A Century in the
Comptroller's
Office

State of New York

BY
JAMES A. ROBERTS
COMPTROLLER

ALBANY
JAMES B. LYON, PRINTER
1897

STATE HALL

A CENTURY
IN THE
COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE.

On the 17th of February, 1897, occurred the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the office of Comptroller of the State of New York.

The present incumbent of the office trusts it will not be considered unwarranted pride which has led him to collect and transcribe, in honor of its one hundredth birthday, such general facts relating more or less directly to the office, or to the former incumbents thereof, as he has gathered from unsystematic reading and in the performance of his duties.

An office which has without scandal managed the financial affairs of this great State, and has otherwise borne a conspicuous part in its government for a century; an office from the thirty incumbents of which have been chosen a Vice-President and a President of the United States, two United States Senators, four Governors of the State, one Chief Justice and one Chief Judge of its Court of Appeals—to say nothing of others who have achieved distinction in less conspicuous civil positions—would seem entitled to something more than a passing notice on its centennial anniversary.

The office, as created, and from time to time enlarged, is a unique feature in our State government. There are Auditors in nearly all of the States of the Union; but the duties of Comptroller are far broader, comprehending largely the ordinary duties of a State Treasurer as well as many others. There had been Auditors in the Colony of New York from 1680 down to the time of its organization as an independent State, and that office was continued in the State until it was merged in the office of Comptroller. There have been Treasurers of New York with varying duties from 1706 down to the present time. From the time of the organization of the State government the offices of Treasurer and Auditor had not been found to work harmoniously or satisfactorily. Bills might be audited which the Treasurer did not wish to pay, and the Treasurer might wish to pay bills which the Auditor would not pass, so in a tentative, experimental way in 1797 the office of Comptroller was created to combine the power to audit and the power to pay. The act creating it was framed by Samuel Jones, a man of note in his time (for whom Samuel Jones Tilden, the distinguished Governor of this State, was named), and on the 17th of February, 1797, it became law by the signature of that distinguished patriot, Governor John Jay.

The appointment of Comptroller upon the creation of the office fell to the "Council of Appointment," as was the case at that time with all State, county and municipal officers, except the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and members of the Legislature. The "Council of Appointment" was an anomaly in government. The article (XXIII of the Constitution of 1777) establishing this "Council" was framed by three as pure, patriotic and disinterested statesmen as New York has ever produced, John Jay, Robert R. Livingston and Gouverneur Morris, and was designed to prevent a dangerous centralization of power in the hands of the Governor. It provided "that all officers, other than those who by this Constitution are directed to be otherwise appointed, shall be appointed in the manner following, to wit: The Assembly shall once in every year openly nominate and appoint one of the Senators from each great district" (then four in number), "which Senators shall form a council for the appointment of officers, of which the Governor, for the time being, or the Lieutenant-Governor, or the President of the Senate (when they shall respectively administer the government), shall be president, and have a casting vote, but no other vote."

Under the power thus conferred this council appointed the heads of the various State departments; all Judges, as well as Justices of the Peace, District Attorneys, Sheriffs, County Clerks, Mayors, and other officers throughout the entire State.

The cautious and anxious gentlemen who framed this provision in 1777 could by no means have foreseen the disastrous and disgraceful spoils system that grew up under it. It remained in full effect until a disgusted people abolished it by an amendment to the Constitution in 1821. At that time its power had so grown that there were 6,663 civil and 8,287 military offices which it controlled. The modern political boss must experience a feeling of profound regret as he realizes that this rich harvest can no longer be garnered by his sickle.

Chapter 21 of the Laws of 1797, which created the office of State Comptroller, provided, among other things, that "all matters and things theretofore required to be done by the Auditor of the State should be done by the Comptroller, and that the salary and wages of all legislative, executive, judicial and ministerial officers of the government of this State, and all moneys directed by law to be paid to any other person, should be paid by the Treasurer on the warrant of the Comptroller;" that the Comptroller should keep an account between the State and the Treasurer; that he might lend out moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and that when money was directed to be paid, and not sufficient money in the treasury to satisfy the same, he might "in the name, and on behalf of the People of this State, borrow a sum sufficient for that purpose of a bank of New York, or bank of Albany."

Thus the important powers which have distinguished the Comptroller's office—the power of audit; to draw warrants for all payments from the treasury; to keep its books of financial transactions; to invest its funds, and to borrow money—were embodied in the first act. The powers thus granted infringed so largely upon the ordinary rights and duties of a Treasurer, and so largely upon those which had been theretofore exercised by the Treasurer of this