Page images
PDF
EPUB

IN ASSEMBLY,

February 3, 1831.

REPORT

Of the select committee on the petition of Edward Copland and others, firemen of the village of Brooklyn.

Mr. Downing, from the select committee to which was referred the petition of Edward Copland and others, firemen of the village of Brooklyn,

REPORTED

That the petitioners pray for a modification of the law of 1827, reducing the several laws relating to the village of Brooklyn into one act, so as to abridge the term of service of the firemen of that village, from twelve to seven years; and they assign as a reason for the law, that the buildings in that village are constructed of combustible materials, and consequently their duties are more liable to be called into requisition.

It also appears before your committee, that the privilege prayed for by the petitioners has been granted to the firemen of several of the populous towns of the state, where the advantages and easy access to water to supply the engines are much greater than to the firemen of the village of Brooklyn.

Your committee are of opinion that the prayer of the petitioners ought to be granted, and leave is asked to introduce a bill.

[blocks in formation]

IN ASSEMBLY,

February 11, 1831.

REPORT

Of the Commissioners of the Land-Office, on the Petition of John McCrea, John Moore, and Catharine McLaughlin.

The Commissioners of the Land-Office, to whom have been referred by the Honorable Assembly three several petitions, to wit:

The petition of John McCrea, of the town of Fort-Covington, in the county of Franklin, praying the pre-emptive right to a lot of land in the village of Fort-Covington, in the county of Franklin :

The petition of John Moore, of the same place, praying an extension of his lease for a lot of land in the same village, or that he may have granted to him the right to purchase the same, at its appraised value, exclusive of the improvements he has made thereon:

And the petition of Catharine McLaughlin, of the same place, also praying the extension of the term of a lease given to her late husband for a lot of land in the same village, or that the pre-emptive right to the lot, exclusive of the improvements, may be granted to her: RESPECTFULLY REPORT:

That all the lands in question are parts of the mile square of land reserved to the State, upon the Salmon River, in the town of FortCovington, in the county of Franklin, being part of the tract of land known by the denomination of the St. Regis Reservation. The village plot, of the village of Fort-Covington, is upon this mile square, and all the lands, mentioned in these three petitions, are within the bounds of the village, or immediately adjoining upon it.

[blocks in formation]

The lot mentioned in the petition of McCrea, is in the central part of the village, and is a small narrow strip of ground situate between the public square, reserved in the original survey and plan of the village, and the Salmon river, and is only separated from the square by Salmon-street. It extends along the river across the whole front of the public square and cemetery ground, a distance of six hundred and seventy-nine feet, and is in some places not more than thirty or forty feet wide from the street to the river. This ground, from its location, was evidently not intended to be sold, as upon the survey and map it was not numbered as a lot, and in the appraisement made of the village lots, no value was set upon this lot. Salmon-street is laid as nearly upon the bank of the river as it could well be, and continue it upon a straight line, and this is the narrow strip of ground lying between this street and the river, at the point where the street and the river approach nearest to each other.

Should it be sold, buildings might be erected upon it in a manner to destroy in a great measure the beauty and prospect of the grounds reserved for the public uses of the village, and it might give occasion to those who have purchased lots in the vicinity, with anticipations of the advantage of a location near the public square, and with the understanding that this cpen space to the river was not to be occupied, to complain.

The Commissioners also find that a gun-house erected with money drawn from the treasury, for the preservation of a piece of ordnance and its equipments belonging to the State, but in the use of a company of artillery of the village, is located upon a corner of this lot; and it cannot, therefore, be granted without the reservation of so much as it may be necessary to reserve for the convenient use of this gun-house, except by conveying the title to the house as well as the land.

A law was passed on the 21st March, 1825, authorising the Com. missioners to lease this lot to Benjamin Sanborn for a term of years, and upon certain conditions mentioned in the act. Mr.. Sanborn, however, has never come forward and taken a lease, and the act has remained inoperative.

McCrea, the petitioner, claims no interest in the lot, either possessory or otherwise, and, therefore, as is to be presumed from his petition, desires the purchase merely as a profitable investment of money, and this he would prefer to make without the risk of en

countering the competition which might be excited by the sale of the lot in the usual manner. The Commissioners know no reason why this privilege should be granted to him rather than to any other individual. They are at present impressed with the belief, that a fair regard for the interests of this new but flourishing village, requires that this small piece of ground should not be sold at all, but if it is to be sold, they are clearly of the opinion that the prayer of this petitioner should not be granted, but that the sale of this lot should take the course of the ordinary sales of the public lands of the State.

By an act passed on the 3d April, 1821, (see laws of that session, page 255,) the Surveyor-General was authorised, in his discretion, to lease for the term of ten years, the lands reserved for military purposes within the mile square in the St. Regis Reservation, being the same mile square of land before spoken of. Pursuant to that act, the Surveyor-General did enter into a lease with George B. R. Gove and John Moore, for one of the military lots so reserved within the said mile square, containing, exclusive of certain exceptions and reservations made in the lease, forty-six acres of land. The lease bore date on the 10th day of May, 1822, and was to run until the 3d day of April, 1831, and the yearly rent reserved was twelve dollars. By an assignment upon the lease, accompanying the petition of John Moore, it will appear that on the 28th April, 1825, Gove assigned to Moore, his co-lessee, all his interest in the lease for the remainder of the term; and from the petition it will be seen that the land has been occupied under the lease to the present time. The Commissioners find, upon inquiry, at the Comptroller's office, that the rent accruing upon this lease has been paid up to the present year, and from persons residing in the immediate neighborhood of the premises, and well acquainted with the land, and with its present situation, they are informed that the tenant cannot have obtained sufficient avails from the lot to compensate him for his payments of rent, and for the improvements he has made up to the present time. This information they believe may be relied on, and that this allegation in the petition, may be considered established by it.

The necessary consequence, therefore, of exposing this land for sale in the ordinary course, as soon as the tenant's present term shall expire, must be to draw against him a competition induced by the improvements he has made, and for which he has not been com

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »