Right to annul contracts. Secretary of State, member of printing board.. printing board may reject proposals OPENING PROCEEDINGS AND ORGANIZATION OF THE TWO HOUSES. The Constitution provides (Art. X, § 6) that the Legislature shall, every year, assemble on the first Wednesday in January. The place is designated by law as the Capitol in the City of Albany." Usage has established twelve o'clock noon as the hour of meeting, and the meeting hour thereafter is fixed by resolution of each house at eleven clock a. m. Tuesdays. Wednesdays and Thursdays, ten o'clock a. m. Fridays and 8.30 9. m. Mondays. In the Senate. On the day appointed by the Constitution, and at the hour which usage has established, the LieutenantGovernor, ex officio President of the Senate, takes the chair, and calls to order. Such as are present of the Senators elect, if it be a new Senate, as have not already taken, subscribed and filed the oath in the office of the Secretary of State, take and subscribe the oath enjoined by the Constitution [Art. XIII, § 1] which is administered by the Lieutenant-Governor the Clerk of the previous Senate acting as such, and calling the roll from the official list furnished by the Secretary of State. If a quorum be present, the Senate proceeds at once to elect its officers; and having completed its organization, and adopted rules for government — usually those of the previous Senate the fact is communicated to the Governor and Assembly, through committees, named by the Lieutenant-Governor, of two Senators each. If it be not a new Senate, the body being already organized, is in a condition, a quorum being present, at once to proceed to business, on being called to order. The reading of the Governor's annual message, and the adoption of the customary resolutions at the opening of the session, complete usually the first day's proceedings. In the Assembly. In the absence of any statutory provision, it has been usual for the Clerk to call the Assembly to order, put a motion for the election of Speaker, and conduct proceedings generally until a Speaker is chosen. But it is within the province of the members to elect a temporary presiding officer, if they so desire, in cases where the election of a Speaker is protracted. The Clerk is furnished by the Secretary of State with an official list of the members elect, which, under the changes in the Laws of 1909 (chap. 47), should also indicate those whose oaths of office have been filed as required by the above-mentioned chapter. The oath of office may be administered by any officer authorized to take, within the State, the acknowledgment of the execution of a deed of real prop erty, or by an officer in whose office the oath is required to be filed, but, wherever administered, it must be duly subscribed, certified and filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The oath of office so taken should be in the following form: State of New York, County of.... "I, ss: do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of.... according to the best of my ability." "And I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have not directly or indirectly paid, offered or promised to pay, contributed, or offered or promised to contribute any money or other valuable thing as a consideration or reward for the giving or withholding a vote at the election at which I was elected to said office, and have not made any promise to influence the giving or withholding any such vote." Subscribed and sworn to before me this .... day, It is not necessary for any member to present his certificate of election unless his claim should be disputed. The certified list of the Secretary of State, presented to the Clerk, is sufficient to entitle any member who is named therein to his seat, unless it should be proved erroneous by the production of a proper certificate from the County Canvassers. The Secretary of State attends the opening session of the Assembly and administers the oath of office to such |