NEW YORK 



4200 



NEW YORK 



has a number of ports of entry, among which 

 are Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, Oswego, 

 Ogdensburg and Plattsburg. Much of the do- 

 mestic traffic between the East and the West 

 passes through the state. In addition to this 



carrying trade, the great diversity of industries 

 within the state itself, combined with its large 

 population, makes its domestic commerce larger 

 than that of any other section of the United 

 States of the same area. 



Government and History 



Government. New York is governed under 

 the constitution adopted in 1894. This is the 

 fourth constitution the state has had, the other 

 three having been adopted in 1777, 1821 and 

 1846, respectively. An amendment to the con- 

 stitution can be introduced only after it has 

 been adopted by two successive legislatures 

 and has been approved by the people. A new 

 constitution was prepared by a special consti- 

 tutional convention assembled in 1915, but it 

 was rejected by the people. Counting from 

 1916, the question of revising the constitution 

 may be submitted to the people at the general 

 election every twenty years. 



The executive officials, the governor, lieu- 

 tenant-governor, secretary of state, state treas- 

 urer, state comptroller, attorney-general and 

 state engineer or surveyor, are elected for two 

 years each. The lieutenant-governor presides 

 over the senate. 



The legislative power is vested in a senate 

 of fifty-one members, elected for two years, 

 and an assembly of 150 members, elected for 

 one year. Sessions of the legislature begin on 

 the first Wednesday in January of each year, 

 and are not limited as to their duration. No 

 person is eligible to the legislature who at the 

 time of his election is, or within 100 days pre- 

 vious thereto has been, a member of Congress, 

 a civil or military officer of the United States, 

 or an officer under any city government. 



New York sends forty-three members to the 

 United States House of Representatives. 



The judicial system is headed by a court of 

 appeals, a supreme court and an appellate 

 division of the supreme court. The highest 

 court in the state is not, as in most states of 

 the Union, the supreme court, but the court of 

 appeals. This is composed of a chief judge and 

 nine associate judges, elected for fourteen years. 

 The supreme court consists of 101 judges 

 elected for fourteen years. The governor desig- 

 nates from the justices of the supreme court 

 those who shall constitute the appellate di- 

 vision. The state is divided into four judicial 

 divisions, and for each of them there is an 

 appellate division of the supreme court. The 

 County of New York by itself forms one divi- 



sion. Below these are the usual county and 

 lower courts. Justices of all courts must retire 

 when they have reached the age of seventy 

 years. 



For purposes of local government the state 

 is divided into counties, but the chief units of 

 local government are the cities, incorporated 

 villages and towns. The cities have been di- 

 vided according to population into three classes; 

 the first class contains those with 175,000 in- 

 habitants or more; the second class those with 

 50,000 to 175,000 inhabitants; and the third 

 class all the other cities. Each class is allowed 

 to organize its government according to general 

 plans established by the legislature. All spe- 

 cial laws affecting a city must be submitted to 

 the mayor for his approval. 



Other Statutory Provisions. Legislation since 

 1912 has resulted in a strict fire-prevention law 

 for factories, and its enforcement is in the hands 

 of the Industrial Commission. Several meas- 

 ures for the protection of the labor of women 

 and children are in force. Work for women in 

 factories between ten o'clock at night and six 

 o'clock in the morning is prohibited. Women 

 may not work in factories or mills within four 

 weeks after childbirth. A workmen's compen- 

 sation act has been in force since 1913. In 

 1915 a law was passed providing a pension for 

 widowed mothers, the object of which is to 

 prevent children from, being separated from 

 their mothers and sent to orphan asylums. For 

 the conservation of the natural resources of the 

 state a special conservation department has 

 been created. 



New York has a primary election law for the 

 nomination of all state officers. There are two 

 public service commissions, one for New York 

 City and another one for the rest of the state. 

 The public service commission has general 

 regulatory power over public service corpora- 

 tions and may determine the maximum rail- 

 way fare rates. 



Charitable and Penal Institutions. The state 

 maintains a large number of charitable and 

 penal institutions. State prisons are located 

 at Auburn, Ossining (popularly known as Sing 

 Sing) and Clinton, and the Great Meadows 



