the State, receives and records all pardons, and other executive
and legislative acts, election returns, etc., furnishes certified
and printed copies to the United States, State and County
officers, and other persons authorized to receive the same,
supervises the printing of the laws passed each year, reports
annually to the Legislature statistics of pauperism and crime, and
other information which it may call for. He is a member of the
Canal Board, a commissioner of the Land Office, a member of the
Board of State Canvassers, a Regent of the University, a trustee
of the Capitol, of the State Hall, of the Idiot Asylum, and of the
Board of State Charities.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Comptroller?
A. Superintends and manages the fiscal concerns of the State,
reports to the Legislature its annual revenues, expenditures and
estimates, audits, examines and settles accounts due to or from
the State, directs and superintends the collection of taxes and
other moneys, draws warrants on the Treasurer for the payments of
debts due by the State, negotiates temporary loans, if necessary
to meet demands against the State, countersigns and registers all
Treasurer's checks and receipts. He is a member of the Canal
Board, a commissioner of the Land Office and of the Canal Fund, a
member of the Board of State Canvassers, a trustee of the Capitol,
the State Hall and the Idiot Asylum, and a member of the State
Board of Charities.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Treasurer?
A. He has charge of all the moneys paid into the State Treasury,
pays drafts upon the warrants of the Comptroller, the Auditor of
the Canal Department and Superintendent of the Bank Department,
and keeps the State's Bank account. He is commissioner of the Land
Office, and of the Canal Fund, a member of the Canal Board, and
Board of State Canvassers.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Attorney General?
A. He defends and prosecutes all suits in which the State is
interested, receives costs adjudged to the State, prepares drafts
of contracts, etc, for State officers, and prosecutes in their
behalf persons violating the laws in regard to their departments,
prosecutes criminals in the Oyer and Terminer when required by the
Governor or Justices of the Supreme Court. He is commissioner of
the Land Office and of the Canal Fund, a member of the Canal
Board, the Board of State Canvassers, the Board of State Charities
and a trustee of the Capitol and State Hall.
Q. What are some of the duties of the State Engineer and Surveyor?
A. He prescribes the duties of, and assigns divisions of canals to
engineers, visits and inspects canals, prescribes surveys, maps,
plans, estimates, etc., in the construction and improvement of a
canal, is a member of the Canal Board, of State Canvassers, a
commissioner of the Land Office and a trustee of the State Hall.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Superintendent of Banking?
A. He has the general supervision of the banks of the State, and
reports their condition annually to the Legislature, issues
circulating notes to banks on their depositing securities, holding
their stocks and mortgage securities, and when a bank proves
insolvent sells them and redeems its circulation.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Superintendent of Insurance?
A. He has the general supervision of all insurance companies
transacting business in the State, and, reports their condition
annually to the Legislature.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Canal Auditor?
A. He draws warrants on the Treasurer for all canal payments,
audits all canal accounts, instructs canal collectors and
disbursing officers, keeps account of canal receipts and
expenditures, etc, is ex-officio secretary of the Canal Board and
of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Superintendent of Prisons?
A. He has general supervision of the prisons, appoints the keepers
and other officers therein.
Q. What are some of the duties of the Superintendent of Public
Works?
A. He has charge of the Public Works, of the construction of new
canals, the certificate of the proper local authorities, and he
visits and inquires into the condition and management of these
institutions; is chairman of the committee of the State Normal
Schools, and apportions among the counties the number of pupils
which each is entitled; has charge of the Indian, schools; he is,
ex-officio, a Regent of the University; compiles the
commissioners' abstracts of school districts in the State setting
forth their condition and the account of receipts and expenses for
each year, and makes an annual report to the Legislature. Q. Of
what officers is the Canal Board composed?
A. The Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller,
Treasurer, Attorney General, State Engineer and Surveyor, and
Canal Superintendent.
SALARIES.
Governor $10,000
Lieutenant Governor 5,000
Secretary of State 5,000
Comptroller 6,000
Treasurer 5,000
State Engineer and Surveyor 5,000
Superintendent of Banking 5,000
Superintendent of Insurance 7,000
Canal Auditor 5,000
Superintendent of Prisons 6,000
Superintendent of Public Works 6,000
Canal Appraisers 5,000
Superintendent of Public Instruc'n, 5,000
Q. Who are the State Canvassers?
A. Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General
and State Engineer and Surveyor.
Q. Who are the Regents at the present time, January 1, 1881, and
when elected?
The Governor, ex-officio.
The Lieutenant-Governor, ex-offixo.
The Secretary of State, ex-officio.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction, ex officio.
1856. George W. Clinton ....... Buffalo.
1858. Lorenzo Burrows ......... Albion.
1859. Robert S. Hale ..... Elizabethtown.
1861. Elias W. Leavenworth .... Syracuse.
1861. J. Carson Brevoort ...... Brooklyn.
1864. Geo. Wm. Curtis, W. New Brighton.
1870. Francis Kernan .......... Utica.
1871. John L. Lewis ........... Penn Yan.
1872. Henry R. Pierson ........ Albany.
1873. Martin I. Townsend .......... Troy.
1874. Anson J. Upson ........... Auburn.
1876. Wm. L. Bostwick ......... Ithaca.
1877. Orris H. Warren ....... Syracuse.
1877. Chauncey M. Depew ...... New York.
1877. Charles E. Fitch ....... Rochester.
1878. Whitelaw Reid ........ New York.
1878. Leslie W. Russell ....... Canton.
1881. Wm. H. Watson ............. Utica.
1881. Henry E. Turner ......... Lowville.
OFFICERS OF THE BOARD.
Henry R. Pierson, Chancellor. George W. Clinton, Vice-Chancellor.
David Murray, Secretary. Daniel J. Pratt, Assistant Secretary.
IX.--JUDICIARY.
A tabular view of the judiciary of the State, commencing with the
lowest courts and showing them in their regular order, leaving out
such as are established for particular localities.
I. Justice Court
II. County Court.
1. County Court
2. Sessions.
III. Supreme
1. Circuit.
2. Oyer and Terminer.
3. Special Term.
4. General Term.
IV. Court of Appeals.
JUSTICE COURT.
Q. What is the lowest court in the State?
A. A Justice's Court, held in each town by one of the justices of
the Peace.
Q. What jurisdiction has this court?
A. Original; that is, suits can be commenced in it, and tried in
it.
Q. In a civil action how large a judgment can be obtained?
A. Not to exceed two hundred dollars.
Q. Can criminal suits be tried in a Justice Court?
A. Some can be tried in it; but usually the parties give bail for
their appearance at a higher court to await the action of the
Grand Jury.
COUNTY COURT.
Q. What is the next higher court?
A. The County Court.
Q. What are the divisions of the County Court?
A. County Court and Court of Sessions.
Q. For what causes are each designed?
A. The County Court is for the trial of civil causes, the Sessions
for the trial of criminal causes, but not of the higher crimes.
Q. What jurisdiction has the County Court?
A. Original and Appellate, that is a suit may be commenced in it,
or it may be appealed from a lower court.
Q. What jurisdiction has the Court of Sessions?
A. Original; no person can be tried in it, who is charged with a
crime until he is indicted by a Grand Jury.
Q. Who presides in the County Court?
A. The County Judge.
Q. Who presides in the Court of Sessions?
A. The County Judge and the two Justices of Sessions.
Q. Can both of the Courts be held during the same term?
A. They can; as soon as a cause has been tried in one court the
Judge may change to the other, and should it be the Sessions, the
Justices of Sessions must be on the bench with the Judge; should
it be the County Court, he alone is the court.
Q. What jury decides causes tried either in the Sessions or County
Court?
A. The Petit Jury, consisting of twelve men.
SUPREME COURT.
Q. What is the next higher court?
A. The Supreme Court.
Q. What are its divisions?
A. The Circuit, Oyer and Terminer, Special Term and General Term.
Q. For judicial convenience, the State has been divided into
districts, and how many?
A. Into eight judicial districts, numbered from one to eight,
inclusive.
Q. What are the officers called in this court?
A. Justices of the Supreme Court.
Q. How many are elected in each district?
A. Five each in the first and second districts, and four each in
the other six.
Q. How many Supreme Court Justices in the State?
A. Thirty-four.
Q. For how long a term are these Justices elected?
A. For fourteen years. Salary, $6,000, and an annual allowance for
expenses.
Q. What constitutional provision in regard to eligibility?
A. They cannot hold the office longer than the last day of
December next after they shall be seventy years of age.
Q. What are some of their duties?
A. To preside and try causes in the Circuit, Oyer and Terminer,
and also hear appeals in the Special Term, and when appointed
Judges of the General Term to hear and decide appeals there.
SPECIAL TERM.
Q. What is a Special Term?
A. A court held by one of the Supreme Court Judges in the district
simply for hearing and deciding motions and appeals.
GENERAL TERM.
Q. What is a General Term Court; and how many are there in the
State?
A. It is a court for hearing appeals, and consists of a single
district, or a union of several districts; and there are four in
the State, organized by an act of the Legislature.
Q. What is the territory embraced in the jurisdiction of a General
Term called?
A. It is usually called a Department, and numbered First, Second,
Third and Fourth.
The following table will give a view of Departments, Districts and
Counties in the State:
I. Dep. consists of
I. Dist.
City and Co. of N. York.
II. Dep. consists of
II. Dist.
Richmond,
Kings,
Queens,
Suffolk,
Westchester,
Putnam,
Dutchess,
Orange and Rockland Counties.
III. Dep. consists of
III. Dist.
Columbia,
Rensselaer,
Sullivan,
Ulster,
Albany,
Greene and Schoharie Counties.
IV. Dist.
Warren,
Saratoga,
St. Lawr'nce,
Washington,
Essex,
Franklin,
Clinton,
Montgom'ry,
Hamilton,
Fulton and Schenectady Counties.
VI. Dist.
Otsego,
Delaware,
Madison,
Chenango,
Tompkins,
Broome,
Chemung,
Schuyler,
Tioga and Cortland Counties.
IV. Dep. consists of
V. Dist.
Onondaga,
Jefferson,
Oneida,
Oswego,
Herkimer and Lewis Counties.
VII. Dist.
Livingston,
Ontario,
Wayne,
Yates,
Steuben,
Seneca,
Cayuga and Monroe Counties.
VIII. Dist.
Erie,
Chautauqua,
Cattaraugus,
Orleans,
Niagara,
Genesee,
Allegany and Wyoming Counties.
Q. How many counties in each of the districts?
A. One county in the First, nine in the Second, seven in the
Third, eleven in the Fourth, six in the Fifth, ten in the Sixth,
eight in the Seventh, eight in the Eighth district.
Q. How many counties in each of the departments?
A. One in the First, nine in the Second, twenty-eight in the
Third, and twenty-two in the Fourth.
Q. How many Justices constitute the General Term Court, or the
court held in and for the department?
A. Three in each Department.
Q. Where do these Justices come from?
A. They are appointed by the Governor from the Supreme Court
Justices that have been previously elected by the people.
Q. Must these Justices be taken from their respective departments?
A. Not necessarily; they may be transferred from another
department; as for instance, a Justice from Buffalo in the Fourth
Department has been transferred to the First Department.
Q. How many Supreme Court Justices are elected in the territory
known as the First Department?
A. Five.
Q. How many Supreme Court Justices are elected in the district
known as the Second Department?
A. Five.
Q. How many Supreme Court Justices are elected in the districts
known as the Third Department?
A. Twelve.
Q. How many Supreme Court Justices are elected in the districts
known as the Fourth Department?
A. Twelve.
COURT OF APPEALS.
Q. Of what does the Court of Appeals Consist?
A. Of seven Judges, elected by the electors of the whole State for
a term of fourteen years; one of their number is called a Chief
Judge, the others are called Associate Judges; they cannot hold
the office after they are seventy years old.
Q. What jurisdiction has this court?
A. Appellate.
Q. State how appeals may be taken from one court to another?
A. The party aggrieved may appeal from a Justice Court to a County
Court; from County or Supreme Courts to Special Term; from Special
Term to General Term; from General Term to Court Of Appeals.
Q. What may these Courts do?
A. They may affirm decisions made by lower courts, or reverse
decisions, or grant new trials. The salary of the Chief Judge of
the Court of Appeals is $7,500; of his Associates, $7,000.
ILLUSTRATION.
Q. In what court must a person charged with the crime of murder be
tried?
A. In the Oyer and Terminer, or in some court having the same
jurisdiction.
Q. What privilege has the prisoner if convicted?
A. He has the right to appeal to the Justice holding a special
term, asking for a new trial.
Q. Should this Justice refuse to grant it, what further can he do?
A. Appeal to the General Term.
Q. It the General Term refuse, what then?
A. It can be taken to the Court of Appeals.
Q. If the Court of Appeals refuse to grant a new trial, what then?
A. The decision of the Oyer and Terminer must be carried out
unless the Governor interferes.
Q. In case the penalty is death and the day for execution has
passed, what then?
A. The prisoner must be re-sentenced by the judge that presided at
the trial.
Q. In case either of the Appellate Courts grants a new trial, what
is to be done?
A. The cause will be tried in the same court, or, in one having
the same jurisdiction, but before a different jury.
Q. How are civil causes managed on appeal?
A. In the same way, only that the court may affirm or reverse
decisions as well as grant new trials.
A FEW COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE STATE AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS.
Q. Name one similarity between the State and National governments?
A. Each has three divisions, the Legislative, Executive and
Judiciary.
Q. Name a similarity in the Legislative department?
A. Each has two branches. In the State they are called Assembly
and Senate; in the National government they are called House of
Representatives and Senate. The Assembly and House of
Representatives each elect their own speaker; the State Senate is
presided over by the Lieutenant Governor. The National Senate is
presided over by the Vice-President.
Q. What is the number of members in each at the present time?
A. In the Assembly there are one hundred and twenty-eight, in the
House of Representatives two hundred and ninety-three, in the
State Senate thirty-two, in the National Senate seventy-six.
Q. How do their terms of office compare?
A. The members of the Assembly are elected for one year, of the
House of Representatives for two years, of the State Senate for
two years, of the National Senate for six years.
JUDICIARY.
Q. In what respect are the State Courts and National Courts
similar?
A. Each has a Supreme and Circuit court.
Q. What are the names applied to United States Courts?
A. The Constitution of the United States calls them Inferior
Courts, and one Supreme Court.
A TABULAR VIEW OF UNITED STATES COURTS.
I. Inferior
1. District Courts.
2. Circuit Courts.
II. Supreme.
Q. How many District Courts are there at present?
A. Sixty-five; fifty-six of them being in the States, and nine of
them in the Territories.
Q. What is the largest number of districts into which any State is
divided?
A. Three; Alabama, New York and Tennessee have three districts
each; Ark., Fla., Ill., Mich., Miss., Mo., N. C., Ohio, Penn,
Texas, Va. and Wis. have two districts each, and the remaining
States and Territories one each.
Q. What officers in the District Court?
A. One District Judge, a District Attorney, Assistant District
Attorneys, a Marshal, a Clerk, and a large number of Deputy
Marshals; and also Registers in Bankruptcy.
Q. What jurisdiction has a District Court?
A. Original jurisdiction.
Q What are the salaries of the District Judges?
A. Four thousand dollars each.
Q. What does the territory of several districts constitute?
A. A Circuit.
Q. How many Circuits are there?
A. Nine, each presided over by a Circuit Judge; and their names
are as follows:
1. Circuit consisting of Maine, N. H, Mass., R. I. John Sowell,
Judge.
2. Circuit consisting of Conn., Vt. and N. Y. Samuel J.
Blatchford, Judge.
3. Circuit consisting of Penn., N. J. and Del. Wm. McKennan,
Judge.
4. Circuit consisting of N. C., S. C., Md. and Va. Hugh L. Bond,
Judge.
5. Circuit consisting of Miss., La., Ala., Fla., Ga. and Texas.
William B. Woods, Judge.
6. Circuit consisting of Ohio, Mich., Ky., Tenn. and W. Va. John
Baxter, Judge.
7. Circuit consisting of Ind., Ill. and Wis. Thomas Drummond,
Judge.
8. Circuit consisting of Minn, Iowa, Mo., Ark., Kan. and Nebraska.
George W. McCrary, Judge.
9. Circuit consisting of Cal., Oregon, Nevada and Colorado.
Lorenzo Sawyer, Judge.
Q. What jurisdiction has the Circuit Court?
A. Original. Salary of the Judges, $6,000.
SUPREME COURT.
Q. What territory is embraced in the jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court?
A. The whole of the United States.
Q. How many judges constitute the Supreme Court?
A. Nine; corresponding with the number of the Circuits.
Q. What are the names of the Supreme Judges.
CHIEF JUSTICE.
Morrison R. Waite ... appointed 1874
ASSOCIATE JUSTICES.
Nathan Clifford ... appointed 1858
Noah H. Swayne ... appointed 1862
John M. Harlan ... appointed 1877
Samuel F. Miller ... appointed 1862
Stephen J. Field ... appointed 1863
Wiliam Strong ... appointed 1870
Joseph P. Bradley ... appointed 1870
Ward Hunt ... appointed 1872
Q. When does the Supreme Court meet?
A. The first Monday in December, at Washington.
Q. What is its jurisdiction?
A. Principally Appellate; it has Original jurisdiction in a few
cases, as mentioned in Constitution.
Q. By whom are all these judges appointed?
A. By the President and Senate.
Q. What is the salary of the Supreme Court Judges?
A. The Chief Justice receives ten thousand five hundred dollars.
Associates receive ten thousand dollars.
Q. For how long a term are all these judges appointed?
A. They hold the office for life, or during good behavior, or
until they resign. Election of a President and Vice-President of
the United States.
ELECTION OF A PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Q. Under how many heads may this topic be treated?
A. Two: the first being the manner pursued by the political
parties for nominating candidates; the second, the constitutional
provisions for electing them.
Preliminary action of political parties.
I. Calling of a National Convention.
II. Calling of State Conventions.
III. Calling of County or Assembly District Conventions.
IV. Calling of Town Caucuses.
Q. By whom is the National Convention called?
A. By a National Committee appointed at the last National
Convention, or the one held four years before.
Q. By whom is the State Convention called?
A. By a State Committee, appointed at the State Convention held
the year before.
Q. By whom is the County or Assembly District Convention called?
A. By a County or District Committee, appointed at a previous
convention.
Q. By whom is a Town Caucus called?
A. By a Town Committee, appointed at a previous meeting. Q. Which
meeting is held first?
A. The Town Caucus, and delegates are elected at this meeting to
attend a County or Assembly District Convention,
Q. Which Convention is held next?
A. The County or Assembly District Convention, which elects
delegates to attend the State Convention.
Q. Which Convention is held next?
A. The State Convention, which elects delegates to attend the
National Convention.
Q. What Convention is held next?
A. The National Convention. The delegates then and there assembled
nominate candidates for the offices of President and Vice-
President; and adopt their political platform.
Q. When do these conventions just named take place?
A. Once in four years, in the months of April, May and June,
preceding the presidential election.
Further actions by political parties.
I. State Convention for nominating
the Electors for President and Vice-President.
II. Voting for these Electors at
the annual election.
Q. When does the State Convention for nominating the Electors
meet?
A. At a time when it is convenient to nominate State officers: for
instance, August or September.
Q. To how many Electors is each State entitled?
A. As many as it has Representatives and Senators. For instance,
New York has thirty-three Representatives in the House, and two
Senators; therefore New York is entitled to thirty-five electoral
votes. Colorado has one Representative, and two Senators, and is
entitled to three electoral votes.
Q. How are these Electors distributed about the State?
A. One Elector is elected for each Congressional District; the two
others are called Electors at Large, and are selected from any
part of the State.
Q. What must each political party do that it may get its
candidates before the people?
A. It must have its conventions and nominate the required number
of Electors.
Q. What are these Electors intended to represent?
A. The views of the party nominating them.
O. How frequently, and when is a Presidential election held?
A. Once in four years, on the Tuesday following the first Monday
in November, throughout all the States.
Q. What must each voter do, in the State of New York, that he may
cast a ballot for President and Vice-President?
A. He must hand to the inspectors of election a ballot upon, which
is printed the names of the thirty-five Electors.
Q. By whom are these votes to be canvassed (or counted)?
A. By the same officers that canvass other votes. In New York
State the inspectors of election canvass for their respective
election districts, and certify the same to the Board of County
Canvassers; the County Canvassers canvass for counties, and
certify to the State Canvassers; the State Canvassers canvass for
the State; and the Executive authority of each State causes three
lists of the Electors of such State to be made and certified and
delivered to the said Electors, on or before the first Wednesday
in December.
MEETING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS.
Q. What must the Electors that have been declared elected then do?
A. I. They must meet on the first Wednesday in December succeeding
their election, at such place in each State as the Legislature
thereof shall designate (usually the capital), and vote for
President and Vice-President, one of whom shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves.
II. The Electors must make and sign three certificates of all the
votes by them given for President and Vice-President, annexing to
each a certificate of the Electors furnished by the authority of
the Executive.
III. These certificates must be sealed, certifying, on the outside
of each, that there is contained therein a list of the votes of
such State for President and Vice-President.
IV. A person duly appointed by the Electors, or a majority of
them, must take charge of and deliver one of these certificates to
the President of the Senate, at the seat of government
V. The second certificate must be forwarded through the mails to
the President of the Senate, at the seat of government.
VI. The third certificate must be delivered to the Judge of the
District Court in which the electors assemble.
OPENING AND COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES.
Q. When and by whom must these certificates be opened?