524 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



Soldiers' Home. An addition to the Sol- 

 diers' Home, at Chelsea, was completed and dedi- 

 cated June 7, giving, with the previous struct- 

 ure, accommodations for nearly 800 beneficia- 

 ries. It is being rapidly filled, there being at the 

 end of this year 233 inmates in the home and 

 hospital. The treasurer reports the entire re- 

 ceipts for the past year $82,712.87, and the ex- 

 penditures for the same period $95,247.36. 



Prisons. The average number of prisoners 

 in the State Prison during the year ending Sept. 

 30, was 586 ; in the Massachusetts Reformatory, 

 681 ; and in the Reformatory Prison for Women, 

 219. At the close of the year there were 580 re- 

 maining at the State Prison, 733 in the Massa- 

 chusetts Reformatory, and more than 200 in the 

 Reformatory Prison* for Women. The State 

 Prison at Boston and the Massachusetts Reform- 

 atory at Concord are the only institutions in which 

 the prisoners have been employed. The results 

 shown during the year to Dec. 31, are as follow: 

 Receipts from industries, $196,187.16; expenses 

 of the business, $182,313.37; salary of general 

 superintendent and other expenses for the work, 

 $6,153.38 ; total, $188,466.75 ; excess of receipts. 

 $7.720.41. In 1889 the excess of receipts was 

 $24.396.80. 



Licenses. The license vote in the cities and 

 towns in 1890, with other statistics relating 

 thereto, is shown in the following table : 



Of the 28 cities, 20 voted for license, and 8 

 against it. Of 321 towns voting, 65 voted for 

 license and 253 against it. In 1889 the majority 

 was 5,656 against license in a total of 223,444. 



Banks. During the year 2 savings banks, 

 10 co-operative banks, and 2 trust companies 

 have begun business, making a total of 179 sav- 

 ings banks, with assets of $372,476.568.41 ; 15 

 trust companies, with assets of $75,271,807.33 ; 

 103 co-operative banks, with assets of $9,264,- 

 833.34 ; 2 collateral loan companies, with assets 

 of $362,301.49 ; 2 mortgage loan companies, with 

 assets of $1,959,549.05; total, 301 institutions, 

 with assets of $459,335,059.62 an increase in 

 number of 14 institutions, and in assets of $31,- 

 778,755.81. The savings banks show for the 

 year 1,083,817 open accounts, with total deposits 

 amounting to $353,592,937.24 an increase of 

 54,123 in the number of open accounts and $20,- 

 869,248.65 in the amount of deposits. 



Political. The political canvass was opened 

 by the Prohibitionists, who in State convention 

 at Worcester, on Sept. 10, nominated the follow- 



ing ticket : For Governor, John Blackmer ; Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, George Kempton ; Secretary 

 of State, George D. Crittenden ; Treasurer, Will- 

 iam H. Gleeson ; Auditor, Augustus R. Smith; 

 Attorney-General, Wolcott Hamlin. The usual 

 resolutions in support of prohibition were adopt- 

 ed. Woman suffrage, civil-service reform, arbi- 

 tration as a means for settling international dis- 

 putes, arid Government aid to education were 

 favored. The following declarations touch upon 

 local issues : 



Resolved, That the aggressions upon the integrity 

 of our public schools imperatively demand the most 

 watchful resistance. .Not a dollar of the public money, 

 however strenuously sought, should be perverted to 

 sectarian ends, nor should these schools ever be com- 

 mitted to the care of their enemies. 



Itesolved, That we deplore the rank growth of the 

 lobby system and the accompaniment of bribery in 

 the congenial soil of politics without principle. That 

 the recent startling developments in the West End 

 Kail way investigation show that the leaders of both 

 the Republican and Democratic parties are so compli- 

 cated with corrupt corporations that no reform can be 

 expected, except from a whirlwind of popular indig- 

 nation which shall sweep them away forever. 



The Republican State Convention was held in 

 Boston on Sept. 17. Gov. Brackett, Lieut.-Gov. 

 Haile, and Treasurer Marden were renominated. 

 For Secretary of State the convention selected 

 William M. Olin ; for Auditor, J. Henry Gould ; 

 and for Attorney-General, Albert E. Pillsbury. 

 The/ following are the resolutions that touch 

 upon local issues : 



We renew the assertion of our fidelity to the prin- 

 ciples of temperance, and our determination, in the 

 future, as in the past, to favor, not onlv all moral 

 agencies, but also the most effective legislation to 

 suppress the dram shop and saloon, and to restrict 

 and exterminate, so far as legal provisions, faithfully 

 enforced, can possibly do it, the blighting curse of 

 drink. 



We profess unalterable devotion to the cause of 

 public schools, which must be preserved in their in- 

 tegrity and at the highest standard of efficiency, and 

 can point to a long series of legislative acts, including 

 the present year, evincing the sincerity of our pro- 

 fessions. 



We reaffirm the principles expressed in former 

 platforms of the party in respect to the duty of the 

 Government, so far as possible, to ameliorate and dig- 

 nify the condition of the laboring people by a judi- 

 cious abridgment of the hours of labor, and claim that 

 the statute book of this Commonwealth will prove 

 that the party has always manifested an honest pur- 

 pose to advance in that direction, with no halting or 

 uncertain steps. 



We heartily commend the wisdom of the law en- 

 acted the present year, designed to expose to the clear 

 light of publicity every external agency standing be- 

 tween the people and 'the Legislature and employed 

 to advance special legislation, and we will favor any 

 further enactment which may be found needful to re- 

 strain the improper expenditure of money in connec- 

 tion with such legislation, and to reduce and abolish, 

 so far as possible, the real or pretended influence of 

 professional and amateur lobbyists. 



On Sept. 18 the Democratic State Convention 

 met at Worcester and nominated the following 

 candidates : For Governor, William E. Russell : 

 Lieutenant-Governor, John W. Corcoran ; Sec- 

 retary of State, Elbridge Cushman ; Treasurer, 

 William Q. T. Trefry ; Auditor, Edwin L. Munn ; 

 Attorney-General, Eltsha B. Maynard. The plat- 

 form treats of State issues as follows : 



