NEW JERSKY. 



510 



and for the instruction and maintenance of the 48 

 blind wards .if the State sl2.!M:!.22. 



Hospitals. The number of patients admitted to 

 tlic State Hospital for the Insane at Trenton was 

 2~>1 : the number under treatment Get. 81 was 1.2.~>2, 

 of whom ss() were c-ounty patients. The disburse- 

 ments amounted to $241.3S0.25. of which sum $154,- 

 321.37 was paid by the counties. An extension to 

 the main building is in process of construction, and 

 also a dwelling for the medical director. The num- 

 ber of patients admitted to the hospital for the in- 

 sane at [Morris Plains was 280, of whom 215 were 

 public patients: the number under treatment Oct. 

 31 was 1.088. The disbursements were $281,507. 72. 

 An addition to cost $69,000 has been begun. At 

 the end of the year the various county hospitals were 

 caring for a total of 1.499 insane patients. 



Soldiers' Home. The State paid to this institu- 

 tion during the year $15,166.66, and the United 

 States paid $43,732.05. The average age of the 

 beneficiaries was 63 - 67 years. 



Penal Institutions. The expenditures for the 

 State Prison were $175,221.49, the cost of maintain- 

 ing the daily average of 1,000 prisoners being $74,- 

 835.92. The number of convicts Oct. 31 was 1,023, 

 an increase of 46 since the report of 1895. Under 

 the parole law of 1891, 212 prisoners were released, 

 of whom 5 were returned before and 4 after the ex- 

 piration of their parole. The new wing and hospital 

 are finished. 



There were 125 commitments to the Reform School 

 for boys, and 381 boys remaining in confinement 

 Oct. 81. The disbursements for maintenance were 

 $69,277.76. One hundred and twenty boys received 

 instruction in sloyd at a cost to the State of $2,- 

 623.57. 



At the Industrial School for Girls on Oct. 31 

 there were 118 girls, and 47 were out at service, 

 under indentures. The expenses for maintenance 

 and general repairs were $24,127.82 ; for permanent 

 improvements, $6,935.63. A laundry building was 

 completed early in the year. 



The plan adopted for the 7iew Reformatory at 

 Rahway will require an additional outlay of $670,- 



000. One wing, with 228 cells, has been finished. 

 Road-building. The Road Commissioner re- 

 ports, as work done under the commission, that 56i 8 ,- 

 miles of highway have been completed, that 70 miles 

 to be completed next year have been approved, and 

 that many applications must lie over for lack of ap- 

 propriations. The materials used in construction 

 are stone, gravel, bog ore, and shells. 



Fish and Game. During the year ending Xov. 



1, 1896, the State planted 48,475,524 trout, shad, 

 pike perch, and smelts of various ages. The de- 

 struction of all the carp in the Passaic river was 

 begun, the intention being to stock the river with 

 pike, perch, channel catfish, and bass. 



By changes in the game law made by the last 

 Legislature the open season is made as follows : 

 Rabbits and quail, from Xov. 10 to Jan. 1 ; wood- 

 cock, July, and from Oct. 1 to Dec. 10 ; snipe, 

 March. April, and September; ruffed grouse and 

 all kinds of partridges. Oct. 1 to Dec. 10 ; reed and 

 rail birds, September; squirrels, September, and 

 from Xov. 10 to Dec. 10 ; plover and dove. August 

 and September. 



State Flag. Feb. 28,1780, the Continental Con- 

 press directed that Xew Jersey and all States should 

 have a State flag as well as the national flag. A 

 joint resolution of the last Legislature provided for 

 a State flag, of buff color, having in the center the 

 coat of arms of Xew Jersey, and directed that the 

 State flag shall be the headquarters flag for the 

 Governor on State occasions. 



Industries. Of the 700 manufacturers to whom 

 blanks were sent by the Bureau of Labor and In- 



dustries, 309 returned reports, from which it is 

 learned that the amount of capital inve.-ted by 

 them was s37.604.201 ; the value of stock or mate- 

 rial used wa- s-jr,,:i-J7..i-J7 ; the value of goods made 

 or work done, s4!U3!i.34.">. The aggregate average 

 number of persons employed was 37,591, the 1;* 

 number employed during the year being 41.214: 

 the amount paid in wages was $14,305,972; and 

 the average yearly earnings, $379.70. 



The building and loan associations numbered 

 322, whose total assets were $41,059,215.68; total 

 receipts, $17,913,791.54; total disbursements, $17,- 

 775,374.53: number of shares, 750,48675; number 

 of shareholders, 89,150. 



Miscellaneous. In September the Supreme 

 Court declared constitutional the law legislating 

 out of office on April 1 the lay judges of the Com- 

 mon Pleas Court. 



Bernard J. Ford, formerly Superintendent of the 

 State Capitol, withdrew his plea of not guilty to the 

 five indictments against him, and entered the plea 

 of non vult, and in March he was sentenced to pay 

 a fine of $1,000. 



A three days' celebration of the one hundred and 

 fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Princeton 

 College was begun Oct. 20. 



Political. The Republican Convention met in 

 Trenton, April 16. Delegates to the national con- 

 vention were chosen, and a platform was adopted 

 which contained the following : 



"We believe that the Monroe doctrine should be 

 inflexibly maintained. 



" In our diplomacy there should be more of the 

 virile force and emphasis which command respect. 

 Our navy should be enlarged so that it may be 

 made an effective factor in any controversies which 

 may arise, and our harbors and seacoasts should be 

 protected by an adequate system of defenses. 



" The practical sympathy of this nation should 

 be extended to all peoples who have been driven by 

 oppression and wrong to take up arms in behalf of 

 the right of self-government. 



" The standard of value in this country and in 

 the other principal commercial nations of the 

 world is gold. Wages and prices have been made 

 and fixed in accordance with this standard, and 

 the welfare of the people demands that it should 

 be maintained. 



" Such a tariff should be imposed upon imports 

 as will afford adequate income for the expenses of 

 the Government. 



" The reciprocity policy adopted by a Republican 

 administration and destroyed by the Democrats 

 should be restored. 



"Immigration laws should be amended so as to 

 more effectually prevent the admission of criminals, 

 paupers, anarchists, and other persons whose pres- 

 ence here endangers the social order and disastrous- 

 ly affects the interests of our workingmen. 



" We approve the policy of national protection to 

 our shipowners and tiie shipbuilding inter* 



The hope was expressed " that redeemed Xew 

 Jersey may be represented on the national ticket 

 in the person of her able and distinguished citizen 

 the Hon. Garret A. Ilobart." 



On Aug. 27 the Republican Convention again 

 met in Trenton, selected candidates for presidential 

 electors, and on the prominent issues of the cam- 

 paign made the following declarations: 



" We believe that the debasement of the currency 

 by the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 

 would work irreparable injury to every class of our 

 citizens. 



" We are unalterably opposed to the proposition 

 to destroy the protection we enjoy under the Su- 

 preme Court of the United States." 



The Prohibition State Convention was held in 



