The purpose of this amendment is to give this office sufficient time to make all necessary changes in the books of investigation, and would greatly facilitate the work of this Department inasmuch as at present these lists are not furnished in sufficient time to make the necessary corrections. CONCLUSION In the report just submitted I have tried in a concise yet comprehensive manner to outline generally the workings of this Department and to show the good accomplished by it. The psychology of successful performance in a Department such as mine is based not so much, as is the general impression, in securing an isolated conviction or in the apprehension of individuals, but rather as a preventative measure against those frauds so prevalent in the past, repeating, colonization and their allied ills. Those malefactors and vicious influences responsible for the numerous attempts to deliver elections, have been made to feel that any movement to put into practice their knowledge gained by laxity which may have existed in the past, would be summarily dealt with, and extreme vilgilance would be exercised if even the slightest suspicion rested on any place or places convenient for such villification. The office of the State Superintendent of Elections today, progressively standing as it does, for the prevention of crime rather than the apprehension after crime, has proven I believe, a most valuable adjunct to those institutions of the State which uphold law and order. The information bureau which had as its inception the desire to render service to the public has proven its worth by its useful functions to the various seekers of information, as illustrated in the summary under the caption "Service Department" in the foregoing pages of this report. In the short space of two years, I have taken a chaotic system of keeping the historical card review throughout the State of New York and raised its efficiency to a standard which has made it one of the most sought for records available. I have caused the hotel and lodging house registration to be scrutinized with a thoroughness which has resulted in reducing to a minimum the possibility for fraud. I have succeeded in familiarizing the voting public with the decision that a place of stay is not recognized by the law. Proportionately, I have secured as many convictions as possible in view of the laxity evidenced by the courts in election cases brought after the election period; I have trained the personnel of my Department who were, with few exceptions, recruits in these ranks when I took office, and have succeeded in making of them a capable force of operatives. I thoroughly believe that the training these men received equipped them to recognize anything bordering on the suspicious in the registration lists and made the possibility for fraud a negligible quantity. With the United States engaged in the struggle for the preservation of democracy and for the further purpose of ending for all time the rule of militaristic autocracy, and with a great State straining every fibre to facilitate the solving of the many knotted problems arising in consequence of the war, the report of the yearly performance of the one department may be lost sight of. However, I am deeply gratified to be able to report, in addition to the work done by my Department, that the number of stars in our service flag is being augmented constantly by my boys and those who, because of age restriction or for physical reasons are not acceptable for active service have responded loyally to both Liberty Loan issues and stand ready to answer the call of the Nation and the State in whatever direction will render the most efficient and patriotic service. Respectfully submitted, FREDERICK L. MARSHALL, State Superintendent of Elections. Dated at Albany, New York, December 31, 1917. |
