Oneida Ontario.... Orange. County. 2 Charles B. Wood. Putnam.. Henry Thorp. The members elect were called to order at eleven o'clock A. M., by John O'Donnell, Clerk of the last Assembly. The proceedings were opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. McKean. The Hon. Deidrich Willers, Jr., Secretary of State, administered to the members present the oath of office prescribed by the twelfth section of the Constitution of this State, and the said oath was thereupon subscribed by the members. Mr. C. S. Spencer offered for the consideration of the House a resolution in the words following, to wit: Resolved, That the House do now proceed to the election of a Speaker; that the roll of members be called by the Clerk, and that each member, as his name is called, rise in his place and openly name his choice for such officer; and that, after the election of Speaker, we proceed to the election of a Clerk and Sergeant-at-arms in the same manner. The Clerk put the question whether the House would agree to said resolution, and it was determined in the affirmative. The Clerk then proceeded to call the roll of members, whereupon each member, as his name was called, rose in his place and nominated as follows: James W. Husted having received a majority of all the votes given, the Clerk declared him duly elected Speaker. The Clerk appointed Messrs. Prince and Weed a committee to conduct the Speaker to the chair. Upon taking the chair the Speaker arose and addressed the House as follows: Gentlemen of the Assembly: For the honor and the expression of confidence contained in the vote just announced, I beg you to accept my heartfelt thanks. With your co-operation and support, upon which I confidently rely, I shall seek to discharge the duties of Speaker with fidelity, courtesy and impartiality, and in such a manner that the efforts of the Chair within their legitimate sphere, harmonizing with the broader action of the House, shall conduce to results which will be just in themselves and command the approval of those we represent. Our labors will be watched by four millions of people whose great interests they deeply affect. We shall be judged, as we ought to be judged, by the character and influence of what we do in the session before us, and with the faithful fulfillment of all our obligations as legislators, we may be as ready to invite as our constituents to apply that one true rule of public judgment. A short session with the prompt yet deliberate dispatch of necessary business and distinguished by pure, just and frugal legislation, passed in the interests of the whole people, is the paramount object to be kept constantly in view. To complete our labors within the hundred days contemplated by the Constitution demands our best efforts. As contributing to this end and as eminently salutary in itself, the enactment of laws conferring special franchises and privileges upon individuals or corporations, of acts framed in the interest of monopolies and of all kinds of special legislation should, so far as practicable, be studiously avoided. Our work should be directed to public and not to private ends. Among the subjects requiring action at your hands are the proposed amendments to the Constitution. Having already passed one Legislature and received very wide and general sanction, they will doubtless commend themselves to your approval. If they are well adapted to our government in the future, they are equally fitted, so far as applicable, for our guidance in the present, and we may at least carry out their elevated spirit in restricting the scope of special legislation, and accomplishing legitimate public objects chiefly by general laws. The interests of our great State are vast, complex and multiplied. Foremost among them, and closely identified with each other, are the protection of her agricultural and industrial elements, and the development of her splendid commerce. To preserve her commercial supremacy requires the best wisdom of her representatives. Competitors are pressing forward with their enterprises, and thus equally vital to supply the demands of her own citizens, and to maintain the carrying trade of the nation is the necessity of such increased facilities as will assure rapid transportation at equitable rates. In order at once to promote this object and to relieve the people from taxation for canal purposes, the last Legislature proposed an amendment to the Constitution providing for the funding of the canal debt. This subject of internal commerce, with its various aspects, will again demand our attention, and in harmony with the same general policy we shall be expected to respond to that just public sentiment which asks for the correction of corporate mismanagement and abuses. Thus fulfilling our obligations we shall have the consciousness of deserving, as, relying upon a stern but just public sense, we shall have the assurance of receiving the approbation of our constituents. Keeping before us the highest standard of duty and bearing in mind that every act makes a factor in the complete impression we should so labor that when our trust is returned to those who gave it, it will meet with the plaudit of well done. Our purpose and our work will be measured by the results, and from that test no legislator should shrink. The House then proceeded, in the same manner, to the election of Clerk, with the following result: Mr. John O'Donnell having received a majority of all the votes given, was declared elected Clerk of the Assembly. The oath of office was then administered to him by the Speaker. Mr. Lincoln offered for the consideration of the House a resolution in the words following: |