Lansingburgh denied a referendum vote on annexation (1900)

[March 5, 1900]The [New York State Assembly] bill (No. 1214) entitled "An act to annex to the city of Troy certain portions of the towns of North Greenbush, Brunswick and Lansingburgh, including the village of Lansingburgh, and to increase the number of wards in said city, and to make certain provisions incident thereto" (Int. No. 699), having been announced for a third meeting.Mr. [J. Franklin] Barnes [from the Town of Dix, Schuyler County] moved that said bill be recommitted to the committee on affairs of cities, with instructions to report the same forthwith amended as follows:Page 9, line 21, add the following: "There shall be a special election to be held in the territory described in the first section of this act, (other than the city of Troy), on the second Tuesday of May, nineteen hundred, at which there shall be submitted to the qualified electors residing in said territory the question of the annexation of said territory to the city of Troy, and for this purpose there shall be provided by the proper authorities for each election district now in said territory ballots as hereinafter described, and ballot boxes in the manner and by the persons required by the provisions of the statute known as the 'election law.' One-half of the number of said ballots shall read 'for annexation' and the other half of the number of said ballots shall read 'against annexation' and the indorsement on said ballots shall read 'annexation.' Each qualified elector in said territory shall be entitled to vote at such election and shall be provided with two ballots, one of which shall be 'for' and the other 'against' said annexation. All of the provisions of the election law of this state relating to the submission of a constitutional amendment or other proposition or question to a popular vote and the canvass, statement and return of the votes cast thereon shall in all respect be followed and carried into effect for the submission of said proposition or question of annexation to a popular vote, except as herein otherwise provided. The electors within said territory shall vote upon said question in the districts and at the polling places which were last designated, pursuant to law, for the reception of ballots cast at the general election held therein and in which they are lawfully entitled to vote. But in case there is not within some portion of said territory a place which was lawfully designated for the holding of the last general election, then it shall be the duty of the town board of the town in which such territory shall be, to promptly and within ten days after the passage of this act meet, fix and designate a polling place therein at which voting may be had for the special election herein provided for. The officers of election who were elected as such at the last general election in said territory shall be and act as the officers of election for the special election herein provided for. The ballots cast in the said territory shall be deemed and taken as an expression of the voters, as the case may be, in favor of or against said annexation of said territory to the city of Troy. Within ten days after the votes on said question shall have been canvassed and the statements and returns filed in the office of the county clerk of the county of Rensselaer, the said clerk shall examine the said statements and returns and shall tabulate the same and shall state the vote thus cast in each town and village named in said territory separately and shall certify to the result and the same shall be published in the official newspapers of the county. If the majority of the votes cast in the village of Lansingburgh shall be adverse to such annexation, then the election directed to be held by this act on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, nineteen hundred, shall not take place and this act shall not take effect as to said village or part of the town of Lansingburgh herein described. But if the majority of the votes cast in such village shall be in favor of such annexation, then such election shall be held in said village and town of Lansingburgh as provided for in this act and this act shall take effect as to such village and town. If the majority of the votes cast in that part of the town of North Greenbush hereinbefore described shall be adverse to such annexation, then the election directed to be held by this act on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, nineteen hundred, shall not take place and this act shall not take effect as to said part of the town of North Greenbush herein described. But if the majority of the votes cast in such part of the town of North Greenbush shall be in favor of such annexation, then such election shall be held in said part of the town of North Greenbush as provided for in this act and this act shall take effect as to such part of such town. If the majority of the votes cast in that part of the town of Brunswick hereinbefore described shall be adverse to such annexation, then the election directed to be held by this act on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November, nineteen hundred, shall not take place and this act shall not take effect as to said town of Brunswick herein described. But if the majority of the votes cast in such part of the town of Brunswick shall be in favor of such annexation, then such election shall be held in said part of the town of Brunswick as provided for in this act and this act shall take effect as to such town. If the majority of the votes cast in each of said towns and village shall be adverse to such annexation, then this act shall not take effect at all except as to the provision herein made for the holding of such special election.Amend the title of the act so that it shall read as follows: "An act to annex to the city of Troy certain portions of the towns of North Greenbush, Brunswick and Lansingburgh, including the village of Lansingburgh, and to increase the number of wards in said city, and to make certain provisions incident thereto, including the holding of a special election at which shall be submitted to a vote of the people the question of the annexation of such territory to the city of Troy."Debate was had on the motion of Mr. Barnes, whenMr. Kelsey moved the previous question.Mr. Speaker put the question "Shall the main question be now put?" and it was determined in the affirmative.Mr. Speaker then put the question whether the House would agree to said motion of Mr. Barnes, and it was determined in the negative.AYES 37NOES 57Those who voted in the affirmative, were[Full names, party affiliations, and counties represented have been added here online:]J. Franklin Barnes, Dem., SchuylerJoseph Baum, Dem., New YorkCharles P. Dillon, Dem., New YorkJohn J. Egan, Dem., New YorkThomas J. Farrell, Dem., KingsCharles E. Fiske, Dem., KingsJohn B. Fitzgerald, Dem., New YorkJames J. Fitzgerald, Dem., New YorkDaniel D. Frisbie, Dem., SchoharieCyrus B. Gale, Dem., QueensGeorge Geoghan, Dem., ErieBenjamin F. Gleason, Rep., MonroeJoseph I. Green, Dem., New YorkJoseph A. Guider, Dem., KingsMichael Halpin, Dem., New YorkJulius Harburger, Dem., New YorkThomas P. Hawkins, Dem. KingsHenry C. Honeck, Dem, New YorkSamuel F. Hyman, Dem., New YorkGeorge T. Kelly, Dem., AlbanyJohn F. Maher, Dem., New YorkJames J. McInerney, Dem., New YorkJohn McKeown, Dem., KingsLouis Meiser, Dem., New YorkGeorge Metcalfe, Dem., RichmondMaurice M. Minton, Dem., New YorkJohn J. O'Connell, Dem., New YorkJohn Poth, Jr., Dem., New YorkSamuel Prince, Dem., New YorkJames A. Rierdon, Dem., New YorkSylvester B. Sage, Dem., GreeneLeon Sanders, Dem., New YorkGeorge Siems, Dem., KingsJames E. Smith, Dem., New YorkWilliom J. Sullivan, Dem., OneidaPatrick F. Trainor, Dem., New YorkCharles C. Wissel, Dem., Queens]Those who voted in the negative, wereJoseph H. Adams, Rep., KingsJohn F. Ahern, Rep., Rensselaer [Troy]Delos Axtell, Rep., DelawareBenjamin A. Babcock, Rep., St. LawrenceEdward V. Baker, Rep., OnondagaLouis Bedell, Rep., OrangeEdward C. Brennan, Rep., KingsMorgan Bryan, Rep., JeffersonJean L. Burnett, Rep., OntarioBenn Conger, Rep., TompkinsElijah Cook, Rep., ErieAlford W. Cooley, Rep., WestchesterWilliam L. Coughtry, Rep., AlbanyJohn T. Darrison, Rep., NiagaraGherardi Davis, Rep., New YorkAbram C. De Graw, Rep., KingsJohn J. Ellis, Rep., GenesseeWilliam W. Everett, Rep., PutnamEdward H. Fallows, Rep., New YorkAlbert T. Fancher, Rep., CattaraugusRobert J. Fish, Rep., MadisonSamuel J. Fowler, Rep., ChautauquaHugh Galbraith, Rep., Rensselaer [Troy]James G. Graham, Rep., OrangeJoseph N. Hallock, Rep., SuffolkNelson H. Henry, Rep., New YorkCharles H. Hitchcock, Rep., WarrenCharles E. Johnson, Rep., ClintonErwin E. Kelley, Rep., HerkimerOtto Kelsey, Rep., LivingstonIsrael Y. Larzelere, Rep., SenecaMerton E. Lewis, Rep., MonroeThomas D. Lewis, Rep., OswegoLouis M. Martin, Rep., OneidaEdward McCreary, Rep., AlbanyJames B. McEwan, Rep., AlbanyJohn Hill Morgan, Rep., KingsJohn K. Patton, Rep., ErieWilliam W. Phipps, Rep., OrleansFrank C. Platt, Rep., SteubenFrank J. Price, Rep., KingsJacob D. Remsen, Rep., KingsAdoph J. Rodenbeck, Rep., MonroeJames T. Rogers, Rep., BroomeJay S. Rowe, Rep., NiagaraMichael Russell, Rep., Rensselaer [Troy]John T. Smith, Rep., DutchessRobert A. Snyder, Rep., UlsterHalbert D. Stevens, Rep., FranklinJohn H. Swift, Rep., BroomeErnest G. Treat, Rep., CayugaWilliam A. Tripp, Rep., DutchessJohn Harvey Waite, Rep., KingsAlphonso Walrath, Rep., MontgomeryWilliam E. Wheeler, Rep., CattaraugusHarris Wilson, Rep., KingsDaniel P. Witter, Rep., TiogaOn motion of Mr. Kelsey, and by unanimous consent, said bill was made a special order on third reading for Tuesday next, immediately after the reading of the journal.Journal of the Assembly of the State of New York at Their One Hundred and Twenty-Third Session. Volume 2. Albany, NY: James B. Lyon, 1900. 1300-1303. https://books.google.com/books?id=Bs8aAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1300The bill to annex parts of Lansingburgh, North Greenbush, and Brunswick to the City of Troy had been introduced by Assemblyman Hugo Galbraith, who'd been born in Troy and lived there his entire life. The vote to deny people in Lansingburgh, Brunswick, and North Greenbush the right to vote on whether they wanted to become part of the City of Troy passed on party lines, with the exception of Benjamin F. Gleason of Monroe County. Galbraith's bill passed as Law 1900, chapter 665.Twenty-seven years later it was made unconstitutional for cities to annex neighboring territories without referendum votes by the people in those territories. The 1927 amendment adding to the New York State Constitution the requirement of a referendum passed by a large margin:Nov. 8, 1927For amendment of section 8, article 12 (new section) (annexation of territory by cities) 1,144,872Against 527,388https://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/documents/Publications_Votes-Cast-Conventions-Amendments.pdf