NEW YORK (STATE). 



637 



Board of Arbitration, William Purcell, Gil- 

 bert Robertson, Jr., and Florence F. Dono- 

 van ; State Factory Inspector, James Con- 

 nelly. Court of Appeals: Chief-Justice, Will- 

 iam C. Ruger; Associate Judges, Charles An- 

 drews, Theodore Miller, Robert Earl, George 

 F. Danforth, Charles A. Rapallo, and Francis 

 M. Finch. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature met on 

 January 5 and adjourned on May 20. The 

 Governor had until June 19 to act on the 

 bills left in his hands. The more important 

 results of the session are given below. 



An act was passed amending the civil-serv- 

 ic.fi law so that honorably discharged soldiers 

 and sailors of the civil war are to be preferred 

 over civilians, though they may be graded 

 lower, provided they reach the minimum 

 standard ; and age and physical disability are 

 not of themselves to disqualify such soldiers 

 and sailors. The sum of $800,000 was appro- 

 priated for deficiency in appropriation for sup- 

 port and maintenance of the several State 

 Prisons, for material and expenses of manu- 

 facturing, and for the ordinary repairs of the 

 prisons and supplying water therefor, for the 

 year ending Sept. 30, 1886. Another act pro- 

 vides that no telegraph, telephone, or electric 

 wire attached to or stretched over any build- 

 ing or land shall by lapse of time create any 

 presumption of a grant, or any prescriptive 

 right. It was enacted that all franchises for 

 street railroads in cities and incorporated vil- 

 lages shall be sold at auction to the bidder 

 who will give the largest percentage per an- 

 num of the gross receipts. Syracuse Univer- 

 sity was empowered to create as departments 

 of the institution a college of theology, a col- 

 lege of medicine, and such other colleges as 

 might be deemed expedient. An amendment 

 to the code of civil procedure permits the 

 Surrogate of New York County to transfer 

 to the Court of Common Pleas any proceed- 

 ing for the probate of a will. A tax of one 

 eighth of one per cent, upon the amount of 

 the capital stock or increase thereof is levied 

 upon corporations, joint-stock companies, and 

 associations having capital stock divided into 

 shares, for the privilege of organization or 

 increase of capital. Twelve hours' labor in 

 twenty-four, with reasonable time for meals, 

 is made a day's labor in the operation of street 

 surface and elevated railroads in cities of over 

 500,000 inhabitants. No corporation in cities 

 of over 800,000 inhabitants can charge more 

 than $1.25 per 1,000 cubic feet for illuminat- 

 ing gas. One of the acts of the session creates 

 the office of factory inspector, and provides 

 that no minor under eighteen years of age, 

 nor any woman under twenty-one, shall be 

 employed at labor in any manufacturing es- 

 tablishment in the State for a longer period 

 than sixty hours in any one week, and no child 

 under thirteen shall be employed in any manu- 

 facturing establishment. Women were admit- 

 ted to the practice of law upon the same terms 



as men. The statute of limitations in actions 

 for personal injuries against cities of over 50,- 

 000 inhabitants was reduced to one year, and 

 notice is required to be served on the corpo- 

 ration counsel within six months. An act was 

 passed to prevent the adulteration of vinegar, 

 and deception in its sale. Imprisonment for 

 debt was further restricted by providing that 

 no person shall be imprisoned within the pris- 

 on-walls of any jail for a longer period than 

 three months, under an execution or any other 

 mandate against the person for a sum less than 

 $500, nor more than six months for a greater 

 sum. The following three acts grew out of 

 the discovery of bribery on the part of the 

 Broadway Surface Railroad Company in secur- 

 ing its franchise in the city of New York: 



An act to annul and dissolve the Broadway Surface 

 Eailroad Company. 



An act in relation to the consents of property-own- 

 ers, order of the General Terra confirming reports of 

 commissioners, and the consents of the local authori- 

 ties, heretofore given to the construction and opera- 

 tion of street surface railroads by companies which 

 have been dissolved or annulled, or whose charters 

 may have been repealed by legislative enactment. 

 _ An act to provide for the winding up of corpora- 

 tions which have been annulled and dissolved by 

 legislative enactment. 



The second act was intended to preserve 

 and prevent the lapsing of the consents in case 

 of the annulment of a railroad company, and 

 to provide for the sale thereof at public auc- 

 tion by the municipal authorities. The third 

 act requires the Attorney-General, in the name 

 of the State, to bring suit in the Supreme 

 Court to wind up and firuilly settle the affairs 

 of the dissolved corporation, in which suit a 

 receiver is to be appointed. 



The following are other noteworthy acts : 



To incorporate the Grant Monument Association. 



Providing for commutation of sentences for good 

 behavior of convicts in the prisons and penitentiaries 

 in this State. 



To provide for submitting to the people the ques- 

 tion, " Shall there be a convention to revise the Con- 

 stitution and amend the same ? " 



To incorporate the city of Jamestown. 



To incorporate the State Executive Committee of 

 the Young Men's Christian Association of the State 

 of New York. 



Enabling the Kings County Pharmaceutical Society 

 to establish a college of pharmacy in the city of 

 Brooklyn, New York. 



To empower the board of supervisors of the several 

 counties of the State of New York to vote moneys 

 for the erection, repairing, or remodeling of monu- 

 ments to the veterans of the late war of the rebellion. 



To authorize the veteran soldiers and sailors of the 

 late war, residing in the State of New York, to erect 

 a monument on the Capitol -grounds at Albany, in 

 honor of the women of said State, lor their humane 

 and patriotic acts during the war. 



For the incorporation of political clubs. 



To authorize the appointment of commissioners to 

 locate an asylum for the insane in northerly New- 

 York. 



To protect life in the running of elevators which 

 carry persons in the city of Brooklyn. 



For the protection of the natural ovster-beds lo- 

 cated in the waters of the State of New York. 



To provide for the establishment of an additional 

 evening high-school for males in the city of New York. 



