posed, of ensuring the speedy enlargement. That result, if adequate means were on hand, might be accomplished within the current year; but inasmuch as no such means can be provided within that time, we must be content to wait a little longer for this great consummation, well assured that when it does come, it will come crowned with abundant and lasting prosperity. Meantime it may be safely estimated that, with the tolls on competing railroads, and a tax of one-half mill annually, for two years, a sufficient sum will be raised to effect the desired object, and thus at the commencement of the year 1860, put the State in possession of this great property, with a sinking fund adequate to the rapid extinction of all the debts charged upon it, and with an income that will thenceforth obviate the necessity of taxing the people.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction has furnished me in anticipation of his annual report, with the following statement of the condition of the public schools of the State:

The reported expenditures for the public schools of the State for the year 1856, are:

For teachers' wages,.

For libraries and school apparatus,

For school houses, including sites, repairs, &c., .
For incidental expenses,

$2,033,268 44

120,896 43 746,092 24 399,641 82

Total,..

$3,299,898 93

$2,181,274 05

....

16,054 31 1,102,570 57

Of the above total amount there was raised, by
school district tax and rate bills,..
From proceeds of Gospel and School lands,..
From Common School Fund and State tax,

$3,299,898 93

The number of school districts reported in the State, is 11,857.

The reported number of persons between the ages of four and twenty-one years, is 1,214,771; of whom there were in attendance, some portion of the year, in the public schools, 832,735; 69 per cent of the whole. The cost per month, of each pupil actually attending school, was 84 cents.

The cost of the public schools, apportioned per capita, on the whole population of the State, exclusive of the invested school funds, was 93 cents and 7 mills.

The law under which the military force of the State is at present organized, can hardly be said to answer generally the requirements of the force, nor even, in some essential particulars, is it to be considered as accomplishing the objects sought to be secured by its provisions.

In establishing the present commuting system, the Legislature doubtless intended it as a means by which the pecuniary burthens of the military organization might fall less grievously upon those included within its authority; nor is it any less certain that it intended that the commutation should be properly assessed and collected; but owing to defects in the law itself, and to the mode in which it is administered, the funds arising out of this system are by no means as large as it was reasonable to expect, and in this regard at least, it may be truly said that the law has failed in accomplishing one of its vital objects. Indeed, so generally is this the case, that in many of the military districts of the State, the expediency has been urged of abolishing altogether the commuting system, and establishing in lieu of it a direct tax upon property.

It is believed, however, that by a modification of the manner in which the enrolment is effected, and by providing against the accumulation of the commutations of successive years, the commuting system will become as effective as it is desirable.

I would call your attention to this defect in the law, and generally to the suggestions contained in the report of the Adjutant General.

The military force of the State is divided into 8 divisions, 28 brigades and 67 regiments, comprising in the aggregate 16,434 officers and men, and is classified by companies in the various

arms.

It will be, perhaps, remarked that the number specified as the aggregate of the force, is somewhat less than that stated last year. This arises from the fact that the aggregate of last year was derived from calculations based upon partial returns; this year, however, the returns have been unusually full and accurate, and it is believed that the number now specified as the aggregate of the force cannot vary much from the fact.

I have had opportunities during the past year, to witness, personally, both in the city of New-York and in some of the interior cities and counties, the soldier-like bearing and appearance of the uniformed troops, and I look on such an organization, only kept up, as it is, at a very considerable indirect cost, as an honor and defence to the State, and worthy, therefore, of legislative encouragement.

I took occasion to submit to the last Legislature the urgency of some more adequate provision than now exists, for securing and protecting both the freedom and the purity of the elective franchise, especially in the large cities. I now suggest, as at once constitutional and effective, the enactment of a registry law, whereby the rights of every elector may be ascertained in advance of the heat and confusion of election day, and fraud, simulation and perjury be rendered measurably unavailable at the polls.

Much time was given by the last Legislature to framing laws for the city of New-York; and it affords me pleasure to say, that all of them have, by their operation, thus far vindicated the wisdom with which they were framed and enacted. Of the law establishing a municipal police, though most factiously resisted, and so far, therefore, deprived of its efficiency, the experience has been satisfactory. And I look forward, with confidence, to the complete organization of the force under this law, as promising to the metropolitan district to which it applies, a most efficient, reliable and respectable police. If it shall be found that additional legislation may hasten such a result, it will, I trust, not be withheld. I communicate herewith, for your information, a report of the Police Commissioners which, in conformity with the law, they have made to me.

The law to reorganize the Warden's office of the port of NewYork, is among those of the last Legislature which has been most earnestly resisted, as oppressive and unconstitutional. It seems to me, however, just in principle, fair to all parties liable to be affected by its provisions, either as ship owners, shippers, insurers, or consignees, at home and abroad. The duties under it have been faithfully and intelligently discharged, and at a moderate cost.

The law for the removal of Quarantine from its present site has met with unexpected obstructions, of which the details will appear from a report to me of the commissioners, accompanying this message. I indulge the hope that the State of New-Jersey, to which we are bound over and above the common bond of union as an equal member of the Republic, by special ties of neighborhood, interest, and close social and domestic relations, will, upon a review of the whole case, forego her objection to the use of the barren sand-spit of Sandy Hook, as a Quarantine station, and thus cement more closely, by such a concession to the common health of the people of both States, our respect and affection.

With respect to the concurrent resolutions of the last Legislature, proposing an amendment of the Constitution in relation to the suffrage of men of color, and also an amendment to prevent frauds at elections, I have to state that, in the hurry of business, towards the close of the session, these resolutions were inadvertently sent to the Executive Chamber, among many other bills, and not requiring, as those bills did, the signature of the Governor, they were laid aside, and not being called for by the proper officer, they were overlooked, and so failed to be published according to the provision of the Constitution. I now call your attention to the fact. Concurring entirely in the policy of these resolutions, I invite your consideration to the propriety of re-enacting them.

It is known that in the month of July last, the centre building of the State Lunatic Asylum, at Utica, together with some of its

outbuildings, was destroyed by fire, which was ascertained to be the act of an incendiary, partially deranged. On consultation with the board of managers, and being satisfied, by personal inspection, of the absolute necessity of immediately repairing the damage, I authorized them to do so, upon the most advantageous terms consistent with economy and dispatch. Upon this authority, they proceeded at once, and, up to the present period, they have made an expenditure amounting to $41,005.51; and the sum estimated as needful for work yet to be done, is $27,786.43, making the entire amount $68,741.94, for the reconstruction of the buildings destroyed, with some improvements deemed valuable and necessary. In assuming the responsibility, without warrant of law authorizing this expenditure, I was actuated by considerations of the overruling necessity of the case; for the operations of that noble charity were paralyzed by the destruction of so much of the edifice; and the forlorn and helpless inmates would have been left without adequate care and protection. I throw myself upon the indulgence of the Legislature in asking their sanction to this course, and that an appropriation be made for the sum above named. I submit, herewith, the report of the board of managers of that institution, setting forth the urgency of this expenditure, and its details, and explaining the actual workings of this charity.

As connected, in some degree, with the same subject, I take leave, at the request of the board of supervisors of Monroe county, to invite your attention to the condition of the insane paupers in the several counties of this state, and particularly in the county of Monroe, now supported as a county charge; and also as to the policy of erecting and maintaining county asylums or hospitals for the insane paupers, in connexion with the almshouses and poor-houses of such counties, and under the same general superintendence. That communication on this subject is herewith transmitted, which explains their views more fully.

The sum of $25,000 appropriated by the last Legislature for clearing out obstructions in the Hudson river, near the city of Albany, has been judiciously expended, and, as far as the means would allow, to a good result. As it is obviously and unquestionably a duty of the general government to provide for expenditures of this sort in navigable waters, constituting a port of entry, it will be for you to authorize the proper reclamation on that government for the re-imbursement of the amount expended, and for such further aid as may complete the work of removing obstructions.

As belonging to the same subject, I may add here, that the lines established by the Commissioners on Harbor Encroachments in the port of New-York, being once definitely settled by the labor of an accomplished corps of hydrographers, and adopted by the Legislature at its last session, at great cost to the State, it is obviously for the interest of all riparian owners, as it is for

the permanent advantage of navigation, that this result should be deemed final, and that the lines thus established should be considered as unalterable.

It cannot have escaped your notice that during the past year some of our courts of law have, by a most extraordinary exercise of the power of granting injunctions, introduced an element of discord, and, therefore, of weakness and distrust, into our judicial system. The injunction is a process unknown to the common law. According to that law every man is free to act on his rights, as he is advised they are, subject to answer in damages to any one whose rights he may invade. Equity comes in, where the act threatened to be done would cause a damage, in its nature irremediable, or where the trespassing party is irresponsible, and enjoins him; but, as now practiced, our judges, in a discretion not always wisely exercised, have nearly converted into an every-day remedy, what is designed, and has heretofore been regarded as an exceptional intervention of equity, staying, in such cases, the extreme rigor, or supplying the deficiencies of the common law. The evils of such proceedings, in relation to individuals, assume far greater proportions when they are brought to operate on public interests, and have reached such a pass in the city of New-York, that it has become a common practice for the judiciary, acting preliminarily and without the defensive precautions of a regular trial at law, to interfere with the action of public officers, alike of the municipality and of the State. The effect is to constitute the judiciary an integral part of our municipal and State government by their own act, not judging on regular proofs according to the common law, with its wise rules of evidence, its confronting of witnesses, and its sober delays for reflection, but on the urgent impulses of agitated parties, moved by the outcries of masses, and it is feared not entirely free from the influences of party and partizan strife. How great this evil became, how it impaired confidence in the judiciary, how dangerous it was to the public, the events of the past year have plainly shown. To remedy this state of things, it is suggested that it be provided for the future:

1. That no injunction be granted ex parte. This I understand to be the law in the courts of the United States, and that it has been found to work well. Notice being always required, so that the other party can make his statement.

2. That no injunction be granted, except where the injury apprehended would be irreparable, and could not be compensated in damages, or when the apprehended wrong doer was insolvent.

3. Security might be required for the payment of damages to the party enjoined, in case the process should appear to have been improperly obtained.

These provisions should be applicable to all demands for an injunction; and, in addition, in the case of public officers,