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32 NEW YORK STATE GAZETTEER.
may remove, under limitations prescribed by statute, most State and county officers.1 He has a
private secretary, with a salary of $2000, a clerk and a doorkeeper.
Tlie Lieutenant Governor is elected at the same time as the Governor, and must possess
the same qualifications. He discharges the duties of Governor when a vacancy occurs in that office.
He is President of the Senate, having the casting vote in that body, a Commissioner of the Canal
Fund and of the Land Office, a member of the Canal Board, a trustee of the Idiot Asylum and of
Unton College, a Regent of the University, and a trustee of the Capitol and State Hall.
Tlie Secretary of State2 is keeper of the State archives;
is a Regent of the University, a Commissioner of the Land Office
and of the Canal Fund, a member of tbe Canal Board and of the
Board of State Canvassers, a trustee of the State Idiot Asylum,
of Union College, of the Capitol, and of the State Hall. He has
specific duties in relation to the publication and distribution of
the laws,; the issuing of patents for land, of commissions, par¬
dons, and peddlers’ licenses; the filing of the declarations of
aliens, and the articles of association of companies under gene¬
ral laws;- issuing notices of elections, receiving and reporting
statistics of pauperism and crime from sheriffs and county
clerks, and furnishing certified copies of laws and other docu¬
ments in his office. He administers the oath of office to members of the Assembly, and other
State officers. His deputy is ex officio Clerk of the Commissioners of the Land Office.
The Comptroller3 is the auditor of the public accounts,
excepting those payable from tbe Canal and Bank Funds; a Com¬
missioner of the Land Office and of the Canal Fund; a member of
the Canal Board and of the Board of State Canvassers, and a
trustee of the Idiot Asylum, of Union College, of the Capitol, and
State Hall. He has responsible duties in relation to the payment
of appropriations made by the Legislature, the collection of
taxes, and sale of lands sold for taxes, the management of funds,
supervision of fire and life insurance companies, loaning of
moneys, and other duties connected with the finances of the State.
He reports annually to the Legislature the condition of the public
funds,, the receipts and expenses of the State, the condition of
insurance companies, and upon such other matters as he may from time to time be called upon by
tlie Legislature for information. He has a deputy, an accountant, and about a dozen clerks.
The Treasurer1 receives all moneys paid into the treasury, and pays all warrants of the Comp¬
troller, Auditor of the Canal Department, Superintendent of the Bank Department, and Superintendent
of Public Instruction. He is a Commissioner of the Land Office and of the Canal Fund, a member
of the Canal Board and of the Board of State Canvassers, and a trustee of Union College. He has
a deputy, and two or three clerks.
The Attorney General5 is the legal prosecutor and adviser in behalf of the State. Il§ is a
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military and 6,663 civil officers held under this appointment,
and most of them at will. From 1822 to 1846, the Governor and
Senate appointed, in addition to most of those it now appoints,
all judicial officers, except justices, Masters and Examiners in
Chancery, Supreme Court Commissioners, inspectors for com¬
mercial purposes, Commissioners of Deeds, several city officers,
and State Prison Inspectors.
1 Representatives in Congress and members of the State Legis¬
lature can be elected only,. The Governor appoints, on his own
authority, Commissioners for taking acknowledgments of Deeds
in other. States and countries, wreck masters, and certain com¬
missioners directed to be appointed for special purposes.
2 The Secretary of State was formerly Clerk of the Council of
Appointment and of the Council of Revision, and from 1823 to
1854 was Superintendent of Schools. In colonial times he was
appointed by the crown; from 1777 to 1822, by the Council of
Appointment; and from 1822 to 1846, by the Legislature.
8 This office was created in 1797, in place of that of Auditor
General, formed by the Provincial Convention; but it was not
permanently organized until 18l2. The Comptroller was ap¬
pointed by the Council of Appointment until 1822, when the
appointing power was changed to the Legislature and the tenure
of the office fixed at 3 years. |
* The office of Treasurer, under the colonial government and
early years of State government, was a very important one; and
for many years after 1777, the Treasurer was appointed by spe¬
cial act from year to year. About the beginning of the present
century, the defalcation of a Treasurer occasioned a revision of
the law creating the department; and, from his being the prin¬
cipal financial officer of the government, the Treasurer became
the most unimportant, and his powers were narrowed down to
the payment of the drafts of other officers. For many years
previous to 1822 he was appointed by the Council of Revision;
and from 1822 to 1S46‘, by the Legislature. The accounts of the
Treasurer are annually compared with those of the Comptroller,
Superintendent of Bank Department, and Auditor of the Canal
Department, by a commissioner appointed for the purpose; and
these officers thus become a check upon each other. The Trea¬
surer may he suspended for cause, by the Governor, in the recess
of the Legislature.
6 This office has existed almost from the beginning of the
Colonial Government. It was filled by the Council of Appoint¬
ment from 1777 to 1822, and by the Legislature, with a term of
3 years, from 1822 to 1846. The Attorney General originally
attended the circuits of Oyer and Terminer, as prosecutor in
criminal suits, until 1796, when the State was divided into 8
districts, to each of which an assistant Attorney General was
appointed, except in New York, where the head officer
officiated personally. In 1818 each co. was made a separate
district, and a District Attorney was appointed in each. The
Attorney General still occasionally attends Upon important
criminal trials; but his time is chiefly occupied in civil suits in
which the State is a.party. |
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