524 



NEW YORK. 



skilled laborers, and provides that they may be em- 

 ployed without examination. 



The changes made by the new classification show 

 that 116 offices have been taken from the noncom- 

 petitiveand placed in the competitive class, and that 

 41 are taken from the competitive and placed in the 

 noncompetitive class. 



Education. This department is under the super- 

 vision of a superintendent, whose salai-y is $5,000 

 and whose term of office is three years. The pres- 

 ent incumbent is Charles R. Skinner. In his an- 

 nual report for the school year ending .July 31. 

 1896, he gives the following statistics : Number of 

 school districts, 11,800 ; increase, 29 ; schoolhouses, 

 12,027 ; increase, 42 ; value of schoolhouses and 

 sites, $60,333,126; increase. $6.933,110; number of 

 children of school age (five to eighteen years) 1,651,- 

 858 ; decrease, 294,387 ; number of children attend- 

 ing school some portion of the year, 1,176,074 ; in- 

 crease. 17,731 ; average daily attendance, 777,054; 

 increase, 14,360. The decrease in the number of 

 children of school age is caused by the fact that 

 the limit of school age has been changed from 

 twenty-one years to eighteen. 



There was expended during the year $23,173,830 

 for educational purposes, against $20,950,614 during 

 1895. Of the amount expended this year, $15.542,- 

 071 was for the maintenance of the public-school 

 system in the cities and $7,531,759 in the country 

 districts. 



The first biennial special census taken by the De- 

 partment of Public Instruction was completed on 

 Feb. 28. The census was taken in 37 cities and 7 

 incorporated villages having a population of over 

 10,000. The total population between the age of 

 four and twenty-one in these cities and villages is 

 returned at 1,115,052. 



The number of children between four and six- 

 teen in the public schools was 480,285 : in other 

 than public schools, 162,226; employed, 57,032; 

 truant, 7,039. There were also 149,291 children be- 

 tween the ages of four and eight who were out of 

 school, but neither employed nor truant. 



The annual report of the regents of the Univer- 

 sity of the State showed that the number of high 

 schools increased from 285 in 1893 to 371 in 1*95, 

 and the number of academies from 125 in the for- 

 mer year to 133 in the latter. The charters of a 

 number of small colleges have been revoked, driven 

 out of existence by the influence of the larger col- 

 leges. The number of students in the academies, 

 high schools, and colleges of the. State increased 

 from 63,872 in 1894 to 76.704 in 1895. The number 

 of instructors in the high schools and academies 

 was 2,542, and the number of students 49,347. The 

 total expenditure of these institutions was $3,133,- 

 218; the total receipts, $3,143,824; total volumes 

 in libraries, 585,369. 



Reports to the regents for 1895-'96 show that there 

 are 181 free circulating libraries of 1,000 volumes, 

 a gain of 25 over the pi'eceding year. Over 83,270 

 books were added to these libraries, and their circu- 

 lation increased from 2,665,000 to 3,012,000 volumes. 

 The gain in circulation for libraries of this class 

 was 347,425 in one year and 768,122 in two years. 

 The average circulation was 261 for each 100 vol- 

 umes in 1894 and 287 in 1895. 



Health. The State Board of Health consists of 

 Case Jones, president ; Baxter T. Smelzer, secre- 

 tary ; Daniel Lewis, Owen Cassidy, Frederick W. 

 Smith, George B. Fowler, Frank E. Shaw, together 

 with the Attorney-General, the State engineeer, and 

 the health officer of the port of New York as mem- 

 bers ex officio. Their annual report says that : 

 " The last decade has been noticed for advancement 

 in sanitary science, the result being a decided pub- 

 lic demand for abundant supplies of pure water, 



the most approved systems of drainage and disposal 

 of garbage, the 'Control of preventable diseases, and 

 a systematic enforcement of every requisite for the 

 maintenance of the health and comfort of the 

 people." 



Prisons. The charge of the State Prison is un- 

 der the supervision of a State superintendent, who 

 receives a salary of $6,000. The incumbent during 

 the year was Austin Lathrop. The charges of 

 malfeasance made against Superintendent Lathrop 

 were dismissed by the Governor on Oct. 13. 



For the year ending Sept. 30, 1895, the expendi- 

 tures of thi' prisons in Auburn, Sing Sing, and 

 Clinton were $467,209. As the daily average of 

 prisoners in 1885 was 97 greater than 1896, a rigid 

 economy was practiced in the latter year. In 1894 

 the earnings were $99,197 ; in 1895 the sum of 

 $135,181 was so credited. By this increase of net 

 earnings the deficit of 1893 was reduced. 



The number of inmates in the State prison for 

 women at the close of the year was 99, or 17 fewer 

 than at the beginning of the year. 



The present prison system terminated with the 

 current calendar year by constitutional provision. 

 The future employment of the prisoners will be 

 determined by the Legislature, with the prohibi- 

 tions and limitations established by the Consti- 

 tution. 



Excise. The Raines bill, which owes its name 

 to Senator John Raines, of Ontario, was signed by 

 the Governor on March 23, and went into full effect 

 on July 1. In compliance with its demands, Henry 

 11. Lyman was appointed excise commissioner. 

 Concerning its value, Gov. Black said in his mes- 

 sage : " The operation of the present excise law has 

 been in many respects satisfactory. The revenue 

 received from it from May 1 to Nov. 20 was $11,- 

 000,083, more than twice as much as the receipts 

 for licenses during the entire year of 1895. It has 

 caused a large decrease in the number of saloons, 

 and the expense of running the excise department 

 is less than that of running the old excise boards." 



Senator Raines described its working in New 

 York city as follows : " Up to Aug. 1, 1896, the 

 number of tax certificates issued to places selling 

 liquor to be drunk on the premises in New York 

 city was 6,497; the number issued to storekeepers 

 and druggists was 813 ; total number of certificates 

 issued, 7,310. The total amount received for such 

 certificates was $4,857,918.25. It will be seen that 

 while there was a reduction in the number of places 

 authorized to traffic in liquor of 2,808, or 27 per 

 cent., there was an increase in net revenue of 

 $3,201,678.52." 



Charities. The number and classification of 

 beneficiaries of the charitable institutions of the 

 State for the year ending Sept. 30, 1895, were : Idi- 

 otic and feeble-minded. 1,828 : epileptics in poor- 

 house and almshouses, 547 ; blind, 670; deaf, 1,453 ; 

 dependent children, 27,974 ; juvenile offenders, 

 5,432 ; reformatory prisoners, 380 : disabled soldiers 

 and sailors, 1,100; hospital patients, 6,655; aged 

 and friendless persons, 8,131 ; and poorhouse in- 

 mates, 13,658 ; total, 67,828. 



This is exclusive of insane in State hospitals and 

 almshouses, and of adult felons in reformatories. 



The number of alien paupers removed from poor- 

 houses and other charitable institutions and fur- 

 nished passage to their homes in Europe was 261. 



Insane. The State Commission in Lunacy con- 

 sists of 3 members, Carlos F. MacDonald, Goodwin 

 Brown, and Henry A. Reeves. Their report shows 

 a total net increase in all the institutions of 1,131 



Satients, divided as follow; In the State hospitals, 

 85 ; in the counties of New York and Kings, 515 ; 

 in the private asylums, 31. The total number of 

 committed and registered insane on Oct. 1, 1895, in 



