The New York Herald Newspaper, January 5, 1870, Page 6

4 bea wise and prudent economy ; but in regard to this great interest the Stave candor afford to be pare simonious, ‘fhe probiem for solution is not merely what is the cheapest for the time, but what 1s the “system for managing the canals 60 that che State and the peopie everywhere may realize to the fullest et, NOW and Herealler, se great advan. tages Ley Were designed tosecure. Experience has shown that they cannot, under existing laws, be 80 managed as to imsure the best results for the State or tor wwose who are cugaged and interested in the business of transportation. fhe contract system for repairs has proved @ fuilure, and Lregew my recom- mendajion of last year Giat 1b be abolished, ‘Vurtous onyecuons have been and may continue to be interposed to other methods, and iL may be dilt- eult to secure an agreement in the Legislaiure upon any speciic plan of management, A view of (his posstitey and as the constitution provides that Cie canals Shall remain the property of tue Stale aud be Wuder lus management forever, Lre- spectinily recoumend that diseretionary powers, to the fullest exteut permitted by tae cousittation, over the canals aud everything connected with the working of them, be conferred upon the Canal Doard, vo the end that they may adopt the best prac- tical plan or combination of plans. They gre a con Stutwtiogal body which Jt seems to me imay be properly. charged with such respons! st nis Lie Slate Might be (18 Of bus the contract a Pp 1 tems and be saved from the evils moident to citner alone, ‘Tey could establish aud police reguidtions ax would protect M Navigation against the obstruc- delays to which they are now often need- lessly subjected. hey coulda contract for repairs when in their judgmentit was most adfisable, al they could have work doue under superiatendents when they considered the interests vl the State would be therevy subserved, They could use what i good and reject what is bad iu any system; and Knowing. is they are bound to Know, the whole Workand ils necessilies, could through the proper oficers secure the best pracuical resulta with the lowest possible expenditure. (tseems very certam that important reductions may be wade in cacal tolls, Every interest demands that such reductioas shouid be made. Lam informed that the Canal 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 kuprovements. | ask for lis recom. mendations your most favorable conside: ation. BDUCATION. 1 submit the following statement in reiation to wen schoo's for the year ending Septoimvecr 30, 1869: — ‘Lotal receipts from ail sources, taciuding balance on hand at the commencement of tie fiscal year... + $11,810,852 Total expenditures. . + 9,884,828 Balance on hand...... ode dosh oar ieid $1,426,024 Moro than $6.000,000 was puid for teachers’ wages, and nearly $2,500,000 for school houses, sites, repairs and furniture. ‘Tue exact figures will appear by the report of the Superincendent of Kducatiou. There are im the Siate nearly 1,900,000 children of school age, about 1,06.,000 of whom attended the public schools during some portion of the year, While 126,000 were atiending private schools, SIX normal 4chools are aiso iu fall operation, the Atiendance on Which, In the aggregate, amounts to ‘The total number of pablic school houses ts 11,698, and the estimated value of these, with their sites, 18 more than $15,000,000, ‘hese iacts snow the great proportions to which our common school system has grow! here may be defects in it, but taken as & whole it coumands and receives the hearty commendation and we cordial support of the great body of tke people. Under our Jor of government, in which the voice of the people 1s so potential, the State has a direct interest in so educating tie mu: Ubal they may intelligently understand their duties as ciizens; and no tax shoul be paid more cheerfully tian that which enables all, without reference to station or condition, to acquire the rudiments of a good Eng- lish education. ‘The Legislature should do ali in tts power to sustain ard periect a system which aims to accomplish this result, The condition of the colleges aad academies of the State will appear trom tue aunual report of tne Regents of wae University. STATE PRISONS. The report of the Comptrolier will show. in detail, the expenses and earoings of the several State pris- ons during the past year anu give the necessary ex- planations thereof, ‘There have been, during the year, mutinous dis- turbances among the convicts, and the expenses of the prisons continue to be iargely in excess of the earnings. 1 renew the objections made in my iast annual message to the contract system for the em- ployment of the prisoncrs’ labor. Jt is a viclous one and should be abandoned. ‘The discipline of tne prisons has been seriously afected by legisiation which has deprived their oim- cers of nearly ail discretion 1u regard to punishment. i think the chief officer of ¢ prison should be clothed with th t discretionary powers in re- Jation to the ch: and amount of punishment, sadjeot Lo the rr Jou Lhatit shall be inflicted only in bis presence 1 supinit to the Legislature that the subject of pri- fon Management has become oue of very great con- sequence and demandsearnest attention. More con- centrated respon-ibiilty 1s needed, as well as tion against frequent cuanges of adminis officers. it 1s douvttul Whether such results can be attained Without an amendment of the constitution making an entire change m the system. The commissioners appointed by me, pursuant to chapter 408 0; tiie laws of 186%, Lo Seleet a site and submit plans for Lue construcuon and management ofa State penitentiary will, 1am informed, make heir repoyt to ihe Legislature at an eariy day. 1 nave visiied during the year, ali the Stave pris- ons, and giveu personal hearing to large numbers of convicts who desired to present applications for executive clewency, The total nur of applica- tions for pardon aud comimutation of punishment, presented personally or in writing, and examined by me, 18 about 600, Highty-sx pardons and twenty commutatious have been granted. A full statement of the nates aud of the reasoas ineach case wil be transmitted toyou hereafter. . SALI SPRINGS. The quantity of sait inspected from the Onondaga salt springs during tbe Jast Uscal year was 8,534,661 bushels, a decrease of production, com- pared with the previous year, ol 253,563 busiels The revenue ior the year, irom ail Sources, was $55, he expenses, $46,311; the net revenue re- celved by the State being $39,220, INSURANCE. The number of Insurance companies subject to the supervision of the Insurance Department was, on the ist of Decembver, 186¥, 202. Of these many are incorporations created by otber States or by foreign countries, doing business within this State, Tne total amount of stocks aad mortgages held by the department tor the protection of policy noiders of life and casualty insurance companies of this State, and of foreign companies doing business within it, ts 36,736,002. Of these the value of $4,061,142 1 se- curities ia held for the protection generally of pol holders in live insurance companies of this Sta For the protection of registered policy holders, ex clustvely, were are on Land securities to the amount of $937,000. BANKS. During the last fiscal year there have been at 6 of the circulating ne tate; of which amount $46,’ orporated barks, aud $208, ks organized partment, banks of tis Banking |aw, The amount of St treulacion outstanding ‘on the 80th of > last Was of which $1,386,903 We ni individual unaer the Banking law notes of t1 banks, ‘I mer and of the cured by bonds and ment or S stocks, aud with the Superintendent of the ment, leaving but $570,034 of unsecured cire ontstanding, a large portion of waich, it sumed, bas been destroyed and the roma always redeemed on presentation # tives of the banks which issued the The total amount of securities Lela by intendent of the Pauk Vepartment at cb the fiscal year was $2,058,156, of which were held for banking associaitons and in bankers, $294,260 for Incorporated bunks and $525,- companies. ~A detaied the re e Super- close of 517 318 for incorporated trust statement of these securities will be fonnd in the annual report of the Superintendent of the Bank Deparument, Filty-reven banks are now doing basiness under but, of course, Issue no circu- ix have returned to te State undey the provisions of Several other national the Jaws of this Stav lating notes. Of the system from the nutlo the enabling act of 160’ banks ure reported ash ng in contemplation a similar change of orgs ton. une bundred and twenty-eight savings banks are now organized and doing business in this State with an ayregate of assets exccediag $150 000,000. The magnitude aud the importance of this mter- | seem to demand a more iutt guardiansmp d more care(ul supervision than is vow afford- ed. An amendment to existing laws requiring, or at least authorizing a pers nipation of these instituions, unier tion of the Superintenvent of the Bank Department, would, in my judgment, worthily supplement what has a been done in the direction of securing safety and efiiciency tn their management, and a full dis. closure of their real condiyon for the information and greater security of thcir depositors, The sup- ject is respectiully submitted to your favorable con- eideration. MILITARY AFFAIRS. The uniformed wilttia, designated by law “The National Guard of the State of New York," nunibers 25,086 oficers, non-commissioned officers aad prt- vates, and consists of tree regiments of cavalry, one battalion of cavairy, four troops of cavairy. three bavialions of artillery, eight batteries of arti. tery, forty-seven regiments of infantry, three pat- talions of iniantry. ‘The isiature of 1869 authorized a reduction of NEW. .YORK. HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1870.—TRIPLE SHEET, Kaumciug te waole’ appropriawon, Rave Deon ox. ug ropriation, a ‘amined and ‘audited, “here are, 1 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 city of New York, which numbers 10,000 men, fee! seriously the want of o proper parade ground. I! has been suggested that the Centra) Park Commi sioners aa (oa ge to take Janes, a viemity of the Park for purpose; \- lieved. by many that the additional taxaple value conierred on adjoiming y will compensate for the cost, I recommend this matter to your con- sideration. . CHARTTIRS AND ASYLUMS, Trefer you to the oficial report of the Oommla- stoners of Charities, which will bs duly transmitted to you, for injormation in detail of the operation of our several State charities. I recommend to your favorable consideration the claims of the ulfor- tunate classes, to whose relief the State asylums and other institutions are devoved, J earnestly cail your attention to the necessity of addiuonal legisiation for the peneft of the insane poor throughont the State, Thoir condition tn the ty poorhouses 1s deplorable. None are so help- ess; hone for the most part so friendless, They are often abandoned by their relatives, who, whatever ‘eir inclination, have not the ineans of giving them the care they need. No provision auttabie to their condition and their wants can be made on a small scale. They require, generaliy, the discipline and ‘Uke treatment which can be had only in large, weil organized insuitutions. under the charge of men who have made this painful form of disease a special 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 transmitted to you stan early day, contains many vaiuabie Me Ree to which I ask your favorabie attention, He 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 in use, avd a codification of military laws containing Important amendments, The te military agencies have. during the year, Collected from the tnited 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 faeued to the soldiers of Whe War of 1412. Twenty. stndy. tis tmpracticable for each county to pro- vide properly for the few sufferers of this class. who are tound within its limits. Their presence in the county poorhouses 18, from the Inadequate care that can there be bestowed upon them, and from the cruel restraint which ts often of necessity resorted to, — demoralizint the netgbborhood, Interest, duty and c! ity demand that further provision be made at once for this unfortunate class. ‘The State should provide asylums, with room forthe poor thus aMicted who cannot be taken care of otnerwise, and the authorl- ties of cach county should be required to send to them its Insane poor, and to pay such sum for their support willie in the State institutions as may be proper. The Willard Asylum, now in process of construction, and in partial operation, will have accommodations for of this class, and the Hud- gon River Asylum and the one to be erected in the Eighth judicial discrict will also, when completed, accommodate a limtted number; but tt is estimat that tere are now more than 1,500 of insane poor in ue State outside of the counties of New York and neti it 18 probable that many of those who are classed among the insane poor are 80 harmless or 60 man- ageable that iamilies and friends could take care of them if pecuntary ald were contributed 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 Strate institutions, yet add nothing to the county ch: In connection with the subject of insanity, I re- spectiully suggent that you wil give favorable con- uderation to the application which wiil be made on behall of the State asylum at Utica, for authority to appoint a special pathologiss for the duty of making such investizatious as seein to be now demanded by medical science. The reasons for this will be tally stated in the report of the superintendent of that institution, which will De transmitted to the Legis- lature, THE NEW CAPITOL. The money thus far expended on the new Capitol, according io @ statement furnished me by the Comp- troller tg 31,263.540, of which'sum about one-half has been paid for land. ‘rhe appropriation made last year was expended before the autumn of 136%. It seemed to be clearly the interest of the State that the work should not be interrupted. so long as the condition of the weather permitted its continuance, An arrangement was made, therefore, with the consent o1 the Executive and the Comptrolier, by whicn $300,000 were ad- vanced to the Commissioners and deposited with ihe Comptroller, 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. QUARANTIN The hospitat onthe West Bank, in the lower bay ef New-York, has been finished. The siracture to be used as a boarding station’ts near completion. ‘The report of the commissioners will fnroish more detailed information, and also the statistics in ret- erence to diseases which are subjected to quaran- tune. The commissioners deew some further appro- priation of money necessary, in order to enable them still further to strengthen the works under their charge. { recommend their suggestions to favorable and caresul consideration, IMMIGRATION, During the past year the number of immigrants landed at the port of New York was 260,000, show- ing an increase, as compared with the year 1863, of 46,314. For more detailed information 1 respeciful refer you to the report of the Commiasiouers of Emil- 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 Legisiature in reference to bills innited in their application to localities or aiurding reef in special cases, when, as it appoared to me, the proper course would have beeu to amend the general laws pertaining to the subject or to pass hew geueral laws. The Legisiature, on the recon- sideration which the coasitrution in such cases im- poses upon it, m every instance concurred 1n and sustained ny views, Nevertheless the statute book of 1869 contains nine hundred aud twenty acts and is almost as bulky @ 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 in order to lessen the number of applications made at every session for special legislation. An important amendment to the gencral laws was passed at (ne last session enlarging the powers of the Boards of Supervisors over roads and bridges aud other matters in relation to which the Legisia- ture has heretofore been catied upon to pass many spectal acts. J submit, for your consideration, whether the legislative powers of the Boards of Su- pervisors over these and other subjects of strictly jocal interest may wot, advantageously, be still fur- ther enlarged. vhe rapidly mereasing population of Westchester county and paris of Long Isiand, in the immediate vicinity of New York and brooklyn, renders neces- sary the laying out of roads and avenues of a char- acter which could not well be provided for in the general Jaws applicable to other portions of the dtate. Hence there are frequent demands upon the Legisiature to create special commissions to take ebarge of such work, 1 recommend that a law be passed. covering ail such cases in these localities, which wil render future applications to the Legisla- ture unnecessary. T recommend tie 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, Jrecommend, also, the examination of the general Jaw passed at the last session concerning daviny banks, to the end that, if necessary, it may be amended $0 that special charters jor these institu. tions shall not hereafter be requisite; and taat no special bills for savings banks be passed at this session, unless the parties appiying shall have uplied with the general law of last session; also that the general law lor the organization of fire com- panies in towns be amended; it makes no provision for hook amd ladder and hose companies; also for your consideration that the iimit now imposed upon the amount of property permitted to be held by literary, musical and other socteties be enlarged; also some provision, by general law, under which churches and soci#ues may alter vheir names with- ont coming to the Legislature for authority to do so in every special imstance. 1 also recommend the careful examination of the - general laws for the incorporation of villages, to the 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 Villiage charters and for gmendments to charters may ho longer be necessary. , Lalo recommend that “il existing village charters be, by tne provisions of the act suggested, made to conform to the general model Of the proposed perfected law, The charter of the village Of Oswego is to be found complete only be reference to fourteen separate acts of the Legislature, passed at as inany separate sessions, A Aseenth amended charter Was propused last ses- ied to obtain the executive approval, eems to mie to be no reason why village cnar- ters should not be, like our town goverameats, uni- form in character. 1 recommend that all laws which bave been passed consicting with the principie of uniformity m town governinenis, such as those which, 10 special instances, permit the votes for town oflicers to be taken by election districts instead of in town meeting, be repealed. There is a deiect in the law providing for two justices of the peace to sit as jus- tices of the sessions and of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. Section 40 of chapter 280 of the Jaws of 1847 provides that In case of absence of any justice of the seesions 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 3b of chapier 470 of the laws of 1847 so amends the first named section ag to leave no provision for appointment tn tie case of a vacancy. in @ recent instance, by reason of this omission, the Court of Sessions could not be organized, I recom- mend the immediate passage of an act to remedy the defect. I deem it unneceseary to present argu- ments in support of these several recommendation: belteving that the mere statement of the propos hoy Will secure for them the approval of the Legis- jature. CONSPIRACY LAWS. A Statute of tis State declares It to be a misde- meanor for “two or more persous to conspire to commit any act injurious to trade or commerce.” Such a conspiracy, if it assumes a magnitude which keriously threatens or affects the public welfare, deserves aud should receive its proper punish- ment, ‘This statute, however, has for the most part, since its adoption, more than forty years ago, been of little practical value. 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 whoie 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 occurred in Westchester county where the law bas been enforced agatust poreous engaged In the fast named combinations. I do not believe that the existence of siatute waich can be so construed as to make such acts oriminal {8 productive of any public beneiit, I do beiteve it to be juctive rat! of public evil, Like all other laws which from their nature Ore likely to be execuied unequally, it operates, When tt operates at all, oppressively. ‘I recommend, therefore, a repeal Or'thus conspiracy law, or such & imodilication of 1b a8, while it fornids @ conspiracy to injure the gen- eral trade and commerce of the State or country, will do away with that judicial constraction which pe. it equally criminal for citizens to combine lor the purpose of securing an increase of the wages of , OF of establisning and maintaining pru- dential regulations for their mutual interest and proiection. INJUNCTIONS AND RECEIVERS. T recommend also the passage of a law forbidding the granting of injunctions or the appoining of re- celvers In cases alfecting moneyed aud other corpo- rations on ex pare applications. think it would be far better even that the writ of injunction should be abolished altogether than that It suould continue 40 be the cause of the unseemly collisions between judges which have been frequent tor some years pasi APPRENTICE LAWS. Tam informed that appiication will be made tothe Legislature for & revision oi the laws relating to ap- prenticus. Ope of the complaints against the existing statutes is that, walle they impose severe penalties Upon apprenuices for viola- von of the rovisions of their indentures, they do not rd suiticient protection to the apprentices themselves. it is claimed, and with Justice, that the employer should not only be bound to thoroughly insiruct bis apprentice i all vue mys- teries of lus Dusiness and culling, but that 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- Bons under age; and ft 1s tho intereat of the cowimu- Duy Lo secure tbe greatest amount Of skilled lavor inall mechanical occupations, [ recommend the whole subject of revising the apprentice laws te your prompt and careful consideration. REVISION OF STATUTES. LT agatn invite your attention to the importance of a revision of the statutes of this State. During the first forty-eight years of our history tue Legwilature ee for four ditferent revisions, ‘The last act for thal @ Was passed on tue 21st of April, 1825, aud the last revision was completed in 1828, Since that time a new constituuon has been putin force; the State courts have been reorganized; a new system of practice has been adopted and many acts have been materiaily affecting the pro- visions of previous laws. ‘lhese changes, #0 numer- ous and important, and extending, as they now do, through at least dfty volumes, great ‘diml- culty aud sometimes uncerialuty in ascertaining the exact state of the law. A new revision, oy which ail laws of a general nature shail be collected to- gether and the various acts reiating to the same ee arranged and consolidated, is greatly needed. NRW JUDICIARY. The amended constituucon proposed by the con- vention which closed 16 sessions February 23, 1308, was submitted to the electors at the last gencral election, pursuant to chapter 218 of the laws of 1369, and that portion known 2s the juuiciary article was adopted, Lt willbe the duty of the Legisiature to pass the necessary laws to carry into tuil working Operation this aruicle, which becomes the sixth arti- cie of the constitution of the State, and [ recom. mend that it be done a8 eariy in the session as way be practicabie. REGISTRY AND ELECTION LAWS. T respectfully cail the attenuion 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 and general in their application, Toe open and corrupt use of money at the polls and elsewhere to control elec- tons 1s a oer evil and demands your earnest at- tention. The laws which aim to secure the people in their right of speaking through the ballot box should be stringent and rigorously eajorced. They snould not embarrass tne electors, yet they should guard, with the greatest care, against frauds at the polls or in the canvass, ‘Tne Legisiature should spare no efforts in this d'rection, it ts to be feared, however, that no jaws, though carelully aud swilfuliy 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 tuey often- times embarrass honest voters, are, mm any material degree, efiective for the prevention of frauds; and who belleve, after a fair and full trial of them, that Lar better results would be attained by providing every where for the estabiishment of sinail- er polling cistricis, and the fuil and free exercise of the privilege o! challenge on the day of elecuon. ‘rhe subject 1s of the greatest Importance, and demands your earnest consideration; for the whole sysiem of our government depends upon maintaining and pre- serving the purity of elections. CRIMINAL LAW. There are frequent cases of murder, a3 the crime is Dow defined, in which the jury are unwilling to con- vict, because Of 80 little deliberation in the act, that they think it does not deserve the puuishment of death. They acquit or find a verdict of mansiaugnter in some inierior degree; or vhey convict of sourder with a recommendation to mercy, and so Larow upon the executive the responsibiilty of deciding whether the death penalty shall ve enforced. A simpie change in the siatnte would, in my judgment, secure @ far voter administration of criminal laws and a more certuin punishment of crune than is now attaimed. I earnestly renew the ro- commendation mae last year, = what ex- press provision ve made by statute, that 1m all cases of murder where the degree of premedi- tation or the circumstances attending the homicide do not in the epinion of the jury justity punishment by death they may render a verdict of murder in a 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 tw 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 conierred upon the Oyer and ‘erminer or upon the Supreme Court in cases of conviction by the Oyer and Terminer. lalso suggest for your consideration whether it Would not be well to abolish, as bas been done io 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: a from punish. ment, and so to def ing ye of f stice, . UIs) . In my last annual message recommended the repeal of the Metropolitan District Excise law for the reasons, among others, that it was loeal and not generul, that its provisions were unnecessarily harsh, neediessly violated private rights and un- duly iterfered with the social customs of large numbers of sober, temperate, law-abiding citizens, Whose enjoyment of such customs aid not prejudice general morals or public order. This law also authorizes arrest without warrant, and under 1t8 operation @ system of espionage has grown up as degrading to the police who ure compelled to carry 1s out as it is to the people who suffer from it. For these reasons I again recommend its repeal. Bxcise Jaws should be uniform in principle ana generat in their application throughout the Staic, regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors under due restcic- tions as to time and piace, aiming to secure order and decorum on every day of the week, fuily 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 tree from the iwtolerant provisions which characterize the present Metropolitan District law, and which are waoliy unnecessary to the atiatument of these ends. Boards of excise should consist of, or be ap- pointed by, some local authority. Lrecommend the abolition of the county boards as 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 Kevised statutes, aod it has not, in my judgment, been improved apon by the subsequent iegisiation. Jn villages the board might properiy consist of the president and board of trustees, und in cities be appointed by the Mayor. COMMISSIONS AND ClTY GOVERNMENTS. 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 snclk counties, cities, towns and Villages, or some ivision thereof, or appointed by such authoritics thereof as the Legisiature should designate. This provision was intended to secure the right of self-government in local alfairs against any possible encroachment or violation. For the Purpose of evading it the Legisiatnye created new districts (so-called), made up of two or more adjoining counties, and established within their mits various 1odependent boards and commissions, in which all powers relating to police, fire, excise and health, or some of these subjects, are vested, and the members of which commissions are not elected by the peopie of the localities or appointed by the authorities thereof. The constitutionaliiy of tls legislation was affirmed by the Court of Appeals, although it 1s hardly denied that itis an evasion of the spirit of the constitution, The effect was in every tastance, practically, to give the political minority in the dis- tricts the power, through the central authority at the capital, of governing the majority. It cannot be denied that there were evils in municipal Anan existing at the time which were seized upon ag a pretext for this extraordinary legisiation. ‘The intelligent sentiment of the com- munity to-day declares that such legisiation was unwise, and that the true remedy for the evils com- plained of was not ip laws of the character men- vioned, but in a thorough reorganization of Municipal governments upon sound principles, 1 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 cittes embraced in any of these districts, in order Lo insure an early return to the systein of local sell-government as guaranteed by the cunstitu- tion, Existing charters are radicaily defective, masmuch as there is an almost entire absence of ative power in the Mayor; and. as lL said io my Jast annual message, no government can be secured to any great city unless it shall haye a re- sponsible head, in whom shall be vested all execu- Uve power, and to whom, as the elected represent. ative ef the peopie, all departments charged with adininistrative duties shall be directly and summa- rily responsible and accountable. I believe this to be the very foundation stone of a good structure of manicipal government. This subject tsone 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. KARLY 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 bilis for the State goverument has been delayed until | miate period of the session. The Executive ts, by this delay, practically deprived of the opportunity fo Bregeat otgeotions. if éay hebas, to the sions of these important bills, to the end objec. tons, vpon reconsideration by the Legislature, be deemed valid, the bills may be amended. Not only these but many other bills of great importance were, ast year, presented to me ab tho end ol eo left me but to approve, gome objectionable gr | or alsa} bills and let them to at great public inconventence. For these reasons recommend that the city and county tax levies, as weil a8 all bills appropriating moneys for the support of the State [ety Shey taken up early im the mpd sue. also that NC ormagieternd fa ae ills Of great general Importance post) longer than the state of pubilc business makes ne- cessary. ibtave now, a8 far as it seems to me necessary, Presented to you facts and stions connected with the condition of our own State. Our especial duty is to promote the public 7004, by laboring to seoure a more pradent, honest and economical home government. Recognizing the goodness of God, grateful to Him for ali His mer- cies, acknow) ig our dependence upon Him, looking to Him for wisdom and gaidanee, trasting Film to lead us through all the dangers which beset us, let us ail, in our respective spheres, Jabor to secure to the State and tothe couniry substantial prosperity and real and enduring peace, FEDERAL APFAIRS, The people of this State are deeply concerned in a wise administration of federal affaurs, As represent- ing them I believe it to be my duty, before closing this message, to call attention to, and to provest against, whatever in the policy of the general gov- ernment strikes at their commercial and agricuitu- ral interests, or 13 in any way prejudicial to ther 1 protest against the revoiutionary course of Congress with reference to amendinents of the constitution of the United States, oy walch, among ther other efforts at centralization, they seok the absolute control of elections in the States. Fower- less themselves to amend 1% by direct ee unabie to procure the voluntary consent of three- fourths of the States, they force the consent of the Southern States as @ condition to er rencazins and thus override and nullify the of others, whose proper relaitons to the federal government have never been interrupted, and whom they can- not constrain. I protest against the action of both Congress and the President of the United States in subjecting the peopie of anew to inilitary ite their State government being in full opera- jon, and the restoration of thetr constitutional re- lations with the federal verninent having been recognized by the fed authorities as complete, I protest agalost the longer exclusion from repre- sentation of any of the States; if any one be ex- cluded the rights of all are unsettled, and the har- mony of our government is destroyed, THE TARIFF LAWS, I protest against the favoritism of our present tartif 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 snd our own State the relations are close and intimate, aud upon whose prosperity 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 deéhts. I protest against postponing, as has been suggested by the President of the United States, the revision of these laws. ‘The evtis connected with them are alreaay of long continuance, and imme- aigte reilef 1s required. Our taxation for the accumulated responsibilities and present cost of the federal government is heavy. [ts wetght will be felt the more severely now that low prices for our agricultural and other products are likely to prevail. The people suomit cheerfully to all taxes gaps for the support of the government and of its cfodit, hey have a right to demand, however, that the burden of a very heavy taxation shall be fairiy and equally adjusted, and So adjusved as to interfere a3 /ictle 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 present tariff of duties on imports compels the many to pay high prices for (he beneflt of a few. Although en- acted daring the great need of the government, it was, nevertoeless, framed not for the one great end of giving tne federal Treasury the largest income, but with the view of favoring certain special private interests. No government @ 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 10 their mauufacture or pro- duction 1s an abuse of the taxing power. So long a8 laws are enacted upon this principle powerful com- binations will be formed among those whose special interests are to be benedecially affected py them, to push through schemes which favor their private usiness, regardless of the interests alike of oe peopie and of the aritT Lael Laws bi this nate fend to che buliding up of moneys Ponape eo ‘th regation 7 Capilal in lew hands, and to the ion and strengthening of an illegitimate influence to which Congress becomes more and more subject. In enforcing duties mntend- ed to be probibitory, an extraordinary and very costly body of oficials is made necessary, the temp- tauuon to sinuggling aud fraud 1s creased, and oM- elal delinquency 1s made common; evils which would be avoiced, while the revenue would not be decreased, by a return tothe simple duty of govern- ment and to moderate tinposts. To make a just tarlf of duties the prinotple of favoritisin should be abandoned altogether, nap be adnittted, no ifii* can be placed on tl jes dhder it. GENERAL FINANCES. I protest against the continuance of a financial policy which /atls elther to strengthen the pubiic credit or to diminish the people's burdens; whica Keeps values uncertain and unsettled; which bafties business foresight; which, while permitung 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 is now in use a8 money before providing a substitute; which, undefined in character and variable in action, ex- poses the business of the country constantly to the chances of disastrous panics; which seeks to exert a Nuctuating control over the gola market, insvead of making steady progress towards permanent soundness In financial condition; which can suggest no method of meeting the legal tender proinises, except to get them back from tue people by a pro- cess of contraction both painful and dangerous; which neglects to redeem the legal tender notes hel every where among the people; yet, with the proceeds of excessive taxation, purchases at a premium bonds that the government is under no obligation to payee nearly fifteen years; which saves afew mil- lions atihually jy interest on the bonds thus pur- chased, when, by raising the credit of the country to its proper level, many millions more could be saved by the negotiation of a new loan at a lower rate of interest; which assumes that the rate of in- terest ou our bonds can be lowered at the sole will of the borrower, or that capitalists who now hold bonas paving six percenc 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 system to which the business of the country could, without un- due sacrifices, conform, substitutes a series of experiments that entail losses upon individuals, Wiihout contributing to the generat good: which sug- ests no remedy for the fluctuating value of the legal tender notes, except that the government shall redeem these promises at a price fixed by itself, which is to be less than their face, or, in other words, repudtate so much of its obitgations, and which, by failing to secure the conildence of the capitalists of the world, Keeps the goverument seca- Titles below par tn gold everywhere, when, in view of the vast resources of thé country, they shouid, even at five per cent interest, command a premium, We are enduring great evils from our irredeema- ble currency, The fnancial panic which occurred in New York in September last threatened for a the widespread disaster. A very little increase of the then prevailing distrust might have thrown the whole business of the country into confusion. That panic would not have been possible but for our hav- ing in use as money something which, lacking the intrinsic worth of the prectons metals, must depend ior 118 Current estimated’ value upon the caprices of opinion. at Money of shifttng value is curse to the great body of the people. it renders the rate of wages delusive, counteracts and defeats the economy of tie household and makes the savings of labor, jaid up at the cost of much seli-denial, of uncertain and variable value. If we wouid avoid discouraging reguiar mdustry, and fostering, in its stead, & spirit of speculation, the money which we use to denote the valne of what we have to buy and sell every day, and in which we fix the rate of wages, Inst be constant In its own value and not liadie 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 prudent 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 jegal tender currency 1s necessary 1n order to reach &} payments. The amount of such paper 1s limited, and it is not xeriousiy depreciated. We have not, as some other countries have done, issued paper money without limit and to an unmanageabie extent, making the depreciation of it so great as torender tt almost worthless and its restoration to par hopeiess. The whole gum of the jegal tender notes scarcely exceeds the amount of coin received in two years at our Custom Houses, ‘The amount of legal tender notes afloat on the 1st of Decemver last was, including fractional currency, $395,000,000. The present annual goid income of the ‘Treasury {rom import duties is $180,000,000, With the abandant resources of federal Treasury it ought to be, and it 1s possibie, to leave this currency at iis 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 distress which ‘Will 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, as we are, @ gola producing country: and was obliged therefore to curtail her paper currency so a8 to force gold to flow in to her from 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 tem years from 1816 to 1825 was a period of fearful sififering in England and of repeated and most disastrous financial convuisions, 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 bp and all we yeod to do 1s to retain enough of our own product to effect our purpose. NO BBPUDIATION. ‘The government 1s as much bound to pay ita legal tender notes as its bonds. [am for paying dota in full, aod agamnat the repudiad of ‘The legal tender notes are promises of the govern ment to pay money—toat is, gold coia—on demand, ‘They are in the pockets of the laborer and the far- r, in the tilis of tradesmen, in the vaults of the banks as @ part of and as security for the deposits of the peonle, which deposits tute available capl- tal essential to dally business, ‘The federal ‘Treasury, in the hour of its need, forced this irredeemabie paper on the people; it 1s a matter of simple duty, now, in the time of ita abund- @nt resources, to redeem it. This paper displaced the coin which was botore in use. ie business of the country has adapted itself to the 2 quantity of our presdéht lawful money, and the peopie rely upon this Jagat tenaer paper wherewith to all ordinary debts; it 19 the sub- stance, too, in which bank notes are redeemed. and aggregate of indebtedness «known as bank de; its ig payable, On this paper, therefore, jhe whole structure of our interual busi- ness Now rests: aud upon its soundness 1s dependent the substantial prosperity of the people. 1s faith to the people to lessen its quantity or to take trom at its legal tender quality unt! it 1s paid. THR CONTRACTION THEORY. When com occupied the same place in our monev system which ts now held by the legal tender notes any serious withdrawal, from whatever cause, of the gold then in use from the general circulation in- ably produced financial trouble, The with. rawal of legal tender notes now inust be followed by like trouble. The theory of those who advocate contraction ts that so soon a3 the legal tender notes shall have been reduced to $250,000, theoretical sum the government wiil be able to make this reduced teen redeemable in coin, and 80 put the notes at par wi will be possible to put the lesser quantity at par by making it redecmable, it 1s obvious that, with @ little more effort, the present quantity can be made redeemuble and pus at par; and this eifort w due from the government to the people, OOIN AND PAPRR MONEY, ‘The federal government is bound to restore coin, to the place which is formerly occupied in the business of the country, and from which the Treasury, for its own convenience, dis- pinced it. “it be ready to substituid coin in. the general circulation before it undertakes to withdraw legal tender notes; otherwise the with- drawal of the paper amounts to an absolute destruc- tion of so much of our stock of lawful money, and, pracloally, of so much of the people's capital in the form of ready money. Sucn withdrawal wouid lessen everywhere the resources for paying dcot make ail debts iess secure, diminish confidence render disastrous panics probable. Two kinds of pong St unequal value will not government, therefore, in general circu- lation of any pot withdrawo until the equivalent to coin. This can only be done bj panne, them redeemabie in coin on demand. And it must be borne in mind that this Js all that is necessary to be done to restore general specie payinents, The banks are not 10 a state of suspension; they redeem their notes and pay their other debts in the lawiul money of the counuy; if that lawful money were to-day equivalent to coin, they would find themseives and ali their customers paying specie without any effort on their part and without any aistress, It ts the government, and the government only, which has suspended payment: the legai ten- der notes alone which are irredeemabie. When tue federal Treasury 1s ready to redeem tts legal tender promises in gold, as fast as the public are likely to present them, specie payments are thereby re- sumed all over the country, without fur- ther elfort on the part of any one and without inconventence to the peopie. Then, and not now, will be the proper tte for taking in the Paper; for such contraction can do no mischief, it will in tact be no contraction. The Treasury may then cancel every note so soon as it 13 pald; for gold and the notes being at par, the coin paid out o! the Treasury will enter into the general circulation in place of the notes redeemed; and no diminution of tne stock of lawful money in use will be forced on the people. The casep tial ru) of our present lawfal money is to ve found not fn Its qhantity but in the fact that 1Gis not redeemaple; it is, for that reason, depre- ciated, A less quantity would as certainly be de- preciated, if that less gpandly continued to be Irredeeinable. Even a single mote, issued by the 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 redeemable, 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 muney was good in quality no apprehen- sions were elt that too much of it would used. ‘The government passed through ite mint ajl the gola the people chose to bave coine Political economists and statesmen may speculate, as they do, as to how much money is necessary and proper for the bnsiness of a country; but thus is a question beyond their wisdom. if the government will take care that the money it issues is good, the people will regulate the quautity to ve used by their needa, it 18 the special duty of the federal Treasury, the issue of whose irredeema- ble paper has brought us to our eut condi wo ae to oe that there (s an atupie su) of ula ratath the coyatry 60 ay to mako tne tekst fot fro: ae bank currency to gola poth casy and permanent. Jt seems obvious that this supply of gold should be in the federal Treasury, which 18 responsibie for the only irredeemable paper now afloat, so that the coin may be ready, when the proper time comes, to flow promptiy out of the Treasury tnto general circulation in excnange for the notes redeemed. GOVERNMENT CREDIT. The first great duty of the government 1s to make its legal tender promises as good as gold. Having thus estabiished its credit, 1t will dnd no dimeutty in negottating joans at lower interest, and in man- aging its bonded debt. It cannot, any more than a private debcor, hope for high credit white paying some debts and ignoring others, It is a delusion to suppose that the payment of a few cf our bonds before they are due’ materially helps the public credit: the Treasury 1s not bankrupt as lo its bouds; It is paying the interest according to contract, and the principal is not yet due. This is not the point where the pubiic credit needs to be helped. ‘The Treasury is bank- rupt on its legal tender notes; for a failure to pay @ promise when 1 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 vegiects to pay those which are due. Nor does the pas tend materially to people. Were we lessen the burdens of the to cancel $100,000,000 of mds in any year there would result an anpual saving of Interest of $6,000,000. If, on the other hand, we could reduce the rate of interest on our ioans 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. Moveover, this payment of the bonds before maturity can be made only out of surplus revenue—that is to say, by keep- tog up taxation to @ point far beyond the actual needs of the government, We must not forget that financial laws are seif- creafed gut of the circumstances existing at the beriod, They cauuot be constramed by legisiation, We shail be most auxely to avoid trouble by seekin, the natural solution of our present dificulty, whic! natural solution is, as it seems to me, that the power which issued’ the irredeemable paper, under Which we now suffer, should get ready to redeem it. GOVERNMENT GOULD BALES. “Spasmodic sales of gold from the Treasury tmpart bo additional worth to the Jegal tender notes. Con- fidence iu ability to meet obligations 15 the only source of solid credit as well for the Treasury as for otber debtors. Increasing public confidence in the growing ability of the Treasury to meet the notes in coin Would operate pot merely to alfect, from day to day, a8 Lhese sales do, the speculative price of gold, but towards the recognition of a greater inirinsic value in the Jegal tender note, and so to make the possible range of gold speculations narrower. it 1s obvious that sales of gold ont of the ‘Treasury cannot have the efiect of bringing legal teader notes acinaily and permauentiy nearer to the vaiue of gold; it woud ve absurd to maintain that the ‘Treasury, any more than any other debtor, cap, by paring with coin, made its promises to pay coin more valuable. The Treasury sales of guid have simply the eitect which ts always produced by throw- ing upon any inarket a supply Of an articie for which there 13, lin that market, a limited demand. All debts, with rare exceptions, being now payable in Jegal Lender notes, the need of gold for use in bust- ness is not general, and therefore the demand for it is couflued to a few, and is a very muted one. ina market so situated a very temporary and small 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 lastin; nor does it atford any guarantee against great sud- sequent fuctuaions, These Treasury sales, while they do not improve permauently the value of the government paper, confound the most prudent cal- Culations of business men, 1 must not be understood as favoring any expan- sion of the legal tender currency. The government cannot at present pay the notes of this Kind already issued. It would be utterly unjustifiable to put out any more of them. ¥EDERAL TAXATION. The federal Treasury is not warranted in taxing the people to keep up its present enormous eurplus of revenues. Ii the country can be kept in a pros- perous condition every year of its growth will make the payment of vhe principal of the debt come easier. A moderate surplus beyond the interest on the debt and the expenses of government is all that Is desira- ble or necessary to enable it to devote Itself em. ciently to the great, imperative duty of making its paper money good. REDEMPTION OF PAPER MONEY. The moment the peo see that the government is getting ready to redeem its paper by providing itself with the only means of doing it the apprecia- tion in the actual value of the legal tender notes will commence. It will conunue, and the pro- gress towards return of specie yments will be gradual, steady and certain. The very fact that the government is under a fixed and stavie, and not an experimental and variable poltey, pre- paring to redeem its paper, and will some day an- nounce 1 readiness to do so, would narrow the Tange within which specuiation in gold would be possible. ‘The current value of the notes in the open market wil) i ae when the proper time Bas come my peer goverament need not declare it The moss severe, cruel and ruinous method of contraction wonld de one that should put (he value of these notes by regwar stad: vment of tne bonds before maturity’ tton at @ higher and higher rate from day to dey OF WOOK Lo Week, ns Is suggested by the President of we Unted States; or any method by which they should be converted or exchanged into Interest bearing séourites; for this would aot rigidiy and rapidly to take them out of cireulation, Such & form S Bier gate wonld, I fear, not caiy inaites any Or 1@ poopie, end: credit of the government eel oS tod It is not necessary to discuss the propriety of tho original measures Of which our present financial con- dition is the result. I simply consider tue practioal questions which present themselves, taxing things as they are, It needs no great financial wisdom to #o@ that the way to high credit is for tue Treasury to prepare itself to pay ail, 8 debts, as well ita legal tender promises as its bon that bigh credit 1s the condition precedent to a lower rate of interest on government loans; that lowerin: une rate of interest on the loans will adord gi relief to the people; aud 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 RETURN TO SPRCIR PAYMENTS DESIRABLE, ‘The earliest practicable return vo the hard money of constitution ts, therefore, desirable, being, im every way, for the interest of eople; but this return should be made wisely, y¥ & process which wilt not cost mnecdloss suffering, under a declared and fixed policy, intelll- | regen the whole country, and whic! will insure hat the change, when it comes, shall be permanent, A rash attempt would, by its failure, make our con- dition worse than itis now. But no time should be Jost in adopting measures which shall iead. by pra- dent steps to the attainment, at no very distant day, of a result to which sooner or later we must federal government does not try to accom- plish an eariy return to the use of gold and wiiver, without spreading ruin among the people, It falls in iis auty; if with tts abundant revenue, it cannot de- vise a method of doing so, it fails in 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 Pubilo Charities and Correction have through ¢heir indefatigable efforts succeeded in accomplishing substantial work for the city in their administration over the reformatory and charitapie institutions of tne Commonwealth, they having expended throngn. out the year no less @ sum than $1,476,006 in ob- jects of charity and improve meats, The stand institutions, as well as those located ‘nthe city, have tn many tostances been enlarged and improved by the expenditure of consiaerabie sums of money out of the appropriations made av the commencement of tie year, and the citizens of the metropolis may congratulate 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 golug om and new buildings being erected, the most HaRORpOR OF waich is tue NEW LUNATIC ASYLUM, m course of construction on Ward's {sland. ‘Three hundred thousana dotlars was appropriated by the Common Council for tts erection, and at présent there is every prospect that it will receive its tinishing touches by June or July. It is greatly needed, as the present structure om Blackwell's Island ig wholly inadequate for the wants of the constantly increasing army of unfortu- nates conflued within its walls. ‘There are at present at least 1,400 male and female patients packed together in this ily arranged bediam, and 200 in the lower tier of cells at the Workhouse, which ts the best accommodation that can be given them under the existing circumstances. THR INFANTS’ HOSPITAL, on Ward's Island, upon which some $60,000 has been already expended, is fast approaching oom- pietion. One hundred and twenty-tive thousand da- lars bas been added to the origlual appropriation, and it promises to be a maghifivent structure, ‘There are at present avout 500 founditugs in the old ypuiding, who are remarkaviy healthy, consider- tng heir crowded ayn. ; uring the Month of November the mi: rs of the institution have been trying an artificial oa (Nestle's bread-and-milx flour, so-called) with a nuinber of bottie-fed babies, and tue result attained was that it is destined to become a valuable adjunct in the feeding of babies, and it is very probable that it will generally be adopted hole, a the hospi- tals for found)ings througuout the United States, THE INEBRIATE ASYLUM, Ward's Island, contdins at present 300 inmates, of whom 100 are non-paying patients. Forty thousand dollars Was appropriated for this institution and is has veen in operauion two years and is considered by all to be a failure, but still the physician in charge has hopes of success. Board in this asylum ranges irom tive dollars to fifteen dollars per week, and thore ure a nuinber of well known characters under treat- ment there, among whom is an ex-Governor of the “Prairie State.” THE SCHOOLSHIP MERCURY. ‘The Commissioners take (ee pride tn this veasot from tte fact that she is the ‘pioncer” of their ex- periment, and has up to the present time proved complete success. ‘Thirty-five tuousand dollars was paid for her, aud she ts destined to create # revolution in the management of cast-away street gamins. On board of tis veasel there are now 300 lads who have been picked up in the streets. ‘They are subject to strict discipline, but and doubt leas prove good sailors. The Commissioners have asked appropriation of $40,000 more to enable them to make @ few ultera- tions and provide for the present pear, EXPENDITURES, ‘The following 18 the table of expenditures for the ast yeur:— ‘or Various improvements and outdoor + $1,018,008 4779 New storehouse bulidings. Infants’ Hospital. Hart's Jatand, Central offic Steamer Lunaue Asylum butidn Schoolship Mercury, Randalls Island, ge Ambulance Department Bellevue Hospttal.... Charity Hospital Inebriate Asylum Jdiot Asylum... Lunatic Asyluu 1870. ‘6 FO! Average No, of Patients. 90 $115,015 Smadpox Hospical Iucurable Hospital seeeee #pueptie and Paraistic Uospital. Infants’ Hospitil.........0....06. 500 Nursery Hospital and Idiots’ House, ... tees - 4 Asylum for Iudigent Bind...) 17. Lunatic ABYIUIN. .......60. Luuaue Asyiuin, Ward’s Isiand.. Randali’s Isiand Nurseries Industrial School, Hart's Island. Senoolship Mercury. Inebriate Asylum Almshouse..... City Prisons. Workhouse. Penitentiary Ward's Island F Free Labor Bureau Steamboat expen: General expenses. Centrai Office Colorea Home. Superintendent Total DISCOVERY OF ANOTHER GIANT—Tuis ONE ONLY A SKELETON.—The Oil City (Pa.) Times 1s responsible for the tollowing:—On Tuesday morning iast, while Mr. Will ia Thompson, assisted by Kovert R. Smith, ‘was engaged in making an excavation near the house of the former, about half a mile north of West Hickory, preparatory to erecting a derrick, they ex- humed an enormous helmet of trop, which was cor- roded with rust, Further digging brought to lignt @sword wbich measured nine feet in length, Cu- riosity in€ited them to eplarge the bole, and after some little time they discovered the bones of two enormous feet. Following up the ‘lead’? they 80 unexpectedly struck, in few hours’ time they had unearthed a well preserved skeleton of an enormous giant, belonging to a species of the buman 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 1s said to be of the shape of tuose found among the ruins of Nineven. The bones of the skeleton are remarkably white. ‘The teeth are all in their piaces, and ail of them are double, and of extraordinary size. These relics have been taken to Tionesta, where they are visited by large numbers of people daily. When his giant- ship was in the flesh he must have stood eighteen feet im his stockings. ‘These remarkable relics will bé forwarded to New York early next week. Tae Joints of the skeleton are now being giued together. ‘These remains were found about tweive foet below the surface of a mound which had been thrown up probaply. centuries ago, and which was not more hag toree feet above the level of she ground ground 1 Hero ts auotuer nut [yr eutiquariaus ta | i - a