The President then rose and addressed the Senate as follows: Senators: It becomes my pleasant duty at the opening of our session to bid you welcome. We stand at the threshold of duties, upon the just discharge of which the welfare alike of our State and Nation largely depends. Although the harvests of last autumn were abundant, although no pestilence has visited our land and no organized armed resistance to the law exists within our borders, still we must all realize that general anxiety and distrust pervade commercial circles, paralyzing business activity and industrial enterprise, and that all our people await the future with solicitude. It is your privilege as well as your duty to do much towards allaying this alarm. You can labor for the restoration of an absolute and actual economy in the public expenditures, an economy which shall be seen in the next tax levy, and thus be appreciated by the people. You can largely insist upon a rigid accountability of all public servants. You can arrest hasty legislation; prevent the enactment of needless and cumbersome laws; initiate wise and considerate reforms; and resolutely maintain the existing safeguards cf public order and personal security. I know that these are threadbare axioms and seem but idle platitudes. And yet unless we make them actual verities in our official action, we shall not only fail in our duty, but the State will suffer hurt. Not only are our people apprehensive in regard to our State interests and legislation, but there is much in our National affairs to awaken patriotic solicitude. Partial disorder and an unnatural, deplorable but still necessary subordination of the civil to the military law prevail in the States lately in rebellion. The restoration of those States to their just and Constitutional relations with the Federal Government, and to their normal condition of self-rule, is delayed by an unfortunate collision between the President and Congress. As Senators of New York, you may not be called upon to act directly upon these questions; and yet, should circumstances arise requiring action, we may remember that the voice and influence of this State are always powerful in the councils of our Nation. May our old State plead moderation, mercy and reconciliation. God in his loving providence gave us the victory and stayed from our villages and hearthstones the red tide of battle. May we in our hour of triumph be generous and forgiving to our vanquished foemen, remembering that even for the crime of rebellion large excuse is due, alike because of the early education and political training of Southern men, and because of our own long continued complicity at the North in the sin of Slavery. But while we are thus forgiving, and seek to bury from our sight the sad relics of our unhappy strife, let us also remember to be resolutely true in the hour of the Nation's triumph to all who were true to our flag in the time of our Nation's danger. Let us see to it, that the repentant foeman obtains no right, as an act of mercy, which is not at the same time firmly assured to the constant loyalist, as an act of justice. Thus, upon the sure foundations of mercy, loyalty and justice, shall we rebuild the shattered temple of our Union, making it stronger and fairer for the days to come. And now, invoking upon all our deliberations the spirit of unity, and trusting that as our session passes all our hearts may but become more and more closely knit together in friendship, I bid you again a cordial welcome. Mr. Kennedy offered the following resolution: Resolved, That James Terwilliger be and he is hereby appointed Cler of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree t said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Williams offered the following resolution: Resolved, That John H. Kemper be and he is hereby appointed Ser geant-at-Arms of the Senate. Mr. Beach moved to amend by striking out the name of "John H Kemper" and inserting in lieu thereof "Abram J. Meyer." The President put the question whether the Senate would agree t said motion to amend, and it was decided in the negative, as follows: FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE. The President then put the question whether the Senate would agre to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Campbell offered the following resolution: Resolved, That Charles V. Schram be and he is hereby appointed Door keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree t said resolution of Mr. Folger, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Folger offered the following resolution: Resolved, That Nathaniel Saxton be and he is hereby appointed Assist ant Doorkeeper of the Senate. Mr. Murphy moved to amend said resolution by striking out all afte the word "Resolved," and inserting as follows: "That a committee be appointed by the President to consider and report to this body what further officers of this body are necessary, and the amount of compensation to be paid each in lieu of all services." The President put the question whether the Senate would agree t said motion to amend, and it was decided in the negative, as follows: to Cauldwell fer nd >re ial The President then put the question whether the Senate would agre to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Humphrey offered the following resolution: Resolved, That David L. Shields be and he is hereby appointed Assist ant Doorkeeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree t said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Thayer offered the following resolution: Resolved, That Elisha T. Burdick be and he is hereby appointed Assistant Doorkeeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Van Petten offered the following resolution: Resolved, That Wm. S Van Valkenburgh be and he is hereby appointed Assistant Doorkeeper of the Senate. Mr. Crowley moved to lay the resolution upon the table. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said motion to lay upon the table, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Palmer offered the following resolution: Resolved, That Geo. H. Knapp be and he is hereby appointed Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Folger offered the following concurrent resolution: Resolved, (if the Assembly concur,) That a committee of three on the part of the Senate, and five on the part of the Assembly, be appointed by the Chair of those bodies respectively, to consider and report what officers of the Senate and Assembly are necessary, and the amount of compensation to be paid to each for his services. Ordered, That said resolution be laid upon the table. Mr. Folger offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the rules of the last Senate be adopted for the government of this Senate until otherwise ordered, and that a committee of three be appointed to revise the rules. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President appointed as such committee, Messrs. Folger, Williams and Murphy. Mr. O'Donnell offered the following resolution: Resolved, That the Senate will meet daily at 11 o'clock a. M., until otherwise ordered. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Williams offered the following resolution: Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed by the President to wait upon the Honorable the Assembly, and inform that Body the Senate is organized and ready to proceed to business. agree to The President put the question whether the Senate would said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President appointed as such committee, Messrs. Williams and Tweed. Mr. Nicks offered the following resolution: Resolved, That until otherwise ordered, the Senate will hold an executive session on Wednesday of each week, at 12 o'clock м. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Crowley offered the following resolution: Relsoved, That a committee of two be appointed by the President to wait upon the Governor and inform His Excellency that the Senate is organized and ready to proceed to business. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President appointed as such committee, Messrs. Crowley and Creamer. Mr. Crowley, from the committee appointed to wait upon His Excellency the Governor and inform him that the Senate was organized and ready to proceed to business, reported that they had performed that duty, and that His Excellency informed them that he would communicate with the Senate by message. A message from His Excellency the Governor was received and read by the Clerk, in the words following: To the Legislature: STATE OF NEW YORK-EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, } Through the favor of Almighty God, the year which has just drawn to a close has been crowned with the blessings of peace and prosperity. The great and diversified interests of our State impose duties of the utmost delicacy and responsibility upon the legislative department of the Government. The condition of our finances naturally presents itself as a leading subject of consideration, intimately connected as it is with our general affairs, and engrossing, as it should, a large measure of public attention. The report of the Comptroller, which I commend to careful attention as an interesting and comprehensive document, shows the debt of the State, September 30th, 1867, after deducting the balance of sinking funds unapplied, to be forty-four millions, one hundred and fourteen thousand, five hundred and ninety-two dollars and thirty-five cents. There is a natural and just solicitude as to the ability of the State to sustain the burdens resting upon it, and in regard to the continued ease with which taxation has so far been borne. It is apprehended in some quarters that there are financial trials impending which will prove far more severe than any in the past. It seems to me that there is only required a prudent economy in all matters pertaining to the administration of Government, and a thorough revision of the whole tax and assessment system to vindicate a reasonable expectation of our continued prosperity. Our wealth and our resources are so vast that no reasoning founded upon our past condition during periods of great public indebtednes, is directly applicable now. Material wealth in every form has immensely increased. This is conspicuously true of New York, as it is of a great area over which new States are forming. As a fair measure of this advance, it will be seen that the New York city banks in November, 1860, as represented by their loans, conducted a business of one hundred and twenty-two millions of dollars, and at the same date in 1867, the volume of their loans was nearly two hundred and forty-eight millions of dollars, or more than double the business of 1860. Hardly less significant, if not in so great a ratio, is the advance in most departments of business and enterprise, as will be found by reference to the tables of commerce and tonnage; railroad and insurance capital; mercantile, manufacturing and mechanical employments, and the value of real and personal estate. The amount to each person of our tax for 1866, paid to the General Government upon an approximate estimate, was, from internal revenue sources, $8.80; upon custom duties, $5.15; making a total of $13.95. Placing our population at four millions it would amount to the sum of fifty-five millions eight hundred thousand dollars. The aggregate of State, county, town and city taxes, can hardly exceed this sum by ten millions of dollars. If the assessed valuation of taxable property was the true index of its real value, the burdens imposed might be regarded with great uneasiness, if not with just alarm. But no such disquietude has been felt at the centers of business; real property has maintained its prices; manufactures have prospered, and trade has been remunerative. According to the census of 1865, in an area of 28,297,142 acres of land embraced in the State, about 16,000,000 of acres are improved, and the value of the farms is placed at nine hundred and twenty millions, three hundred and forty-nine thousand, three hundred and thirty-one dollars; an increase of thirteen ten-hundredths per cent. in five years; and the valuation of farm stock, agricultural implements, furniture, and investments in manufactures, swells the amount to twenty-four hundred and seventy-three millions, three hundred and ninety-eight thousand, five hundred and forty-nine dollars. This enumeration does not include the amount invested in commerce, articles of personal adornment, and many other items of personal property; it is probable, however, they fully equal the value of those I have named. I think it is safe to assume that the aggregate valuation of the whole real and personal property of the State will not fall below forty-five hundred millions of dollars, as against sixteen hundred and sixty-four millions, one hundred and seven thousand, seven hundred and twenty-five dollars returned to the State Assessors, and upon which their equalization was based. Upon this statement of value, the whole aggregate of Federal, State and local taxes would be less than three per cent. May we not take another view of the case and inquire whether that part of our population belonging to the productive class are able, from the annual profits of labor and enterprise, to sustain the estimate of one hundred and twenty millions of dollars taxation. The aggregate of our population, according to the census of 1865, referred to, was 3,831,777. Excluding from this number females, and males under twenty-five and over sixty years of age, as non-producers, we have left 742,166 persons. It is obvious, upon this theory, that these sustain the great burden of taxation, and that the average paid by each is about one hundred and fifty dollars; full one-half of which sum is for purposes within our own State. When it is understood that a large number of these seven hundred and forty-two thousand one hundred and sixty-six persons from their wealth, pay many times one hundred and fifty dollars, it follows that the remainder pay less, and so little, that the burden adjusted upon a real knowledge of the true value of the property each and all possessed, would be indeed light. It will be borne in mind also, that the amount will annually be diminished both from the extinguishment of debt and the increase of population and wealth. It is an error, however, to suppose that females and minors contribute nothing to our practical resources as elements of productive wealth. It is to be remembered that all invested capital is productive to the community as well as to the party making the investment, and that a very large proportion of the wealth of the State is owned by females, by minors, and by citizens who have passed the limit of three score years. These, though not for the most part active laborers, are, through the investment of their property in the various departments of corporate enterprise, including railway and navigation companies, banking and manufacturing, and all other similar corporations, availing themselves constantly of the agency of others to advance our general interests and prosperity, and augment the wealth of the State. They pay a proportion of our State and National taxes upon the property thus invested, |