After the adjournment of the last Legislature, regarding it as a duty to obtain the best information on subjects pertaining to my official action, I visited each of the State prisons and made a personal examination of their condition. The result was, in most respects, highly satisfactory. Great improvements have been made in the system of prison management and discipline. Experience has shown that a humane administration is more favorable to subordination than stern, despotic severity. Every practicable arrangement seems to have been made for the health, comfort and moral improvement of the convicts. Much praise is due to the officers, chaplains and physicians for their efforts to amend the condition and reform the minds of the wretched beings who have been banished from society to expiate their offences against its laws. Many have been redeemed from the deepest degradation by the influence of kindly teaching and example. The endeavors of the Inspectors to improve the financial management of the prisons, have been attended with considerable sucNo branch of the public service requires more constant vigilance to ensure integrity and economy in the expenditures. A striking improvement is perceptible in the affairs of the Sing Sing Prison. For the first time in many years, its officers deem it unnecessary to call on the Legislature for pecuniary aid.

cess.

The finances of the Auburn Prison are in a less prosperous condition, and a considerable appropriation will be required for its support. This necessity has been produced partly by a large expenditure in erecting new buildings, which had become indispensable.

From a careful examination of the subject, I am convinced that the unfavorable results at Clinton Prison may be attributed in part to the incomplete execution of the original plan, which included the necessary work for making iron and manufacturing it in some of its ruder forms. That part of the design has been neglected. No forges or furnaces have been erected, and the employment of prisoners has consisted in excavating and separating the ore; an operation which affords but little profit in the present condition of the iron market. The difficulty has been increased by the failure of ore on the land held by the State, making it necessary to pay a heavy rent for the privilege of working on an

adjacent tract. A result, much more favorable, may be produced by erecting furnaces for smelting and manufacturing the ore, on a scale sufficient for the employment of two or three times the present number of convicts. The additional expense of maintaining a larger number would be comparatively small. The labor of the convicts would be much more remunerative in the manufacture than the excavation of the ore. Other than financial considerations may be urged in favor of this policy.

Complaints continue to be made of the employment of too large a share of the convict labor in mechanical occupations, which conflict with the interests of honest citizens engaged in similar pursuits.

This evil, unavoidable to a certain extent, should be diminished as far as practicable. A leading motive in the establishment of the Clinton Prison was to withdraw a large class of prisoners from mechanical employments. But that purpose has been only partially fulfilled. Aside from other inducements, I am of opinion that the management of all the prisons would be improved by transferring some of the convicts from Auburn and Sing Sing to Clinton. At Auburn the number of prisoners sometimes exceeds the number of cells. The increase of criminals consequent upon the growth of population and other causes, will soon produce the same result at Sing Sing. The evils produced by overcrowding the prisons beyond their regular capacity are too serious to be tolerated. It cannot be doubted that the future. necessities of the State will require a third prison.

After making 80 large an expenditure upon the establishment at Clinton, its abandonment cannot be seriously entertained, and I would recommend that proper measures be taken for erecting such works as are necessary to carry the original design into full

effect.

The number of convicts in the several State Prisons on the first of December last, was as follows:

The number pardoned from these prisons during the last year, was 104. The annual list of reprieves, commutations and pardons, will be transmitted in a special communication. In the exercise of the pardoning power, one of the most embarrassing and delicate prerogatives that can be confided to human discretion, I have endeavored to act upon correct views of justice, humanity and public policy. Error in the conviction, undue severity of punishment, loss of health, produced or aggravated by long confinement, and service rendered to the State by the discovery of accomplices, have been regarded as the only legitimate grounds for the indulgence of clemency. In the discharge of this difficult duty, I have been impressed with the importance of a careful revision of our criminal laws for the purpose of making the punishment of certain crimes more proportionate to the grade of offence. Some of the provisions of our statutes are productive of inequalities which violate the sense of justice, and this evil is aggravated by a want of uniformity in the action of the local courts.

The amount fixed by the present law to distinguish grand from petit larceny, should be increased, and in certain cases the minimum term of imprisonment in the State Prison, which is now established at two years, ought to be reduced to one year.

An extraordinary number of capital offences, and a considerable increase in other crimes, have made the last a memorable year in the judicial annals of the State. This melancholy fact must be attributed in a large degree to the prevalence of intemperance in our cities and larger towns-a growing evil which has become the most prolific source of wretchedness, pauperism, and crime.

During the year, seventeen persons were found guilty of murder and three of arson in the first degree; and several more are in prison awaiting trial. Of the number thus convicted, six have been executed; the sentences of five have been commuted to imprisonment for life, and nine await the time fixed or to be fixed for their execution. The duty of the Executive in relation to crimes punishable with death is highly responsible and painful. In most cases strong appeals are made by the friends and relatives of the convict for an exercise of the pardoning power; and if this

effort proves unsuccessful, the courts are resorted to for relief, frequently upon points having little connection with the guilt or innocence of the accused, but involving merely some question of form or regularity in the proceedings. In prosecutions where human life is at stake, the greatest care should be observed, to see not only that the conviction is intrinsically just, but in accordance with established principles of law.

My reflections upon the subject have produced a belief that the ends of justice would be promoted by submitting every capital conviction to a review by the judges of the Supreme Court, before fixing a day for the execution of the sentence. It should be made the duty of the presiding judge of the Oyer and Terminer, in which the trial is held, to report the evidence and all the proceedings to the Supreme Court of the district, and that tribunal should be required, at its next general term, to examine the case and decide upon the legality of the conviction. If they confirm the sentence, they should fix a day for its execution and report their decision to the Executive. Such a review, as is now suggested, would secure to every convict, however friendless, the substantial benefits of an appeal in which his rights would receive deliberate and impartial consideration; it would relieve the pardoning power from an oppressive portion of its responsibility; and I cannot doubt that in many cases which give rise to differences of opinion in the community, a judicial proceeding of the character proposed would strengthen public confidence in the justice of the sentence, and induce more general acquiescence in the propriety of its execution.

It affords me much satisfaction to refer to the good management and excellent condition of the Albany Penitentiary, in which the convicts for minor offences in this and several adjacent counties are imprisoned. A personal examination of the establishment enables me to speak of its administration, and especially of the improvement in discipline and economy, in terms of sincere approbation.

It appears from the information furnished by the Commissioners of Emigration, that nearly 300,000 emigrants were landed at

the port of New-York during the last year. The most gratifying success has attended the efforts of the board to provide for the wants and better the condition of the destitute strangers who are coming amongst us in such extraordinary numbers. More than 20,000 of the sick and helpless were received during the year into the institutions under the charge of the Commissioners: employment for nearly an equal number was obtained through their friendly agency: many thousands were forwarded to the interior at the expense of the emigrant fund: and effectual measures were employed to protect the whole body of emigrants from those nefarious frauds which had been practised for years with comparative impunity. By the establishment of the present system, and its faithful administration, an important service has been rendered to the public interest and to the cause of humanity. The suggestions of the Commissioners in favor of some further legislation to promote the objects of their labors, are commended to your favorable attention.

For the present condition of our militia establishment I would refer you to the annual report of the Adjutant General, the Inspector General, and the Commissary General. Satisfactory progress has been made in carrying out the act of the last Legislature, and its provisions have proved highly beneficial. In pursuance of the new law, I appointed an Inspector General, whose active exertions have been of much utility in promoting an efficient organization and infusing a healthful military spirit. Many brigade and regimental districts, which had failed to comply with the law of 1847, have been successfully organized, and numerous volunteer companies have been formed, which promise to reflect credit upon the service. The importance of maintaining a well trained militia force ought not to be underestimated, and it is gratifying to perceive that a growing interest in the subject is manifested in all sections of the State.

The operations of the banks and the state of the currency will be fully exhibited in the annual report of the Superintendent of the Banking Department. The circulating medium of the State appears to be in a sound condition. Two recent failures of banks of circulation serve to demonstrate the advantages of the general banking law, instead of impairing our confidence in its safety.