INTRODUCTION.

HE State of New York has a population, according to the

THE

State enumeration of 1892, of about 6,500,000. It also contains within its limits the city of the largest population in the North American continent, the city of New York, and the fourth city in population in the United States, Brooklyn. The first of these cities, New York, is also the greatest manufacturing city upon the continent and unquestionably the financial center of the new world.

The State geographically is situated between 40° 29′ 40′′ and 45° 0′ 2′′ north latitude, and between 71° 51′ and 79° 45′ 54′′ .4 west longitude. It is a State of very irregular outline; its shape being triangular. Its greatest breadth east and west is 326.46 miles; while from New York harbor to the boundary line of Canada it is 325 miles in length. In this estimate is not included Long Island, which extends along the Atlantic ocean for 100 miles to the north eastward from New York harbor. The area of the State is 49,170 square miles. Of this, 47,620 square miles is land, embracing 30,476,820 acres. The State is bounded on the south by the Atlantic ocean and the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania; on the west by the State of Pennsylvania, Lake Erie and the Niagara river; upon the east by the Atlantic ocean and the States of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and upon the north by Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence river and the border line of Canada. It is a State that has great diversity of surface. In its northern portion are the Adirondack mountains, one of whose summits, Mt. Marcy, has an altitude of 5,344 feet, and thus approaches in height Black Mountain, among the moun

tains of North Carolina. Upon the border of the Hudson river, in the central-eastern part of the State, are the Catskill mountains, having an average altitude of 2,500 and 3,000 feet. Still farther to the south are the Shawangunk mountains, with an average altitude of 2,000 feet, which can be considered the outposts of the Blue Ridge of Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The State's surface also is beautified by a large number of fine lakes: Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Keuka, Canandaigua, Skaneateles and Owasco. Beyond this it is bounded by Lake Erie, 573 feet above the level of the sea, and Lake Ontario, 245 feet above the level of the sea. Within the borders of the State, also, is the world-renowned cataract of Niagara Falls, 164 feet high and a mile broad.

The territory of the State of New York is supposed to have been first discovered by Verrazano in 1524, when he entered New York harbor. There is no question that Hendrick Hudson did enter the bay of New York in 1609 and explored in his vessel, the Half Moon, the IIudson river to near the vicinity of Albany. In 1610 the first settlements were upon New York harbor, and in 1613 the first huts were put up on Manhattan Island by Dutch settlers. The Province of New Netherland was soon established by the Dutch government, and settlements were established along the Hudson river. By 1664 the population numbered 16,000 persons. In 1664, Charles II, king of England, resolved upon the conquest of the territory, and on August twenty-nine of that year an English squadron, under Colonel Richard Nicholls, appeared in New York harbor and demanded of the Dutch authorities the surrender of the province. Governor Stuyvesant, the last of the Dutch Governors, was obliged to surrender, and did so on September eighth. The province was then renamed New York, in honor of the Duke of York, a brother of Charles II, to whom a patent for the lands of the province had been granted. In 1673 the Dutch recognized the province,

but it was surrendered to the English in 1674 by treaty. It then remained an English province, ruled by Governors named by the English kings, until 1775 when the war of American independence freed the State from English domination. Upon July 9, 1776, the State of New York was formally organized at a meeting, in White Plains, of the representatives of its people. Upon April 20, 1777, the State Assembly adopted the first Constitution and General George Clinton was elected Governor. New York city was early captured by an English army but was vacated by them on November 25, 1783. The State thenceforward, freed from foreign rule, has elected its own Governors. The population of the State has steadily increased, as is evident from the following table:

The Constitution of the State adopted in 1777 naturally had for its model English institutions; there was an executive, two legislative chambers, local county courts, as probate judges, a Supreme Court charged with the administration of the common law and a Court of Chancery. The final appellate jurisdiction in law and equity was vested in the Senate. Religious liberty was secured by this Constitution, and the people were declared to be the only source of power. Under this Constitution the Assembly was given an indirect power over appointments by a provision which authorized it to select a council of appointment from the Senators, and that in this council the Governor of the State, was to have "a casting voice but no other vote." Several

Governors claimed the right of nomination under this provision, but after some dispute he was definitely deprived of it by a Constitutional Convention in 1801, which declared that any member of the council had the right to make nominations. The chancellor and judges of the Supreme Court were associated with the Governor as a council of revision, to which was given a qualified veto in place of the absolute veto formerly possessed by the colonial Governors and the king of England. The Consti tutional Convention of 1821 also considered the subject of legis lative apportionment, and declared that there should be thirty-two Senators and 100 Assemblymen, and that the number of the latter were to be increased after each census at the rate of two yearly until they should reach the number of 150.

In 1821 there was a thorough revision of the Constitution, and the power of the Governor was greatly increased. When the State was created there was a fear he might assume kingly functions, and therefore he was deprived substantially of the power of appointment to office and of other powers which would make him a responsible officer. But it was learned between 1777 and 1821 that power must be centered somewhere. The council of revision had exercised the power of veto contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and holding office "on good behavior," were able to defeat the will of the people as expressed through the Legislature. The council of appointment also was unpopular, having summoned its appointees before it for examination as to charges against them, although not clothed with any judicial powers. With substantial unanimity all the civil, judicial and military officers of the State were appointed by the council: 8,287 military and 6,663 civil officers holding their commissions from it in 1821.

The Constitutional Convention of 1821 abolished the council of revision, and transferred its powers to the Governor. It also abolished the council of appointment, and provided that the

chief

State department officers should be elected by the Legislature. Other officers were to be appointed by the Governor "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." The Constitution of 1821 also changed the term of office of the Governor from three years to two years, and provided that no person should be eligible to the office who was not a native citizen of the United States, a freeholder of the age of 30 years, and a resident of the State for five years. The power to prorogue the Legislature, which had been exercised by Governor Tompkins, was not conferred. The same Constitution extended the elective franchise.

In 1846, still another Constitutional Convention was held; it being felt that the power of the Governor and of the Senate had become too great. The new Constitution of 1846, therefore, transferred to the people the election of a large proportion of the officers hitherto appointed by the Legislature, or by the Governor and Senate. The Constitution of 1846 also made important changes in the judiciary system of the State. Thus the Court of Chancery was abolished and its powers were vested in the Supreme Court. A Court of Appeals was also organized under the Constitution of 1846, composed of eight judges, four chosen by the electors of the State for a term of eight years, and four selected from the class of justices of the Supreme Court having the shortest term to serve. The judges elected by the people were so classified also that an election of one such judge took place every odd year. The judge elected by the State at large having the shortest term to serve acted as chief judge.

At various times proposed amendments to the Constitution, adopted by the Legislature, were submitted to the Legislature. Thus in 1846 and again in 1860 a proposed amendment to the Constitution giving, the right of suffrage to colored citizens was rejected by the voters. In 1864, by the decisive vote of 258,795 to 48,079 an amendment permitting the soldiers of the State of