Chapter 2

Q. Who are the school commissioners?

TOWN AUDITORS.

By laws of 1878, 1879 and 1880, the following-named counties are exempt from electing "town auditors," as prescribed on page 13: Wayne, Delaware, Allegany, Oneida, Cayuga, Erie, St. Lawrence, Schuyler, Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Columbia, Broome, Lewis, Madison, Wyoming, Queens, Jefferson, Fulton, Oswego, Suffolk, Onondaga, Saratoga, Ontario, Yates, Rensselaer, Genesee, Schenectady, Monroe, Livingston, Otsego, Schoharie, Niagara and Orleans.

A TABLE

Showing the salaries of the several county judges and surrogates of the State of New York at the present time, as established by the statutes of 1877 and 1880:

COUNTIES. JUDGE. SURROGATE. New York, ------- $12,000 Kings, $10,000 10,000 Erie, 5,000 4,000 Albany, 4,500 4,000 Westchester, 4,500 4,000 Onondaga, 4,000 4,000 Oneida, 4,000 4,000 Monroe, 4,000 4,000 Rensselaer, 3,500 3,500 Saratoga, 3,000 2,500 Ulster, 3,000 3,000 Dutchess, 3,000 3,000 Queens, 2,500 3,000 Chautauqua, 2,000 1,600 Cayuga, 2,000 2,000 Columbia, 2,000 2,500 Ontario, 2,000 1,500 Cattaraugus, 1,500 1,500 Oswego, 1,500 1,500 Jefferson, 1,500 1,500 Niagara, 1,500 1,500 Orange, 1,500 2,500 Otsego, 1,800 1,500 St. Lawrence, 1,750 1,750 Washington, 1,200 1,500 Suffolk, 1,000 1,500

The following are counties in which county judges act as surrogates, receiving the one salary for both offices;

$2,000 Salary

Franklin, Greene, Rockland, Schenectady, Warren, Wayne, Delaware Orleans,

$3,000 Salary

Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Herkimer, Livingston, Madison, Clinton,

$3,500 Salary

Richmond, Steuben,

$2,500 Salary

Cortland, Essex, Genesee, Schoharie,

$2,500 Salary

Tioga, Tompkins, Wyoming, Montgomery,

$1,500 Salary

Putnam, Schuyler, Yates,

$1,750 Salary

Allegany,

$2,250 Salary

Fulton,

$1,200 Salary

Sullivan, Lewis,

$1,000 Salary

Seneca,

$800 Salary

Hamilton,

V.--THE CITY.

Q. What is a city?

Q. By what authority organized?

A. By an act of the legislative.

Q. What instrument defines its powers?

A. A charter.

Q. What are the divisions of a city called?

A. Wards.

Q. Name the cities in New York State, when incorporated, and the number of wards in each?

Answer:

Pop. in 1800 New York, 1680, has 24 wards, 1,206,590 Brooklyn, 1834, has 25 wards, 566,689 Buffalo, 1832, has 13 wards, 155,137 Albany, 1832, has 16 wards, 90,903 Rochester, 1686, has 16 wards, 89,363 Troy, 1816, has 13 wards, 56,747 Syracuse, 1847, has 8 wards, 51,791 Utica, 1832, has 12 wards, 33,913 Auburn, 1848, has 7 wards, 21,924 Oswego, 1848, has 8 wards, 21,117 Elmira, 1864, has 7 wards, 20,541 Poughkeepsie 1854, has 6 wards, 20,207 Cohoes, 1869, has 4 wards, 19,417 Yonkers, 1872, has 4 wards, 18,892 Kingston, 1872, has 9 wards, 18,342 Newburg, 1865, has 4 wards, 18,050 Binghamton, 1867, has 5 wards, 17,315 L. I. City, 1870, has 5 wards, 17,117 Schenectady, 1798, has 5 wards, 13,675 Lockport, 1865, has 4 wards, 13,522 Rome, 1870, has 5 wards, 12,045 Watertown, 1869, has 4 wards, 10,697 Ogdensburg, 1868, has 4 wards, 10,340 Hudson, 1785, has 4 wards, 8,828

The census for 1880 is not fully completed, but gives substantially the above figures.

Q. How populous must a village be, before it can be incorporated as a city?

A. No definite number is required; whenever a large proportion of the inhabitant desire it, the legislature will grant a city charter.

Q. What is the executive officer of a city called?

A. The Mayor. His term of office is one year, unless otherwise ordered by the, charter, as in New York and Albany where it is two years.

Q. What other important officers are elected?

A. Aldermen and Supervisors; one each in every ward unless otherwise ordered by their charter.

Q. What officers form the common council?

A. Mayor and aldermen; and they are the legislative body of the city; they have authority to appoint police officers.

Q. What courts exist in cities in addition to those established for the State at large?

A I. The Superior Court of the city of New York.

II. The Court of Common Pleas for the city and county of New York.

III. The Superior Court of Buffalo.

IV. The City Court of Brooklyn. Const, Art. VI., Sec. 12.

JURIES.

Q. What is a jury?

A. A body of men elected according to law, and sworn to inquire into and try any matter of fact, and declare the truth of it on the evidence given in the case.

Q. Name some juries?

A. I. One of six persons for the trial of causes in a Justice Court

II. One of twelve persons, summoned for the purpose of laying out new roads or discontinuing old ones.

III. One of not less than six nor more than fifteen persons, summoned by the coroner, to inquire into the cause of any violent death.

IV. One of twelve men, called a petit jury, whose duty it is to try causes, civil or criminal, in the county court and sessions, or circuit and oyer and terminer.

V. One called a grand jury of not less than sixteen nor more than twenty-three, whose duty it is to examine into accusations against persons charged with crime, and if they find sufficient testimony to warrant it, to find a bill of indictment against them to be presented to the court.

Q. Name some qualifications requisite for jurors?

A. They must be freeholders, twenty-one years old.

Q. Who are exempt from sitting on a jury?

A. Persons over sixty years of age, postmasters and many others.

Q. How many are summoned for a justice court and by whom?

A. Twelve, and by a constable; and from these twelve six are drawn.

Q. Who selects and notifies the jury for laying out roads,

A. By the coroner.

Q. How is the petit jury list obtained?

A. The supervisors, town clerk, and assessors of the several towns of the county make out a list of the names of those persons qualified, and the names in the several lists are written upon slips of paper of the same size and deposited in a box in the county clerk's office.

Q. How is the grand jury list obtained?

A. The supervisors apportion the number (three hundred,) among the several towns in the county in proportion to population. Each supervisor selects from his town the number to which it is entitled; and these several lists are written upon slips of paper as before and deposited in a box in the county clerk's office.

Q. How frequently are the lists changed?

A. The petit jury list is changed once in three years; the grand jury list every year.

Q. When are these juries drawn?

A. Not more than twenty, nor less than fourteen days before the sitting of the court for which they are drawn.

Q. How many are drawn?

A. Thirty-six petit and twenty-four grand jurors.

Q. How is the jury for each individual case obtained?

A. The thirty-six petit jurors' names are put into a box and the names are drawn out until twelve satisfactory persons are obtained.

Q How many of this jury must agree in a verdict?

A. The twelve must agree.

Q. Who is the officer authorized to report the verdict?

A The person they have elected foreman.

Q. In case the twelve jurymen do not agree, what will be done?

A. When the judge is satisfied that the jury will not agree he will discharge them.

Q. What will be done with the case then?

A. Another trial will take place with a different jury, unless the suit be discontinued.

Q. Who is the presiding officer of the grand jury?

A. The foreman, and he is appointed by the judge who presides at that court.

Q. What other officer does this jury have?

A. A clerk, one of their number, who writes out the testimony as it is given.

Q. Who can be present with this jury? A. Only the witness who is being examined, and the district attorney, if desired by the jury; but none except jurors can be present when they ballot in regard to a bill.

Q. What is done with a bill of indictment when found?

A. It is handed over to the court, and the sheriff will cause the arrest of the person unless he be already in custody.

STRUCK JURY.

Q. What courts may order a struck jury?

A. The Supreme Court and superior city courts.

Q. When may the above-named courts order a struck jury?

A. When it shall appear that an impartial trial cannot be had, or that the intricacy of the case requires such a jury.

Q. What time is required in the notice for striking a jury?

A. The party obtaining the order shall give notice eight days before the time for striking, that he will attend before the clerk of the county in which the venue is laid, for the purpose of having such jury struck.

I. The clerk shall select from the jury lists of the several towns the names of forty-eight persons, whom he shall deem most indifferent between the parties, and best qualified to try the cause.

II. The party or his attorney, on whose application the order was granted, shall first strike one from the list, and then the opposing party or agent, alternating until twelve shall have been stricken from the list by each party.

III. The clerk shall certify the names of the twenty-four persons whose names have not been stricken off, who shall be summoned, and from which number a jury shall be impaneled as in other juries.

VII.--STATE.

Q. Upon what is the state government based?

A. Upon a constitution adopted by the people.

Q. How many departments are provided for by the constitution?

A, Three; the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Q. What are the divisions of the Legislative department?

A. The Assembly and the Senate.

Q. What is the number of members in each body, and their term of office?

A. One hundred and twenty-eight members of the Assembly, elected for one year. Thirty-two senators elected for two years. Art. Ill., Const.

Q When, and how is the number of members of the Assembly apportioned among the several counties?

A. Once in ten years by the Legislature immediately after taking the state census, and as nearly as can be, according to population, excluding aliens, but giving to every county except Hamilton at least one member.

Q. When and how is the number of members of the Senate apportioned in the State?

A. At the same time, by the Legislature; and as nearly as possible according to population. A Senatorial district sometimes embraces a portion of a county, sometimes a whole county; at other times two or more counties; but no county can be divided, unless it can be equitably entitled to two or more members.

The following apportionment was made in 1879:

SENATE DISTRICTS.

I. Queens and Suffolk.

II. The First, Second, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, and Twenty-second wards of Brooklyn, and the towns of Flatbush, Gravesend, and New Utrecht.

III. The Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-third wards of Brooklyn.

IV. The Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty- fourth, and Twenty-fifth wards of Brooklyn, and New Lots and Flatlands.

V. Richmond, First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Fourteenth, and parts of the Fourth and Ninth wards of New York, and Governor's, Bedloes, and Ellis Islands.

VI. The Seventh, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and a part of the Fourth wards of New York.

VII. The Tenth, Seventeenth, and portions of the Fifteenth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-first wards of New York.

VIII. The Sixteenth, and parts of the Ninth, Fifteenth, Eighteenth, and Twentieth wards of New York.

IX. The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-first wards, lying east of Third Avenue, New York, and Blackwell's Island.

X. Portions of Twentieth, Twenty-first, Nineteenth, Twelfth, and Twenty-second wards, New York, and Ward's and Randall's Islands.

XI. The Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and portions of the Twelfth, Twentieth, and Twenty-second wards of New York.

XII. Westchester and Rockland.

XIII. Orange and Sullivan.

XIV. Ulster, Schoharie, and Greene.

XV. Dutchess, Columbia, and Putnam.

XVI. Rensselaer and Washington.

XVII. Albany.

XVIII. Saratoga, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Schenectady.

XIX. Clinton, Essex, and Warren.

XX. St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Lewis.

XXI. Oswego and Jefferson.

XXII. Oneida.

XXIII. Madison, Otsego, and Herkimer.

XXIV. Delaware, Chenango, and Broome.

XXV. Onondaga and Cortland.

XXVI. Cayuga, Tompkins, Seneca, and Tioga.

XXVII. Chemung, Steuben, Allegany.

XXVIII. Wayne, Ontario, Schuyler, and Yates.

XXIX. Monroe and Orleans.

XXX. Wyoming, Genesee, Livingston, and Niagara.

XXXI. Erie.

XXXII. Cattaraugus and Chautauqua.

THE ASSEMBLY.

Allegany, Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton and Hamilton, Genesee, Greene, Herkimer, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Ontario, Orleans, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, Wyoming, Yates, have each one district, except Fulton and Hamilton which are united in one district.

Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Dutchess, Jefferson, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Queens, Saratoga, Steuben, Wayne, Washington have each two districts.

Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Ulster, and Westchester have each three districts.

Albany has four districts.

Erie has five districts.

Kings has twelve districts.

New York has twenty-four districts, or nearly one-fifth of the entire Assembly.

In all, there are one hundred and twenty-eight assembly districts, each electing one member of the assembly.

Q. What must be done in those counties that are entitled to two or more members?

A. The "boards of supervisors" of such counties, except the city and county of New York, must divide their respective counties into Assembly districts; the number of districts being equal to the number of members heretofore apportioned by the Legislature to these several counties; the territory must be contiguous, and no town can be divided in the formation of districts.

Q. By whom is the city and county of New York divided into districts?

A. By the "board of aldermen"; they meet for that purpose at such time as the Legislature shall designate.

ELIGIBILITY.

Q. Who are eligible to the Legislature?

A. The requirements are these.

I. The candidate must be twenty-one years of age.

II. He must not at the time of election, nor within one-hundred days previous thereto, have been a member of congress, a civil or military officer under the United States, or any officer under any city government.

III. Should any person after his election to the Legislature be elected or appointed to any of the offices just named, his acceptance thereof will vacate his seat in the Legislature.

DUTIES.

Q. What are some of the duties of the members of the assembly?

I. To take the oath of office. Art. XII., Sec. I Const.

II. To organize by electing their presiding officer, who is called the speaker; and who must be one of their number.

III. To elect also the other officers, viz: a Clerk, Sergeant-at- Arms, Door-Keeper, and two assistant Door-Keepers; persons not members of their body.

IV. To have co-ordinate jurisdiction with the Senate in the enactment of laws.

V. To prefer charges against officers for misconduct in office; which is called impeachment.

ORGANIZATION.

Q. Who calls the Assembly to order for the purpose of organization?

A. The Clerk of the last Assembly.

Q. Who furnishes the Clerk with an official list of the members elect?

A. The Secretary of State

Q. By whom is the oath of office administered?

A Usually by the Secretary of State. The oath may, however, be taken previously, before any Justice of the Supreme Court, Attorney-General, the Lieutenant Governor, any Judge of a County Court, the Mayor or Recorder of any city, or the Clerk of any county or Court of Record. The oath whenever taken must be duly subscribed, certified, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. Members who are absent at the organization, may be sworn by the Speaker, if they have not previously taken the oath.

Q. By whom are the other officers appointed?

A. By the Speaker, except those in the department of the Clerk; he having power to appoint his own deputies.

THE SENATE.

Q. Who is the presiding officer in the Senate?

A. The Lieutenant-Governor, and he is called the President of the Senate.

DUTIES.

Q. What are some of the duties of the State Senate?

I. To elect the remaining officers, whose names and duties are about the same as in the Assembly.

II. To have co-ordinate jurisdiction with the Assembly in enacting laws

III. To act as a court for the trial of impeachments, associated with the judges of the Court of Appeals, and the President of the Senate.

IV. To confirm or reject appointments made by the Governor.

V. To elect a temporary president when the Lieutenant-Governor shall not attend as president, or shall be called to act as Governor.

Q. How many members must be present in each house to do business?

A. A majority, which is called a quorum.

BILLS.

Q. Where may bills originate?

A. Any bill may originate in either house of the Legislature.

Q. What is the difference between the Legislature of this state and Congress in this respect?

A. In Congress all bills for raising revenues MUST originate in the House of Representatives.

Q. What may either house do with bills originating in the other house?

A. Amend them; but both houses must agree to the amendment or amendments, before they can become a law.

Q. What is required in order that a bill may become a law?

I. The assent of a majority of all the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, together with the approval of the Governor;

II. Or if he disapproves of it, that it be returned to the house in which it originated, with his objections; and, after reconsideration, if two-thirds of all the members elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent to the other house by which it shall likewise be re-considered, and if two- thirds of all its members approve of it, it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor.

III. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature, by adjourning, shall prevent its returning; in which case it shall not become a law without the signature of the Governor.

IV. No bill shall become a law after the final adjournment of the Legislature, unless approved by the Governor within thirty days after such adjournment.

IMPEACHMENT.

Q. What class of persons can be tried in the court of impeachment?

A. Public officers that have had charges preferred against them by the Assembly.

Q. Of whom is the court of impeachment composed?

A. Of the Senators, or a majority of them, the Judges of the Court of Appeals, or a majority of them, and the Lieutenant-Governor; and two-thirds of all present must concur in order to convict.

Q. When shall the Lieutenant-Governor not act as a member of this court?

A. When the Governor is being tried. He may be presumed to be an interested party, for if the Governor should be found guilty and be removed, the Lieutenant-Governor becomes Governor.

Q. What penalty can be inflicted by this court?

A. Removal from office, or removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit, under this state.

Q. Can such parties be further punished?

A. Yes; they may be indicted, tried and punished according to law, by fine or imprisonment, or both, according to the nature of the crime.

VOTING.

Q Who are entitled to vote upon all questions in the Legislature?

A. All the members in the Assembly and Senate; and this includes the Speaker of the Assembly.

Q, When is the President of the Senate entitled to vote?

A. Upon questions on which the Senate is equally divided or tied.

Q. Why should not the President of the Senate have a vote upon all questions?

A. Because he has not been elected a member of that body; but becomes its presiding officer by virtue of the constitutional provision which makes the Lieutenant-Governor its president.

KINDS OF VOTING.

Q. Name some of the kinds of voting practiced. I. By showing hands.

II. By Acclamation.

III. By dividing or separating the persons voting into two bodies.

IV. By Ballot.

V. By Ayes and Noes.

VI. By Viva Voce.

Q. Where are the first three kinds of voting usually practiced?

A. In conventions of different kinds, primary meetings,

Q. When and how is the sixth kind of voting used?

A. In the election of United States Senators, usually the Speaker of the Assembly and a few other officers, and in this way: as the names of those entitled to vote are called, they respond by naming their candidate.

SALARY.

Q. How are Assemblymen and Senators paid?

I. By a salary fixed by the constitution, of one thousand five hundred dollars.

II. And one dollar for every ten miles travelled in going to and returning from the place of meeting, once in each session on the most usual route.

III. Senators when convened in extraordinary session, or when serving as members of the Court of Impeachment, and such members of the Assembly, not exceeding nine in number, as shall be appointed managers of an impeachment, shall receive ten dollars a day additional allowance.

STATE.

A tabular view of officers, showing the source from whence they derive their authority:

Elected by the People of the State Executive Governor. Presiding Officer Lieut. Governor. Administrative Secretary of State. Comptroller. Treasurer. Attorney General. State Engineer and Surveyor. Judicial Judges of the Court of Appeals.

Appointed by Governor and Senate. Superintendent of Banking. Superintendent of Insurance. Canal Auditor. Superintendent of Prisons. Superintendent of Public Works. Notaries Public. State Assessors. Loan Commissioners. Canal Appraisers. Quarantine Commissioners. Trustees of State Institutions, and some others.

Elected by joint bal. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Regents of the University. United States Senators.

Q. What are the first seven offices called?

A. They are called elective offices.

Q. Why elective?

A. Because the officers are voted for directly by the people.

Q. Why are the Sec of State, Comp., Treasurer,

Supt. of Prisons and Public Works. A large number of Notaries, two Loan Commissioners for each County, three Canal Appraisers, one Superintendent of Public Instruction, nineteen Regents, and two United States Senators.

TERM OF OFFICE.

Q For how long a term are the Governor and Lieutenant Governor elected?

A. For three years each.

Q For how long a term are the Sec of State, Comp, Treas, Atty. Gen. and State Eng. and Surveyor elected?

A. For two years each.

Q For how long a term are the Superintendents of Banking, Insurance and Canal Auditor appointed?

A. For three years.

Q. For how long a term is the Supt. of Prisons appointed?

A. For five years.

Q. For how long a term is the Superintendent of Public Works appointed?

A. As long as the term of the Governor appointing him lasts.

Q. For how long a term is the Superintendent of Public Instruction elected?

A. For three years.

Q. For how long a term the Regents of the University?

A. For life.

ELIGIBILITY.

Q. What about the eligibility of these officers?