650 



NEW YORK. 



ure for United States Senator, was in violation of the 

 law of IStiy and of the State Constitution adopted in 

 1874, both of which make the receipt of money for the 

 object or purposi- ininu-d :m otK'iisi- dofnu'd as felony. 

 The willing rt-ecipt of money for u vote in the I .fi- 

 lature, even for the alleged "purpose of expo.-iug the 

 person offering the bribe, is not contemplated as an in- 

 nocent act either by the provisions of the Constitution 

 or by the laws of the State (chapter 742, passed in 1869) 

 which particularized the act, the oii'cnse, and the pun- 

 ishment. 



J&golced, That while it is in evidence that Senator 

 Sessions has been accustomed to receive sums of 

 money, and in one case as large a sum as $500, for his 

 work and iuiluenco in securing the passage of a single 

 bill through the Legislature, and that before his elec- 

 tion to the Sfiuite he had the reputation of being what 

 is commonly known and understood as a "lobbyist," 

 the only evidence before the committee that $2,000 was 

 paid by him to Samuel II. Bradley for his expected 

 and promised vote for Chauncey M. Depew, is the 

 sworn statement of Mr. Bradley himself. No other 

 evidence came before the committee that shows that 

 any other sum of money was paid to, or received by, 

 any other member of the Legislature. 



Resolved, That in regard to the use of money pend- 

 ing the senatorial canvass, there is complete evidence 

 of the fact that Mr. Sessions drew from nis bankers 

 Messrs. Spencer Trask & Co. the sum of $6,616 in 

 currency, and that nearly 50,000, including this sum, 

 was drawn and used by other parties friendly to Mr. 

 Depew, but no evidence was offered that any part of 

 this money was used to control or influence the 

 choice of Senators. The parties drawing the money, 

 so far as they became witnesses, swear that it was 

 used in their own private business. It did not please 

 the counsel on either side to call, as witnesses, Messrs. 

 Barber, Edwards, or Phelps, whose names were most 

 prominent in the use of the several sums of money 

 named before the committee. 



Resolved, That the testimony taken before the com- 

 mittee appointed by the Assembly on the 9th of June, 

 1831, be laid before the District Attorney and Grand 

 Jury of the County of Albany for such examination 

 and action as by them may be deemed necessary in the 

 appointed trials to come before the court, and with the 

 wish of the committee and of the Assembly that in 

 every case, whenever and wherever there has been any 

 violation of the law or of the Constitution, there may 

 be a thorough prosecution of the same, and such 

 punishment provided as is due for the crime com- 

 mitted. 



The majority report, however, was adopted. 

 The bribery case against Loren B. Sessions 

 came up in the Albany Court of Sessions in 

 September, but was continued to the next term, 

 and in January, 1882, a motion was pending 

 before Judge Westbrook, of the Supreme Court, 

 at Kingston, for its transfer to the Court of 

 Oyer and Terminer, a stay of proceedings hav- 

 ing been previously ordered by Judge Ingalls. 



The session of the Legislature came to an 

 end on the 23d of July, the day after the sen- 

 atorial elections were completed. The work 

 had been greatly interrupted and many impor- 

 tant measures were defeated. A peculiar char- 

 acteristic of the session was the unusual num- 

 ber of bills which failed to receive the approval 

 of the Governor. X o less than eighty-six veto 

 messages were submitted, expressing positive 

 disapproval of measures which had passed both 

 Houses, besides which a considerable number 

 failed to receive the Governor's signature after 

 the adjournment of the session. Among the 

 more important of the vetoed bills was one 



providing for a new aqueduct and an addi- 

 tional water-supply for the city of New York. 

 Many of the others were of local importance 

 only. The objections to the various bills took 

 a wide range. Some were regarded as unne- 

 cessary, others as unconstitutional ; some wore 

 loosely drawn, and many provided for expen- 

 ditures which the Governor did not consider 

 judicious. A large number of items in the 

 annual supply bill were disapproved as ex- 

 travagant or unjustifiable. One of the early 

 incidents of the session was a reception of 

 General Grant, while on a visit to Albany, in 

 which the two Houses joined. 



One of the most important subjects to como 

 before the Legislature was that of completing 

 the revision of the laws relating to assessment 

 and taxation, which had been begun in 1880. 

 A joint committee was appointed to take this 

 in hand, consisting of five Senators and eight 

 Assemblymen, and the Governor was author- 

 ized to appoint an advisory commission, of 

 not more than seven nor less than three mem- 

 bers, to aid in the work. To act upon this 

 commission the Governor appointed Joshua M. 

 Van Cott, of Kings County ; Samuel D. Bab- 

 cock, of New York; Thaddeus Hait, of Ulster; 

 Edward W. Foster, of St. Lawrence ; John F. 

 Seymour, of Oneida ; George Geddes, of Onon- 

 daga; and Alonzo Bradner, of Livingston but 

 Mr. Babcock declined to serve, and his place 

 was taken by Andrew H. Green. The joint 

 committee and the commission worked more or 

 less in conjunction, but the latter body acted 

 only in an advisory capacity, having no direct 

 relations with the Legislature. The result of 

 their joint efforts was the reporting of sixteen 

 bills, only eight of which were passed : two 

 were defeated in the Senate, and therefore 

 abandoned in the Assembly ; two were de- 

 feated in the Assembly, and not acted upon in 

 the Senate ; one was rejected by both Houses ; 

 and three which passed the Assembly failed to 

 secure action in the Senate. Those which be- 

 came laws were 1, one amending the law 

 defining lands, and making it include railroad- 

 tracks, telegraph poles and lines, underground 

 pipes, etc. ; 2, one amending the law for tax- 

 ing corporations, so as to remove certain ambi- 

 guities in its meaning and difficulties in its 

 execution, and making the tax for State pur- 

 poses one on "franchises and business" instead 

 of capital stock; 3, requiring supervisors to 

 furnish the Comptroller with lists of corpora- 

 tions and joint-stock companies and associa- 

 tions; 4, making provision for the adjustment 

 of the corporation tax in the city of New 

 York, so as to avoid a double assessment ; 5, 

 exempting American vessels engaged in for- 

 eign commerce for a term of fifteen years ; 6, 

 taxing foreign bankers on their capital used in 

 this State, and making the act for the assess- 

 ment of bank shares conform to the judicial 

 decisions in regard to deductions on account 

 of debt ; 7, relating to the Tax Commission in 

 New York city ; and, 8, providing for the 



