8 72 NEW YORK 



to the New York charter made in 191 1. The tenement house law was clearly made applicable 

 to apartment houses after the court of appeals February 13, 1912, Grimmer v. Tenement 

 House Department of New York City) distinguished between tenement houses and apartment 

 houses. A new vital statistics law was passed in 1911. The discharge of sewerage into rivers 

 was regulated. In 1912 the governor was authorised to appoint a board of three, a surgeon, 

 neurologist and practitioner of medicine, to be examiners of the feeble-minded criminals and 

 other defectives; they are authorised to recommend the sterilisation of dangerous criminals. 

 The requirements for the practice of medicine were increased, and after September I, 1912, 

 chiropodists must be licensed. By a law of 1911 the possession and use of false weights and 

 measures creates presumption of knowledge of their falsity. A law of 1911 required that 

 cold storage foods be labelled and be kept not more than one year. A commission was 

 appointed to study market facilities and the prices of food, and in August 1912 it reported 

 that distribution added 40% to the cost of foodstuffs and recommended the authorisation 

 of cities to establish departments of markets. A strict law was passed regulating the sale 

 or possession of dangerous weapons more stringent in many respects than the previous law 

 against concealed weapons. Among important measures defeated in the 191 1 legislature 

 were a new charter for New York City, a bill granting suffrage to women, and one relieving 

 racing associations from the responsibility of gambling at race-tracks a measure which 

 would have lessened the effectiveness of the anti-gambling legislation of 1908 and 1910. 



Finance. The state tax for 1912 was .396 mills for the general fund; .383 for the canal 

 debt sinking fund; .03 for the barge canal terminals sinking fund; .1885 for the highway 

 improvement sinking fund and .0125 for the sinking fund for the debt for the Palisades 

 Interstate Park debt sinking fund. In 1911 bequests to charities outside the state were made 

 exempt; the previous law had applied only to charities within the state. The double taxa- 

 tion of inheritances was practically stopped. Money and securities of non-residents taxed 

 in the state and their shares in New York corporations were made exempt, even if there is 

 no reciprocal arrangement with the other state. Secured debts were taxed Y* of I % of their 

 face value and thereby exempted from any other tax. The stock transfer tax was changed 

 both in 1911 and 1912 and the person who makes the sale or transfer of stock must procure 

 and affix a tax stamp. In New York City assessments begin on April I instead of the first 

 Tuesday in September. Statements of valuation must be forwarded to the state board of 

 tax commissioners, not to the comptroller as formerly, and the board certifies to the comp- 

 troller. He is required to collect statistics of taxation, revenue and debt. 



For the fiscal year ending September 30, 1912 the revenue was $50,213,405 (for the 

 preceding year $38,045,353). Among the larger items were inheritance tax, $12,153,189; 

 corporations, $10,349,165 (and $472,960 for organisation of corporations) ; (new) direct state 

 tax $6,326,823; excise, $9,412,364; stock transfer stamp tax, $3,653,037; and (new) secured 

 debt tax, $3,626,823. The expenditures for the same year were $44,658,678; and the cash 

 surplus at its close, $8,808,265. 



Education. In 1911 a teachers' retirement fund was created for all parts of the state 

 except where there was local provision for a similar fund. Teachers are assessed I % of their 

 salaries, and may retire after 25 years' service (15 of which must be in the part of the state 

 covered by the act) on an annuity of half of the annual salary at the time of retirement, this 

 to be not more than $600. Any teacher retiring after 15 years for disability gets an annuity 

 bearing the proportion to the retirement annuity that the number of years he has served 

 bears to twenty-five. Annuities are to be granted only if the teacher has paid a sum equal 

 to 30% of the annuity, but the difference, if any, may be made up by the teacher. In 1912 

 the law for retirement of teachers in state institutions was made more liberal. The previous 

 age limit of 70 was omitted, and the requirement that the teacher must have been employed 

 for 10 years immediately preceding retirement was changed by omitting the words "imme- 

 diately preceding." The maximum allowance for teachers was raised from $750 to $1,000. 

 In 1911 the law in regard to the education fund was radically changed. The county loan 

 commissioners were abolished and the complete control of the fund was vested in the state 

 comptroller. In the same year a new salary law was passed for teachers in New York City 

 which states that there shall be no discrimination based on sex; this went into effect January 

 i, 1912 and added nearly $3,850,000 to the annual pay roll. A law of IQI2 provides that 

 eligible lists for vacancies in New York City schools should not be merged but that one list 

 must be exhausted before nominations are made from a later list. On a question of teachers' 

 licenses the state supreme court in November 1912 held that the state commission of educa- 

 tion had jurisdiction over all school departments in the state including that of New York 

 City. One of the most discussed points in the proposed charter for New York City was a 

 paid board of education, which Mayor Gaynor defended against the almost universal crit- 

 icism of educational experts. In 1912 was celebrated the 25th anniversary of the service of 

 William H. Maxwell (b. 1852) as superintendent of schools in New York City. (See his 

 article in Educational Review, October 1912). In 1912 the principal appropriations for educa- 

 tion were $125,000 to secondary schools for training of teachers; $506,500 for normal schools; 

 SS.IJS- 000 for common schools and $650,000 for secondary departments and libraries. 



For the year ending July 31, 1912 the school population was 2,143,580, the total enroll- 



