Civil Government for Common Schools | Page 8

nearly as possible according to population. A Senatorial district sometimes embraces a portion of a county, sometimes a whole county; at other times two or more counties; but no county can be divided, unless it can be equitably entitled to two or more members.
The following apportionment was made in 1879:
SENATE DISTRICTS.
I. Queens and Suffolk.
II. The First, Second, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, and Twenty-second wards of Brooklyn, and the towns of Flatbush, Gravesend, and New Utrecht.
III. The Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-third wards of Brooklyn.
IV. The Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty- fourth, and Twenty-fifth wards of Brooklyn, and New Lots and Flatlands.
V. Richmond, First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Fourteenth, and parts of the Fourth and Ninth wards of New York, and Governor's, Bedloes, and Ellis Islands.
VI. The Seventh, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and a part of the Fourth wards of New York.
VII. The Tenth, Seventeenth, and portions of the Fifteenth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-first wards of New York.
VIII. The Sixteenth, and parts of the Ninth, Fifteenth, Eighteenth, and Twentieth wards of New York.
IX. The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-first wards, lying east of Third Avenue, New York, and Blackwell's Island.
X. Portions of Twentieth, Twenty-first, Nineteenth, Twelfth, and Twenty-second wards, New York, and Ward's and Randall's Islands.
XI. The Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and portions of the Twelfth, Twentieth, and Twenty-second wards of New York.
XII. Westchester and Rockland.
XIII. Orange and Sullivan.
XIV. Ulster, Schoharie, and Greene.
XV. Dutchess, Columbia, and Putnam.
XVI. Rensselaer and Washington.
XVII. Albany.
XVIII. Saratoga, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, and Schenectady.
XIX. Clinton, Essex, and Warren.
XX. St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Lewis.
XXI. Oswego and Jefferson.
XXII. Oneida.
XXIII. Madison, Otsego, and Herkimer.
XXIV. Delaware, Chenango, and Broome.
XXV. Onondaga and Cortland.
XXVI. Cayuga, Tompkins, Seneca, and Tioga.
XXVII. Chemung, Steuben, Allegany.
XXVIII. Wayne, Ontario, Schuyler, and Yates.
XXIX. Monroe and Orleans.
XXX. Wyoming, Genesee, Livingston, and Niagara.
XXXI. Erie.
XXXII. Cattaraugus and Chautauqua.
THE ASSEMBLY.
Allegany, Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton and Hamilton, Genesee, Greene, Herkimer, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, Ontario, Orleans, Putnam, Richmond, Rockland, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, Wyoming, Yates, have each one district, except Fulton and Hamilton which are united in one district.
Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Dutchess, Jefferson, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Queens, Saratoga, Steuben, Wayne, Washington have each two districts.
Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Ulster, and Westchester have each three districts.
Albany has four districts.
Erie has five districts.
Kings has twelve districts.
New York has twenty-four districts, or nearly one-fifth of the entire Assembly.
In all, there are one hundred and twenty-eight assembly districts, each electing one member of the assembly.
Q. What must be done in those counties that are entitled to two or more members?
A. The "boards of supervisors" of such counties, except the city and county of New York, must divide their respective counties into Assembly districts; the number of districts being equal to the number of members heretofore apportioned by the Legislature to these several counties; the territory must be contiguous, and no town can be divided in the formation of districts.
Q. By whom is the city and county of New York divided into districts?
A. By the "board of aldermen"; they meet for that purpose at such time as the Legislature shall designate.
ELIGIBILITY.
Q. Who are eligible to the Legislature?
A. The requirements are these.
I. The candidate must be twenty-one years of age.
II. He must not at the time of election, nor within one-hundred days previous thereto, have been a member of congress, a civil or military officer under the United States, or any officer under any city government.
III. Should any person after his election to the Legislature be elected or appointed to any of the offices just named, his acceptance thereof will vacate his seat in the Legislature.
DUTIES.
Q. What are some of the duties of the members of the assembly?
I. To take the oath of office. Art. XII., Sec. I Const.
II. To organize by electing their presiding officer, who is called the speaker; and who must be one of their number.
III. To elect also the other officers, viz: a Clerk, Sergeant-at- Arms, Door-Keeper, and two assistant Door-Keepers; persons not members of their body.
IV. To have co-ordinate jurisdiction with the Senate in the enactment of laws.
V. To prefer charges against officers for misconduct in office; which is called impeachment.
ORGANIZATION.
Q. Who calls the Assembly to order for the purpose of organization?
A. The Clerk of the last Assembly.
Q. Who furnishes the Clerk with an official list of the members elect?
A. The Secretary of State
Q. By whom is the oath of office administered?
A Usually by the Secretary of State. The oath may, however, be taken previously, before any Justice of the Supreme Court, Attorney-General, the Lieutenant Governor, any Judge of a County Court, the Mayor or Recorder of any city, or the Clerk of any county or Court of Record. The oath whenever taken must be duly subscribed, certified, and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. Members who