Newspaper of The New York Herald, January 7, 1846, Page 1

[the NEW YORK HERALD. g.^fi .-.|i win ' ? " ^3?3g3BaMMBC^!K3B? - _ ? ? ?j?-??~ TTTIZTT * " " ' Yd. XIIM Ho. O-Wbok Ifo. **K. NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 7, 1846. MESSAGE or THE .GOVERNOR TO TK1 LEGISLATURE OT THE STATE OF NEW TORE. Zb the Sknah and Autmbly. Fellow Citizen* : We an aaaemblad to perform die highest and most reeootuubk duties pertaining to civil govern ment. Other department* are charged with the ad ministration and execution of the law. Upon the legislature is devolved the duty of making the law Its action ta the rule of administrauon and execu .Tl'at sciionu over all and resta upon all. It binds the condtwt of men to the extent of the ex treme penalty of human life, and the interests of men to the extent ofevery thing which can be held XJhtECZvSi? 55.?' 'keWslstor is one of the highest dignity. The truat reposed in hitn by hia constituency is one of the gravest import. Our fr??hh!n? b? to discharge this trust well and faithfuUy, ami our expectations of honor should be measured by the strength of our conscioumess that principles, disinterested intentions and pa trioue impulses govern ouraerts. ?The reflection that we are the mere agents of the Jhoflid'K nut t0 onr?elvee, but them, nf rhn^.e.yerpry*eitt Wlth "? The great elements prosperity are m their hands, not ours. 1 heir own patient indnstry and careful frunahtv are ^"rdr? devotion to equal rights and equuflfiaws and irf ,L0Hn. tion a?d tho Ide of our inatitutions, and are witbm their own keeping. Lawa are neces enable them to puraue this industry and en k? i? Ultft~'? obtain theae rights and reap their their rJ,"' Burden8n"18t be imposed upon them and l? i y ^?? exPensea ol carrying wXi ? into etie,c.v These ihinga they cannot to us^ a^fh^0,?' J e ,th? delegation of power to us , and the discharge of this agency is the res ponsible duty upon which we are about to enter ? xlie lowest and simplest laws consistent with the um". .yu J. great objects to be attained, and the I glitest burdens which their enforcement will per ??. I?1 elh? ^e#t "d wisest execution of the trust; the most salutary and acceptable to lhe con tative"0^'a most honorable to the represen Bimple .Principles are kept steadily in k- P*rfnm5d ,0 govern our action, our duties ?nirn.??-r 1 ered co?y,araUveIy easy; their per oSi.ple^nt- and their discharge beneficial en?? fkw i V we try our measureaSy the influ J? ex*n uPon the intereets and pur .IV., _ s? If-8*8 ?' nociety, and carefully compare of b7*fiP"dJkUre "f authorise with the promises wnr?f ?l^ V? whule ,P*?Ple? we shall escape the lnri?l?nt,i^eX1?5 T. are a8Ua^y attendant upon oiir ni.k*0 In? raoat ,??n?u? dangers which nlatora 5 J*T ?? f?andau?n for ths com xk.? i ? i moBt defP,y disturb the publie mind. ?T k legislation which equalizes the benefits and burdens of government, extends the same encouragement to the enterprise and industry of all in every situation and employment, and at ""np.P'?.-10 secure no special privileges to any, will diffuse prosperity throughout a community; rd"8Uct! a system of laws, all will leel that the fruits of thetr industry are justly se Si'mnf0,'bemselves. On the contrary, attempts I?- kj ^aTorB by law upon claases or locali i!.!?,'^00e .a ^roP^iuoa destructive to profitable in 1,^7' .2. ' ?ot!? earn?, bm to gsin the earn ??fkk ; ot,,J?r8\ a Policy may aecnmnlate wealth ma few hands more rapidly than equal legis "l8*' to.,h? superficial observer, present w lr'nfln! 1 " 2 J Ero?P?"7; bnt the appearance ifi 411 .d'!1181*? J sna IS produced by a forc Uhnr ni "[>eqn^ distribution of the proceeds of the I-bor of all. The tendency of this fate system is to separate capital from productive labor, and, carried Slit h? ?k I??1?01]w produc? the singular result, ki ,?!? isbora least may accumulate most, an J m who works the hardest may know the most ?h??^oir? these lines of policy, in the dis duties, cannot i>e difficult, and will not, I trust, be doubtful. In presenting to you the condition of the State, firatpface ? 10 lU U>terna* P?4?0 msy well claim the, J""* annual message of the last year, it became ,k .^P "^ntdn,J to announce to the Legislature that the public peace had been interrupted, the laws ^ ar?f? force, and that my predecessor Ud betii c?mj*lled to order into service a portion ?ir?,? die Stste, to preserve the one and ^.k1?.? erV military force waa in the field,Bt the time that communication waa made to ,hat PSP?' 1 gsv? at isug'h the ?k^!k^*r disturbances, and, in every form which preaeotad itself to my mind as likely to exert a beneficial influence, appealed to the tenants of the estates, between wnom and the landlords of the same estates the controversy nominally existed, to change their course, and withdraw their counte nance, their influence, and their contributions of money and means from the desperate men who were making armed resistance against the laws. ? At that time human life had been sacrificed, in Ik^f?Ve 'letsucei1, u> the mad spirit of insubor aination, and those incidents were referred to as na tural fruits of such unlawful violence, and as start wor84? re?ults, if the same spirit continued to be encouraged. These disturbances, and the proper remedies to be applied to them, occupied much of the time of the last legislature,and among other measures adop ted, waa a law "to prevent persons appearing dis guised and armed." The provisions of this law were so stringent, and its penalties so severe, that the confident nope was indulged of an abandonment ol the use of the disguises, the protection of which, as experience had shown, constituted the principal danger. Repealed instances of flagrant outrage had demonstrated that those who would stoop to dis guise their person", in pursuit of an unlawf ul object, only required to have their confidence in the pro tection of the disguise sufficiently strengthened, to oring them to the commission of any degree of fT,m?- In other words, the universal principle was !i-? i 18 tbf sc_proeeedinga, that crime requires concealment and that he who dare not, in the open light, look the law in the face, will be emboldened, under the cover of darkness, or the protection of the mask, to outrage its requirements, and strike down its defenceless ministers. This law had not long been in force, when it be came apparent that the hopes entertained of its sa lutary influence were not to be realized. Confidence in the disguises became stronger than the fear of punishment, and parties of disguised men began to show themselves in the excited districts. The coun ty ot Delaware, theretofore comparatively peaceful. >ecame the theatre of more open and active resist ance against the officers of the law, than had pre viously prevailed elsewhere. The assemblages of dis guised men were more frequent,more numerous, and their proceedings more daring and desperate, than had characterized the disturbances in any other quarter. So also, these lawless outrages and their f!rmTJra jB Wer? n?et,in that county, more promptly, =;and;ner??u,,c,llIyL.than lh*y h"d been before f"c"un'"ed? without the aid ot a State military ? ,. ? 'iw-ubtding citizens of the county, led on by their civil officers, to their lasting honor overcame the resisters by their own unaided efforts! lhe courts and juries of the county proved them mtizen^h?7V ,al'h[ul ?? the law as the body of " ? done, and those arrested in disguise and thril 172k. Wer? md'cted, tried, convicted, and her sentenced to imprisonment in T*kf2i prison, each for the term of two years. time to ha?e2?hH?,.5r2k??ding" 8PP?arpd. {oT the i.kl.k th? insurrectionary spirit, as well in the other excited eounties as in Delaware and agaia the hope was mdnlged.thst, if exc tement had not given place to reflection, and passion to rea^ jkmi, at least it had been seen that the strength of the law, and the love of peace and order in th* breasts of our intelligent and patriotic citixens, were too powerful for a resistance of the character attempted nnd that further efforts of that description would h* abandoned. In Delaware county, nothing transpired, for months, to dispel this pleasing hope, though in the ad joining county of Schoharie, various outrages were committed; the sheriff was fotciblv resisted, and was compellsd to resort to the provisions of the act of the last session. " to enforce lhe law and pre serve order," and obtain permission to itiae a guard to assist him to serve legal process. So in uie county of Columbia, several gross outrages were committed upon the rights and properly of pnnie person*: and, in the month of May, one of the deputies of the sheriff of that county, while quietly walkmg in the highway, in company with 1T12.25*1 "'"P0" h,a rf?urn from executing a ? WM d?llb?ra'?ly fired upon by I. u "e?eml persons, from the cover of some hushes near the road, and himself and one of the wTwHH ru! ?Tr but ?ot dangerously wounded. npon? bnt w,tho1" effect, while ac tnslly engaged in executing the writ. Everv orac ifw wrnrtratora hf??. made ,0 discover anTarreat suewss outrages, as yet without It was reserved tor the ill-fated county of Dela- J ware, however, to bring these mistaken and ill-ad vised disturbances to open insurrection, and to orown the long catalogue of crime with a cold, de liberate and cruel murder. On the seventh of Au- l gust, Ostnan N. Steele, under sheriff the county, fell, ahot to death, from behind the protection ot j these masks and disguises, in the middle of t be day, | in the open field, and while quietly and inoffensive- ' ly engaged in the discharge of his official dnty. Sur rounded by some two hundred aim forty dtqtuised ' and armed men and a body of apoteteteu. and with j the aberiff and two eeeiaiants within a lew feel ol 1 his person, this faithful odioar was murdered, and to thin day no one of the actual perpetrators of the I bloody deed has been identified. -* The investigations before the oo rone r*s jary were i protracted and searching almost beyond example, ? and developed testimony, portions ot which were , laid before me, and left no doubt upon my mind, that the crisis had arrived ooatemplated by the le- ! gislature, in the provisions of the nineteenth section of the "Act to enforeithe laws and preserve order-," ' and application haying been made, by all the oificere named in the section, on the twenty-seventh day of! August, I declared, by proclamation, the county of Delaware to be in a state of insurrection, within the provisions and meaning of that law. Herewith 1 transmit a copy ot that proclamation, which will give to the Legislature the grounds upon which it was issued. The necessary orders were immediately given, to call into the service of the tiute three hundred men, to serve as a battalion of light infantry, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty of whom were to serve as mounted men, when the service should call for such force. The annual report of the Adjutant General, here with transmitted, will show more in detail the facts in relation to this force and its organization; and it, and the annual report of the Comptroller, will give the plan adopted to subsist the men and the horses, and the entire expense to the State for the pay and subsistence of the battalion. No instance of resistance was experienced in the whole course of the service of th is iorce, although it was assiduously employed to aid iu the execution of civil as well as criminal procebs, and in the general execution of the law; the collection of the rents in ar rears ring a prominent part of the duty perfoimed. The arrests made by the sheriff and his officers, with the aid, first ol the civil, and subsequently of the military posse, were very numerous, reaching considerably beyond one hundred Some thirty only of these, however,were persons charged with being present at, or parties to, the murder, the residue be ing in custody lor minor offences, growing out of the previous disturbances in that county. An impres sion has prevailed, to some extent at least, that per sons implicated in the transaction, out of which this murder proceeded were, by the Court of Oyer and Terminer, merely punished by the imposition ot a fine. This is a mistake. All of those so punished were charged with, and plead guilty to,offences pre viously committed, and no one implicated in the murder, who was sentenced at all, received less punishment than imprisonment for seven years in the State Pri?on. Some, who pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter in the lower degrees, were liberated upon recognizances, and not sentenced at all, the sentences having been suspended. This mis take ia corrected, to prevent misapprehension as to the proceedings of that court, and to do justice to its members. About ninety persons, supposed to be identified as present at the time, armed and disguised, and en gaged in resisting the sheriff, were indicted tor mur der. Of this number, little more than one-third were arrested. All these were discharged fiom tne jail in the manner already well known to the public, except the two men convicted and sentenced to be executed. The residue of the persons so indicted are at large, having hitherto evaded the service ol process, together with the still larger number not yet identified. Among these, are supposed to be most, or all, of ibe principal leaders, and of those who actually fired upon the lamented Steele, on that fatal occasion. The sentences of the men convicted of the mur der have been, by me, commuted for the punishment of imprisonment in the State prison for tne terms ol their natural lives. The grounds of my interference were set forth in a letter to the sheriff, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. As soon as it was supposed time had been allow ed to restore a reason lble degree ot calmness to the public mind, the Adjutant-General was directed to visit Delaware, and make inquiries and examin ations, with a view to the revocation of the pro clamation declaring the county to be in a Btate of insurrection, and the tinal discharge of the military force in the service of the State. Upon consultation, m this way, with the pubhc authorities, civil and military, and with various prominent citizens of the county, the conclusion was formed that the time had arrived, when these steps would probably be consistent with the publi.c securitj, and might be calculated to allay irritation and promote the restoration of harmony and quiet to this distracted society. Accordingly, the pro clamation ot the 27ih of August was revoked, by a proclamation dated on the 18th of December, to take effect after the 22nd of that month, a copy of which is herewith transmitted. ? The neceBsary or ders were, simultaneously, issued tor the discharge of the military force, on the same day. It is due to the olficers and men of the battalion toaay, that the order and energy, the willing obe dience and prompt and unpretending execution ot duty, which have signalized their entire service, have entitled all to the highest praise. The vigilance and discretion of the officers, and the steady fidelity of the men, prove that the latter were well com manded, and the former well served ; and demon strate that the peace of the State, and the execution of its laws, are both safe in the patriotic hands of its citizen soldiery. No indications of a disposition to interrupt the peace of this county have reached me, since these transactions. The opinion is now ve^ generally entertained that the scenes of violence and armed resistance to the laws have terminated ; that the disguises have been permanently discarded; and, that, herealter, legal and constitutional modes of redress for the grievances supposed to exist, will alone be at tempted. Indications of a disposition to keep up the excite ment, and even the insurrectionary proceedings, continue to be manifested in individual cases ; but it is to be hoped that such indications are confined to those who have made it their vocation to kindle these disturbances, and whose only interest in them has been the personal advantages to themselves f rom their existence. Hitherto tne confiding tenants have listened to such advisere, not seeing, nor sus pecting, the selfish impulses of interest anaumliition, which prompted counsel so apparently patrioiically Sveu, until a severe experience hns thown them e disastrous results of their misplaced confi dence. Upon some, who were industrious, quiet, Hnd thrifty farmers, it has brought ignominious punishment, and perpetual incarceration, in the company of telons. Others, who held like standing, it has banished from their families and their homes, and made fugitives from that jus tice they were taught to spurn,"for the sake ot follow ing these false guides upon what was represented by them as a shorter and surer road to a redress of tneir alleged grievances. To all it hns brought loss of property; angry and embittered feuds, in the place of peaceful social relations, and anxiety, ap prehension and distrust, to poison the happiness of the domestic fireside These are some of the fruits which have been realized from following designing and selfish counsellors; and when these tenants ?hall attempt to resort to the legal and constitutional modes of redress, which they now propose, they will find that there too these pretended friends have least aeted the part of friends to them; and that these appeals, even if right and proper in them selves, nave received nothing but prejudice from such interlerence. In my former communication to the Lcgishtnre upon this subject^ I stated that I considered myself precluded from diacuasing, or even considering, the real merits ot the differences existing between the landlords and the tenants, by the violent and crimi nal conduct of those who assumed to net for the lat ter, and in their name, and apparently by their ap probation ; and who had changed the issue to one between sustaining the law, preserving the public peace, and protecting the rights and lives of unoffen ding citizena on the one aide, and anne'd resistance against the law, wanton disturbances of the peace, I and aggravated tresspasses on the rights and lives of I individuals on the other. Assuming, what I hope time may prove, that these | violent proceedings have terminated, and that, here after, only constitutional and lawful appeals tor re- I dress are to be made, the points really presented far I public action, become proper subjects for inquiry I and discussion. The change of the tenures from leasehold to fee ! simple estates, I have ever understood, and soppos- ; ed to be, the great object of desire on the psrt ot the tenants. The odious character and evil influences , of the leasehold tenures, have certainly formed the great burden of the complaints which have reached me: and I have labored under a false impression, it, ! at the commencement, the avowed object was not i this change. This, it seemed to be well understood I and conceded, must be reached by contract, and compromise between the landlord and tenant, and j that no power posscsocd by the State could ao change | the existing contracts, while the constituuon of the , United States remained in force. li my present information be correct, that point I han been substantially reached, so far as the land lords are concerned. They, I believe, with very ' few exceptions, avow their readiness to commute i the tides, and to eater into negotiations with their I respective tenants for that purpose. Some of theft | have gone so far1 as to give to the public the terms | upon which they will commute, or upon whioh they will open negotiations for that object; and in many casee, which have come to my knowledge, these terms appear to be each as, in all fairness, require | on the part of the tenants, a corresponding advance towards a compromise. 1 do not say that the pre cis# terms should be aoeepted ; but 1 think 1 speak ao more than the judgment of the great mass of our constituents, when I say that they are propositions which ought to be received as the basis of mutual negotiations. Assuming the continuance ot the leases, another i ground of complaint on the part of the tenants is the i distress for rent, which it is claimed should be j abolished. This the Legislature has the unquestion ed power to do prospectively; and 1 do not suppose the right to,do it retrospectively will be contended for, where the remedy by distress is secured by the covenants in the lease. A change of the law thus aliecting a subsisting contract, is held, as I believe, by the highest judicial authority in the countiy, net merely to affect the remedy, but to impair the obli gation of the contract itself. Considered, there* tore, in a prospective light only, 1 cannet perceive that this change of the law can be seriously detti raental to lessors, and especially of farmiag lands. Their security for ultimata payment is always to be found in the improvements upon the land, ft would doutless, ton considerable extent, affect the leasing of houses and other tenements in cities and villages, where deterioration rather than improvement to the property is the coosequeneeot the use; but whether the effect would be most to the disadvantage of the landlend, or tenant, is very questionable. The remedy by distress, especially when applied to iarms, is so inseparably connected with the lease hold tenures, as to partake of their unpopularity, and it may be wise, in reference to this description of property, to abolish it prospectively, aa it may the tenures themselves, as applicable to agricultural lands. This mode ot collecting the rent, is said to be too summary tor the safety of the farmer, while, on the other hand, it is alleged that, although sum mary, it is ithe least expensive process for the col lection ot an admitted and liquidated debt. It is also added that the non-payment of the rent must be a forfeiture of the lease, entitling the landlord to re enter and re-posse as himself of the land with the im provements, and it the remedy by distress be taken from him, he will avail himselt ot this more severe, tjipugh more protracted, redress. A sufficient an swer to this argument is that, as the improvements upon the land must always be ample security to the landlord for his rent, where farms are leased in this manner, the change of the law cannot injure him ; and ii a valuable public good can be accom plished by it,and the tenant, who is the other party in immediate interest, desires the change at this risk, the landlord would seem to have no reasona ble ground for complaint or opposition. A stilj further complaint made by the tenants is that an inequality ot taxation exists in favor of the landlords ot these leasehold estates, unjnst to the people of the whole State, in reference te the col lection of a general tax, and particularly unjust to ?he people of the counties where the estates are sit uate, in reference to the taxes annually assessed to pay town and county expenses. The ground assum ed, if 1 understand it, is that the rents are, in efTect. the interest upon a capital invested by the landlord and secured upon the land, which capital is as pro per an object of taxation as money secured by bond and mortgage, or by contract for the sale of lands In other words, it is assumed that conveying lands by durable leases, is a mode of sale, in effect, by which the seller, instead of stipulating that the pur chase money shall be paid within a specified time, requires that it shall forever remain invested in, and secured upon the land, and that the interest upon that purchase money shall be annually paid to him as rent. It the same terms of sale were carried in to effect by a deed from the seller, and a mortgage from the purchaser, the law would tax the capital secured by the mortgage in the hands of the seller, while the land would be taxed as the property of the purchaser. In these cases, the law taxes the lands to the tenants who occupy them; and still it is said the capital secured to the landlord by the lease, and which produces to him tus interest,under the name of rent, as the mortgage secures to the seller the capital which produces bis income, under the name of interest, is not reached by the law, and is not taxed at all, although there is no diffeience in prin ciple, public policy, or substantial justice, between the two cases. There appears to be iorce and truth in this posi tion. The place and manner ot assessing such capital may be matter ol more difficulty and more question. The money due upon mortgages, con s, and the like, is assessed to the holder tracts, notes, of the securities, at ihe place of his residence, and the tax is payable in tus town or ward; while the complaint urged in this case implies the opinion that the leases should be assessed, and the tax paid in the town or ward where the lands are situate. This would be the introduction of a new principle in re ference to the assessment of personal property of resident citizens; but the expediency of adopting it, and the mode ol carrying it out, are matters of de tail, appropriately belonging to legislation, in case the tax itself is imposed. A report from the comptroller to the house of As sembly, upon this subject, was made on the 16th of April last, in obedience to a call from the Assembly of 1811. in this document, the whole subject is dis cussed with clearness and force I respectfully re fer the legislature to it, as presenting considerations upon thi- point which ap;>ear to me to be sound in principle, and practical lu detail. _ A suggestion has been f requently made,in connec tion witti the troubles arising from these tenures, the adoption of which I supposed to be within the unquestioned power of the legislature, although I am not aware that it has been urged by the tenants upon the existing leasehold estates. It is that a law should be passed to prohibit, for the future,this form of selling farming lands, by declaring that no lease for such lands, lor a longer term than live or ten years, or some other short period, shall be valid. It is entirely apparent, notwithstanding the very un warrantable character of the late dislutbances upon the leasehold estates, that these tenures are not in accordance with the spirit of our institutions, or with the feelings "of that portion of our people in no way interested in the disturbances, or in the relations out ol which they have grown. Such is manifestly the settled state of the public mind upon .L. i? ?? - material exten this point, that the multiplication, or materi sion of leasehold estates, would be looked upon as a public evil, threatening more wide spread and seri ous disturbances, than those which nave, recently, interrupted our internal peace. If, therefore, there be no obstacle in principle, and none presents itself to my nnud, may it not be well lor ty?e legislature to put at rest any apprehension of this sort, by the pas sage of such a law 1 I should hope for salutary in fluences from such legislation upon the existing es tates. I think it would have a tendency to confirm, in the minds of the landlords, their present inclina tion to commute the leasehold titles, and would ope rate strongly upon the tenants, to induce them to ac cept fair teims of commutation, and discharge them selves, at as early a day as possible, Irom an objec tionable system of tenures thus confined to them. I am not aware that it will be necersary to call upon you for any farther provisions of law, in refer ence to the suppression of these disturbances, if they should again arise, as it is to be eainestly hoped they will not. The provisions ot the two laws passed by the last legislature, which have been before referred to, the first " to prevent persons ap pearing disguised and armed," and the second "to enforce the laws and preserve order." have been | very effective when energetically ana faithfully re- j toned to, and appear to me to be sntficient to secure i the enforcement of th- law and the preservation of | order, so far as legislative enactments can do it. i There is some complaint that the last named act throws too heavy a burden upon the county, and especially in expense, before the power of the .State can be invoked. This is a point upon which the last legislature deliberated carefully, and yet experi ence, subsequent .to its action, may have furnished satisfactory evidence that there injustice in the com- [ plaint. It is a point of the first importance in enforc- : ing the law, as, unless the (tower of the county shall be faithfully exerted, the. authorities of the .State | cannot interfere; ana if the pecuniary burden upon ? the county is likely to be so great as to discourage ia embarrass the sheriff in obtaining a suffi effort and dent posse, the eflect might be dangerous ' On the other hand, it the resort to the power of the State is made too easy, that will discourage effort in the county, that all the expense may be transferred to the State. The subject, tlierelore,iaone demanding careful action, and is respectfully presented to your mange of consideration, in rase a change of the existing law should be urged. The expenses upon the county of Delaware have been very heavy,and I am advised that br applica tion will he made to tiie leg.alalure tor relief. It may be that a distinction can properly be made be tween die expenses incurred by tiiat county, after the insurrection exited in fact, and before it was declared to exist by proclamation, bo as to authorize the interposition of a State military force. It is proper to inform the legislature that I was absent from tl* capital at the time of the oetbreak and murder, and agents sent by the civil authorities of the comty to mvoke my action, were delayed seve ral days to await my return; after which time, cnnsuferable further delay was occasioned, to en able them to return and furnish to ine evidence of the (acts alleged to exist, but without the evidence of which I did not feel authorized to make so re sponsible a declaration. From these causes twenty days intervened between the insurrectionary assem blage and the proclamation, and during all tnat time, as I am informed and believe, the sheriff was em ploying a very large mounted posse, and results showed that it was very energetically and efficiently employed. It was Uis developments consequent upon-these exertions, exhibiting the fact that insur rection did exist on the 7th of August, which luid the foundation for proclaiming its existence in con formity to law; but the interposition of the State could not he retrospective, and therefore the ex ponas of preserving the peace, sustaining the law, and apprehending the guilty, during these twenty days, waa thrown exclusively upon the county. According to the requirement of the constitution, a census of the people of the State has been taaen, during die last year, in conformity to the provisions of the l?w of the last session, directing the manner I of taking it. The returns have all been made to the j office of die Secretary of State, and the report of that officer will, at an early day in your session, place the results before you. ? The entire population of the State is shown to be 2,604,49ft, being an increase since the cenSUs of I 1*10, taken in obedience to the constitution and laws of the United States, of 183,574, a little more than seven and a half per cent for the five years.? This is a rate of increase much less than has marked the growth of our population, for the previous por tions of the pretent century ; and shows that emi gration from the State is much greater than to it.? The enumeration was taken as of the lirst day of I July. The number of births in the State, during the j year ending on that day, was 89,756, and the number of deaths 36,294; thus showing an increase of the births, over the deaths, in a single year, of 53,471.? This ratio of increase, for the five years, would have added to our population more than 70,000 souls beyond the present actual number; which simple comparison establishes two important facts, 1st. That the natural increase of the population is heal thful and rapid, and,2nd, that the emigration from the State is greater by from 10,000 to 15,000 annually than the emigration to it. Another tact appearing upon the face of the census shows the description of this emigration. It is, that the increase of popula tion is configed principally to the cities and large villages, thus proving that the great body of the emi gration from the Stale is from the agricultural dis tricts. The increase of population, for the live years, in the four cities of New York, Brooklvn, Al bany and Buffalo, makes an aggregate of 147,767. The number of persons liable to do military duty is 228,292. wud the number of persons entitled to vote lor all officers elective by the people, is 539, 379. The statistics of the productions of agriculture and manufactures are very lull, and cannot iail to possess great interest. They will receive too careful an ex amination at your hands, to require the brief refer ence to them here which this communication will permit. The improved land in the State averages a trifle more than tour and a half acres to each s^ul, and there is produced from it, of wheat, corn, rye, and buckwheat, bread stuf!s| proper, according to onr classification, a fraction less than thirteen and one-third bushels to each individual of the popula tion ; of barley and oats, a fraction less than eleven and one-third bushels; of beans and peas, about three-fourths of a bushel; and of potatoes and tor nips, they being the only articles given of the root crops, a fraction more than nine and a halt bushels. The milch cewi are more than one to three persona and the butter and cheese, together, average more than forty pounds to each person. ' The neat cattle are very nearly one to each soul, and the hogs more than one to two persons. The wool and flax pro duced area little less than six and a half pounds to a person, and the cloth manufactured, in families and in lactones, is more than seventeen yards to each soul. A population, whose own industry produces this amount annually of the necessaries and comforts of life, and affords such a surplus for exchange, may truly be said to hold the great elements of its inde pendence and prosperity in its own hands; neither of which can be destroyed, or dangerously impair ed, while such a ratio of productive industry is di rected by virtuous and patriotic impulses, strength ened by the universal diffusion oi education. The law of the last session directed the Secreta ry of State to appoint marshals to take a census of "the Indians residing on the several reservations in this State, with sucn statistical information as it should be in their power to collect, and as the Se cretary should prescribe." The returns of these marshals give the means of comparing the condi tion of these children of the forest, as they are usu ally termed, wuh that of the general population of the State, in many of the particulars above enu merated ; and the comparison cannot fail to possess a strong interest, as in some respects it will present a melancholy evidence of the reduced state, and now almost literally diminishing population oi these once powerful and proud nations. The enumera tion embraces what are usually known as the Sene ca, Oneida, St. llegis, Onondaga, and Cayuga In dians, within the State. The wnole number oT souls is 3753, and the number oi births, in the year end ing on the first day of July last, exceeded the deaths by a single one. A minute comparison of the statistics returned with the census of the Indians will show that, in improved land and articles of food, their condition bears a creditable comparison with that of the white population. In manufactures, and especially of the necessary clothing, there is an almost total defi ciency. It is hoped that these people will institute these comparisons themselves, as they cannot fail to show them that the lands they possess, if as well worked, are capable of rendering them as comfortable, and as independent of want, as their white neighbors, which should stimulate them to still further, and more valuable and more useful improvements. The people of the State have, with a unanimity al most unknown in the history of ourelections, decid ed in favor of the proposition to hold a convention "to consider of alterations and amendments to the Constitution" of the State. This decision will re lieve the present legislature from amass of responsi ble labor, which has consumed much time, tor se veral of the past years. Important propositions to amend that instrument have held prominent places upon the calendars of business of both Houses for many consecutive sessions, and have given occasion for elaborate investigations and protracted debates. This whole anbject has now been referred, by the people themselves, to a convention; and it would be highly improper in me to nttempt to press upon your consideration questions thus wisely disposed of, so tar as our agency is concerned. Upon thia legislature, however, is devolved the constitutional duty of re-apportioning the reprrsen legists tation in the legislature, according to the returns oi the State census just completed; and as the election to choose delegates to the convention is to be held on the last Tuesday in April next, justice to the peo ple of the counties, the representation of which is to be increased by the change of population, would seem to require that the apportionment ahonld be made in seaaon to permit this election to take place under it. No injustice will be done, by this proceed ing, to the counties, the representation of which is to oe lessened by the new apportionment, as they will still have, in the convention, that representation to which their population entitles them, while the other class of counties will have no more. Justice to the whole population equally requires this action at the hands of the legislature. The same people who have voted upon the question of a convention are to be represented in that body, and thrv have a right to be equally represented. I will not, however, occupy ypur time in the discus sion of a point, about which I feel sure there can be no diversity of opinion, but will content myself with recommending that this subject occupy your early attention, so that the law may be passed in time to prepare for the election in April. The financial condition of the State is a matter, at all times, of the deepest interest, as well to the people themselves, as to their representatives, upon whose action they dejiend for the security of their credit, the preservation of their faith, and their in demnity from unnecessary and unjust burdens. My general views in relation to the true financial policy for the State, in the present condition oi its debis and liabilities, were so fully expressed in my first message to the Legislature, as to supersede the ne cessity of a repetition of them here. The recom mendations were, in substance, that the indebted ness of the State should rot be increased ; that the revenues of the respective funds should be so strengtliened as to render them sufficient to meet current calls, topav the interest on the debts, and to make annual contributions to a sinking fund, such as wonld extinguish the principal, within a reason able period; and that, while the redemption of the pledges contained in former laws, authorizing loans of money, should require it, the whole oi the re venues, beyond the payment of current and neces sary expenses, should be appropriated to the pay ment ot the portions of the debt falling due, rather than to any new expenditures. In this last recommendation, 1 was so unfortunate as to differ from the majority ot the Legislature to whom the communication was made; and a bill was passed to appropriate a specific amount of the lal revei canal revenues for a resumption of the work upon the unfinished canals. Various other expenditures were authorized in the same bill. 1 was unable to give to the measure my approbation, and, as the constitution directs, the bill was returned to the House in which it originated, with my objections. Those objections, the journals ot the last assembly will exhibit, and any other reference to them in this communication is unnecessary. The bill did not pass by the constitutional vote, and, as a necessary consequence, the que*tion between my sell and the majority of the Legislature was referred to the de cision of our common constituents. The statement of the canal debt, at the close of the fiscal year, on the thirtieth day of September last, as given to me from the canal department, is as follows: trie and Champlain canal, old debt $111,365 54 Erie and Champlain canal, now debt. . .. 341,474 63 Erie csnal enlargement 0 93J.000 00 Oswego canal 4.1.304 00 Cay una and Seneea canal 337 000 00 Chem'ing canal 04a 000 6S Crookad lake canal 130 000 00 Chenango canal 3,430,000 00 IlLck ltivercanal 1,644,000 oo Geneaae Valley canal 3,794 000 00 Oneida Lake canal 60,000 00 Oneida river improvement 09,376 13 Making the entire canul debt unredeemed, 301h Septembor, 1645 $19,690,030 77 Of thi* amount, the 11 rat item, Erie and Champlain canal, old debt, la provided for; the money deposited in the transfer office, and no interest baa been paid on it since it fell due, on the firat day ot Ju ly lost. Yet it ie to be paid, it due on presentment, and is, therefore, a liability against the means of this year. The amount ie $111,806 54 Of Chenango canal stocks there became pay able on the 1st day of the present month 3,363,635 66 3,473,901 20 Leaving a balance of debt not yet due, of. $17,316,119 67 The whole of the Oswego canal stocks be come payable on the first day of July next, and the amount is.... $431,304 00 Of tha Cayuga and Seneca canal stocks, there become payable on the first day of July next, the sum of 150,000 00 $371,304 00 If the.* liobiliUss of the prsasnt your be The commissioners ot the canal fund, the laatfiecal year, and since1^[Ild i,ave> I ssa r ibe 2nd day of the present month, about 81,7;'?,''w 0 the ChSgo stocks had been paid ofl and can felled, end .born slSk?. ?ai??ofrh.? ?ock.,y? .b.y vrlt.r,x The unusually large amount of the can , SrS?5 compheh what it had scarcely been hoped couki be dlU?wiU ?\Som\heXt report, tbat thecom 1 sxia&? ?.!s&sfs aW?.M.r?5SrS.?^ received i. "uSa'JScBiona shall be realized,.we shall have effectually changed our po'ty1"rBuwo ???, ?be..neldebb The ??????mo y?.., S3 the SK el.?., work*"of SSflSS&JSl'b? !bf iSXion; end to Te'pUcuw the SEnt3^.wu\x?i5.r.d".3 Seneca s . _ jj these |?yinenta shall beotadewithin ibe' jre.em 6jgl Jf^XbSflKeo mfdTw'ithiVlhe two yeW Ibe , oratjeJ1 Ot ? *if?Z%VS% 1&Si j of all the State canai , ?tatement of nil the ea rn their nature andI .hke attwm ^ ^ cha|R? penduure# upon ithose wor . incllldiBg the C&^ fe. 0tX) 7^ire?i by a daw of 1841 to be ^^rt^fi oo^&tb dey of Meptembe, last, shows an . u j-.n oai 48 | Lsaring a ?nrp>n? ?r f?v?nue 0T*r ?*P#n" $l57 ofll 93 ??w? be e.t.bliibed by th^.ct onittf^i|htwe^'Oh?'^"1?i SaMM^m the c.o.l debt e.lMibg " Ibe, time o ?f debt u?f?, ? waH #375 909 38. Bast ^!hfrom8,?heesurplus canal yea", sinking land iat the cjgg of September, 1942, commencing W1 hhoulcl be nccumu njjj- -f.j-jj | ESfltt^T^,afBFSS the sinkiftfT?nj!* Kirn added to the capital of the S3 EftiRSS ,he eete.1 eootrtbutioo. heve beet, u f?U?? M4 ? SOth Uoptsmber, 1M3 .. .366,7? t? .??.?n 61 IMS. i'.?>*" 091 91 MakinK ths sssonntsctually contributed from ths .nrplus roTanu.., f.r th. fo.r^^ ^ ^ Vhe amount a t h'u'''? ? ' th a''a apand*' oraa0 Par of the swrrlw. ow sad s^wa tb? f Jfi (| wi,j bo oach of ths year* Ths TP h t 0, t|,# required toon, was Tory .mall, and fsllfaraa mors than $liO,ooo, contribution; and that far IW conaidsrsbly abort, while torn*?? ? ..csrtain/d oacted bo third of the annuw in c#ntribu. under ths law. t at the Kg ff |t lhoa|d haT, boon to <? 'be eeotempletteoef '"U". u ???r,-,dTyvi--'?? tl.i? .i.lj'bb I. v,.? ilia eentrfbotioo. fer B ,1'eo ?S $Ssss - debt authotirad by It, bnt ?bs canal . ST.n?.oa hasa. a. 5S- SSSlSfS. {KSMTSSf"" r,"d under a i?Vr" BdTSiiing to ths fact that ths .npplisd in ths contributions to thi. fdnd, ^,t th^ of irom ths anbaeqnent rsiwaes, . boyond ths ds rr.nrA,r.o^.^ %%???'iSWiZS&E-*- -1-b -b-1 jeotions.anl to tho correction there mod# I respectfully r jfer, in cue the explanation should become matorisl. The revenues of sll the oeneis, for the lest fiscal year, have exceeded those of the year 1844 by the sum or $30,904 30 ; but the expenses are above those of that year by $140,109 98, so thet the surplus of revenue ever the expenditures, it $114,185 58 less than the same sur plus of the previous year. The canal toils for the year ending on the autli Sept last were $19,806 58 less than for the previous fiscal year, end the rents of surplus wa ter were $054,13 less ; but the interest on the current revenue was $30 944 07 more than for the previous yeer, thus overbalancing the deficiencies in the other two item*, aud giving the excess of aggregate revenue above stated. The excess of expenditures for the last year has baen principally upon tha repairs, under the direction of the superintendents of repairs, and the im provements under the immediate direction of the oaaal onmmiaeionere ; the former item having been increased $81,858 39. and the latter $40 851 43. The annual report of the canal commissioners will, I presume, exhibit these expenditures and the causes for them in a satisfactory manner. The businass of the fell baa shown that tha principal canals must bave been in a good condition for naviga tion, as the amount of tonnage transported haa been much greater theu in any former equal period, and tha regularity and facility with which unusually heavy la den boats mado their passage*, is tha beet evidence that few obstructions were encountered. The receipts of toll*, for tbe last two months of the navigable season, were unprecedentedly large, and have materially elded, at an oppoitune moment, to place means in tbe handa of thecommisaionera of thecanaliund to redeem tha large amount of stock* which fail due on the first day of tho present mowth. The increased demand and improving price of wheat and flour have contributed principally towards this press of business on tbe canale, and tho consequence has doubtless baen to sand forward to the market, during (he fall, a much larger portion of tha lest crop, then would otherwise have been brought out before toe next season. Tha tolls of the fall bava thus baen greatly increased, while those of the spring will be diminished to the extent thet its business has bean an ticipated by the change in the fall market It doea not necessarily follow, therefore, that the tolls of tho fiscal your ending on tho 30th of tfoptamber, 1848, will be un usually large, because that portion of them already re ceived has been so. The tolls upon each of the canals of tha State, for the last season of navigation, compared with thoae of tha aeaion of 1844, are a* follows: 1846. 1844. Erie canal $3,381,810 76. $3,190,147 34 Champlain do 119,434 36 118,739 33 Oswego Jo 68,448 60 68,184 93 Cayuga and Seneca do .. 83,486 66 34,618 17 Chemung do 31,617 71 14,886 13 Crooked lake do 1,943 88 1,497 89 Chenango do 30 687 34 33,177 98 Genesee Valley do 33,144 33 19,841 30 Oneida lake do 643 16 831 46 Oneida river improvemt 469 10 381 13 Total $3,646,463 78 $3,446,374 63 The statements from tho canal department, from which the foregoing results in relation to the canal fund and ita revenues are deduced, are made in conformity with the express provisions ot the act of 1843, which requires that, as a part of the annual expendituras. shall ba given the $300,000 directed by tbe act of tbe 36th of May, 1841, to be paid yearly to the general fund. It will be seen hereafter that ibis sura was not, for tbe la>t fiscal yeer, j paid to the general fund, but was applied by tbe com missioners of the canal fund to tbe redemption of canal i stocks falling due, and lor the redemption of which suf ficient means, without this portion of those revenues, were not provided. The reimbursement of this $300,000, I to the general fund, when there shall be no paramount ! claim* upon the canal revenues to prevent it, will leave i the carol accounts at they are above presented, and the ! only elibct will bave been that the canal fund will have deferred a debt to the general treasury rather than to the public creditor, i The condition of tbe general fund la very different from that of the eanal fund just presented. Its debt ia large, entirely beyond the |>owerof ita revenue*, and la annually augmenting. Ita revenue*, now greatly un equal to the curient charges upon the fund, separate from any payment upon the principal of the debt, are to be materially diminished during the present yeer, uu> less the Legislature interpose and provide new (source* of income. Tbe debt charged upon the fund was, at tha close of the last fiscal year $6,886,649 34 This debt, at the close of the fiscal year 1844, was 6,634,607 84 Showing an increase, within the year end ing 80th September laat, of $381,041 M A statement of the liabilities of this fond for the year, and of its means to meet them, show a deficiency of those means, on the 30th September last, after applying the whole balance of money then remaining in the trear aury, of $740,181 7& That amount has been borrowed Irom and is due to the other public funds. The productive capital of this iund is literally nothing. I its richest source of revenue, for the last year, has been I the mill tax, tho wholo of which, by a provision in the , financial act of 1843. was appropriated to this fund, the ' c?nai revenues having reached the point, for the year | 1844, when the half of the tax appropriated te that fund was to cease, unless already assessed for another year. I in which case the whole tax for such year was to be paid [ to the general fund, and after that time the half waa to be | no longer levied. That contingency happened daring | the last fiscal year, and, therefore, the general fund re j ceived the whoie tax, but, lur the future, only the one hair of the mill tax imposed by that law is to ba collect ed. The remaining principal source of revenue ia the I $300 (too per annum, directed by the " Act to regulate i the accounts between certain lands belonging te this State," to be peld (rem the cenal I'uDd ior the use ef the general fond. This amount hea not been paid for the last fiscal year, for the reason assigned, when speaking of the j canal revenues; which has increased to that anient, the deficiency in the revenues of the general fund for tho lest year. I can add nothing to the recommendations urged in my i former atmual message, tbet provision be mode to ! strengthen the revenues of this iund, and to arrest the > rapid increase of its debt. The ordinary expenses of the government are now annually met by leans; and money is, in efihot, U not in iact, borrowed in each subsequent I year to pay the interest upon the debt which the necaa ; sities of the previous year accumulated, in my Jedg ment neither the interest, nor the will, of oar constitu ents is observed in the pursuit of a policy so ruinous. In addition to the amount of debt actually charged upon this fund, it is contingently liable to the amount of I $1,713 000 00 for loans of the credit of the State to canal , and railroad companies,which yet continue to pay tho io ? teres?,and it is hoped will extinguish the principle also of I the losns, ss they shall become peyable, and save tho i State entirely harmless. A large portion of the loan to the Delaware and Hudson Cenal Company, which wis made upon acredit 01 twenty-one year*, isto fall due am t$e first day ol January, 1848. This stock, by its tense, is |>ayable " at the pleasure of the State at any time al ' ter the year 1847," and as it is the settled policy oi the i State not to defer, beyond the day, the redemption of stocks issued for its own beneAt, it is presumed its plea sure will tie that the stocks it has loaned shall ba re ! deemed by the same rule, payment at the day. The stocks loaned to this company war# issued by the comp troller, and the original certificate* signed by bim, but they are trensferrable at the ofllce of tba company, and the Dew certificate* are signed by its treasurer, and countersigned by the officer appointed in the city of New York, to transfer other stocks ef the State. Tho transfer books are kept at the office of the company ; the list* ef stockholders are only to be found then, and there the payments of interest are made. It ia important that a notice should he seasonably giv en to the holders of these stocks, that they will be paid on the first day of January, 1848, and that such is tho pleasure of the State. It is not believed that any officer of the Stnto is now authorized to give this notice, and without the lists ef the bolder* of tho stock.no officer has it in hi* power to give it. I recommend that provision he made by law to meet this case, and also to reach all the stock* loaned by the State to caqal and railroad com panies. The productive capital of the common school fand, at the close of the fiscal year, was $3,090,083 41 At tha close of 1844, that capital was 1,991,910 3a Showing an increase, within the Inst year, of $97,710 00 The unproductive port of the capital of tho fund ia about 3o0 000 acre* of unsold land, situate in the northern fartol the state, and valued at $178,000. 'he receipts into the treasury during the year, for reve nue from this capital,were $118,461 87 A d the appropriation of revenue from tke U. 8. dsposite fund. 108,000 00 And the entire revenues of tke fund, for tke year, will he 1 $379,480 07 At the close ot the fiscal year, ending 80th September, 1844, there wee remaining in the treasury, a balance of tho revenue* oi this fund of 89,019 48 Making the whole means of the year $807,470 88 The entire payments from these means,du ring the same year, were 990,04$ 87 Leaving in tha treasury, on the 80th of Sep tember last, a balance of revenue of... $80,990 90 The distribution to be mtde enn ually to tho common schools, from the revenues of this iund, is $978,000; sad this is upon the condition (hat th- counties raise by tax a Ilk* sum for tha like < istribution. eo that the sum of $860 000, is in fact distributed to the common schools, from the opeiation of tho laws regulating this fond. To this amount the loetl fond* possessed by various tewua in the State, growing mostly out of lend* origmallyro .erved for the nse ol schools, have added $90,000. Cer tain towns have, by tbo vote of their inhabitants, raised by tax upon themselves $18,000 more; and there has i been raised in the cities, aoder various special taws, tha 1 further sum of $900 nod; so that tha wholo expenditure : lor tha year, from the## sources, upon the common schools, and tha school district libraries, has heea $700, ooo. Of this sum the smount paid for teachers' wage* ba* been ? ? . $099,880 94 And the amount contributed on rata bills, to pay teachers' wages, has been 489,197 70 Showing an segregate paid, In th* Steta, In teschers, of. $I,W?7 9o4 7 J Tho school district libraries roatain 1,118AW ralnmaa, lO0,fiJ4 volumes having been added during the year, ha vered by the lest repn te. Towards thee* librara- the re wits paid of the public money, during the Itat ye if, $96,169 94. Of the money raised in the cities, ahiut $90,000 hae been expended ia the erection of eahsal The whole number ef argenlsed school dietrit ta In th State is 11 Old, and from ifliHof thaea tha ??! <