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the votes in committee of the whole is kept, and the proceedings are not published in the journals. That this is so is to be regretted; for the committee of the whole, while a committee in name, is in fact and effect the assembly itself. Thus the committee of the whole may be used by dishonest members as a screen for crookedness. The theory upon which the committee of the whole exists is that at some point in the consideration of measures, members ought to have an opportunity to talk and to vote more freely than strict parliamentary rules will allow, and without the restraint imposed by an official record of the proceedings. Chapter 181, laws of 1887, provided for the printing of a daily legislative record to contain proceedings in committee of the whole, except debates and votes. The delay of from one to two weeks in printing was a serious inconvenience to all who attempt to follow the doings of the legislature.

The legislative printing of late years has not been good. Cases of misprinting which might cause injustice to be done to members of the legislature are not uncommon. For example, a resolution introduced by one member has been credited to another; a number of bills introduced in the last session by a member from a western district were printed as introduced by a New York City member; in The Assembly Journal bills were wrongly credited to members, and the dates of introduction printed on bills were often wrong. Great care was necessary on the part of the club to avoid the confusion caused by these mistakes.

If the bill is reported favorably by the committee of the whole, and the report is accepted by the assembly, the bill is placed on the order of third reading. If the assembly disagrees with a favorable report, or agrees to an unfavorable report, of the committee of the whole, the bill is deemed lost. When the bill comes up for a third reading,

it may be read in full by the clerk. But the practice with all but very important bills is to read only the title, the enacting clause, and the numbers of the sections. At any time during the reading, debate and amendments are in order; but after the reading of the last section no debate may take place and no amendment may be offered, and the final vote is immediately taken.

The course of a bill in the senate is the same as in the assembly; and a bill which has been passed by one house goes through the same course in the other before it is ready for the governor's signature,

Often the same bills are introduced in the two houses. If such a bill passes one house and goes to the other, the bill as introduced in the second house is dropped in many cases, and action is taken only on the bill as received from the first house. But the house may treat the senate and the assembly bill as distinct. By formal motion either bill may be substituted for the other.

Upon a bill as printed in either house the letters "G. O." followed by a number indicate the place of the bill in general orders; the mark "Int." followed by a number is used to show the order in which bills are introduced. The phrase general orders refers to the order of considering bills in committee of the whole. The third number upon a bill, “ No.———————," is given when the bill is printed, and by it the bill is commonly cited. As a new number is given to a bill each time it is printed, and as bills are often printed afresh after undergoing amendments, a bill may appear under two or more numbers. The introductory number, however, remains unchanged. The date upon a printed bill is the day of introduction. Many bills introduced are never printed.

A member may introduce a bill "by request," without any statement of the source of the request. But this man

ner of introducing bills is not considered to affect any responsibility that may be thought to attach to the act of introducing them.

THE LOBBY.

The lobby is that indeterminate body, often called “the third house," composed of men who make it a business to influence by corrupt means the official action of members of the legislature. The methods of exerting this influence are various; but the simplest and commonest is the payment of fixed sums to legislators for their votes. The lobbyist stands ready to defeat or to pass any bill for a consideration. Good citizens who would not think of offering bribes to members of the legislature directly will pay money to lobbyists with knowledge that it will be used to corrupt senators and assemblymen in the consideration of measures in which the good citizens are interested.

The leaders of the gangs of lobbyists are notorious, and their calling is matter of common knowledge in Albany. The dealings of these men with the corrupt members of the legislature are open and constant. In several instances distinct hints of the connection between the lobby and the members have been uttered in the senate and the assembly.

Before the new member of the legislature has been a week in Albany, and in some cases even before he arrives, the prominent lobbyists of the city are thoroughly informed as to his exact moral calibre, and what arguments and inducements are most likely to be of use in their work upon him. With some it is good fellowship and sociability, with far too large a number it is cold cash, and with others political preferment ; while there is always a small number who are absolutely inaccessible. When the lobbyist has thus studied his ground, and made up his list, he knows just how and where to go to work, and can figure pretty closely

as to whether it will cost much or little to pass or to defeat a certain bill, the amount being dependent largely on the popular interest in the measure and the attention paid to its progress in the public press. The amount of money that annually passes through the hands of these men must be hundreds of thousands of dollars. An indication of the proportions to which this business of the lobby has grown, is the fact (well known to all who have had experience in legislative matters in this state) that in the assembly a few years ago 94 men out of the 128 were open to "influence' of one kind or another, and that over 75 per cent. of these stood ready to sell their votes for money on any bill in which they were not otherwise interested.

The "Black Horse" Cavalry is a well-known body which exists in greater or less strength in every assembly. It is composed of assemblymen banded together for the purpose of exacting tribute from persons or corporations interested in legislation. Their combination gives them the power to wield a compact body of votes for or against a measure, and makes it worth while for those interested in bills to propitiate them.

HISTORIES OF BILLS.

The following are among the more important bills introduced during the last session of the legislature. It is dedesirable to observe the action taken by members from this city on these measures.

THE HIGH LICENSE BILL.

Assembly bill No. 336. Introduced by Mr. Crosby of New York.

The High License bill established three classes of licenses, as follows, viz :

A liquor license, "meaning thereby a license to sell strong

the Grand Jury of New York County in March presented to the Legislature and the Governor a petition as follows, signed by all but three of their number, including both Democrats and Republicans :

"The undersigned members of the Grand Jury in and "for the City and County of New York, now in session, "convinced of the imperative necessity for restricting the "liquor traffic and believing the high license system to be "the most effective means of accomplishing this end and of "diminishing pauperism and crime the result to so great an "extent of the excessive use of liquor which is fostered and encouraged by the immoderate number of saloons in this "city, do respectfully, but most earnestly urge the enact"ment of Assembly Bill No. 336, known as the High Li"cense bill.”

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The question between the supporters and the opponents of the high license bill is so familiar to the voters of this city, that every reader of this pamphlet will have decided the matter for himself, and will have his own opinion as to whether the record of votes here given is creditable, or otherwise, to each of the New York City members.

The bill was introduced by Mr. Crosby on the 12th January, the first day upon which any bills were introduced in the assembly. Upon the 29th day of February, and before any caucus action upon the bill was taken by the Republicans, Mr. Crosby moved that the bill be made a special order. A vote for this motion was a vote for the bill; a vote against this motion was a vote against the bill. New York City assemblymen voted as follows:

Ayes.-CROSBY, HAMILTON. A good vote.

Noes.-BLUMENTHAL, BRENNAN, CONNELLY, FINN, GORDON, HAGAN, HERRMANN, HORNIDGE, MARTIN, MCKENNA, MORGAN, O'CONNOR, RANNOW, ROESCH, ROSENTHAL,

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