of the estates of infants for the purpose of unfettering the title for the support of the infants, or for any reasons connected with their interests and welfare;" that "authority to pass such laws is deduced from the sovereign power, which is vested in the government to superintend the interests and provide for the welfare of infant children and lunatics, and which, under the system prevailing in England, is vested in the King, who is said in such cases to act as parens patriæ, and which the court of chancery usually exercises by delegation from the sovereign;" that "the same power which is vested in the Crown touching parties under disability of infancy and lunacy embraces the case of property given for the purposes of charity, and it is vested in the sovereign in the same paternal character." The court sustained an act (1806, chap. 52) which extinguished the title of certain officers to property therein mentioned, and vested such title in a school corporation.

In Dammert v. Osborn (1893) 140 N. Y. 30, 35 N. E. 407, construing a will made by a resident of Peru, which contained a bequest for the purpose of establishing a charitable institution in New York, the court say: "There is no law that forbids gifts to charity here by testators in other countries, or that requires us to reject the gift unless it is made in all respects in conformity with our local law;" that the provision of the Revised Statutes relating to the suspension of the power of alienation of personal property was not intended "to interdict dispositions made in other countries to take effect here;" that restraints, like those limiting bequests to corporations, "applied to members of the political community from which the will emanated, and not to persons in other countries where no such restrictions existed. Such bequests are valid here if valid It is no part of our public policy to condemn where made. such gifts to charitable or benevolent corporations here. . . . The policy that dictated our statutes against perpetuities and accumulations did not anticipate any danger from abroad, and our recent decisions are to the effect that they are local in their general scope and effect."

The power of individuals to devise their lands is the creature of positive law, and may be abrogated entirely, or modified and restricted, at the pleasure of the legislature. To make such changes is the province and frequently the duty of the legislature; its power to make them is inherent and inalienable, and the rights of all persons, artificial as well as natural, corporations as well as individuals, are of necessity subject to its exercise. Ayres v. Methodist Episcopal Church (1849) 3 Sandf. 351.

The privilege of making a will is not a natural or inherent right, but one which the state can grant or withhold in its discretion. Re Delano (1903) 176 N. Y. 486, 64 L. R. A. 279, 68 N. E. 871.

§ 2. [Senate and assembly, how constituted. ]-The senate shall consist of fifty members, except as hereinafter provided. The senators elected in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five shall hold their offices for three years, and their successors shall be chosen for two years. The assembly shall consist of one hundred and fifty members, who shall be chosen for one year.

[Assembly, Const. 1777, art. 4; 1801, § 1; 1821, art. 1, § 2; 1846, art. 3,8 2. Senate, Const. 1777, art. 10; 1801, § 3; 1821, art. 1, § 2; 1846, art. 3, § 2.]

This section was proposed by the Convention of 1894. It increases the senate from 32 to 50 members, and the assembly from 128 to 150. It also provides for a possible increase in the senate beyond 50, according to the plan proposed in § 4. It will be remembered that, under the Constitution of 1846, senators were elected in oddnumbered years. The Convention of 1894 provided for city elections in odd-numbered years, and, in accordance with the proposed policy of separating state and municipal elections, it became necessary to hold elections for state officers in even-numbered years; and it was accordingly provided that senators elected in 1895 should hold office for three years, which would bring subsequent elections of senators in even-numbered years. The structure of the legislature has been a subject of frequent consideration, not only in conventions, but in the legislature itself. Various suggestions relating to this subject have been noted in previous volumes.

§ 3. [Senate districts.]—The state shall be divided into fifty districts, to be called senate districts, each of

which shall choose one senator. The districts shall be numbered from one to fifty, inclusive.

District number one (1) shall consist of the counties of Suffolk and Richmond.

District number two (2) shall consist of the county of Queens.

District number three (3) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wards of the city of Brooklyn.

District number four (4) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the seventh, thirteenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first wards of the city of Brooklyn.

District number five (5) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the eighth, tenth, twelfth, and thirtieth wards of the city of Brooklyn, and the ward of the city of Brooklyn which was formerly the town of Gravesend.

District number six (6) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the ninth, eleventh, twentieth, and twenty-second wards of the city of Brooklyn.

District number seven (7) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth wards of the city of Brooklyn.

District number eight (8) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the twenty-third, twentyfourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-ninth wards of the city of Brooklyn, and the town of Flatlands.

District number nine (9) shall consist of that part of the county of Kings comprising the eighteenth, twentysixth, twenty-seventh, and twenty-eighth wards of the city of Brooklyn.

District number ten (10) shall consist of that part of the county of New York within and bounded by a line beginning at Canal street and the Hudson river, and running thence along Canal street, Hudson street, Dominick

street, Varick street, Broome street, Sullivan street, Spring street, Broadway, Canal street, the Bowery, Division street, Grand street, and Jackson street, to the East river, and thence around the southern end of Manhattan island, to the place of beginning, and also Governor's, Bedlow's, and Ellis islands.

District number eleven (11) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of district number ten, and within and bounded by a line beginning at the junction of Broadway and Canal street, and running thence along Broadway, Fourth street, the Bowery and Third avenue, St. Mark's place, Avenue A, Seventh street, Avenue B, Clinton street, Rivington street, Norfolk street, Division street, Bowery and Canal street, to the place of beginning.

District number twelve (12) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of districts numbers ten and eleven, and within and bounded by a line beginning at Jackson street and the East river, and running thence through Jackson street, Grand street, Division street, Norfolk street, Rivington street, Clinton street, Avenue B, Seventh street, Avenue A, St. Mark's place, Third avenue, East Fourteenth street to the East river, and along the East river, to the place of beginning.

District number thirteen (13) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of district number ten, and within and bounded by a line beginning at the Hudson river at the foot of Canal street, and running thence along Canal street, Hudson street, Dominick street, Varick street, Broome street, Sullivan street, Spring street, Broadway, Fourth street, the Bowery and Third avenue, Fourteenth street, Sixth avenue, West Fifteenth street, Seventh avenue, West Nineteenth street, Eighth avenue, West Twentieth street, and the Hudson river, to the place of beginning.

District number fourteen (14) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of districts numbers twelve and thirteen, and within and bounded by a line beginning at East Fourteenth street and the East river, and running thence along East Fourteenth street, Irving place, East Nineteenth street, Third avenue, East Twenty-third street, Lexington avenue, East Fifty-third street, Third avenue, East Fifty-second street, and the East river, to the place of beginning.

District number fifteen (15) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of district number thirteen, and within and bounded by a line beginning at the junction of West Fourteenth street and Sixth avenue, and running thence along Sixth avenue, West Fifteenth street, Seventh avenue, West Fortieth street, Eighth avenue, and the transverse road across Central park at Ninety-seventh street, Fifth avenue, East Ninety-sixth street, Lexington avenue, East Twenty-third street, Third avenue, East Nineteenth street, Irving place, and Fourteenth street, to the place of beginning.

District number sixteen (16) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of district number thirteen, and within and bounded by a line beginning at Seventh avenue and West Nineteenth street, and running thence along West Nineteenth street, Eighth avenue, West Twentieth street, the Hudson river, West Forty-sixth street, Tenth avenue, West Forty-third street, Eighth avenue, West Fortieth street, and Seventh avenue, to the place of beginning.

District number seventeen (17) shall consist of that part of the county of New York lying north of district number sixteen, and within and bounded by a line beginning at the junction of Eighth avenue and West Fortythird street, and running thence along West Forty-third street, Tenth avenue, West Forty-sixth street, the Hudson

VOL. IV. CONST. HIST.-22.