with the execution of all laws relating to the repairs and navigation of the canals." "Subject to the control of the Legislature, he shall make the rules and regulations for the navigation or use of the canals." He is to appoint not more than three assistants, who are to be subject to suspension or removal by him. "All other persons employed in the care and management of the canals, except collectors of tolls and those in the department of the State Engineer and Surveyor, shall be appointed by the Superintendent of Public Works, and be subject to suspension or removal by him. The office of Canal Commissioner is abolished from and after the appointment and qualification of the Superintendent of Public Works, until which time the Canal Commissioners shall continue to discharge the duties as now required by law." It must be apparent to every one that if the superintendent was to have any chance of success in organizing this new system, preparing his plans and regulations, selecting his assistants and employes, repairing canals and getting them ready for navigation at the usual time, it was vitally important that he should be appointed and enter upon the wide field of his duties at the earliest practicable day. Under the amendment he might have been appointed at any time, but he could not enter upon the duties of his office until he had given the security to be required by law. In my annual message, communicated to the Legislature on the 2d day of January last, I called special attention to this subject, and earnestly urged the immediate passage of an act fixing the salary and the amount of security to be given, so that the superintendent might be appointed and enter at once upon his work, leaving any further legislation that might be found desirable to be perfected at the convenience of the Legislature. This recommendation was disregarded. No bill was introduced until the 22d of January, and the one then introduced, as subsequently amended, was incumbered with many useless provisions, calculated to provoke protracted discussion and delay. It was not until the 16th day of March, at the close of the eleventh week of the session, that the bill came into the executive chamber. Careful consideration had already been given to the selection of a candidate most likely to be acceptable; one who would best meet all the requirements of the position, and for whose management of the canals the Governor might safely hold himself responsible to the people. Realizing the necessity of immediate action, within half an hour after the receipt of the bill I nominated to the Senate a gentleman known and honored throughout the State and nation, a graduate of our national military academy, of distinguished ability as an engineer and in the organization and discipline of men, and whose personal purity of character was universally acknowledged. Having no entangling alliances with any canal combinations or party factions, it was believed that he was well fitted for the task of lifting the canal administration out of the difficulties into which it had fallen under the old system, and of placing it upon a higher plane. It was also believed that no man could be in more perfect accord with the spirit of that portion of section 9 of the bill under consideration which declares that "no appointment shall be made for partisan purposes or by reason of political opinions." The nomination was made on the 16th of March. It lay in the Senate until the 22d of March, when it was taken up and rejected by a strict party vote, in obedience to a determination of a party caucus, as was stated in open executive session upon the floor of the Senate. In the same manner, at the same time, and under the same caucus determination, the nominations of most competent and respectable gentlemen for Superintendent of the Banking Department, Health Officer, Port Warden and Captain of the Port, being all the executive nominations before the Senate for important positions, were rejected. This action could only be understood as a distinct notice to the Governor that no nomination he might make would be confirmed, unless made in obedience to the choice of the same party caucus. But even if this construction is not warranted, the rules of the Senate, recently adopted by the same party majority, will prevent another nomination unless by unanimous consent - before the first Wednesday in April, and defer action upon it until the third Wednesday in April. Only thirty working days remain between this and the 1st of May. Within that time the appointments must be made, the repairs on the canals completed and navigation opened. If an appointment could be made at once there would be no hope and no possibility that a superintendent could organize and put into operation the new system provided by the constitutional amendment. The Canal Commissioners, foreseeing the fatal result of these delays, have deemed it their duty to proceed, and are proceeding with the work of preparing the canals for opening. It is scarcely necessary to add that any attempt to substitute the new system for the old, after operations have commenced under the latter, would be wholly impracticable. The long delays in passing the act, and the action of the Senate since its passage, have effectually destroyed the system so far as the approaching season is concerned. No possible alternative is left for opening the canals except by the action of the Canal Commissioners under the old system, and in accordance with existing statutes. The question then arises: What will be the effect of the bill under consideration if it shall become a law? Section 8 of the bill provides that "the offices of superintendent of canal repairs, and of division, resident and assistant engineers on the line of the canals, are hereby abolished." If, therefore, the bill be approved, the entire machinery by which the commissioners are required to carry on their work will be destroyed. All work upon the canals must at once cease. They can neither be repaired, opened or navigated. Even if a Superintendent of Public Works were appointed, as contemplated by the bill, he would be seriously embarrassed by the cutting off at once of the entire engineering department of the canals. The work done through that department during the last year has been of great importance to the State, whilst the expenses have been largely reduced. The estimates for the current year show a further reduction to an amount believed to be much below what the cost would be under the plan proposed in the bill. It would be a hazardous experiment and poor economy for the first Superintendent of Public Works to undertake to carry on the operations of the canals without any assistance whatever from the engineering department, upon which he must rely for accurate information. Moreover, this bill makes no provision for the care and custody of the records and papers of these offices. The breaking up of that department and the removal of these records from their appropriate places of deposit would put them in danger of being lost or stolen, in which case the State would be deprived of most important evidence in the trial of actions against parties charged with fraud and misconduct in regard to canal operations. For the reasons herein stated, and as the only means now left for opening the canals at all, I am constrained to withhold my approval from this bill. L. ROBINSON, Governor. STATE OF NEW No. 89. IN ASSEMBLY, March 27, 1877. THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION AND THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY, ON THE NEW YORK STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT ALBANY. To the Legislature: Pursuant to the act chapter 318 of the Laws of 1848 the undersigned herewith transmit their annual report containing a full statement of their proceedings, and of the expenditure of money for the support of said school, together with a detailed statement of the progress, condition and prospects thereof, as shown by the accompanying report of the executive committee. ALBANY, March 23, 1877. NEIL GILMOUR, Superintendent of Public Instruction. JOHN V. L. PRUYN, Chancellor of the University. [Assembly, No. 89.] 1 |