VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 407, RELATING TO STATE OF NEW YORK. EXECUTIVE CHAMBer, To the Assembly : ALBANY, April 23, 1883. Assembly bill No. 407, entitled "An act to revise and amend the law in relation to the village of Lyons, in the county of Wayne," is herewith returned without approval. This bill does not, by its terms, purport to amend any other law, but appears to be an entirely new charter, containing some of the provisions embraced in previous statutes relating to the corporation of the village of Lyons, and some of the provisions of the general village law. There are also found in this bill the strikingly original and preposterous features usually discovered in such contrivances, which, if not violations, are certainly invasions of that clause of the constitution which prohibits the passage of a local or private bill incorporating villages. I shall only call attention to a few sections of this charter, furnishing abundant reasons for my disapproval. The first section provides that the corporation may, with the approval of the trustees and consent of a majority of the taxpayers voting at a village meeting, receive by gift, grant, devise, bequest or purchase, real or personal property in fee or in trust, for such time and purposes as shall be specified in the instruments creating the trust. This permits this village to acquire and hold property of any kind and amount, for purposes in no way connected with the ordinary objects of the corporation. It also per mits the holding of such property in trust without any reference to the limitations of the Revised Statutes in rela tion to the creation of trusts, thus substituting the terms of the instrument creating the trusts for the law of the State. Section eight provides that special meetings of the board of trustees at which every member is present, may be held without special notice or delay; and that a written admission of such notice and waiver of delay, shall, in those particulars, be equivalent to personal attendance; but section eleven declares that a majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. It might well be a subject of speculation whether or not the equivalent of personal attendance, afforded by the admission of service and waiver of delay, would be counted in making up this quorum. If so, the attendance thus represented might, without difficulty, secure a hearing upon the matters discussed at such meeting. By section thirteen the trustees of the village are given power at all times to arrest or cause to be arrested, by any person, and without process, any and all criminals, as well as vagrants and disorderly and drunken persons; and if an inhabitant of the village shall refuse to aid in making such arrest upon the command of any trustee, he shall be subject to a fine not to exceed twenty-five dollars, and imprisonment till the fine be paid, not exceeding thirty days. Without analyzing these startling provisions, it is sufficient to say that they do violence to all preconceived ideas touching the right to arrest, and the protection of the rights of the citizen. Section twenty-five provides that the trustees may reduce or release any general village tax, assessed against any person whose age or infirmity and straitened circumstances, shall in the unanimous judgments of all the trustees, entitle him or her to such relief. The power to tax should be exercised in such a manner as to do exact justice to all who have to bear its burdens, and none should be released in case of supposed hardship, and their share of taxation exacted from their neighbors. It is provided in section thirty-four, that no payments to the treasurer shall discharge, in any degree, any obligation or indebtedness to said village, unless a receipt therefor, given by the treasurer, shall, within five days of its issue, be filed with the village clerk. It must be conceded that a law declaring a debt not discharged by payments unless the receipt therefor is filed in a particular place, would tend to great injustice, and must be considered an unnecessary and unjustifiable restriction of the ordinary rules of law. There are other sections of this charter which might be criticised, to which I will not refer. It is quite apparent that something should be done to prevent the introduction or, at any rate, the passage of such bills as this. They seem often to be prepared without any care, or without any appreciation of the evils to be remedied, or the manner of accomplishing improvements. Once here, they attract but little attention, because they are supposed to be of no importance to the Legislature, being local in their nature. And then they are good naturedly allowed to pass and to reach the Executive, a mass of impracticable inconsistencies and incongruous and useless crudities, which, if allowed to go upon our statute books, would be a disgrace to the State and the law-making power. I am of the opinion that villages that have special charters which they claim to amend, should be driven to reorganize under the general law, which if in any way deficient should be amended to reach all reasonable needs. GROVER CLEVELAND. VETO, ASSEMBLY BILL No. 360, FOR RELIEF OF SURVIVING MEMBERS OF FIRST N. Y. MEXICAN VOLUNTEERS. STATE OF NEW YORK. To the Assembly: REGIMENT, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ALBANY, April 25, 1883. Assembly bill No. 360, entitled "An act for the relief of surviving members of First Regiment, New York Mexican Volunteers," is herewith returned without approval. This bill provides that the sum of twelve dollars per month shall be paid, in quarterly payments, for the term of two years, to every person who shall appear, on due evidence, to have been a member of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Ward B. Burnett, in the war between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico, and residing in this State at the time of the passage of said bill. The sum of fourteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-six dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the purpose mentioned in the bill. I am by no means certain that the legislation thus proposed involves a correct principle, or that the appeal on which it rests should be answered by favorable action. Without regard, however, to the propriety of awarding the relief sought, but as a question of principle, examination of former legislation on the subject will furnish proof that enough has been done in this direction, and fully demonstrates that justice to the taxpayer should replace the generosity of the State. 1 By chapter 508 of the laws of 1851, fifteen thousand UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LIBRARIES dollars per annum for two years thereafter was appropriated for the purpose of paying the members of this regiment the sum of twelve dollars each month. By subsequent legislation appropriations have been made to the members of the regiment as follows: In the year 1862, $288; in 1870, $12,000; in 1871, $5,000; in 1875, $5,000; in 1876, $2,500; in 1877, $1,888; in 1878, $3,638. After the donation of more than $60,000 to this regiment from the funds of the State, as above indicated, it seems to me further relief ought not to be insisted on. GROVER CLEVELAND. MEMORANDUM FILED WITH SENATE BILL NO. 234, INCREASING THE NUMBER OF JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT. STATE OF NEW YORK. EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, ALBANY, April 27, 1883. [Filed with Secretary of State.] I am not willing to approve Senate bill No. 234, entitled "An act to provide for organizing in the Supreme Court five general terms thereof, and for the election of justices of that court in addition to those now in office," for the reason that I do not believe the number of additional judges provided for in said bill is necessary, and because I am satisfied that the increase of taxation which it involves, is not justified. But I think an increase of judges in some of the districts of the State is necessary and proper, and in view of |