82 The Financial History of Connecticut. 



In accordance with an act passed by the legislature at the May 

 session in 1820,^ the first enumeration of school children was made 

 in August, 1820, and showed that the number of children in the state 

 between the ages of four and sixteen was eighty-four thousand one 

 hundred seventy-nine. A study of the school census for the years 

 1820 to 1845 furnishes another evidence of the slow development 

 of the state during this period. The following table speaks for itself. 



Number of Children between the Ages of Four and Sixteen. 



Years. Children. Years. Children. 



1820 84,179 1835 83,799 



1825 84,976 1840 82.676 



1830 85,006 1845 84,093 



Because the number of children during this entire period remained 

 nearly stationary while the income from the fund was rising from 

 sixty thousand dollars to one hundred twenty thousand dollars a 

 year, the allotment for each child increased until it was doubled. 

 In 1820 the amount per child was about seventy cents. It reached 

 eighty-five cents by 1825 and remained at this figure until 1830, 

 when it became ninety cents. A raise to ninety-five cents occurred 

 after three years and in 1835 the dollar point was reached. From 

 this it rose every year until it stood at one dollar and a quarter in 

 1839. In 1841 ten cents more per child was added and in 1842 the rate 

 was made $1.40 per child, at which point it still stood at the close of 

 this period. 



This enlarged income of the school fund was of considerable aid 

 to the Republicans of that day in their effort to decrease the state 

 expenditures, as will be seen under the fohowing heading. 



Unless the portion of income from the town deposit fund devoted 

 to schools be considered as state aid,^ the towns received no other 

 financial support for their schools from the state during this period 

 except the dividends from the school fund. 



D. State Expenditures. 



1. Education. 



The reduction of the grand list under the new system of assessment 



and the decreased income from the permanent fund during the first 



part of this period necessitated a curtailment of expendi- 



Ketrench- ^^j-es or increased taxation. The RepubUcans desired 



to keep the taxes low and hence sought opportunities for 



1 Public Statute Laws, May 1820, chap. 50, sec. 2. 



2 Cf. p. 77 and foot note 3 on same page. 



