Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Clark. The Senators having taken and subscribed the constitutional oath of office, the President declared the Senate organized and ready to proceed to business. The Lieutenant Governor rose and addressed the Senate as follows: SENATORS.-The Constitution makes it my duty to preside in the Senate. I shall endeavor to perform that duty faithfully and impartially, trusting that the courtesy and forbearance of which I have been the recipient in the past will be extended to me in the future. Since the adjournment of the Legislature the standard of reform has been uplifted, and good men, irrespective of their political relations, have rallied around it. This did not occur a moment too soon. Demoralization was pervading almost every department of public life. Constitutional obligations were being subordinated to the supposed exigencies of the hour. Peculations, defalcations, and reckless extravagance were so common as scarcely to attract attention. Patriotic men were beginning to despair of the republic. In a reaction, which seems to have commenced, rests the only hope for the perpetuity of self-government. Let no portion of the newspaper press, that eloquent voice which daily addresses an audience numbered by millions, and which forms and controls public opinion, relapse into silence because a temporary partizan advantage may have been gained. Let no good citizen falter in this fight through apprehension that men, high or low, in his party may be wounded if the battle progresses. Let your action, Senators of the great State of New York, be, as it doubtless will, on the side of the right in this contest, and you will deserve and receive the commendation of your consciences, of your constituents, and of your country. Mr. D. P. Wood offered the following: Resolved, That James Terwilliger be and he is hereby appointed Clerk of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Graham offered the following: Resolved, That Edwin J. Loomis be and he is hereby appointed sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Winslow offered the following: Resolved, That Herman Rulison be and he is hereby appointed assistant sergeant-at-arms of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Harrower offered the following: Resolved, That John Laidlow be and he is hereby appointed assistant postmaster of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Lowery offered the following: Resolved, That Daniel K. Schram be and he is hereby appointed doorkeeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Madden offered the following: Resolved, That Herman B. Young be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Woodin offered the following: Resolved, That Thomas C. Bridges be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Chatfield offered the following: Resolved, That Richard S. Stout be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. I. Wood offered the following: Resolved, That L. L. Chaffee be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Baker offered the following: Resolved That Lemuel Hurlburt be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Lewis offered the following: • Resolved, That John D. Lonergan be and he is hereby appointed assistant door-keeper of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Adams offered the following: Resolved, That Wm. H. Johnson be and he is hereby appointed janitor of the Senate. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Palmer offered the following: Resolved, That Jeremiah S. Pierce be and he is hereby appointed keeper of the Senate Chamber. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Bowen offered the following: Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed to wait upon the Honorable the Assembly and inform that body that the Senate is organ-. ized and ready to proceed to business. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President appointed as such committee Messrs. Bowen and Baker. Mr. J. Wood offered the following: Resolved, That a committee of two be appointed to wait upon His Excellency the Governor and inform him that the Senate is organized and ready to proceed to business. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President appointed as such committee Messrs. J. Wood and Lord. Mr. Robertson offered the following: Resolved, That the Senate will meet daily at 11 o'clock A. M. until otherwise ordered. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Adams offered the following: Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate be directed to invite the clergymen of the city of Albany having charge of religious congregations to open the daily sittings of the Senate with prayer, and to attend in such order as shall best suit their convenience. Mr. Baker moved to amend by including also the clergymen of Troy and Cohoes. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said motion to amend, and it was decided in the affirmative. The President then put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, as amended, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Woodin offered the following: Resolved, That the rules of the last Senate be adopted for the government of this Senate, except rule three, until otherwise ordered, and that e committee of three be appointed to revise the rules. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative. Mr. Woodin offered the following: Whereas, The Legislature of the State of New York, at its annual session in 1870, adopted a preamble and resolution in the words and figures following, to wit: "Whereas, At the last session of the Legislature of this State a preamble and concurrent resolution were adopted in the words and figures following, to wit: "Whereas, At the session of the fortieth Congress it was resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following article shall be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which amendment, when it shall have been ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely: "ARTICLE FIFTEEN. "§ 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. "§2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. "Therefore, Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the said proposed amendment to the Constitution be, and the same is hereby ratified by the Legislature of the State of New York. "And whereas, The proposed Fifteenth Amendment, above recited, has not been ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, and has not become a part of the Constitution of the United States; and whereas the State of New York, represented in the Legislature here now assembled, desire to withdraw the consent expressed in the above recited concurrent resolutions; "Now, therefore, be it Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the above recited concurrent resolution be, and it is hereby repealed, rescinded, and amended. "And be it further Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the Legislature of the State of New York refuse to ratify the above recited proposed Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and withdraw absolutely any expression of consent heretofore given thereto or ratification thereof. "Be it further Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the Governor be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions and preamble to the Secretary of State of the United States at Washington, and to every member of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, and the Governors of the several States." And whereas, The said preamble and resolution were transmitted to and are now on file in the Department of State at Washington, purporting to withdraw the assent of the people of the State of New York to the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, previously given by the Legislature of this State, to which said amendment had been regularly proposed; and whereas the action of the Legislature of 1870, in entertaining and adopting the said preamble and resolution, is deemed an unwarranted assumption of authority over a subject-matter not within its prerogatives. And whereas, It is desirable that the record of the State of New York shall be clear and unequivocal in favor of the said Fifteenth Amendment, therefore, Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the preamble and resolutions adopted by the Legislature of this State in 1870, purporting to withdraw the assent of the people of this State previously given to the Fifteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution, be and the same are hereby rescinded. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the Secretary of the Department of State at Washington be and he is hereby requested (if not inconsistent with the rules and regulations of his Department) to return to the Governor of this State the preamble and resolutions of the Legislature of this State, passed in 1870, and now on file in Iris office, which purport to withdraw the assent of the people of this State to the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the Governor be and he is hereby requested to transmit a copy of this preamble and the resolutions accompanying the same to the Secretary of State of the United States. Ordered, That said resolutions be laid on the table. Mr. J. Wood, from the committee appointed to wait upon His Excellency the Governor and inform him that the Senate is organized and ready to proceed to business, reported that they had discharged that duty, and that the Governor informed him that he would communicate with the Senate in writing. By unanimous consent, Mr. O'Brien asked and obtained leave to introduce a bill entitled "An act to repeal an act entitled 'An act to amend chapter 278 of the Laws of 1868 entitled "An act in relation to the Erie, New York Central, Hudson River, and Harlem Railroad Companies, " passed May 20, 1869," which was read the first time, and by unanimous consent was also read the second time, and referred to the committee on the judiciary. By unanimous consent, Mr. Lewis asked and obtained leave to introduce a bill entitled "An act to amend the charter of the city of Buffalo," which was read the first time, and by unanimous consent was also read the second time, and referred to the committee on municipal affairs. By unanimous consent, Mr. Palmer asked and obtained leave to introduce a bill entitled "An act to authorize the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railroad Company to cancel a portion of its first mortgage bonds, and to substitute therefor bonds of a larger denomination," which was read the first time, and by unanimous consent was also read the second time, and referred to the committee on railroads. The President presented the annual report of the New Capitol Commissioners, which was laid on the table and ordered printed. (See Doc. No. 5.) On motion of Mr. Perry, the Senate took a recess for half an hour. 12:45 O'CLOCK, P. M. The Senate again met. Mr. Bowen, from the committee appointed to wait upon the Assembly and inform that body that the Senate was organized and ready to proceed to business, reported that they had discharged that duty. Messrs. Alberger and D. B. Hill, a committee from the Assembly, appeared in the Senate, and announced that the Assembly was organized and ready to proceed to business. A message from His Excellency the Governor was received and read in the words following: To the Legislature: EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ALBANY, January 2, 1872. } It is my duty to make known to you the general condition of the State, and to recommend to you such matters as I judge expedient. STATE DEВТ. The unpaid principal of the war bounty debt was, on the 30th September last ($16,887,206.57) sixteen millions eight hundred and eighty-seven thousand two hundred and six dollars and fifty-seven cents. This portion of our debt will by the annual tax provided by the terms of the act authorizing the loan, be paid in full in about five years. It was contracted and is to be paid in our present legal-tender currency. The residue of the State debt, which amounts to ($12,595,495.95) twelve millions five hundred and ninety-five thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars and ninety-five cents, was contracted before the war, in gold, and the honor of the State and good faith demand that it shall be paid, both principal and interest, in gold coin. It is to be paid (except $48,860.11 loan of credit to the Long Island Railroad) out of revenues pledged for the purpose, and not by taxation, unless the sinking funds "shall prove insufficient to enable the State, on the credit of such funds, to procure the means to satisfy the claims of the creditors of the State as they become payable." Of this last-mentioned species of debt ($2,257,900) two millions two hundred and fifty-seven thousand and nine hundred dollars of principal will be due on the 1st of July next, and ($847,500) eight hundred and forty-seven thousand and five hundred dollars of principal will be due on |