520 



NEW YORK. 



The following laws relating to New York city 

 were enacted : 



Authorizing the issue of $150.000 in bonds for the 

 Castle Garden Aquarium ; providing for a vice-presi- 

 dent in tbe Bark Board; giving the consent of the 

 State for the ( p ur ph a8e by the United States of the 

 Bowling [Green site for a customhouse; providing 

 that the city shall only use and occupy the surface 

 under and through which the Croton aqueduct runs, 

 which it has acquired in fee ; providing for the re- 

 moval of the City Hall to Central .Park, or for its re- 

 moval by a private person or corporation who shall 

 agree to re-erect and maintain the building so that it 

 shall present the same external appearance as now ; 

 providing that any assistant to the corporation coun- 

 sel may perform any of the duties of the corporation 

 counsel when so empowered by the corporation coun- 

 sel ; extending for one year, from Nov. 1, the term of 

 office of the New York City Board of Electrical Con- 

 trol, and providing that the terms of the present- 

 members of the board shall expire on Nov. 1; provid- 

 ing for indexing and reindexing records in the New 

 York County Clerk's office, and in the Register's and 

 Comptroller's offices; providing for an additional 

 bureau in the law department, to be known as the 

 Bureau of Street Openings ; providing for the addi- 

 tion of the 42d Street reservoir site to Bryant Park ; 

 authorizing the issue of $500,000 in bonds for improv- 

 ing the sanitary condition of the common-school 

 buildings ; giving copyists and art students free ad- 

 mission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the 

 two pay days in each week ; ceding to the United 

 States lands near Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth for 

 harbor defense ; providing for a driveway along Har- 

 lem river ; appropriating $250,000 for a soldiers' and 

 sailors' memorial arch, the location not being defined 

 in the bill ; allowing the construction of railroads on 

 bridges over the East river. 



A law was passed prohibiting the selling of 

 pools in pool rooms. The general excise law of 

 1892 was amended in several respects. It is now 

 provided that licenses shall be granted only to 

 those actually in the business ; that licenses may 

 be revoked if the premises are used for unlawful 

 purposes ; that revoked licenses can be restored 

 only by order of the court ; that no saloon shall 

 be within 200 feet of the " principal," instead of 

 the " nearest," door of a church ; that hotel 

 licenses shall be $500, instead of $250 ; and that, 

 in New York city, from $10 to $30 may be 

 charged for a transfer of license. 



A pharmacist can no longer hold both a drug- 

 gist's and a storekeeper's license. 



The banking law was amended in these re- 

 spects : Requiring a minimum capital of $25,000 

 in places of fewer than 1,500 population, $50,- 

 000 between that population and 30,000, and 

 $100,000 in all other places ; authorizing savings 

 banks to invest in the stocks or bonds of Bos- 

 ton, Worcester, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, 

 Providence, and New Haven. 



The stock corporation law was amended so that 

 the sale of franchises and property and the pur- 

 chase of stock in another corporation must be 

 genuine transactions ; also so that a two-thirds 

 vote may increase or diminish the capital stock. 

 Hereafter a majority vote may establish a quo- 

 rum in societies and clubs. 



A special committee of the Senate made an in- 

 vestigation into the combinations to advance the 

 price of coal ; and a bill was passed to prevent 

 monopolies in articles of general necessity. 



A law was passed allowing the Mayor of 

 Brooklyn to appoint an inspector of coal to pro- 

 tect purchasers in regard to weight. 



Other laws were as follow : Allowing the un- 

 contested portions of a will to stand ; forbidding 

 the removal or altering of books to defraud 

 creditors ; enabling persons qualified to take real 

 estate by descent to devise the same without re- 

 gard to residence or citizenship ; forbidding 

 misrepresentation of the circulation of a news- 

 paper. 



The city of Syracuse was authorized to have 

 electrical subways. Laws were passed authoriz- 

 ing a village to contract with electric-light com- 

 panies to an amount not exceeding 2 mills for 

 every dollar of taxable property within the vil- 

 lage. Laws were passed for protection of the wa- 

 ter supply in Brooklyn and New York city ; and 

 under the law for the latter many sources of 

 contamination in Putnam and Westchester 

 Counties have been removed. The laws relative 

 to public health were codified. 



The statutory revision commission presented 

 16 bills, of which only 6 became laws. The 6 

 were : The public buildings law, the agricultu- 

 ral law (in two parts), the public health law, 

 the military code, the amendments to the code 

 of civil procedure as to surrogates, and the mis- 

 cellaneous amendments to the penal code. The 

 village law was amended so tnat any woman 

 over twenty-one years of age who is a resident 

 is eligible to the office of village clerk. The 

 treasurer of each county and the comptroller of 

 the city of New York shall retain 5 per cent, on 

 the first $50,000 paid under the direct inherit- 

 ance tax law, 3 per cent, on the next $50,000, 

 and 1 per cent, on all additional sums ; but in 

 Erie and Monroe Counties the fees shall belong 

 to the counties. An unexpended balance of 

 about one half of the original appropriation of 

 $8,000 was reappropriated to continue the publi- 

 cation of the colonial statutes. 



The revised statutes were amended in several 

 important respects. Police justices in Brook- 

 lyn are allowed to solemnize marriages. The 

 surviving parent is given larger powers of guar- 

 dianship. Marriages are forbidden between 

 uncles and nieces and between nephews and 

 aunts. The miscellaneous amendments to the 

 penal code, chapter 092, refer more particularly 

 to the election law, the communication with 

 prisoners, the evasion of civil rights, the setting 

 fire to forest lands, the discharging of firearms, 

 the meddling with steam pipes, the sending of 

 messenger boys to disreputable places, the mis- 

 conduct of veterinary surgeons, the using of 

 false marks in manufacturing, the trespassing on 

 Indian lands, and the unauthorized wearing of 

 the badge of the Loyal Legion. 



All the laws relating to the National Guard 

 were recast into the military code, which be- 

 came a law. The city of Brooklyn was author- 

 ized to issue $100,000 in bonds to erect a sol- 

 diers' and sailors' monument. The sum oi 

 $213,747 was appropriated for the expenses of 

 the railroad strike in Buffalo in August, 1892. 

 Appropriations for new armories or for repair- 

 ing old armories were made as follow: Glens 

 Falls. $32,000; Amsterdam, $25,000; Albany, 

 $22,000; Hornellsville, $25,000; Niagara Falls, 

 $30,000 ; the city of Brooklyn was allowed to 

 expend an additional $200,000 on the Fourteenth 

 Regiment Armory. 



A new law requires two exits from all mines ; 



