and are in such numbers as to permit of their presentation by regiments, at the proper department. It must also be considered that, should these agencies be discontinued, and claims transferred to attorneys, the expense to the claimants would doubtless be equal to the fees which have been charged in original cases, and that delay and complication would be unavoidable. I assume your hearty concurrence with me, that good faith towards those who have been invited to present their claims through these channels, clearly demands the consummation of them. The enactment by Congress towards the close of its late session of the equalization bounty bill, greatly increased the duties of these departments, and required the employment of a larger force than was at first expected, and it is probable that no reduction of employees can safely be anticipated during the current year. The temporary Home for such disabled and necessitous soldier of this State as required its shelter and protection, has been in operation during the entire year, and has met the demands upon it, both as a home and as a hospital. The industrial school building and its ample grounds, which the city of Albany so generously placed at the disposal of the State for this purpose, seem well calculated, by reason of location, size and arrangement, for the present object, and have fittingly expressed the care of the State for its maimed and sick defenders. Since the organization of the Home, it has afforded shelter for over six hundred men, who have come from thirty-seven counties of the State. Of this number more than one-half have been under treatment, in the hospital of the Home, for re-opened wounds, or sickness resulting from service during the war. Three hundred and sixty five men have been discharged at their own request, recovery from sickness, reception of back pay or pensions, or suitable employment, relieving them from the necessity of further aid from the Home. There are at present two hundred and fifty inmates, ninety-seven of whom have suffered amputation, sixty-one have been otherwise wonnded, and the remainder are in the hospital. The number of men availing themselves of the Home for surgical and medical treatment has been large. The hurried closing of the United States hospitals, together with an anxiety to be discharged from the military service on the part of the soldier, threw upon the community a large number of men not able to care for themselves, who had neither homes nor friends to care for them, and whose partially healed wounds and impaired constitutions soon compelled to seek aid at this retreat. The number of such cases is gradually decreasing, but as reliable data show there are thirty thousand returned volunteers in this State, who are either wounded or otherwise permanently disabled, it is yet too early to set the limits to the length of time assistance will be needed by this meritorious class. It is understood that during the current year the plans of the General Government for the relief of disabled soldiers and sailors will be so far perfected that the State may be relieved from the care of those who are so permanently injured, that with the liberal pensions now allowed, are unable to care for themselves, while it is not believed that the present or prospective necessities of these men require the institution of a permanent establishment in this State, or the continuance of the military agencies for a long period. I have no hesitation in recommending a liberal appropriation for their support during the current year. POPULATION, MANUFACTURERS AND AGRICULTURE, The report of the census of 1865 is completed, and will soon be spread before you. A comparison of this with the census of 1855 shows that in ten years the population of the State, now 3,827,818, has increased 361,602. This growth is greatest along the principal routes of travel and in commercial and manufacturing districts; but seven counties of the State, however, have failed to contribute in some degree. The population of several agricultural counties has for many years been Bearly stationary, and the tendency to western emigration, and the rapid introduction of improved implements of husbandry, will doubtless extend this condition to other farming counties. We may expect, therefore, that the marked increase of population, for many years to come, will be confined mainly to large villages and cities, where manufactures and commerce will employ the surplus labor of the rural districts. It Some changes have occurred in the proportion of the different classes of population to which I may refer. The civil war through which we have passed will, in a great measure, account for the number of males, of ages liable to military service, being relatively less than ten years ago. The native citizens of the State are 67-84 per cent. of the total population, an increase of 3-73 per cent; and there is during the same period a complemental decrease of every foreign element except the German. These tables give the number of voters at 823,873, an accession of 170,551, traced in a large degree to the naturalized citizens. is doubtless attributable to the law of 1862, which admits an alien honorably discharged from the army of the United States to the elective franchise, after a residence of one year. As the report includes no facts of later occurrence than June 1, 1865, it fails to furnish a complete record of all persons who have entered the army and navy from this State. Still, the military statistics, obtained with great particularity, and presented in various combinations, are of value as data for comparison and deduction, and as material for the use of the historian and economist. The negro population, now numbering 44,081, has been gradually diminishing during the last twenty-five years, while the Indians, living upon reservations, have steadily increased without being indebted to immigration for the result. This growth of the aboriginal race is opposed to the favorite theory of their final extinction, and their gradual improvement in intelligence and thrift even induces the hope that, whenever they shall have conformed to the usages of civilized people in respect to the marriage relation, they will be prepared to receive their common lands as individual property, and the principal of their annuities. The motives which incite men to acquire wealth and inheritance for their families would operate in them with appropriate effect, and they might fitly receive and assume all the privileges and duties of the citizen. The census of 1860 reported 22,624 manufactories, having a capital of $172,895,652, and a product of $378,870,939. The present census, furnishing the statistics of 1864, embraces returns from 24,527 establishments, having a capital of $227,674,187, and a product of $463,603,877. Thus, after an interval of only five years, there is realized an increase in capital of more than thirty-one per cent.; and in the value of products of more than twenty-two per cent. When considered that manufacturers were chary of minute inquiry, as unwarrantable interference with their private affairs, and many were influenced by the fear that the information obtained would be used in the assessment of taxes, it may be admitted that the aggregates of capital and product are rather below than above the truth. Regarded as the page in their history, made during the last year of an exhaustive civil war, it is a remarkable proof of the stability and advancement of these great industrial inte rests. In a country where three-fourths of the people are engaged in agriculture, all information respecting its improvements and progress has peculiar interest. The productions of the earth from tillage are the chief sources of our prosperity. The census is especially interesting in its valuable and comprohensive array of facts bearing upon this noble pursuit. It is with great satisfaction that I learn, also, from the report of the corresponding secretary of the State Agricultural Society, of a marked advance in almost every department of rural industry and enterprise. EDUCATION. At an early day, general attention was directed to the subject of education, which was deemed essential to the security, progress and power of the people. Provision was made for the incorporation and endowment of colleges and academies. It soon became evident, however, that institutions of learning thus organized could not meet the demand of a people whose government was founded upon the theory of the general education of the masses. A more comprehensive system was needed, embracing in its operation the entire State, and making available to every family, instruction in the primary branches of education. It does not appear that the views of Governor Clinton upon this subject, communicated to the Legislature as early as 1795, resulted in the adoption of a general common school system until 1814. Since that period the progress of the system has been marked, gaining steadily in character, and extending yearly its beneficent influence. More than ninety per cent of all the children and youth who receive scholastic instruction in our various institutions of learning attend only the common schools. The following brief summary is gathered from the records of the Department of Public Instruction, and from the report of the efficient Superintendent: For Support of Common Schools. Public school moneys, including mill tax.. Voluntary taxation in the school districts $1,406,080 43 4,550,111 86 Rate bills.... 708,003 03 Other sources 714,684 90 Expended during the year. Teachers' wages 4,586,211 09 Libraries.... 27,560 06 School apparatus... 186,508 90 Building and repairs of school houses.. 969,618 12 Miscellaneous..... 858,246 12 Balance reported on hand ... Total number of children and youth between the ages of five and twenty-one years...... 750,735 93 1,35,967 Number of children between the ages of six and seventeen years..... 931,404 Number of children of school age who have attended the public schools during some portion of the year... Teachers employed in public schools for twenty-eight weeks, or more, during the year.... Aggregate number of pupils attending the Normal Number of teachers instructed in teachers' institute... 451 8,553 1,469 $1,468,422 22 The report shows that the number of children and youth in daily attendance at the public schools is 30.02 per cent of the entire number between five and twenty-one years of age, or 43.67 per cent of the entire number of children between six and seventeen years of age. Although this average attendance upon the public schools is the largest ever reported, it is, nevertheless, believed that, by judicious legislation it may be essentially increased. If, to the number who have attended school during some portion of the year, we add those instructed for a longer or shorter time in the private schools, including colleges and academies, still the proportion neglecting these opportunities for education cannot fail to excite serious attention. With the conviction that universal education is a necessity of the State, I recommend that all impediments in the way of its free acquisition be removed, whether in the form of rate bills, poor and incommodious school houses, or the want of teachers specially trained to their vocation. The advantages derived from the two Normal schools already established, and the conceded want of a greater number of thoroughly qualified teachers, induced the last Legislature to appoint a commission to invite proposals for the establishment of four more such schools. The commission received applications from various localities, making most liberal offers of land, buildings, all necessary furniture and apparatus, or their equivalent in money, and upon full consideration Potsdam, Cortland, Brockport and Fredonia were selected. The manifest good faith in which these propositions were made, warrants the belief that they will be carried into full effect at the earliest time possible, and that the State will have possession of suitable grounds, commodious and well furnished buildings, supplied with all needful appointments for the conduct of such schools. The commission impressed by the public spirit manifested in generous offers from so many places, and by the interests so generally felt in the special preparation of teachers for their work, adopted the following preamble and resolution: Whereas, It is manifest to this commission that the number of Nor mal Schools authorized by chapter 466 of the Laws of 1866 is entirely inadequate to the public requirement; and, whereas, liberal proposals have been made in various portions of this State for a number of schools more nearly adequate to the public wants, therefore, "Resolved, That we earnestly reccommend to the Legislature to authorize the designation of location of six additional schools, on the same terms and conditions as in the act above cited." The Regents of the University represent the present condition of the colleges and academies of the State as highly prosperous. Among the valuable suggestions contained in their annual report, the plan mentioned for the better professional education of such graduates of the colleges as design to become teachers, will doubtless be regarded with especial favor. I would also call your attention to the State Cabinet of Geology and Natural History, and the importance of completing the scientific and economic collections, and securing the publications connected with the natural history of the State. For many years this branch of the public interests has not kept pace with the progress of knowledge. [SENATE JOURNAL.] 4 The geological collections hold an important relation to the general geology of the United States; and the reputation of the State is involved in their preservation and enlargement. Our material interests are so intimately connected with the advance of science, that it seems to be wise policy to strengthen these agencies. To this end, the plan submitted by Professor James Hall to the Board of Regents is deserving of careful consideration. CANALS AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. The following is a statement of the canal fund for the fiscal year ending 30th September, 1866: Receipts and Payments. Balance in the treasury and invested Oct. 1, 1865............. $3,922,980 14 6,704,292 89 $10,627,273 03 which have been transferred to the Sinking Fund as fol |