490 



NEW YORK. 



judges appointed instead of elected. The Court 

 of Appeals is to consist of a chief judge and 

 six associates, to be elected for a term of four- 

 teen years ; and a Board of five Commissioners 

 is provided for to determine all causes pending in 

 that court on the 1st of January, 1869. This 

 Commission of Appeals is to be "composed of 

 judges of the present Court of Appeals, elected 

 or appointed thereto, and a fifth commissioner 

 who shall be appointed by the Governor, by 

 and with the advice and consent of the Senate." 

 No judge is to be allowed to sit " at a general 

 term of any court or in the Court of Appeals, 

 in review of a decision made by him, or by 

 any court of which he was at the time a sitting 

 member. All judges of the Supreme and Su- 

 perior Court are to be elected for a term of 

 fourteen years, but no person " shall hold the 

 office of justice or judge of any court longer 

 than until and concluding the last day of 

 December next, after he shall be seventy years 

 of age." Judges of the Court of Appeals and 

 Supreme Court may be removed by a con- 

 current resolution of both branches of the 

 Legislature, if two-thirds of all the members con- 

 cur, and other judicial officers are removable 

 by a two-thirds vote of the Senate alone, on 

 the recommendation of the Governor. The 

 section relating to an appointment of the 

 judges in the future is as follows: 



SECTION 17. The Legislature shall provide for sub- 

 mitting to the electors of the State at the general 

 election in the year eighteen hundred and seventy- 

 three, two questions.to be voted, upon on separate 

 "ballots, as follows : First. " Shall the offices of Chief 

 Justice and Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, 

 and of Justice of the Supreme Court, be hereafter 

 filled by appointment?" If a majority of the votes 

 upon the question shall be in the affirmative, and said 

 offices shall not thereafter be elective, but, as vacan- 

 cies occur, they shall be filled by appointment by the 

 Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 

 Senate ; or if the Senate be not in session, by the 

 Governor ; but in such case, he shall nominate to the 

 Senate when next convened, and such appointment 

 by the Governor alone shall expire at the end of that 

 sesson. Second, " Shall the offices of the judges 

 mentioned in sections twelve and fifteen of article 

 six of the constitution, be hereafter filled by appoint- 

 ment?" If a majority of the votes upon the ques- 

 tion shall "be in the affirmative, the said offices shall 

 not thereafter be elective, but, as vacancies occur, 

 they shall be filled in the manner in this section 

 ahove provided. 



The election took place on the 2d day of 

 November, and resulted in the choice of the 

 entire Democratic ticket, and the rejection of 

 all the revised constitution, except the judici- 

 ary article, which was adopted by a vote of 

 247,240 to 240,442. The vote on the whole 

 constitution was 223,935 for its ratification to 

 290,456 against it, giving a majority of 66,521 

 in favor of its rejection. The vote on the pro- 

 vision for equal assessment and taxation was 

 183,812 in its favor, and 273,260 against it. 

 The amendment in favor of negro suffrage 

 received 249,802 votes, while 282,403 were 

 cast against it; the total vote being 532,205, 

 and the majority against the change 32,601. 



NIEL, ADOLPIIE. 



This same proposition was voted on in 1860, 

 and out of a total vote of 535,487 received 

 197,503 votes, 337,984 being cast against it. 

 In 1846, 309,742 votes were cast on this ques- 

 tion, 85,406 of which were in favor of granting 

 the privilege, and 224,336 against it. The 

 entire vote for Secretary of State at the last 

 election was 641,707, of which Sigel received 

 310,733, and Nelson 330,974, which gives the 

 latter a majority of 20,241. The Legislature 

 of 1870 consists of 18 Democrats and 14 Re- 

 publicans in the Senate, and 72 Democrats and 

 56 Republicans in the Assembly, giving the 

 Democrats a majority of 20 on a joint ballot. 



NIEL, ADOLPHE, Marshal of France, Sena- 

 tor and Statesman, born at Muzet, in the de- 

 partment of the Higher Garonne, October 4, 

 1802 ; died at Paris, August 13, 1869. At the 

 age of nineteen he entered the Ecole Poly- 

 technique, and two years later was admitted 

 to the Ecole d' Application of Metz. In 1827 

 he received a commission as lieutenant of en- 

 gineers, and four years afterward attained the 

 rank of captain. During the Algerine War he 

 distinguished himself at the siege of Constan- 

 tine, and for his services on that occasion was 

 promoted to the rank of major, became lieu- 

 tenant-colonel in 1842, and colonel in 1846. 

 In the expedition to Rome, in 1849, he acted as 

 chief of the staff of engineers, and rendered 

 such valuable services that he was appointed a 

 general of brigade, and sent on a mission to 

 Gaeta to carry the keys of the city to the 

 Pope. On his return to Paris he was assigned 

 to the head of the engineering department in 

 the bureau of the Minister of War, and was 

 also a member of the superior committees 

 upon engineering and fortification, as well 

 as one of the Council of State, and in 1853 

 was promoted to be a general of division. 

 The Russian War next offered an opportunity 

 for the employment of his abilities in military 

 engineering operations. He commanded the 

 engineers at the capture of Bomarsund, then 

 went to the Crimea and reported upon the 

 condition of the army and the state of the 

 siege of Sebastopol, and finally took command- 

 in-chief of the engineers and directed the 

 siege. Soon after the final assault he received 

 the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion 

 of Horor and was created a Senator in 1857. 

 The following year he published an illustrated 

 quarto volume, entitled the " Siege of Sebas- 

 topol." On the outbreak of the Italian War, 

 in 1859, he was appointed to the command of 

 the Fourth Corps of the Army of the.. Alps ; 

 and after the victory of Solferino, June 24, 

 1859, he was made a Marshal of France. In 

 1867, Marshal Niel became Minister of War, 

 and retained that position until his death, not- 

 withstanding great changes in the Cabinet. 

 His administration of military affairs was char- 

 acterized by vigor and ability. In a short time 

 he succeeded in removing the disadvantages 

 under which the French army labored, and 

 rendered it equal if not superior to any force 



