348 



ILLINOIS. 



322,015; and loans and discounts, $143,200,898.31. 

 The statement of the condition of the State banks 

 March 17, 1896, shows that the aggregate resources 

 were $127,432,913.50; the loans and discounts 

 amounted to $85,077,209.50 ; stocks and bonds 

 other than United States bonds. $10,193,605.25; 

 cash on hand, $12,414,588.30 ; due from banks, 

 $14,448,656.92; checks and other cash items, $2,- 

 742.247.81. 



Insurance. The tabular statement of the State 

 Superintendent of Insurance, issued in April, shows 

 that during 1895 the fire and marine insurance 

 companies doing business in Illinois numbered 177, 

 whose paid-up capital was, in the aggregate, $71,- 

 430,299 ; assets, $252,413,498 ; liabilities, $189,774,- 

 776; surplus as to policyholders, $134,187,573: sur- 

 plus over liabilities, $62,732,273 ; incomes, $146,752,- 

 447; expenditures, $131,270,211; risks written, $1,- 

 110,636,979; premiums received, $12,981,803 ; losses 

 paid, $6,696,050 ; losses incurred, $7,608.628; risks 

 in congested district Chicago, $149,030,791. 



The annual report, issued in August, shows the 

 total amount of life insurance in force Dec. 31, 

 1895, as $946,411,963, distributed as follows: Fixed 

 or level premium, old line, $321.073,021 ; fixed or 

 level premium, industrial, $28.634,343 ; assessment 

 life, $153,552,674; fraternal societies, $443,151,925. 

 The 28 fidelity, surety, and casualty companies 

 issued policies in the State aggregating $256,843,- 

 311 ; and paid losses, $629,530. The business 

 written by the 42 assessment life insurance com- 

 panies in 1895 amounted to $35,072,350, the total 

 amount of insurance in force in these companies 

 being $153,552,674. The risks of the 18 assessment 

 accident companies were $87,562,200, of which $46,- 

 064,900 was written during the year. The fraternal 

 beneficiary societies numbered 49. During the year 

 they wrote business amounting to $102,797,725. 

 Their death losses were $3,739,400, and their losses 

 through lapses, surrenders, and other means $36,- 

 203,300. The amount of premiums collected by the 

 windstorm companies was $1,284. 



Charitable Institutions. The financial record 

 of the State charitable institutions for the last 

 quarter of 1895 shows that the total gross cost for 

 maintenance was $333,020.94. The total cost to 

 the State was $301,264.43. The number of inmates 

 present at the beginning of the quarter, in the 12 

 institutions, was 8,059. There were present at the 

 end of the quarter 5,058 males and 3,208 females. 



A later report of the State Board of Public Char- 

 ities shows the average gross cost per capita of the 

 Eastern Hospital for the Insane to have been $41.59, 

 and the average net cost to be $38.45. The average 

 gross cost at the Central Insane Hospital (Jackson- 

 ville) was $32.11, and the net cost $28.39. At the 

 Southern Insane Asylum (Anna) the gross per capita 

 cost was $30.62, and the net cost $25.78. The 

 Northern Insane Asylum (Elgin) was, gross $36 and 

 net $34.60. The asylum for insane criminals at the 

 Chester State Prison was, gross $47.83, net $43.18. 



The highest gross and net cost per capita was at 

 the Institution for the Blind at Jacksonville, and 

 was, gross $71.47, net $65.11. The lowest was at 

 the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy, the 

 gross being $24.44, and the net $24.30. 



Prisons. From Joliet, in August, the first trial 

 of the new parole law was made. Under this law 

 prisoners are released and are provided with em- 

 ployment with men who promise to try to keep 

 them from evil associations. No two convicts may 

 be employed at the same place. Each paroled man 

 must report once a month to the penitentiary au- 

 thorities, and six months of good behavior secures 

 final release. Joliet prison is now self-sustaining. 



In October the " Pioneer," a weekly newspaper 

 published at the State Reformatory, at Pontiac, was 



made a daily issue the first daily newspaper pub- 

 lished in a prison. The paper has turned out a 

 large number of first-class printers. 



Factory Inspection. The report of the State 

 factory inspectors was made in March. It shows 

 that during 1895 48 cities and towns were visited 

 and 4,540 establishments, employing 190,369 per- 

 sons, were inspected. About 500 children under 

 fourteen years of age were found at work, and 

 8,624 between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. 

 For employing 80 children under fourteen years of 

 age 56 convictions were secured, and 223 convic- 

 tions for employing 408 children between the ages 

 of fourteen and sixteen without the required affi- 

 davits. The number of tenement-house sweat 

 shops in Chicago was 1,715. against 1,413 in 1894; 

 the persons employed numbered 14,904, an increase 

 of 3,802; and the'child labor ejnployed was 1,307, 

 against 721. Of these, 1,180 were girls, two thirds 

 of whom could neither read nor write English. 



Board of Arbitration. The first report of this 

 board, covering the first six months since its or- 

 ganization, was made in March, and showed that 

 the board had taken official action on about 40 

 disputes between employers and employees, some 

 of which developed into strikes; all but one of 

 these disputes were settled either by the contend- 

 ing parties themselves or through the mediation of 

 a member of the board. 



Building' and Loan Associations. The an- 

 nual report for 1895 shows that during the year 

 30 new associations were admitted to do business, 

 20 surrendered their charter, and 2 failed. The 

 associations, at the end of December, numbered 

 726 ; receipts for the year were $46,306,969.96 ; 

 assets, $82,639,258.24 ; total number of shares dur- 

 ing the year, 582,525|; matured, 60,78!); with- 

 drawn. 535,455: in force, 2,230,435f ; loaned on, 

 165,843*. 



Crops. The following reports on the crops were 

 made on Aug. 1 by the State Board of Agriculture : 

 Of the 1,919,598 acres seeded to wheat, 237,579 acres 

 were not harvested ; the total yield was 21,514,581 

 bushels, valued at $10,447,439, the price per bushel, 

 Aug. 1, being 48 cents. The production was 3,500,- 

 000 bushels more than in 1895. The yield of oats 

 was 104,425,000 Bushels, whose value at 13| cents a 

 bushel was $14,180,000. The corn area is given as 

 6,925,000 acres, a slight increase over last year. A 

 report on the corn crpp was made Dec. 1. With 

 the exception of the yield of 1879, the corn crop of 

 1896 is the largest ever grown in the State, 288,- 

 750,000 bushels having been produced from 6,864,- 

 000 acres. The average quality is 96 points out of 

 a possible 100. The average market price for corn 

 throughout the State is 18 cents a bushel, the low- 

 est price in twenty-five years. The United States 

 Department of Agriculture early in 1896 gave the 

 value put upon the crops of Illinois for 1895 as fol- 

 lows: Corn, $56,130,042; wheat, $10,102,177; oats, 

 $12,530,212; hay. $13.521,113; potatoes, $4,134,759; 

 rye. $680,115; barley, $158,865 : buckwheat, $12,813. 



Live Stock. The United States Department of 

 Agriculture in July reported the number and value 

 of farm animals in the State as : Horses, 1,179.072, 

 value $34,502,959 ; mules, 97,453, value $3,531,725 ; 

 milch cows. 1,018,443, value $27,966,445 ; oxen and 

 other cattle, 1,430,976, value $29.214.530; sheep, 

 694,470, value $1,670,687; swine, 2,392,980, value 

 $12.301,830. 



The State Live Stock Commission, in a report 

 covering the two years ending July 23, 1896, says 

 that during that period it has inspected and tagged 

 17,400 cattle; of these, 4,938 were held for post- 

 mortem examination, 3,494 of which were tanked 

 and rendered unfit for food, and the remaining 

 1,444 were sold at an average of $5.50 per hundred. 



