exclusive jurisdiction in such cases, and suggesting legislation declaring the jurisdiction of the supreme court over all crimes committed in any part of the state."

February 27. To the Senate: Transmitting papers relative to the purchase of a small tract of land from the New Stockbridge Indians in consequence of the act for the relief of Harvey Durkee.

February 27. To the Senate: Transmitting a communication from the surveyor general relative to a claim by Jacob Konkapot a Stockbridge Indian, growing out of a sale of land under a recent treaty with that tribe, and recommending legislation for his relief.

February 28. To the Assembly: Transmitting the annual report of the Governors of the New York Hospital. February 28. To the Assembly: Transmitting the annual report of the inspector of flour and meal for the counties of New York and Kings.

March 5. To the Assembly:

"GENTLEMEN.-I have the honor to lay before you an application from an infantry company, in Steuben county, for the use of arms from the public arsenals; not having any authority to comply with the request, and being frequently applied to in similar cases, I have thought proper to lay this application before the legislature, and it will remain for them to determine, whether, under extraordinary circumstances like those of the applicants, it

19 Soo-non-gize, otherwise called Tommy Jemmy, was pardoned by chap. 204, passed April 12.

The same act asserted the jurisdiction of the state courts in criminal cases as follows:

"That the sole and exclusive jurisdiction, of trying and punishing all and every person, of whatsoever nation or tribe, for crimes and offences committed within any part of this state, except only such crimes and offences as are or may be cognizable in courts deriving jurisdiction under the constitution and laws of the United States, of right belongs to, and is exclusively vested in the courts of justice of this state, organized under the constitution and laws thereof."

will be expedient to extend an important accommodation to a meritorious description of our fellow citizens, laboring under all the difficulties connected with new settlements.20

Albany, 5th March, 1822.

March 12. To the Assembly:

DE WITT CLINTON."

"GENTLEMEN.-I transmit to you a communication, by which it appears that doubts are entertained by the inspectors of the state prison, at Auburn, whether they are authorized to provide bibles for the convicts. Of the utility of the measure, there can be no doubt, and I therefore recommend that adequate authority be conferred.21 DE WITT CLINTON."

Albany, 12th March, 1822.

March 13. To the Assembly:

"GENTLEMEN.- Carleton Island, which is attached by law to the town of Lyme, in the county of Jefferson, is in consequence of a misapprehension of the rights of the state, without the benefit of magistrates, or laws, and the public property in that quarter is exposed to depredation.22 therefore recommend this subject to your particular attention.

Albany, 13th March, 1822,

DE WITT CLINTON."

I

20 The Assembly adopted a committee report in substance, declaring it inexpedient and inconsistent with the general policy of the state to furnish this militia company with arms from the arsenals, stating the general rule that members of the militia were expected to arm themselves.

21 A provision contained in chap. 273, passed April 17, authorized the prison agent at Auburn to furnish bibles for prisoners confined in solitary cells.

22 Chap. 260, directed the appointment of additional justices of the peace in the town of Lyme, Jefferson county, and they were required to reside on Carleton Island.

VOL. II.-71.

April 3. To the Assembly: Transmitting the annual report of the Adjutant General.

April 8. To the Legislature:

"GENTLEMEN.- Having ascertained, shortly after the close of the last session of the legislature, in a conference with the agent for settling the account of this state, against the United States, that there were large sums due to the state, which were either suspended or rejected by the accounting officers of the United States, and being of opinion that documents might be procured, which would realize to a further and considerable extent, our just claims, and which would greatly exceed any resulting expense, I directed him to obtain the necessary testimony, and to bring the concerns of his agency to a conclusion, in time for a special and detailed report to the legislature, during the present session; since which, I have reiterated my injunctions, and being in daily expectation of receiving the required report, I did not consider it necessary to be possessed, until then, of the information required by the Assembly; and it is, therefore, out of my power to comply any further with your request, except it be to state, that from the annexed extract of a letter from the agent, it is probable that a report will arrive in season to be communicated to you, before the adjournment of the legislature. His agency will, agreeably to the understanding between us, terminate of course with the present session, unless the legislature shall otherwise direct, or unless, in consultation with the comptroller, it shall appear necessary to continue it for a short period.

Albany, April 8, 1822.

DE WITT CLINTON.

April 17. The Legislature adjourned without day.

WASHINGTON LOTTERY MEMORIAL.

The following is the memorial referred to in the Governor's Message, ante, p. 1103.

"To the Senate and House of Representatives, of the State of New York.

"The memorial of the mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of Washington, in the district of Columbia, respectfully represents :

That, by the act of congress, of the 15th May, 1820, reviving and amending a preceding act, giving the same authority, the corporation of the said city is invested with power to authorize, with the approbation of the President of the United States, the drawing of lotteries for effecting important improvements in the city, which the ordinary revenue thereof will not accomplish, for the term of ten years; provided that the amount so authorized to be raised in each year, shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars.

That in pursuance of this act, and of that of similar tenor, which was previously in existence, resolutions have been passed from time to time, with the approbation of the present and late Presidents of the United States, authorizing lotteries, for the purposes which the ordinary revenues of the city could not accomplish; such as the building of a City Hall, of Lancasterian schools, of a Penitentiary, &c.

That, just as these lotteries have been put into successful operation, it appears, that by prohibitory laws in some of the states in the union, and the apprehension of them in others, the purpose of the said lotteries, is in a great measure defeated, and the intentions of congress, in favor of this city, thus far frustrated.

Under these circumstances, the undersigned are emboldened to approach your honorable body, and, in behalf of their fellow citizens, to apply for your active interposition in their favor.

When it is considered, that little more than twenty years ago, the ground on which this city is laid out, was for the most part covered only with woods and impassible marsh, without inhabitants, save the occupants of one or two farms, the labor which has devolved on its first settlers,

may be conceived, but can hardly be realized by those who have not had the opportunity of personal observation. They were the pioneers of a population, which has now become respectable in numbers, but, employing all their earnings in earnest and unanimous endeavors to improve the city, and devoting to that object, all their savings, have rather impoverished than enriched themselves, by their choice of this city for a home.

The cities of the old world, and even those of the new, have had small beginnings, and have risen gradually, by the profits of trade and commerce, to their present numbers. Without such aid, but solely by the steady and persevering efforts of its inhabitants-efforts, multiplying as their number has increased, and all directed to the same object, this city has grown more rapidly than any other in this country. The only parallel to it, that we are acquainted with, even in history, is the city of Petersburg, in Russia. But, when the Czar Peter determined to transfer his seat of government from Moscow, to an uninhabited spot at the mouth of the Neva, he employed, in that object, three hundred thousand men, assisted by the wealth of his empire, and all the aids of despotic coercion: roads, bridges, and buildings, sprung up at the word of command. Between that city and the city of Washington, the contrast is, in this respect, yet more striking, than is the resemblance in others. The government of the union, did not even make a road to its embryo city, or open a passage through it; all was left to individual enterprise. The authority to raise money, by way of lottery, limited as before described, is the only direct aid, that the government has ever given to the city of Washington; and of that resource, we are now in danger of being deprived, by the legislation of the several states.

We beg leave to represent further, that the extensive plan of this city, though wisely devised for the purposes of futurity, subjects the present generation to enormous expenses, in making streets and avenues, as much for the accommodation of the people of the United States in general, members of congress, and others, as for those of this city. There are many other expenses necessarily incurred, burthensome to our people, in which the whole union is interested, not to speak of that interest, which all are supposed to feel in the respectability of the metropolis. Often