Year: 1867

The Constitutisu Of 1S46-The Work Before


tho Convcntiss Of Revisiea.


The Convention 10 revise and amend the
constitution of the State is to assemble in less
than six weeks from to-day, and the delegates
elect will have but little time to study and re-
aect upon the important questions that will be
presented for their consideration. There is .
general conviction among the people that the
government Of the State needs searching and
thorough reform Scarcely any person pre-
tends TO deny that corruption permeates our
whole political system, that It grows bolder
and moro aggressive year after year, and that
it appears 70 be beyond tho power Of the law
to check or punish it Various remedies have
been suggested Cor the acknowledged evil. In
some quarters It has been proposed that the
number Of Senators and Assemblymen be in
creased; but this 4 very doubtful expedient,
and would probably only add to the
legitimate and illegitimsts cost Of legis-
laton. Besides, Il would but effect
partial curs, II ever 90 successful, and would !
still leave all but legislative corruption un-.
touched. Some have desired to see more
stringent bribery laws enacted, and the penalty
removed from an save the public officer who
violates bis trust Such propositions are only
quack remedies and fail to reach the seat of
the disease.


The evil lies In the State constitution
adopted twenty years ago, and which d
nothing more than corruption and anarchy
organized. The Convention of 1916 was the
bantling Of set of Herkimer county demo-
Gratis, Of whom Abijah Mann and Michael
Hoffman were prominent typea They had
singular notions Of State polity, and imagined
that the great Commonwealth Of New York
could be governed upon the system which
they found to work well in the county of
Herkimer. Their ruling idea was to scatter
power and responsibility-to make the State
government an aggregation Of separate and dis
tinct authorities, each Independent Of the other,
and without any de facso head. The State
officers, simply chiefs Of bureaus under the
Executive, were to be removed beyond the
tickets at different times. The judges were
to be chosen at the polls, the same as Herki-
mer county supervisors were chosen, and the
cities Of the State were to be left without
any distinctly defined rights or settled form
Of municipal government All these changes
were effected. and the principles underlying
the old State constitution were swept out Of
existence under the speoious cry Of distribut-
ing power among the people; while, in truth,
the people lost their power over public
officers in the exact proportion in which
public eficsrs were relieved from direct
responsibility to the people, and the new
constitution was, ~ rwo have said, the
organization Of anarchy and corruption.


The eva effects Of the labor Of these Her
kimer county politicians were soon made ap-
parent The great commercial metropolis being
left without any solid form of government,
and the Legislature having the power to par
cell out piecemeal, the earliest act done under
the new constitution by the several Corpora
ton cliques in New York was to start lobby
to Albany to corrupt the State Legislature and
to induce, by bribes and promises, the passage
Of acts advancing the interests Of this faction,
or the defeat Of bills threatening the power
and emoluments Of that A city candidate
bea EN- in Tammany nomination or at the
polls, immediately raised . corruption fund
and proceeded to the State capital to secure
some law legislating his successful opponent
out of Office or dividing up the duties and
profits of his position. The squabbles between
the rival democratic organizations in New
York gave an impetus to this policy, and ses-
sion after session the legislative halls were
crowded by the enemies and the agents of tho
city Corporation, and the money Of the tax
payers was spent freely under the protecting
egis Of the new constitution.


The inevitable consequence was the gradual
disorganization Of the city government as well
a. of the State government, until to-day the
Mayor is mere fgurehead, and the executive
power Of the municipality is divided up under
a dozen different bodies, each independe mt Of
the other, and constantly clashing one with
the other, until the conflict terminates in
anarchy.


The corruption thus commenced by the Cor
poration Of the city of New York speedily
communicated itself to individuals, and combi-
nations were formed to push personal schemes
through the Legislature by the use of money
or the distribution Of contingent interests in
the projects among the members Sbrewd
politicians at Albany organized and fostered
the business for their own emolument and
soon gas companies and railroads and private
corporations Of every sort and description
reaped harvest and scattered q harvest at the
State capital year after year. The offices OF
Senator and Assemblyman began to be
sought after by needy politicians, al
though the legitimate pay was not sufa-
cient to meet the expenses of session,
and shrewd men who went to Albany poor left
that city rich. Sporadic attempts were made
to stop the rushing tide Of corruption and TO
bring offenders to Justice, but the elective sys-