our legislation for the relief of the helpless. Until within a recent period, it was the general belief that the idiot, apparently bereft of intellect, is not susceptible of moral or mental improvement. But experience has demonstrated that he retains some latent germs of intelligence which may be developed by patient culture, and that he may be subjected to healthful discipline, employed in useful labor, and raised to a condition of comparative comfort. Great success has attended the institutions established for the instruction of this class of sufferers in France, Germany and England. A similar school, recently formed in Massachusetts, has been attended with the most satisfactory results. I commend these facts to your attention, convinced that considerations of policy and humanity should prompt you to rear an institution which will complete our system of public charities, and exalt still higher the character of the State for beneficence and philanthropy.

The condition of the State Prisons will be fully presented in the annual report of the Inspectors. The Sing Sing and Clinton prisons continue to be a heavy charge on the treasury, though it is but just to remark that much of the large expenditure at the former establishment, during the past year, was occasioned by the erection of permanent buildings. It is gratifying to observe that in all our penitentiaries an admirable system of discipline prevails, conducive to the physical comfort and moral welfare of their inmates.

I would respectfully call your attention to the importance of enlarging the House of Refuge for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents in the city of New-York. The number of delinquents is constantly increasing, while the accommodations of the institution have not been materially extended since its foundation. The managers have found it necessary to notify the Sheriff's of counties that no more delinquents can be received, until further notice; and a large number of youthful convicts are consequently committed to the prisons. The crowded state of the establishment baffles the efforts of the managers to classify of

fenders; and the erring youth, whose wanderings may be traced to early destitution or abandonment is brought into intimate association with the hardened criminal. Thus the humane design of the institution, the reformation of juvenile offenders, is in a great degree defeated. These evils require a prompt and adequate remedy. The Western House of Refuge has been brought into use under circumstances which give assurance of satisfactory results. The admirable structure and arrangement of the establishment, and its successful administration thus far, reflect credit upon the Trustees who have been prompted to give their time and efforts to this noble undertaking by a spirit of enlightened and disinterested philanthropy. I refer you to the report of the Trustees for the progress and present condition of the institution, and respectfully recommend such further appropriation as may be necessary to complete the new erections commenced last year.

The present condition of our militia establishment, and of the military property belonging to the State, will be exhibited in the annual reports of the Adjutant General and the Commissary General. To preserve the efficiency of the militia system by laws calculated to excite and cherish a military spirit in the ranks of our citizen soldiery, always the main strength and reliance of the country in time of war, is an object eminently deserving the attention of the Legislature.

The law of 1849, in relation to emigrant passengers, providing for the relief of the sick and destitute among them by a tax, intended to protect the community from unjust and oppressive burdens, has been efficiently administered and continues to produce avorable results. It is to be regretted that existing legal provisions have not, in all cases, furnished adequate protection against the practice of frauds on those unfortunate emigrants, destitute of friends and ignorant of our laws, who are constantly landing on our shores, and if practicable, further legal protection ought to be provided.

[Senate, No. 2.]

The last Legislature, acting in pursuance of the humane suggestions of my predecessor, passed a law designed to secure to each family which possesses a freehold estate, a home of limited value, in case of the embarrassment or bankruptcy of its head. It is represented that the clause requiring a special registry of each homestead intended to be held subject to this exemption, renders the law practically inoperative from the aversion felt by most men in good credit to advertising an apprehension of insolvency. I would respectfully submit to your consideration whether the benevolent principles of the law should be made to depend upon a condition with which most men will omit to comply. In other words, ought not the rule and the exception to be reversed?

I would also suggest that the exemption afforded by this law ought not to include debts contracted previous to the purchase of the estate by the debtor. Justice, no less than sound policy, dictates that neither temptation nor opportunity should be given for the practice of fraud upon confiding creditors.

I would respectfully recommend that an adequate appropriation be made for a more complete exploration of the lands belonging to the State, in the northern counties, with a view to plank roads and other facilities of access. It is believed that by improving the means of communication, some large tracts might be brought into market and sold for actual cultivation. The settlement and improvement of these remote forests is a matter of much public importance, and should be encouraged by a liberal policy. The land should be divided into convenient farms, and offered to actual settlers for small prices, intended only to indemnify the treasury for actual expenditures. However desirable it may be deemed, under monarchical governments, to have the national domain held by a few, it is important in a republic, that it should be divided, as far as practicable, among the many. Resolutions were adopted by the last Legislature, with signal unanimity, in favor of opening the public lands of the Union, without price, to landless settlers. Those resolutions, in their general scope and purpose, have my hearty concurrence. Some of the evils resulting from large landed. accumulations, and especially from extensive leasehold estates,

have been fully realized in this State. Our new constitution has wisely abolished feudal tenures, and prohibited the future creation of perpetual leases. Contracts of this nature, made at an anterior period, in harmony with laws then existing, have been and must be respected in all our legislation. It can hardly be doubted that the occupation of the large manors in this section of the State, under the system of perpetual leases adopted in the early settlement of the country, has been highly detrimental to the interests of both proprietors and tenants, for some years past. Non-payment of rent, litigation, resistance of law, irregular combinations and popular discontent, in its most repulsive form, have checked our progress and disfigured our public history. I consider it of much importance that these evils should be remedied by just and liberal arrangements, which shall respect the rights and promote the true welfare of both parties. The perpetuation of leasehold estates, embracing a large agricultural population, is repugnant to our national policy and to the liberal spirit of our institutions. It is a kind of tenure which has become odious to tenants, exceedingly inconvenient and expensive to landlords, and every way adverse to the interests of both.

The manly independence which belongs to the character of an American citizen, demands the absolute control and ownership in fee of the soil, improved and cultivated by his labor, and on which he is to spend his life and rear his children. Experience has shown that leasehold estates are peculiarly unfavorable to the development of the country and the progress of the people in improvement and enterprise.

It is to be hoped that such liberal terms of sale will be offered by landlords, and accepted by tenants, as shall soon put an end to a tenure which ought no longer to be desired by either. It is worthy of your consideration whether this desirable result may not be promoted by the friendly mediation of the State, on principles having the free assent and voluntary concurrence of both proprietors and occupants. A purchase of the manorial titles by the State, and a re-sale to the tenants on equitable terms, would be preferable to the present state of things. All remedies inconsistent with those rights of property and the obligation of contracts which are secured by law, and which government is

bound to enforce, must be delusive and impracticable. The sanctity of private rights and the supremacy of the law must be maintained under all circumstances. Consistently with these principles, which I hold to be paramount and inviolable, I believe it is practicable to terminate the evils complained of, provided the parties to be affected will adopt a rational view of their own interests, and co-operate in an equitable and enlightened system of adjustment.

The condition of our statute laws will require your most serious consideration. At present great uncertainty exists and great difficulty frequently arises in ascertaining what is the law upon many questions relating to the rights and interests of our citizens, and to the duties and powers of public officers. This difficulty is most severely felt in the interpretation of the statutes relating to the administration of justice. The Revised Statutes are partially in operation: the judiciary acts of 1847 and 1848, with the subsequent amendments to them, are also in operation to some extent, and the Code of Practice effects changes not only in remedies but in rights, sometimes abrogating previous amendments wholly, sometimes modifying them, and often introducing provisions which limit or qualify their operation. That code was not a complete system in itself, but assumed the existence of extensive legal principles and of a knowledge of the practice and pleadings prevalent when it was adopted. It was a series of amendments to the existing law, operating in form upon remedies, but in reality often upon rights, so far as they were affected by the remedy. It was, therefore, circumscribed and partial in that class of cases. The commissioners doubtless considered it beyond the limits of their authority to make general and comprehensive provisions, in respect to the rights thus affected.

The vast and alarming increase of litigation which seems to overwhelma some of the courts, and threatens to obstruct the administration of justice, particularly in the court of last resort, Þas doubtless arisen in some degree from this uncertainty. My soquaintance with the practical operations of the new provisions referred to, does not qualify me to pronounce upon their merits, nor do I feel competent to judge how far the complete code of