NEW YOKK. 



485 



on the 30th of September was $2,639,059, of 

 which $1,396,903 consisted of notes of indi- 

 vidual bankers and of banking associations 

 organized under the general banking law, and 

 $1,242,156 the notes of incorporated banks. 

 Of the circulating notes of State banks $315,- 

 316 had been returned and destroyed during 

 the year. The total securities held by the Su- 

 perintendent of the Banking Department at 

 the end of the fiscal year amounted to $3,058,- 

 156, of which $2,138,517.23 were held for 

 banking associations and individual bankers ; 

 $394,260.73 for incorporated banks, and $525,- 

 378.98 for incorporated trust companies. 



There are in the State of New York nearly 

 1,500,000 children of the school-age, of whom 

 1,000,000 attend the public schools, and over 

 120,000 attend private schools. There are 

 11,698 school-houses, which, with the land con- 

 nected with them, have a value of about $18,- 

 000,000. There are also six Normal Schools 

 in fall operation, with an aggregate attendance 

 of 4,200 students. The entire sum paid during 

 the past year for teachers' salaries is more 

 than $6,000,000, while nearly $2,500,000 have 

 been expended in new school-houses, sites, 

 repairs, and furniture. The entire school ex- 

 penditures of the year were $9,884,828.36, 

 and the receipts of the school fund, from all 

 sources, amounted to $11,310,852.22. A law 

 was passed at the last session of the Legisla- 

 ture devoting 20 per cent, of the money col- 

 lected under the excise law, in the metropol- 

 itan district, to the support of charity schools 

 in that district. This measure has met with 

 considerable hostility, owing to the fact that 

 most of the institutions benefited by it are 

 under the control of some religious system, the 

 majority of them being in the hands of per- 

 sons connected with the Catholic Church. 



The public institutions of the State of al- 

 most every kind are in need of more extensive 

 accommodation. The State prison at Sing 

 Sing is greatly overcrowded, and riots and the 

 escape of criminals are no uncommon occur- 

 rences. The expense of maintaining this insti- 

 tution has been for several years greatly in ex- 

 cess of its earnings, which is partly owing to 

 defects in the contract system of labor now in 

 vogue there. At the last session of the Legis- 

 lature the Governor submitted a message to 

 that body, in which he called attention to the 

 overcrowded state of the prisons, and to many 

 evils and errors which exist in the present 

 system of management. He did not think it 

 expedient to enlarge the present structures, 

 but recommended the appointment of a com- 

 mission to select a site for a new prison, report 

 a plan for the construction of the building, 

 with estimates of the cost, and make such sug- 

 gestions as to the character and management 

 of the institution as they deem wise. An act 

 was passed in accordance with this recom- 

 mendation, and commissioners appointed by 

 the Governor, who are expected to make a re- 

 port to the Legislature in the course of the 



session of 1870. Great need is also felt for 

 establishments for the care of the insane poor. 

 These unfortunate beings are now maintained 

 in the county poor-houses, where no intelligent 

 treatment adapted to their wants can be 

 furnished, and their condition is deplorable in 

 the extreme. The number of insane poor in 

 the State outside of the counties of New York 

 and Kings is not far from 1,500. The Willard 

 Asylum, now in process of construction, will 

 accommodate about 250 patients, and two other 

 institutions of less capacity have been pro- 

 jected; but even when these are completed 

 the want will be still in a great measure un- 

 supplied. 



The Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 

 at Albany has been closed for want of an ap- 

 propriation by the Legislature for its support. 

 A movement has been set on foot by the be- 

 nevolent citizens of New York City, for the 

 establishment of a new institution of the kind, 

 which is greatly needed, as many of the veter- 

 ans of the late war have been forced to seek 

 support at the alinshouses in different parts 

 of the State. 



Some progress has been made during the 

 year in the construction of a new capitol build- 

 ing at Albany. The excavation and concrete 

 for the foundations have been completed, and 

 the foundations of the main walls laid to a 

 height of seven feet. The stone for this work 

 is obtained from the limestone and granite 

 quarries near Lake Champlain, in the Mohawk 

 Valley, and in the Adirondack region. It is 

 furnished by Learned and Dixon, at the uni- 

 form price of $24.40 per cubic yard. It is 

 not yet determined of what material the super- 

 structure will be built. The amount of money 

 already expended on this structure, including 

 the purchase of the site, is $1,363,540, about 

 one-half of which was paid for the land. The 

 commissioners appointed in 1868 to supervise 

 the work, are of the opinion that the building 

 will be " so far advanced in three years as to al- 

 low its occupation by at least one branch of the 

 Legislature, and that in two years thereafter it 

 can be completed for all substantial purposes." 



The militia of this State, known as the " Na- 

 tional Guard of the State of New York," now 

 numbers 25,085 men, including officers and 

 privates. It consists of 3 regiments of cavalry, 

 1 battalion of cavalry, 4 troops of cavalry, 3 

 battalions of artillery, 8 batteries of artillery, 

 47 regiments of infantry, and 3 battalions of 

 infantry. The last Legislature authorized a 

 reduction of the maximum force to 20,000, 

 and three regiments were mustered out of ser- 

 vice during the year. About one-half of this 

 militia force is organized in the city of New 

 York. 



The Legislature of New York assembled at 

 Albany on the 5th of January, and continued 

 its sessions until the 10th of May. In that time 

 920 bills were passed, which received the ap- 

 proval of the Governor, and 62 were vetoed. 

 Among the latter were several which proposed 



