656 



NEW YORK. 



enactment, as well as by administrative action, in the 

 civil service of the country, as will substitute lor the 

 present periodical MnmbM&r spoils, a wise system 

 oi' appointment aiul promotion, by which the incum- 

 bency of subordinate otlircs >hall be regulated bylaw 

 and depend only upon capacity and character, and 

 demand that no assessments shall be levied upon pub- 

 lic officers for political purposes. 



The public wcll'are demands that the various ques- 

 tions relating to chartered monopolies and the meth- 

 ods of transportation should be met and decided, and 

 \\c are ill favor of the adoption of measures to restrict 

 (lie :_'i-o iinr power of ,-u -h monopolies. They should 

 l>e Mibjcet to the supervision of commissioners estab- 

 li.-hed by public authority. All unjust discrimina- 

 tions in 'the transportation of passengers and mer- 

 chandise should be prohibited. The charges of cor- 

 porations which have taken the property of private 

 eiti/ens for public use, should be limited to the cost 

 of service, with a reasonable profit, instead of the 

 mercenary exaction of " all the traffic will bear." 

 We approve- of the unanimous action of the Demo- 

 cratic members of the last Legislature in providing 

 for the early submission to the people of an amend- 

 ment to the Constitution in favor of free canals. 



The Democratic party, now and always unalterably 

 opposed to centralization of power in either the State 

 or Federal Governments, hereby requests its repre- 

 sentatives in the Legislature to promote and make 

 effective an amendment to the Constitution which 

 shall extend the principle and the powers of local self- 

 government to the cities of the State. 



To the record of the Democracy of New York we 

 point with confidence. We challenge a comparison of 

 ite record with that furnished by tfie factions which 

 were once the Kepublican party of this State. To the 

 candidates of this convention we pledge a hearty sup- 

 port, and we confidently submit our action, as the 

 representatives of a free Democracy ; to the good peo- 

 ple of this Commonwealth for their verdict at the 

 polls. 



The candidates put in nomination were: 

 For Secretary of State, William Purcell, of 

 Monroe ; for Comptroller, George H. Lapharn, 

 of Yates; for Attorney-General, Roswell A. 

 Parmenter, of Rensselaer ; for State Treasurer, 

 Robert A. Maxwell, of Genesee ; for State En- 

 gineer and Surveyor, Thomas Evershed, of Or- 

 leans; for Judge of Court of Appeals, Augus- 

 tus Schoonmaker, Jn, of Ulster. 



The election took place on the 8th of No- 

 vember. During the canvass considerable op- 

 position had been displayed in the Republican 

 ranks to James W. Busted, the candidate for 

 Treasurer, and there had been numerous di- 

 visions in the nomination of candidates for 

 members of the Legislature. The Anti-Mo- 

 nopoly League used its influence for or against 

 legislative candidates, according to their posi- 

 tion on the railroad question ; and in New 

 York city the various Democratic factions 

 made separate nominations in several districts. 

 The result of the vote for Secretary of State 

 was 416,915 for Carr, 403,893 for Purcell, and 

 16,018 for Howe total vote, 842,763 ; plural- 

 ity of Republicans over Democrats, 13,022. 

 The vote for Comptroller was slightly larger, 

 the total being 843,107. and the" Republican 

 plurality 14,084. For treasurer Mr. Husted 

 was defeated; the total vote was 831,836 ; for 

 Husted, 392,251; for Maxwell, 413,194; for 

 Wood, 15,499 Maxwell's plurality, 20,943. 

 The rest of the Republican ticket was elected. 



Congressmen were chosen in four districts to 

 fill vacancies. In the ninth district, New York 

 city, John Hardy, Democrat, was elected over 

 Thomas Murphy, Republican, by 5,308 plural- 

 ity, for the seat made vacant by the death of 

 Fernando Wood. In the eleventh, also in New 

 York city, Roswell P. Flower, Democrat, was 

 elected over William W. Astor, Republican, by 

 3,113, to the seat made vacant by the resigna- 

 tion of Levi P. Morton, appointed Minister to 

 France. In the twenty-second, Charles R. 

 Skinner, Republican, was elected over John 

 Lansing, Democrat, by 3,154, to the seat made 

 vacant by the resignation of Warner Miller, 

 transferred to the United States Senate. In 

 the twenty-seventh, James W. Wadsworth, Re- 

 publican, was elected over James Faulkner, 

 Democrat, by 2,486, to the seat vacated by E. 

 G. Lapham, also transferred to the Senate. 

 The Legislature chosen consisted of 17 Demo- 

 crats and 15 Republicans in the Senate, and 67 

 Democrats and 61 Republicans in the Assem- 

 bly, giving the Democrats a majority in both 

 branches for the first time in twelve years. 

 Three of the Democratic Senators and 8 of the 

 Democratic Assemblymen had been elected in 

 New York city as candidates of the Tammany 

 Society, which gave that body the balance of 

 power between the two regular parties in the 

 Legislature of 1882. An incident of some in- 

 terest in the election was the choice of Mr. 

 Seth Low for Mayor of Brooklyn. Amend- 

 ments in the charter of that city gave the 

 mayor full power to appoint and remove the 

 heads of all departments in the municipal ad- 

 ministration, and a vigorous effort was made 

 to secure the election of a man who would ex- 

 ercise this power independently, and without 

 subserviency to any political organization. Mr. 

 Low was the candidate selected with this view 

 by independents of all parties, and he received 

 the support of the Republicans, their regular 

 candidate having withdrawn. 



The following statement exhibits the finances 

 of the State for the year ending September 

 30, 1881 : 



Aggregate balances October 1, 1880 $3.448,215 38 



Aggregate receipts during the fiscal year 14,940,403 90 



Total $18,358.619 28 



Payments during the year. 12,866,760 57 



Balance September 30, 1881 $5,581,858 71 



Receipts on account of the general fund during 



the year 8,751,084 80 



Payments 6,986,870 (ll 



Apparent surplus $1,764,664 79 



Balances due from county treasurers on State 



tax of 1880 247,025 47 



Amount paid on account of 1881, included in 



tax levy payable in 1882 1,021,272 51 



Total surplus $3,032,962 77 



Deduct balances of 1880, appropriations unpaid 583,347 50 



Actual surplus September 30, 18S1 $2,499,616 27 



On the 30th of September, 1880, the total 

 funded debt was $9,114,054.87, classified as 

 general fund, Indian annuities, canal and boun- 

 ty debt, viz. : 



