NEW YORK. 



527 



Loan Society of New York city ; compelling alj 

 stone used on municipal works" to be dressed and 

 carved in this State ; compelling the State or 

 any city to pay to laborers or mechanics such 

 wages as are fixed by the recognized labor organ- 

 izations, and forbidding the use of contract labor 

 upon any State or municipal work at less than 

 such contract price ; prohibiting the manufac- 

 ture of brushes in the Albany Penitentiary. 



That the canal interests were not ignored is 

 shown by the following bills, all of which were 

 signed by the Governor : General maintenance 

 funds for the canals, $700,000; extraordinary 

 repairs, $300,000; $5,000 for drain under the 

 canal at Whitesboro; $10,000 for canal bridges 

 in Washington and Saratoga Counties; $15.000 

 for repairing the towpath at Glens Falls ; $60,- 

 000 for dredging the Ohio basin, Buffalo ; $75,- 

 000 for claims arising on account of the canal ; 

 $5,000 for work on the bank at Schenectady. 



Several investigating committees were ap- 

 pointed that have rendered notable service. The 

 Senate Lexow Police Investigating Committee 

 discovered by a careful investigation that the po- 

 lice of New York were interfering seriously with 

 elections in that city, and as a result of that in- 

 vestigation a nonpartisan board of police bill 

 was passed. The Committee on Elections 

 showed to the public the gigantic election frauds 

 that had been committed at Coney Island by 

 John Y. McKane and his henchmen, which re- 

 sulted in depriving Senator John McCarty of his 

 seat in the Senate. The Senate Committee on 

 Public Health, by an investigation, exposed the 

 expensive management of the State Board of 

 Health. The Senate Finance Committee, by an 

 investigation, showed that the expenses of several 

 State departments could be materially reduced. 



Banking- Department. This is under the 

 care of a superintendent, who is appointed for 

 three years and receives a salary of $5,000. The 

 present incumbent is Charles M. Preston. His 

 report for the year ending Sept. 30, 1894, shows 

 that 207 State banks and 4 individual bankers 

 of the State are in a flourishing condition, as 

 evidenced by the following detailed statement : 

 Resources Loans and discounts, less due from 

 directors, $159,438,635 ; liability of directors as 

 makers, $5,971,285; overdrafts, $250,823; due 

 from trust companies, State, national, and pri- 

 vate banks and brokers, $24,623,361 ; real estate, 

 $7,391,053; bonds and mortgages, $2.270,990; 

 stocks and bonds. $14,870,139 : specie, $16,456,- 

 677 ; United States legal tender notes and circu- 

 lating notes of national banks, $23,311,980; 

 cash items, $15,605,921; loss and expense ac- 

 count, $538,455 ; assets not included under any 

 of the above heads, $718.231 : add for cents, 

 $750; total, $271,448,300. Liabilities Capi- 

 tal. $32,504.000; surplus fund, $16,148,856; un- 

 divided profits, $11,136,005; due depositors on 

 demand, $178.331,859; due to trust companies, 

 State, national, and private banks, and brokers, 

 $20,499,822; due to individuals and corpora- 

 tions, other than banks and depositors, $447,- 

 235; due savings banks. $11.061,846 : due the 

 Treasurer of the State of New York, $409.027; 

 amount not included under any of the above 

 heads, $909,317 ; add for cents, $333 ; total, 

 $271,448.300. During the year 10 new banks 

 were formed. 



Insurance. This depart mont is uml.T th<- 

 care of a superintendent, who is appointed for 

 three years and receives a salary of $7,0(10. The 

 present incumbent is James F. Pierce. The an- 

 nual report for 1893 shows there were 32 

 "straight" life insurance companies doing busi- 

 ness in New York, of which 12 are home com- 

 panies, and last year took in as premiums $123,- 

 559,156. The 20 companies of other States HIV 

 credited with premiums of $69,147,682 for the 

 same period. The dividends of the New York 

 companies to stockholders aggregated $257.277, 

 while those of the foreign companies amounted 

 to $511,285. There were $47,329,075 of claims 

 paid by New York companies, and $28.574,745 

 by foreign companies. The total surplus of 

 the home companies on hand on Dec. 81, 1893, 

 was $70,798,226, and of the foreign companies, 

 $45,750,956; total, $116,549,186. The expense 

 of conducting the department was $102,257, of 

 which $81,727 was for general expenses. 



Claims. This department is controlled by a 

 board of 3 commissioners, each of whom' is 

 appointed for six years and receives a salary of 

 $5,000 and $500 in lieu of expenses. The pres- 

 ent incumbents are George M. Beebe, Wilbur F. 

 Porter, and Hugh Reilly. The annual report of 

 the board for 1894 shows that since it was organ- 

 ized, in 1883, it has heard and decided, to Jan. 

 1, 1895, 2,030 claims against the State, amount- 

 ing to $4,783.895, and has awarded thereon $1,- 

 231,723. This number of decisions is exclusive 

 of those made on appeals from the Board of 

 Canal Appraisers to the Canal Board, 273 of 

 which were pending in 1884, and were trans- 

 feired to this board. The whole number of 

 original claims filed since the board was organ- 

 ized is 2,789, and there are now pending 831 

 claims, varying from $30 to $200,000. The 

 number of claims filed with the board during 

 1894 was 744, of which 508 were decided, in 

 which the aggregate claimed was $700,078. The 

 entire awards allowed amounted to $120,273. 

 Several hundred of the claims pending arise 

 under the $2 a day law, and await final decision 

 upon test cases now before the Court of Ap- 

 peals. The whole number of appeals from the 

 awards of this board to the Court of Appeals is 

 129, the reversals 22. The reversals on appeal 

 by the State were 3. 



'Education. This department is under the 

 supervision of a superintendent, whose salary is 

 $5,000, and whose term of office is three years. 

 The present incumbent is James F. Crocker. 

 His report for 1893 was presented to the Legis- 

 lature on March 12. It showed the existence of 

 12,015 public schools, of which over 90 per cent, 

 are outside of cities. There were 32,476 teachers 

 employed, and the attendance of pupils was 

 1,083,228. The amount paid to teachers in the 

 public schools during the year was $11,883.094. 

 This amount exceeds that of 1892 by $262,028. 

 To teachers in city schools $7,146.693 was paid, 

 an increase of $98,280. The teachers in country 

 districts received $4.736.401, which sum WHS 

 $163,747 greater than was paid in 1892. The 

 average salary paid to each teacher in city 

 schools was $728, being $12.40 less than the 

 average of 1892, while thnt for teachers em- 

 ployed in the country schools was $303, an aver- 

 age increase over 1892 of $6. 



