Revenue. 123 



From 1851, there was very little fluctuation in the amount of the 

 capital. The Umit to which it could be increased had been reached. 



A second noticeable fact is the almost total disappearance, by the 

 close of the period, of any investment in cultivated lands and build- 

 ings and the complete disappearance of wild land in the items 

 of capital. The former produced little revenue and the latter none, 

 and it was the policy in the management of this fund to dispose of 

 these forms of capital even at a loss, if necessary to put all the capital 

 on as productive a basis as possible. 



The third point to notice is the gradual drawing in of the loans 

 to inhabitants of other states and the reinvestment of the amounts 

 thus received in loans to inhabitants of Connecticut. In 1847 forty- 

 two per cent of the loans were to inhabitants of Connecticut. In 

 1860 sixty-four per cent of the loans were thus placed. This fur- 

 nished the people of Connecticut with more available capital for in- 

 vestment, the fund serving the double purpose of supplying capital 

 and producing an income for the schools. 



Finally, the amount of the capital invested in bank stock increased 

 during the first two-thirds of the period and decreased during the 

 latter third. This decrease was due to the fact that some of the banks 

 were passing dividends or paying a very low dividend. From such 

 banks the capital invested by the school fund was withdrawn. In- 

 vestments in bank stock were considered to be among the best. 

 The advantages of such investments are well summed up in the 

 comptroller's report of 1852: "These investments," he said, "are 

 in the nature of deposits in the several banks, liable to be withdrawn 

 on six months' notice, entitled to a priority of payment over other 

 stockholders, and to participation, while deposited, in the same 

 rate of dividends. Unless the whole capital of a bank is sunk, the 

 investment of the school fund can not be lost, and the state will 

 be only temporarily deprived of dividends while the principal 

 is being withdrawn. "^ In the same report the commissioner stated 

 that the dividends from the banks were at least as high as could be 

 gained on the most favorable loans to individuals.'^ The average 

 rate of the dividends received from the banks during this period 

 was over eight per cent. 



The income of the fund for the fifteen years in this period was 

 $2,078,892, an average of one hundred thirty-eight thousand five 



^ Report of Commissioner of School Fund, 1852, pp. 9, 10. (Leg. Doc. 

 1852.) 

 2 Idem, p. 10. 



