State, that it is not strange the then Treasurer, Gerardus Bancker, who had held the office from April 1, 1778, resigned in disgust. His feeling was, as Lossing has stated in his "Empire State," that the Comptroller was made "the highest financial officer of the State, and the Treasurer merely a clerk to him."

The early history of the office is an illustration of the cautious and doubtful temper of the Legislatures of the time—so unlike those of the present day. It is a well-known fact that while the Legislature of the State met for the first time at Albany, in the same year, 1797, in which the office of Comptroller was created, it was not then made a permanent location for the Capitol; and that city was maintained for upwards of twenty years as the Capitol simply by the adjournment of the Legislature at the end of each session to meet again at the city of Albany. The original act creating the Comptroller's office provided that it should continue in force for a period of three years. On the 28th day of February, 1800, eleven days after the office had expired by limitation, chapter 11 of that year went into effect, which re-established the office for another period of three years. Chapter 22 of the Laws of 1803 extended the office, with the powers and duties then prescribed by law, to February 28, 1805. By chapter 60 of the Laws of 1805, passed March 30th, the office was continued to February 28, 1808, and the acts of the then Comptroller, between the 28th day of February, 1805, and the day when this act went into effect, were ratified and confirmed. On March 11, 1808, chapter 34 of that year was passed, which continued the office to February 28, 1812, with a like confirmatory clause. The act of February 28, 1812, at last made permanent the Comptroller's office, with the powers theretofore conferred upon it. By chapter 31 of the Laws of 1797 the office of Comptroller was to be located either in Albany or Watervliet.

The Council of Appointment chose for the first Comptroller Samuel Jones, of Oyster Bay, Queens county. This was done by the casting vote of Governor John Jay, the four senatorial members of the council being a tie. He was a lawyer of high standing at the time of his appointment, a Federalist in politics, and had held with credit a number of civil positions. In 1775 he had been a member of the Provisional War Committee, and had performed arduous services on that committee. He was a member of the convention that adopted the Federal Constitution, and voted for it. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778; a Member of Assembly from Queens county in 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789 and 1790; a State Senator from the southern district from 1791 to 1799.

The honors which he had won and worthily worn were supplemented in his son who, as the Chancellor of this State (succeeding Nathan Sanford and succeeded by Reuben H. Walworth), and as Chief Judge of the New York Superior Court, won for himself enviable renown in our legal annals. Comptroller Jones was the author of the "Act for the amendment of law and better advancement of Justice," passed in 1789, which was a valuable contribution and addition to our law. He was also the author of many other of the best statutes placed upon our books in those early years. He was distinguished throughout his career as an upright and useful man, though he was sometimes accused of a little uncertainty in politics. He is said to have replied to a question from Judge Spencer as to how he managed to secure his elections from Queens county whatever party might be in the ascendant, that "If my troops will not follow me, I follow my troops."

The Comptroller's salary was fixed by the act at $3,000, and this was to include all clerk hire and ordinary expenses connected with the office. In 1800 the compensation was reduced to $2,500, and in consequence of this action Mr. Jones resigned the office. He had faithfully performed its duties, and his resignation terminated his public career.

During his term, in 1799, the Legislature prohibited the payment of any money from the treasury except upon the warrant of the Comptroller, and required all receipts to be countersigned by him, and this has remained a part of the duties of the Comptroller from that time to this.

On March 12, 1800, John V. Henry, an eminent Albany lawyer and a Federalist, was chosen Comptroller. There are some still living who know, at least by oral tradition, his great influence at the bar, and Albanians have a just pride in his high reputation. He was a member of the convention called in 1801 principally to settle the question whether the Governor alone could nominate persons for appointment, or whether that power also lay in the Senators composing the Council of Appointment. He was a Member of Assembly from Albany county in 1800, 1801 and 1802. During his term, by chapter 61 of the Laws of 1801, the Comptroller was made ex-officio a member of the State Board of Canvassers, and by chapter 69 of the same year he was made one of the Commissioners of the Land Office.

In 1801 the Legislature also directed the Comptroller to sell lands for the payment of taxes due to the State, and this power, variously modified and enlarged, still remains in him. Under it sales were held in 1808, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1821, 1826, 1830, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1848, 1853, 1859, 1866, 1871, 1877, 1881, 1885, 1890 and 1895.

In 1800 the Legislature authorized the Comptroller to settle the credits of the State with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. The moneys derived from this source formed the basis of the general fund. The Comptroller was made the custodian of this fund with power to invest it. The fund was augmented from sales of land and other sources until, in 1814, it had reached the sum of $4,396,943.97. The income of the fund together with the salt and auction duties, it was believed, in the early part of the century, would be sufficient to maintain the government. And from 1814 to 1842 no money was raised in this State by direct taxation except during the years in which the Erie and Champlain canals were in process of construction. To avoid a direct tax, however, it had been found necessary from time to time, to draw on the principal of the fund, and in 1834 it disappeared altogether and with it the bright dream of our forefathers of a commonwealth without taxation. Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1846 the fund had been succeeded by a general fund debt of $5,992,840.82. This was increased before the breaking out of the Civil War to a total of $6,505,684.37. This was the high-water mark of the general fund debt if we do not include in it the bounty debt of 1865. The Constitution of 1846 made provision for a sinking fund to meet this debt and its management and investment were intrusted to the Comptroller. In this way the last of the debt was paid in 1878.

Mr. Henry was removed from his office August 10, 1801, by reason of political changes in the Council of Appointment, and he then and there renounced politics forever. At the time of his death, in 1829, the leading Albany paper of the period spoke of Mr. Henry as "the idol of his friends; the ornament of his native city; the