Chapter II: Part 2

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."

_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.

_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."

_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.

_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."

_24th COMPTROLLER_]

_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.

_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.

_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.

_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.

_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.

_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.

_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
===============

_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]