552 



NEW YORK. 



it fails in execution, and is certain to yield less of 

 revenue in the future than in the past ; and above 

 all, it discriminates against the industry of New York 

 in comparison with other States. The commission- 

 ers propose, as a substitute and equivalent for all such 

 defective taxation, to tax the occupier, be he owner 

 or tenant, of any and every building used as a dwell- 

 ing, or for any other purpose, on a valuation of three 

 times the rental or rental value of the premises occu- 



Eied ; but not including, under such assessment, any 

 md except such us the building stands on, or is es- 

 sential for access thereto. 



All property not embraced under one of 

 these provisions, as above stated, is to be ex- 

 empt from taxation. The principles on which 

 the commissioners have founded this part of 

 their system are stated by them as follows : 



That the market value of real estate is always pro- 

 portional to, and dependent on, the amount of per- 

 sonal property ? or ? rather, productive capital, placed 

 upon it, or in its immediate vicinity. Only, there- 

 fore, as personal property or productive capital is 

 brought in connection with real estate, does its value 

 become appreciable and augment. Applying, prac- 

 tically, to New York the proposed system for taxing 

 personal property, through ^ buildings or rentals, as 

 its representative, the commissioners say that exami- 

 nation will show that the aggregate of taxation, ac- 

 cording to the new system, on the occupiers of build- 

 ings, will be the lowest in the most sparsely-settled 

 agricultural districts of the State. Property here is 

 mainly in land, and the value of buildings is gener- 

 ally much less than the value of this land with which 

 they are connected. As we leave the sparsely-set- 

 tled agricultural districts and rise through the more 

 densely-populated portions of the State, from the 

 towns to the villages, from the latter to the cities, 

 and from the cities to the great metropolis of the 

 eontinent, we shall find that the value of land, of 

 buildings, and the aggregate of taxable valuation, 

 will increase as the amount and accumulation of per- 

 sonal property increase, until land and buildings 

 attain their greatest market and tax valuation in 

 Wall street, Broadway, and Fifth avenue, where the 

 accumulation of personal property is the greatest. 

 It is also to be observed that, starting at the bottom 

 of the scale, with the value of land greatly in excess 

 of the value of the buildings connected with the 

 land, this difference, as we progress upward through 

 the more densely - populated districts, gradually 

 diminishes, until, as is the case very frequently 

 in the cities, the value of the building greatly exceeds 

 the value of the land on which it is situated. And 

 yet, while, under the proposed system, the agricultu- 

 ral districts would, as now, pay the smallest propor- 

 tion of the aggregate taxes, and the villages and 

 cities, as now, also the largest, there would be no in- 

 justice, but, on the contrary, one uniform, equitable 

 rule of valuation and assessment. The sum of three 

 times the rent or rental value is taken as the substi- 

 tute for personal property, other than what is in- 

 vested in the stocks of moneyed corporations, on the 

 assumption that no person can occupy any building 

 who is not possessed of such property, at least to the 

 extent of the valuation adopted ; an assumption fully 

 sustained by evidence and investigation. 



The corner-stone of the new capitol at Al- 

 bany was laid with imposing ceremonies on 

 the 24th of June. The entire amount ex- 

 pended upon this work, prior to November 

 22d, was about $2,000,000, independent of 

 $650,000 paid for the land or which it stands. 

 The appropriation for the work at the last 

 session of the Legislature was $650,000, of 

 which $343,631.31 had been expended at the 

 date above named. 



On the 1st of October there were sixty-nine 

 banks doing business under the State banking 

 law. The amount of circulation outstanding, 

 including that of incorporated banks, banking 

 associations, and individuals, was $2,141.435.50. 

 There were on the 1st of July one hundred and 

 forty-three savings-banks doing business in the 

 State, with assets amounting to $266,253,594. 

 The number of persons having deposits in these 

 institutions at the beginning of the year was 

 712,109. 



The number of insurance companies subject 

 to the supervision of the Insurance Depart- 

 ment was, on the 1st day of December, 238, as 

 follows: 



New York joint-stock fire insurance companies 84 



New York mutual insurance companies 10 



New York marine insurance companies 9 



New York life insurance companies 40 



Fire insurance companies of other States 53 



Marine insurance companies of other States 2 



Life ineurance companies of other States 30 



Casualty insurance companies of other States 3 



Foreign insurance companies 7 



Total. 



The total amount of stocks and mortgages, 

 held by the department for the protection of 

 policy-holders of life and casualty insurance 

 companies of this State and of foreign insur- 

 ance companies doing business within it, was 

 $8,051,185, as follows: 



For protection of policy-holders generally in 

 life insurance companies of this State $4,104,035 



For protection of registered policy-holders ex- 

 clusively 2,842,650 



For protection of casualty policy-holders ex- 

 clusively 4,000 



For protection of fire policy-holders in foreign 

 insurance companies 1,300,500 



For protection of life policy-holders in foreign 

 insurance companies 800,000 



Total deposit $8,051,185 



The insurance companies of the State con- 

 tributed over $20,000,000 toward reimbursing 

 the losses caused by the great fire in Chicago 

 in October. 



The total number of children attending the 

 public-schools, during the year ending Sep- 

 tember 30th, was 1,027,089 ; persons attending 

 the normal schools, 5,129; there were 11,721 

 school-houses in use, and 17,828 teachers em- 

 ployed. The finances of the Department of 

 Public Instruction were as follows: 



Total receipts, including balance on hand 



September 30, 1870 $10.658.576 87 



Total expenditures 9,588,3'6 37 



Amount paid for teachers' wages 6,678,377 51 



Amount paid for school-houses, repairs, 



and furniture 1,587,276 39 



Estima ted value of Bchool-houses and Bites 23,613,201 CO 



There was a bill before the Legislature at 

 the last session making attendance upon the 

 public schools compulsory, but it failed to pass. 

 The State Superintendent touched upon the 

 same subject in his annual report, taking 

 ground against the compulsory system. 



Near the beginning of the year (viz., in 

 March) there were 4,484 insane persons in the 

 public institutions of the State, including in- 



