extended the right of action to cases resulting in death. In 1849 the amount which could be recovered was limited to five thousand dollars, at which amount it remained until the adoption of the present Constitution. The action provided for by this section is begun by the executor or administrator (see Book I., page 213) of the person killed, and the money recovered becomes a part of the estate of the dead person.

CHAPTER II.

THE LEGISLATURE.

Divisions of Government.-The government of the State of New York consists of three distinct branches-the legislative, executive and judicial. By the Constitution it is provided that:

The legislative power of this State shall be vested in the Senate and Assembly. (Art. III., Sec. 1.)

These two bodies constitute the Legislature.

Qualifications of Members.-The Constitution does not prescribe the qualifications necessary for election to the legislature, but it provides that:

No person shall be eligible to the Legislature who, at the time of his election, is, or within one hundred days previous thereto has been, a member of Congress, a civil or military officer under the United States, or an officer under any city government. And if any person shall, after his election as a member of the Legislature, be elected to Congress, or appointed to any office, civil or military, under the government of the United States, or under any city government, his acceptance thereof shall vacate his seat. (Art. III., Sec. 8.)

By statute it is also provided that no person shall be elected to the Legislature who has been convicted of bribery, violation of his oath as a public officer, the commission of a serious crime, or unless he be of full age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the State and senatorial or assembly district which he represents. (See Book I., page 67.)

Legislators to Hold No Other Office.-For the purpose of ensuring the continued and undivided service of the persons elected to the Legislature, a section, similar to that of the United States Constitution (see Book I., page 59), provides that:

No member of the Legislature shall receive any civil appointment within this State, or the Senate of the United States, from the Governor, the Governor and Senate, or from the Legislature, or from any city government, during the time for which he shall have been elected; and all such appointments and all votes given for any such member for any such office or appointment shall be void. (Art. III., Sec. 7.)

Time of Election.-The elections of senators and members of assembly, pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November, unless otherwise directed by the Legislature. (Art. III., Sec. 9.)

The object of this section is to simplify elections and reduce the expense and excitement attending them by adopting for this purpose the same day as that prescribed by Congress for the holding of a General Election.

Senators and Assemblymen.-The Constitution provides that:

The Senate shall consist of fifty members, except as hereinafter provided. The senators elected in the year one thousand eight

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.)

In pursuance of this provision the State is at present (1902) divided by counties into the following districts:

1, Suffolk, Richmond 2, Queens, Nassau; 3-9, Kings; 1021, New York; 22, Westchester; 23, Orange, Rockland; 24, Dutchess, Columbia, Putnam; 25, Ulster, Greene; 26, Delaware, Chenango, Sullivan; 27, Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton, Schoharie; 28, Saratoga, Schenectady, Washington; 29, Albany; 30, Rensselaer; 31, Clinton, Essex, Warren; 32, St. Lawrence, Franklin; 33, Otsego, Herkimer; 34, Oneida; 35, Jefferson, Lewis; 36, Onondaga; 37, Oswego, Madison; 38, Broome, Cortland, Tioga; 39, Cayuga, Seneca; 40, Chemung, Tomkins, Schuyler; 41, Steuben, Yates; 42, Ontario, Wayne; 43-44, Monroe; 45, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans; 46, Allegany, Livingston, Wyoming; 47-49, Erie; 50, Chautauqua, 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 member.

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