hundred and ninety-five shall hold their offices for three years, and their successors shall be chosen for two years. The Assembly shall consist of one hundred and fifty members, who shall be chosen for one year. (Art. III., Sec. 2.)

Senate Districts.-Members of the Legislature are not elected by the voters of the State, at large, but from small divisions called Districts. In the case of Senators the Constitution directs that:

The State shall be divided into fifty districts, to be called senate districts, each of which shall chose one senator. The districts shall be numbered from one to fifty inclusive. (Art. III., Sec. 3, Cl. 1.)

Present Apportionment.-Senatorial Districts are at present (1908) apportioned among the counties as follows:

1, Suffolk and Nassau; 2, Queens; 3-10, Kings; 11-22, New York; 23, Richmond and Rockland; 24, Westchester; 25, Orange and Sullivan; 26, Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam; 27, Ulster and Greene; 28, Albany; 29, Rensselaer; 30, Washington and Saratoga; 31, Schenectady, Montgomery and Schoharie; 32, Lewis, Fulton, Hamilton and Herkimer; 33, Clinton, Essex and Warren; 34, St. Lawrence and Franklin; 35, Jefferson and Oswego; 36, Oneida; 37, Otsego, Madison and Chenango; 38, Onondaga; 39, Delaware and Broome; 40, Cayuga, Seneca and Cortland; 41, Tompkins, Chemung, Thoga and Schuyler; 42, Wayne, Ontario and Yates; 43, Steuben and Livingston; 44, Genesee, Wyoming and Allegany; 45-46, Monroe; 47, Niagara and Orleans; 48-50, Erie; 51, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus.

Census and Reapportionment.-As the population of the State is constantly changing, and is not increasing equally in all sections, any fixed and unchangeable division of the State would result in unequal representation, and to correct such an evil it is provided that:

An enumeration of the inhabitants of the State shall be taken under the direction of the Secretary of State, during the months of

May and June, in the year one thousand nine hundred and five, and in the same months every tenth year thereafter; and the said districts shall be so altered by the Legislature at the first regular session after the return of every enumeration, that each senate district shall contain as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and be in as compact form as practicable, and shall remain unaltered until the return of another enumeration, and shall at all times, consist of contiguous territory, and no county shall be divided in the formation of a senate district, except to make two or more senate districts wholly in such county. No town, and no block in a city, inclosed by streets or public ways, shall be divided in the formation of senate districts; nor shall any district contain a greater excess in population over an adjoining district in the same county, than the population of a town or block therein, adjoining such district. Counties, towns or blocks which, from their location, may be included in either of two districts, shall be so placed as to make said districts most nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens.

No county shall have four or more senators unless it shall have a full ratio for each senator. No county shall have more than one third of all the senators; and no two counties, or the territory thereof as now organized, which are adjoining counties, or which are separated only by public waters, shall have more than one half of all the senators.

The ratio for apportioning senators shall always be obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, by fifty, and the Senate shall always be composed of fifty members, except that if any county having three or more senators at the time of any apportionment shall be entitled on such ratio to an additional senator or senators, such additional senator or senators shall be given to such county, in addition to the fifty senators, and the whole number of senators shall be increased to that extent. (Art. III., Sec. 4.)

The foregoing section makes provision for:

(a) A state census, once every ten years, distinct from that provided for by the United States Constitution.

(b) A redistricting of the State by the Legislature in

such a manner that while a county may be divided into two or more districts, or two or more counties may be joined into one district, no county will lose its identity by having a portion of it annexed to another county.

(c) Keeping the senatorial power out of the hands of one section of the State by the direction that, regardless of population, no county, as New York, can have more than one third of all the senators, nor any two adjoining counties, as New York and Kings, can have more than one half of the full number.

(d) Increasing the whole number of senators when the population of a county is such as to warrant it.

EXAMPLE.—The population of the State in 1892 was 6,513,343. Dividing this number by 50, the ratio for senatorial districts was 130,267. At that time the population of Albany County was 167,289-less than a ratio and one half-and it was given one senate district. Monroe County had a population of 200,056— more than a ratio and one half, but less than two ratios-and it was given two senate districts. Kings County with a population of 995,276-7 full ratios and 83,407 in addition-was given but 7 districts. But had the population of Kings County been 1,042,136, or 8 full ratios, it would have been given 8 senate districts, although by so doing, the whole number of senators would have been increased to 51.

Assembly Districts. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen by single districts, and shall be apportioned by the Legislature at the first regular session after the return of every enumeration among the several counties of the State, as nearly as may be according to the number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens. Every county heretofore established and separately organized, except the county of Hamilton, shall always be entitled to one member of assembly, and no county shall hereafter be erected unless its population shall entitle it to a mem· ber.

The county of Hamilton shall elect with the county of Fulton,

until the population of the county of Hamilton shall, according to the ratio, entitle it to a member. But the Legislature may abolish the said county of Hamilton and annex the territory thereof to some other county or counties. (Art. III., Sec. 5, Cl. 1.)

Present Apportionment (1908).-Under the enumeration made in 1905 the members of the Assembly are apportioned as follows:

Counties entitled to Two Assemblymen.- Chautauqua, Dutchess, Jefferson, Niagara, Orange, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Suffolk, Ulster.

Counties entitled to Three Assemblymen.- Albany, Oneida, Onondaga.

Counties entitled to Four Assemblymen. Queens, Westchester. Monroe, five members; Erie, nine; Kings, twenty-three; New York, thirty-five.

All other counties, including Fulton and Hamilton as one, one member each.

Reapportionment of Assemblymen. Members of As sembly are reapportioned after every state census, and for that purpose the following rule was established:

The quotient obtained by dividing the whole number of inhabitants of the State, excluding aliens, by the number of members of assembly, shall be the ratio for apportionment, which shall be made as follows: One member of assembly shall be apportioned to every county, including Fulton and Hamilton as one county, containing less than the ratio and one half over. Two members shall be apportioned to every other county. The remaining members of assembly shall be apportioned to the counties having more than two ratios according to the number of inhabitants, excluding aliens. Members apportioned as remainders shall be apportioned to the counties having the highest remainders on the order thereof respectively. No county shall have more members of assembly than a county having a greater number of inhabitants, excluding aliens. (Art. III., Sec. 5, Cl. 2.) In any county, entitled to more than one member, the board of supervisors, and in any city embracing an entire county and

having no board of supervisors, the common council, or if there be none, the body exercising the powers of a common council, shall . . . divide such counties into assembly districts as nearly equal in number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, as may be, of convenient and contiguous territory in as compact form as practicable, . . . and such districts shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall be made (Art. III., Sec. 5, Cl. 4.)

Under this rule the number of members to which each county is entitled is determined by the legislature, while the actual division of the county is made either by the board of supervisors or by the common council of the city which embraces an entire county. Further portions of this section provide that in counties having more than one senate district, the same number of assembly districts shall be put in each senate district; that towns and city wards shall not be divided in the formation of assembly districts, and that any apportionment or distribution is subject to review by the Courts. (For full section see Appendix.)

EXAMPLE.-The population of the State in 1892, 6,513,343, divided by 150, gives the ratio for assembly districts 43,422. Allegany County with a population of 43,131 was given one member. Saratoga County with a population of 57,301, less than a ratio and one half, received but one member. Jefferson County with a population of 70,358 received two members, as did all other counties having a population greater than a ratio and one half.

To the counties having less than a ratio and one half, 36 members were apportioned, to the other 23 counties, 2 each were given, making a total of 82. The other members, 68 in all, were apportioned to the counties having more than two ratios, accord ing to their population. To Queens County with a population of 141,807-being three ratios and 18,541 in addition-only 3 members were given, while Onondaga County with a population of