A Century in the Comptroller's Office, State of New York, 1797 to 1897

by James A. Roberts

On the 2d of May, 1878 (the good faith of Olcott's work in handling the bounty bonds having been called in question), he sent a communication to the Legislature which more than proved the faithful and able manner in which he had performed his duties in respect to these bonds. The report was called out by a resolution of the Senate. Some strongly partisan members believed that they could unearth thereby, if not crookedness, at least large compensation for services performed. The attempt failed signally. Mr. Olcott's administration of the office ranks with the ablest.

James W. Wadsworth, a gentleman farmer and Republican, from Geneseo, became Comptroller January, 1, 1880, and was one of the youngest men who have held the office. He had as a boy served with his father, the gallant and lamented General James S. Wadsworth in the Civil War. He was Member of Assembly from Livingston county in 1878 and 1879, and was distinguished in the latter year as the only Republican in the Legislature who would not vote for the return of Roscoe Conkling to the United States Senate, and that, too, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Conkling had been duly nominated by a Republican caucus. Mr. Conkling and he afterwards forgot differences and became quite warmly attached. He ran again for Comptroller in 1885 but was defeated. He has faithfully represented a discriminating constituency in the Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Fifty-second, Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses, and has been re-elected to the Fifty-fifth. Mr. Wadsworth took great interest in the affairs of the office during his term, and his sterling integrity and good judgment made him a most excellent officer. In 1880, by chapter 100, the Comptroller was authorized to issue bonds in anticipation of the State tax, payable on or before the fifteenth day of May following, such bonds not to exceed in amount one-half of such tax. It was necessary for Mr. Wadsworth to inaugurate the system of collecting taxes on corporations. The original bill for that purpose was passed in 1880. It has been amended from time to time, but the whole duty of enforcing it has remained in the Comptroller. The number of corporations taxed in 1881 was 954, and the amount collected $1,539,864.27; the number in 1886 was 1,249, and the amount collected $1,239,864.16. In 1892 there were 1,780 corporations paying, and the amount collected was $1,430,719.86. In 1896 the number of corporations was 4,401, and the amount collected was $2,165,610.12. The amount of capital represented by these 4,401 corporations is believed to be fully $766,000,000.

Mr. Wadsworth gave place on January 1, 1882, to Ira Davenport, a capitalist and a Republican of Bath. Mr. Davenport had represented the twenty-seventh district in the State Senate in 1878, 1879, 1880 and 1881, and was elected Comptroller over G. H. Lapham. He was defeated for re-election as Comptroller by Alfred C. Chapin, November 6, 1883. In 1885, he received the Republican nomination for Governor, but was defeated by David B. Hill. He was a member of the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses. On March 1, 1883, the duty of auditing the canal accounts, after having been performed for thirty-five years by a separate officer—the Canal Auditor—was placed in the Comptroller's office, where it still remains. The confidence which the Republican party had shown in Comptroller Davenport was not misplaced. He was a man of high character and attainments, and performed the duties of the office of Comptroller with success.

Alfred C. Chapin, a lawyer and a Democrat, of Brooklyn, entered upon the discharge of his duties January 1, 1884. He was Member of Assembly from the eleventh Kings county district in 1882 and 1883, and in the latter year was chosen Speaker of that body. He was re-elected Comptroller in 1885 over Mr. Wadsworth. He has, since his service as Comptroller, served four years as Mayor of Brooklyn, from January 1, 1888, to January 1, 1892, and is now about ending a term as State Railroad Commissioner. In 1891, he was a prominent candidate for Governor before the Democratic convention, but was beaten by Roswell P. Flower. Mr. Chapin is an educated and cultivated gentleman, and as Comptroller was not afraid to run counter to established ideas. He strongly recommended, in a special message to the Legislature in 1885, and subsequently in his annual reports, the abolition of the common school fund, and its transfer to the treasury. By chapter 483 of the Laws of 1885, the Legislature laid a tax of five per cent upon collateral inheritances. This inaugurated a system of taxing transfers at death, which has come now to yield annually about $2,000,000. The Comptroller was largely intrusted with the duties of enforcing this law. It was amended in 1891 by making a tax of one per cent upon all direct inheritances. In 1886, the Comptroller was authorized to approve the bonds of banks designated as depositories of the funds of State institutions. The same year, the Comptroller was directed to make assessments on the various companies liable therefor to meet the expenses of the Subway Commissions in the cities of New York and Brooklyn—a duty which still rests on the office. In 1887, he was authorized to sell or exchange detached lands in certain counties of the Forest Preserve, upon the recommendation of the Forest Commission and the Attorney-General, the purpose being to consolidate the State's holding of lands in the Adirondack Park. The same year a tax was laid on racing associations for the benefit of agricultural societies to improve the breed of horses, etc., and the collection of this tax has since remained a part of the duty of the Comptroller, notwithstanding the various vicissitudes through which racing and pool bills have passed.

At the November election, in 1887, Edward Wemple was elected Comptroller over Jesse S. L'Amoreaux. Mr. Wemple was a manufacturer and Democrat, residing at Fultonville. He was a Member of Assembly from Montgomery county in 1877 and 1878, and a Member of the Forty-eighth Congress, but was defeated for re-election to that office by George West. He served in the State Senate from the eighteenth district in 1886 and 1887. He was re-elected Comptroller in 1889 over Martin W. Cooke.

In 1888 the Legislature passed an act requiring the agent and warden of each of the State prisons to file with the Comptroller a bond, approved by the Superintendent of State Prisons and Comptroller, in a penalty of not less than $50,000, to be fixed by the Comptroller. The same year the Legislature declared that the Board of Claims should have no jurisdiction over private claims required to be presented to the Comptroller for audit, until after his action on the claim. It further required all public officials and other persons receiving or disbursing moneys of the people of the State to deposit the same in some solvent bank or banking institution, to be designated by the Comptroller, and that every bank receiving such moneys should execute a bond to the people, to be filed with and approved by the Comptroller. By chapter 586 of the Laws of the same year the Comptroller, the Superintendent of State Prisons, and the President of the State Board of Charities, were constituted a board to fix the prices of all goods manufactured in the penal institutions of the State for the use of other State institutions. All these provisions of law are still in force, except that the board to fix prices has been changed by the addition of the State Prison Commission and Lunacy Commission, and by omitting the President of the State Board of Charities. In 1889 the right of the Comptroller to supervise the financial affairs of the prisons was enlarged, and the agent and warden required to make monthly reports of receipts and expenditures to him. He was also allowed to revise and readjust the accounts theretofore settled under the Corporation Tax Law. In 1890 he was made a member of the "Board for the Establishment of State Insane Asylum Districts and other purposes," together with the State Commission in Lunacy and President of the State Board of Charities. In 1891 an act was passed requiring all institutions receiving moneys from the State treasury for maintenance, in full or in part, to deposit their funds in some responsible bank or banking house, to be designated by the Comptroller. He was also authorized to appoint commissioners to hear evidence and take proofs on applications for cancellation of title or redemption of lands.