NEW YORK. 



671 



branch, the Pcmberton and Manchester, tho Tuckor- 

 the Tom* River bninch, tho Toms River and 

 Wantown, and the Freehold and Squankura branch 

 to Squan, art) ull railroads in this district ; and evury 

 point in it is within an ojisy drive of railway commu- 

 nication, and, by this, is within three or lour hours' 

 ride of the best nmrkots on the continent. 



The various public institutions of the State 

 are in a prosperous condition. Their details 

 may be found in the volume for 1878. 



NEW YORK. The annual session of the 

 Legislature commenced on January 7th and 

 closed with the month of May. In the Senate 

 the Republican vote was about 20 out of 33, 

 and in the Assembly about 100 out of 128. 

 The Senate was called to order by the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor. In the Assembly Thomas 

 G. Alvord was elected Speaker by 95 votes, 

 against 24 for Erastus Brooks. 



This session of the Legislature was held in 

 the new Capitol. An effort was made on the 

 evening of February 12th to signalize the 

 change both historically and officially. The 

 two Houses assembled in joint convention; 

 the Judges of the Court of Appeals and the 

 State officers were present by invitation ; and 

 speeches were made by the President of the 

 Senate, Lieutenant- Governor William Dorshei- 

 mer, the Speaker of the House, Thomas G. 

 Alvord, and one of the distinguished members 

 of the Assembly, Mr. Erastus Brooks. The re- 

 port of the New Capitol Commissioners was 

 made to the Legislature on January 23d. The 

 amount expended in 1878 on the building was 

 $1,026,463. The finished portion was about 

 one quarter of the area of the whole building; 

 but it contains two of the three great rooms, 

 one of three staircases, one half of the heating 

 apparatus, five of the seven elevators, one third 

 of the furniture, one half of the plumbing, the 

 entire water-supply, the whole exterior drain- 

 age, and one half of the basement; also, the 

 walls of the court and the south center sec- 

 tion have been built up to the roof-line. The 

 amount of additional appropriation required 

 for the completion of the building and the pay- 

 ment of existing liabilities was estimated by the 

 Commissioners at $4,200,000, in a period of 

 two years. Being asked by the Legislature 

 how much it would cost to administer the new 

 Capitol after it was completed, the Commis- 

 sioners replied that it could be kept clean, 

 lighted, and warmed " for a moderate sum " ; 

 but to accomplish this result it is necessary 

 that its administration should be kept free 

 from partisan influence. They then proceed 

 to say : u A force of forty-three men has been 

 organized, to serve during the session of the 

 Legislature, who take care of the machinery, 

 attend the fires, run the elevators, and do all 

 the work of cleaning the building, and also per- 

 form all police duty. The appointments to this 

 force have been equally divided between the 

 political parties, and it is proposed that the 

 men shall serve during good behavior. We be- 

 lieve that upon a system like this the cost of 

 maintaining the new Capitol, when the same 



shall be completed, may be brought within 

 $75,000 a year, and our estimate for mainte- 

 nance during the year 1879 is $25,000." 



The election of a Senator in Congress, to fill 

 the vacancy arising by the expiration of the 

 term of Mr. Roscoe Conkling, was made on 

 January 20th. Mr. Conkling received in the 

 Senate 19 votes, and Mr. Dorsheimer 12. In 

 the Assembly Mr. Conkling received 95 votes, 

 Mr. Dorsheimer 28, and Mr. Peter Cooper 2. 

 Mr. Conkling was chosen. A caucus of the 

 Democratic members of the Legislature was 

 held, in which it was proposed to make a pro- 

 test against the granting of any certificate, or 

 the making of any declaration, that Roscoe 

 Conkling had been duly elected Senator. The 

 grounds for this protest were, that the Consti- 

 tution of the State requires that, at the next 

 session after every State census, the Senatorial 

 districts shall be altered so as to contain as 

 nearly as may be an equal number of inhabi- 

 tants, and that the members of Assembly shall 

 be apportioned according to population ; that 

 a census was duly taken in 1875, but no alter- 

 ation of the Senate districts and no reappor- 

 tionment of the members of Assembly has been 

 made by the Legislature since the said enumera- 

 tion ; that the effect of such neglect has been 

 that large numbers of the people of the State 

 have been and are misrepresented in the Legis- 

 lature ; that its political complexion has been 

 thereby changed from one party to another, 

 the legal result whereof is that the present 

 Legislature is a Legislature de facto and not de 

 jure. This protest the caucus refused to adopt, 

 but they resolved upon an address to the peo- 

 ple. The complaints of the address rest upon 

 the grounds set forth above. As an evidence 

 of the justice of the complaints, the following 

 statements were set forth as facts taken from 

 the census returns of 1875 : 



Under a just apportionment in the Senate, New 

 York City, with Kichmond County, is entitled to 

 seven Senators, while but five represent that city. 

 Kings County is entitled to three members, but al- 

 lowed only two, and this with a surplus population of 

 46.000. New York City, by the lawful count, is en- 

 titled to twenty-seven members of Assembly, instead 

 of twenty-two ; Kings County is entitled to fourteen 

 members instead ot nine ; Monroe County to four 

 members instead of three. These additional members, 

 all belonging to Democratic districts, are now awarded 

 to the following counties, and entirely represented, 

 except one district, by Republican members of the 

 Legislature, viz. : Madison, Delaware, Ontario, Cat- 

 taraugus, Columbia, Washington, Niagara, Wayne, 

 Oswego. Onoida, St. Lawrence. 



The Assembly representative population also gives 

 the following unequal record : 



