WISCONSIN. 



717 



fied by the succeeding Legislature before being 

 decided by the people's vote, as must be the 

 amendment providing for biennial sessions of 

 the Legislature, which also passed for the first 

 time. An act was passed relating to writs of 

 mandamus and prohibition, providing that such 

 writs may be granted in the case of disputed 

 elections, and the rights of persons to certifi- 

 cates of election tested in the courts in the 

 cases of Presidential electors, Congressmen, 

 and members of the Legislature. A change 

 was made in the registry law, so that electors 

 who are not registered may vote upon furnish- 

 ing proof that they are legal voters. A law 

 was made directing that no disbursements of 

 money by directors or trustees of State chari- 

 table or penal institutions can be made except 

 upon specified appropriations, and that no in- 

 debtedness can be incurred by such officers in 

 excess of the appropriations of the Legislature. 



The direct appropriations voted make the 

 sum of $418,753, as against $299,177 appro- 

 priated in 1879, and $339,000 in 1878. The 

 principal items were $152,411 for the State 

 Hospital for the Insane ; $114,000 for the Deaf 

 and Dumb Institute, of which $14,000 was to 

 repair losses by fire, and $70,000 for rebuild- 

 ing ; $74,218 for the Northern Hospital for the 

 Insane, including $19,000 for improvements; 

 $15,000 for improvements in the Industrial 

 School for Girls; and $19,967 for the mainte- 

 nance of the Industrial School for Boys. 



The receipts of the Treasury, from all sources, 

 for the year ending September 30, 1880, were 

 $1,744,719; the balance on hand September 

 30, 1879, $588,824; together, $2,333,543. The 

 disbursements for the year, for all purposes, 

 -were $1,872,144. Of the balance remaining 

 September 30, 1880, amounting to $461,398, 

 $142,872 was credited to the general fund, 

 $124,299 to the various educational funds, and 

 $174,285 to the St. Croix and Lake Superior 

 Kailroad trespass fund. The receipts on ac- 

 count of the general fund were as follows : 



Direct State tax $455,831 89 



Eailroad companies, license taxes 418,148 76 



Insurance companies, license taxes 41,345 15 



Counties, for the support of inmates of the sev- 

 eral charitable institutions 101,131 81 



Miscellaneous sources 82,899 62 



Total .................................... $1,049.406 73 



Balance from previous year .................. 273.231 49 



Total .................................... $1,322,688 22 



The expenditures from the general fund 

 from which are paid, besides the current ex- 

 penses of the State, the interest on the war 

 debt, and appropriations for the schools and 

 charitable institutions were as follows : 



Salaries and permanent appropriations ........ $135,789 51 



Legislative expenses ......................... 91,517 75 



Miscellaneous purposes ....................... 224,948 20 



Interest on the public debt 

 School fund income 

 Free High Schools 

 State University 

 Benevolent Institutions 

 Milwaukee Insane Asylum 



157,560 00 

 7,083 36 

 25,000 00 

 48.,897 18 



419,014 52 

 75,000 00 



Of the excess of $123,704 over the disburse- 

 ments of the previous fiscal year, only $6,917 

 is chargeable to current State expenses proper, 

 the excess in the appropriations for benevolent 

 and educational institutions having been $42,- 

 785, besides the amount paid to Milwaukee 

 County on account of the construction of its 

 insane asylum. 



The condition of the several educational trust 

 funds at the close of the year, showing a gain 

 of $54,828 over the total amount at the same 

 date in the preceding year, was as follows: 



The State debt amounted to $2,252,057, the 

 same as in 1879, but its form has been changed 

 by the substitution of certificates of indebted- 

 ness to the Agricultural College fund for most 

 of the original bonds. 



The indebtedness of the several counties, 

 cities, towns, villages, and school districts in 

 the State was reported to the Secretary of 

 State as follows : 



Railroad aid $4,500,970 62 



Interest unpaid 1,276,012 42 



School districts 276,566 58 



All other purposes 8,545,518 13 



Total $9,599,067 75 



The values of all property in the State sub- 

 ject to taxation, as returned by the assessors 

 for the past two years, are as follows : 



18?9. 



Total $1,179,815 



The gross value of taxable property as esti- 

 mated by the Board of Assessment was $445,- 

 582,720, which is probably 40 per cent, below 

 the actual aggregate taxable wealth. The value 

 of private property which pays no revenue to 

 the State either by way of direct tax or other- 

 wise is returned by the assessors at $6,353,- 

 014, as follows : 



Religious associations $5,696.090 00 



Scientific and literary associations 378,455 00 



Benevolent associations 214,779 00 



Agricultural societies 63,600 00 



The total amount of taxes levied in the State 

 for the year 1879, for all purposes, amounted 

 to $7,577,767.27, a decrease of $392,091.73 

 from the amount levied the previous year, and 

 was at the rate of $1.72 and 6 mills on $100 

 of the assessment for that year. The pur- 

 pose for which these taxes were levied and 

 their respective amounts and rates are as 

 follows : 



