"§ 7. The Superintendent of the Insurance Department is hereby authorizing and emowered to address any inquiries to any life or casualty insurance cpmpany, or to the security thereof, in relation to its doings or condition, or any other matter connected with its transactions; and it shall be the duty of any company so addressed to promptly reply in writing to any such inquiries, under the same penalties provided in similar cases under the laws of this State, failing to answer, shall not be authorized to transact business in this State, and their certificates of authority may be revoked and cancelled.

', § 8. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of the Insurance Department to make or cause to be made an examination of the condition and affairs of any life or casualty insurance company, as provided for in the seventeenth section of chapter 463 of the Laws of 1853, whenever he shall deem it expedient so to do; and also, whenever he shall have good reason to suspect the correctness of any annual statement, or that the affairs of any company making such statement are in an unsound condition."

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to concur in the amendments of the Assembly to said bill, and it was decided in the affirmative, a majority of all the members elected to the Senate voting in favor thereof, as follows:

Ordered, That the Clerk return said bill to the Assembly, with a message informing that the Senate have concurred in their amendments.

The Assembly returned the bill entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Schenectady," with a message that they had passed the same, with the following amendments:

Strike out section 1, and insert the following in lieu thereof:

'Section 1. William Van Vranken, William J. Van Horne, John C. Ellis, George G. Maxon and Andrew McMullen, are hereby appointed water commissioners of the city of Schenectady, who shall hold their office one for 2 years, one for 3, one for 4, one for 5 and one for 6 years from the second Tuesday of May, 1867, to be determined by them by lot, and which determination shall be immediately thereafter certified by them in writing to the common council of said city. The aforesaid com. missioners and their successors in office, shall annually on the second Tuesday of May, elect one or their number president, and another secretary, and a majority of their whole number shall be a quorum to do business."

Insert the following as section 2, and change subsequent numbers accordingly:

"§ 2. There shall be elected in said city on the first Tuesday of May, preceding the expiration of the term of office of any water commissioner, by the electors of said city qualified to vote for school commissioners, and at the same time with the election for such officers, and in the mode now provided for the election of mayor of said city, one water commissioner to supply the place of him whose term of office is then about to expire The term of office of the commissioners so to be elected shall be five years, to commence with the second Tuesday of May in the year of their election. Notice of the time and place of such election shall be given, and the same shall be held and conducted and the votes certified,

canvassed and declared in the mode prescribed in the charter of said city for the election of mayor and other city officers. Vacancies occurring in said office shall be filled by the common council of said city for the unexpired term by ballot, and two-thirds of all the members elected to the common council shall be necessary to a choice. No person shall be eligible as a commissioner who shall not be a resident of said city at the time of his election, and removal from the city, of any commissioner or his failure to take the oath of office within the time prescribed by this act, shall vacate his office."

Line 2, section 5, (new number,) before the word "description" insert "distinct and full."

Section 6, line 5, strike out all after the word "The" down to and including "par" in line 9, and insert the following:

"Schenectady water loan, and for that purpose may issue bonds in the sums of $100, $500 and $1,000, with interest not exceeding 7 per cent., to be signed by the mayor and treasurer of said city, and to be made payable between the years 1875 and 1915, inclusive, and shall be in such form as the common council shall prescribe; and the common council shall sell and dispose of said bonds by receiving written proposals for the purchase thereof after having given at least two weeks previous public notice, and awarding the same to the highest bidder, but at not less than par and accrued interest."

At the end of section 5 (new number), add the following:

"And upon the approval by the common council of any plan submitted by said commissioners, it shall be the duty of the common council after the expiration of thirty days to submit such plan to the resident tax payers of said city, within the lamp district, at a special election to be held in said city. Notice of the time and place of such election shall be given, and the same shall be held and conducted, except as to qualifications of the voter, and the votes certified, canvassed and declared in the same mode prescribed in the charter of said city for the election of mayor and other city officers. All residents of said city, within the limits aforesaid, over twenty-one years of age, whose names shall be upon the last preceding tax list of said city, shall have the right to vote at such election, and no others. The ballots shall be endorsed 'Water plan,' and shall be 'For the water plan' or 'Against the water plan.' The canvass and declaration, as aforesaid, of such election, by the common council, shall be final and conclusive in all courts and places that such election was duly held and the result thereof.

"If a majority of such voters shall be declared to have voted in favor of such water plan, the said water commissioners, upon the direction of the common council, shall proceed to execute said plan in the mode hereinafter prescribed.

"If a majority of said voters shall be declared to have voted against said water plan, a second plan and estimates may in the same manner hereinabove prescribed be adopted, approved and submitted to such voters, within one year thereafter, for their approval or rejection. If such second plan be rejected, no further action shall be taken under this

act.

"The adoption of any plan and estimates by the common council, or by the common council and taxpayers as aforesaid, shall not operate as a ratification by the common council of any contract submitted with said plan; such contracts, and all contracts in writing made by said commissioners shall be separately acted upon by the common council, and n contract in writing made by said commissioners shall be binding upo: [SENATE JOURNAL.]

140

them or upon the city of Schenectady, unless the same shall have been first ratified by a majority of all the members comprising the common council' taken by yeas and nays, to be entered upon their minutes."

After "act," in line 4, section 8, insert "or which may be injuriously affected by any operation connected therewith."

Same section, line 5, strike out all after word "owners," and insert the following: "And said commissioners may agree, subject to the ratification as aforesaid, with any owner for the purchase of, or easement in, any lands, or for the taking of any water; and all such agreements and conveyances shal be taken to the city of Schenectady, and shall not be binding upon said city until ratified by the common council."

Section 9, after "property," in line 2, insert "rights or easements." Last line but one, after “ property," insert "rights or easements." Last line, strike out all after "use" and insert "thereof."

Section 13, line 1, after "given" insert "for at least thirty days." At end of line 3, insert "for materials or work." After "certain," in line 6, insert "or which contain any alternative, condition or limitation as to price."

Section 13, at commencement of section, strike out "every" and insert "all contracts shall be awarded to the lowest bidder, and every."

Section 17, strike out all after "and," in line 6, and insert the following: "Any commissioner may be removed from office by the common council, for official misconduct, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected thereto; but notice of the charges against him, and an opportunity to be heard in his defense, shall be first given him. The commissioners named in this act, or who shall be elected or appointed under it, shall, before entering upon the duties of their office and within twenty days after the commencement of their term of office, severally, take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office before the mayor or clerk of said city, and file the same with said clerk. Resignation of said office may be made to the common council."

Section 19, at end of line 4, insert the following:

"No commissioner shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contract, purchase or work made or done under this act, under penalty of forfeiture of his office, and in addition thereto shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and all such contracts shall be void."

Section 20, line 10, strike out "rates" and insert "rents," and after "the" second occurring, insert "common council at the request of." Line 15, strike out all after "enacted" and insert the following: "and the common council may impose such penalties for the infringement theseof as they are now authorized to impose under the charter of said city.'

Section 21, line 1, strike out "rates" and insert "rents." After the words "on the" in line 5, strike out remainder of section, and insert the following: "aforesaid water loan and any surplus to the payment of the principal thereof as the same shall become due, and it shall be the duty of the common council to raise by tax upon the real and personal estate within the district supplied with water in the mode now provided in title 5 of chapter 385 of the Laws of 1862, all such sums as shall be necessary to pay the aforesaid water loan, as the same shall become due after deducting all money in hand applicable thereto. And the provisions of sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 of said title not inconsistent herewith shall apply to all money necessary to be raised or which shall be raised by tax by virtue of this act."

Section 22, line 1, strike out "rates" and insert "rents." After "any" in line 4, strike out remainder of section and insert the following: "year

to pay the interest on the aforesaid water loan it shall be the duty of the common council to raise such deficiency in the mode above provided for paying the principal of said loan."

Section 24, line 3, after "water," insert "or for benefit resulting therefrom;" after "buildings," in line 4, insert "and vacant lots;" and after "therefrom," in line 12, insert "together with the special rates provided for in the next section."

Section 25, line 5, after "water," insert the following: "and also from the owners of vacant lots situate in like manner, for benefits resulting from the introduction of water in said city."

Section 26, at the end end thereof, insert the following: "No permit shall be for longer than one year at a time."

Section 27, strike out all down to and including "Schenectady," in. line 12, and insert in lien thereof the following:

"The said water commissioners shall, on or before the fifteenth day of December in each year, make out an assessment roll for each ward of said city, in which they shell set down, in three separate columns, according to the best information in their power:

"1. In the first column, the name of the owner or occupant of any building or vacant lot chargeable with water rent under the provisions of this act.

"2. In the second column, the number of the building, if it have any, or its location and boundaries, and the boundaries of any vacant lot to be assessed for such water rents, or such description thereof as shall identify the same.

"3. In the third column, the amount of the water rent assessed upon such building or lot, and all special rates that may from any cause happen to be then unpaid thereon, and deliver the same to the city treasurer, with their warrant, under the hands and seals of a majority of them annexed thereto, commanding him to collect from the several persons and corporations named in the said assessment rolls the several sums mentioned in the last column of such rolls opposite their respective names."

Line 13, after "rents" insert "and aforesaid rates."

Insert the following as sections 30, 31, 32 and 33:

"§ 30. The aforesaid water commissioners shall have power and it shall be their duty to devise and frame a system or plan of sewerage and drainage of the city of Schenectady, within the lamp district of said city, for the purpose of thoroughly draining and carrying off water and other matters proper to be carried off by sewers; and to that end said commissioners shall have power to appoint and employ such engineers and other persons as may be necessary.

"§ 31. The said commissioners shall lay out the said city into as many sewerage districts as they may deem necessary for the aforesaid purposes; and shall also determine and show on suitable maps, the location, course, size and grade of each sewer and drain proposed for each of said districts, and shall also determine and show on said maps the contemplated depth of said sewers and drains below the present surface, and also below the established grades of the streets and avenues in each of said districts and such other particulars as may be necessary to exhibit such complete system or plan of proposed sewerage therein.

"§ 33. The water commissioners for the time being, of said city shall have a general supervisory control in the construction, repair and preservation of all sewers and drains constructed under the general system or plan aforesaid as to the materials used, quality of work, openings therein, and conformity to such plan, and the superintendent of the water

works for the time being shall, under the direction of said commissioner, have the care and control of the sewers and drains of said city, and no person shall break into any sewer or drain in said city except upon permit in writing from said superintendent first had. The necessary expenses of making the survey and maps aforesaid relative to the drainage and sewerage of said city shall be certified by said water commissioners to the common council of said city, and shall be paid and collected by said city as a contingent expense thereof."

Change original section 29 to 34.

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to concur in the amendments of the Assembly to said bill, and it was decided in the affirmative, a majority of all the members elected to the Senate voting in favor thereof, and three-fifths of said members being present, as follows:

Ordered, That the Clerk return said bill to the Assembly, with a message informing that the Senate have concurred in their amendments. Mr. White offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the thanks of the Senate be, and are hereby, presented to the Hon. Charles J. Folger, President pro tempore of the Senate, for the ability, impartiality and urbanity which he has shown in the discharge of the duties of his office; and that the Senate do also hereby tender to him assurances of their respect, and their best wishes for his welfare. The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative.

Mr. Pierson offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That this Senate do most cordially tender to James Terwilliger, Clerk of the Senate, its sincere thanks for his courtesy and devotion to the laborious duties of his office, and in every work that could lighten or facilitate the labors of legislation.

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said resolution, and it was decided in the affirmative.

Mr. Pierson moved that the order of business of general orders be laid on the table.

The President put the question whether the Senate would agree to said motion to lay on the table, and it was decided in the affirmative.

Mr. Lent, from the committee on municipal affairs, to which was referred the Assembly bill entitled "An act to incorporate the village of Schoharie," with power to report complete, reported the same complete, which report was agreed to and said bill ordered to a third reading.

Mr. Lent, from the committee on municipal affairs, to which was referred the Assembly bill entitled "An act to amend the charter of the village of Seneca Falls, Seneca county," reported in favor of the passage of the same, and said bill was committed to the committee of the whole. Mr. Kline, from the committee on roads and bridges, to which was referred the Assembly bill entitled "An act to incorporate stage coach companies outside of the city of New York," reported in favor of the passage of the same, and said bill was committed to the committee of the whole.

Mr. Lent, from the committee on municipal affairs, to which was referred the Assembly bill entitled "An act to regulate the sale of bay,"