to call extraordinary sessions of the legislature, was an application in another form of the power possessed by the governor before the Revolution. The necessity for this provision is apparent, and the power has been frequently exercised. The power to convene the senate only in extraordinary session was added by the Constitution of 1821. The Constitution proposed by the Convention of 1867 contained a clause requiring the governor to state in his proclamation the subjects intended to be submitted to the legislature at an extraordinary session and prohibiting the passage of any law relating to a subject not included in the proclamation. The existing provision on this subject was recommended by the Commission of 1872,and was included in the amendments adopted in 1874.

In 1851 an extraordinary session was called under peculiar circumstances. A partisan controversy arose in the senate, resulting in the resignation of twelve members. This left the senate with twenty members,-less than the two thirds required on the passage of certain bills, and with barely the three fifths required to be present on the passage of another class of bills. The appropriation bill and other general bills of an important nature were still pending. The legislature thereupon adopted concurrent resolutions reciting the resignation of the twelve senators, and requesting the governor to convene the legislature in extraordinary session, and then adjourned. An extra session was accordingly called. In the meantime special elections were held and new senators elected from the vacant districts. Governor Washington Hunt, in his message to the legislature at the opening of the special session in June, 1851, observed concerning this incident: “It is a subject of gratifying reflection, that, in the elections recently held, so large a portion of the people of the state, rising above party divisions, should have pro

claimed their adherence to the vital principle of our institutions which clothes a constitutional majority wth the power to decide public questions and control the action of our representative bodies. Temporary prostration of the legislative power by the secession of a majority was an event which could hardly fail to produce a deep impression upon the public mind. A proceeding of this character had never before occurred since the formation of a republican government in this state."

In People ex rel. Carter v. Rice (1892) 135 N. Y. 473, 16 L. R. A. 836, 31 N. E. 921, the court sustained the apportionment act of 1892, which was passed at an extraordinary session of the legislature. This subject has been considered in a previous note. The decision on this point has little interest now except historically, in view of the constitutional change made in 1894, requiring an apportionment to be made at a regular session.

3. Messages and recommendations to the legislature.— I have pointed out in the first volume the custom which. prevailed during the colonial period, and was continued under the first Constitution, in relation to formal communications by the governor to the legislature. According to this custom the governor personally met the legislature at the opening of each session and read a speech similar to the speech from the throne in the English Parliament, in which he presented a statement of public affairs, including such recommendations as seemed to him pertinent. This custom was changed by the second Constitution, and, beginning with the legislature of 1823, the Constitution required the governor to communicate to the legislature by message. Special messages were frequently sent to the legislature under the first Constitution, but the formal communication at the opening of a session was made by the governor in person, in the presence of both houses. The duty here imposed upon the governor is imperative,

and the authority implied in it is one of the highest attributes of his office. His position at the head of affairs enables him to obtain information relating to existing conditions, not readily available to members of the legislature. The annual message, therefore, becomes an important document, frequently containing a summary of the history of the state during the year, from the point of view of the executive office. The speeches, messages, and other communications by the governor to the legislature during our colonial and state history present, in an orderly series, the origin and development of every important condition of public affairs, and almost every aspect of social, educational, political, and commercial changes which have been suggested or accomplished during this long period. A history of the state could easily be written from these speeches and messages, especially in connection with the legislation which has so often resulted from the governors' recommendations.

4. Transaction of public business.-The clause requiring the governor "to transact all necessary business with the officers of government, civil and military," was added by the Convention while the first Constitution was under consideration, and it has not since been changed. It is general in terms and comprehensive in scope, and is appropriate to the chief executive, with whom all other officers, either state or local, may have occasion to transact business. It meant more under the first Constitution than it means now, for, as already pointed out, the governor was then more distinctively than now the executive head of the state, and possessed powers relating to the appointment of officers and their supervision which have not been continued under subsequent Constitutions.

5. Expedite public measures.-The clause requiring the governor to "expedite all such measures as may be resolved upon by the legislature," which was also included

in the first Constitution, was a distinct recognition of the governor's executive authority. The legislature is to make the laws and the governor is to execute them, and to use all the means placed at his command to effectuate the legislative purpose. This does not make him subordinate to the legislature, for his influence has already been felt in the enactment of the laws which he is required to enforce, and, except in rare instances, where bills have been passed over his veto, the laws which he is to execute have already received his assent. He therefore occupies not a subordinate but a co-ordinate position in the government, being the means by which the legislative power, of which he is also a part, finds expression in an actual enforcement of the statute.

6. "Take care that the laws are faithfully executed."— This is a corollary to the two preceding clauses, and gives the governor general supervision of all officers, state or local, who may have any part in the administration of the law. Such important changes have been made since the first Constitution, which included this provision, by which changes large independent powers have been conferred on other officers, with a corresponding limitation of the governor's powers, that it is not always easy to make a practical application of this injunction. As pointed out by Governor Hoffman, whose observations have been quoted in the note to § 1, many officers are now outside the scope of the governor's jurisdiction and supervision, and whatever he may do to "take care that the laws are faithfully executed" must often be done by admonition or suggestion rather than by any action resulting from the possession of power to see that a given statute is enforced, or that a particular officer does his duty.

7. Compensation. This clause was added by the amendments of 1874, which were adopted on the recommendation of the Commission of 1872. Constitutional

conventions had already considered the subject of the governor's compensation, and they appreciated the importance of placing it beyond legislative control. The first Constitution contained no provision on this subject. The second and third Constitutions required the governor's compensation to be fixed by law, but it could not be increased or diminished during his term. The proposed Constitution of 1867 contained substantially the same provision, with the addition that the compensation could not be changed after the governor's election, even before the beginning of his term. In the chapter on the Commission of 1872, I have given a sketch of its action in adopting the provision fixing in the Constitution itself the compensation to be received by the governor and lieutenant governor.

§ 5. [Pardons, reprieves, and commutations.]—The governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions and limitations, as he may think proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the sentence until the case shall be reported to the legislature at its next meeting, when the legislature shall either pardon or commute the sentence, direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall annually communicate to the legislature each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime for which he was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the commutation, pardon, or reprieve.

[Const. 1777, art. 18; 1821, art. 3, § 5; 1846, art. 4, § 5.]