Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/1169

Rh

There were in 1914 17 industries with products exceeding $50,000,- ooo in value, 21 with products between $25,000,000 and $50,000,000 in value, and 25 with products between $10,000,000 and $25,000,- ooo a total of 63 industries each with products valued at more than $10,000,000. The report showed 161 industries, each of which had a product valued at more than 1,000,000. In 1914, 87%, in 1909, 86-8% of the value of the manufactured products of the state was reported from cities and villages with 10,000 or more inhabitants. Of the 48,203 industrial establishments in the state in 1914, 29,621, or 61-5%, were located in New York City. More than one-half of the wage-earners and more than three- fifths of the value of the state's manufactured products were in both 1909 and in 1914 reported from New York City. Other important manufacturing centres were: Buffalo, with products in 1914 valued at $247,516,000; Rochester, $140,696,000; Yonkers, $67,222,000; Syracuse, $52,163,000; Schenectady, $48,762,000; Ni- agara Falls, $44,816,000; Troy, $39,929,000; Utica, $30,490,000; and -Albany, $25,211,000.

Transportation and Commerce. In 1915 the operated railway mileage was 8,824, the most important lines being the New York Central; the Delaware and Hudson; the Lehigh Valley; the West Shore; the Erie; the New York, Ontario and Western; the Pennsyl- vania; the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western; the Rutland; and the Long Island. In 1917 there were in the state 4,893 m. of electric railway which gave employment to 61,434 persons. These lines carried 2,492,325,233 revenue passengers. In 1920 there were 13,453 m. of improved roads in the state. During the previous year $17,761,545 was spent for highway construction and $6,219,190 for highway maintenance.

New York spent large sums for canal improvements. The im- proved Erie Barge Canal was opened from Troy to Buffalo in May 1918. The Champlain and the Oswego Barge Canals have also been completed. Up to April I 1920 the total expenditure for canal improvements, under bond issues, since 1902 amounted to approxi- mately $150,252,499. The canal mileage of the state in 1920 was: Erie Canal, 361; Champlain Canal, 81; Black River Canal, 89; Oneida Lake and Canal Feeder, 7 ; Oswego Canal, 77 ; Cayuga- Seneca Canal, 23; total, 638. The commerce on the canals suffered a rapid decline during the decade 1910-20. In 1910, 3,073,412 tons of products valued at $59,042,178 were carried; in 1915, 1,858,114 tons valued at $30,610,670; in 1917, 1,297,225 tons valued at $24,757,077; and m 1919, 1,238,844 tons valued at $43,972,603. New York ranks first among the states in commerce. In 1920, 5,014 vessels, with a total tonnage of 15,049,744, entered the port of New York and 4,588 vessels, with a total tonnage of 14,275,455, cleared. In that year the value of merchandise imported was $2,904,- 844,143. The value of domestic exports was $3,293,304,084.

Education. The university of the state of New York, a super- vising and examining institution, not one for teaching, is the State Department of Education. It is governed by 12 regents, one elected each year for a 12-year term by a joint ballot of the two Houses of Legislature. The board of regents elects the president of the university and the commissioner of education, both offices being held by the same person. According to the 1910 census there were in the state 2,454,428 persons between the ages of 6 and 20. Of these, 1,563,374 or 63-7% were attending school. In addition to these there were in school 55,773 children under 6 years of age, and 31,716 persons 21 years old and over, a total of 1,650,863.

The Thirteenth Annual Report of the Education Department, for the school year ending July 31 1916 contains the following summary of school attendance: common elementary schools, 1, 454,5 H! special elementary schools, 940; common high-schools, 171,263; special high-schools, 4,152; academies, 53,461; normal schools, 8,125; teachers' training classes and schools, 4,422; uni- versities, colleges, professional schools and other higher institu- tions, 56,116; private schools of all grades, exclusive of academies as enumerated above, estimated, 275,000; Indian schools, 842; evening schools, 173,878; evening vocational schools, 27,688; trades and vocational schools, 17,861 ; total, 2,248,262. The total number of teachers was 63,954, of whom' 42,957 were employed in the common elementary schools. The net value of school prop- erty was estimated at $462,698,843.

During the school year ending June 1918 there were enrolled in the public schools 1,666,589 pupils. The daily average attendance was 1,299,535, and the average duration of school was 187 days. The total number of teachers was 59,187, of whom 52,508 were women. The total state expenditure for public schools was $8 1,058,- 361 (see also section History below).

Charities and Prisons. The number of inmates in state institu- tions, almshouses, homes, reformatories, and schools for the blind and deaf, for the year ending June 30 1919, was: number in all institutions, July I 1918, 62,540; number received during the year, 96,082; total supported, 158,622, of which number 142,417 were supported by public funds and 16,205 by private funds. The num- ber discharged was 97,842. The number in state asylums and reformatories on June 30 1919 was 9,545. The State Hospital Com- mission, consisting of three members appointed by the governor and the Senate for 6-year terms, has the supervision of the state hospi- tals for the insane. On June 30 1919 there were 37,607 patients in the civil state hospitals; 1,422 in hospitals for the criminal insane;

and 916 in private institutions; a total of 39,945. Of the 37,607 patients in the civil hospitals, 33,721, or 89-7%, were entirely sup- ported by the state. The State Commission of Prisons, consisting of seven members appointed by the governor and the Senate, has supervision of all penal institutions. The pop. of the state prisons, reformatories, penitentiaries, county jails, and New York City institutions, on June 30 1919, was 11,016, and the total number of commitments to the various institutions during 1919 was 85,175. The state appropriated $36,604,579.57 for penal, charitable and cura- tive institutions for the fiscal year ending June 30 1921.

Finance. The total state debt June 30 1920 was $238,860,017, and the sinking funds amounted to $69,499,475, making the net debt $169,360,542. In addition, authorization had been granted for bonds amounting to $76,800,000, consisting of $45,000,000 soldiers' and sailors' bonus bonds, $6,800,000 barge canal bonds, $20,000,000 highway improvement bonds and $5,000,000 state forest bonds. According to Gov. Miller's message to the Legislature in Jan. 1921, the financial operations for general budget purposes for the fiscal year ending June 30 1920 were as follows:

Revenue:

General property taxes ....

Special taxes

Other general revenues ....

Total

Expenditures:

Administration, maintenance and opera- tion

Fixed charges and contributions Capital outlays. . ..

Total

Excess of receipts over expenditure.

15,058,317-01 93,018,032.15

7,515.257-83

$115,591,606.99

$ 47,902,427.19

39,699,757-53 6,422,030.75

S 94,024,215.47 $21,567,391.52

Early in 1921 the comptroller made the following estimate of revenues for the year 1921-2:

General property taxes:

Sinking funds, etc..

School-teachers' salaries, etc..

Court and stenographers' tax. Special taxes:

Excise (liquor tax).

Corporation tax

Personal income tax.

Organization of corporations.

Transfer (inheritance tax)

Stock transfer (stamp tax)

Mortgage tax ....

Motor vehicles ....

Other revenues and receipts. Total estimated revenue.

Estimated surplus, July I 1921 Total estimated resources.

13,702,340

19.935,000

650,000

200,000

30,330,000

16,500,000

1,500,000

17,500,000

8,520.000

2,750,000

4,635,000

7,613,900

$123,836,240 i8.745.595

142,581,835

When the Legislature assembled in Jan. 1921 there were sub- mitted requests for appropriations amounting to the sum of $201,- 644,292.43. However, under the leadership of the governor, who demanded rigid economy, these estimates were materially reduced. The rapid increase in the cost of the state government during 1912-21 is shown by the following table of budget appropriations:

Appropriations

Per Capita

1912

1913

$43,074,192.58 52,366,582.35

$4.61 5-53

1914

59,465,690.97

6.21

1915

47,899.527-74

4-94

1916

63,997,27i-86

6.51

1917

59,103,450.08

5-93

1918

79,742,834.21

7.89

1919

81,525,271.31

7-95

1920

95,840,983.77

9.22

1921

145,219,906.60

13-79

Two of the most important laws relative to financial adminis- tration were the Sage-Maier budget law of 1916 and the income tax law of 1919.

Government. Although the constitution adopted in 1894 has been frequently amended, the government of New York under- went no fundamental alterations between 1910 and 1921. The most important change was the adoption in 1917 of the woman suffrage amendment. The Constitutional Convention of 1915 adopted far-reaching changes in organization, but all its pro- posals were disapproved by the electorate. The number of ad- ministrative boards and commissions has been greatly increased as the activities of the state have been extended into new fields. In 1919 these agencies, according to the governor's Reconstruc- tion Commission, numbered 187. One of the pressing reforms