of enlargement might be more thoroughly studied before the state should be committed to any policy; and even after the general assembly had voted for the expenditure of nine millions of dollars, yet the men behind the scenes were not dismayed, but with greater determination their work was carried on.
The story of initiative work, of the arousing of public sentiment, the obtaining of recognition of those in power at Albany, the years of work expended and of thousands of dollars obtained by voluntary subscription for the carrying on of the work can never be told in detail and could only be told by such men as Mr. George H. Raymond of Buffalo and his associates. But that their work was efficient time has already proved.
The first official recognition of the necessity for radical enlargement or total abandonment (this latter being a natural deduction from the former) was the passage of an act by the general assembly of the state[1] authorizing the governor to appoint a commission "to examine into the com-
- ↑ Laws of 1898, ch. 44.
