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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40531 ***
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this
+text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings
+and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an
+obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.]
+
+
+
+
+  1797    A Century in the
+  TO      Comptroller's
+  1897    Office
+
+
+  State of New York
+
+  BY
+
+  JAMES A. ROBERTS
+
+  COMPTROLLER
+
+  ALBANY
+  JAMES B. LYON, PRINTER
+  1897
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: _STATE HALL_]
+
+
+
+
+A CENTURY IN THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE.
+
+
+On the 17th of February, 1897, occurred the one hundredth anniversary of
+the establishment of the office of Comptroller of the State of New York.
+
+The present incumbent of the office trusts it will not be considered
+unwarranted pride which has led him to collect and transcribe, in honor
+of its one hundredth birthday, such general facts relating more or less
+directly to the office, or to the former incumbents thereof, as he has
+gathered from unsystematic reading and in the performance of his duties.
+
+An office which has without scandal managed the financial affairs of
+this great State, and has otherwise borne a conspicuous part in its
+government for a century; an office from the thirty incumbents of which
+have been chosen a Vice-President and a President of the United States,
+two United States Senators, four Governors of the State, one Chief
+Justice and one Chief Judge of its Court of Appeals--to say nothing of
+others who have achieved distinction in less conspicuous civil
+positions--would seem entitled to something more than a passing notice
+on its centennial anniversary.
+
+The office, as created, and from time to time enlarged, is a unique
+feature in our State government. There are Auditors in nearly all of the
+States of the Union; but the duties of Comptroller are far broader,
+comprehending largely the ordinary duties of a State Treasurer as well
+as many others. There had been Auditors in the Colony of New York from
+1680 down to the time of its organization as an independent State, and
+that office was continued in the State until it was merged in the office
+of Comptroller. There have been Treasurers of New York with varying
+duties from 1706 down to the present time. From the time of the
+organization of the State government the offices of Treasurer and
+Auditor had not been found to work harmoniously or satisfactorily. Bills
+might be audited which the Treasurer did not wish to pay, and the
+Treasurer might wish to pay bills which the Auditor would not pass, so
+in a tentative, experimental way in 1797 the office of Comptroller was
+created to combine the power to audit and the power to pay. The act
+creating it was framed by Samuel Jones, a man of note in his time (for
+whom Samuel Jones Tilden, the distinguished Governor of this State, was
+named), and on the 17th of February, 1797, it became law by the
+signature of that distinguished patriot, Governor John Jay.
+
+[Illustration: Samuel Jones (signature)
+
+_1st COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The appointment of Comptroller upon the creation of the office fell to
+the "Council of Appointment," as was the case at that time with all
+State, county and municipal officers, except the Governor,
+Lieutenant-Governor and members of the Legislature. The "Council of
+Appointment" was an anomaly in government. The article (XXIII of the
+Constitution of 1777) establishing this "Council" was framed by three as
+pure, patriotic and disinterested statesmen as New York has ever
+produced, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston and Gouverneur Morris, and was
+designed to prevent a dangerous centralization of power in the hands of
+the Governor. It provided "that all officers, other than those who by
+this Constitution are directed to be otherwise appointed, shall be
+appointed in the manner following, to wit: The Assembly shall once in
+every year openly nominate and appoint one of the Senators from each
+great district" (then four in number), "which Senators shall form a
+council for the appointment of officers, of which the Governor, for the
+time being, or the Lieutenant-Governor, or the President of the Senate
+(when they shall respectively administer the government), shall be
+president, and have a casting vote, but no other vote."
+
+Under the power thus conferred this council appointed the heads of the
+various State departments; all Judges, as well as Justices of the Peace,
+District Attorneys, Sheriffs, County Clerks, Mayors, and other officers
+throughout the entire State.
+
+The cautious and anxious gentlemen who framed this provision in 1777
+could by no means have foreseen the disastrous and disgraceful spoils
+system that grew up under it. It remained in full effect until a
+disgusted people abolished it by an amendment to the Constitution in
+1821. At that time its power had so grown that there were 6,663 civil
+and 8,287 military offices which it controlled. The modern political
+boss must experience a feeling of profound regret as he realizes that
+this rich harvest can no longer be garnered by his sickle.
+
+Chapter 21 of the Laws of 1797, which created the office of State
+Comptroller, provided, among other things, that "all matters and things
+theretofore required to be done by the Auditor of the State should be
+done by the Comptroller, and that the salary and wages of all
+legislative, executive, judicial and ministerial officers of the
+government of this State, and all moneys directed by law to be paid to
+any other person, should be paid by the Treasurer on the warrant of the
+Comptroller;" that the Comptroller should keep an account between the
+State and the Treasurer; that he might lend out moneys in the treasury
+not otherwise appropriated, and that when money was directed to be paid,
+and not sufficient money in the treasury to satisfy the same, he might
+"in the name, and on behalf of the People of this State, borrow a sum
+sufficient for that purpose of a bank of New York, or bank of Albany."
+
+Thus the important powers which have distinguished the Comptroller's
+office--the power of audit; to draw warrants for all payments from the
+treasury; to keep its books of financial transactions; to invest its
+funds, and to borrow money--were embodied in the first act. The
+powers thus granted infringed so largely upon the ordinary rights and
+duties of a Treasurer, and so largely upon those which had been
+theretofore exercised by the Treasurer of this State, that it is not
+strange the then Treasurer, Gerardus Bancker, who had held the office
+from April 1, 1778, resigned in disgust. His feeling was, as Lossing has
+stated in his "Empire State," that the Comptroller was made "the highest
+financial officer of the State, and the Treasurer merely a clerk to
+him."
+
+[Illustration: John V. Henry (signature)
+
+_2d COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The early history of the office is an illustration of the cautious and
+doubtful temper of the Legislatures of the time--so unlike those of the
+present day. It is a well-known fact that while the Legislature of the
+State met for the first time at Albany, in the same year, 1797, in which
+the office of Comptroller was created, it was not then made a permanent
+location for the Capitol; and that city was maintained for upwards of
+twenty years as the Capitol simply by the adjournment of the Legislature
+at the end of each session to meet again at the city of Albany. The
+original act creating the Comptroller's office provided that it should
+continue in force for a period of three years. On the 28th day of
+February, 1800, eleven days after the office had expired by limitation,
+chapter 11 of that year went into effect, which re-established the
+office for another period of three years. Chapter 22 of the Laws of 1803
+extended the office, with the powers and duties then prescribed by law,
+to February 28, 1805. By chapter 60 of the Laws of 1805, passed March
+30th, the office was continued to February 28, 1808, and the acts of the
+then Comptroller, between the 28th day of February, 1805, and the day
+when this act went into effect, were ratified and confirmed. On March
+11, 1808, chapter 34 of that year was passed, which continued the office
+to February 28, 1812, with a like confirmatory clause. The act of
+February 28, 1812, at last made permanent the Comptroller's office, with
+the powers theretofore conferred upon it. By chapter 31 of the Laws of
+1797 the office of Comptroller was to be located either in Albany or
+Watervliet.
+
+The Council of Appointment chose for the first Comptroller Samuel Jones,
+of Oyster Bay, Queens county. This was done by the casting vote of
+Governor John Jay, the four senatorial members of the council being a
+tie. He was a lawyer of high standing at the time of his appointment, a
+Federalist in politics, and had held with credit a number of civil
+positions. In 1775 he had been a member of the Provisional War
+Committee, and had performed arduous services on that committee. He was
+a member of the convention that adopted the Federal Constitution, and
+voted for it. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778; a
+Member of Assembly from Queens county in 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789 and
+1790; a State Senator from the southern district from 1791 to 1799.
+
+The honors which he had won and worthily worn were supplemented in his
+son who, as the Chancellor of this State (succeeding Nathan Sanford and
+succeeded by Reuben H. Walworth), and as Chief Judge of the New York
+Superior Court, won for himself enviable renown in our legal annals.
+Comptroller Jones was the author of the "Act for the amendment of law
+and better advancement of Justice," passed in 1789, which was a valuable
+contribution and addition to our law. He was also the author of many
+other of the best statutes placed upon our books in those early years.
+He was distinguished throughout his career as an upright and useful man,
+though he was sometimes accused of a little uncertainty in politics. He
+is said to have replied to a question from Judge Spencer as to how he
+managed to secure his elections from Queens county whatever party might
+be in the ascendant, that "If my troops will not follow me, I follow my
+troops."
+
+The Comptroller's salary was fixed by the act at $3,000, and this was to
+include all clerk hire and ordinary expenses connected with the office.
+In 1800 the compensation was reduced to $2,500, and in consequence of
+this action Mr. Jones resigned the office. He had faithfully
+performed its duties, and his resignation terminated his public career.
+
+[Illustration: Elisha Jenkins (signature)
+
+_3d COMPTROLLER_]
+
+During his term, in 1799, the Legislature prohibited the payment of any
+money from the treasury except upon the warrant of the Comptroller, and
+required all receipts to be countersigned by him, and this has remained
+a part of the duties of the Comptroller from that time to this.
+
+On March 12, 1800, John V. Henry, an eminent Albany lawyer and a
+Federalist, was chosen Comptroller. There are some still living who
+know, at least by oral tradition, his great influence at the bar, and
+Albanians have a just pride in his high reputation. He was a member of
+the convention called in 1801 principally to settle the question whether
+the Governor alone could nominate persons for appointment, or whether
+that power also lay in the Senators composing the Council of
+Appointment. He was a Member of Assembly from Albany county in 1800,
+1801 and 1802. During his term, by chapter 61 of the Laws of 1801, the
+Comptroller was made _ex-officio_ a member of the State Board of
+Canvassers, and by chapter 69 of the same year he was made one of the
+Commissioners of the Land Office.
+
+In 1801 the Legislature also directed the Comptroller to sell lands for
+the payment of taxes due to the State, and this power, variously
+modified and enlarged, still remains in him. Under it sales were held in
+1808, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1821, 1826, 1830, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1848,
+1853, 1859, 1866, 1871, 1877, 1881, 1885, 1890 and 1895.
+
+In 1800 the Legislature authorized the Comptroller to settle the credits
+of the State with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.
+The moneys derived from this source formed the basis of the general
+fund. The Comptroller was made the custodian of this fund with power to
+invest it. The fund was augmented from sales of land and other sources
+until, in 1814, it had reached the sum of $4,396,943.97. The income of
+the fund together with the salt and auction duties, it was believed, in
+the early part of the century, would be sufficient to maintain the
+government. And from 1814 to 1842 no money was raised in this State by
+direct taxation except during the years in which the Erie and Champlain
+canals were in process of construction. To avoid a direct tax, however,
+it had been found necessary from time to time, to draw on the principal
+of the fund, and in 1834 it disappeared altogether and with it the
+bright dream of our forefathers of a commonwealth without taxation.
+Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1846 the fund had been
+succeeded by a general fund debt of $5,992,840.82. This was increased
+before the breaking out of the Civil War to a total of $6,505,684.37.
+This was the high-water mark of the general fund debt if we do not
+include in it the bounty debt of 1865. The Constitution of 1846 made
+provision for a sinking fund to meet this debt and its management and
+investment were intrusted to the Comptroller. In this way the last of
+the debt was paid in 1878.
+
+[Illustration: Arch. McIntyre (signature)
+
+_4th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Mr. Henry was removed from his office August 10, 1801, by reason of
+political changes in the Council of Appointment, and he then and there
+renounced politics forever. At the time of his death, in 1829, the
+leading Albany paper of the period spoke of Mr. Henry as "the idol of
+his friends; the ornament of his native city; the pride of the bar; the
+eloquent defender of the oppressed."
+
+Henry's successor in office was Elisha Jenkins, a merchant and a
+Democrat (or Republican as the party was then called) of Hudson, who
+held the office from August 10, 1801, to March 26, 1806. Previous to his
+appointment as Comptroller he had served as Member of Assembly from
+Columbia county for the years 1795 to 1798. After his service as
+Comptroller he served three different periods as Secretary of State, to
+wit: From March 16, 1806, to February 16, 1807; from February 1, 1808,
+to February 1, 1810, and from February 1, 1811, to February 23, 1813.
+During his term as Comptroller there was a defalcation in the office
+of Treasurer, then held by Robert McClellan, and a more rigid system of
+testing the correctness of accounts was adopted, many features of which
+still survive. There was not much legislation affecting the office
+passed during the period of his incumbency; but the work of the office
+would seem to have been done in a systematic and business-like manner.
+
+[Illustration: John Savage (signature)
+
+_5th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Mr. Jenkins was succeeded by Archibald McIntyre, a Democrat of the
+Clintonian order, of Albany, who, besides the reputation of a most
+excellent officer, has left behind him the record of a term of service
+in the office longer than that of any person who has filled it. He was
+appointed on March 26, 1806, and continued in office until February 12,
+1821. He had previously served as Member of Assembly from Montgomery
+county for the years 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 and 1804. The duties
+of the office had so far increased in 1811 as to render necessary the
+services of a deputy, and by chapter 78 his appointment was authorized,
+with substantially the same limitations which now exist. He cannot sign
+warrants so long as the Comptroller is within the State; nor can he act
+on the various boards. Comptroller McIntyre in 1817, under legislative
+authority, procured the aggregate valuation of the real estate in the
+several towns and wards of the State. By chapter 262 of the Laws of 1817
+the Board of Commissioners of the Canal Fund was created, and the
+Comptroller made, _ex-officio_, a member of that board. This act
+contained a curious provision to the effect that a majority of the
+Commissioners, with the Comptroller, constitutes a quorum. No quorum of
+that board has ever been possible without the presence of the
+Comptroller.
+
+This board, from that time to 1848, received and disbursed all canal
+moneys, audited the canal accounts, and in general transacted the
+financial business of the canal department. In 1848 the canal funds were
+turned over to the Treasurer and made subject to the warrant of the
+Canal Auditor. By his audit and warrant all accounts against the canals
+were paid; the management of the canal debt and sinking fund remaining,
+as before, in the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. In 1883 the duties
+devolving upon the Canal Auditor were transferred to the Comptroller's
+office. The majority of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund signed all
+checks on canal account prior to 1848. Since 1883, the Commissioners of
+the Canal Fund have had no duties to perform except to designate banks
+for the deposit of canal funds, and, ordinarily, to supervise the
+issuing of canal bonds.
+
+The first canal debt bonds were issued in 1817 under legislative
+authority, and their disposition and the management of the sinking fund
+which was provided for their payment were put in the hands of the
+Commissioners of the Canal Fund. The amount of the debt that year was
+$200,000. As the canal system was extended, and later when the canals
+were enlarged, this debt was from time to time increased until in 1860
+it reached the sum of $27,107,321.28. From that time it continuously
+decreased through the payments to, and the application of, the sinking
+fund, until on the 1st day of October, 1893, the last of this, the last
+bonded debt of the State, was paid. Something of financial history may
+be learned from a study of the rates of interest paid on these loans to
+the State. On the loan of 1817 the rate of interest was six per cent.
+From 1820 to 1830 the highest rate was six per cent and the lowest,
+five. From 1830 to 1840 a rate of five was sufficient. From 1840 to 1850
+the rate advanced, the lowest being six and the highest seven per cent,
+the latter rate being in about 1842, the period of uncertainty as to the
+State's financial policy. From 1850 to 1860 the rate again fell to five
+and six per cent. In 1861 a small loan was made at seven. From 1870 to
+1880 the rate was six per cent. This was the last of the old canal loan.
+By vote of the people in 1895 a loan of $9,000,000 was authorized to be
+used in the enlargement of the canals. The amounts thus far borrowed
+under that authority have been at the rate of three per cent.
+
+[Illustration: W. L. Marcy (signature)
+
+_6th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Perhaps the most notable circumstance of Comptroller McIntyre's term,
+and certainly one of the most notable in the whole history of the
+office, was his controversy with Daniel D. Tompkins. During the War of
+1812 Governor Tompkins had been the agent both of the State and of the
+National Government, and in this dual capacity he had received and
+disbursed very large sums of money. For much of this money he had taken,
+or could produce, no vouchers, and, consequently, in 1819 he stood upon
+the Comptroller's books a debtor, if not a defaulter, to the State in
+the large amount of $120,000. He claimed, and his friends claimed for
+him, that he had honestly disbursed all the money that he had received,
+and that the apparent deficit was due to his acknowledged
+unbusiness-like methods, and in his failure to keep books of account,
+and to take vouchers. He was then Vice-President of the United States,
+and it was thought by the "Bucktail" Republicans that he was the only
+man who, in the State election of 1820, could beat Governor Clinton for
+re-election. This unsettled balance, which had been standing for several
+years on the books of the Comptroller, was a serious obstacle to the
+execution of their plan. Accordingly, the Legislature of 1819 passed an
+act requiring the Comptroller to settle the residue of the accounts of
+Governor Tompkins, and in the settlement to allow him the same premium
+on the amount of money borrowed by him "on his own responsibility" as
+was allowed others for like service; and further requiring the
+Comptroller to credit the Governor with sums paid by him, legally, to
+any person, and to call upon such persons to account for the money.
+Contrary, it was said, to what had been understood by those who had been
+instrumental in passing the act of 1819, Vice-President Tompkins,
+instead of presenting a claim for premium merely sufficient to offset
+the claim of the State against him, presented one for $250,000, and
+supported this claim by opinions both of experts and lawyers. This bill
+furnishes a commentary on the credit of the State in the perilous times
+of the War of 1812, or perhaps upon the value of the services of
+financial agents at that time. The brokerage charged by Governor
+Tompkins was at the rate of twenty-five per cent. The Comptroller,
+feeling that this was not the legislative intent, and ever watchful as
+he was of the State's interests, declined to allow the claim, on the
+ground that the Governor had not borrowed the money "on his own
+responsibility," but on the joint responsibility of the State and
+himself. The Comptroller offered to submit the soundness of his position
+to the Judges of the Supreme Court, and to join with the Judges, if it
+was desired, the Chancellor or the Attorney-General. But this Mr.
+Tompkins declined on the ground that all of these proposed referees were
+politically hostile to him. Correspondence relating to the matter, and
+marked by great bitterness of tone, took place between these eminent
+officials; and in this the Comptroller showed not only a familiarity
+with accounts, but a facility with the pen, which was a surprise to
+those who had not known him intimately. This matter occupied much of the
+attention of the Legislature for two years, and gave rise to protracted
+and animated debates, and there is no doubt that it entered largely into
+the defeat of Governor Tompkins by Clinton in 1820. The controversy was
+finally settled under an act of the Legislature of 1820, which directed
+the Comptroller to balance the accounts upon the filing of a release
+from Governor Tompkins of all his claims against the State. It had
+required no small amount of courage for Comptroller McIntyre to engage
+in a trial of strength with this idol of the State. Daniel D. Tompkins
+was four times elected Governor of the State, and twice elected
+Vice-President. He was a man of great personal magnetism; with large
+abilities, and he held a place in the affections of the people of
+this State which has scarcely been equaled by any of our citizens
+since his time.
+
+[Illustration: Silas Wright Jr (signature)
+
+_7th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+[Illustration: A. C. Flagg (signature)
+
+_8th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+At no time in the history of the State has the Comptroller's office been
+more ably filled, and occupied a more prominent position, than during
+the administration of Archibald McIntyre. He had the unbounded
+confidence of all, and although there were several Councils of
+Appointment during his term of service which were hostile to him, no one
+seems to have thought of removing him. He was regarded as a public
+servant whose services could not well be spared to the State. He was
+held in a measure responsible for the defeat of Governor Tompkins, and,
+although Clinton was elected, the Legislature and the Council of
+Appointment were decidedly hostile both to Clinton and to him, and on
+February 12, 1821, Mr. McIntyre was removed, and John Savage appointed
+in his place. His removal would have created far greater dissatisfaction
+than it did, although the dissatisfaction was considerable, had not his
+successor been a man of concededly great ability. Mr. McIntyre was, the
+year of his removal, nominated as the Clintonian candidate for Senator
+from the middle district, and, although strenuous efforts were made to
+defeat him, he was elected by a substantial majority.
+
+In 1822 he was, with John B. Yates, appointed agent for the State
+lotteries. The Constitution of 1821 had forbidden any further lotteries
+within the State, and authorized the Legislature to pass laws preventing
+the sale of tickets except in the lotteries already established by law.
+These were mostly instituted under the law of 1814 for the purpose of
+aiding literary institutions. By the act appointing him, the agents were
+invested with sole authority to issue and sell all lottery tickets
+which, for the future, were to be issued to pay some hundreds of
+thousands of dollars due various institutions. The legislative intent
+was carried out by the agents to the satisfaction of the beneficiaries,
+and also with satisfactory pecuniary results to the agents themselves.
+Upon his retirement from his agency Mr. McIntyre was able to withdraw
+both from politics and business.
+
+One would hardly expect to find in the books of account in the
+Comptroller's office anything in the nature of a history of morals, but
+the receipts from various lotteries forms a no inconsiderable part of
+the receipts of the State for a number of years. This opens up a view
+which almost shocks modern sensibility. Lotteries were not only
+authorized by the State, but they were in the main devoted to beneficent
+purposes. Union College owes no inconsiderable part of her early
+usefulness to money derived from State lotteries. Indeed, the
+institution of State lotteries in New York may almost be attributed to
+the efforts of that truly great and good man, the Rev. Dr. Eliphalet
+Nott. The first moneys ever appropriated by New York for the purposes of
+free schools were raised by lottery.
+
+John Savage, of Salem, a lawyer, and a Democrat of the "Bucktail" stamp,
+was the fifth Comptroller, and at the time of his appointment he was
+not new to public life. He had been district attorney of the fourth
+district from 1806 to 1811, and again from 1812 to 1813; Member of
+Assembly from Washington county in 1814, and Member of the Fourteenth
+and Fifteenth Congresses. He rounded out his official career with eight
+years (from 1823 to 1831) of honored service as Chief Justice of the
+Supreme Court. As a public official it has been said that "he exhibited
+candor, industry, caution and excellent judgment." No higher qualities
+can be given to any official. Later in life the positions of Chancellor
+and Treasurer of the United States were offered to him but declined.
+During his term of office there was no substantial change or enlargement
+of the powers and duties of the office, aside from the power given to
+invest money belonging to the common school fund. The common school fund
+had its origin in 1805, and was, as the determination for free schools
+became more manifest, an application to a school system of the Utopian
+vision of the makers of the State, who sought to pay all the expenses
+of maintaining the government by interest from its invested funds. The
+common school fund has, unlike the general fund, steadily increased. By
+the act of 1805 the proceeds of the first 500,000 acres of vacant and
+unappropriated land sold by the Surveyor-General were appropriated as a
+permanent fund for the support of common schools. Other sources of
+revenue were from time to time turned into this fund, until from its
+small beginning of $58,757.24 in 1805, it has now productive investments
+aggregating $4,448,140.77. It is a noteworthy fact that no direct tax
+for school purposes was laid by the State until 1853, the interest of
+the fund alone being appropriated. How small a portion the income plays
+in maintaining the schools of the State to-day can be seen in the fact
+that the State for the year 1896 appropriated for educational purposes
+$4,970,134.53, and this is not a quarter of the amount expended in the
+State for the purpose of free schools, when the local contributions are
+taken into account. Judge Savage was the last Comptroller who owed his
+selection to the Council of Appointment.
+
+[Illustration: Bates Cooke (signature)
+
+_9th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The Constitutional Convention of 1821, in deference to strong public
+demand, had abolished that disgraceful anomaly, and by section 6 of
+article 4 had provided that "the Secretary of State, Comptroller,
+Treasurer, Attorney-General, Surveyor-General and Commissioner-General
+shall be appointed as follows: The Senate and Assembly shall each openly
+nominate one person for the said offices respectively; after which they
+shall meet again, and if they shall agree in their nominations the
+person so nominated shall be appointed to the office for which he shall
+be nominated. If they shall disagree, the appointment shall be made by
+the joint ballot of the Senators and Members of Assembly. The Secretary
+of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney-General, Surveyor-General and
+Commissioner-General shall hold their office for three years, unless
+sooner removed by concurrent resolution of the Senate and Assembly."
+
+[Illustration: John A. Collier (signature)
+
+_10th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The Legislature, on the 13th day of February, 1823, elected, in the
+manner provided by law, William L. Marcy, a lawyer and a Democrat, of
+Albany, to succeed Savage. There was a contest in the caucus over his
+nomination, his opponent being Genl. James Tallmadge, a man of
+conspicuous ability and influence in the Senate. The power of Mr. Van
+Buren, however, turned the scale in Mr. Marcy's favor. The only public
+position which he had previously held was Adjutant-General, but from
+that time on his name is closely linked with the history of the State
+and Union. He was Comptroller for six years, Judge of the Supreme Court
+for two years, and United States Senator for two years. He was three
+times elected Governor, and defeated in his fourth run for that office
+by William H. Seward. He was appointed Secretary of War by President
+Polk in 1845, and Secretary of State by President Pierce in 1853. He had
+for years, under Mr. Van Buren, been a leader of that most influential
+political body which has become known to history as the "Albany
+Regency." The remaining members are understood to have been at that time
+Silas Wright, Azariah C. Flagg, Edwin Croswell, John A. Dix, James
+Porter and Benjamin Knower. The records of the State show that these
+men, while building up a compact and powerful political organization,
+did not neglect their own personal and political advancement.
+
+One of the vouchers in the Comptroller's office played a prominent part
+in the last of Mr. Marcy's gubernatorial campaigns--a circumstance
+which, Thurlow Weed says, Mr. Marcy pronounced the most disagreeable of
+his entire public career. While serving as Supreme Court Judge, and on
+Circuit in Niagara county, he included in his bill of expenses an item
+as follows: "For mending my pantaloons, 50c." In the Seward campaign
+Thurlow Weed, then the editor of the Albany _Evening Journal_, learned
+of this fact and published the story. It was taken up by the press
+generally throughout the State, and Mr. Marcy, with all his fine
+organization and numberless friends, found himself for the time being,
+like Spain's chivalry, "laughed away."
+
+[Illustration: Millard Fillmore (signature)
+
+_11th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The item, however, exhibits the scrupulous exactness of the man. Instead
+of presenting the bill with an indefinite amount of incidentals, he
+itemized it thus particularly to his own disadvantage; but, as Mr. Weed
+afterward admitted, it was a credit to his honesty.
+
+It was during Mr. Marcy's term that much of the work on the Erie canal
+was done, and the careful scrutiny which the bills for this work
+received was largely instrumental in keeping the cost within the
+estimates. He took ground as chief financial officer of the State
+against the construction of the Chenango and Genesee Valley canals, for
+the reason that these canals would not, in his judgment, pay the
+expenses of maintenance and the interest on the debt which would be
+incurred in their construction. While friends of the measures endeavored
+to convince the Legislature that the Comptroller was wrong in his
+calculation, the result, when these works were finally completed, fully
+justified the Comptroller's view. As Governor he made some friends, and
+more enemies, by adhering to the same careful course he had maintained
+as Comptroller. In 1826 the Legislature created the Canal Board, and the
+Comptroller was made _ex-officio_ a member of it, and he has continued
+to act as such member down to the present.
+
+On the 27th day of January, 1829, the Legislature elected as the
+successor of Mr. Marcy a man who, in his time, made a great impression
+upon State and National politics--Silas Wright, of Canton, a lawyer and
+a Regency Democrat. He had previously been Surrogate of St. Lawrence
+county, State Senator from the fourth district for the years 1824, 1825,
+1826 and 1827, and a Member of the Twentieth and Twenty-first
+Congresses. In the latter position he had achieved considerable
+reputation. After his five years' service as Comptroller he held with
+high honor, for nearly twelve years, the position of United States
+Senator. During the term of Mr. Van Buren as President he was considered
+to voice the administration in his public utterances. He served
+faithfully and intelligently upon some of the most important committees.
+He resigned to take the office of Governor, which office he held in 1845
+and 1846, and was defeated for re-election by John Young in November,
+1846. Mr. Wright continued the careful and conservative policy of his
+predecessor as to expenditures. He took strong ground against the
+numerous and extensive raids on the treasury which were then organized.
+His reports were always plain, business-like papers, which set out in
+intelligible language the consequences of the rapidly-increasing
+expenses. Mr. Wright in many ways was a remarkable man. The public
+positions which he held were varied, and it was a great test of his
+adaptability to be able to fill the duties of these various positions
+with much more than ordinary success. In 1831 the financial law of the
+State was revised, and the provisions relating to the powers and duties
+of the Comptroller were codified and arranged.
+
+[Illustration: W. Hunt (signature)
+
+_12th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Upon his election as United States Senator Mr. Wright resigned and was
+succeeded by Azariah C. Flagg, of Plattsburgh, a lawyer and a Regency
+Democrat, who was elected on January 11, 1834. He had been a Member of
+Assembly from Clinton county in 1823 and 1824, and held the office of
+Secretary of State from 1826 to 1833. He had run counter to public
+opinion in 1823 as the leader of the Assembly opposition to the
+Electoral law--a law designed to give to the people directly the power
+of chosing the presidential electors, instead of leaving that power
+vested in the Legislature, as had been the law theretofore. The Albany
+Regency had determined to prevent any change, and succeeded in warding
+off legislative action. The measure, however, met the cordial approval
+of the people, and that fact, together with the removal of Governor
+Clinton as Canal Commissioner--a position in which his uncompensated
+services had been of the greatest value--swept Clinton, whose political
+fortunes then seemed at their lowest ebb, triumphantly into the
+gubernatorial chair. But it was a principle of the Albany Regency, and
+of Martin Van Buren, then at its head, never to forget a man who had
+fallen or suffered in their service; and it was in reward for Mr.
+Flagg's unpopular opposition to the Electoral bill that in 1826 he was
+chosen Secretary of State. Mr. Flagg has the distinction of having
+served longer as Comptroller than any other incumbent of the office,
+with the exception of Archibald McIntyre. He held the office from
+January 11, 1834, to February 4, 1839, and again from February 7, 1842,
+to November 7, 1847. During his first term he was a member of the
+commission for the erection of the State Hall, and that building still
+stands as a monument to the Commission's good judgment in architecture,
+and in the adaptation of means to an end. Upon the completion of the
+State Hall the old State Hall, corner of Lodge and State streets, was
+sold by the Commission. By chapters 2 and 150 of the Laws of 1837 the
+Comptroller was made the custodian of moneys received from the United
+States, since known as the United States Deposit Fund. Theoretically
+this money was not given to the several States, but was to be subject to
+repayment whenever called for. The National Government will hardly, at
+this late day, call for these moneys. If it did not feel compelled to do
+so in the trying financial straits of the war it is not likely that it
+will do so in times of peace. But these moneys have always been kept as
+a separate fund, substantially as required by the act of 1837, and the
+principal, through all changes of, and losses from, investment, has been
+kept intact.
+
+[Illustration: P C Fuller (signature)
+
+_13th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+By chapter 260 of the Laws of 1838 the Comptroller, to guard against
+counterfeiting, was authorized and required to have engraved and printed
+in the best manner, circulating notes to be issued to the incorporated
+banks of the State, and to countersign the same; and a system was
+inaugurated for the deposit of securities in the Comptroller's office
+which should be a guaranty for the notes issued by the banks--a system
+very similar to that later adopted by the United States for National
+banks. One feature which would be regarded as a most unwise one to-day
+formed a part of this plan; the banks were authorized to deposit
+one-half the security in bonds and mortgages. The bill also provided
+that banking associations should file with the Comptroller a semi-annual
+report of the transactions of the bank. This was practically the
+inauguration of the supervision of the banks, which was later
+transferred to the Banking Department. The Legislature had, in 1829, at
+the time of the creation of the safety fund, authorized the appointment
+of three Bank Commissioners, whose duty it was to visit the banks,
+examine their condition, and report to the Legislature. The office of
+Bank Commissioner was abolished in 1843, and the power of supervision
+possessed by them was then transferred to the Comptroller, and he
+continued to retain that power until 1851, when the Banking Department
+was created. It was during Mr. Flagg's first term that the great
+financial panic of 1837 took place, and the State's financial condition
+at that time was not all that might be desired. There was a large debt,
+mostly incurred in the construction of canals. The revenues had very
+much decreased, and a new way of raising funds must be used to meet the
+liabilities of the State and maintain her credit. Matters financial in
+the State went from bad to worse. In 1842, after long debate, the
+Legislature passed an act authorizing the laying of a tax of one mill
+upon every dollar of real and personal property in the State, and
+pledging the revenues of the State for the payment of its liabilities,
+and suspending all public work, except where great loss would come to
+the State by such suspension. In this manner the credit of the State was
+made secure and its obligations met. This act was prepared and advocated
+by Mr. Flagg. The significance of this legislation is found largely
+in the fact that from 1826 to 1842 no State tax for general purposes had
+been required.
+
+[Illustration: J. C. Wright (signature)
+
+_14th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+The long lease of power which the Democrats had held in this State was
+broken in the fall of 1838 by the combined efforts of the Whigs and
+Anti-Masons, and, accordingly, on the 4th of January, 1839, Mr. Flagg
+was removed, and Bates Cook, of Lewiston, a lawyer and an Anti-Mason was
+chosen by the Legislature in his place. Mr. Cook's only previous
+official service of note had been as Member of the Twenty-second
+Congress. His appointment was largely due to the influence and
+representations of William H. Seward, then the Governor, and Thurlow
+Weed. He had been associated with these gentlemen in the prosecution of
+the abductors of William Morgan, and, like Mr. Seward and Mr. Fillmore,
+received his political start from Anti-Masonic influence. Mr. Cook soon
+had an opportunity to show Mr. Weed his appreciation of the favor done
+him. Chapter 1 of the Laws of 1840 authorized the Comptroller and
+Secretary of State to enter into a contract with Thurlow Weed to do the
+printing for the Legislature, executive offices and various boards, at
+prices not exceeding ordinary prices in Albany.
+
+This seems to have been the first time these officers were intrusted
+with this responsibility, and it was not until 1846 that the general
+power was definitely conferred upon them. Subsequent legislation has
+added to the printing board then created the Attorney-General, so far as
+legislative printing is concerned; but as to department printing, the
+Secretary of State and the Comptroller are still clothed with the
+authority of letting the contract.
+
+By chapter 295 of the Laws of 1840 the Comptroller was assigned quarters
+in the State Hall, together with the other State officers, and that
+building was made the headquarters of the Canal Board, and there both
+still remain, although the Comptroller, from time to time, as the needs
+have compelled, has taken to himself more rooms, so that his offices
+now occupy the entire first floor of the building.
+
+[Illustration: J M Cook (signature)
+
+_15th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+On January 27, 1841, the Legislature elected John A. Collier, of
+Binghamton, a leading lawyer and an Anti-Mason, to succeed Bates Cook.
+He had previously served as District Attorney of Broome county from June
+11, 1818, to February 22, 1822, and had served his district in the
+Twenty-second Congress. After his retirement from the office of
+Comptroller he was appointed, with Chancellor Walworth, to codify the
+laws, but declined to serve. This was a high tribute to his ability.
+
+During 1841 the Comptroller's office was examined by a legislative
+committee, to ascertain if warrants had been drawn in conformity with
+the law, and the funds properly disbursed. The office was found able to
+stand the fire of a rigid investigation.
+
+Mr. Collier had been a Federalist and a Clintonian, but it was as an
+Anti-Mason that he was elected both to Congress and as Comptroller. He,
+too, was largely indebted for his appointment as Comptroller to the
+potent influence of Thurlow Weed. The administration was a short but
+efficient one, and Mr. Collier proved himself through life an able and
+discreet man.
+
+The Legislature, which for several years had been Whig, in 1842 became
+Democratic, so that by concurrent resolution, on February seventh they
+were enabled to remove John A. Collier and re-appoint Azariah C. Flagg.
+During his second term Mr. Flagg performed the multiplying duties of the
+office with his usual fidelity, and to the satisfaction of the people of
+the State. There seems to have been no important enlargement of the
+duties of the office during this period. By various statutes, passed
+prior to the Constitution of 1846, the State had loaned its credit to a
+number of corporations, mostly railroad, until, in 1845, the State debt
+thus incurred, called the "contingent debt," amounted to $5,235,700.
+Provision was made for a sinking fund, and the management of this fund
+was placed with the Comptroller. Corporations have no souls, and,
+consequently, we find that of the credit thus loaned the State lost
+$3,665,700. From the additions to and accumulations of the sinking fund,
+the last of the contingent debt was extinguished in 1877.
+
+[Illustration: L. Burrows (signature)
+
+_16th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+By chapter 350 of the Laws of 1847, passed during his term, the
+Comptroller was required to make a report of the fiscal year before the
+close of the calendar year, and to present the same to the Legislature
+shortly after the commencement of its session.
+
+But at this point a new method of chosing a Comptroller was introduced
+in the organic law. Section 1 of article 5 of the Constitution of 1846
+provides that "The Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer and
+Attorney-General shall be chosen at a general election, and shall hold
+their offices for two years." The constitutional provision was
+supplemented by chapter 240 of the Laws of 1846. The first man elected
+by the people to the office was Millard Fillmore, of Buffalo, an able
+lawyer and a Whig. He had been a Member of Assembly from Buffalo in
+1829, 1830 and 1831, and a Member from his district to the Twenty-third,
+Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses. During his
+term as Comptroller he was nominated and elected Vice-President on the
+ticket with Zachary Taylor, and upon the latter's death, on July 9,
+1850, he succeeded to the Presidency. As President he is, perhaps, more
+distinguished as the signer of the "Fugitive Slave Law" than for any
+other one thing. He was elected Comptroller and Vice-President as a
+Whig, but by the signing of that obnoxious measure he alienated very
+many of his old Whig associates. He was, however, a clean, able man. In
+politics he was thought by many to have been a favorite of fortune. Some
+one of his acquaintances is said to have remarked, at the time of his
+election as Vice-President, that he felt sorry for General Taylor,
+because the General never could live out his term against Fillmore's
+luck. Mr. Fillmore resigned the office of Comptroller on the 17th of
+February, 1849, to assume the duties of Vice-President.
+
+The Legislature appointed Washington Hunt, a lawyer of prominence and a
+Whig, of Lockport, to succeed him. Mr. Hunt had been County Judge of
+Niagara county from 1836 to 1841, and had been a member of the
+Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses. He was nominated
+and elected Comptroller in the fall of 1849. In 1850 he was elected
+Governor over Horatio Seymour, but in 1852 he was in turn defeated in
+his run for the second term by Seymour. He made an excellent record as
+Governor during the years 1851 and 1852. It was upon Mr. Hunt's
+recommendation that the duties of supervising and superintending the
+banking business of the State was transferred to the Banking Department,
+specially created for the purpose. He felt that a greater burden of
+responsibility was being imposed upon the office of Comptroller than
+could be satisfactorily sustained. This is one of the rare
+illustrations of a desire to surrender power. But what relief was gained
+by the transfer of the supervision of the banks was replaced by the duty
+which was imposed of superintending the business of insurance in this
+State.
+
+All insurance companies, prior to 1846, had been incorporated by special
+acts, but the Constitution of that year prohibited the creation of such
+corporations, except under general laws. In 1849 the Legislature passed
+a general law for the incorporation of insurance companies. By the terms
+of the act the duty of organizing and regulating insurance companies in
+this State, both domestic and foreign, was conferred upon the
+Comptroller. This was the first State supervision of insurance. The duty
+remained with the Comptroller until January 1, 1860, when the act
+creating the Department of Insurance went into effect.
+
+The Comptroller's office feels proud of its two healthy and useful
+children--the Banking Department and the Insurance Department, which
+have been efficiently serving the State and protecting the interests
+of its citizens for many years, and it ventures to believe that the
+early tuition that they received from the parent department helped to
+form their habits and prepare them for their career.
+
+[Illustration: S E Church (signature)
+
+_17th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Mr. Hunt resigned the Comptrollership December 18, 1850, two weeks
+before he was to enter upon his duties as Governor, and Philo C. Fuller,
+a Whig, of Geneseo, was appointed in his place. Mr. Fuller had, in early
+life, been a clerk in the land office of Mr. James Wadsworth. Thurlow
+Weed met him at that time and recognized in him abilities of a high
+order. It was probably at Mr. Weed's suggestion that he first entered
+public life; it was certainly upon Mr. Weed's recommendation that he was
+appointed Comptroller. It was one of the great secrets of Thurlow Weed's
+long retention of political power that whenever he saw capability he
+sought, and, to use a ranchman's expression, "corralled it." Mr. Fuller
+was Member of Assembly from Livingston county in 1829 and 1830, State
+Senator in 1831 and 1832, and Member of the Twenty-third and
+Twenty-fourth Congresses. Later he moved to Michigan, and, being elected
+to the Legislature, he was chosen Speaker. He was appointed Assistant
+Postmaster-General in the Harrison administration, but, being unwilling
+to follow President Tyler into the Democratic camp, he resigned, and
+returned to New York. He performed the duties of his office of
+Comptroller with ability, although doubt of his capacity was felt at the
+time of his appointment.
+
+For the forty years from 1840 to 1880 the Comptroller's office was one
+of difficulty. During the first half of that period there was seldom a
+year when the expenditures did not exceed the appropriations, and when
+the Comptroller was not obliged to report a deficit at the end of the
+year. There was also during that same period a rapidly-increasing canal
+debt, and the Comptroller was in duty bound to find a market for bonds
+and the means to meet the interest when it became due. In the latter
+half of this period it was the Comptroller's duty to see that the
+means were at hand to pay the principal of this and other bonded debts,
+and the increased expenditures caused by the war.
+
+[Illustration: Robert Denniston (signature)
+
+_18th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Mr. Fuller was succeeded January 1, 1852, by John C. Wright, a Democrat
+and lawyer, of Schenectady. He had been County Judge of Schoharie county
+from 1833 to 1838, and State Senator from the third district in 1843,
+1844, 1845 and 1846. He was an opponent of the Albany Regency during his
+senatorial career. He was a ready debater but of impulsive temper, and
+at one time engaged in a personal rencounter with Colonel Young on the
+floor of the Senate chamber. His administration was unmarked by any
+peculiar enlargement of the official power, or by distinguished
+executive ability. That things run so smoothly that no attention is
+attracted is oftentimes strong evidence of a successful working
+machinery. By an act of the Legislature of 1851 the Comptroller was
+authorized to borrow three millions per year for three years for the
+completion of the canal enlargement.
+
+Mr. Wright served one term, and was succeeded, January 1, 1854, by James
+M. Cook, a lawyer and a Whig, of Ballston. Mr. Cook was a member of the
+Constitutional Convention of 1846, Senator from the thirteenth district
+for 1848, 1849, 1850 and 1851, and from the fifteenth district in 1864
+and 1865. He served as State Treasurer during the years 1852 and 1853,
+and was Bank Superintendent from January 30, 1856, to January 11, 1861.
+He was thus continuously in the service of the State from 1848 to 1861,
+a period of thirteen years. In 1854 the Comptroller was authorized to
+appoint three commissioners to investigate the State prisons and report
+on their financial condition, and also upon such laws as they deemed
+proper for their better regulation. Under this abuses were corrected,
+and the Comptroller was given closer supervision of the prisons.
+
+For a short time in 1858 the Whig leaders had under favorable
+consideration the nomination of Mr. Cook for Governor, but
+circumstances forced a change, and E. D. Morgan was nominated and
+elected.
+
+[Illustration: L. Robinson (signature)
+
+_19th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+On January 1, 1856, Lorenzo Burrows, a banker and an "American" or "Know
+Nothing," of Albion, became Comptroller. He had been a member of the
+Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses. He later served as Regent of
+the University by appointment made February 17, 1858, and in November,
+1858, was one of the candidates of the "American party" for Governor
+against E. D. Morgan. To the time of his death, many years afterward, he
+never failed to make at least one visit yearly to the Comptroller's
+office, and always maintained a lively interest in its affairs.
+
+After one term of service Mr. Burrows was succeeded by Sanford E.
+Church, a lawyer and a Democrat, also of Albion. Mr. Church had been a
+Member of Assembly from Orleans county in 1842; District Attorney of the
+same county from 1846 to 1850; Lieutenant-Governor from 1850 to 1854.
+He ran for re-election as Comptroller in 1859 and was defeated, and
+again in 1863 and was also defeated. He was elected one of the
+Delegates-at-Large to the Constitutional Convention in 1867, and was
+Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals from May, 1870, to May 20, 1880,
+when he died. In all these various positions Mr. Church showed a broad,
+liberal spirit, and great mental force. His reports as Comptroller are
+valuable State papers, expressed in clear, strong and forcible language.
+It is sufficient to say of Judge Church, that, as Comptroller, he
+brought the same care, attention and strong mental grasp to his duties
+that afterward won for him eminence and fame as Chief Judge of our
+highest court.
+
+Robert Denniston, a gentleman farmer and Republican, of Salisbury's
+Mills, became Comptroller January 1, 1860, having been elected at the
+November election of 1859 over Sanford E. Church. He had been
+Assemblyman from Orange county in 1845, and Senator from the second
+district in 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846 and 1847, and had been an
+unsuccessful candidate against Mr. Church for the office of Comptroller
+in November, 1857. He was thus Comptroller in the first year of the war,
+at the inauguration of high taxes and the large expenditures of that
+period. His administration was wise and conservative.
+
+On January 1, 1862, Lucius Robinson, an able lawyer of Elmira, assumed
+the duties of the office. Mr. Robinson was a Democrat, but at the
+breaking out of the war he was strongly for the Union cause, and it was
+on the Union ticket that he was elected Comptroller, and he was
+re-elected on the same ticket in 1863. At the close of the war, he
+resumed his place in the Democratic party, from which he had never been
+fully estranged. He ran as a Democrat against Thomas Hillhouse, in 1865,
+and was beaten. He had been District Attorney of Greene county from 1837
+to 1839, and Member of Assembly from Chemung county in 1860 and 1861. He
+was re-elected Comptroller in November, 1863, and again in November,
+1875. He was a member of the Constitutional Commission of 1872, Governor
+of this State for the years 1877, 1878 and 1879, and defeated for
+re-election in November, 1879, by Alonzo B. Cornell. He was Comptroller
+during the dark days of our Civil War. At no period, however, of its
+history was the work of the office more carefully managed. For the six
+years from 1860 to 1866, the canal and general fund debts were reduced
+$8,000,000. In the four years of the war, the State expenditures for
+arms, bounties, clothing, equipments and various military purposes were
+upwards of $20,000,000. To meet these large and abnormal expenses,
+required of the Comptroller resourceful ability. When specie was at a
+high premium in 1863 and 1864, Mr. Robinson earnestly recommended the
+payment of the State's bonded debt, both principal and interest, in
+specie. The Legislature, however, disregarded the recommendation. There
+was precedent in the office for such a course. Comptroller Flagg, upon
+the suspension of specie payment in 1837, made good the difference
+between the depreciated currency and coin. Comptroller Allen followed
+the lead of Mr. Robinson, and urged the payment of these debts in coin.
+This was not done, however, until 1870, when the State went into the
+open market and bought coin to pay the interest on its bonds, and
+continued this policy until the resumption of specie payment in 1879.
+This course, however, was not pursued with reference to the bounty debt.
+In 1865, against the advice and almost protest of the Comptroller, the
+Legislature assumed the bounty debt of the various counties of the
+State, and for that purpose it became necessary for the State to issue
+its bonds to the amount of $27,644,000. The act authorizing the creation
+of the debt provided for a sinking fund, and the managing of this fund
+and the issuing of the bonds was given to the Comptroller. This debt was
+extinguished year by year until it disappeared from the Comptroller's
+books in 1877. It was during Mr. Robinson's term, in 1863, that $66,000
+were appropriated to purchase the lands adjoining the then Capitol, and
+bounded by State, Hawk and Congress streets. This was probably the
+first money expended on "That lofty pile where senates dictate laws."
+
+[Illustration: Tho Hillhouse (signature)
+
+_20th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+In 1862, the Legislature placed an item in the appropriation bill which
+still remains law. It provides that the Comptroller shall not draw his
+warrant, except for salaries and regular expenses, until the person
+entitled to the money shall present a detailed account, verified by
+affidavit as to services; and if for traveling expenses, a detailed
+account specifying the distance and places from and to which, and
+receipted vouchers for all disbursements. By chapter 419 of the Laws of
+1864, the officers of all hospitals, orphan asylums, benevolent
+associations, educational and charitable institutions were required to
+report to the Comptroller their financial condition, with their receipts
+and disbursements. The Comptroller was, by concurrent resolution of the
+Legislature, the same year appointed, with the Governor and the
+Secretary of State, to take action properly to receive the returning
+veterans, and for the health of the recruits. Mr. Robinson was a man of
+great executive force, strict honesty, and with the courage of his
+convictions.
+
+He was succeeded by Thomas Hillhouse on the 1st of January, 1866, Mr.
+Hillhouse having been elected in November, 1865. He was a gentleman
+farmer and a Republican from Geneva, and had been Senator from the
+twenty-sixth district in 1860 and 1861, and Adjutant-General of the
+State from August 19, 1861, to January 1, 1863. He still survives as the
+honored president of the Metropolitan Trust Company, of New York.
+Thurlow Weed in his autobiography says: "For my direct responsibility in
+the selection of Bates Cook, John A. Collier, Millard Fillmore,
+Washington Hunt, Philo C. Fuller, James M. Cook, Robert Denniston and
+Thomas Hillhouse, I look back with pardonable pride, for in few ways
+could better service have been rendered to the State and people." Mr.
+Hillhouse certainly deserved the confidence reposed in him. He was
+careful, conservative and able.
+
+On January 1, 1868, Mr. Hillhouse gave way to William F. Allen, a
+distinguished lawyer and a Democrat, of Oswego. Mr. Allen served as
+Member of Assembly from Oswego in 1843 and 1844, and was appointed
+United States District Attorney in 1845, and was appointed Judge of the
+Supreme Court in the fifth district in 1847, and elected to the same
+position in the fall election of 1855. He was re-elected Comptroller in
+November, 1869, but resigned June 14, 1870, to accept an appointment as
+Judge of the Court of Appeals. This latter place he held with great
+distinction until his death, in June, 1878. In 1864 he was the slated
+Democratic candidate for Governor. Horatio Seymour was then Governor,
+and Mr. Allen's friends at least understood that Mr. Seymour wished a
+renomination as a compliment, but would decline. To their consternation,
+however, Mr. Seymour came before the convention, thanked its members for
+the honor done him, and accepted. It was during Mr. Allen's
+administration that the Comptroller was authorized to appoint an
+agent to examine into the reports submitted to him by the various
+charitable institutions. By chapter 281 of the Laws of 1870, the
+Comptroller was made, _ex-officio_, a member of the State Commission of
+Public Charities. Judge Allen was distinguished by talents of the
+highest order, and his long public career was a useful one to the State.
+
+[Illustration: W F Allen (signature)
+
+_21st COMPTROLLER_]
+
+It is an interesting political fact that in the campaign of 1869 Judge
+Allen had as his opponent in the run for Comptroller Horace Greeley. Mr.
+Greeley's election was earnestly opposed by many of the leading
+Republicans of the State. A letter of Thurlow Weed was made public, in
+which he appealed very strongly to the people of the State to vote
+against Mr. Greeley. He based his opposition quite largely upon the fact
+that Mr. Greeley's time would have to be divided between his editorial
+duties in New York and the Comptroller's office in Albany. He then went
+on to say: "The office of Comptroller is most laborious and responsible.
+I have known its incumbents for considerably more than half a century.
+Among them were Archibald McIntyre, John Savage, William L. Marcy, Silas
+Wright, Jr., Azariah C. Flagg, John A. Collier, Washington Hunt, Philo
+A. Fuller, James M. Cook, Thos. Hillhouse and others, distinguished for
+ability and industry, not one of whom have attempted to attend to any
+other business, and all of whom found constant and full occupation,
+physical and mental, in the discharge of their public duties. Without
+regard to other reasons for withholding my vote from Mr. Greeley, I
+consider those which I have stated sufficient. In his opponent, William
+F. Allen, I found a capable and enlightened man, with some experience,
+much industry and peculiar fitness for the duties of the office. I have
+known him first, as an able and useful member of our Legislature, and
+next as an eminently upright judge."
+
+Upon the resignation of Judge Allen, Asher P. Nichols, a lawyer and
+Democrat, of Buffalo, was appointed, and, in the fall of the same
+year, 1870, he was elected to fill the unexpired term. He had been
+previously a State Senator from the thirty-first district in 1868 and
+1869. He ran for the office of Comptroller in 1871 and again in 1873,
+and was defeated both times by Nelson K. Hopkins. Mr. Nichols was a man
+of ability, who commanded the highest respect of those who knew him. He
+was distinguished somewhat for an old-time formal courtesy of manner. It
+is fair to Mr. Nichols to say that the deficiency in the treasury which
+Mr. Hopkins found upon his advent was not due to him, or to lack of
+recommendations on his part, but rather to the attempt of the Tweed
+_regime_ in the Legislature to make a tax rate that would continue them
+in power. "Among the faithless, faithful only he."
+
+[Illustration: A. P. Nichols (signature)
+
+_22d COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Mr. Hopkins was a lawyer and a Republican from Buffalo, and he entered
+upon the discharge of the duties of the office on January 1, 1872, and
+continued therein for four years. This was the beginning and the end of
+his career in State politics, but in those four years he left a record
+of splendid and faithful work. He found upon his entry into office that
+there had been for several years a growing deficiency in the general
+fund. In 1869 the excess of appropriations over receipts was
+$1,493,181.28; in 1870, $2,355,927.40; in 1871, $2,748,595.56; in 1872,
+$1,785,762.97; in 1873, $254,253.53; making for the five years an
+aggregate deficiency of $8,637,720.74.
+
+The money to the extent of this deficiency had been supplied to the
+treasury by using the moneys from the bounty debt sinking fund. Heroic
+treatment was necessary, so disregarding political effect Mr. Hopkins
+advocated and secured the adoption of the highest tax rate in the
+history of the State, to wit, nine and three-eighths mills on the
+dollar, and three and one-half mills of this amount went to make up the
+deficiency. In this way the bounty debt sinking fund was again made
+good. In 1873 the Comptroller was given power to examine into the
+affairs of the prisons, with the power of a court of record to
+subpoena witnesses, etc., and the same year he was authorized in person,
+or by agent, to visit the various State institutions and examine their
+books, papers and vouchers, both of which powers are still inherent in
+the Comptroller's office. The same year he was authorized to set aside
+cancellations of tax titles made by him whenever it appeared that fraud,
+misrepresentation or the suppression of a fact, or a mistake of fact,
+had induced the cancellation. This power, with slight modification,
+still remains.
+
+[Illustration: N K Hopkins (signature)
+
+_23d COMPTROLLER_]
+
+During Mr. Hopkins' four years of service the bounty debt was reduced
+$14,401,700, and he was able to congratulate the Legislature and the
+people of the State at the close of his term on the prospect of a
+substantial reduction of tax.
+
+On the 1st of January, 1876, Lucius Robinson again assumed the office of
+Comptroller, which he held one year. He had defeated in the election the
+November preceding Francis E. Spinner, whose services and signature are
+so well known as to make comment unnecessary. His second administration
+of the office was distinguished by the same care-taking ability which
+was manifest in the first. The reduction of the bounty debt and other
+indebtedness of the State continued. He was elected Governor in 1876.
+
+The first official act of Governor Robinson was the appointment of
+Frederic P. Olcott, of Albany, as Comptroller. It is a matter of secret
+political history that Governor Tilden had desired to appoint Daniel
+Magone to the office, and that for that reason Mr. Robinson would not
+resign until it was too late for Governor Tilden to act. But he had to
+act promptly, because, if no appointment were made before the
+Legislature convened, the power to fill the vacancy would then be in
+that body. Governor Robinson improved the fleeting moment. Mr. Olcott,
+as the head of the firm of F. P. Olcott & Co., had been the State's
+agent in transactions relating to the bounty debt, and, to Mr.
+Robinson's mind, he had exhibited abilities which would make of him a
+valuable Comptroller. That the Governor was not mistaken, Mr. Olcott's
+career, both as Comptroller, and since his retirement from that office,
+as president of the Central Trust Company, abundantly proves. He served
+out Mr. Robinson's unexpired term, and was elected in November, 1877,
+over C. V. R. Ludington, but was defeated for re-election in 1879 by
+James W. Wadsworth. This was the only political office which he ever
+held. Early in his term his attention was attracted to the abnormal
+quantities of soft soap which one of the small State charitable
+institutions was using, and he became satisfied that "soft soap," like
+Pickwick's "warming pan," was a cover for something hidden. Among the
+vouchers for May and June, 1875, were vouchers for seventy-eight barrels
+of soft soap at a cost of $350, which, at the same rate, would make an
+aggregate of $2,100 per year. The aggregate expenditure for soft soap
+for the institution during the six years ending June 30, 1876, had been
+$3,963.60. An investigation was instituted at the Comptroller's request
+by the State Board of Charities, and it was found that "soft soap" in
+that instance meant the laying out of roads and beautifying grounds to
+an extent that the Comptroller's office would not have paid. The
+designing institution learned to its surprise that the Comptroller could
+not stand too much "soft soap." These revelations led the Comptroller to
+ask the Legislature for power to investigate thoroughly all the
+charitable institutions. This work was ably done by Edgar K. Apgar, who
+made an admirable report, and this report was the means of establishing
+a more thorough and systematic supervision of these institutions by the
+Comptroller's department. In his report, transmitted to the Legislature
+on the 1st of January, 1878, Mr. Olcott said: "Each of these
+institutions is now separate and distinct from its fellows, and each is
+governed by a local board of trustees. It is evident, therefore, that
+there is no general system governing all, but each is a law unto itself.
+There is no department of government which exercises any supervision
+over their affairs or that has more than a superficial knowledge of the
+manner in which they are conducted. * * * I would recommend for your
+consideration the policy of abolishing all local boards of trustees and
+the erection of a system by which the different institutions shall be
+managed by one controlling power. As it is, the responsibility for
+losses and expensive management is not centred in any one."
+
+[Illustration: F P Olcott (signature)
+
+_24th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+[Illustration: James Wadsworth (signature)
+
+_25th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+On the 2d of May, 1878 (the good faith of Olcott's work in handling the
+bounty bonds having been called in question), he sent a communication to
+the Legislature which more than proved the faithful and able manner in
+which he had performed his duties in respect to these bonds. The report
+was called out by a resolution of the Senate. Some strongly partisan
+members believed that they could unearth thereby, if not crookedness, at
+least large compensation for services performed. The attempt failed
+signally. Mr. Olcott's administration of the office ranks with the
+ablest.
+
+James W. Wadsworth, a gentleman farmer and Republican, from Geneseo,
+became Comptroller January, 1, 1880, and was one of the youngest men who
+have held the office. He had as a boy served with his father, the
+gallant and lamented General James S. Wadsworth in the Civil War. He was
+Member of Assembly from Livingston county in 1878 and 1879, and was
+distinguished in the latter year as the only Republican in the
+Legislature who would not vote for the return of Roscoe Conkling to the
+United States Senate, and that, too, notwithstanding the fact that Mr.
+Conkling had been duly nominated by a Republican caucus. Mr. Conkling
+and he afterwards forgot differences and became quite warmly attached.
+He ran again for Comptroller in 1885 but was defeated. He has faithfully
+represented a discriminating constituency in the Forty-seventh,
+Forty-eighth, Fifty-second, Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, and
+has been re-elected to the Fifty-fifth. Mr. Wadsworth took great
+interest in the affairs of the office during his term, and his sterling
+integrity and good judgment made him a most excellent officer. In 1880,
+by chapter 100, the Comptroller was authorized to issue bonds in
+anticipation of the State tax, payable on or before the fifteenth day of
+May following, such bonds not to exceed in amount one-half of such tax.
+It was necessary for Mr. Wadsworth to inaugurate the system of
+collecting taxes on corporations. The original bill for that purpose was
+passed in 1880. It has been amended from time to time, but the whole
+duty of enforcing it has remained in the Comptroller. The number of
+corporations taxed in 1881 was 954, and the amount collected
+$1,539,864.27; the number in 1886 was 1,249, and the amount collected
+$1,239,864.16. In 1892 there were 1,780 corporations paying, and the
+amount collected was $1,430,719.86. In 1896 the number of corporations
+was 4,401, and the amount collected was $2,165,610.12. The amount of
+capital represented by these 4,401 corporations is believed to be fully
+$766,000,000.
+
+Mr. Wadsworth gave place on January 1, 1882, to Ira Davenport, a
+capitalist and a Republican of Bath. Mr. Davenport had represented the
+twenty-seventh district in the State Senate in 1878, 1879, 1880 and
+1881, and was elected Comptroller over G. H. Lapham. He was defeated for
+re-election as Comptroller by Alfred C. Chapin, November 6, 1883. In
+1885, he received the Republican nomination for Governor, but was
+defeated by David B. Hill. He was a member of the Forty-ninth and
+Fiftieth Congresses. On March 1, 1883, the duty of auditing the canal
+accounts, after having been performed for thirty-five years by a
+separate officer--the Canal Auditor--was placed in the Comptroller's
+office, where it still remains. The confidence which the Republican
+party had shown in Comptroller Davenport was not misplaced. He was a man
+of high character and attainments, and performed the duties of the
+office of Comptroller with success.
+
+[Illustration: M Davenport (signature)
+
+_26th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+Alfred C. Chapin, a lawyer and a Democrat, of Brooklyn, entered upon the
+discharge of his duties January 1, 1884. He was Member of Assembly from
+the eleventh Kings county district in 1882 and 1883, and in the latter
+year was chosen Speaker of that body. He was re-elected Comptroller in
+1885 over Mr. Wadsworth. He has, since his service as Comptroller,
+served four years as Mayor of Brooklyn, from January 1, 1888, to January
+1, 1892, and is now about ending a term as State Railroad Commissioner.
+In 1891, he was a prominent candidate for Governor before the Democratic
+convention, but was beaten by Roswell P. Flower. Mr. Chapin is an
+educated and cultivated gentleman, and as Comptroller was not afraid to
+run counter to established ideas. He strongly recommended, in a special
+message to the Legislature in 1885, and subsequently in his annual
+reports, the abolition of the common school fund, and its transfer to
+the treasury. By chapter 483 of the Laws of 1885, the Legislature laid a
+tax of five per cent upon collateral inheritances. This inaugurated a
+system of taxing transfers at death, which has come now to yield
+annually about $2,000,000. The Comptroller was largely intrusted with
+the duties of enforcing this law. It was amended in 1891 by making a tax
+of one per cent upon all direct inheritances. In 1886, the Comptroller
+was authorized to approve the bonds of banks designated as depositories
+of the funds of State institutions. The same year, the Comptroller was
+directed to make assessments on the various companies liable therefor to
+meet the expenses of the Subway Commissions in the cities of New York
+and Brooklyn--a duty which still rests on the office. In 1887, he was
+authorized to sell or exchange detached lands in certain counties of the
+Forest Preserve, upon the recommendation of the Forest Commission and
+the Attorney-General, the purpose being to consolidate the State's
+holding of lands in the Adirondack Park. The same year a tax was laid on
+racing associations for the benefit of agricultural societies to
+improve the breed of horses, etc., and the collection of this tax has
+since remained a part of the duty of the Comptroller, notwithstanding
+the various vicissitudes through which racing and pool bills have
+passed.
+
+At the November election, in 1887, Edward Wemple was elected Comptroller
+over Jesse S. L'Amoreaux. Mr. Wemple was a manufacturer and Democrat,
+residing at Fultonville. He was a Member of Assembly from Montgomery
+county in 1877 and 1878, and a Member of the Forty-eighth Congress, but
+was defeated for re-election to that office by George West. He served in
+the State Senate from the eighteenth district in 1886 and 1887. He was
+re-elected Comptroller in 1889 over Martin W. Cooke.
+
+In 1888 the Legislature passed an act requiring the agent and warden of
+each of the State prisons to file with the Comptroller a bond, approved
+by the Superintendent of State Prisons and Comptroller, in a penalty of
+not less than $50,000, to be fixed by the Comptroller. The same year
+the Legislature declared that the Board of Claims should have no
+jurisdiction over private claims required to be presented to the
+Comptroller for audit, until after his action on the claim. It further
+required all public officials and other persons receiving or disbursing
+moneys of the people of the State to deposit the same in some solvent
+bank or banking institution, to be designated by the Comptroller, and
+that every bank receiving such moneys should execute a bond to the
+people, to be filed with and approved by the Comptroller. By chapter 586
+of the Laws of the same year the Comptroller, the Superintendent of
+State Prisons, and the President of the State Board of Charities, were
+constituted a board to fix the prices of all goods manufactured in the
+penal institutions of the State for the use of other State institutions.
+All these provisions of law are still in force, except that the board to
+fix prices has been changed by the addition of the State Prison
+Commission and Lunacy Commission, and by omitting the President of
+the State Board of Charities. In 1889 the right of the Comptroller to
+supervise the financial affairs of the prisons was enlarged, and the
+agent and warden required to make monthly reports of receipts and
+expenditures to him. He was also allowed to revise and readjust the
+accounts theretofore settled under the Corporation Tax Law. In 1890 he
+was made a member of the "Board for the Establishment of State Insane
+Asylum Districts and other purposes," together with the State Commission
+in Lunacy and President of the State Board of Charities. In 1891 an act
+was passed requiring all institutions receiving moneys from the State
+treasury for maintenance, in full or in part, to deposit their funds in
+some responsible bank or banking house, to be designated by the
+Comptroller. He was also authorized to appoint commissioners to hear
+evidence and take proofs on applications for cancellation of title or
+redemption of lands.
+
+[Illustration: Alfred C. Chapin (signature)
+
+_27th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+On January 1, 1892, Frank Campbell, a banker and Democrat, of Bath,
+became Comptroller. He had been chosen in the previous election over
+Arthur C. Wade. He had held no office previous to that time. He served
+one term, ran for re-election in 1893 and was defeated. He has held no
+office since. By chapter 651 of the Laws of 1892 the supervision of the
+funds deposited in court was transferred from the General Term of the
+Supreme Court to the Comptroller, and this work the Comptroller's office
+has since performed; and by chapter 681 of the Laws of the same year he
+was required to approve all official undertakings.
+
+In 1892 the authority was given to the Comptroller to license common
+carriers. He was relieved from this duty by the new Excise Law of 1896.
+By chapter 248 of the Laws of 1893 he, with the Secretary of State and
+Treasurer, was directed, before the first day of January of each year,
+to designate the State paper. The largest amount thus far collected in
+any one year under the Inheritance Tax Law was $3,071,687.09, in 1893,
+during Mr. Campbell's term. The amount collected under the
+Corporation Tax Law was increased during his term.
+
+[Illustration: Edward Wemple (signature)
+
+_28th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+On January 1, 1894, James A. Roberts, a lawyer and Republican, of
+Buffalo, became Comptroller. He had served as Member of Assembly from
+the third district of Erie county in 1879, and from the fourth district
+of the same county in 1880. He was unanimously renominated from the
+fourth district in 1891, but declined. He was re-elected Comptroller in
+1895 over John B. Judson. In 1894 the Comptroller was given power to
+appoint appraisers in cases of tuberculosis and glanders. In the same
+year the chancery fund, so called, which had been managed by the Clerk
+of the Court of Appeals after the abolition of the Court of Chancery,
+was turned over to the Comptroller. This fund, amounting to $169,935.52
+in securities and cash, besides real estate of the possible value of
+$10,000, was the residue and remainder of moneys that had been deposited
+in the old Court of Chancery and never called for. By a rider on the
+appropriation bill of that year the superintendent or other managing
+officer of each State charitable institution or reformatory in the State
+was required to estimate monthly, in detail, the articles required by
+his institution for the ensuing month. The expenditures were to be
+limited to the estimates, and the treasurers were required to make
+monthly reports of their expenditures. This inaugurated substantially
+the same system, with reference to the expenditures of other charitable
+institutions, that was then used by the Lunacy Commission with reference
+to the hospitals. In 1895 this last provision was made more definite and
+explicit. The Comptroller was authorized the same year to appoint a
+second deputy, who was to have the same powers as the Deputy
+Comptroller. Twice before in the history of the office there had been a
+second deputy, but, after the continuance of the office for a few years,
+in each case it had been abolished. Chapter 79 of the Laws of 1895
+provided for the issuing of canal bonds and created a sinking fund
+for their redemption. The issuing of the bonds and the care of the
+sinking fund were intrusted to the Comptroller. The same year the
+trustees of the Saratoga monument were authorized to transfer the
+property held by them to the State, and the Comptroller was made
+custodian of the monument.
+
+[Illustration: Frank Campbell (signature)
+
+_29th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+While in the hundred years there have been thirty Comptrollers, there
+have been but eleven Deputy Comptrollers. Upon the passage of the act
+authorizing the appointment of a deputy, in 1811, Comptroller McIntyre
+appointed John Ely, Jr., and he held the position until 1822. He was
+succeeded by Ephraim Starr, who continued in the position until 1828. In
+1828 Mr. Marcy appointed as deputy Philip Phelps, and, with the
+exception of two years, from February 28, 1840, to February 28, 1842,
+this being substantially the administration of Bates Cook, when the
+office was filled by W. W. Tredwell, Mr. Phelps held the place until
+1876, or in all for forty-six years. It was long felt that his services
+were indispensable, and while Comptrollers might come and Comptrollers
+did go, the deputy seemed likely to go on forever. It is related that
+late in his official career he found himself growing footsore and lame,
+and no longer able to stand at his desk, as had been his custom, and
+scarcely able to reach the office, and there was talk of his
+resignation, and grave fears for the future finances of the State were
+expressed. In this emergency an attentive clerk found that the floor
+where the deputy had so long stood had been worn away so that an
+obdurate nail protruded, and it was standing upon this nail which had
+worked the woe. One blow of the hammer saved the State. Mr. Phelps was
+an able man, and his services in the office made him invaluable to the
+frequently-changing Comptrollers. At his death high testimonies to his
+worth and character were given by Sanford E. Church, Thomas Hillhouse,
+Wm. F. Allen, Robert H. Pruyn, John V. L. Pruyn, and many others. A
+meeting of State officers was held, at which Wm. Dorsheimer, then
+Lieutenant-Governor, presided, and resolutions expressing his great
+worth and service were adopted. It was well said that "no prospect of
+pecuniary advantage could swerve him from the strictest line of truth
+and justice."
+
+Mr. Phelps was succeeded by Henry Gallien, who worthily filled the
+office from 1876 to 1884, when he died. Thomas E. Benedict held the
+office from 1884 to 1886. He has since been Deputy Secretary of State
+and Public Printer at Washington, and in all positions has acquitted
+himself as an able and upright man. Charles R. Hall succeeded to the
+office for a little more than a year, and was himself succeeded by Zerah
+S. Westbrook, who had the office for four years, from January 1, 1888,
+to January 1, 1892. Calvin J. Huson was Deputy Comptroller during Mr.
+Campbell's term. At the end of his term he was succeeded by Colonel
+William J. Morgan, who still holds the office.
+
+The custom seems to have grown up in these degenerate times to make the
+term of the deputy co-terminous with that of Comptroller. This is of
+doubtful propriety. Too many men of tried integrity, familiar with their
+duties, cannot be retained in such an office. But the danger which would
+naturally be expected from a frequent change in both Comptroller and
+deputy has thus far been avoided by the retention, through succeeding
+administrations, of some of the most important clerks. Willis E.
+Merriman has now been in service in the Comptroller's office for
+thirty-one years, and, having worked up from the lowest to the highest
+service in the department, is familiar with all its details, and his
+services have thus become indispensable. Upon the creation of the office
+of Second Deputy Comptroller, in 1895, he was appointed to that
+position, and he has since discharged its duties with the fidelity and
+intelligence with which every Comptroller for many years has found him
+fortunately endowed.
+
+No sketch of the office is complete without mention of George H.
+Birchall. He came into the office in 1883, at the time of the
+abolition of the Canal Auditor's office. He had served seventeen years
+in the last-named office. He has had charge of the canal accounts since
+their transfer to the Comptroller's office, and has rendered most
+efficient service. Messrs. Williams and Bliss came into the office in
+1877, and Mr. Graham in 1882. Several employees have been in the
+department's service for six or eight years or more, and no department
+of the State government is better equipped with honest, faithful, public
+servants than is the Comptroller's office.
+
+[Illustration: James A. Roberts (signature)
+
+_30th COMPTROLLER_]
+
+It can be seen from the foregoing that the duties of the Comptroller's
+office are varied and important. The boards of which he is a member give
+some indication of this fact. He is _ex-officio_ a member of the State
+Board of Canvassers; of the Board of the Commissioners of the Land
+Office; of the Board of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund; of the
+Canal Board; of the State Commissioners of Charities; of the board to
+fix prices for prison made products; of the board for the establishment
+of State insane asylum districts, etc.; of the legislative printing
+board; of the department printing board, and one of the officers to
+designate the State paper. He manages the finances of the State so far
+even as to supervise the expenditures of the State institutions. He
+designates the banks in which funds of all institutions shall be
+deposited. He levies and collects the tax on corporations; supervises
+the collection of the transfer tax, and sells the lands of delinquent
+taxpayers in the counties in which are included a part of the Forest
+Preserve. He audits all accounts against the State; acts as a court in
+applications for cancellations of tax deeds or sales, and in disputed
+corporation tax matters; examines the court and trust funds deposited
+with the treasurer of every county in the State, and regulates the form
+of accounts and the manner of their investment, and performs many other
+less important duties too numerous for mention.
+
+Of the men who have held the office of Comptroller nineteen were
+lawyers; three were gentlemen farmers; three bankers; one a merchant;
+one a manufacturer; one a capitalist, and two were business men. In
+politics two were Federalists; fifteen Democrats (including under the
+word Democrats original Republicans, whether Clintonians or otherwise);
+four Whigs; two Anti-Masons; six Republicans, and one American or Know
+Nothing.
+
+[Illustration: Philip Phelps (signature)
+
+_Deputy Comptroller, 46 Years._]
+
+The total expenditures of the State for each tenth year since the
+establishment of the office were as follows:
+
+  1797          $322,831 37
+  1807           425,689 69
+  1817         1,296,590 88
+  1827         1,908,346 73
+  1837         4,926,449 04
+  1847         5,275,164 09
+  1857        10,176,939 70
+  1867        20,496,050 59
+  1877     [1]26,186,744 70
+  1887        16,771,448 98
+  1897        26,510,425 77
+           ================
+
+[1] Includes $10,453,805.95 bounty debt.
+
+Each of these would very nearly represent the average annual
+expenditures for the decade which it ends.
+
+The total expenditures of the National Government for the year 1797 were
+$8,625,877.37, and if we deduct from this the amounts paid for interest,
+and payments upon the public debt, it leaves the amount of ordinary
+expenditure but $2,836,110.52. The ordinary expenditures of the National
+Government did not reach the amount expended in this State for the year
+1896 until the year 1847, if we except the years 1813, 1814 and 1815,
+when the expenditures were abnormal by reason of the War of 1812, and if
+we except also the years 1837 and 1838, and in none of those excepted
+years did the annual ordinary expenditures very greatly exceed this
+State's expenditure for 1896.
+
+During the century, the State has expended for lands, construction,
+enlargement or permanent improvement:
+
+  Of its five canals                               $74,347,000 00
+  Of its new Capitol                                22,254,023 60
+  Of the twelve hospitals erected by it            $15,204,099 59
+  Of its seventeen other charitable institutions     6,369,110 70
+  Of its forty-five armories and arsenals            3,349,543 73
+  Of its three State prisons                         4,528,058 65
+  Of its twelve normal schools                       1,826,350 06
+                                                   --------------
+  Making a total expenditure for those various
+    purposes of                                   $127,878,186 33
+                                                  ===============
+
+[Illustration: Willis E. Merriman. (signature)
+
+  _2d Deputy Comptroller_
+  _Connected with the office 31 years_
+
+]
+
+Far the greater part of this money has been handled by, and drawn on the
+warrant of, the Comptroller, and no suspicion has ever arisen that this
+duty was not honestly performed. Nearly all of the sinking funds of the
+various bonded debts of the State have been managed by the Comptrollers,
+who, in these 100 years, have never been the occasion of the loss of a
+single dollar.
+
+Jenkins, in his political history of New York, says that the Comptroller
+bears the same relation to the State that the Secretary of the Treasury
+does to the National Government, and this is largely true. I cannot do
+better in closing this brief sketch of the Comptroller's office than by
+quoting from Thurlow Weed's autobiography. His opportunities for, and
+keenness of, observation make his statement of peculiar value. He says:
+"It seems proper to say, amid all the mutations of party, and the
+liability under our form of popular government to occasionally find
+unworthy men elevated to high places, our State has ever been singularly
+fortunate in its highest financial officer. We have had unfaithful men
+in almost every other department of the State Government. We have had,
+in two or three instances, comparatively weak men in the office of
+Comptroller, but as a rule its incumbents have been capable, firm and
+incorruptible."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Transcriber's Notes:
+
+The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious
+errors:
+
+  1. p. 19  Fom --> From
+  2. p. 41  place, Mr. Cook's --> place. Mr. Cook's
+  3. p. 70  James W. Wadworth --> James W. Wadsworth
+  4. p. 82  protuded, --> protruded,
+
+End of Transcriber's Notes]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Century in the Comptroller's Office,
+State of New York, 1797 to 1897, by James A. Roberts
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40531 ***