USA > New York > History of the state of New York, for the use of common schools, academies, normal and high schools, and other seminaries of instruction > Part 23
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24. A demand by Sir Francis Bond Head, Governor-General of Canada, for the surrender of Mackenzie, who had fled to the United States, was made upon Governor Marcy; but the requisi- tion was declined, upon the ground that Mackenzie was a politi- cal offender, seeking an asylum in a neutral territory, and therefore not amenable, by international comity, to surrender as an ordinary criminal.
25. Proclamations prohibiting all interference on the part of American citizens in the insurrectionary movements of the Cana- dians were issued by the President of the United States and the Governor of New York ; and General Scott, the commander of the United States Army, was despatched to the frontier to preserve order and enforce neutrality. The excitement. how- ever, on the border, continued for two or three years, and was finally terminated by the defeat of the insurgents by the British and Canadian forces. The burning of the Caroline was the sub- ject of a spirited negotiation between the representatives of the two countries, which resulted in an amicable adjustment.
26. Governor MARCY, at the opening of the session of 1838. 1838, renewed his recommendation in reference to the disposition of that portion of the surplus revenue of the govern- ment deposited with the State, with the additional suggestion of the appropriation of fifty-five thousand dollars annually, for the purchase of school-district libraries. He also recommended the passage of a general banking law.
Burning of the Caroline. - Proclamations of neutrality. - General Scott despatched to the frontier with a military force. - Diplomatic negotiations. Legislature of 1838. - Governor's message.
241
STATE BANKS AND SCHOOLS.
27. The bill authorizing the suspension of the act prohibiting the issue of small bills for two years passed both Houses at an early period of the session. Mr. SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, of New York, made an exceedingly elaborate and able report on the subject of internal improvements, recommending large appropri- ations for the enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the construc- tion of auxiliary works, which met the approval of both branches. A general banking law was also passed, and an act appropriat- ing the surplus revenue of the United States deposited with the State for the purposes of education substantially in conformity with the recommendation of the Governor.
28. General Dix, in his annual report as Superintendent of Common Schools, after enumerating the various sources of in- come provided by the recent act and previous legislation, sub- mitted some very valuable and pertinent remarks in reference to the vital importance of moral and religious instruction in the common schools, free from all taint of sectarianism, and based exclusively on the teachings of the BIBLE, without note or com- ment.
29. At the November elections, WILLIAM H. SEWARD, of Cay- uga, was elected Governor, and LUTHER BRADISH, of Franklin, Speaker of the Assembly, Lieutenant-Governor, by a majority of about ten thousand over Governor MARCY and Lieutenant- Governor TRACY. The Whigs also obtained a majority of two. to one in the Assembly, and carried five of the eight Senate districts, leaving the Democrats still in the ascendency in that branch of the Legislature.
Suspension of the act prohibiting the issue of small bills. - Report on internal improvement. - Canal appropriations. - General banking law. - Appropriation of United States Deposit Fund. - Report of Superintendent of Common Schools. - Moral and religious instruction. - Election of Gov- ernor Seward and Lieutenant-Governor Bradish.
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242
SEVENTH PERIOD.
CHAPTER VI.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR SEWARD. - EDUCATION OF CHILDREN OF FOREIGNERS. - CANAL ENLARGEMENT. - INTERNAL IMPROVE- MENTS. - COMMON SCHOOLS. - CONTROVERSY WITH VIRGINIA. - WARD SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK.
1. Ox the assembling of the Legislature on the first Tues- 1839. day of January, 1839, Governor SEWARD, after recommend- ing the creation of a Board of Internal Improvements, the efficient prosecution of the enlargement of the Erie Canal, and the construction of three great lines of railroads in the northern, central, and southern sections of the State, paid a just tribute to its financial prosperity and the previous development of its resources.
2. " History," he observes, "furnishes no parallel to the finan- cial achievements of this State. It surrendered its share in the national domain, and relinquished for the general welfare all the revenues of its foreign commerce, equal, generally, to two thirds of the entire expenditure of the Federal Government. It has, nevertheless, sustained the expenses of its own adminis- tration, founded and endowed a broad system of education, charitable institutions for every class of the unfortunate, and a penitentiary establishment which is adopted as a model by civil- ized nations. It has increased fourfold the wealth of its citizens, and relieved them from direct taxation ; and, in addition to all this, has carried forward a stupendous enterprise of improve- ment, all the while diminishing its debt, magnifying its credit, and angmenting its resources."
3. The message closed with an eloquent tribute to the merits of his great predecessor, the illustrious CLINTON, and a recom- mendation for the erection of an appropriate monument at the capital for the reception of his remains. A bill was accordingly introduced, early in the session, for the accomplishment of this object, but failed to become a law. An act for the unconditional
Meeting of the Legislature. - Governor's message. - Financial prosperity of the State. - Clinton monument. - Repeal of the act prohibiting small bills.
243
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR SEWARD.
repeal of the law prohibiting the issue and circulation of small bills passed both Houses.
4. The official term of Senator TALLMADGE having expired, a strong effort was made for his re-election, but without success, owing to the failure of the Senate to nominate. JOHN C. SPEN- CER, of Ontario, was appointed Secretary of State and Superin- tendent of Common Schools ; BATES COOKE, of Niagara, Comp- troller ; WILLIS HALL, of New York, Attorney-General ; and SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, of New York, Canal Commissioner, to sup- ply the vacancy occasioned by the death of STEPHEN VAN RENS SELAER, which occurred at Albany in the preceding month.
5. During the ensuing summer, President VAN BUREN visited the State, passing through the principal cities and villages on his route, and receiving every demonstration of respect and esteem from all classes of citizens. The fall elections resulted in the election of a Whig majority in both branches of the Legislature. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, of Ohio, was placed in nomination, in December, by the National Whig Convention, as a candidate for the Presidency ; and JOHN TYLER, of Virginia, as Vice-President.
6. The Legislature reassembled on the 7th of January, 1840. 1840. Governor SEWARD, after informing the Legislature that the net proceeds of the canals, deducting the interest of the debt for their construction, were $ 1,057,802, and the capital of the common-school fund nearly two millions, recom- mended the instruction of the children of foreigners by teach- ers speaking their own language and professing their own relig- ious faith, who should be permitted to participate equally with others in the funds provided by the State.
7. He also informed the Legislature that the cost of enlarg- ing the Erie Canal, heretofore estimated by the State officers at twelve millions of dollars, would exceed twenty-three millions at the lowest estimate, and that for the construction of the Genesee Valley and Black River Canals an additional expendi- ture of six millions would be requisite. He still, however,
Appointment of State officers. - Death of Stephen Van Rensselaer. -- Visit of President Van Buren. - Fall elections. - Whig nominations for President and Vice-President. - Message of the Governor. - Canal en. largement. - Common schools. - Instruction of the children of foreigners
244
SEVENTH PERIOD.
urged the energetic prosecution of these and other great measures of internal improvement, by roads and canals, as a policy dictated by the highest and most important interests of the State.
8. He next invited the attention of the Legislature to a cor- respondence, which had taken place during the past year, be- tween himself and the Executive of Virginia, in reference to the demand of the latter for the surrender of three colored fugitives from that State, charged with stealing a negro slave. This demand had been refused, on the ground that such alleged felony was not recognized as such, either by the laws of nations or those of this State.
9. The first act of the Legislature was the re-election of NATHANIEL P. TALLMADGE as United States Senator. An act for the registry of voters in the city of New York was also passed, after a spirited discussion, by a strict party vote. Secretary SPENCER, as Superintendent of Common Schools, trans- mitted to the Legislature, on the 13th of April, reports of the several visitors of schools, appointed by him under an act of the preceding year, together with a full exposition of his own views for the improvement of the system.
10. He recommended the appointment of deputy-superin- tendents in the several counties of the State, and the establish- ment of graded schools and local Boards of Education in the several cities and large villages of the State, the introduction of vocal music as a branch of elementary instruction, and various other changes in the details of the existing provisions of law applicable to these institutions. A bill in accordance with these suggestions, passed the Assembly, but failed of be- coming a law by the adjournment of the Legislature on the 14th of May, after passing an act abolishing imprisonment for debt, and approving of the refusal of Governor SEWARD to sur- render the fugitives demanded by the Governor of Virginia.
11. An animated political canvass now ensued for the elec- tion of presidential candidates and candidates for the various State and county offices. Immense mass meetings were held
Controversy with Virginia. - Appointment of United States Senator. - Report of Superintendent of Common Schools. - Abolition of imprisonment for debt. - Political campaign of 1840.
245
SEWARD ON COMMON SCHOOLS.
in every part of the State, and the utmost spirit and enthusiasm pervaded the action of both the great political parties. The Harrison electoral ticket prevailed at the November elections by a majority of thirteen thousand votes ; Governor SEWARD and Lieutenant-Governor BRADISH were re-elected, by five thou- sand majority, over William C. Bouck, of Schoharie, and Dan- icl S. Dickinson, of Broome, the Democratic candidates, and a Whig majority was returned in both branches of the Legislature.
12. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, of Ohio, was elected Presi- dent of the United States by a majority of one hundred and seventy-four electoral votes over President VAN BUREN, who had rendered himself very obnoxious to the banking and com- mercial interests of the Union by his successful exertions in the establishment of an independent treasury, and to a large portion of the citizens of the Northern States by his alleged subserviency to Southern views and interests. JOHN TYLER, of Virginia, was elected Vice-President by a still larger electoral majority over Colonel Richard M. Johnson. The administra- tion of President HARRISON was, however, terminated by his sudden death one month after his inauguration in the ensu- ing year, and Vice-President TYLER assumed its duties for the remainder of the term.
13. At the meeting of the Legislature in January, 1841. 1841, Governor SEWARD, after expressing his gratification at the increased productiveness of the canals as shown by the net receipts of the preceding year, and estimating the entire in- debtedness of the State, exclusive of its loans to and liabilities for incorporated companies, at about fifteen millions of dollars, renewed his recommendation for the education of the children of foreigners in our public schools.
14. The number of uneducated children in the State was estimated at thirty thousand, two thirds of whom were of foreign parentage; and the importance and necessity of providing for this neglected class the means of elementary instruction in schools taught by teachers of their own nationalities and religious faith
Re-election of Governor Seward and Lieutenant-Governor Bradish. - Election of President Harrison and Vice-President Tyler. - Death of Presi- dent Harrison. - Governor's message. - Revenues of the canals. - State indebtedness. - Education of the children of foreigners.
246
SEVENTH PERIOD.
were ably and eloquently portrayed. He observed that our sys- tems of education were deficient in comprehensiveness in the exact proportion of the number left uneducated ; that knowledge, however acquired, was better than ignorance ; and that "neither error, accident, nor prejudice ought to be permitted to deprive the State of the education of her citizens."
15. "Cherishing such opinions," he observes, "I could not enjoy the consciousness of having discharged my duty, if any effort had been omitted which was calculated to bring within the schools all who are destined to exercise the rights of citizen- ship ; nor shall I feel that the system is perfect, or liberty safe. until that object be accomplished. .... I seek the education of those whom I have brought before you, not to perpetuate any prejudices or distinctions which deprive them of instruction, but in disregard of all such distinctions and prejudices. I solicit their education less from sympathy than because the welfare of the State demands it, and cannot dispense with it.
16. " As native citizens they are born to the right of suffrage. I ask that they may at least be taught to read and write. In asking this, I require no more for them than I have diligently endeavored to secure to the inmates of our penitentiaries, who have forfeited that inestimable franchise by crime ; and also to an unfortunate race, which, having been plunged by us into degradation and ignorance, has been excluded from the fran- chise by an arbitrary property qualification incongruous with all our institutions.
17. " I have not recommended, nor do I seek, the education of any class in foreign languages or in particular creeds or faiths ; but fully believing, with the author of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, that even error may be safely tolerated where reason is left free to combat it, and therefore indulging no apprehen- sions from the influence of any language or creed among an en- lightened people, I desire the education of the entire rising generation in all the elements of knowledge we possess, and in that tongue which is the universal language of our countrymen.
18. "To me, the most interesting of all our institutions is the COMMON SCHOOL. I seek not to disturb in any manner its
Universal education. - The common school.
ple
247
COMMON-SCHOOL SYSTEM.
peaceful and assiduous exercises. and least of all with conten- tions about faith or forms. I desire the education of all the children in the Commonwealth in morality and virtue, leaving matters of conscience where, according to the principles of civil and religious liberty established by our Constitution and laws, they rightfully belong."
19. Professor ALONZO POTTER, of Union College, who, at the request of the Common-School Department, had personally, during the preceding year, visited and inspected the teachers' departments in the several academies of the State, submitted to the Legislature an able report, concluding with a recommen- dation for the establishment of a State Normal School, in accord- ance with the Prussian and French systems, for the education and proper preparation of teachers. The Superintendent, Mr. Secretary SPENCER, also renewed his recommendation of the pre- ceding year for a modification and improvement of the common- school system.
20. Early in the session, JOHN A. COLLIER, of Broome, was chosen Comptroller, in place of Bates Cooke, resigned. The Governor transmitted to the Legislature copies of additional correspondence with the Executive of Virginia, in the case of the demand made by the latter for the rendition of certain alleged fugitives from justice in that Commonwealth.
21. From that additional correspondence, it appeared that in the spring of 1840 a citizen of New York, charged with the crime of forgery in Tompkins County, had fled to the State of Virginia, whither a requisition was forwarded by Governor Seward to the Executive of Virginia for his surrender as a fugitive from justice. That requisition was refused, and the fugitive retained in prison in Virginia by the Governor, until the requisition made by him in behalf of the colored fugitives from that State should be complied with by the Executive of New York. This unjustifiable procedure was promptly disap- proved of by the Legislature of Virginia.
22. On the 26th of April, Secretary SPENCER, as Superin- tendent of Common Schools, to whom was referred, by the Senate, the several memorials and petitions from the city of
Report of Professor Potter. - State Normal School. - Virginia corre- spondence. - Proceedings of the Governor and Legislature of Virginia.
248
SEVENTH PERIOD.
New York for such a revision of the system of public educa- tion in that city as would provide more fully for the instruc- tion of the children of foreigners and Catholics, submitted an elaborate and able report, concluding with the recommendation that a Board of Commissioners should be elected in that city, with authority to establish and organize a system of Ward Com- mon Schools, which should co-operate with the schools of the Pub- lic School Society in furnishing the requisite facilities for the education of all classes of children, without regard to religious distinctions or other existing impediments to their instruction.
23. On the 26th of May the Legislature, by a nearly unan- imous vote, passed an act, in conformity with the recommen- dation of Secretary SPENCER, amendatory of the common- school law, providing for the appointment of a General Deputy- Superintendent for the State, and the election of county superin- tendents in the several counties of the State, by the Boards of Supervisors respectively. Under the provision of this act, SAMUEL S. RANDALL, of Albany, then a clerk in the Superin- tendent's office, was appointed General Deputy-Superintendent by Mr. SPENCER. A liberal appropriation was also made for the support of an educational journal conducted by FRANCIS DWIGHT of Ontario.
CHAPTER VII.
. ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR SEWARD. - BURNING OF THE CAROLINE. - TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL OF ALEXANDER MCLEOD. - INSTRUCTION OF FOREIGN AND CATHOLIC CHILDREN. - WARD SCHOOLS IN NEW YORK. - FINANCES OF THE STATE. - THE VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY.
1. Is the early part of January, ALEXANDER MCLEOD, a resi- dent of Chippewa, in Canada, while visiting Lewiston,
1841. in Niagara County, openly avowed his complicity in the burning of the Caroline, and the murder of James Durfee, one of its crew, on the night of the 29th of December, 1837. He
Report of Secretary Spencer on the educational system of New York City. - Amendment of the common-school law. - County superintendents. - District-school journal.
249
THE MCLEOD TRIAL.
was at once arrested, and committed to the jail at Lockport, on a criminal charge, an indictment found against him for the murder of Durfec, and a civil suit commenced against him by the owner of the Caroline for damages sustained by its destruc- tion. The British Minister at Washington, Mr. Fox, on learn- ing the facts, immediately demanded his release by the American Government, avowing and justifying the seizure and destruction of the Caroline as the act of the British Government.
2. In reply to this demand, the Secretary of State, Mr. WEB- STER, informed Mr. Fox that the national government had no authority to interfere with the judicial proceedings of a State ; that the case was under the exclusive control of the Supreme Court of the State of New York ; and that, in his judgment, that tribunal would concur with himself in the opinion, that, in view of the avowal made by the British Government, the prisoner should be released.
3. The case was argued in the Supreme Court, at its August term, in Utica, by JOSHUA A. SPENCER, United States District Attorney for the Northern District of New York, in behalf of McLeod, and Attorney-General WILLIS HALL in behalf of the State. The counsel for the prisoner, in a masterly argu- ment, contended that, the actual existence of a state of war on the northern frontier, at the time of the commission of the offence, whether formally recognized by the respective govern- ments or not, justified the prisoner in obeying the orders of his commanding officer, and that the sole responsibility for the con- sequences rested upon the British Government.
4. The Court, however, concurred with Justice COWEN, who delivered its opinion adverse to the application for the release of McLeod, and remanded him for trial at a special circuit in Oneida County, before Judge GRIDLEY, of the Fifth Judicial District, where he was acquitted, after an extended and exciting trial, on full proof of his entire innocence of the charge, - his confession having been made in a mere spirit of boastfulness and drunken bravado. Thus terminated an investigation which at one time threatened to result in serious national complications.
Arrest of Alexander McLeod for the burning of the Caroline. - Demand of the British Government for his release. - Reply of Mr. Webster. - De- cision of the Supreme Court. - Trial and acquittal of McLeod.
250
SEVENTHI PERIOD.
1842. 5. On the 3d of January, 1842, the Legislature re assembled. Governor SEWARD, after again referring : the controversy with Virginia, and calling the attention of the. Legislature to a retaliatory act of the General Assembly of the: State calculated to embarrass our coasting trade, renewed !... recommendation for such a distribution of the public-schon! money in the city of New York as to allow the children of foreigners and Catholics to participate in the bounty of the State.
6. " This proposition," he observes, "to gather the young from the streets and wharves into the nurseries which the State. solicitous for her security against ignorance, has prepared for them, has sometimes been treated as a device to appropriate the school fund to the endowment of seminaries for teaching languages and faiths, thus to perpetuate the prejudices it seeks to, remove ; sometimes as a scheme for dividing that precious fun! among a hundred jarring sects, and thus increasing the religious animosities it strives to heal ; sometimes as a plan to subvert the prevailing religion, and introduce one repugnant to the con- sciences of our fellow-citizens ; while, in truth, it simply proposes. by enlightening equally the minds of all, to enable them to detect error wherever it may exist, and to reduce uncongenial masses into one intelligent, virtuous, harmonious, and happy people.
7. " Being now relieved from all such misconceptions, it pre- sents the questions, whether it is wiser and more humane to educate the offspring of the poor than to leave them to grow up in ignorance and wice ; whether juvenile vice is more easily eradicated by the Court of Sessions than by common schools : whether parents have a right to be heard concerning the instruc- tion and instructors of their children, and tax-payers in relation to the expenditure of public funds ; whether, in a Republican government, it is necessary to interpose an independent corpora- tion between the people and the schoolmaster; and whether it is wise and just to disfranchise an entire community of all con- trol over public education, rather than suffer a part to be repre- sented in proportion to its numbers and contributions."
8. The value of the endowments of the colleges and academies of the State was stated at $ 2, 175,731, with an annual income
Governor Seward's message. - The Virginia controversy. - Appropria- tion of school money in New York.
251
THE VIRGINIA CONTROVERSY.
of $ 47,165 ; and the productive capital of the common-school fund at $ 2,175,731, with an annual income of $ 261,000, ex- clusive of public lands valued at $ 200,000, and the principal of the United States Deposit Fund. The entire capital perma- nently invested for the support of education, including the literature, common-school, and United States Deposit Fund, and school edifices, was estimated at $ 10,500,000.
9. The net revenue from the State canals, after deducting all expenditures during the preceding year, was stated at one mil- lion and a half dollars, and the permanent public debt for their construction at $ 15,540,530. The prosecution of the enlarge- ment of the Erie Canal and the completion of the Genesee Valley and Black River Canals were also urged. The cost of all the public works of internal improvement then in progress, including two thirds of the expense of constructing the New York and Erie Railroad, was estimated at $ 36,589,379, and the entire value of the taxable property of the State at seven hundred millions.
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