June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to legalize the proceedings of the annual town meeting of the town of Ontario, Wayne county, held March 7, 1876."

"This bill provides that notwithstanding certain irregularities said to have occurred at the town meeting held in the Town of Ontario, in 1876, in respect to the keeping of the poll list, and the canvassing of the votes, the result as declared by the Town Board shall be, and is hereby held to be, legal.'

If the bill only provided that the election of town officers for that town should not be invalidated by reason of any informality in the keeping of the poll list or the canvassing of the votes, I should have no hesitation in signing it, although I might think it unnecessary, as the Courts would probably hold that the statutory provisions regulating the manner of conducting town elections are directory and not mandatory.

But the bill seems to declare that the ticket which the Town Board decided to have been elected, was in fact elected.

This is clearly beyond the province of the Legislature. If the officers declared by the Board to have been elected, in fact received a plurality of the legal votes cast, they are the duly chosen officers of the town. If they did not receive such a plurality, the Legislature cannot place them or confirm them in office.'"'

June 2.

Veto of Senate bill, entitled "An act in relation to the repair of certain streets in the city of Albany."

"This bill is identical with Assembly bill No. 229, which passed both houses of the Legislature and was approved by the Governor, April 22, 1876. It is unnecessary to reenact it."

1 Const. 1846, art. 10, § 2.

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled “An act to authorize the appointment of an additional policeman in the city of Schenectady for the protection of the property of Union College."

"This bill authorizes the trustees of Union College to appoint a policeman for the City of Schenectady,

The Constitution (Art. 10, sec. 2) prescribes that 'All city, town and village officers, whose election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, shall be elected by the electors of such cities, towns and villages, or of some division thereof, or appointed by such authorities thereof as the Legislature shall designate for that purpose.'''

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to provide for the election of a police justice in the town of Watervliet, in the county of Albany."

"The 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th sections of this bill contain provisions relating to the sheriff, deputy sheriffs, constables, justices of the peace, and police commissioners, which are not indicated in the title of the bill; and as the bill is local, these provisions are within the inhibition of section sixteen of article three of the Constitution."

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to establish a Board of Governors of the House of Industry, of the County of Rensselaer, and to provide for the care of the poor and insane in said county."

"The bill appoints, by name, twenty-nine persons governors of the House of Industry of Rensselaer County, who, in fact, supersede and are invested with the powers of the superintendents of the poor of that county.

There can be no doubt that these are county officers.

Under the Constitution, all county officers must be elected by the electors of the county, or appointed by the Board of Supervisors or other county authorities, as the Legislature shall direct.'

The Board of Supervisors, by resolution, protest against the approval of this bill."

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act providing for the assessment of real estate in the Town of Vienna, County of Oneida."

"The object of this bill seems to be to provide that where a farm is situated partly within and partly without the Town of Vienna, and the owner or occupant resides without the town, that portion of the farm lying within the town shall be assessed therein.

If this rule is a proper one to be adopted for that town, there is no reason why it should not be made applicable to the other towns in the State."

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to amend section two of Chapter 890 of the Laws of 1868, entitled 'An act to authorize Lewis Runyon to establish a ferry across Seneca Lake, at Lodi landing."

"By the act of 1868, Lewis Runyon was authorized to establish a ferry across Seneca Lake at Lodi landing, by the 1st day of September, 1869, and upon the establishment first of such ferry all persons were prohibited from carrying persons, for hire, across that lake, within two miles of the ferry so established, under a penalty. The time for the establishment of such ferry has, by different Acts, been

J Const. 1846, art. 10, § 2.

extended to the first day of September, 1875, and has now expired.

This bill further extends the time until the first day of September, 1877, but provides that nothing in it contained shall be held to grant an exclusive privilege to maintain the ferry.

If the bill does re-enact the restrictive provisions of the act of 1868, it is unconstitutional, as granting to a private individual an 'exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise;* if it does not, it gives to the donee nothing which he does not already possess in common with every citizen of the State."

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to legalize the proceedings of the town meeting, so far as the same relates to the election of highway commissioners, held in and for the Town of Alden, Erie County, on the first Tuesday of March, 1876.”

"This bill undertakes in effect to declare that the person whom the Board of Canvassers decided to have been elected at a town meeting in the Town of Alden was, in fact, duly elected.

If there is any controversy upon that subject, it is one that should be settled by the courts. It is not within the province of the Legislature to decide as to the regularity of an election, or to adjudicate as to the candidate who was duly chosen."

June 2.

Veto of Assembly bill, entitled "An act to change the name of the Rochester and Pine Creek Railway Company."

"This bill is rendered unnecessary by the passage of chapter 280 of the laws of this year, so amending the Gen

Const. 1846, art. 3, § 18.

eral Act of 1870 as to authorize railroad companies to change their names in the manner and under the restrictions prescribed by that act."

June 2. The omnibus veto included the following bills:

Assembly Bill No. 607. An Act to amend Act incorporating Peekskill Academy.

Assembly Bill No. 312. An Act to authorize sale of land for non-payment of taxes in Rockland and Delaware counties.

Assembly Bill No. 324. Authorize Treasurer of Monroe County to collect certain taxes.

Assembly Bill No. 327. Legalize State and County taxes in Cohoes.

Assembly Bill No. 263. To amend Act in relation to support of insane in Genesee county.

Assembly Bill No. 406. Relative to Cemetery at Port Byron. Assembly Bill No. 635. For removal of bodies from burial ground in Norwood, St. Lawrence Co.

Assembly Bill No. 451. To prohibit interments of dead in First M. E. Burial Ground, at Carlton, Orleans Co.

Assembly Bill No. 432. Amend Act providing for instruction of Common School teachers.

Assembly Bill No. 597. Distribute School Tax from Southern Central R. R. among school districts of Town of Hartford, Cortland County.

Assembly Bill No. 561. For a fire department in Second School District of Glenville, Schenectady County.

Assembly Bill No. 639. To amend Act incorporating Village of Bath-on-the-Hudson.

Assembly Bill No. To repeal Act for election of Police Justices in villages so far as relates to Greene County.