Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, and State Engineer and Surveyor.

POLITICAL HISTORY.

MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS.

(SEE TABLE, PAGE Vii.)

How many Governors of New York afterwards became Presidents of the United States?

What person has served the most years as Governor of New York: and how many years?

How many Governors have been re-elected?

Who was Governor during the war with England?

Who was Governor during the war with Mexico?

Who were Governors during the Civil war?

U. S. SENATORS FROM NEW YORK.

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Who was Governor, as well as the great mover in building the Erie Canal? When commenced and when finished?

NOTE 1.-The Erie Canal was contemplated and an act passed by the Legislature, in 1817, for its construction. It was built by sections; the first being completed between Rome and Utica. The first boat passed between those places in 1819, carrying Governor Clinton, Chancellor Livingston, General Van Rensselaer, and other distinguished citizens who had been instrumental in its construction.

Its original cost was $8,000,000 and it was finished in 1825. The first flotilla of boats left Buffalo, October 26, of that year. It arrived at New York, November 4, and was received by a large concourse of people, who proceeded to a place near Sandy Hook, where Governor Clinton poured into the briny deep a keg of fresh water which had been brought from Lake Erie, thus signalizing the marriage of the great lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.

It was enlarged and completed in 1862, at an additional expense of $32,000,000: the total cost being $40,000,000.

NOTE 2.-U. S. Senators from New York.-In the Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Section 3, Clause 2, the classification of the Senators in the First Congress, their term of office, etc., is fully stated, but the manner of their classification is more fully explained on page 106. The table on page ix gives the names and date of election or appointment of all the Sen. ators from this State, from 1789 to the present time, and will be very convenient for reference.

Philip Schuyler was drawn in the first class, and Rufus King in the third class; consequently Philip Schuyler's first term was two years, and Rufus King's first term was six years.

The star at the left hand of a date indicates the close and commencement of a full term after the expiration of the first term. The names between the stars represent Senators who have been appointed by Governors during a vacation of the Legislature, or those who have resigned or were appointed or elected to fill vacancies.

The full term always commences March 4, and in odd years. Martin Van Buren, Wm. L. Marcy, and Silas Wright resigned their Sena. torial office upon being elected to the office of Governor of the State.

QUESTIONS.

How many of the Senators from New York served a full term or more?

Who were the first and who are the present Senators?

Who were in the Senate from this State at the time of the war with England? the war with Mexico? the Civil War?

Who were in the Senate from this State at the time of the Louisiana Purchase? the Florida Purchase? the Annexation of Texas?

the acquisition of California? the acquisition of New Mexico? the Gadsden Purchase? the purchase of Alaska?

NOTE.-Multiply questions in which these officials have been connected with the great events of this country.

ELECTIONS.

How can Officers be Changed?

Officers can be changed at the close of their official terms by the same power that made them officers.

I. Elective officers can be changed by the will of the legal voters expressed in their ballot.

II. Appointive officers can be changed by the person who appointed them, or by his successor in office.

III. Officers can be removed by impeachment, or for misconduct or malfeasance in office.

EXAMPLES.

I. School district officers can be changed by a majority or plurality vote, at an annual school meeting, as soon as their terms of office expire.

II. Town officers can be changed by majority or plurality vote, at an annual town meeting, preceding the close of their terms of office.

III. County and State officers can be changed by a majority or plurality vote at the annual election preceding the close of their term of office.

MAJORITY AND PLURALITY.

What is meant by Majority and Plurality in an election? When two candidates only are being voted for, for the same office, the person having more than one-half of the votes has a majority: when three persons or more are being voted for, for the same office, the person having the greatest number of votes has a plurality.* Majority means more than one-half. Plurality means more than anyone else.

NOTE. 1.-At the Presidential election in 1884, Mr. Cleveland received 4,874,118 votes; Mr. Blaine received 4,849,850 votes; Mr. Butler, 184,948 votes; Mr. St. John 149,326 votes. Mr. Cleveland received a plurality of the popu lar vote, and a majority of the electoral vote. A majority of the electoral vote is required to elect a president,-without it the election goes to the House of Representatives. See the elections of 1801 and 1825, p. vi.

* A candidate may have a majority over two or more opponents.

HOW NEW STATES ARE MADE.

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NOTE 2.-In New York a plurality vote elects in State, county, town, and district.

At the State election in 1885, Mr. Hill, for Governor, received 501,465 votes; Mr. Davenport received 490,331 votes; Mr. Bascom, 30,867 votes. Mr. Hill received a plurality of the votes, and was elected.

TOWN MEETINGS AND ELECIONS.

When are Town Meetings held in New York?

Between the first Tuesday in February and the first Tuesday in May, as required by statute law: the day is named by the board of supervisors. See page 16.

When is the New York State election held?

On the Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each year; twenty-three other States hold their annual elections on that day.

When is the Presidential election held?

The Presidential election is held every Leap Year, in all the States, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

NOTE.-Congress enacted a law, January, 1845, declaring that the Presidential election should be held in all the States, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, in the year in which a President is to be elected.

NEW STATES.

How are States admitted into the Union?

I. New States are usually made from Territories, and are admitted by an act of Congress.

II. Territories may or may not have the number of inhabitants which constitutes the ratio for one Representative (at present 154,000). Congress has not always required it for admission.

III. A Territory adopts its own State constitution, and when admitted comes in under that constitution.

IV. West Virginia was not a Territory; but the inhabitants of forty counties in the north-western part of Virginia repudiated the secession convention, held at Richmond, and organized a government of their own. They adopted a constitution, and this district was admitted by Congress as a State in 1862.

TERRITORIES.

What can you say about Territories?

I. Territories are organized by an act of Congress, defining their boundaries.

II. The chief executive officers are a Governor and a Secretary, appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate, for a term of four years.

III. An Auditor, Treasurer, and Superintendent of Common Schools, are elected by the Territorial Legislature for two years.

IV. The Legislature consists of a Council and House of Representatives, elected by the people, by districts, for two years, and their sessions are usually biennial.

V. The Judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court, District Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the Peace.

VI. Each Territory is divided into three judicial districts, and the Supreme Court thereof consists of a Chief Justice and two associates, appointed by the President for a term of four years; its jurisdiction is appellate.

VII. A District Court with general original jurisdiction is held in each judicial district in a Territory by a Justice of the Supreme Court.

VIII. There is a Probate Court for each county, the