The New York Herald Newspaper, January 5, 1870, Page 4

and prudent economy ; but in regard to this great interest the Stave cannoy aiford to be pare ‘fhe problem for solution is not merely pest for the time, but what is the system for managing the canals so that the ‘State and (he peopie everywhere may realize to the fullest extent, now and uereatier, ue great advan- lages Whey Were designed tosecure. Experience has shown that they cuunol, under existing laws, be 80 managed as to msure the best results for the State or lor those who are engaged and interested In the business of transportation. ihe contract system for repairs has proved a failure, and | reaew my recom- mendation of last year iat 1 be abolished. ‘Vurtous opjecuons have been and may voutinue to be interposed Lo other methods, and IL may be dit eult to secure an agreement in the Legislavure upon any speci plan of management, in View of this possthilivy and as the constitution provides that the canals Shall remain the property of tue'state aud be wader 18 Management forever, ire- spectiuily recoumend that diseretionary powers, to the fullest exvent permitted by tue Coustitntion, over te canals aud everything conuected with the working of them, be conferred upon the Canal Doard, to the end that they may adopt the best prac- tical plan or combination of plans. They ure & con sutwtional body Which it seems to me may be properly charged with stich responsibility “and dtuty. in thew hands the Slate might be enabled to realize ali the beneilts of buik the contr nu su- perintenient systems and be saved irom tle evis moident to citner alone, ‘Vey could establish aud enforce such police reguiations as would protect M Navigation against the obstruc- trong and deiays to which they ure now ofien need- Jessly subjected. Yhey cowa contract for repairs when in their judgment it was mos¢ advisable, and they could have work done under superiutendents when they considered the interests ol the State would be therevy subserved. They could use what ig gooa and what is bad im any system; and knowing, as they are bound to know, ihe whole Workand 114 liecessilies, could through the proper oficers secure the best practical resulta with the lowest possible expenditure. Itseems very certain that important reductions may be wade in caval tolls, Every interest demands that such reductions shouid be made. Lam informed that the Canat Board will recommend lower rates, and I ask the prompt concurrence of the Legisia- ture, ‘The State Engineer will, in his report, recommend certain specific uprovements, 1 ask for Lis recom. mendations your most favorable conside: ation. KDUCATION. 1 submit the following statement in reiation to common schov's for the year ending Sepicmver 30, 1869:— ‘Total receipts from all sources, including balance on hand at the commencement of we fiscal year... ‘Total expenditures. . $11,810,552 9,834,528 Balance on hand............se.e0s0+ $1,426,024 More than $6,000,000 was paid for teachers’ wages, and nearly $2,500,000 for school bouses, sites, repairs and furniture, Tue exact figures will apovar by the report of the Superinvendent of Kducation. ‘there are Im the State nearly 1,600,000 children of schoo! age, about 1,060,000 of Whom attended the public schools during some portion of the year, While 126,000 were attending private schools, Six normal schools are aiso ta fall operation, the attendance on Which, In the aggregate, amounts to 4,200, ‘The total number of public school houses ts 11,698, and the cstimated value of these, with their sites, more than $15,000,000, Phese iacts show ihe great proportions to which our cominon sciool system has grown. ihere may be defects 1n it, but taken a8 a whole it commands and receives the hearty commendation ana the cordial support of the great body of the people. Under our form of government, in which the voice of the people 18 So potential, the State has a direct interest in so educating Lie musses Unul they may intelligently understand their duties as citizens; and no tax shoul be paid more cheerfully tian that which enables all, without rete to station or condition, to acquire the rudiments of a good Eng- lish education. ‘The Legisiavure should do ali im tts power to sustain ard periect # system Which aitas to accotapiish this result, ‘The condition of the colleges aad academies of the State will appear trom tue aunual report of tne Regents of the University. STATE PRISONS The report of the Comptrolier wiil show. in detail, the expenses and earnings of the several State pr.s- ons during the past year and give the necessary ex- planations thereof, ‘There have been, during the year, mutinous di turbances among the convicis, and the e: 3 Of the prisons continue to be iargely in excess of the earnings. I renew the objections made in my iast annual message Lo the Contract system for the em- ployment of tue prisoners’ labor. J¢ is a vicious one and should be abandoned. The discipline of tne prisons has been sertously affected by iegisiation which has deprived their oim- cers of nearly ai! discretion tu regard to punishment. A think the chief officer of each prison should be clothed with the fullest discretionary powers im re- Jation to the character and amount of punishment, subjeot to the trictiow That it shall be inflicted only in bis presence. 1 submit to che Legisiature that the subject of pri- 80 management lias become one of very great con- sequence and demands earnest attention. More con- centrated responsibility 18 needed, as weil as protec- lion against frequent cuanges of administrative officers. if 1s douvttul whether such results attained Without an amendment of the const making an entire change m the system. The comuulssioners appointed by me, pursuant to chapter 405 01 tie laws of 1860, Lo select a site and supmit plans for construction and management ofa State pevitentiary will, !am imiormed, make Lueir report to Lie Legislature at au eariy day. T nave visited during the year, alt the stave pris- ons, and given personal hearing to large nvers of convicts who desired vo present applications for executive clemency. The total number of applica- tions for pardon anda commutation of punishment, presented personally or m writing, and examined by ne, 18 about 600, Highty-six pardons and twenty commutatious have been granted, A full statement of the naines and of the reasons in cach case wil be transmitted toyou hereafter, . SALD SPRING: ‘The quantity of sait inspec salt springs durimg the last discal 8,534,661 bushels, a decrease of product pared with the previous year, ol 253,550 The revenue jor the yeur, $55,531; the expenses, $46, celved by the State being yeur was supervision Ww the ise of De Of these many are incorporations created by other States or by foreign coontries, doing business within this State, Tne total amount of stocks and mortgages held by the department for the protection of policy holders of jife and vasuaity nsurance companies of this State, and of foreign companies doing business within it, is $6,736, Of these the value of $4,001,142 11 Se- curivies ia held for the protection generally of policy holders in Ive insurance companies of this 3 For the protection of registered policy holders, clustvely, ivere are on Land securities to the auiount of $937,000. BANKS. During the last fiscal year tuere have been re- turned, destroyed and cancelica, by the Bauk De- partment, $15,316 of the circulating notes oi the banks of tis State; of which amount $46,! the notes of incorporated banks, aud 82%: the notes of banks organized under we General Banking law, The amount of Stove bank circulation outstanding ‘on the 80th of september last was $2,689,059, of which $1,396,903 Ww of bank- ing associutions and individual bankers, organized unaer the Gencral Banking law, and $1,202,155 were notes of incorporated banks. ‘The whoicof the tor- mer and $372,072 of the r are se. cured by bonds and wges, govern- ment or State stocks, wud cash ’ deposited with the Superintendent of the Bank Depart. ment, leaving but $470,044 of nasecuved eirculauion ontstanding, a large portion of waich, it is pre- sumed, has been destroyed and the remainder Is always redeemed on presentation by the representa tives of the banks which issued the Tue toval amount of securities b intendent of the Bauk Department at th the fiscal year was $3,058,106, of which $ la by the Super- close were held for banking associations and individ bankers, $294,200 for Incorporated bunks and $525.- 318 for Incorporated trust companies. A detailed statement of these securities will be fonnd in the annual report of the Superintendent of the Bank Deparument, Fifty-seven banks are now doing basiness under the laws of this State, but, of course, Issue nd lating notes. Of these s have returned to the S system from tie national, under the provisions of the enabling act of 1867. Several other national banks are reported as having in contemplation a similar change of organization. une bundred and tweniy-eight savings banks are now organized and doing business in this State, with au aywregate of assets exceeding $10 000,000. The magnitude and the importance of this imter- est. seem to demand a more intimare guardiansmp and more care(ui supervision t is now afford- ed. An amendment to existing Ws requirmg, or at least authorizing a personal ex of these institutions, under the @ the Superinten ent of the Bank Departm in my judgment, worthily supplement what has a been done in the direction of securing safety and efficiency In their management, and a fuil dis. closure of their real condiyon for the information and greater security of thir depositors, The sup- ject is respectiully submitted to your favorable con- eideration. MILITARY AFFAIRS. The uniformed militia, designated by law “The National Guard of the State of New York,"’ numbers 25,086 oficera, non-comuissioned officers aad pri- vates, and consists of three regiments of cavalry, one battalion of cavalry, four troops of cavalry three battalions of artillery, eight batteries of artil- lery, forty-seven regiments of infantry, three pat- tations of iniantry. ‘The isiature of 1869 authorized a reduction of the maximun force to 20,000, Three regiments Nave aircady been mustered out, aud further disband- ments are now in progress. The report of the Adjutant General, which will be ee ae to youstan early day, contains many vaiuabie Mee to which I ask your favorabie attention. le recommends, among other things, a transter to county authorities of arsenals not neces- sary for State purposes: the substitution of breech. loaders of the kind adopted by the War Department, in place of arms now jn use, apd a codification of military laws conta!ning important amendments. ‘The State military agencies have. during the year, Collected from the United States for back pay, voun- ties and pensions, and paid over to the several claimants, $14,829. . Fifty thousand dollars was appropriated by the Legisiature last year to redeem certain certificates Meued to the soldiers of the war of 1412. Twenty. NEW..YORK. HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEET. ‘six hundred and thirty-one of these certificates, ex- ug the whole pon have been ex- amined and audited, re are, I have reason to believe, many families of these old soldiers whose claims are yet upprovided for. They deserve your favorable attention, ‘The first division of the National Guard. in the ity of New York, which numbera 10,000 men, fon seriously the want of o pronee. parade ground, [ bas been ited that the Central Park Commis. sioners night be authorized to take landa in the viemity of tne Park for the purpose; and it is be- lieved by many that the additional le value conter on adjomng mroperty ‘will compensate for the cost. I recommen matter to your con- sideration. ° CHARTTI8S AND ASYLUMS. Trefer you to the official report of the Commia- sioners of Charities, which will be duly transmitted to you, for iniormation in detail of the operation of our several State charities. I recommend to your favorable consideration the ciaims of the uufor tunate ciasses, lo whose relief the State asylums and other institutions are devoved, J earnestly cail your attention to the necessity of addiuonal legislation for the penefit of the insane poor throughont the State, Their condition in the county poorhouses is depiorable. None are so help- jess; none for the most part so friendless. They are often abandoned by their relatives, who, whatever their mnelination, have not the means of giving thous the care they need, No provision suitabie to their condition and their wants can de made on a small scale. They require, generaliy, the discipline and the treatment which cam be had only 10 large, weil organized Insututtons. under the charge of men Who have made this Vp form of disease a special windy. It1s tmpracticable for each county to pro- vide properly for the few sufferers of this class who are ‘ound within its limits. Their presence in the county poariousee 18, from the inadequate care that can there be bestowed upon them, aud from the cruel restraint which is often of necessity resorted to, demorali to the nelgbbornood, Interest, duty and charity demand that further provision be made at once for this uniortunate class. ‘The State should provide asylums, with room for the poor thus afficted who cannot be taken care of otnerwise, and the aathorl- ties of each county should be required to send to them its insane poor, and to pay such sum for their support while in the State institutions as may be proper. The Willard Asylum, now in process of construction, and in ial operation, will have accommodations for of this class, aud the Hud- gon River Asylum and the one to be erected in the Eighth judicial district will also, when completed, accommodate a limtted number; but tt ts estimated that tlitre are now more than 1,500 of insane poor in Fi State outside of the counties of New York and nes. it 18 probable that many of those who are classed among the insane poor are so harmless or 60 man- ageuble that iamilies and friends could take care of them if pecuntary ald were coutributed toward their support. In such cases the superintendents of the poor should be authorized and required to pay to those who would assume their care such weekly or monthly stipend as should be necessary and proper. ‘This would prevent the overcrowding of the State institutions, yet add nothing to the county charges, In connection with the subject of msanity, I re- Spectiully suggest that you will give favorabie con- gideration to the application which will be made on Dehall of tne State asylum at Utica, for authority to appoint a special pathologiss for the duty of makmg Such investigations as seein to be now demanded oy medical science. The reasons for this will be tally siated in the report of the Superintendent of that institution, which will be transmitted to the Legis- lature. THE NEW CAPITOL. The money thus far exvended on the new Capitol, according to a statement furnished me by the Comp- troller 18 31,263,540, of which'sum about one-half has been paid for land. ‘The appropriation made last year was expended before the autumn of 186%. It seemed wo be clearly the interest of the State that the work should not be interrupted. so — as the condition of the weajher permitted its continuance, An arrangement was made, therefore, with the consent of the Executive and the Comptrolier, by whicn $300,000 were ad- vanced to the Commissioners and deposited with ite Comptrolier, to be drawn out on proper vouci- ers. I recommend that provision be made for the repayment of this advance and for carrying on this work during the coming year. QUARANT ‘The hospital on the West Bank, in the lower bay ef New-York, has been finished. The siructure to be used a3 a boarding stations near completion. ‘The report of the commissioners will fruish more detailed information, and also the statistics in ret- erence to diseases which are subjected to quaran- tune. The commiastoners deem some turther appro- priation of money necessary, in order to enable them still further to strengthen the works under their charge. 1 recommend their suggestions to favorable and careful consideration, IMMIGRATION, During the past year the number of immigrants landed at the port of New York was 260,000, show- ing an increase, a8 con witn the year 1865, of 46,314. For more detailed information | respecifull refer you to the report of the Commissioners of Kmi- gration, which will be transmitted to you at an early day. GENERAL AND SPECIAL LAWS. At its last session | was obliged to dissent fre- quently from the Legislature in referenve to bills Jimited in their application to localities or atiording reuief in special cases, when, as it appeared to me, we proper course would have been to amend the general laws pertaining to the subject or to pass hew general laws. The Legislature, on the recon- sideration which the coastttution in such cages im- poses upon it, m every instance concurred in and sustained my views, Nevertheless the statute book of 1869 contains nine hundred aud twenty acts and 1s almost as bulky a volume as that of any previous year. This multiplying of laws 1s a serious evil and in my judgment unnecessary. 1 recommend to you the careful examination of all existing general laws, with a view to ascertain what amendinents are necessary im order to Jeasen the number of applications made at every session for special legislation. An important amendment to the general laws was passed at (he last session enlarging the powers of the Boards of Supervisors over roads and bridges and other matters in relation to which the Legisia- ture has heretofore been catied upon to pass many special acts, I submit, for your consideration, whether the legislative powers of the Boards of Su- pervisors over these and other subjects of strictly local interest may not, advantageously, be still fur- ter enlarged. vhe rapidiy inereasing population of Westchester county ana paris of Long isiand, in the immediate vicinity of New York and Brooklyn, renders neces- sary the laying out of roads and avenues of @ char- acter which could not well be provided for in the general Jaws applicable to other portions of the ptate. Hence there are frequent demands upon the Legisiature to create special commissions to take eharge of such work, 1 recommend that @ law be passed. covering all such cases in these localities, which wil render future applications to the Logisia- ture unnecessary. T recommend tue enactment of a general law pro- Viuing for the appraisal and payment of claims or damages arising or resuiting from matters con- nected with the canals, recommend, also, the examination of the general Jaw passed at the last session concerning savin banks, to the end that, if necessary, it may be amended so that special charters ior these institu- tions shail not hereatter be requisite; and taat no special bills for savings banks be passed at this session, unless the parties appiying shall have complied with the general law of last session; also tat the general law lor the organization of fire com- panies in towns be amended; it makes no provision for hook and ladder and hose companies; also for your consideration that the limit now imposed upon the amount of property permitted to be held by literary, musical and other societies be enlarged; also some provision, by general law, under which eburches and societies may aiter their names with- out contng to the Legislature for authority to do so in every special mstance, 1 also recommend the careful examination of the . general laws for the incorporation of villages, to ihe end that a form of charter may be provided under which the needs of every municipality of that grade may be met, and that applications for special Village charters and for gmendments to charters may ho longer be necessary. , I iso recommend that Ail existing Village charters 6e, by the provisions of the act suggested, made to conform to the general model of the proposed perfected Jaw. The charver of the village of Oswego is to be found complete ouly be reference to fourteen separate acts of the Lewisiature, passed at as many separate sessions, A fjveench amended charter was propused last ses- gion, but fatied to obtain the executive approval. Th seems Lo me to be no reason why Village cnar- evs should not be, ike our town governments, uni- form in character. 1 recommend that all laws which bave been passed conficting with the principie of unvormity im town governments, such as those which, in special instances, permit the votes for town ollicers to be taken by election districts mstead of in town meeting, be repealed. There is a deiect in the law providing for two justices of the peace tw sit as jus- tices of the sessions and of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. tion 40 of chapter 280 of the Jaws of 1847 provides that In case of absence of any justice of the sessions from any sitting of the court, or in case the office of any of the two justices of the peace who have been chosen justices of the sessions Shall be vacant, the county judge may designate some other jnstice of the peace to act. Section 3d of chapier 470 of tne laws of 1847 8o ainends the first named section as to leave no provision for appointment tn the case of a vacancy. In @ recent instance, by reason of tnis omission, the Court of Sessions could not be organized, I recom- mend the immediate passage of an act to remedy the defect. 1 deem it unneceseary to present argu- ments in support of these several recommendations, believing that the mere statement of the propost- Hons will secure for them the approval of the Legis- ature, CONSPIRACY LAWS. A statute of this State declares it be a misde- meanor for “two or more persons to conspire to commit any act injurious to trade or commerce.” Such & conspiracy, if tt assumes a magnitude which seriously threatens or affects the public welfare, deserves and should receive its proper punish- ment, ‘This statute, however, has for the most part, since ita adoption, more than forty years ago, been of little practicai vaiue. 1 cannot find, after a care- ful examination, that its provisions have ever been successfully invoked against capitalists or others for combining to raise the prices of grain, coal and other articles necessary for the comiort of the wh people, or to reduce the rate of wages, It has, how- ever, been evoked on several occasions against and heen by the courts construed to apply to journeymen and others for combining to raise the rate of wages or to make and enforce regulations which they deemed necessary for their mutual welfare, Cases have recently ocourred in Westchester county where ‘the law bas been enforced agalust persons engaged trustees, und in cities be appoin In the fast named combinations. Ido not believe hat the existence of @ siatute waich can be #0 peg ‘as to make such acts criminal is productive of any public beneit. I do beiteve it to be juctive rather of public evil. Like all other laws which from their nature Ore likely to be executed unequally, it operates, when it operates at all, oppressively. I' recommend, therefore, a repeal of this consp) law, or such modification of it a8, While 1t forbids @ conspiracy to injure the gen- eral trade aud commerce of the State or country, will do away with that judicial constraction which ukes it equally criminal for citizens to combine lor the purpose of securing an increage of the wages of labor, or of establisning and maintaining pru- dential regulations for their mutual interest and rolest ts INJUNCTIONS AND RECEIVERS, Trecommend also the passage of a law forbidding the granting of injunctions or the appoinsng of ree celvers in oases allecting moneyed aud ober corpo- rations on ex pare applications. i think it would be far better even that the writ o1 injunction should be abolished altogether than that It suould continue 40 be the cause of the unseemly collisions between os iad which have been frequent lor some years past APPRENTICE LAWS. Tam informed that apptication will be made tothe Legislature for & reviion oi the laws relating to ap- preatices., Upe of the complaints aguinst the existiug statutes is that, while they impose severe penalties Upon apprentices for viola won of the provisions of their indentures, they do not rd suiticient protection to tho apprentices themselves. it is claimed, and with justice, that the employer shoald not only be bound to PhOronay tosiruct his apprentice in all tne mys- teries of lis business and culling, but tuat proper penalties should be tmposed upon him for violation of ihis duty. The State should make due provision for the enforcement of all contracts affecting per- gons under age; and it 18 tho interest of the cowimu- Diy Lo secure the greatest amount of skilled lavor in alt mechanical occupativ: I recommend the whole subject of revising the apprentice laws te your prompt and careful consideration. REVISION OF STATUTES. 1 again invite your attention to the importance of & revision of the statutes of this State. During the first forty-eight years of our history the Legwiature rovided for four diiferent revisions. The last act for that purpose Was passed on the 21st of April, 1825, and the last revision was completed in 1523. Since that time a new constituion has been putin force; the State courts have been reorganized; a new system of practice has been adopted and many acts have been passed materially affecuing the pro- visions of previous laws, ‘lhese changes, 60 numer- ous and important, and extending, as they now do, througn at least fifty volumes, create great ‘diili- culty and sometimes uncertalocy in ascertaining the exact state of the law. A new revision, oy whictt ail laws of a general nature shai! be collected to- gether and the various acts Tuasing to the same subject arranged and consolidated, is greutly needed. NEW JUDICIARY. ‘The amended constituuon proposed by the con- vention which closed 18 sessions February 23, 1803, Was submitted to the electors at the last gencral election, pursuant to chapter 218 of the laws of 1869, and that portion known ag the juuiclary article was adopted. It will be the duty of the Legisiature to pass the necessary jaws to carry into tuil working Operation this aruicle, which becomes the sixth arti- cie of the consiitution of the State, aud [ recom- mend that it be done as early in the session as may be practicabie, REGISTRY AND ELECTION LAWS. Trespectfully call the attenwion of the Legislature to the want of uniformity in the registry and elec- tion laws of the State. All laws reiaung Lo elections should be untiorm in their principles anu general in their application. Toe open and corrupt use of money at the polls and elsewhere to control elec- tions 18 @ great evil and demands your earnest at- tention, The laws which aim to secure the people in their right of speaking through the ballot box siould be stringent and rigorously eniorced. They snould not embarrass tne electors, yet tiey should guard, with the greavest care, against frauds at the polls or in the canvass, ‘Ine Legisiature should spare no efforts in this direction, It 1s to be teared, however, that no iaws, though carelully aud séilfuliy devised, can protect the purity of the ballot vox, unless your Jegislation can reach what 1s the fundamental evil, the corrupt use of money in elections. In consider. ing this subject, it must not ve overlooked that grave doubis are expressed by very intelligent men, whether our present registry laws, while they often- Umes embarrass honest voters, are, m any material degree, efiective for the prevention of frauds; and there are many who belleve, after a fair and full trial of them, that far better results would be attained by providing every where for the establishment of sinail- er polling Gistriois, and the fuil and free exercise of the privilege o1 challenge on the day of election. ‘rhe subject is of the greatest importance, and demands your earnest consideration; for the whole sysiem of our government depends upon maintaning and pre- serving the purity of elections. CRIMINAL LAW. There are frequent cases of murder, a3 the crime is now defined, in wich the jury are unwilling to con- Vict, because Of #o little deliberation in the ace, that Uhey think it does not deserve the puuistiment of death, They acquit or find a verdict of mansiaughter in some inierior degree; or they convict of saurder with a recommendation to mercy, and so Lhrow upon the executive we responaibiilty of deciding whether the death penalty shall ve enfore A simpie change in the statute would, in my judgment, secure @ far belter administration of criminal laws and a more certuin punishment of crune thao is now attamed. {I earnestly renew the ro commendation mate last year, what ex- press provision be made by statute, thas In all cages of murder where the degree of premedi- tation or the circuinstances attending the homicide do not in the opinion of the jury justity punishment by death they may render a Verdict of murder ina less degree, to be punished by imprisonment for life or for a termof years in the discretion of the court, By existing provisions of law courts of Sessions have the power in cases of conviction by them wo grant new triais upon the merits or for irregularity or on the ground of newly discovered evidence, I re- commend that the same power be conlerred upon the Oyer and ‘ferminer or upon the Supreme Court in cases of conviction by the Oyer and Terminer. Ialso suggest for your consideration whether it Would not be well to abolish, a3 bas been done in England and some of the States, the common law which forbids the trial of an accessory to a felony until after the conviction of the principal offender. It often operates to screen guilty m: ‘om punish. ment, and 80 to detgat ing spot th oe, In my Jast annual message 1 recommended the repeal of the Metropolitan District Excise law for the reasons, among others, that it was loeal and not general, that its provisions were unnecessarily harsh, needlessly violated private rights and un- duly interfered with the social customs of large uumbers of sober, temperate, law-abiding citizens, Whose enjoyment of such customs aid not prejudice general morals or public order, This law also authorizes arrest wituout Warrant, and under 1tg operation a system of espionage has grown up as degrading to the police who ure compelled to carry it out as it is to the people who suder fromit. For these reasons [ agatn recommend iis repeal. Excise laws should be uniform in principle and generat in their application throughout the Staie, regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors under due restric- tions as to time and piace, anning to secure order and decorum on every day of the week, fully recog. nizing the general sentiment prevailing in favor of @ proper observance ot Sunday (as has always been done m the statuves of the State trom the earliest period of its history), yet {ree from the intolerant provisions which characterize the preseat Metropolitan District law, and which are wholly unnecessary to the atiainment of these ends. Boards of excise should consist of, or be ap- pointed by, some local authority. Lrecommend tie abolition of the county boards a8 now organized throughout the State, and the substitution of locat boards, to be composed of the supervisors &nd jus- tices of the peace of the several towns. This was the old system under the Revised statutes, and it has not, in my judgment, been improved upon by the subsequent legisiation. Jn villages the board might properly consist of the president and board of ut by the Mayor. COMMISSIONS AND OITY GOY NTS. The coustitation of 1846 recognized, for the pur- poses of local government, counties, cities, towns and villages, and no other territorial divisions, and provided that the officers thereof should be elected by the electors of sucli counties, cities, towns and Villages, or some division thereof, or appointed by such authorities thereof as the Legisiature should aesignaie. This provision was intended to secure the right of sell-government in local alfairs against any possible encroachment er violation. For the euroes of evading it the Legisiature created new jistricts (so-called), made up of two or more adjoining counties, and established within their limits various independent boards and commissions, ia which all powers reiating to police, fire, excise and heaith, or some Of Liese subjects, are vesied, and the members of which commissions are not elected by the people of the localities or appointed by the authorities thereof. The constitutionally of this legisiauion was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, although it is hardly denied that 118 an evasion of the spirit of the constitution, The effect was in every tastance, practically, 10 give the political minority in the ais- wr the power, through the central authority at the capital, of governing the majority. Itcannot be denied that there were evils in municipal were seized upon as a pretext for this extraordinary legisiation. ‘The intelligent sentiment of the com- munity to-day declares that such legisintion was unwise, and that the true remedy for the evils com- plained of was nvutip laws of the character men- tioned, but in @ thorough reorganization of Municipal governments upon sound principles. L have always been opposed to the jaws referred to, and have recommended, and do now recommend, their repeal, and a thorough revision of the charters of these cities embraced in any of these districts, in order to insure an early return to the aystein of local seli-government a3 guaranteed by the constitu- tion. Existing charters are radically defective, inasmuch as there is an almost entire absence of executive power in the Mayor; and, as | said in my Jast annual message, no government can be secured to any great city unless it shall have a re- sponsible head, in whom shall be vested all execu- tive power, and to whom, as the elected represent- ative ef the peopl tl departments charged with administrative duvie 1 be directly and summa- rily responsible and accountable. I believe this to be the very foundation stone of a good structure of mavicipal government. Chis subject isone in which the people of the whole Staie feel a deep interest, and in regard to which toey will expect prompt and Judicious legisiative action. RARLY LEGISLATION, Tt is the practice to supmit the annual tax levies Of the city and county of New York to the Legisia- ture for approval. For many years past the con- sideration of these and of the several appropriation bills for the State government has been delayed until vernments existing at the time which | alate period of the session. The Exeoutive is, by this delay, practically deprived of the opportunity to progens objections. ifany he bas, to the provisions of these important bills, to the end that, if bis objec- tons, vpon reconsideration by the Legislature, be deemed valid, the billa may be amended. Not only these but many other bills of great importance bynes last year, presenied to me at the very of the so that no alternative was lef’ me but to rove, nothwithstanding some objectionable deta or alsapprove the bills and let them to become a at great public inconvenience. For these reasons Tevommend that the city and county tax ievies, as weil ag all bills appropriating moneys for the support of the State qgrerument, be taken up early 10 the session, and also that nsideration of yc ol bills of great eral importance be post] longer than the state of pubiic business makes ne- cessary. ibave now, as far as it seems to me necessary, presented to You facts and tions connected with the condition of our own State. Our especial duty is to promote the public g004, by laboring to seoure » more prudent, honest and home government. Recognizing the goodness of God, grateful to Him for all His mer- cies, ncknowledging our dependenve upon Him, looking to Him for wisdom and gaidanee, trasting Fim to lead us through all th which beset us, let us all, in our respective , labor to or eba ive foate Aa ing country substantial prosperity and real enduring peace, PEDERAL APFAIRS, The Jon! of this State are deeply concerned in a wise administration of federal affairs. As represent- ing them { believe it to be my duty, before closing pe. a af Hd call Pca ener oe to aceon against, whatever in the policy o! general gov- ernment strikes at their commercial and agricuitu- ral interests, or 19 in any way prejudicial to their wellare. 1 protest against the revoiuttonary course of Cor with reference to amendments of the constitution of the United States, by which, among their other efforts at centralization, they seek the absolute control of elections in the States. Power- less themselves to amend i¢ by direct and unabie to procure the voluntary consent of three- fourths of the States, they force the consent of the Southern States as @ condition to tation: and thus override and nallify the of others, I protest the President of the United pee Doeaealb subjecting the peopie of Georgis anew to military re- lations with the federal government having been recognized by the federal authorities as complete. T protest against the longer exclusion repre- sentation of any of the States; if any one be ex- cluded the rights of all are unsettled, and the har ony of our government is destroyed. THE TARIFF LAWS, I protest against the favoritism of our present tari? laws, which have virtually destroyed American shipping. and which bear oppressively upon the masses of the people aud especially upon the great agricultural States, between whom and our own State the relations are close and intimate, aud upon whose aeey iota and freedom from unjust exac- tions depend largely the welfare of the whole coun- try, and its ability to defend its honor and pay its dékts. [ protest against postponing, as has been suggested by the President of the United States, the revision of these laws. The evils connected with them are alreaqy of long continuance, and imme- digte reiiet 18 mg ae Our taxation for the accumulated responsibilities and present cost of the federal government is heavy. Its weight will be felt the more severely now tbat low prices for our agricultural and other products are likely to prevail. The people suomit cheerfully to all taxes bagengpe for the support of the governiment and of its cfodit, whey have & right to demand, however, that the burden of a very heavy taxation shall be fairiy and equally adjusted, and 80 adjusved as to interfere a3 little as possible with their daily comfort, It is the direct interest of the people at large that they shall be able to buy cheaply whatever they bave to buy. Our preseut tari of duties on imports compels the many to pay high prices tor ‘he benefit of a few. Although en- acted daring the great need of the government, it was, nevertueless, framed not for the one great end of giving the federal Treasury the largest income, but with the view of favoring certain special private interests. No government has a right to tax, except to obtain its necessary revenue. To impose taxes upon articles of daily need for the mere purpose, by increasing their price, of favoring the capitalists engaged tu their manufacture or pro- duction 1s an abuse of the taxing power. So long as laws are enacted upon this principle powerful com- binations will be formed among those whose speci: interests are to be benedicially affected by them, to push through schemes which favor their private usiness, regardless of the interests alike of the peopte and of the federal 'Ireasury. Laws of this bane feng, to the bojiding up of moneyed monopolie: 1 ogation Of capilal in iew hands, and to the creation and sirengthening ot an illegitimate influenct which Congress becomes more and more subject, In enforcing duties mtend- ed to be probibitory, an extraordinary and very costly body of officials is made necessary, the temp- tation to smuggling aud fraud Is increased, and offl- elal delinquency 1s made common; evils which would be avolaed, while the revenue would not be decreased, by a return tothe simple duty of govern- ment and to moderate imposts. To make a just tari of duties the principle of favoritisiy should be avaydoned altogether, phe Aneiple be aduiltted, neo ifmit can be placed on the abuses dnder It. GENERAL FINANCES. I protest against the continuance of a financtal policy which Jails elther to strengthen the pubiic credit or to diminish the people’s burdens; whica keeps values uncertain and unsettled; which bafies business foresight; Which, while permitting the sale of government gold, leaves the country subject to all the evils of an irredeemable paper currency; whica threatens to witharaw from the people what 13 now in use as money before providing a substitute; which, undefined in character and variable in action, ex- poses the business of the country constantly to the ebances of disastrous panics; which seeks to exert & Nuctuating control over the gold inarket, insiead of making steady progress towards permanent soundness in Onanucial condition; which can suggest no method of meeting the legal tender promises, except to get them back from tue people by a pro- cess of contraction both peinful and dangerous; which neglects to redeew gai Lender Lotes held everywhere among the people; yet, with the proceeds of excessive taxation, purchases at a premium bonds that the government is under no obligation to pay for nearly fifteen years; which saves afew mil- fiona atinually ju interest on the bonds thus pur- chased, whei, by raising the credit of the country to its proper level, many millions more could be saved by the nego‘iation of a new loan at a lower rate of interest; which assumes that the rate of in- terest ou our bonds can be iowered at the sole will of the borrower, or that capitalists who now hold bonas paving six percent iaterest in gold can be persuaded to exchange them voluntarily for bonds bearing only four and a haif per cent; which, fa'ling to devise &@ permanent financial systein to which the business of the country could, without un- due sacrifices, conform, substitutes a series of experiments that entail losses upon individuals, ‘without contributing to the general good: wiuch sug- esis no remedy for the fluctuating value of the legal tender notes, except that the government shall redeem these promises at a price fixed by itseif, which is to be less than their face, or, in other words, repudiate so much of its obligations, and which, va fauiing to secure the conildence of the capttalists of the world, keeps the goverument seca- rities below par tn gold everywhere, when, in view of the vast resources of the country, they shouid, even at five per cent interest, command a premium. We are enduring great evils from our irredeema- ble currency. The financial panic which occurred in New York iv September last threatened for a thae widespread disasier. A very hte increase of ibe then prevailing distrust might have thrown the whole business of the country into confusion. That panic would not have been possible but for our hay- ing in use as money something which, lacking the intriustc worth ot the precious metals, must depend jor i118 current estimated’ value upon the caprices of opinion. iy Money of shifting value is a curse to the great body of the people. it renders the rate of wages delusive, counteracis and defeats the economy of the household and makes the savings of labor, jaid up at the cost of much sell-denial, of uncertain and variable value. If we wouid avoid discouraging reguiar industry, and fostering, in its stead, a epirit of speculation, the money which we use to deaote the valne of what we have to buy and sell every day, and in which we fix the rate of wages, mnst be constant im its own value and not liabie to capri- cious fluctuations. it 18 @ misiortune that we ever departed from the use of the money of the constitution. Sooner or later we shall be obliged to go back to it, We have before us the alternatives of returning to a sound condition by wise and pradent efforts of our own, or of awaiting the possible advent of a finan- cial panic of greater iniensity than any we have yet witnessed, and a return to specie payments, at the cost of great and protracted suffering, by the operation of self-enforcing laws which are above our control. 1 do not believe that any contraction of the legal tender currency 1s necessary 1n order to reach specie payments. The amount of such paper 1s limited, and it is not seriousiy depreciated. We have not, as some other countries have done, issued paper money without limit aud to an unmanageabie extent, making the depreciation of 1t so great as torender it almost worthless and its restoration to par hopeiess. The whole gum of the legal tender notes scarcely exceeds the amount of com received In two years at our Custom Houses, ‘The amount of legal tender notes afloat on the Ist of Decemver last was, including fractional currency, $395,000,000. The present annual goid income of the ‘Treasury trom maport duties is $180,000,000, With the abandant resources of the federal Treasury it ought to be, and it 1s possibie, to leave this currency at lis present quantity, and yet put it, at no very dis- tant. period, at par, and thus to give settled pros- perity to the people and save them the distzess which ‘witl attend contraction. Alter the peace of 1815 England returned to spe- cle payments by contracting the volume of her paper money. She had no other means of reaching the resuit. She was not, a3 we are, @ gold producing country: and was obliged therefore to curtail her paper currency so as to force goid to flow in to her trom abroad. In consequence of this policy the trade and business of her people were crippled, general distress ensued ana immense numbers of those who lived by wages were deprived of their proper employment and condemned to idleness and want. The ten years from 1816 to 1825 was a period of fearful sififering in England and of repeated and most disastrous fnancial convulsions. We should take warning from her experience. We have no oc- caéion to force gold into this country from abroad. ‘We produce it largely at home, and all we yeed to do 1s to retain enough of our own product to effect Our purpose, NO BEPUDIATION, ‘The government is as muon bound to pay Ita legat notes bot in man a ees tae acetates ent to. money—t 2—01 : ‘They arein the pockets of the laborer and the far- mer, in the tilis of tradesmen, in the vaults of the banks as a part of aad as security for the deposits of the people, which pepoaie, tute available capl- tal essential to datly business, ‘The federal ‘Treasury, in the hour of its need, forced this irredeemabie paper on the Deople; it ba Matter of simple duty, now, in the time of its aband- ant resources, to redeom it, This paper displaced the coin which was botore in use. business of the country has adapted itself to the existing quantity of our presdht lawful money, and the pie rely upon this legal tender paper wherewith to all ordinary a 3 it 1s the sub- stance, too, in which bank notes are redeemed. and tm which all that vast aggregate of indebtedness known as bank deposits is payable. On this paper, therefore, the whole structure ot our interual bust- ness Now rests; and upon 118 soundness 18 dependent the substantial prosperity of the people. It 1s bad faith to the people to lessen its quantity or to take Trom it its legal tender quality until it is paid. ‘THR CONTRACTION THRORY. When coin occupied the same place in our money system-which 1s now held by the legal tender notes any serious withdrawal, from whatever cause, of the gold then in use from the general circulation in- variably produced financial trouble, The with. drawal of legal tender notes now must be followed by like trouble. The theory of those who advocate contraction 1s that so soon a3 the 1 tender notes shall have been reduced to $250,000, or some other theoretical sum the government wiil able to make this reduced quantity redeemable in con, and #0 put the notes at par with gold. If 1b will be possibile to put the lesser quantity at par by making it redecmable, it ts obvious that, with @ little more effort, the present quantity can be made redeemable and pub at fp and this eifort due from tne government to the OOIN AND PAPER MONEY, ‘The federal government is bound to restore coin je place which is formerly occupted in the business of she country, and from which tion of 80 mul page, of #0 uch of the peopl form of ready money. Sucn withdrawal would lessen every wbexe the resources for paying de! make all deb(s iess secure, diminish confidence render disastrous panics probable. Two kinds of money of unequal value will not @irculate together. government, therefore, cannot make coin take the place in general circu- lation of any portion of the notes which may withdrawn until the notes are first rendered equivalent to coin. This can only be done b: paring, them redeemabie in coin on demand. And it mast be borne im mind that this is all that 18 necessary to be done to restore general specie payinents. The banks are not 10 a state of jou; Lhey redeem their nofes and pay pale auspens: other debts'in the lawiul money of the councry; that lawful money were to-day equivalent to cot would find themselves and alt th customers paying specie without any effort on their part and without sny distress, It ts the government, and the government only, which has suspended payment: the legal ten- der notes alone Which are irredeemable. When the federal Treasury is ready to redeem tls legal tender promises in gold, as fast as the public are likely to present them, specie ments are thereby re- sumed ail over the country, without fur- ther cifors on the part of any one and witout inconventence to the people. Then, and not now, will be the proper tiine for taking in the paper; for such contraction can do no mischief. it will in fact be no contraction. The Treasury may then cancel every note so soon as it 13 pala; for gold and the notes being at par, the coin paid out o! the ‘Treasury will enter into the general circulation tn place of the notes redeemed; and no diminution of ime stock of lawful money in use will be forced on the people. The gaseptial fh oat present lawful money is to pe found not fn /ts quantity but in the fact that itis not redeemable; it 1, for that reason, depre- ciated. A less quantity would as certainly be de- Preciated, if that less quantity continued to be irrodeemable. Even a single mote, issued by tue government, or by any other debtor, without pro- vision made for its payment, would become de- preciated. The remedy which wisdom suggests {s to make the notes redeemabte, without pausing to dis- cuss the question of how much money the people ought to have in use. In looking back we see that When our miuney was good in quality no apprehen- sions were felt that too much of it would used. The government through ite mint alt the gola the people chose to bave coime statesmen may speculate, as they do, as to how much money is necessary and proper for the business of a country; but tus is a question beyond their wisdom, If the government will take care that the money tt issues is good, the people will regulate the quantity to ve used by their needa, it is the special duty of the federal Treasury, the issue of whose irredeema- ble paper has brought us our pres- eut Sona io a vue that there is an on au of cyin the coyatry 80 ag to make ihe Leansisiod ae pint currency to gola noth easy and permanent. Jt seems obvious that this supply of gold sNould be in the federal Treasury, which 1s responsivie for the only irredeemable paper now afloat, so that the coin may he ready, when the proper time comes, to flow promptiy out of the Treasury into general circulation in exchange for the notes redeemed. GOVERNMENT CREDIT. The first great duty of the government is to make its legal tender promises as good as gold. Having thus estabiished its credit, it will Gnd no diMicuity in negottaung joans at lower interest, and in man- aging its bonded debt. It cannot, any more than a private debior, hope for high credit white paying some devts and ignoring others. It 18 a delusion to suppose that the payment ofa few cf our bonds before they are due’ materially helps the public credit: the Treasury 1s not bankrupt as Lo its bonds; it Is paying the interest according to contract, and the priocipal is not yet due. This is not the point where the public credit needs to be helped. The Treasury 18 bank- rupt on its legal tender notes; for a failure to pay @ promise when ut is due is bankraptcy. No debtor improves his credit by anticipating the pay- ment of some of his obligations which are not due while he negiects to pay those which are due. Nor, does the payment of the bonds before maturity tend materially to lessen the burdens of the ople, Were we to cancel $100,000,000 of nds in any year there would result au annual saving of interest of 000,000, If, on the other hand, we could reduce the rate of interest on our jioans by only one per cent we should thereby effect at once a saving of over $20,000,000 a year for the whole time the debt may ran. Moreover, this paywent of the bonds before maturit; yn be made only out of surplus revenue—that 13 to say, by keep- ing up taxation to @ point far beyond the actual needs of the government, We wust not forget that financial laws are self- creafed out of the circumstances existing at the period, They cannot be constramed by legisiation, We shail be most likely vo avoid trouble by Late | the natarai soluuon of our present duficulty, which natural suluuion is, as it seems to me, that the power Which issued the irredeemable paper, under Which We Low suffer, should get ready to redeem it. GOVERNMENT GOLD SALES. “Spasmodic sales of gold from the Treasury impart no additional worth to the legal tender notes, Con- fidence ino ability to meet obligations 1s the only source of solid credit as well for the Treasury as for other debtors, Increasing public confidence in ihe growing abilily of the Treasury to meet the noves in coin Would operate not merely to aifect, from day to day, as Lhese sales do, the speculative price of gold, but towards the recognition of a greaier inirinsic value in the Jegal tender noite, and so to make the possible range of gold speculations narrower, Jt is obvious that saies of gold ont of the ‘Treasury cannot have the efiect of bringing legal teader notes actuaily and permanentiy nearer to the vaiue of goid; sor it woud ve absurd to maintain that the ‘Treasury. apy more than any other debtor, can, by paring with’ coin, made its ‘promises to pay coin more valuable. The Treasury saiea of gold have simply the eitect which ts always produced by throw- ing Upon any market a supply Of an article for which there 13, lin that market, a limited demand. All debts, with rare exceptions, being now payable in Jegal tender notes, the need of gold for use in busi- ness is not general, and therefore the demand for 1t is conflned to a few, and is a very limited one. Ina market so situated a very temporary and sinall over supply may depress It much below its true and cor- rect value as compared with legal tender notes, which depends ooviously on the prospect of the notes being paid in coin. Derangement of business 1s as certain to follow the artificial depression of gold below this true value as its elevation above it. Such a depression cannot be relied upon as lasting; nor does it atford any guarantee against great sub- sequent fuciuaiions, These Treasury sales, while they do not jmprove permanently the value of the government paper, confound the most prudent cal- Culations of business men, I must not be unaerstood as favoring any expan- sion of the legal tender currency. The government cannot at Fatcrily pay the notes of this Kind already issued. It would be utterly unjustifiable to put out @ny more of them. FEDERAL TAXATION. The federal Treasury is not warranted in taxing the people to keep up its present enormous surplus of revenues. It the country can be kept in a pros- perous condition every year of its growth will make the payment of the principal of the debt come easier. A moderate surplus beyond the interest on the de! and the expenses of government is ail that ts desir: ble or necessary to enable it to devote Itself e: ciently to the great, imperative duty of making its paper money good. REDEMPTION OF PAPER MONEY. The moment the people see that the government is getting ready to m its paper by providing itself with the only means of doing it the apprecta- tion in the actual value of tho legal vender notes will commence. It will conunue, and the pro- gress towards @ return of specie payments will be gradual, steady and certain. The very fact that the government is under a Axed and stavie, and not an experimental and variable polley, pre- Paring to redeem its paper, and will some day an- pounce its readiness to do so, would narrow the range within which specuiauon in gold would be possible. The current valne of the notes in the open market wil) ini when the proper time Ras for or. goad the goverament need not declare it vance. in . The moss sev land ruinous method of contracuon ‘wonlt ‘bo one that shoul G fhe value of these notes by regudar acute or is Suggested ty the Preaident ry by of whe Unted states; or any method oy. which into rméeress bearing seourites; for this would aot rigidly and Tupidly to take them out of circulation, Such 8 form Ee fig torn wives, t fear, no ‘ar inaies unpe- pon the le, but endanger the credit of the government ttbelt. i Jt 18 not necessary to discuss the propeietr. of the eigianl measures of which our present financial con- dition is the result. I simply consider tue questions which present themseives, taxmmg things as they are, It needs no great financial wisdom to se@ that the way to high credit is for tue Treasury to prepare itself wo pay all, its debts, ‘as woll its legal tender promises as its ds; that bigh credit is the condition precedent to a lower rate of interest on government loans; that lowerin; ue rate of interest on the loans will relief to the people; ond that no relief either to ‘Treasury or people can be expected from whet tends to derangement or stagnation in the business of the country, BARLY BETURN TO SPRCIR PAYMENTS DESIRABLE, ‘The earliest practicable return vo the hard money of the constitution 1s, thorefore, desirable, « being, im every way, for the imterest of ple; but this return should be made wiacly, yy & process which wilt not cost necdioss suffering, under a declared and fixed polar antelit- ible to ihe Whole country, and which will insure at the change, when it comes, sbali be permanent, A rash avtempt would, by its failure, make our Coit dition worse than it is now. But no time should be it steps to the attainment, at no very day, of a result to which sooner or later we must com If the federal government does not try to accom- plish an eariy return to the use of gold and siiver, without spreading ruin among the people, It falis in ts auty; if, With its abundant revenue. it cannot de- vise @ method of doing so, tt faiisin wisdom, JOHN T. HOFFMAN. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. Improvements, Expenditures, &c., on the City and Island Institutions Daring the Past Year —Abstract of the Annual Report. Daring the year just closed the Commissioners of Pubito Charities and Correction have through ¢heir indefatigable efforts succeeded in accomplishing substantial work for the city in their administration over the reformatory and charitabie institutions of tne Commonwealth, they having expended throngn. out the year no less @ sum than $1,476,006 1m ob- jects of charity and improvements, ‘The isiand Institutions, as well as those located tm the city, have in many tustances been enlarged and improved by the expenditure of considerable sums of money out of the appropriations made as the commencement of the year, and the citizens of the metropolls may congratuiate themse!ves on the fact that the money thus expended has and will attain the objects for which it was laid out, At the different islands under their supervision there are improvements constantly golig on and new buildings being erected, the most iuuportant of which is tue * NEW LUNATIC ASYLUM, m course of construction on Ward's (sland. Three hundred thousana dollars was appropriated by the Common Council for its erection, and at present there 1s every prospect that it will receive its tinishing touches by June or July. It is greatly needed, as the present structure on Blackwell's Island ig wholly inadequate for the wants of the constantly increasing army of unfortu- nates confined within its walls. There are at present at least 1,400 male and female pationts packed together in this illy arranged bediam, and 200 in the lower tter of cells at the Workhouse, which ts the best accommodation that can be given them under the existing circumstances. HR INFANTS’ HOSPITAL, on Ward's Island, upon which some $60,000 has been already expended, is fast approaching oorm- pietion. One hundred and twenty-live thousand da- Jars bas been added 0 the 94 ual appropriation, and it promises to be a maghificent structure, ‘There are at present avout 600 foundiings in the id ypuiing: who are remarkabiy healthy, consider- ol Bang the Hane 0 Févember the mi ers of the institution have been trying an artificial fooa (Nestle’s bread-and-milx flour, so-called) with a nuinber of bottie-fed babies, and tue result attained was Uhat it is destined to become a valuable adjunct in the feeding of babies, and it 1s very probable that it will generally be adopted Ae ho, the hospi- tals for foundlings throughout the United States, THE INEURIATE ASYLUM, Ward's Island, contdina at present 300 inmates, of whom 100 are non-paying patients. Forty tuousand doliars Was appropriated for tins institution and is has been In operauon two years and 18 considered by all to be g failure, but still tue physician lu charge has hopes of success. Board in this asylum ranges irom tive dollars vo fifteen dollars per week, and thore ure a number of well known characteis uudor treat- ment there, among Whom ts an ex-Covernor of the “Prairie state.” THE SCHOOLSHIP MERCURY. ‘The Commissioners take A Ate pride tn this veasot from the fact that she is the “pioneer” of their ex- periment, and has up to the present time proved = complete success. ‘hirty-fve tuousand dollars was paid for her, and she ts destined to create a revoiution in the management of cast-away street gamins. On board of tis vessel there are now 300 lads who have been picked up in the streets. ‘They are subject to strict discipline, but aud doubt- less prove good sailors. The Commissioners have asked an appropriation of $40,000 more to enable them to make & few altera- tions and provide for the present pear. BAPENDITURRS, ‘The following 18 the table of expenditures for the past year:— For various improvements and outdoor bide ai Hart's Jstand. Central office, Idiot House. nnebannoc Lunatic Asylum building, Schoolship Mercury... Randall’s Island, general tiprovemeu Ambulance Departinent Bellevue Hospital. Charity Hospttal.. Inebriate Asylua idiot Asylum. ne aoe ee $1,476,006 ESTIMATB OF SES FOR 1870. Hospitals. Average No, oj Patients, Bellevue Hospital 900 $115,015 Charity Hospital. * 104,114 Fever Hospital... . 7 Smailpox Hospital. lucurabie Hospital . Epueptic and Paraistic Hospital. Infants’ Hospital........... . and Idiots’ 4 Nursery Hospital HOUSE. +6 «++ . . Asylum for Indigent Blind. Lunatic ABYIUI. ......6 Luoauc Asyluin, Ward's isiand Morgue.......+ . Se Randall's Isiaud Nurseries. Industrial School, Hart’s Island... Schoolship Mercury. Inebriate Asylum. Almshouse,. City Prisons. . Workhouse. « 600 Penitentiary + 600 Ward’s Island Farm vee 8 Free Labor Bureau... Steamboat expe! Centrai Office. Colorea Home. Superintenden: Total..... $1,229,706 DISCOVERY OF ANOTHER GIANT—Tu1s ONE ONLY A SKELETON.—The Oi! City (Pa.) Times is responsible for the following:—On Tuesday morning iast, while Mr. William Thompson, assisted by Kovert R. Smith, was engaged in making an excavation near tie house of the former, about half a mile north of West Hickory, preparatory to erecting a derrick, they ex- humed an enormous helmet of trom, which was cor- roded with rust. Furtner digging brought to lignt a@sword which measured nine feet in length. Cu- Tiosity in€ited them to epiarge the bole, and after some little time they discovered the bones of two enormous feet. Following up tne ‘ead’? they 80 unexpectedly struck, in @ few houra’ time they had unearthed a well preserved skeleton of an enormous giant, belonging to a species of tne baman family which probably inhabited this and ‘other parts of the world at the time of which the Bible speaks, when it says, ‘And there were giants in those days.” The -helmes is said to be of the sbape of tuose found among the ruins of Nineveb. The bones of the skeleton are remarkably white. ‘The teeth are all in their piaces, and ail of them are le, and of extraordinary sxe. These relics have been taxen to Tlouesta, where they are visited by large numbers of people daily. When his giant- ship was in the fesh he must have stood eighteen feet im his stockings, ‘These remarkable relics wiil be forwarded to New York early next week. Tae joints of the skeleton are now being giued together. ‘hese remains were found about tweive foet below the surface of @ mound which bad been thrown up robably centuries ago, and which was not more hag three feet above the level of the ground around 1, Here is avotuer nut [yr eatiquarians a te en