826 



WISCONSIN. 



versity fund income receipts, $652,061.44: dis- 

 bursements, the same. Agricultural College fund 

 receipts, $110,099.96 ; disbursements, $45,100. Agri- 

 cultural College fund income receipts, $52,784.15; 

 disbursements, the same. Normal School fund- 

 receipts, $347,326.25; disbursements, $263,481.88. 

 Normal school fund income receipts, $387,703.59 ; 

 disbursements, the same. 



The bonded debt of the State, created in lS61-'63 

 for carrying on the war for the maintenance of the 

 Union, has all been paid or converted into certifi- 

 cates of indebtedness to the trust funds. 



Education. The total disbursements for com- 

 mon schools during the year ending June 30, 1896, 

 were $5,318,106.16; the total number of persons of 

 school age reported, 684,890 ; the total number of 

 scholars, 412,687 ; the number of teachers employed, 

 12,334. There were 192 free high schools in the 

 State, employing 672 principals and teachers, at an 

 annual compensation of $314,209.97. The Governor 

 says that " no educational factor has been more 

 potent in making school life attractive to the chil- 

 dren and enlarging the scope of their intellectual 

 training than the excellent books 'to which access 

 is furnished through the medium of the township 

 library." He also congratulates the State on the 

 fact that its university has reached the front rank 

 of the higher educational institutions of the coun- 

 try, and that it has been enabled, through the lib- 

 eral provision made by the Legislature, to keep pace 

 in its progress with the rapid development and im- 

 provement in educational methods ; that each suc- 

 ceeding year has shown a larger attendance in the 

 various departments, and that the percentage of 

 attendants from the State shows a marked increase; 

 that the agricultural college of the university has 

 progressed with the other departments, the effect of 

 its work being seen in improved farming methods, 

 greater diversification of crops, and relatively larger 

 profits in the agricultural pursuits of the State. 

 The completion of the building and the opening of 

 the new normal school at Superior gives the State 7 

 normal schools. 



Historical Library. The Legislature of 1895 

 made an appropriation of $180,000 for the erection 

 of an historical library building, and work has been 

 begun. The building will have an extreme length 

 of 200 feet, with a width of 152 feet. 



Railroads. The greater part of the State's in- 

 come for general expenditures is derived from the 

 railways. For the fiscal year ending Dec. 30, 1896, 

 the receipts from the 4-per-cent. tax on the gross 

 earnings of the railways, which is laid in lieu of 

 other taxation, amounted to $1,172,742.12. 



A new railroad company, the Wisconsin North- 

 ern, filed articles of organization with the Secretary 

 of State in February, 1896, and surveys have been 

 made. The line, which runs through a section that 

 contains a large body of State lands, is to be 100 

 miles long, starting from a point of connection with 

 the Chicago and Northwestern at or near Big Sua- 

 mico, in Brown County, northwest through or into 

 the counties of Brown, Shawano, Oconto, Langlade, 

 Florence, and Forest, to a point on the boundary 

 line between Wisconsin and Michigan. 



Penal Institalions. The Governor reports ur- 

 gent need for more prison room, and calls the at- 

 tention of the Legislature to the necessity for the 

 establishment of an intermediate prison to which 

 first offenders may be sent. 



Insurance Companies. Assessment life insur- 

 ance companies that issue limited-payment policies 

 are not to be allowed to do business in the State 

 hereafter unless they show that they have sufficient 

 accumulated reserve to meet the policies under all 

 conditions. During 1896 the receipts of the Insur- 

 ance Commissioner's office exceeded those of the 



previous year by $8.000. The commissioner re- 

 I'li^i'd license to 20 companies, and placed one in 

 the hands of a receiver. More fire-insurance com- 

 panies entered the State during the year than for 

 five years previous. The Guaranty Fund Life As- 

 sociation and the United Stairs Masonic Benevolent 

 Association, both of Council Bluffs, Iowa, with- 

 drew from the State pending a hearing appointed 

 to show cause why a renewal of their licenses should 

 not be refused. The application of the National 

 Accident Society of New York City for license to 

 do business in the State was refused, the Insurance 

 Commissioner finding that the directors of the Na- 

 tional Accident Company have organized another 

 association, called the Guarantee Agency Company, 

 for the purpose of managing the affairs of the Na- 

 tional Accident Company, and have entered into a 

 contract with themselves, for twenty years, to pay 

 the expenses of the National Accident Company, 

 except the payment of accident claims, cost of col- 

 lection, and expenses of adjusting claims; the con- 

 sideration to be paid by the National Accident So- 

 ciety to the Guaranty Agency Company to be the 

 full amount of the membership fees and five twelfths 

 of all assessments paid by the members. The presi- 

 dent and secretary of both companies are the same. 



Semicentennial Celebration. Early in Jan- 

 uary, 1896, a conference, attended by about 400 

 delegates from all parts of the State, met at Mil- 

 waukee and initiated proceedings for celebrating in 

 1S9S the fiftieth anniversary of the admission of the 

 State, into the Union. A committee of 100 citizens, 

 10 from each congressional district, was selected to 

 arrange a plan, and this general committee dele- 

 gated to an executive committee of 19 the duty of 

 working out the details for the organization of a 

 corporation to be known as the Wisconsin Semi- 

 centennial Exposition Company. The proposed 

 celebration will be an exposition illustrating the 

 progress of the past fifty years in all things that 

 have contributed to the development of the State. 



Reapportionment. An extra session of the 

 Legislature was called to meet, Feb. 18, for the 

 single purpose of redistricting the State. At its 

 regular session of the preceding year the Legisla- 

 ture passed a joint resolution providing for the ap- 

 pointment of a committee made up of members of 

 both houses and from both political parties to pre- 

 pare, within sixty days from the date of promulga- 

 tion of the new census, a bill "apportioning and 

 districting anew the members of the Senate and 

 Assembly, and deposit the same with the Gov- 

 ernor." This resolution made it the duty of the 

 Governor to submit to the next session of the Legis- 

 lature. "whether the same be a regular or ex- 

 traordinary session," the work of that committee, 

 and in compliance with those directions the Gov- 

 ernor submitted the bill prepared, together with 

 the majority and minority reports. After various 

 amendments, the bill was passed. In approval of 

 the act the Governor said, in part : " There has 

 been presented a spectacle such as is rarely seen 

 during the sessions of legislative bodies that of a 

 majority of the members totally disregarding ques- 

 tions of personal advantage, and ignoring entirely 

 the spirit of partisanship, working earnestly to pro- 

 duce a constitutional apportionment. That you 

 have done what you have thus conscientiously at- 

 tempted to do I have not the slightest doubt." 



Political. The Republican convention for nom- 

 inating a State ticket met in Milwaukee on Aug. 6. 

 Edward Scofield was nominated for Governor in 

 place of William H. Upham, and after renorninat- 

 ing the entire old ticket below Governor, the con- 

 vention adjourned. 



The Republican State Convention for choosing 

 delegates to the national convention convened in 



