636 



NEW YORK (STATE). 



in the Adirondack region and elsewhere, sub- 

 mitted its report, giving detailed information 

 regarding the wild lands owned by the State 

 and those which it was considered expedient 

 to acquire, and recommending a number of 

 measures intended to secure the acquisition 

 and protection of forest lands about the sources 

 of important streams. The subject occupied 

 much time during the session, but the proposed 

 legislation was greatly modified. A bill was 

 finally passed and approved, which provided 

 for a Forestry Commission of three members, 

 appointed by the Governor with the consent 

 of the Senate, who were to serve without com- 

 pensation, but to have their reasonable ex- 

 penses paid. They were empowered to appoint 

 a forest warden, inspectors, and other agents, 

 and fix their compensation. The commission 

 has custody of the forest preserves of the 

 State, consisting of lands owned or to be ac- 

 quired in the counties of Clinton, Essex, Frank- 

 lin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Sar- 

 atoga, St. Lawrence, Warren, Washington, 

 Greene, Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan. It is 

 to make regulations and enforce them for the 



Erotection and renewal of forests. Provision 

 } made for preventing unlawful trespass and 

 the destruction of forest-growth, for punish- 

 ment of violators of the law, and for adding to 

 the domain, etc. 



Prison Labor. By a bill passed in 1884 the 

 employment of convicts in the State Prisons 

 by contract was prohibited on the expiration 

 of the contracts then in existence. Only em- 

 ployment on public account was then author- 

 ized by existing law, and this could only be 

 carried on by means of a considerable invest- 

 ment of capital, which was not provided for. 

 By the expiration or abandonment of con- 

 tracts, there were before the end of February 

 950 prisoners at Auburn and Clinton Prisons 

 thrown out of employment By the use of 

 unexpended balances for maintenance, a part 

 of these were kept at work manufacturing 

 boots and shoes at Auburn and clothing at 

 Clinton on State account. The Superintend- 

 ent of Prisons, in reply to a request for in- 

 formation from the Senate, said that an ap- 

 propriation of $730,000 would be required for 

 the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 if the convicts 

 were to be kept employed on State account, 

 and $1,180,000 for the year following. When 

 all the contracts had expired, he said, it would 

 require an appropriation of $2,500,000 to keep 

 the prisoners at work. This would be needed 

 at the outset for the purchase of plant, ma- 

 chinery, and materials, and the cost of man- 

 agement. An appropriation of $500,000 was 

 made to continue the work at Auburn and 

 Clinton for the current year, and then efforts 

 were made to authorize a different plan of em- 

 ployment. It proved to be impossible to come 

 to any agreement on the subject, and nothing 

 was accomplished toward the settlement of 

 the question. No further appropriation was 

 made for the existing system. 



Municipal Administration. A large number of 

 measures were considered which affected the 

 administration of affairs in cities, especially in 

 the city of New York, but none of importance 

 became laws. In consequence of the limita- 

 tion upon the indebtedness of the latter city 

 effected by amendment of the State Constitu- 

 tion, an attempt was made to modify the law 

 in relation to lands for new parks ; but this 

 was defeated. It was also proposed to change 

 the management of the Dock Department and 

 make it dependent on municipal appropria- 

 tions for support ; but this failed. A proposi- 

 tion to change the time of the municipal elec- 

 tion in New York to April was defeated in the 

 Senate. Other reform measures met the same 

 fate. A bill changing the management of the 

 East River Bridge, and providing for an exten- 

 sion of the approaches, was vetoed by the 

 Governor, as were bills providing that the Re- 

 gister and County Clerk of Kings County should 

 receive salaries for their services and account 

 to the public for the fees collected. The most 

 important bills affecting cities which actually 

 became laws were one modifying the Building 

 Act for the city of New York, one limiting the 

 height of buildings occupied for residences to 

 80 feet, one providing for the repavement of 

 Fifth Avenue, one providing for a commission 

 to carry out the requirements of the law in re- 

 gard to placing telegraph and other electric 

 wires underground, and one providing for a 

 commission to construct a bridge across the 

 Harlem river at 180th Street. 



Miscellaneous Proceedings. An attempt was 

 made to modify the civil-service law, so as to 

 exempt veteran soldiers and sailors from com- 

 petitive examinations. A bill for this purpose 

 was passed in the Assembly, by a vote of 84 

 to 24, but was finally defeated in the Senate, 

 many of the veterans having protested against 

 it. The civil code prepared by Mr. David 

 Dudley Field, and intended to put in compact 

 and consistent form all the provisions of the 

 common and statute law relating to civil rights 

 and obligations, occupied much attention in 

 both houses, but was not adopted. A number 

 of important bills were submitted by the Rail- 

 road Commissioners, but none of them received 

 attention. A bill was passed, on the recom- 

 mendation of the State Comptroller, so modify- 

 ing the corporation tax law as to make the tax 

 apply only to that portion of the capital of a 

 corporation which is employed within t 

 State, instead of its entire capital stock. This 

 was made to apply to taxes already due, pro- 

 vided there had been no litigation for their re- 

 covery, with adjudication in favor of the State, 

 and provided, further, that they were paid be- 

 fore August 1, 1885. The appropriation f< 

 the continuance of work on the new Capitj 

 was the subject of some contention, especially 

 in the Senate. Finally, $750,000 was appro- 

 priated, to be expended under the direction 

 an advisory commission, consisting of the G 

 ernor, the Attorney-General, the President c 



