Evils that have resulted from an abuse of the freedom which has been enjoyed under our corporate laws are patent to all. It is not simply or primarily the question of protection to the investor. The paramount demand is that through the improper issue of securities there shall not be provided a motive for crippling the public service or a basis for demanding extortionate returns. The power of the State should be exercised to compel respect for the public interest.

I cannot at this time discuss these questions or other matters, such as the selection and removal of commissioners, which are involved in the proposed scheme of regulation. As I have said, these questions are of grave public consequence. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that the will of the people can be permanently disregarded, and it is the duty of patriotism to provide for the just expression of that will and to remove the causes of unrest which lie in abuses of public privilege. And in attempting to provide remedies for the correction of known evils, let them be real remedies, not mere makeshifts which will bring the law and its administrators into contempt, but effective measures which in their just operation will promote our tranquillity and enhance respect for law and order.

III.

Speech at the Glens Falls Club,
April 5, 1907.

As citizens you are all interested in having the government well administered. On this question there is no division along party lines. The people appreciate the importance of insisting upon efficiency and of improving the standards of administration. They are willing to give generous support to those who stand for their interests, and they will not fail to call strictly to account those who seek, on one pretext or another, to block efforts to accomplish this result. They are also-aside from the relatively few whose personal interests and ambitions are involved― practically united in the demand that the powers of government shall not be prostituted to selfish ends, and that public privilege, under public control, shall be exercised for public benefit.

Those who desire to insure the stability of honorable business enterprise, those who desire to maintain an orderly society, secure

against the success of insincere and inflammatory appeal, those who desire to maintain our institutions with their guaranties of equality before the law and with their blessings of opportunity, realize that the time has come when the State must assert its power firmly and justly in putting an end to existing abuses both in the administration of government and in the management of those concerns which derive their vitality from public franchises. Those who oppose this just sentiment chant their own requiem.

The paramount need in the administration of the government of this State is to make it a more largely responsible government. The effort should be to fix responsibility so that accountability to the people cannot be escaped. Some assert that for this purpose all administrative heads of departments and members of administrative commissions should be elected. I do not assent to this proposition. I believe that on the one hand it is destructive of necessary unity in administration, and on the other increases the opportunities for manipulation and intrigue. Experience shows that in a political campaign it is difficult to concentrate the attention of the people upon a large number of offices. The election of all administrative

heads and members of commissions would tend, in my judgment, greatly to increase the difficulty of securing responsible government.

On the other hand, the people take a deep interest in the selection of the Chief Executive. In connection with this office, public opinion to the largest degree asserts itself with reference to the selection of candidates. A system which fixes upon the Governor responsibility for the administration of the government and clothes him with corresponding power, is the system which in the long run will insure to the people the best administration.

The Constitution provides that the executive power shall be vested in the Governor, who "shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed." In the popular imagination the office is invested with those powers which the people instinctively associate with the first office in the State. But in reality, while the administrative powers and responsibilities of the Federal Executive have increased, those of the State Executive have diminished. This is a mistaken State policy. As Governor Hoffman said:

"To bestow on the Governor of this State the power necessary to enforce the laws of the State and on the

Mayor of the city all necessary executive power in the administration of the affairs in the city, that is concentration of power in the proper hands; power adequate to the duties and responsibilities imposed. Without this concentration there is no real responsibility; without it we cannot justly hold the Chief Executive accountable for his due administration of the government; we fail to enjoy what the English-speaking race prides itself upon-responsible government."

In

We have now an anomalous condition. the Constitution the people in regard to several important offices, have given to the Governor appropriate power. Thus it is provided that the Superintendent of Public Works shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. But he "may be suspended and removed from office by the Governor whenever in his judgment the public interest shall so require." The Superintendent of State Prisons is to be similarly appointed; but the Governor "may remove the superintendent for cause at any time, giving to him a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity to be heard in his defence." The members of the State Board of Charities, and of the State Commission in Lunacy are similarly appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate; but any member "may be removed