, subsequently adopted by the legislature of that state, require your early attention. While it is our duty to cultivate and preserve amity with every member of the Union, it behoves us to guard with circumspection, and support with firmness, the rights of this state."

In every well regulated community, there are no institutions of higher concern than those which relate to the administration of civil and criminal justice. Our property, our liberty, and our lives depend on the adjudications of our courts. Hence it is highly interesting to all, that those who preside in them should be men of competent abilities and unsuspected probity. To call forth adequate talents and character to fill the seats of justice, such salaries should be given as will enable the judges to support them

■ Const. 1777, § 18.

5 By chap. 144, passed April 6, the sentence of death in the case of John Williams was commuted to imprisonment for five years.

6 By chap. 135, passed April 6, the Governor was directed to preserve the jurisdiction of the State in that part of its territory affected by the New Jersey controversy, and if necessary to employ counsel for that purpose.

selves and families, and in some degree provide for that retirement contemplated by our constitution. In addition to the permanent salary, an act, which has recently expired, allowed to the judge of the supreme court holding the circuit or sittings in New York an extra compensation. By that act also, the judges residing in the city of New York were authorized to receive fees for chamber business. Whether a mode of compensating the judges for the extraordinary services required by the immense increase of business in the city of New York, less partial in its operations cannot be devised, is submitted to your wisdom. think it my duty to observe to you, that the multiplication of suits, from the increase of population and the organization of many new counties, will require the judges to be absent from home, at a great expense, for much longer periods than formerly; and that considerations of justice seem to me to require a provision equal at least, to that of which they are deprived by the expiration of the before mentioned act.

I

The improvement of agriculture, manufactures and commerce will, at all times and under all circumstances, attract the attention, and command the exertions of a just and wise government, but in our present situation, external commerce being almost entirely cut off, and when it is not improbable that an appeal to arms will soon be made, it is peculiarly important to adopt all measures in our power, in order to increase the means of supplying ourselves, and to encourage those arts which contribute to the support and comfort of human life; to facilitate interior communication, and to invigorate the enterprising spirit of our country. Nor will the great and important duty of disseminating useful knowledge, at any time, or in any crisis, escape the attention and encouragement of a liberal, enlightened and patriotic legislature.

b Const. 1777, § 24.