534 



NEW YORK CITY. 



printed for three days previously. A third 

 legislative amendment forbids outside matters, 

 or " riders," to be tacked upon appropriation or 

 supply bills. Members of the Legislature and 

 all other public officers are forbidden to receive 

 railroad passes or telephone or telegraph franks, 

 and the officers of any corporation giving such 

 privileges may testify without being liable to 

 criminal prosecution therefor. 



Several amendments were offered providing 

 for the sale or gift of the canals to the Govern- 

 ment of the United States, on condition that 

 the latter should maintain them, enlarge them, 

 and build a ship canal around the falls of Ni- 

 agara on the American side ; but none of these 

 amendments passed. It was also proposed to 

 improve the canals at the expense of the State. 

 Long-time bonds were suggested for various 

 amounts. After several compromises, an amend- 

 ment was passed providing that the canals may 

 be improved under the direction of the Legis- 

 lature, and that a debt to meet the expense of 

 the same may be created if it has been approved 

 by a vote of the people. 



The amendment that provoked the most dis- 

 cussion and received the smallest majority at 

 the polls was the one relating to legislative ap- 

 portionment. This provides that the Senate 

 shall consist of 50 members, instead of 32, as at 

 present ; and the Assembly of 150, instead of 

 128. The boundaries of the senatorial districts 

 are named in the amendment. The ratio is 

 115,817 citizens to a Senator. The total of plus 

 variations, 83 districts, is 257,224 ; that of minus 

 variations, 17 districts, 257,196. In no event 

 shall New York have more than one third of all 

 of the Senators ; or Kings and New York, if 

 consolidated, more than half. New York is 

 given 12 Senators ; Kings, 7 ; and Erie, 3. No 

 other county has more than 1 Senator, while 

 some of the districts contain 3 counties. Strict 

 provisions are made against unequal representa- 

 tion or gerrymandering in any future apportion- 

 ment in the Assembly. Each county has at 

 least 1 member, as has been the case for many 

 years. In counties having more than 1 member 

 the board of supervisors will divide the county 

 into districts. An enumeration of all the in- 

 habitants of the State is ordered for the year 

 1905, and for every twenty years thereafter. 

 Until after the next enumeration the members 

 of the Assembly are apportioned as follow: 

 New York, 35 ; Kings, 21 ; Erie, 8 ; Albany, 

 Monroe, and Onondaga, 4 each ; Oneida, Queens, 

 Rensselaer, and Westchester, 3 each; Broome, 

 Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Dutchess, 

 Jefferson, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, St. Law- 

 rence, Steuben, Suffolk, and Ulster, 2 each : all 

 the remaining counties (counting Fulton and 

 Hamilton as one), 1 each. 



NEW YORK CITY. Government.-The 

 city officials who held office during the year 

 were: Mayor, Thomas F. Gilroy; President of 

 the Board of Aldermen, George B. McClellan ; 

 Register, Ferdinand Levy ; and Sheriff, Charles 

 M. Clancy (who died on Feb. 25, and was suc- 

 ceeded on Feb. 27 by John B. Sexton, the under- 

 sheriff) ; all of whom are Tammany Democrats, 

 and, with the exception of the sheriff (who took 

 office Jan. 1, 1894), entered on the duties of their 

 offices on Jan. 1, 1892. 



Finances. The condition of the city debt on 

 Dec. 31, 1894, is shown in the table at the top 

 of the next page. 



During the year the cost of permanent im- 

 provements amounted to $12,182,131.72, and 

 bonds for that sum were issued. Notwithstand- 

 ing, the expenses of the municipality exceeded 

 the income, and the net funded debt of the city 

 was increased by $3,316,413.30 during 1894. The 

 returns as given beyond in the wealth of the city 

 of the assessed value of property resulted, in Au- 

 gust, in the announcement of a tax rate of $1.79 

 per each $100 of assessment, which was the low- 

 est rate known in this city since 1862. The rate 

 on corporation taxes was reduced from $1.6275 

 on $100 in 1893 to $1.585 in 1894. 



Board of Estimate and Apportionment. 

 This body, consisting of the Mayor, the Presi- 

 dent of the Board of Alderman, the Comptroller 

 (Ashbel P. Fitch), and the President of the De- 

 partment of Taxes and Assessments (Edward P. 

 Barker), allowed the following amounts for 1895 : 

 Mayoralty, $27,800; Common Council, $88,000; 

 Finance Department, $316,400; interest on city 

 debt, $5,087.141.63 ; redemption of principal of 

 city debt, $1,974,143.31 ; State taxes, $3,554,319.- 

 24 ; rents, $134,767 ; armories and drill rooms 

 rents, $17,750; judgments, $125,000; Law Depart- 

 ment, $232,200 ; Department of Public Works, 

 $3.135,480 ; Department of Public Parks, $1,198,- 

 955 ; Department of Street Improvements, Twen- 

 ty-third and Twenty-fourth Wards, $426.470; 

 Charities and Corrections, $2,467,521; Health 

 Department, $460,680; Police Department, $5,- 

 864,822.30; Bureau of Elections, $412,900; De- 

 partment of Street Cleaning, $2,396,000; Fire 

 Department, $2,084,421; Department of Build- 

 ings, $204,700; Department of Taxes and As- 

 sessments, $151,800; Board of Education, $4,- 

 962,423.14; College of the City of New York, 

 $150,000; Normal College, $150,000; printing, 

 stationery, and blank books, $281,200; munici- 

 pal service examining boards, $25,000 ; coroners, 

 $54,700; commissioners of accounts, $32,500; 

 sheriff, $132,132; register, $130,250; armories 

 and drill rooms, wages, and allowance to trustees 

 of Seventh Regiment armory, $75,'047; jurors' 

 fees, $70,000 ; preservation of records, $45,400 ; 

 street and park openings, $200,000; libraries, 

 $46,500 ; salaries city courts, $386,300 ; salaries 

 judiciary, $1,185,545.54; charitable institu- 

 tions, $1,478,723.95 ; miscellaneous, $209,967.93 ; 

 total, $39,976,960.04 ; deduct general fund, $2,- 

 500,000 ; grand total, $37,476,960.04. 



This statement shows that the amount allowed 

 for 1895 is $39,976,960.04, which is reduced by 

 deducting the general fund, made up by receipts 

 from various sources during the year, including 

 the unexpended balance of previous years, 

 amounting to $2,500,000. The total amount to 

 be raised by taxation is $37,476,960.04, which 

 represents an increase of $1.312,702.35 over 1894. 

 It is accounted for by the $700,000 increase for 

 police salaries, the $300.000 increase for salaries 

 in the Street Cleaning Department, made man- 

 datory by the last Legislature ; the increase of 

 $800,000 allowed the Board of Education, mid 

 the $150,000 allowed the Department of Char- 

 ities. 



Wealth of the City. The board having this 

 trust in charge is composed of 3 tax commis- 



