have been granted in the first instance. For that reason the Ambler bill is temporary in its character only, and will be superseded by the Raines bill at the end of the year. FRANK W. HIGGINS APPOINTMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL TERM OF THE SUPREME COURT AT OS- STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER It appearing to my satisfaction that the public interest requires it; THEREFORE, In accordance with the statute in such case made and provided I do hereby appoint an Extraordinary Trial Term of the Supreme Court to be held at the courthouse in the City of Oswego and County of Oswego, on Monday, the tenth day of July next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day, and to continue so long as may be necessary for the disposal of the business which may be brought before it; and I do hereby designate the HONORABLE MAURICE L. WRIGHT of Oswego, who is a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Fifth Judicial District, to hold the said Extraordinary Trial Term as hereinbefore described; and I do further direct that notice of such appointment be given by publication of this order once in each week for three successive weeks in the Oswego Daily Palladium and the Oswego Daily Times, newspapers published in Oswego County. GIVEN under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State at the Capitol in the City of Albany this third [LS] day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and five. By the Governor : FRANK W. HIGGINS FRANK E. PERLEY Secretary to the Governor MEMORANDUM FILED WITH SENATE BILL No. 877 REGARDING THE INCORPORATION AND POWERS OF TIONS-APPROVED RAILROAD CORPORA STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER Albany, June 3, 1905 Memorandum filed with Senate bill number 877 (Introductory number 394), entitled “An act to amend the railroad law in relation to the incorporation and powers of railroad corporations." Approved. This bill was criticised when first introduced as being a dangerous measure, but at the time of the hearing before me the bill had been so amended that practically all opposition had disappeared. The powers granted are among those enjoyed by railroad companies in other states and exercised by them in this state until recent decisions of the courts placed a strict construction on the provisions of the railroad law hereby amended. Approval of this bill will doubtless result in greater efficiency in service to the public by the railroad corporations. No private property can be taken by the railroads except for a public use and after just compensation therefor. I am unable to discover that any rights, public or private, will be jeopardized by the approval of the bill. FRANK W. HIGGINS MEMORANDUM FILED WITH ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2272- THE APPROPRIATION ACT-APPROVED STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE CHAMBER Albany, June 3, 1905 Memorandum filed with Assembly bill number 2272 (Introductory No. 419), entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of government." The total of general appropriations, exclusive of canal sinking fund and barge canal appropriations, passed by the legislature this year was I have disapproved bills and items to the amount of .. Leaving a total of As compared with . $27,184,474 00 572,370 67 $26,612,103 33 $26,467,678 00 for 1904. Again the direct tax is kept at the lowest point permitted by the Constitution and the barge canal act adopted by the people, being 13/100 of a mill for the old canal debt sinking fund and 24/1000 of a mill for the barge canal debt sinking fund. The apparent increase in appropriations is not due to extravagance on the part of the present legislature. Such increase is due rather to a desire to meet the obligations of the State and to make adequate provision for the established fixed chargés of government. Owing to the enactment a year ago, of a law providing for increased wages of employes in State hospitals and owing to a deficiency in maintenance appropriations made for such institutions during the last fiscal year, a deficiency existed which it was necessary to provide for in the appropriations of this year, but which properly is not chargeable to this year's expenditures, amounting to $448,640.77. Owing to the failure to provide in 1904 a sufficient amount to pay refunds of liquor tax certificates, we have been obliged to appropriate the sum of $315,000 for that purpose. Owing to judgments obtained in December, 1904, against the State for refunds of taxes to counties that were bonded for railroad purposes, under the decision of the Court of Appeals in the Ulster county case, we have been compelled to appropriate $785,000 to pay a sum that in no sense is chargeable upon the expenses of government for this year. We have also had, in the way of unusual and abnormal expenses, $300,000 for the State enumeration and $115,000 for the loss by fire at Elmira reformatory; making in all about $2,000,000 of appropriations that are not properly chargeable on this year's expenditures. By deducting this sum from the total net appropriations it will be noted that the actual net expenses of government, regardless of the large natural increase in the number of inmates of our insane asylums and other public institutions, have been largely decreased. The record of the year has been a highly creditable one. A few meritorious measures failed of passage, but no vicious measure has become law. On the other hand, the liquor tax law, the election law, the labor law and the banking law have been substantially strengthened by wholesome amendments; the claims of the teachers, firemen and policemen in cities have been recognized by helpful legislation; the forests of the State have been protected; the State hospitals for the insane have been again placed under the control of local boards of managers; provision has been made for the inspection of locomotive boilers; the solution of the rapid transit problem in New York city has been aided by the enactment of proper laws; gas and electric companies have been placed under State control and much has been done to curb the exactions of the lighting monopoly in New York city. Every demand for proper reform in the interests of morality, law and order has met a response and no interest of the people has been neglected. I do not recall a session of the legislature which has been more fruitful of good laws or which has produced fewer objectionable ones. The burdens of taxation have not been increased by reason of any avoidable expenditure of money. Provision has been made to meet the deficiencies of previous years and the extraordinary expenses of this year by strengthening the present tax laws and by taxing transfers of stock, rather than by raising the rate of taxation on property or resorting again to the home, the farm and the factory. |