NEW YORK. 



533 



After the last day of December, 1895, the jurisdic- 

 tion of the Court of Appeals, except where the 

 judgment is of death, shall be limited to the review 

 of questions of law. No unanimous decision of 

 the appellate division of the Supreme Court that 

 there is evidence supporting a finding of fact or 

 a verdict not directed by the court, shall be re- 

 viewed by the Court of Appeals. But the appel- 

 late division in any department may allow an 

 appeal upon any question of law that in its opin- 

 ion ought to be reviewed by the Court of Ap- 

 peals. The limit of age for all judges remains 

 at seventy years. Existing county courts are 

 continued, and the judges now in office shall 

 hold office until the expiration of their respective 

 terms. In the County of Kings there shall be 2 

 county judges, and the additional county judge 

 shall be chosen at the next general election after 

 the adoption of this article. Successors of the 

 several county judges shall be chosen for terms 

 of six years. County courts shall have original 

 jurisdiction in actions for the recovery of money 

 only where the defendants reside in the county, 

 and in which the complainant demands judg- 

 ment for a sum not exceeding $2,000. Courts of 

 sessions, except in the County of New York, are 

 abolished from the last of December, 1895. The ex- 

 isting surrogates' courts are continued, and surro- 

 gates now in office shall hold office until the ex- 

 piration of their terms. Their successors shall be 

 chosen by the electors of their counties, and their 

 term shall be six years, except in New York 

 County, where it shall continue to be fourteen 

 years. In counties having a population exceed- 

 ing 40,000, wherein there is no separate surrogate, 

 the Legislature may provide for the election of a 

 separate officer to be surrogate, where the term 

 shall be six years. No one shall be eligible to 

 the office of judge of the Court of Appeals, jus- 

 tice of the Supreme Court, or, except in the 

 County of Hamilton, to the office of county 

 judge or surrogate, who is not an attorney and 

 counselor at law in the State of New York. 



The amendment relating to the militia makes 

 it impossible for any Governor or Legislature to 

 slight the National Guard or to use it for parti- 

 san purposes. The naval militia is also made a 

 part of the National Guard. The $5,000 limita- 

 tion for damages for the loss of a human life 

 was removed, and no limitation was made. An- 

 other amendment allowed the sale of the salt 

 springs at Syracuse, because they are no longer 

 a source of revenue to the State. It was pro- 

 vided that after Jan. 1, 1897, contract labor shall 

 not be allowed in any of the penal or reforma- 

 tory institutions within the State, but the pris- 

 oners may work for, and the products of their 

 labor may be sold to, the State or any subdivision 

 thereof : and any public institution of the State, 

 or of any political division thereof, may use their 

 labor or buy its product. The office of coroner 

 was abolished as a constitutional office, and the 

 Legislature is given sole power over it. 



The educational amendment recognizes the 

 Board of Regents as constitutional officers, and 

 it orders the Legislature to provide for the main- 

 tenance of a system of free common schools' 

 wherein all the children of this State may be 

 educated ; also that neither the State nor any 

 subdivision thereof shall use its property or 

 credit or any public money or authorize or per- 



mit either to be used, directly or indirectly, in aid 

 or maintenance, other than for examination or in- 

 spection, of any school or institution of learning 

 that is wholly or in part under the control or 

 direction of any religious denomination, or in 

 which any denominational tenet or doctrine is 

 taught. This is supposed to put an end to sec- 

 tarian appropriations for schools. The amend- 

 ment relating to charities makes all charitable 

 and penal institutions subject to the visitation 

 of the State Board of Charities, the Commission 

 of Lunacy, or a newly created Commission of 

 Prisons. Private charitable institutions may 

 receive public money for taking care of inmates, 

 but they must be subject to visitation by the 

 State Board of Charities. 



An amendment allowing the question of wom- 

 an suffrage to be submitted to the people was de- 

 feated by a vote of 97 to 59. Several amend- 

 ments relative to the suffrage and to elections 

 were passed. It is declared that the inmates of 

 soldiers' and sailors' homes have neither gained 

 nor lost a residence by being such inmates, so 

 that they can still vote in their former places of 

 residence. The use of voting machines, subject 

 to legislative control, is allowed, provided that 

 secrecy is preserved. The former Constitution 

 required a period of ten days between naturaliza- 

 tion and voting, but the amendment extends the 

 period to ninety days. The provisions of the 

 existing laws for bipartisan election boards 

 throughout the State are embodied in an amend- 

 ment, but it does not apply to village elections 

 or town meetings. Voters in the rural districts 

 need not appear in person on the first day of 

 registration. The operation of the civil-service 

 rules was extended beyond the cities to the 

 smaller divisions of the State. 



It was declared that the forest preserve shall 

 be kept forever as wild forest land. For sani- 

 tary reasons, the sale of the Main and Hamburg 

 Street Canal in Buffalo is allowed. General, but 

 not special, laws may be passed for the drainage 

 of agricultural lands. Stockholders in banking 

 corporations were made individually liable for 

 their liabilities to the extent of their stock. 

 Pool selling, bookmaking, or any other form of 

 gambling was forbidden. Future constitutional 

 conventions were provided for independently of 

 any act of the Legislature, so that political dis- 

 agreements between the Governor and the Legis- 

 lature can not postpone them. 



The terms of office of the Governor, the 

 Lieutenant-Governor, and the 5 elective State 

 officers were made two years, in order 'to con- 

 form to the amendment on cities providing for 

 the separation of local from general elections, 

 and the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor 

 elected in November, 1894, shall serve two years 

 instead of three, as the former Constitution pro- 

 vided. The Speaker of the Assembly was put in 

 the order of succession to the governorship, in 

 case the Lieutenant-Governor and the Presi- 

 dent of the Senate can not serve. The tem- 

 porary President of the Senate may preside 

 in case of the absence or impeachment of the 

 Lieutenant-Governor, or when he refuses to act 

 as president. The Legislature shall assemble 

 the first Wednesday, instead of the first Tues- 

 day, in January of each year. No bill shall 

 be passed by the Legislature unless it has been 



