The 144th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to April 16, 1921, during the first year of

Nathan L. Miller Nathan Lewis Miller (October 10, 1868 – June 26, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician who was Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Early life and education Nathan Miller was born on October 10, 1868, the son of Samuel Miller, a te ...

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county. At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

, the

Farmer–Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail price ...

, the Prohibition Party and the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

also nominated tickets. The Prohibition Party endorsed the "dry" candidates for the Legislature, mostly Republicans, and nominated own candidates only where the major parties' candidates where "wet". In most of the Socialist strongholds in New York City, Democrats and Republicans nominated fusion candidates.

Elections

The New York state election, 1920, was held on November 2.

and

Jeremiah Wood Jeremiah Wood (September 27, 1876 – January 16, 1962) was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Life He was admitted to the bar in 1900, and practiced in New York City. He was a member of ...

were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, both Republicans. The incumbent Governor Al Smith ran on the Democratic ticket for re-election, but was defeated by Miller with a plurality of about 75,000 votes out of more than two and a half million. The other eight statewide elective offices up for election were also carried by the Republicans. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for governor, was: Republicans 1,335,000; Democrats 1,260,000; Socialists 172,000; Farmer-Labor 68,000; Prohibition 36,000; and Socialist Labor 5,000. Only one woman was elected to the State Assembly: Marguerite L. Smith (Rep.), an athletics teacher, of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, became the first woman to serve a second term in the Assembly.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1921. H. Edmund Machold (Rep.) was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

with 114 votes against 25 for Charles D. Donohue (Dem.) and 2 for Charles Solomon (Soc.). Clayton R. Lusk (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate with 38 votes against 8 for

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...

(Dem.) and one for Edmund Seidel (Soc.). At the beginning of the session, resolutions were offered to expel Henry Jager,

Samuel Orr Samuel Orr (July 11, 1890 – August 29, 1981) was a socialist politician from New York City best remembered for being one of the five elected members of the Socialist Party of America expelled by the New York State Assembly during the First Red ...

and Charles Solomon from the Assembly for being Socialists and thus unfit to sit, which were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. On January 12, another resolution was offered, contesting the eligibility of Henry Jager because he was alleged to be a resident of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. On March 29, the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary presented its final report in the matter of the eligibility of Henry Jager. The majority (Rowe, Lown, T. K. Smith and Everett) concluded that Jager was a resident of Maywood, New Jersey, and therefore was ineligible for office under the provisions of the Public Officers Law of New York. A minority—in one report by Bloch and McKee, and another by Stitt and Ullman—concluded that Jager was a resident of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. On the next day, Jager's seat was declared vacant by a vote of 77 to 62. On April 4, the members who had offered the resolutions against Orr and Solomon attempted to call the resolutions up, which was voted down. Thus the resolutions remained on the table of the Committee on the Judiciary until the end of the session, without any action taken.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. William T. Simpson, Martin G. McCue, Frank L. Wiswall, Warren T. Thayer, George R. Fearon, Allen J. Bloomfield and DeHart H. Ames changed from the Assembly to the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Ernest A. Fay * Sergeant-at-Arms: Charles R. Hotaling * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry Witbeck, Jr. * Principal Doorkeeper: Lee V. Gardner * First Assistant Doorkeeper: Frank Heilbron * Stenographer: John K. Marshall

State Assembly

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Assemblymen

Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond * Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry W. Haines * Principal Doorkeeper: James B. Hulse * First Assistant Doorkeeper: Walter S. Gay * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: Charles H. Jackson * Stenographer: George Munson *Postmaster: James H. Underwood

Notes

Sources

''Journal of the Senate'' (144th Session)
(1921; Vol. I, January 5 to April 4)
''Journal of the Senate'' (144th Session)
(1921; Vol. II, April 4 to 16)
''Journal of the Assembly'' (144th Session)
(1921; Vol. I, January 5 to March 16)
''Journal of the Assembly'' (144th Session)
(1921; Vol. II, March 16 to April 16)
''SENATE IS MEDIOCRE, SAYS CITIZENS UNION''
in NYT on July 15, 1921
''Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York''
prepared by Secretary of State John J. Lyons (1921) {{NYLegislatures 144 1921 in New York (state) 1921 U.S. legislative sessions