Charles E. Hughes, Governor.
page 25
GOVERNOR HUGHES.
Charles Evans Hughes, Governor of the State of New York, was born in Glens Falls on April 11, 1802. His father the Reverend David Charles Hughes, is of Welsh descent, and his mother before her marriage was Miss Catherine Connelly. At the time of his birth his father was pastor of the Baptist church in Glens Falls.
Mr. Hughes began his education at a public school in Oswego, where his father was preaching, and continued his studies in Newark, N. J., and in New York city. He was a pupil of Grammar School No. 35 in New York city, when in June, 1875, at the age of thirteen, he delivered the salutatory address in the Academy of Music. At the age of fourteen he entered Madison, now Colgate University, in Hamilton, N. Y. After remaining there two years he entered Brown University in the sophomore class. He was nominated as one of the Phi Beta Kappa men of the junior year, and he won the Dunn Premium for the highest standing in English Literature. He also became a member of the editorial staff of the " Brunonian." Mr. Hughes graduated from Brown when he was nineteen years of age in the class of 1881, delivered the classical oration by virtue of his standing third in the class. He also took one of the two Carpenter Premiums which are assigned to the two members of the senior class who "shall, in the judgment of the faculty unite in the highest degree the three most important elements of success in life — ability, character and attainment." The other prize went to Charles C. Mumford now associate judge of the Superior Court of Rhode Island.
After his graduation Mr. Hughes taught Greek and Mathematics in the Delaware Academy, at Delhi, N. Y., at the same time studying law in the office of Judge Gleason. He left the Academy in 1882 to enter the Columbia Law School. While he was in the law school he devoted a portion of his time for a year to the study of law in the office of General Stewart L. Woodford, who was then United States District Attorney, and during a part of his last year in the University he acted as clerk in the law firm of Chamberlain, Carter & Hornblower, which later became Carter, Hornblower & Byrne. He graduated from the law school in 1884, and was admitted to the Bar in the same year. He held a Prize Fellowship from 1884 to 1887. In the latter year he became a member of the firm with which he had connected himself before his graduation. Mr. Hornblower and Mr. Byrne had then withdrawn and the title of the firm became Carter, Hughes & Cravath. Mr. Hughes continued in practice until 1801, when his health being threatened he became a Professor of Law in Cornell University at Ithaca, N. Y., from 1891 to 1893. In the latter year he became a special lecturer of law at Cornell University, from 1893 to 1895, and in the New York Law School from 1893 to 1900. He left Ithaca in 1893 to resume the practice of law, rejoining his old firm which became Carter, Hughes & Dwight. The firm's name remained unchanged until 1903, when Mr. Dwight died and was succeeded by George W. Schurman, a brother of Jacob Gould Schurman, President of Cornell University. Mr. Carter died in 1904. and Mr. Hughes became the head of the firm, the name being again changed to Hughes, Rounds & Schurman.
The New York Legislature in 1905 appointed a special joint committee headed by Senator Frederick C. Stevens of Attica, N. Y., to investigate the gas and electric lighting companies of New York city. The committee engaged Mr. Hughes as its counsel.
The Legislature of 1905 in special session appointed a joint committee headed by Senator William W. Armstrong of Rochester, to investigate the business of life insurance. Mr. Hughes was then in Switzerland, but the manner in which he had conducted the lighting investigation suggested his name as counsel for the insurance investigation committee. He was asked to serve in this capacity and he accepted, cutting short his trip abroad to assume the duties of the appointment.
The disclosures brought out by the investigation attracted much attention to Mr. Hughes' work as counsel for the committee, and in the fall of 1905, although the investigation was not then more than half completed, the Republicans of New York city determined to nominate him as their candidate for mayor against Mayor George B. McClellan, Democrat, and William R. Hearst, who ran as an independent nominee. Although Mr. Hughes declined to permit the use of his name and discouraged the demand for his nomination, the Republican City Convention insisted upon making him its candidate.
The committee of notification of the Republican City Convention notified Mr. Hughes of his nomination on October 9, 1905. In declining to accept he said:
You summon me to what you believe to be a public duty, and I shall not answer that summons by referring to considerations merely personal, however important they might be if the question was one of personal preference.
"You and the many others who have urged me to accept the nomination have not rested the request upon the basis of partisan obligation, but upon the more secure foundation of duty to the community.
"I am not insensible to this appeal and I fully appreciate the responsibility of the position in which, against my will, I have been placed.
"In this dilemma I have simply to do my duty as I see it. In my judgment I have no right to accept the nomination. A paramount public duty forbids it. It is not necessary to enlarge upon the importance of the insurance investigation. That is undisputed. It is dealing with questions vital to the interests of millions of our fellow citizens throughout the land. It presents an opportunity for public service second to none and involves a correlative responsibility. I have devoted myself unreservedly to this work. It commands all my energies. It is imperative that I continue in it.
"I do not believe that the man lives, and certainly 1 am not the man. who, while a candidate for the mayoralty, could perform with proper efficiency that part of the work which has been devolved upon me in the pending inquiry. If I were to accept the nomination for the high office of mayor of this city I should be compelled to curtail this work, and this I have no right to do.
"For your expressions of confidence I thank you. The honor you would confer upon me I most highly esteem. Your genuine approval and the unanimity and enthusiasm with which the nomination was made I warmly appreciate. But I have assumed obligations of the first importance which make it impossible for me to meet your wishes. I must, therefore, respectfully decline the nomination."
The insurance investigation entailed an immense amount of labor. The report of the committee with a series of bills embodying their recommendations was presented to the Legislature of 1906, and the legislation proposed was enacted without change.
After the close of the investigation Mr. Hughes was designated as one of the special counsel of the United States Department of Justice to conduct an inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining whether prosecution should be taken against the coal owning and carrying railroads under the Anti-Trust and Anti-Rebate Laws. In the summer of 1906, a strong demand arose for his nomination as the Republican candidate for Governor. And when the Republican State Convention met in Saratoga, Mr. Hughes was nominated by acclamation. On receiving word that he was about to be nominated he sent the following telegram to Senator Alfred R. Page, of New York city, one of the delegates to the Convention:
Hon. Alfred R. Page, Convention Hall, Saratoga, N. Y.:"
If I am nominated, and you think it advisable, present the following to the convention:
"I thank you for your confidence. The Republican Party has been called to defend the honor of the State and to represent the common sense of the people and the cause of decent government. I shall accept the nomination without pledge other than to do my duty according to my conscience. If elected it will be my ambition to give the State the same efficient and honorable administration, free from taint of bossism or of servitude to any private interest. A united party making an appeal to good citizenship must win.
"Charles E. Hughes."
He was formally notified of his nomination in the Republican Club in New York city. In his speech of acceptance he said:
"We enter upon the campaign inspired by the example and fortified by the achievements of our great leader, Theodore Roosevelt. The national administration with its record of established reforms has strengthened its hold upon the confidence of the people * * *. Our State administration has also accomplished many genuine reforms. The gas and electric monopoly of New York city has been subjected to impartial investigation and a statute has been passed fixing the rate to private consumers at eighty cents a thousand cubic feet. While this act has been attacked and the claim of the companies that the rate is so low as to amount to confiscation is before the Federal courts for determination, the State has done all that it can do constitutionally to give the residents of this city cheaper gas.
"Corporations have been prohibited from contributing to political campaign funds.
"The business of life insurance, of vital consequence to the security of our home, has been purged of its abuses and placed under restrictions conserving the interests of policyholders.
"What then is the supreme issue of this campaign? It is not an issue of the Republican record. It is not an issue of Republican principles or of Democratic principles. It is not a partisan issue at all. It is the vital issue of decent government. It is an issue which shall array on one side all lovers of truth, of sobriety and of honest reform, be they Republicans, Democrats or Independents.
"I promise an honest administration.
"No interest, however prominent, will receive any consideration except that to which upon the merits of the case it may be entitled, when viewed in the light of the supreme interest of the people.
"It will be my aim to make the administration of the government efficient and economical.
"I shall spare no effort to make effective the reforms in the business of life insurance so essential to the interests of the policyholders.
"I promise the enforcement of the law with equal severity and with equal justice to all, rich and poor, corporations and individuals.
"We desire to enforce the laws we have, and to enact such additional laws as may be required to secure equal privileges and opportunities and to prevent any one person or class of persons from being made the victim of oppression. We believe in open discussion and responsible criticism. But efforts to make discontent serve self-interest, to create class hatred, to distort the good and to exaggerate the evil, are subversive of our free institutions and tend to anarchy.
"We make our appeal to the common sense of the American people, which has never failed to express itself decisively in a great crisis. We are pledged to achieve reforms in the American manner, in accordance with the genius of our institutions and with love of truth and even-handed justice.
"It is in this spirit and with these pledges alone that I accept the nomination."
The exigencies of the campaign compelled Mr. Hughes to make an exceedingly vigorous canvass of the State, extending to every large city and in fact throughout nearly all the rural counties. He was the only candidate of the Republican State ticket who was elected, receiving a plurality of 57,897 votes over William R. Hearst, the nominee of the Democratic party and of the Independence League. The total number of votes cast for Mr. Hughes were 749,002 and for Mr. Hearst, 691,105.
In assuming office on January 1, 1907, Mr. Hughes in his inaugural address said:
"Fellow Citizens: I assume the office of Governor without other ambition than to serve the people of the State. I have not coveted its powers nor do I permit myself to shrink from its responsibilities. Sensible of its magnitude and of my own limitations, I undertake the task of administration without illusion. But you do not require the impossible. You have bound me to earnest and honest endeavor in the interest of all the people according to the best of my ability and that obligation, with the help of God, I shall discharge.
"We have reasons to congratulate ourselves that coincident with our prosperity, there is an emphatic assertion of popular rights and a keen resentment of public wrongs. There is no panacea in executive or legislative action for all the ills of society which spring from the frailties and defects of the human nature of its members. But this furnishes no excuse for complacent inactivity and no reason for the toleration of wrongs made possible by defective or inadequate legislation or by administrative partiality or inefficiency.
"The proper confines of legislative action are not to be determined by generalities. Slowly but surely the people have narrowed the opportunities for selfish aggression and the demand of this hour, and of all hours, is not allegiance to phrases, but sympathy with every aspiration for the betterment of conditions and a sincere and patient effort to understand every need and to ascertain in the light of experience the means best adapted to meet it. Each measure proposed must ultimately be tested by critical analysis of the particular problem,— the precise mischief alleged and the adequacy of the proffered remedy. It is the capacity for sucli close examination without heat or disqualifying prejudice which distinguishes the constructive effort from vain endeavors to change human nature by changing the forms of government.
"It must freely be recognized that many of the evils of which we complain have their source in the law itself, in privileges carelessly granted, in opportunities for private aggrandizement at the expense of the people recklessly created, in failure to safeguard our public interests by providing means for just regulation of those enterprises which depend upon the use of public franchises. Wherever the law gives unjust advantage, wherever it fails by suitable prohibition or regulation to protect the interests of the people, wherever the power derived from the State is turned against the State, there Is not only room but urgent necessity for the assertion of the authority of the State to enforce the common right.
"The growth of our population and the necessary increase in Out charitable and correctional work, the great enterprises under State control,— our canals, our highways, our forest preserves,— the protection of the public health, the problems created by the congestion of population in our great cities lead to a constant extension of governmental activity from which we cannot have, and we would not seek, escape.
"This extension compels the strictest insistence upon the highest administrative standards. We are a government of laws and not of men. We subordinate individual caprice to defined duty. The essentials of our liberties are expressed in constitutional enactments removed from the risk of temporary agitation. But the security of our government despite its constitutional guaranties is found in the intelligence and public spirit of its citizens and in its ability to call to the work of administration men of single-minded devotion to the public interests, who make unselfish service to the State a point of knightly honor.
“If in administration we make the standard efficiency and not partisan advantage, if in executing the laws we deal impartially, if in making the laws there is fair and intelligent action with reference to each exigency, we shall disarm reckless and selfish agitators and take from the enemies of our peace their vantage ground of attack.
"It is my intention to employ my constitutional powers to this end. I believe in the sincerity and good sense of the people. I believe that they are intent in having government which recognizes no favored interests and which is not conducted in any part for selfish ends. They will not be, and they should not be, content with less."
Mr. Hughes married on December 5, 1888. Miss Antoinette Carter, who was a daughter of the senior member of the law firm of Carter, Hughes & Dwight. He has four children, Charles E., Jr., who is an undergraduate in Brown University, and Helen, Catherine, and Elizabeth.
Mr. Hughes holds the degrees of A. B., A. M. and LL. D. from Brown University, and LL. D. from Lafayette College, Hamilton College, Columbia University, George Washington College, and Knox College, and LL. B. from Columbia. He is a member of the American Bar Association, of the State Bar Association and of the Bar Association of the city of New York. He is a trustee of Brown University and a member of the following clubs: Union League, University, Republican, Lawyers, Brown, Cornell, Delta Epsilon of New York city and of the Fort Orange Club of Albany, and of the Nassau County Club and the Albany Country Club.
In his first annual message to the Legislature in 1907, Governor Hughes recommended the passage of a Public Service Commissions law, with supervision over steam railroads, street railroads in cities, rapid transit rail ways and gas and electric light, heat and power companies. In accordance with his recommendations the Legislature passed a law dividing the State into two districts, the first district consisting of New York City and the second district of the rest of the State. The law created commissions of five members for each district to take the place of the State Railroad Commission, the Rapid Transit Commission of New York City, the State Commission of Gas and Electricity, and the State Superintendent of Gas Meters. These commissions have power to regulate the service given by public service corporations, the rates that they shall charge and their financial operations, and the commission of the first district has authority to lay out rapid transit routes and supervise the construction of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The New York law has served as the basis for similar statutes in other states.
The Governor, in his message, also recommended that the undeveloped water powers of the State should not be surrendered to private interests, but should be duly safeguarded. In response to this recommendation the State Water Supply Commission was authorized to make a comprehensive survey of the State's water powers and to report upon plans for their development. A bill was passed granting to a private electrical power corporation the right to establish a plant upon the St. Lawrence river. The Governor declined to sign it until a provision for adequate payment to the State, in proportion to the amount of electrical power generated and sold, had been inserted. This was the first law of its kind ever enacted in New. York.
The extension of the Corrupt Practices Act, the adoption of the Massachusetts ballot, and Direct Nominations were also recomm*—<?d in the Governor's first message, but no action was taken upon these recommendations, with the exception of that relating to the better prevention of corrupt practices.
Important recommendations for the amendment of the Labor Law, for the protection of women and children and the better enforcement of the law, were followed by legislation along the lines suggested.
In his annual message of 1908, Governor Hughes recommended that the statute relating to pool selling and book making upon race tracks be amended in accordance with the Constitution of the State, so as to place this form of gambling upon an equality with other forms of gambling, thus removing the immunity from interference which it had hitherto enjoyed. His recommendation was adopted at an extra session of the Legislature.
The Governor renewed his recommendations for the adoption of the Massachusetts ballot and for the direct nomination of party candidates for office, but no action was taken by the Legislature.
During the panic of 190" the Governor appointed an unofficial commission to examine the banking laws of the State and suggest needed amendments. In his message to the Legislature he recommended the adoption of the amendments suggested by the commission, and the bills so suggested were passed.
Other recommendations regarding the revision of the New York city charter and the ascertainment of the debt limit of New York city, affecting the charitable and penal institutions of the State, relating to agriculture and labor, and providing for safeguarding the public domain, resulted in legislative enactments.
Governor Hughes in the spring of 1908 was the choice of a majority of the delegates from New York State to the Republican National Convention for the nomination for President. In the fall of 1908 he was renominated for the office of Governor by the Republican State Convention, and was re-elected; receiving 804,651 votes to 735,189 cast for Lewis S. Chanler, the candidate of the Democratic party for Governor.
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UNITED STATES SENATORS.
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW.
Chauncey Mitchell Depew, the senior United States Senator, eminent lawyer, and railroad executive, was born in Peekskill, N. Y., on April 23, 1834. His father was Isaac Depew, a prominent and highly-regarded resident of Peekskill, and his mother, Martha Mitchell, was a member of the New England Sherman family. Its most famous representative was Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Depew's mother was a granddaughter of the Rev. Josiah Sherman, a brother of Roger Sherman. Her father, Chauncey R. Mitchell, was a distinguished lawyer ind orator. Her mother was Ann Johnston, whose father, Judge Robert Johnston, was a Senator and Judge for many years. Mr. Depew's remote ancestors were French Huguenots, who left their country about the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and founded New Rochelle. The family settled in Peekskill 200 years ago, and still is the possessor of the farm then bought by them. Mr. Depew still calls the old homestead his "home," despite his beautiful residence in New York city.
Mr. Depew lived in his native village during his boyhood and there was prepared for college. When eighteen years old he entered Yale College, and was graduated by that college with one of the first honors of his class in 1850. Upon June 28, 1887, the degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Yale.
The year when he graduated the Republican party was organized and Mr. Depew, notwithstanding Democratic antecedents, joined it, and he cast his first vote for a President for John C. Fremont. He studied law with the Hon. William Nelson, in Peekskill, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. In the same year he received his first political honors, being sent from his native town as a Delegate to the Republican State Convention. In the following year he began the practice of law, but his deep interest in politics and the demands made on him by his follow citizens caused his practice to be interrupted. In 1860 he went on the stump for Abraham Lincoln and addressed many meetings in the Ninth Congressional District and in other parts of the State, receiving an enthusiastic welcome wherever he appeared. So deep was the impression made by him on the voters that in 1861 he was nominated for the Assembly in the Third Westchester District. This district had a Democratic majority, but Mr. Depew carried it by 250 votes after an arduous campaign. In 1862 he was re-elected, and his name was prominently associated with the Speakership, and he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, a high honor for so young a legislator. During this term he was Speaker pro tern, for part of the session.
Mr. Depew, in 1864, was the leading candidate of the Republican party for a State office, being its candidate for Secretary of State. He fought a hard, aggressive battle, and turned the State over from a Democratic victory in 1862 to a Republican victory by a plurality of 30,000. In this campaign he spoke twice daily for six consecutive weeks, surprising his companions on the stump by his endurance and originality.
He discharged the duties of his office of Secretary of State with fidelity and honor to the State, and was tendered therefor a renomination by his party, but he declined it.
When Andrew Johnson succeeded to the Presidency he selected Mr. Depew for Collector of the Port of New York, but, on breaking with the Republican party, he became angry at Senator Edwin D. Morgan, because of the latter's refusal to sustain his veto of the Civil Rights Bill and tore up Mr. Depew's commission. Later in the administration, Secretary of State William H. Seward appointed Mr. Depew Minister to Japan. The appointment was confirmed by the Senate, but Mr. Depew declined the honor, because he preferred to practice his profession as a lawyer. His ability had already been perceived by Cornelius Vanderbilt and by William H. Vanderbilt, and in 1866 he was appointed attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, and since then his name has been closely linked with the Vanderbilt railroad interests. When the Harlem and Central Railroad Companies were consolidated in 1869, Mr. Depew was elected a director and appointed attorney for the new company. His duties and responsibilities grew with the increase of the Vanderbilt interests, and in 1875 he was made the general counsel for the entire system and elected a director in each road.
Mr. Depew permitted the use of his name as candidate for Lieutenant-Governor on the Liberal Republican ticket in 1872, and was defeated as its candidate with others of his associate candidates of the same party. That is the only year in which he has not acted with the regular Republican party, speaking, working, and assisting its candidates in every campaign. In 1874 he was the choice of the legislature for President of the University, and was appointed on the commission to build the State Capitol.
Mr. Depew came near to being elected United States Senator in 1881. On the nineteenth ballot he lacked only ten votes of an election, and on the thirty-fourth ballot he lacked the same number. The Legislature adjourned on July 2d on account of the assassination of President Garfield. Mr. Depew pointed out that it was the duty of the Legislature to stop the contest, and he withdrew on the fortieth ballot. In 1880 the Republicans offered to elect him to the United States Senate, but his business interests would not permit him to accept the honor. William H. Vanderbilt resigned the presidency of the New York Central Railroad in 1882 and James H. Rutter was elected president and Mr. Depew second vice-president. When Mr. Rutter died in 1885, Mr. Depew was elected president of the road. This office of executive head of one of the greatest railroads in the world he retained until his election as chairman of the board of directors of the Vanderbilt system of railroads, an office he still holds.
In 1888 Mr. Depew was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President, and received the solid vote, at the Republican National Convention, of the New York delegation as well as the vote of the delegates, but withdrew his name and favored the nomination of Benjamin Harrison — a nomination which followed, largely it is thought brought about by Mr. Depew's influence. In 1892 and 1896 he was a Delegate-at-Large of New York State to the National Republican Convention, presenting the name of President Harrison at the former and of Governor Morton at the latter.
He is an active member of the Skull-and-Bones of Yale College, and of the St. Nicholas Society of New York, the Holland Society of New York and the Huguenot Society of America. He was for seven years President of the Union League Club, a term longer by several years than this distinguished post has been held by any other. On declining further election he was made a life member of the club. He was for ten years in succession elected President of the Yale Alumni Association. Having ended a decade of service he declined a re-election and was made an honorary member.
Mr. Depew's popular fame rests as much on his ability as an orator and after-dinner speaker as on his business and professional career. He has been the orator on three great national and international occasions — the unveiling of the statue of Liberty in New York harbor, the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the first President of the United States, and the opening of the World's Fair at Chicago. He was also selected by the Legislature to deliver the oration at the centennial celebration of the formation of the Constitution of the State of New York at Kingston, and also at the centennial of the organization of the legislature of the State of New York. He was selected by the Legislature, to deliver the oration at the services in the Legislature in memory of General Sherman, General Husted, and Governor Fenton, and at the memorial services of President Garfield in New York, and also as the orator at the unveiling of the statute of Alexander Hamilton, in Central Park, New York, and at the centennial celebration of the capture of Major Andre at Sleepy Hollow.
Mr. Depew was elected to the United States Senate to succeed Edward Murphy, Jr., Democrat, in January, 1899, and took his seat March 4, 1899. His term of service will expire March 3, 1905. His activity in behalf of the Republican party has continued since his election as Senator. He was prominent as a campaign speaker in a large part of New York State in the campaign of 1900, when William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt were candidates for President and Vice-President respectively. Mr. Depew also exerted himself vigorously in 1902 to bring about the re-election of Benjamin B. Odell, Jr., as Governor.
Among the speeches made by Mr. Depew since he became a Senator are the following:
At the Memorial Services of Vice-President Garret A. Hobart, January 10, 1900. On the Oleomargarine Bill, April 2, 1902. On the Government of the Philippine Islands, February 27, 1900. On the hill for the relief of Porto Rico, April 2, 1900. On the Ship-Subsidy Bill, January 25, 1901. On the Appalachian Forest Preserve, June 2, 1902. On the Ship-Subsidy Bill, March 12, 1902. On the election of United States Senators by direct vote of the people, April 10, 1902. On the Statehood Bill, February 11, 12, 13, and 17, 1903. On Trade Relations with Cuba, December 12, 1903. On the Panama Canal, January 14. 1904.
He introduced a bill to establish the University of the United States, which was read twice; a bill to promote and encourage the mining, mineral, and metallurgical sciences in the United States; a bill to prevent the false branding or marking of food and dairy products; a bill for an addition of protected torpedo boats to the United States Navy; a. bill to revise and codify the criminal and penal laws of the United States, and a bill to provide for the presentation of medals of honor to certain troops who volunteered their services in 1863 before the Battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Depew also introduced and succeeded in passing bills granting pensions to or increasing the pensions of veterans or widows of veterans of the Civil War.
Mr. Depew was married to Elise Hegeman on November 9, 1871, and has one child, a son. Mrs. Depew died on May 7, 1893, mourned by all who knew her.
Mr. Depew was married to Miss May Palmer in December, 1901.
Senator Depew took a prominent part in the movement in favor of the re-election of President Roosevelt and in favor of the election of the Hon. Frank W. Higgins as Governor of New York in 1904. He attended the Republican National Delegation as one of New York's delegates-at-large. Then returning to the State he traversed it making speeches in behalf of the Republican party. He spoke seven times in the city of New York, and he also addressed voters in the following places, Plattsburg, Auburn, Little Falls, Norwich, Oswego, Cortland, Attica, Poughkeepsie, Croton, Warsaw, Schenectady, Jamestown, Rochester, Ellenville, Wellsville, Lockport, Olean, Jamaica, Brooklyn, Medina, Newburgh, Watertown, Cohoes, Middletown, Hornellsville, Afton, Mt. Kisco, Whitney's Point, and Schoharie.
As a result of Mr. Depew's vigorous support of the Republican candidates in the campaign of 1904, and for years previously, and his record in the Senate and as a business man, his re-election as a United States Senator was unopposed in the Legislature by any Republican, and early in 1905 he was re-elected for another term of six years.
*page 36
ELIHU ROOT.
Elihu Root, junior United States Senator, was born in Clinton, New York State, on February 15, 1845, and in 1864 was graduated by Hamilton College, his father, Oren Root, being at the time a professor of mathematics of the institution. Mr. Root then assisted hi3 brother Oren, who was principal of an academy in Rome, N. Y., for a short period in 1865. He then studied law in the University Law School of New York city and was graduated by it in 1867 and admitted to the bar. He began the practice of the law in New York, first in partnership with John H. Strahan and later with Willard Bartlett, now judge of the Court of Appeals.
Mr. Root soon attained prominence at the bar. He was a counsel for Judge Hilton in the Stewart will case, In the Broadway Surface Railway case, in the suits concerning the American Sugar Company, in the New York aqueduct cases, and he was a counsel of Robert Ray Hamilton when suit was brought against him through the influence of Emma Mann. In 1871 he took part in the investigation of William M. Tweed by the Committee of Seventy. On January 8, 1878, he was married to Clara Wales, a daughter of Salem H. Wales of New York. They had three children, two sons and a daughter.
Early in his life in New York city Mr. Root became interested in political affairs and for many years was one of the most conspicuous members of the Union League Club. One of his admirers was Chester A. Arthur, who, when he became President, appointed Mr. Root as United States District Attorney for the Southern district of New York. While acting in this position he brought about the conviction of James D. Fish, then president of the Marine Bank, as guilty of criminal conspiracy in relation to the Grant-Ward frauds. After holding the position of district attorney for two years Mr. Root resigned it and devoted himself to private practice. He became a member of the Republican County Committee of New York county and was its chairman in 1886, 1887. In 1892 he delivered a forcible address on municipal corruption at the Cooper Institute in New York, which called attention to many of the evils later depicted by the famous Lexow Committee.
In 1893 Mr. Root was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1894 and in that convention later became one of its most prominent members. He was chairman of its Judiciary Committee and enjoyed an intimate friendship with the Hon. Joseph H. Clioate, the eminent lawyer, who was president of the convention. Mr. Root and Mr. Choate occupied the same house in Albany while the convention was In session and undoubtedly were most influential in shaping its decisions and framing the present Constitution of the State of New York. In 1898 Mr. Root successfully established before the Republican State Convention of New York State that Theodore Roosevelt was eligible for nomination for Governor.
Mr. Root began his national career in 1899. President McKinley in August of that year appointed him Secretary of War as successor to Russel A. Alger. The affairs of the War Department were in a somewhat disordered state, owing to the Spanish-American war, and Mr. Root also had to solve the problem of sending 70,000 men to the Philippine Islands to quell the rising there against the American Government. Moreover the Philippine war had to be conducted in such a spirit that it would be apparent that the United States Government was desirous merely of bettering the government of the Philippine Islands. Mr. Root reorganized the army and changed the staff system. There were legal questions of great moment concerning the relations of the United States with Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands that Mr. Root had to solve while engaged in conducting the operations of the War Department. Soon after his arrival in Washington, moreover, Mr. Root had to organize the little army of the United States that marched to the relief of the American minister and the members of the American legation in Pekin, China, put in peril by the Boxer rebellion. Mr. Root also established a system of education for the army.
On March 5, 1901, he was reappointed Secretary of War by President McKinley and later was retained Dy President Roosevelt in that position. In 1902 he was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C. He was a member of the Alaskan Boundary Commission which met in London, England, in 1903, and determined the boundary line of Canada and Alaska. On February 1, 1904, he resigned his position as Secretary of War and returned to his New York home, where he began again the practice of his legal profession as a lawyer. On March 29, 1904, it was announced that he had been appointed as associate counsel for the receivers of D. J. Scully & Co., who had been interested in cotton pools. Upon April 12, 1904, Mr. Root appeared before the United States Circuit Court in St. Paul, Minn., as one of the counsel of the Northern Securities Company.
In 1904 he was temporary chairman of the Republican National Committee which nominated Theodore Roosevelt for President, and made a speech reviewing the acts of the national administration.
Upon July 1, 1905, he became Secretary of State. One of the most signal services he rendered to his country as Secretary of State was his strengthening the bonds of amity between the United States and its sister republics in South America by making a tour of that continent, visiting its chief seaboard cities and forming an acquaintance with the officials of the country.
When the election of 1908 showed that the Republican party would have a majority in the Legislature of New York State there was a demand for Mr. Root's election as United States Senator made by many prominent Republicans. Several other Republicans were also suggested for the honor, among them being Timothy L. Woodruff, Chairman of the Republican State Committee, Congressman J. Sloat Fassett of Elmira, Edward H. Butler, editor of The Buffalo News, and ex-Governor Frank S. Black. The movement in Mr. Root's favor grew in volume and intensity, and finally he said:
"I am not seeking the office of Senator. I do not think that great office ought to be given to any one because he wants it; but if the Legislature of New York, representing the people of the State, feel than I can render useful service to the State and to the country in the Senate and call upon me to render that service I shall respond to their call and accept the office."
There were finally only two candidates, Mr. Root and Mr. Woodruff, and the latter, after a conference with President-elect Taft at Hot Springs, Va., announced his withdrawal in favor of Mr. Root, stating that he desired to promote party harmony.
Mr. Root on January 18, 1909, was put in nomination for United States Senator in the joint caucus of the Republican members of the Legislature by Senator Davenport of Oneida county, who said during his speech in eulogy of Mr. Root:
"For nearly a decade he has been the most potent counsellor in the executive branch of the national government, while the great moral purpose of the federal administration has been worked out of securing under trial equality of opportunity for all men under the flag. His own State policies have been the clearest possible interpretation of the true spirit of democracy, which is the spirit of not only national but of international brotherhood. He has been a great constructive exponent of conciliation among the nations. By his journey around a continent he allayed the suspicion of our sister republics of the South and convinced them by his presence and his spoken word that 'we wish for no victories but those of peace, for no territory except our own, for no sovereignty but the sovereignty over ourselves.' The recent simple interchange of notes with the Japanese government and people has in it greater promise than lies in armaments and battleships of amity in the Pacific and the open door into the empire of China. Everywhere in the affairs of StateElihu Root has demonstrated his efficient and practical idealism to the abundant satisfaction of his countrymen.
"He is a great constitutional lawyer, whose client is the American people. He combines with the nationalist faith of Hamilton and Marshall the twentieth century spirit of American internationalism. He was born for the long look ahead, and his remaining strength and his talents are for the years that lie before him dedicated to the service of his country.
"The secret of Elihu Root's public career is not primarily to be sought in political influence. It is the triumph of a brilliant intellect sobered by earnest determination and guided by moral purpose. Here is the real secret. He was invited to the portfolio of State. A friend wrote to him and said: 'Why not wait three years and get the substance instead of taking the shadow now?' And Mr. Root replied: 'I have always thought that the opportunity to do something worth doing was the substance and the trying to get something was the shadow.'"
Mr. Root was the unanimous choice of the Republican Senators and Assemblymen for Senator, and two days later, January 20th, was elected by the Legislature as United States Senator.
Mr. Root in 1904 was elected president of the Bar Association of New York. In 1906 he was elected president of the American Society of International Law. He is a trustee of Hamilton College, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He was president of the Union League Club in 1898-1899.
Mr. Root was made an LL. D. of Hamilton in 1896, of Yale In 1900, of Columbia in 1904, of New York University in 1904, of Williams in 1905, of Princeton in 1906, of the University of Buenos Ayres in 1906, of the University of San Marcos of Lima in 1906, and of Harvard in 1907.
page 47
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF INSURANCE.
WILLIAM HORACE HOTCHKISS.
William Horace Hotchkiss, of Buffalo, Superintendent of Insurance, was born in Whitehall, N. Y., on September 7, 18G4. He attended schools in Albany and was graduated from Hamilton College in 1886. Upon leaving college he read law with the Hon. John D. Teller of Auburn, N. Y., and acted as Clerk of the Surrogate's Court of Cayuga county from 1887 to 1889. In 1888 he was admitted to the bar.
In 1891 he went to Buffalo and engaged there in the practice of the law. In 1895 he married Miss Katherine Tremain Bush, of Ithaca, N. Y. They have two children.
He was appointed Referee in Bankruptcy in 1898 and was reappointed in 1900 and served in that capacity up to the time of his appointment as Superintendent of Insurance. He is regarded as an authority on bankruptcy laws and has been president of the National Association of Referees in Bankruptcy since its formation. He is a lecturer on bankruptcy laws in law schools of Buffalo and New York, and in Cornell University.
In 1907 Governor Hughes appointed him a Commissioner for the Promotion of Uniformity of Legislation in the United States.
With other Buffalo Republicans he made an inquiry regarding the operation of the primary election law of the State of New York and a report was drawn up which led to the introduction of a bill in the Legislature concerning the subject. In 1899 in association with Elihu Root and Paul D. Cravath of New York Mr. Hotchkiss prepared the Primary Election Law of 1899, which is still in operation.
For years he has taken a keen interest in automobiling and is President of the American Automobile Association, the New York State Automobile Association and of the Buffalo Automobile Club. He prepared the automobile law of the State.
Alfred Hurrell, Counsel to the State Department of Insurance.
Mr. Hurrell is a Buffalo lawyer, being a member of the firm of Horton & Hurrell. He is also admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. His education was secured in Buffalo schools and at the Buffalo Law School. He is now a member of the faculty of the law school where he studied, being associated in his work there with Superintendent Hotchkiss, Dean Alden, counsel to the Governor, and ex-Assemblyman John Lord O'Brian. He is 35 years of age and has lived the greater part of his life in Erie county. At the time of his appointment to the Department of Insurance he was second assistant district attorney of Erie county. lie is prominent in politics in his home county, and is a member of the Erie County Republican Committee, and ..as taken an active and vigorous part in the campaigns of the Republican party for the past eight years.
page 53
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.
ANDREW SLOAN DRAPER.
Andrew Sloan Draper, the Commissioner of Education, was born at Westford, Otsego county, N. Y., June 21, 1848, the son of Sylvester Bigelow and Jane (Sloan) Draper. On his father's side he is descended in direct line from James Draper "The Puritan," who settled at Roxbury, Mass., in 1646. His mother was Scotch-Irish, her parents coming from the North of Ireland in 1812. One of his grandfathers was a soldier in King Philip's war and another was a soldier in the Revolution. He attended the Albany public schools and graduated from the Albany Academy in 1866, and from the Albany Law School (Union University) with the degree of LL. B. in 1871. He taught in the Albany Academy and other institutions 1866-70; was a member of the law firm of Draper & Chester, 1871-86; member of the Board of Education, 1879-81; member of the Legislature in 1881; member of the State Normal College Board, 1882-86; Judge of the U. S. Court of Alabama Claims, 1884-86; State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1886-92; Superintendent of Instruction of Cleveland, Ohio, public schools, 1892-94; President of the National Association of School Superintendents, 1889-91; President of the University of Illinois, 1894-1904; and in 1903-4 was President of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Upon the unification of the two State educational departments in New York, he was recalled to his native State and made the first Commissioner of Education, by the Legislature in 1904. He declined in 1882 the position of Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and also the position of Superintendent of Schools of the Greater City of New York, to which he was elected in 1898. Dr. Draper received the honorary degree of LL. D., from Colgate University in 1889, from Columbia University in 1903, and from the University of Illinois upon the installation of his successor as president in 1905. He is a member of the Chicago Historical Society and of the State Historical Societies of New York, Illinois, and Wisconsin; has written much and spoken in every part of the country on educational themes, and is the author of a book on "The Rescue of Cuba." He received the silver medal of the Paris Exposition for his monograph on "Educational Organization and Administration in the United States;" and he was awarded the gold medal and two commemorative diplomas for his educational writings, and one of the two grand prizes conferred by the St. Louis International Exposition, for conspicuous service to education. He was Chairman of the Department of Education of the International Congresses at the St. Louis Exposition. In 1902 he was appointed by President Roosevelt a member of the U. S. Board of Indian Commissioners. In 1872 he married Miss Abbie Louise Lyon, of New Britain, Connecticut, and they have two children, Charlotte Leland and Edwin Lyon. The family residence is at 133 Lake avenue, Albany, N. Y.
page 22
THE SCHOOLS OF THE STATE.
Dr. Andrew S. Draper, Commissioner of Education, in his sixth annual report, which was transmitted to the Legislature on January 24, 1910, made the following statistical statement concerning the Education Department:
Attendance At Schools.
Common elementary schools 1,284,729
Special elementary schools 1,329
Common high schools 101,983
Special high schools 2,541
Academies 42, 802
Normal schools 6,494
Teachers training classes and schools 3,579
Universities, colleges and professional schools 36,287
Special higher institutions 2,885
Private schools of all grades, exclusive of academies as enumerated above, as shown by reports and best available
information (estimated) 225,000
Indian schools (estimated) 870
Evening schools 132,410
Total 1, 840,909
Number Of Teachers.
Common elementary schools 37,152
Special elementary schools 03
Common high schools 4,079
Special high schools 103
Academies 1, 810
Normal schools 284
Teachers training classes and schools 211
Universities, colleges and professional schools 4, 231
Special higher institutions 101
Indian schools 35
Evening schools 2,719
Total 50, 788
Net Value Of Property.
Common elementary schools $157,811,999
Special elementary schools 2,335,824
Common high schools 26,146,619
Special high schools 1,093,314
Academies 20,933,828
Normal schools 2,656,685
Universities, colleges and professional schools 112,990,676
Special higher institutions 5,538,648
Indian schools 26,400
Total $329,533,901
Total Expenditures For Year 1908-1909
Common elementary schools $47, 14<5, 722 93
Special elementary schools 433, ;5fl 03
Common high schools 6, 810,100 48
Special high schools 244,154 24
Academies 3.580, 110 87
Universities, colleges and professional schools 10, 450, 213 43
Special higher institutions 312,135 38
Normal schools 471,438 89
Training classes and schools 385,0.58 73
Indian schools 19,537 00
Evening schools 830,928, 74
Total $70, 090.217 38
A summary of Dr. Draper's report in regard to the Education Department states:
"Comparing the figures with the corresponding ones for last year, the total attendance increased 47,350; the number of teachers increased 1,088; the total number of graduates increased 2,087; the value of property increased $17,924,402; and the total expenditures increased $2,298,278.
"Comparing the figures with the corresponding ones five years ago when the Education Department was organized, the attendance increased 190,005; the number of teachers increased 8,121; the graduates increased 2,700; the value of school property increased $105,809,203; and the total expenditures increased $17,434,319.17.
Considerable space is given in the report to the progress made in the establishment of vocational schools and the problems connected with their further development, to which the Education Department is giving special attention. Since the passage of the Industrial and Trades School Law in 1908, interest in the subject has been constantly increasing. Many educational, political, and social organizations are actively enlisted in its support. Among the objects sought to be accomplished in the scheme of industrial education, are manual training in the various grades, industrial work in the primary departments, industrial arts in the grammar grades, constructive work in the upper grammar grades, industrial arts, especially in rural communities, instruction in household arts, and generally all the training and instruction that ministers to self-support and productive capacity. The law provides that vocational schools shall be a part of the public school system, but that their work is not to be mingled or confused with the work of the other schools, and to this end the Department provides three checks by which the distinctive character of vocational schools can be preserved: (1) State inspection by a special agent; (2) requirement that shop teachers shall be men and women with practical training and experience in the industries, and (3) book-work organized in relation to shop-work. New York city, Rochester (factory), Albany, Syracuse and Freeville (George Junior Republic), already have separate buildings for these schools. Yonkers has started its trade school, and Hudson, Schenectady, Lancaster, Buffalo, Rochester (vocational) and Gloversville have the industrial school organization in buildings used also for other purposes. There is urgent need for evening trade and technical classes, and New York and Buffalo are now conducting them. Upon the whole, the prospect for vocational schools is exceedingly encouraging."
page 477
STATE EDUCATION BUILDING.
General Plan of the Building.
(From the Fourth Annual Report of the Education Department)
The building has been planned so that the requirements may be fulfilled as closely as possible. In general, these requirements were: quarters for the administrative offices of the Education Department: for the State Library; for the State Museum: and, in addition, for an auditorium with a seating capacity of one thousand. The site chosen for the building determined its orientation. The main entrance was required on the south side of Washington avenue and the offices of the Education Department were conveniently located near this entrance. The principal rooms to be used in connection with the library were located in the rear of the building, so as to take advantage of the northern exposure; these rooms being, in general, larger than those on the south side. The museum, having no need of fenestrated walls, but rather of top light, was placed in the upper part of the building. Thus the disposition of the main elements called for was decided.
THE FACADES.
The architectural treatment of this building was decided upon after great study and research. A building of this character must, primarily, be dignified, imposing, and treated in a style which would be sure to retain its charm through all the periodical changes of fashion in styles. The fact that the building is situated upon a street the width of which does not permit its being viewed in front from any considerable distance, and the fact that the building must face the south, largely determined the treatment of the main facade; for, in the first place, a special central motif or pavilion was clearly not called for, and. secondly, advantage must lie taken of the full play of direct sunlight. Since this facade must of necessity be viewed for the most part obliquely, it would be essentially happy to employ a colonnade, the effect of which, when looked at obliquely with its strongly vanishing prospective lines is most impressive, and which, at the same time, makes the most of the interesting possibilities of sunlight and shadow. Considering all these conditions, a huge colonnade, standing well out from a wall pierced by a series of huge semicircular openings which allow great window area, and produce a secondary architectural effect, was decided upon. In other words, the facade consists of a colonnade, which is the most dignified of architectural motifs, resting on a proper and powerful stylobate; behind the colonnade is an arcade, ample in its proportions and interesting in its repetition. The entire facade is crowned by a huge solid wall or attic which unifies and gives strength to the facade, at the same time expressing the walls of the museum. The end facades are modifications of the front, the columnar treatment being carried across the ends, and the rear facade recalls, in its treatment, the wall behind the colonnade in front. The entire building is covered by a roof of copper, the eaves of which are decorated by means of a carved chencau. The building is placed 50 feet back of the building line, and the space thus afforded will be treated with lawns, trees, hedges, and, in general, with the elements of landscape architecture. A magnificent flight of easy steps, leads to the main entrance at the center of the building. The materials used on the front and end facades are for the most part white marble, terra cotta and dark granite; the latter being used for the stylobate, or base of the building. The rear walls of the building use a light-colored vitreous brick and terra cotta.
THE BASEMENT.
The basement contains rooms for service of all kinds, rock-cutting plant for the museum, workshop, janitor's and cleaners' rooms, toilet rooms for the staff and for the public storage rooms, shipping rooms, a driveway and court for shipping purposes, elevators, ventilating, heating and lighting apparatus, and the lower floors of the great book stack of the library.
At the eastern end of the building beginning in the basement and occupying two stories is the auditorium with a gallery and promenade on three sides. The stage which has an architectural treatment of four huge Corinthian columns forming a curved loggia, is flanked by large niches for pipe organs. The auditorium is lighted by 12 large windows and its decorative treatment is in a modified Greek style.
THE FIRST FLOOR.
To explain more in detail the disposition and treatment of the building it will be best to consider the structure from the point of one entering the building by the great flight of steps conducting to the main entrance on the first floor. On entering the vestibule, one finds, directly opposite, the main group of elevators; to the right, a massive and easy staircase leading directly to the second floor rotunda; and to the left, the bureau of information. Under the staircase leading to the second floor rotunda, is the staircase conducting to the basement floor. On the first floor, one passes from the entrance vestibule into a broad, vaulted corridor which runs east and west and leads to exits at both ends of the building. By means of this corridor access is given to the different offices of the Education Department. The Regents' Chamber and the rooms of the Commissioner of Education will receive special architectural treatment. The Regents' Chamber, which is located in the west pavilion, has walls of Indiana limestone and a carved beam ceiling of oak. The Commissioner's rooms adjacent to the Regents' Chamber on the front of the building are treated in the Tudor style of Gothic with mahogany wainscoting. Other offices on the front to the left of the main entrance accommodate the three Assistant Commissioners and the Administration Division. To the right of the main entrance on the front are the quarters of the Visual Instruction Division. Beginning at the western end in the rear of the building are located the School Libraries Division, the Law Division, general accommodation* for stenographers and clerks, the cashier's office, the storekeeper's room, the Inspections Division, the Attendance Division, the Statistics Division, and the supply, filing and mailing rooms. The quarters of the State Examinations Board are to the right of the main entrance in the rear. The wing in the rear on the first floor contains the continuation of the book stacks and at either side of the rooms for manuscripts, maps and charts and for cataloguing, accessions, etc. In addition to the elevators already mentioned opposite the main entrance there are two passenger elevators at the eastern and western ends of the building and one on either side of the rear wing. There are also minor staircases in each instance near these elevators.
THE SECOND FLOOR
On reaching the rotunda, already mentioned, several vistas open to view: to the north a great barrel-vaulted corridor 40 feet in width, 40 feet in height and 50 feet in length, leading to the general reference reading room; to the east a shorter vaulted corridor leading to the technical and medical libraries; and to the west a similar corridor leading to the law and sociological libraries. The rotunda, thus located at the intersection of these vaulted corridors, gives a dominating climax to the architectural treatment. Over the rotunda, supported on pendentives, is a circular colonnade. This colonnade in turn supports a dome in which is a large skylight providing direct daylight to the rotunda below. This rotunda, and its vaulted corridors, are constructed of Indiana limestone, Conveniently arranged between columns, steel cases afford suitable provision for the most interesting historical exhibits; the rotunda is therefore virtually an historical museum. With its wings, the rotunda measures about 100 feet by 100 feet. The height of the dome above the second floor is 94 feet. Coming now to the disposition of the special libraries (medicine, law, sociological and technical) attention is called to an innovation of a highly practical character. This is the introduction of stack rooms in the center of the building. This arrangement gives the reading rooms the easiest access possible to their respective collections of books. The architectural treatment of these rooms is consistently simple and dignified. The general reference reading room, with its dependencies, occupies practically the entire north wing. It is placed directly above, and in immediate connection with, an immense stack room having a capacity of 2,000,000 volumes. Attention is here called to another innovation: after much study it was decided to place the books in artificially lighted stack rooms, the temperature, humidity and ventilating of which could be absolutely controlled. The architectural treatment of the general reference reading room is at once both novel and bold. It consists of 12 slender bronze columns supporting a series of terra cotta domes. The walls are of stone and the room receives sunlight by means of 11 huge leaded glass windows. The lateral dimensions of this room are 106 feet by 130 feet and the height of the domes is about 50 feet. On this floor, in connection with the rooms already described, are the necessary dependencies: offices of the Director, card catalogue room, studies, coat rooms, lavatories, etc.
THE THIRD FLOOR.
On the third floor are located the offices and workrooms of the Examinations Division, the Educational Extension Division and the Library School. The Main reading room of the library already mentioned extends through the third floor.
THE FOURTH FLOOR.
The fourth floor is devoted entirely to the State Museum and contains the State collections in geology, mineralogy, paleontology, archeology, botany and zoology. These collections will be housed in rooms lighted from above. The principal room on the south side of the building, though subdivided into sections, affords a vista its entire length. It is 570 feet in length. 50 feet in height and 54 feet in width; it is not equaled in open and dignified space by any other museum in the country. These rooms are all given an agreeable architectural treatment. Access is afforded from this main museum to the north wing of the building; on going to the north wing, one passes the circular colonnade of the rotunda before mentioned; and between the columns a comprehensive view of the rotunda is afforded. The offices of the Director of the museum and his assistants are located on a mezzanine in the rear, adjacent to the exhibition rooms.
Reviewing the plans, as a whole, attention may be called finally to the arrangement of practical details; among these Is the location of the driveway court under the north wing of the building which makes the delivery of books easy and direct; the concentration of lavatories and lockers for the service and for the public; the ample provision for mechanical transportation, communication, ventilation, heating and lighting; and the thoroughness with which the construction of the building insures every modern facility for administration and assures every protection against fire.
Such are the principal features of the State Education Building: the effort has been made everywhere to answer practical needs, to conserve space as much as possible, to provide for future expansion and to treat the building in a thoroughly sane and modern spirit alike in its utilitarian and its esthetic aspects.
This movement for a building devoted exclusively to the educational activities of the Empire State is significant in the history of education in this country. The situation is unique. No other state has attempted anything of the kind. Surely a State that expends from all sources for all branches of education 72 millions of dollars a year can well afford to lead the way. The Trustees of Public Buildings, as has been noted, are already empowered to contract for a building at a cost not to exceed $3,500,000 exclusive of the site. It must be especially gratifying to the people of the State to know that the limit of expenditure for the construction of this building is set positively before work is begun, and that the plans have been worked out so carefully and minutely that with our knowledge of modern methods of building it is reasonable to predict, barring wholly unforeseen accidents, that the first great State Education Building in the country will be ready for occupancy by the autumn of 1910, and that it will be well worthy of the splendid educational activities co the Empire State.
"Cyclopedia of architecture, carpentry, and building : a general reference work" page 140
which the Romans afterward adopted in their Orders — the circular plan, and the small scale — the tower itself being only about seven feet in diameter — render it very imperfect for our purpose, considering it from any standpoint. The details of this monument are better shown in Plate XLIX, where the detail of the capital may be studied with more particularity. The entablature follows closely the type shown in Fig. 50, and includes a course of dentils, but lacks the crowning cymatium of the Order Plate, its place being taken by a course of acroteria, forming a "chencau." or cresting around the top of the crowning member. The three fascias or faces of the architrave, as shown on the corner, are treated in a rather suggestive and unusual fashion. The beautiful and richly foliated crowning ornament of the monument is shown on this plate at a larger size, while the graceful acanthus ornament flowing down the roof and leading up to this central feature is shown in direct elevation as well as in plan and section. The "running dog" or wave ornament placed on the roof above and inside of the course of acroteria, is also shown in detail.
page 61
STATE ARCHITECT.
FRANKLIN B. WARE.
Franklin B. Ware, the State Architect, was appointed to his present position on October 15, 1907, by Governor Hughes, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. George L. Heins.
Mr. Ware was born in New York city in 1873 and was graduated from the Architectural Department, School of Mines, Columbia University, in 1894. He then entered the office of his father, becoming a member of the firm of James E. Ware & Sons in 1896. Mr. Ware is a member of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He has been concerned with the construction or many important buildings, among them the Twelfth Regiment Armory, New York city, the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, Model Tenements for the City and Suburban Homes Company, and several libraries and public school buildings.
He was elected to the Board of Aldermen in New York city in 1901, and served two terms. While a member of the Board he was especially interested in the work of the Committee on Buildings, of which he was chairman during one term.
He is a member of the Republican Club of New York city, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club, Columbia University Club, and the Fort Orange Club of Albany.
page 541
State Architect.
[Chap. 566, Laws of 1899.]
The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint and may at pleasure remove the State Architect, who shall hold office until the end of the term of the Governor by whom he was appointed, unless the Capitol building is sooner completed, when the office shall cease. He shall receive an annual salary of $7,500. Before entering on the duties of his office, he shall execute an official undertaking in the sum of $50,000, with sufficient sureties approved by the Comptroller and filed in his office. The present Commissioner of the New Capitol shall be the State Architect until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. In addition to his other duties, the State Architect shall, without additional compensation, prepare the plans and specifications, and act as the architect of all buildings constructed at the expense of the State.
State Architect. Name, Franklin B. Ware;Residence, New York City; Appointed Oct. 15, 1907.
Employees.
Mr. Francis Oliver, Deputy State Architect.
Samuel Manning, Engineer-in-Chief.
Superintendent of Public Buildings.
The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Speaker of the Assembly as the trustees of public buildings of the State located at Albany, appoint a Superintendent thereof, who has charge and care of the same. The Superintendent, subject to the approval of the trustees, appoints all persons necessary in the maintenance department of the buildings and grounds under his charge; he also, with the approval of the trustees, purchases all supplies required in that department. He gives a bond of $10,000, holds office for two years, and is required to give his constant attention to the duties of his office.
Superintendent, Name, Daniel W. Cahill; Residence, Watertown; Appointed, May 11, 1906.
Partial Roster of Employees of the Superintendent of Public Buildings.
Elmer Blair, Deputy Superintendent.
Leonard Colnon, Chief Clerk.
Miller Hay, Paymaster.
E. J. Hazelton, Bookkeeper.
Jesse F, Miller, Chief Engineer.
Leonard F. Bloom, Electrical Engineer.
STATE HISTORIAN.
VICTOR HUGO PALTSITS.
Victor Hugo Paltsits, the State Historian, was born in New York City July 12, 1867. He attended public and private schools of New York City, from 1872-1881; took a scientific course at Cooper Institute, from 1882-1886, and studied German, French, Latin, Greek and Spanish at high schools and under private tutors, and Coptic at Columbia University. He was a member of the Lenox Library staff from 1888-1907, as assistant in the reading room, 1890; sublibrarian from 1893 to July, 1907, the title being changed about 1895 to assistant librarian. On July 15, 1907, he was nominated by Governor Hughes as State Historian, and commissioned on July 24, 1907.
As State Historian, Mr Paltsits has edited two large volumes of "Minutes of the Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies in the State of New York 1778-1781" (Albany, 1909) and a third (index) volume is soon to follow; he will issue during the year 1910 also two volumes of "Minutes of the Executive Council of the Province of New York 1668-1673," accompanied by many collateral and illustrative documents; he is preparing for early publication three volumes of "Minutes of the Committee of the City and County of Albany, 1775-1778." The State Historian has addressed many of the local historical societies of the State and has advocated the expansion of historical interests and a greater care in the preservation and custody of the public records throughout the State.
Unofficially, and under private auspices before his appointment as State Historian, Mr. Paltsits edited "The Journal of Captain William Pote, Jr., 1745-1747" (New York, 1896) ; prepared for the city of Charleston, S. C., "Papers relating to the Siege of Charleston in 1780," published in 1898; edited Rev. John Miller's “New York Considered and Improved, 1695” (Cleveland, 1903) ; Captivity of Nehemiah How” (Cleveland, 1904). He was Bibliographical Adviser on the editorial staff of the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,” in 73 volumes (Cleveland, 1890-1901) ; he revised volumes three and five of Appletons’ “Cyclopedia of American Biography,” edition of 1898, and contributed eighty-eight new sketches to this edition. He is also author or compiler of the following monographs: “Contributions to Bibliography of the Lettres Edifiantes” (Cleveland, 1900) ; “Bibliography of the Separate and Collected Works of Philip Freneau,” the poet of the American Revolution (New York, 1903) ; “Scheme for the Conquest of Canada in 1746” (Worcester, 1905) ; “The Depredation at Pemaquid in August, 1689” (Portland, 1905) ; “The Almanacs of Roger Sherman” (Worcester, 1907) ; “The Function of State Historian of New York” (Albany, 1909) ; and exhaustive bibliographies of the works of Father Louis Hennepin, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, of Baron Lahontan's Voyages, of Nicholas Denys, and of Father Chrestien Leclercq. Mr. Paltsits has been expert adviser on historical illustration to several extensive American histories, particularly to Dr. Avery's “History of the United States;” has contributed many articles and reviews on historical and other topics, and has cooperated extensively with much of the work done by others in the United States and Canada.
Mr Paltsits is a member of some twenty historical and scientific societies of the United States, England and Germany
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New York Times, W. Axel Warn
Albany Times-Union, Harry Gott
New York American, Louis D. Lang
New York Evening Sun, W. E. Harg
Albany Evening Journal, John C. Crary
New York Herald, Don Martin
Rochester Democrat Chronicle, W. A. Marakle
Buffalo Times, W. A. Marakle
New York World, Louis J. Seibold
Troy Press, E. C. Cuyler
Utica Press, E. C. Cuyler
Albany Argus, George E. Griffin
Albany Argus, H. W. Smith
Buffalo Commercial, H. W. Smith
New York World, Chas. S. Hand
Staats Zeitung, Franz Richter
Albany Freie-Blatter, Albert Kaestner
Albany Journal, William H. Owen
New York Evening Mail, H. C. McMillan
Buffalo Express, S. H. Evans
Buffalo News, F. G. Whiston
The New York Red Book 1910
Elihu Root.
Horace White, Lieutenant-Governor.
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