The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-02

the county or queens. thus GIVING 70
the city twenty-five and one.haif sena-
tors: still considerably short Of one
half Of the total number of members
Of the Senate. The effect Of this pro-
hibftion IL therefore still entirely AGA
demic; yet a considerable number
Of Republicans from the State outside
Of the greater city were anxious to
extend the prohibition to the entire
city. It was. however. the judgment
Of the majority Of the convention that
It was unwise to change the rule OF
apporttonment which had been estab.
lished 10 long. Senator Wagner. In
explaining his vote against the adop-
ton Of the revised Constitution, said:
I shall to the bitter end opposs and. Of
course. vote against the superintendent
pr0vtsaon.
On the other hand. MI. r. b. Smith.
a prominent Republican delegate from
Syracuse. explained his vote against
the adoption Of the Constitution by
saying:
Mr.. President. the upstate 10 responsi-
BILE for the presence hsre of . majority.
and IN fairness 20 them they were en-.
titled to have Incorporated into the Con-
stitution . senatorial restriction against
the city Of New York which means some.
thing.
Between these two extremes the pro-
vision submitted to the voters seemed
to the convention q conservative .
Several other amendments are EN-.
bodied in the revised Constitution re-
speeding the Legislature. BY section
10 Of Article III. the prohibition
against. the passage Of private or local
bills was further extended to include
any such bills which grant to any cor
poration. association or Individual the
right to prove a claim against the
State or against a civil division there
of. BY section 20 the Legislature is
forbidden to audit Of allow any private
claim or account against the State or
against any civil division thereof. All
such claims must be presented and
audited by the proper authorities pur-
suant to general laws. The Legisla-
ture. and the authorities Of civil divi.
slons Of the State. are expressly au-
thorized to appropriate the necessary
money to pay claims and accounts
which shall have been properly audited
and allowed pursuant to such general
laws.
In view Of the change in the method
Of making appropriations Of public
moneys involved in the adoption Of
the budget system. the section In the
present Constitution requiring appro.
priation bills to be passed only when
three-hfths Of all the members elected
to either house are present Is omitted.
For the purpose of removing for the
future such doubts rs arose in the Sui
xer Impeachment trial concerning the
power Of the Legislature to consider
impeachment matters except at It's
regular annual session, n new section
(Article III, section 10Y authorizes
the Assembly Of its own motion to
convene for the purpose OF impeach-
ment, and the Legislature Is further
empowered Of its own motion TO con-
vene u take action In the matter Of
the removal Of a Judge Of the Court Of
Appeals or Justice Of the Supreme
Court. No subject shall be acted upon
At a meeting so authorized except that
for which the meeting Is by this sec
ton authorized to be held.
Another amendment requires each
house Of the Legislature to keep a rec
ord Of its debates and promptly pub
lish the same from day to day. ex-
cept such particulars as may require
secrecy,
All OF these provisions combine to
remove the Legislature from the ne
cessity Of dealing with special local de-
mands. and to require it to devote its
attention to the enactment OF general
laws applicable to the State at large
rather than to mere localities. and to
the passage OF appropriation bills pur-
suant to the requirements OF the ad-
ministrative departments as formu-
lated in the annual budget prepared by
the Governor. The purposes of these
amendments were briefly stated by
Senator Root in his closing address to
the convention in the following Ian
guage:
when we came TO OUT work on the 9TH
of Apnl last We addressed ourselves hrst
To studying the conditions of the govern
non, Of the state. . We found that
the LEGISLATURE OF the state had declined
In public esteem. and that Il majority OF
the members OF the Legislature were oc-
cupying themselves chiefly in the promo
ton OF private and local bills. special in
,er.sts, with which they came to Albany,
private and local interests. upon which
apparently their reflections to their posi-
lions depended. and which made them COW
ards and demoralized the whole body
. . We have done our best to devise
and adopt measures which will remedy
these evils.
The convention further provided for
an increase in the annual salaries OF