IN ASSEMBLY,

January 24, 1831.

REPORT

Of the select committee, on the petition of the common council of the city of Hudson.

Mr. Myers, from the select committee to whom was referred the petition of the common council of the city of Hudson, relative to the fire department thereof,

REPORTED:

That the common council of that city have now the power to ap point fire wardens; but the persons thus appointed have not the exemptions and privileges of other firemen, and as their duty is in many respects arduous and responsible, your committee can see no good reason why they should not be placed on the same footing.

It appears to your committee, that more than 1,000 feet of hose are attached to the supply engines in that city. The present number of tub and hose men being twenty, is not sufficient for a prompt and effectual use thereof.

Your committee therefore think the prayer of the petitioners ought to be granted. They have prepared a bill accordingly, and directed their chairman to ask leave to introduce the same.

IN ASSEMBLY,

January 25, 1831.

REPORT

Of the committee on claims, on the petition of Bartholomew E. Vrooman.

Mr. J. C. Spencer, from the committee on claims, to which was referred the petition of Bartholomew E. Vrooman,

REPORTED :

The petitioner alleges that in August 1780, while under arms as one of the militia in a regiment commanded by Col. Peter Vrooman, he was captured by a party of hostile Indians and carried to Canada, where he was imprisoned in the common jail of Montreal until October 1782, when he was discharged on his parole. He urges that others who were captured at the same time, and whose sufferings were not greater than his, have received the bounty of the State; and on the strength of the precedents thus established, he asks for relief. It does not appear that his circumstances are such as to compel him to rely on any bounty or charity for the comforts or conveniences of life.

Under these circumstances, your committee are of opinion that no ground of claim is furnished by the petitioner, which can be recognized by the Legislature. All our citizens participated more or less in the sufferings and privations consequent upon the struggle for our independence. The frontier inhabitants, of whom the petitioner was one, were peculiarly exposed; numbers of them were cruelly massacred by the savages; others witnessed the conflagration of their dwellings and the destruction of their property; others were carried into captivity, where many died leaving widows and orphans to the charity of the world, while others lived to return to their [A. No. 77.]

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country. It is not possible for a government to compensate for these inequalities; the wealth of the national treasury would be inadequate to the relief of all these sufferings. To make exceptions in favor of particular individuals, evinces favoritism rather than that general and impartial legislation which should distinguish a free government. To admit the claim of the petitioner in this case, and to deny it to others who have suffered as much or more, and particularly to deny it to those orphans who in losing their fathers, lost every thing but hope, would, in the opinion of your committee, be unequal and unjust. It is true, precedents have been established; relief has been granted to those persons whose cases can not well be distinguished from that of the petitioner. But your committee can not acknowledge the binding force of such precedents, and they are unwilling to add to their number or authority.

The committee therefore recommend to the House, the adoption of the following resolution :

Resolved, That while this House commiserate the sufferings of Bartholomew E. Vrooman and his unfortunate associates in captivity, and applaud their constancy and devotion in the service of their country, yet that a regard to those general principles of legislation which should distinguish a free and equal government, forbid the granting the prayer of his petition, and that he have leave to withdraw the same.

IN ASSEMBLY,

January 31, 1831.

REPORT

Of the Commissioners of the Land-Office on the petition of Esther Chase.

The Commissioners of the Land-Office, to whom was referred by the Assembly, the petition of Esther Chase,

RESPECTFULLY REPORT:

That the petitioner represents that she is the widow of Jeremiah Chase, who died in the year 1797, leaving her a right of dower in lot No. 88 of the Brothertown Tract. That in May, 1821, the lot was sold by mistake on the mortgage given by her husband for the original purchase money of the lot, by which means she has lost her right of dower; and she prays relief.

By an act passed April 17, 1822, (Laws of 1822, p. 286, § 4,) the Commissioners of the Land-Office were required to make compensation to Clark Chase for such damages as he had sustained on account of the sale of his lands by mistake. The lands referred to in this act, were the lot above mentioned. In pursuance of that act the Commissioners of the Land-Office, on the 29th of September, 1823, ordered the payment of $731.06 to Clark Chase. A report of the Attorney-General, made in pursuance of the fifth section of the said act will be found in the Assembly Journal of 1823, p. 1053. By the Assembly Journal of 1825, (Appendix I, p. 1,) it will be seen that a petition of the applicant for relief was referred to the late Comptroller, and that he made a report thereon, which was referred to the committee on ways and means. It has not been ascertained that any further proceedings were had at that session of the Legislature. It may be proper to remark that there was an error in this [A. No. 78.]

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