New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-05-31
TILE STATE LEGISLATURE.

EXCELLENT CHARACTER OF ITS FINANCIAL MEASURES
--BENEFITs TO ACCRUE FROM THEM LARGE
AMOUNT OF RAILROAD LEGIsLKTIoN-Two MIS-
CTIIEvoUs COMMITTEES ON CITIEs-cANAL LEGIs-
LAroN-A COMPARISON WITH TIE LEGISLATURE
OF 1872.
IBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUSE.l
ALBANY, May 3O.-In one important particular the
Legislature of 1873 did its work better than any OF
it's predecessors have done for several years Its
financial legislation is immeasurably superior IN
completeness and economy to anything OF the hnd
done at Albany since the war For this one excel
lence credit is due to Mr. d. p Wood Of Onondaga Co.,
Chairman of the Finance Committee OF the Senate
The public treasury will be the richer by several
hundred thousand dollars, through the audacity and
parliamentary strategy of the Syracuse Senator
assisted by Mr. Lowery, the Senator from Oneida
Il ia necessary to explain that Mr.. Wood, through
the machinery of Conference Committee. actually
carried his point against the opposition OF majority
of both the Senate and Assembly What is more
curious still this Conference Committee accident
ally appointed by Senator Allen. who temporarily
occupied the chair, was made up of men whom
the Senators who have dictated the action OF
the Acknowledgement had determined not To ap-
point The Lieutenant Governor, according to his
own statement made publicly to the Senate, had
promised to appoint very different committee on
the Supply bill which committee it was intended
should have overruled Mr. Wood and kept number
of appropriations in the bill which had no right TO
be there Mr.. Allen happened to 70 be In the chair
when the message from the Assembly came up.
paper happened to be the desk containing
the names of Messrs. ID. P. Wood, Lowery,
and Lord as Conference Committee on the
Supply bill, and Mr.. Allen incontinently
appointed them, to the great disgust of the advisers
of the Lieutenant-G Governor and that official. This
accident saved the taxpayers good round sum,
and gives the State an uncommOnly honest and
straightforward Supply bill The foregoing must
not be understood as written in disparagement OF
Mr. Fork the Chairman OF the Committee of ways
and Means of the Assembly, OF of any of the mem
bers of that Committee. To Speaker Cornell is due
the credit of having made up his committees gen.
orally in snch way TO secure all the assistance
which good committees can give to honest legisla-
ton.
Whatever may be thought Of the quality, no COM
plant be made Of the quantity of railroad egls-
latiOn which has been ground out this year. The
bill for two additional tracks for freight trains along
the Central Railroad failed to get through the AS
semby it true, but the for the failure are
of kind with which the public have no reason TO-
be dissatisfied Mr.. Vanderbilt in fact not will
ing to buy votes enough to pass his BILL and, more
ditional legislation This was a great disappoint-
ment to at least 90 OF 20 members of the Assembly to
say nothing of Senators. The Third-ave. Company
bill for an elevated railroad failed to pass the SEN
ate and Gardeners Warehouse and Railroad bill
stopped in the Assembly, but almost all the rest of
the rapid transit steam and horse railroad bills
went through without any opposition to speak Of.
The Railroad Committees in both the Senate and AS
sembly were made up Of managers directors, and
attorneys of railroad corporations which arrange
ment ceItancy had the advantage of saving the
Companies from being blackmaied.
The course of the New-York Charter in the Legis-
lature IL tolerably well remembered. 1t needs only
to be added that the charter of nearly every other
city in the State has been remodeed either this year
or last Thousands of acres might be covered with
the leaves of the written and printed bills which
have emanated from the Committees on Cities.
These committees have, beyond doubt, done more
mischief within the last 10 years than all the other
committees combined, and if anything has been done
for New-York City by the present Legislature little
thanks are due to the Committee on Cities
The Canal legislation was not very different from
what it has been of late years, though an effort has
been made to economic by cutting down approprl-
atoms for the nOn-paying lateral bitches The pro-
position TO fund the Canal and General Fund debts
into 40 year FIVE per cent bonds has been Endorsed
by both Houses by the passage of the first prelimi-
nary concurrent resolution for submitting the ques-
ton TO the people.
The action of the Assembly the bill to change the
usury laws must have seemed very strange 20 all
Observers The views of Bentham and John Stuart
Mill were for once enforced by something infinitely
more patent with legislators than logic, and had
the pressure been maintained there would have been
such modification of the penalties as was proposed
Ilv,N h lNraV I'D hffalya
withdrew from the field and left Mr.. Speaker Cor
nell the honor Of victory. The Judiciary Com
mittees carried through some good bills of general
nature amendatory of the statutes, and Mr. Prince
as Chairman Of the Assembly Committee, maintains
his previous excellent reputation wen informed
and conscientious member.
The Legislature of 1873, taken as a whole may be
an improvement on the Legislatures which were
owned by Tweed, but it is generally conceded that
the Assembly was by several degrees less honest
than that of last year. while at the time there
was more good material it; that is to say, if
one were to pick out the 80 best in each
the Assembly of 1878 would not suffer by the
comparison. In the Senate there has been for two
wears back small preponderance of men who are
known to be above making money by selling their
votes; but this preponderance is very small this
year. Without attempting further to discriminate
IL is an undoubted fact that the NewYork Legisla-
ture has still family resemblance to that Of Penn
sylyania-
(For ouer ADaav Hevs see Secoad Pegel