496 



NEW YORK. 



terests of the State. The report of the commission 

 was transmitted by the Governor to the Attorney- 

 General, with a request for its examination in order 

 to determine " whether judicial proceedings should 

 be instituicil against any of the parties referred to 

 in the testimony or report." At the request of the 

 Attorney-General, Judge Edwin Countryman was 

 named as special counsel to aid him in examining 

 the documents submitted. Subsequently State Kn- 

 gineer Adams presented to Gov. Black a statement 

 concerning those portions of the report that reflect- 

 ed on his office, in which he characterized the work 

 of the commission as "cruelly unjust, unfair, and 

 unwarranted under the circumstances." Superin- 

 tendent of Public Works Aldridge commented on 

 the report, saying that "the findings of the com- 

 mk-i..n are nut warranted by the testimony or the 

 fa't >." and that " what were mere rumors and stories 

 of mismanagement, and which were denied under 

 oath, are reported as findings." Finally Judge 

 Countryman, on Nov. 30, reported that the conclu- 

 sions of the commission were warranted by the tes- 

 timony, and that both State Engineer and Surveyor 

 Adams and the Superintendent of Public Works 

 either have committed or permitted acts which 

 should be investigated by a grand jury. Mr. Al- 

 dridge at once asked that he ' be relieved from the 

 performance of the duties of my office until such 

 time as my responsibility for alleged wrongdoing 

 may be judicially determined." Accordingly, on 

 Dec. 2 he was suspended from office by the Governor. 

 The official date for closing the canals this year was 

 Dec. 10, the first clearing having occurred on May 4. 



Fisheries. The commissioners in charge of this 

 department are Barnet H. Davis, Edward Thomp- 

 son, William R. Weed, H. S. Holden, and Charles 

 S. Babcock. During the year 667,325 fingerlings 

 and yearlings of brook, brown, rainbow, and lake 

 trout were planted, in addition to the millions of 

 fry. The planting of the output of the hatcheries 

 during the year was : Brook trout, 3,8?!),402 ; brown 

 trout, 991,801 ; rainbow trout, 144,800 ; lake trout, 

 2,813,983 ; landlocked salmon, 2,054 ; steel-head sal- 

 mon, 14,503 ; Swiss lake trout, 4.200 ; shrimp, 20,000 ; 

 whitefish, 21,660.000 ; smelt, 45,000,000; ciscoes, 14,- 

 500,000 ; frostfish, 10,600.000 ; tomcods, 44,675,000 ; 

 shad, 10,118,000 : wall-eyed pike, 49.405.000 ; muscal- 

 longe, 3,035,000 : lobsters, 6,896,420 ; and black bass 

 (Oswego), 39,000. There were successfully prosecuted 

 316 cases for violation of the fisheries, and game, 

 forest law, resulting in a recovery by the people of 

 $10,728. Twenty-seven persons were convicted and 

 sentenced to the Penitentiary or county jail, while 

 many others were convicted and sentence suspend- 

 ed. There were 82 applications for oyster lots, 

 covering 672 acres, all of which were executed and 

 filed. Sixty-three leases of oyster lots were made, 

 and 68 oyster lots of different sizes and shapes were 

 located and surveyed, principally in Jamaica and 

 Sheepshead bays. 



Prisons. 1 hese are under the care of a superin- 

 tendent, who receives a salary of $3,000. The in- 

 cumbent at the beginning of the year was Austin 

 Latin-op, who was succeeded, on April 17, by Cor- 

 nelius V. Collins, who holds office for five years. 

 The prison population on Oct. 1, 1897, was : State 

 prisons (including female prison), 3,203; New York 

 State Reformatory. 1,525; House of Refuge for 

 Women, 408; penitentiaries, 3,7<>8: jails, 4,366; 

 total, 13,270. The total merchandise sales from 

 the three State prisons for the first eleven months 

 of 1897 were $194,014.13, of which $134.n-,':!.s2 were 

 made in August, September, October, and Novem- 

 ber. During the first eight months (ff the year, the 

 period of greatest idleness, there was an increase of 

 7 cases of insanity in the State prisons, and of 4 

 cases in the penitentiaries; a total increase of 11 



cases in a population of 6,971. These cases of in- 

 sanity, it is claimed, were not due to idleness, be- 

 cause they occurred mostly among those who were 

 employed, and were due to heredity, vice, and evil 

 habits. 



Insane. The charge of the insane is in the care 

 of a commission in lunacy, consisting of Peter 

 M. Wise, Goodwin Brown, and Henry A. Reeves, 

 who was succeeded by William L. Parkhurst. 

 Their reports for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 

 shows that there are nearly 21,000 insane in the 

 New York State hospitals, all of whom, except those 

 in private institutions, are now in well-organized 

 and well-managed hospitals, with the advantages 

 of curative treatment. While the hospitals have 

 been greatly improved in every respect, the cost of 

 administration has been largely reduced, the indi- 

 vidual cost during the year being $184.16 the low-, 

 est in the history of the State hospital system. 

 Prior to 1893 the cost of caring for patients in the 

 State hospitals averaged more than $222 a year. 

 The expenditures during the year were about $600,- 

 000. In every department improvements have 

 been made. A definite allowance has been made 

 for the amusement and entertainment of patients, 

 which very largely enter into their curative treat- 

 ment. Dances and other forms of amusement are 

 held each week in every hospital. These entertain- 

 ments are greatly enjoyed by the patients, and aie 

 a positive economical advantage. The amount ex- 

 pended has been sufficient for the purpose a litt'el 

 more than $1 a year for each patient. The mo.-itJ 

 gratifying feature is the rise of the recovery rate 1 

 In 1895-^96 it was 948, in 1896-'97 it was 951, 

 while during the past year it gained nearly 10 per 

 cent., reaching 1,018. New building is rapidly go- 

 ing on, and soon all of the insane on Hart's and 

 Blackwell's islands will be removed to comfortable 

 quarters and surroundings. Another large group 

 of buildings is about to be erected at the Man- 

 hattan State Hospital Farm for the Insane, on Long 

 Island. 



Labor Statistics. This department is under 

 the charge of a commissioner, who receives a salary 

 of $3,000. The incumbent during the year was 

 John T. McDonough. The investigations of the 

 bureau for 1897 were devoted to three subjects: 

 First, the economic condition of organized labor; 

 second, the ownership and operation of electric and 

 power, gas and water plants ; third, the agricul- 

 tural conditions in the State. The data for the 

 economic condition of organized labor were ob- 

 tained by means of quarterly reports from labor 

 organizations as to membership, total time of 

 employment, and earnings of members during the 

 quarter, the unemployed, rates of wages, and hours 

 of labor. On March 31 927 organizations reportiid 

 a total membership of 142.670; on June 30 975 

 unions reported a membership of 151.206; and on 

 Sept. 30 1,009 organizations reported 167.454 mem- 

 bers. As to idleness, the report shows that, <)*' 

 March 31, 43,631 members of unions were out of 

 work ; on June 30 the number was 27,378 : and 

 Sept. 30 23,230 were reported idle. The average 

 number of days of work for each member during 

 the first quarter was, for men, 58, for women. (i3; 

 during the second quarter it was 69 for men and 'in 

 57 for women : while for the third quarter it was 67 

 for men and 66 for women. The average earnings 

 for each member of the unions were, in the first three 

 months, $155.06 for men and $85.63 for women; 

 during the second three months $159.12 for nun 

 and $81.39 for women ; and for the three months 

 closing with September $174.4(1 fur men and s'.il.- 

 80 for women. As to the ownership and operation 

 of electric and power, gas and water plants, repl.es 

 to inquiries were received from !)7 electrical coin- 



