NEW YORK. 



(577 



upon principle, that, in every perfect or competent 

 government, there must exist a general power txj -IKK -t 

 iin.l t<> repeal laws, and to create and change or diM-on- 

 tiiiui- the agents designated for the execution of iii<> < 

 (10 It >wiird, U. S.,416.) 



The same principle has been sustained by the Court 

 of Appeal- of this State. (1 Selden, 285.) This prin- 

 ciple applies with equal force to public wprka by the 

 State and to the agencies employed in their construc- 

 tion, whether by contract or otherwise. 



The right of the State to continue or discontinue 

 public works, to change or abrogate the methods for 

 their construction, and to employ and dismiss agents 

 necessary for that purpose, must exist, or its power to 

 act as a sovereign w ineffectual. If this power exista, 

 there can be no breach of a contract entered into by 

 the State for the construction of a public work, for the 

 right of the State to suspend work and to make any 

 desired change is implied in every such undertaking. 

 No claim for future profits can therefore arise. The 

 State performs its obligation by making full compen- 

 sation. The Court of Claims at Washington rejects 

 claims of this character against the United States Gov- 

 ernment, and the Supreme Court of the United States 

 in a recent case (decided October, 1877) has applied 

 the same principle. (McKee vs. United States.) 



The question of the respective merits of the 

 district or the township system of common 

 schools was raised before the Legislature by 

 the State Superintendent. The common-school 

 system of the State, which has been in force 

 for many years, is considered as hardly sur- 

 passed, if equaled, in excellence elsewhere. 

 Under this system, the territory of the State is 

 divided into school districts of convenient size, 

 so that children of school age can get to school 

 without subjecting them to inconvenience in 

 walking too far. It is a system in the country 

 that reaches more children than any other. 

 The people of every school district have a right 

 to elect their own trustee or trustees, and they 

 have a right to build their own schoolhouses 

 to suit their taste and convenience. In favor 

 of this system, it was urged that the people of 

 each district had a right to control their own 

 schools, and that the further the schools were 

 removed from the control of the people, the 

 less interest they would take in them ; and, if 

 the people lose all interest in the schools, they 

 will retrograde. If the township system was 

 adopted, the control would be placed in the 

 hands of a town board elected at the annual 

 town meetings. The consequence might be 

 that the management of the schools would be 

 carried into politics and made a political ques- 

 tion. Soon the Legislature would be urged, un- 

 der this system, to pass a law to establish a cen- 

 tral high school in every town at the expense 

 of the tax-payers. Those living near the high 

 school, it was urged, would receive the most 

 benefit of that school, while it would lower the 

 standard of the other schools in the town, etc. 

 The State Superintendent thus explains his 

 proposition: "I recommend that the Legisla- 

 ture abolish the present system of school dis- 

 tricts, and in its place establish the township 

 system. Let all the schools of the town be 

 under the care and direction of a board of edu- 

 cation to be elected at the annual town meet- 

 ing ; the amount of tax necessary to be raised 



for the support thereof, after the application 

 of the public money thereto, be levied aa a 

 town tax ; the powers now vested in the trus- 

 tees of school districts given to town boards of 

 education, with such additions as wisdom and 

 necessity may dictate ; and that the powers 

 now vested in the inhabitants at district meet- 

 ings be transferred to voters at town meetings, 

 with such modifications and extensions as they 

 may deem expedient. With such a system 

 properly organized and in thorough working 

 order, I predict that the cause of education in 

 the State of New York will be greatly ad- 

 vanced." No change has yet been made. 



The report of the State Engineer on railroads 

 for the year 1878 was sent to the Legislature 

 in March. During the year twenty-six cor- 

 porations were formed, and twenty became 

 extinct. Of 862 railroads organized under the 

 laws of the State, but 275 remain in existence. 

 At the time required by law (December 1st) 109 

 companies failed to report, and thereby ren- 

 dered themselves liable to a penalty of $250, 

 and $25 dollars per day until the report was 

 received. The capital stock of the steam-rail- 

 roads reporting in the State was $392,164,754.- 

 25, and the proportion for the State of pro- 

 rating the roads lying partly in the State and 

 adjoining States was $287,826,957.05, being an 

 increase in the total aggregate of $7,255,616.49. 

 There have been built 107 miles of steam and 

 8 miles of horse railroads during the year. 

 The number of passengers carried during the 

 year by the steam roads was 48,769,084, an in- 

 crease of 8,756,863, and each passenger trav- 

 eled an average of 20'84 miles. The horse-rail- 

 roads carried 244,290,364 passengers, an in- 

 crease of 5,748,628. The number of tons of 

 freight carried by the steam roads was 38,320,- 

 573, an increase of 3,335,792. The records of 

 accidents upon the steam roads for the year 

 show 322 persons killed and 567 injured, a total 

 of 887. Of those killed, 11 were passengers, 

 88 employees, and 223 others. The total horse- 

 railroad accidents were 155, of which 44 were 

 fatal ; 6 of those killed were passengers, 9 em- 

 ployees, and 30 others. 



The State tax-levy for 1879 was less by 0'37 

 of a mill than that of the previous year. The 

 total reduction was $263,193. 



A code of procedure and a code of substan- 

 tive law were both passed by the Legislature 

 and vetoed by the Governor. 



The policy of the statute of the State relating 

 to savings banks, as explained by the Attorney- 

 General, is to exclude from the management of 

 the bank trust all persons who have any pecu- 

 niary relations with a bank or with a borrower 

 from a bank which might induce a lack of vigi- 

 lance as trustee, or antagonize duty by private 

 interest. He says : u The only rule of safety, 

 therefore, for all cases, in the different forms 

 in which they may arise, is to adhere rigidly 

 to the policy indicated by the statute, to deem 

 as ineligible for the position of trustee or offi- 

 cer of a savings bank all persons who have any 



