The Legislature of 1868 met on the first Tuesday in January, and continued in session 121 days, and finally adjourned on the 6th of May. A majority of the members of the Assembly were Democrats, while in the Senate the Republicans had a majority. The question of controlling certain departments of the administration of cities by commissions appointed at Albany was introduced by the following resolution, offered by Mr. Kiernan, of New York: Whereas, The city of New York has, through the operation of special commissions created and appointed at Albany, been deprived of many of its cor(porate rights and privileges and made subservient to La government foreign to the provisions of its charter and not identified with its interests; Resolved, That the Committee on the Affairs of Cities be requested to report, at as early a date as possible, what constitutional means may be adopted by the State Legislature to restore to the metropolis its ancient power and independence. Nothing, however, was accomplished in this matter. mous vote in the Senate: That our Government, recognizing no distinction between native-born and adopted citizens, should demand of other nations the immediate and uncondi tional release of all citizens of the United States ille gally held in military service, or in custody for pretended political offences, not committed on their soil; and that it is the duty of the Government to enforce that demand, if necessary, with all the power of the nation. On the last day of the session the Commitee on the Condition of the Country reported the following, which were adopted in the Assembly: Resolved, That the aggressions of Congress upon the ights of the States and the functions of coordinate ranches of the Government indicate a settled purpose o set aside the Constitution and to destroy the librties of the people. Resolved, That the independence of the judiciary is ssential to the integrity of the Constitution and the ights of citizens, and that we protest against any act f Congress infringing on it. Resolved, That the evidence elicited on the trial of resident Johnson before the court of impeachment as established the innocence of that high functionry, and that his conviction would be regarded by e people as the false judgment of a partisan court, nd as a crime against the form and being of a repubcan government. The general legislation of the session relatd in a large measure to railroads, canals, and ther matters connected with the commeral interests of the people. An attempt was ade to abolish the offices of Auditor and Bank uperintendent, but these propositions failed the Senate after having passed the Lower ouse. The Assembly also passed a bill realing the Metropolitan Excise Law, but the nate refused to sanction the proceeding, and ree other bills intended to modify that statute ere voted down in the same body. The difications proposed were: 1. To give matrates the power to remit the ten days' peny for intoxication; 2. To exclude the rural vns of Queens County from the operation of VOL. VIII.—35 A the law; and, 3. To give the Mayors of New York and Brooklyn authority to grant licenses. The attention of the Legislature was directed to the railroads by the claims which several of them put in for pecuniary aid from the State, in the completion of their respective lines. There were at one time, before one or the other branch of the Legislature, bills for the following railroads: Whitehall & Plattsburg Railroad, granting $250,000 66 250,000 66 250,000 200,000 66 300,000 แ 66 150,000 66 600,000 Utica & Black River, say for forty miles, The grounds on which their claims for help value of the railroads of the State in developfrom the public treasury were based, were the ing the resources and promoting the material prosperity of the sections of country through which they passed. This generous legislation, however, received a check by the veto of the first of these bills which came before the Governor for his signature. This was the Whitehall and Plattsburg Railroad Aid Bill, which was returned to the Senate with the Governor's objections, on the 6th of April. The company engaged in constructing this road was organized in the early part of the year 1866, for the purpose of completing direct communications between New York City and Montreal, and of opening a way through one of the richest mineral districts in the State. Application for State aid was made at once, and a bill appropriating $450,000 to aid in the construction of ninety miles of the road at $5,000 a mile, passed both branches of the Legislature, but was vetoed by the Governor. In 1867 an appropriation of $250,000 was made with the sanction of the Executive, and in 1868 another application came for a quarter of a million dollars to aid in carrying on the work already begun. The Governor's reason for vetoing the bill which proposed to grant the aid desired was, the necessity for retrenchment and economy. He said: It must have come to the attention of all, that during the past year the people have been more restive under the burdens of taxation than at any previous period since the close of the war. Business has been unsettled, trade has been depressed, industry partially paralyzed, and values have become more irregular and less reliable. Profits have diminished, and until the great financial questions are firmly decided, and a permanent policy established, the horoscope of the future cannot be surely and confidently cast. This condition, which the repeated lessons of history and our past experience as a people might have taught us to expect would mark the period immediately following a great war, duty and prudence alike demand shall not be disregarded. The State can no more be prosthan individuals. A continued large debt is dangerperous without economy in the conduct of its affairs ous to our social and republican institutions. Our first care, therefore, should be to ascertain how the volume of debt can be diminished, and guard against its extension; how the measure of taxation can be reduced, and retrenchment made more rigid and systematic. In view of these considerations, he thought the great public works of the State should wait until better times. A strenuous effort was made in the Senate to pass the bill notwithstanding the objections of the Governor, but without success, and the other claims for State aid in behalf of railroads were allowed to rest.' A committee was appointed in the Senate to investigate certain charges of mismanagement brought against the Erie Railroad. The principal ground of complaint was a resolution adopted by the directors on the 19th of February, for the issue of bonds to the amount of ten million dollars, convertible into stock of the company, and the conversion of the bonds into stock for purposes of private speculation. Two reports on this matter were submitted. The majority of the committee arrived at the conclusion that the issue of bonds had been obtained by Mr. Daniel Drew, to be used for his personal gain, "utterly regardless of the interests" of other stockholders in the company, and that Mr. Eldridge, the president, and Messrs. Fisk and Gould, directors, were concerned and probably interested with Mr. Drew in these "corrupt proceedings." The report closed with the following resolution: Resolved, That the fraudulent abuses developed by the investigation of the management of the present directors and officers of the New York & Erie Railroad Company demand that increased penalties for such offences shall be imposed for the protection of stockholders and the community, and the special committee conducting such investigation be, and they are hereby, instructed to report a bill making it a felonious offence for any director or officer to fraudulently issue stock of the company in which he holds such trust, or to convert to his own purposes the proceeds of any stock or bonds; or to fraudulently take or carry away to another State, or with like intent keep and retain them to evade legal process in this State, the moneys or effects of such company. A minority report was submitted, which commended the general management of the Erie Railroad, and declared that there was uncontradicted evidence that the right of the Board of Directors to pass the resolution of February 19th was not doubted or questioned either in the Executive Board, or Board of Directors, and was therefore not a wilful violation of the law. It then recommended that an act be passed legalizing the $10,000,000 of stock as well as various other acts of the directors which had been complained of as illegal. The action recommended by a minority of the committee was favored in the Senate. In the Assembly, on occasion of the adoption of a committee report adverse to a bill which had been framed in the interest of the Erie Railroad, the following communication was submitted to the House: ASSEMBLY CHAMBER, April 1, 1868. To the Hon. Speaker of the Assembly: I, E. M. K. Glenn, a member of this House, from my seat in this House, do charge as follows: 1. I charge that the report on the Erie Railroad Bill was bought. 2. I charge that a portion of the vote on this foor. in adopting the said report, was bought. gaged in buying their fellow-members. 3. I charge that members of this House were en 4. I charge that a portion of the vote on the Harlem Milk Bill was bought. 5. I charge that some of the committees of this House charge for reports. 6. I charge corruption, deep, dark, and damning, on a portion of this House. I ask the adoption of the following: Resolved, That the Speaker appoint a committee of five to investigate the foregoing charges, that three House that voted no on the Erie Railroad report, and of the committee be taken from that portion of the two be taken from that part that voted are, and the the committee have power to employ counsel send for persons and papers; the committee to sit in this chamber during the recess of the Legislature. The committee may employ a clerk. Mr. Glenn's motives in making these charges having been called in question, he declared that he made them in behalf of no company or corporation. He had been offered five Landred dollars for his vote, and knew a man wh had been offered twelve hundred dollars. Ea claimed in the name of justice that this matter be "probed to the bottom." A committee appointed to investigate these grave charges but Mr. Glenn declined to serve on that co mittee on account of the feeble state of s health, but asked that he might be represented by counsel in supporting the accusations w he had made. This privilege was not allowed but a committee was appointed to carry o the investigation. Mr. Glenn being summoned before that committee, was unwilling to give his testimony, because it would implicate of the men before whom he was required t testify; and on the following day he accused that member of the committee by name be the Assembly of offering him five hundred ca lars for his vote, and asked that he be relieved from taking part in the investigation. I committee decided that there was no grOED. for the charges either against the gentlers named or any other member of the House, a Mr. Glenn thereupon sent in his resignation in a letter of some length, in which he reiterate the charges already made. It was decided to receive this document, as the House nothing to do with the resignation of members if they saw fit to vacate their places. In the discussion on this subject, the general opinion of members appeared to be that the member whe was so indignant at the offer of five hundred dollars for his vote must be insane. The canal system of New York contribute in no small degree to the commercial prospe ity of the State. The total length of these p lic works, with their feeders, is 894 miles: Le total length of navigable rivers and lakes, co nected by canals, is 381 miles, thus giving the State about 1,275 miles of inland navigat The number of bridges on these canals is 151 and the number of locks is 565. The value the work done during the fiscal year 1868 wa bes $688,505.77. The management of the canals has been for several years the subject of some animadversions from all classes of the citizens. The most violent complaints have been made of the inefficiency and corruption of the Contracting Board, whose province it has been to keep the canals in a proper state of repair. It was said that contracts were frequently concluded at excessive rates, while moderate offers were made and rejected, and that a constant course of corrupt dealing prevailed between the Contracting Board and parties to whom they gave the "job" of prosecuting repairs. The result was an enormous outlay, while the canals were every day becoming dilapidated and filled with obstructions. The Legislature of 1867 appointed a select committee to examine into the management of the State canals, and continued its existence through the recess. A large amount of testimony was taken, and a report made to the Constitutional Convention, in pursuance of a resolution of that body calling for information on the subject of these investigations. These reports were published, and public attention still more intently drawn to the subject. The feeling became quite prevalent that the Contracting Board wholly failed to accomplish the object for which it was constituted, and should be abolished. A Canal Convention assembled at Albany on the 25th of February, and discussed the importance to the State of her system of canals and the interest of the community in their proper management. The following is the first of a series of nine resolutions adopted by the convention, suggesting radical changes in the administration of these valuable public works: 1. Resolved, That we regard the present contract system of keeping the canals of the State in repair as entirely subversive of the interests of the State and of those engaged in canal commerce, and subservient alone to the advantage and profit of the contractors, as detrimental to the welfare of commerce, and ruinous alike to the canals and their interests, and to those who have invested their enterprise and capital in the transportation of property through these channels of communication; and we therefore call upon the Legislature of the State to repeal the laws under which the State canals are kept n repair by contract, and to enact others which shall provide for their repair by superintendents, or some >ther responsible agents, so that they may be kept n navigable condition during the season of navigaion, and rendered available to the demands and inerests of commerce. The action recommended by the convention, was-1. A repeal of the act of 1857, relating o the Contracting Board; 2. The passage of bill then pending in the Senate, providing for new system of management; 3. The abrogaion of existing contracts for repairs; and, 4. The institution of legal proceedings against ny person who had fraudulently obtained money on canal contracts with the State. There were also several other recommendaons relating to the details of what the conention regarded as a proper system of mangement. The State canals also formed the leading topic of conversation at the meetings of several Boards of Trade. The subject came before the Legislature in two forms: 1. In the shape of a bill to abolish the Contracting Board, and make some other changes in the mode of administration; and, 2. In the impeachment of Robert C. Dorn, Canal Commissioner, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Soon after the opening of the session, numerous petitions were received in both branches of the Legislature, praying for reform in the management of the canals. Bills were introduced, both in the Senate and the Assembly, to meet this demand of the people, but different plans were proposed in the two Houses. The Assembly bill proposed to do away with the offices of Auditor of the Canal Board and of the Canal Commissioner, as well as to abolish the Contract Board, while the Senate favored less radical changes. Finally, a committee of conference was appointed, and unanimously agreed on a measure, abolishing the Contracting Board, and retaining the office of Auditor. Commissioners of repairs were to be appointed by the Canal Board, whose bills were to be audited and paid by three paymasters appointed by the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. This bill was adopted in the Assembly without a dissenting vote, but for some unexplained reason the Republican Senators met in caucus and determined that it should not become a law. The bill was accordingly defeated in the Senate, and the subject was left by the Legislature in the same position in which they had found it. When the Republican State Convention met at Syracuse, a communication was received from a committee appointed by the Canal Convention "to take charge and watch over the interests of the State canals, and to protect and preserve their revenues and the commerce of this State by all laudable agencies," urging upon the attention of the delegates the importance of a wise, economical, and honest management of our commercial lines of water intercommunication." The closing paragraphs of the document were in these words: 66 It is patent to us, and from the experience of the recent past cool reflection will also convince you, that the first duty in selecting our executive and legislative agents is to provide beyond a future contingency: 1. For the early improvement of the canals-that they shall be put and kept in perfect repair and condition, so as to give an unobstructed channel-way for boats drawing six feet of water upon the leading canals of the State. 2. That the canal revenues shall be protected and preserved from fraud and corruption which prey upon the treasury without bringing compensating benefits to commerce or the State. Without a radical change in the management of condition as will insure to commerce such facilities the canals, there cannot be such a reform in their as are needful, and without which it will be impossible to preserve to the State its commercial supremacy. These positions were enforced in the State Canal Convention by arguments equally impressive and unanswerable, and with an earnestness which indicated the settled purpose of the delegates and of those they represent to render every other subject subordinate to the attainment of these vital ends. The last Legislature failed us in accomplishing these ends. They can be reached successfully by wise selections of candidates from among the able men of the State who are known to be true and uncompromising friends of the canals and their commerce. And we again appeal to you that in your ac tion in your party capacity you may be governed by these important considerations.. The convention, accordingly, introduced the following resolution into its platform of principles: Resolved, That the commercial prominence of our State is largely due to its canals; that they should be managed with rigid economy and probity; that all abuses should be reformed; and that the best interests of the Commonwealth demand their judicious enlargement and improvement, so that their full capacity will be utilized, and that it is the duty of the General Government to interest itself in this great work. the evidence and arguments in the case. The trial continued about two weeks, but attracted very little attention, and the commissioner was acquitted, the largest vote against him on any article being eight to twenty. Among the various conventions of the year, against the action of the British Government was one called for the purpose of "protesting with reference to the imprisonment of adopted citizens," which met in Albany on the 5th of February. A letter was received from Horatio Seymour, expressing his sympathy with the objects of the meeting, and a series of resolutions was adopted, among which were the following: Resolved, That the American people have regarded with deep solicitude the course of the British Ger ernment toward naturalized American citizensarbitrary seizure and retention of them without trial, and the assumption of the British courts to disreg their plea of citizenship founded upon naturalizati The Democratic Convention expressed their and to assert the doctrine of perpetual allegiance! view of the subject in the following: Resolved, That in the State, as in the national Government, they demand economy in expenditure, strict adherence to the letter and spirit of the constitution, and the protection of the rights of the people against the encroachments of monopolies created by special legislation. That the canals of the State, which have contributed largely to the wealth and the commercial supremacy of New York, should remain the property of its citizens; that they should be kept in perfect repair and so improved as to meet the demands of a constantly-increasing commerce; that the tolls should be reduced so as to command the carrying-trade; and that the system of management provided for in a bill passed by the last Democratic Assembly and rejected by the Radical Senate should be adopted, so that corruption and peculation shall cease and the canal revenues be honestly applied to the maintenance of the canals and the payment of the debts incurred in their construction. During the political canvass, however, the greater prominence of other issues caused that of the management of the canals to be in a great measure overlooked; but the public attention has been again directed to the subject, and it is confidently expected that the Legislature of 1869 will bring about a reform in this important branch of the State administration. The impeachment of Commissioner Dorn was the result of the investigations of a select committee appointed by the last Legislature to examine into the propriety of bringing in articles of impeachment against any State officer. A report of considerable length was submitted, which closed with the following resolution: Resolved, That Robert C. Dorn, Canal Commissioner, be and he is hereby impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. This was adopted, and managers of the impeachment were appointed by the Assembly. Eight articles of impeachment were framed, charging Mr. Dorn with corruption and fraud in several contracts which had been made for repairing the canals, and with appropriating public money to his own use and that of his favorites. The Senators and judges of the Court of Appeals sat as a High Court of Impeachment on the fourth Tuesday of May, and listened to That we protest against such assumptions as at with the vital principles of free government, and ve call upon the Administration at Washington to resist and repel them. Resolved, That we demand of foreign government no rights that we do not acknowledge on the part our own. That, commensurate with the right of nat ralization, we recognize the obligation of citizenshi the duty of the Government to restrain its eit from unlawful acts and the right to protect them in their lawful pursuits. Resolved, That the claim of military service asser by some of the Continental nations of Europe, agas naturalized citizens, their former subjects, is so in itself, and so incompatible with the assumed ties of such citizens to the Government of their ca that it becomes the duty of the Federal Government h demand the relinquishment of any such prefers and to enforce the position by all the authority of Republic. Resolved, That the doctrine of the perpetual st alienable allegiance of a subject is incompatible wit the growth of modern society, and the freedom of populations-and that the whole history of the perpe of these United States is a protest against it. The Republicans held a convention at Sy cuse, on the 5th of February, to appoint delegates to the National Convention at Chic A proposition was made in this convention to reorganize the Republican party in the city New York, under the joint supervision direction of Freeman J. Fithian and The as Murphy, the object being to exclude fr the deliberations of the convention the radic delegation from that city. These delegates were, however, admitted by a vote of 256 2 54. Resolutions were adopted, reaffirming the devotion of the party to the principles of tice, legality, and nationality, declaring its p proval of the reconstruction measures of C gress, and its "unalterable purpose to main tain untarnished and inviolate the public f and national credit," and pronouncing in ist of U. S. Grant and R. E. Fenton, for Pres dent and Vice-President of the United States. On the evening of the 3d of July a mas meeting of working-men was held at the Cooper Institute, in the City of New Yor under the auspices of the National Labor Union, which adopted the following resolutions among others: Resolved, That the national honor must be preserved by paying its debts in good faith, and that every debt of the Government, not otherwise specifically contracted, shall be paid in the lawful currency of the United States; that the bonds, when redeemable, should be paid in legal-tender notes or exchanged for other bonds, at three per cent., convertible into lawful money, at the pleasure of the holders. Resolved, That the public interest demands the withdrawal of the circulation of the national banks, and the substitution of legal-tender Treasury certificates in their stead. Resolved, That no more of the public domain shall be granted to any corporation under any pretext whatever, and all the lands not disposed of should be withdrawn from the market and granted only in small quantities to actual settlers. The Convention of Republicans, for the nomination of State officers and Presidential electors, met at Syracuse, on the 8th of July. John A. Griswold, of Troy, was nominated for Governor; Alonzo B. Cornell, of Ithaca, for Lieutenant-Governor; Alexander Barclay, for Canal Commissioner; Henry A. Barnum, Inspector of Prisons; Campbell A. Young, Clerk of Court of Appeals. The following is the platform of the party as adopted at this conven tion: Resolved, That we tender to Congress our warmest thanks for the intrepidity, sagacity, and foresight with which it has accomplished the great work of reconstruction; betrayed by a recreant President, assailed by the remnants of the rebel armies in the Southern States, and their natural allies in the Northern States, it has persistently and firmly completed its work, step by step, until nearly every State in rebellion once again sits in the council of the nation. The Congress which reconstructed the Union will live in history with the Congress that decreed the downfall of slavery, and be forever entitled to the esteem of the American people. Resolved, That, in welcoming back to the Union our brothers of the South, we commend and sympathize with the spirit of magnanimity which has been exhibited to those who, whatever may have been their errors, show a loyal sympathy with the principles of impartial suffrage, and that we trust the spirit will be continued so long as it is invited by corresponding acts of loyalty, until every restriction and disqualification is removed from those who have been rebels, as well as those who have been in bondage. Resolved, That the Republican party can never fail to give, to the brave men who defended the Union in the army and navy, the assurance of profound and grateful esteem. To have been a soldier of the Union sas proud an honor as to have been a soldier of the Revolution. The country owes to its soldiers and ailors its liberty, its glory, its very life; and we ledge ourselves to sustain every just demand they ay make upon the people, prompt payment of their ounties, generous laws, and the assignment of the public lands under the homestead law, which are the est compensations that can be made for their deFoted and self-sacrificing patriotism. Resolved, That we demand from the General Govrnment a pure and economical administration of the ublic affairs; the lessening of taxation; the prompt ollection of the revenue; the reduction of the army nd navy; a less prodigal management of the public and; and, as rapidly as consistent with the burdens ow resting upon it, a return to specie payments; hat we especially desire such a development of ommercial, manufacturing, agricultural, and mining nterests, as will enable us to increase our public ealth, and thus more easily pay our national debt. Resolved, That we welcome to our country the people of other lands, that we believe in generous laws what country claims the birth-place of an American of naturalization and immigration, and that no matter citizen, the flag should cover him with the majesty of pursuits in any quarter of the world. our national power, and protect him in peaceable Resolved, That regarding the triumph of the Demofall the American people, we proudly accept, as our cratic party as the greatest calamity that could becandidates, Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax. We accept them as the representatives of all that has been glorious and heroic in our war, and of the wisTheir election will be an assurance that freedom will dom and the courage of Republican statesmanship. be maintained, justice enforced, and the national honor protected. The Democratic Convention met at Albany on the 2d of September. By far the larger part of the delegates favored the nomination of John T. Hoffman for Governor, at that time Mayor of the City of New York, but a disposition having been shown by some of the party to bring forward the name of Henry C. Murphy as a rival candidate, that gentleman wrote a letter to the convention requesting that such a course might be avoided. Mr. Hoffman was nominated by acclamation, and Allen C. Beach was put on the ticket for Lieutenant-Governor. Oliver Bascom was the nominee for Canal Commissioner; David B. McNeil, for Inspector of Prisons; E. O. Perrin, Clerk of Court of Appeals. The platform ratifies the nominations and reaffirms the principles of the National Democratic Convention, and calls the special attention of citizens to the following propositions : 1. Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights in the Union under the Constitution, of which some of them are deprived by the unconstitutional and revolutionary measures of a Congress which is perpetuating disunion, and, by its usurpations of power, threatens the establishment of a centralized government in place of a Federal Union of equal States. 2. Amnesty for all past political offences, and the regulation of the elective franchise in all the States by their citizens, without any interference whatever by the Federal Government. 3. Payment of the public obligations in strict accordance with their terms-in gold, only when gold is nominated in the bond, and in the lawful currency of the country when coin is not specified. 4. Equal taxation of every species of property, including Government bonds and other public securities; the simplification of the system and the discontinuance of inquisitorial modes of assessing and collecting internal revenue. 5. One currency for the Government and the people, the laborer and the office-holder, the pensioner and the soldier, the producer and the bondholder. 6. Reform of abuses in administration; reduction of the standing army and navy; abolition of the Freedmen's Bureau, and all political instrumentalities designed to secure negro supremacy; restoration of |