On March 12, 1800, John V. Henry, an eminent Albany lawyer and a Federalist, was chosen Comptroller. There are some still living who know, at least by oral tradition, his great influence at the bar, and Albanians have a just pride in his high reputation. He was a member of the convention called in 1801 principally to settle the question whether the Governor alone could nominate persons for appointment, or whether that power also lay in the Senators composing the Council of Appointment. He was a Member of Assembly from Albany county in 1800, 1801 and 1802. During his term, by chapter 61 of the Laws of 1801, the Comptroller was made _ex-officio_ a member of the State Board of Canvassers, and by chapter 69 of the same year he was made one of the Commissioners of the Land Office. In 1801 the Legislature also directed the Comptroller to sell lands for the payment of taxes due to the State, and this power, variously modified and enlarged, still remains in him. Under it sales were held in 1808, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1821, 1826, 1830, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1848, 1853, 1859, 1866, 1871, 1877, 1881, 1885, 1890 and 1895. In 1800 the Legislature authorized the Comptroller to settle the credits of the State with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. The moneys derived from this source formed the basis of the general fund. The Comptroller was made the custodian of this fund with power to invest it. The fund was augmented from sales of land and other sources until, in 1814, it had reached the sum of $4,396,943.97. The income of the fund together with the salt and auction duties, it was believed, in the early part of the century, would be sufficient to maintain the government. And from 1814 to 1842 no money was raised in this State by direct taxation except during the years in which the Erie and Champlain canals were in process of construction. To avoid a direct tax, however, it had been found necessary from time to time, to draw on the principal of the fund, and in 1834 it disappeared altogether and with it the bright dream of our forefathers of a commonwealth without taxation. Before the adoption of the Constitution of 1846 the fund had been succeeded by a general fund debt of $5,992,840.82. This was increased before the breaking out of the Civil War to a total of $6,505,684.37. This was the high-water mark of the general fund debt if we do not include in it the bounty debt of 1865. The Constitution of 1846 made provision for a sinking fund to meet this debt and its management and investment were intrusted to the Comptroller. In this way the last of the debt was paid in 1878. [Illustration: Arch. McIntyre (signature) _4th COMPTROLLER_]