174 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



men, on the one liand, against a majority of the 

 white race, on the other. I would not consent, 

 having rescued those States hy arms from seces- 

 sion and rebellion, to turn them over to anarchy 

 and chaos. I have, however, no doubt what- 

 ever of our right to stipulate for colored suf- 

 frage. The question is one of statesmanship, not 

 a question of constitutional limitation." On 

 the 6th Alexander H. Bullock, the new gov- 

 ernor, delivered his annual message to the Le- 

 gislature. 



The Legislature adjourned on May 30th, after 

 a session of 147 days, having passed 301 acts 

 and 105 resolves, besides defeating some fifty 

 proposed laws. The great mass of its business 

 consisted of new acts of incorporation, and modi- 

 fications of old ones, authorities to local munici- 

 palities for new functions, remedies for defects 

 in old legislation, etc-. It refused any new legis- 

 lation as to liquor selling, any interference with 

 the hours of labor, any change in the rate of in- 

 terest, the equalization of bounties to the sol- 

 diers of the war, the organization of a board of 

 railway commissioners, and the prohibition of 

 horse railway cars on Sunday. It appropriated 

 half a million dollars to continue work on the 

 Troy and Greenfield railroad and the Hoosac 

 tunnel, and authorized the Western railroad to 

 increase its capital to ten millions, in order to 

 complete its second track, pay for the Hudson 

 River bridge, and enlarge its stock of cars and 

 locomotives. Considerable was done in the 

 way of raising the salaries of State and county 

 officers, and a special joint committee was ap- 

 pointed to review the question of State salaries 

 in detail, and report to the next Legislature a 

 permanent scale of payment. The principal 

 legislation for the benefit of the soldiers was a 

 law granting $6 a month to every one disabled 

 in the war, or to the family of every one killed. 

 A new plan for the organization and main- 

 tenance of a State militia was adopted, and 

 General Butler chosen its head. The publication 

 of a list of all the soldiers of Massachusetts in 

 the war was ordered. The State councillor and 

 Senatorial districts were revised and established 

 for the next ten years, and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives apportioned among the several coun- 

 ties, which are to be sub-districted for the elec- 

 tions by the county commissioners. A plan for 

 reducing the number of representatives in gross 

 and for electing them for two years instead of 

 one was postponed to the next Legislature. 



The funded debt of Massachusetts, on January 

 1, 1867, was $24,399,224.25, and the unfunded 

 debt was $2,947,903.16, amounting in the ag- 

 gregate to $27,347,127.41. This statement pre- 

 sents an apparent increase of the former during 

 the year of $5,268,789.25, and the decrease of 

 the latter to the amount of $1,043,473.84. This 

 increase in the funded debt, which includes the 

 loans to various railroad corporations, has ac- 

 crued chiefly, Governor Bullock states, from 

 the absorption of the temporary loans outstand- 

 ing on January 1, 1866; from the investment of 

 more than $1,500,000 of cash belonging to the 



various funds in the purchase of the bounty fund 

 and Massachusetts war fund scrip ; and from the 

 addition of the difference between $4.44 and 

 $4.84 per pound on the sterling bonds loaned 

 to the Western Railroad, and the Troy and 

 Greenfield Railroad corporations ; these bonds 

 having been originally computed at $4.44, 

 while their redemption must be provided for at 

 $4.84 per pound sterling. The unfunded deb 

 has arisen mainly from advances in excess of 

 the issue of scrip to meet expenses incurred on 

 account of the Troy and Greenfield railroad and 

 Hoosac tunnel; from the reimbursements to 

 cities and towns of amounts paid to the families 

 of volunteers ; and from unexpected expendi- 

 tures authorized by acts of special legislation in 

 excess of previous estimates. Of the funded 

 debt the sum $6,826,196 is absorbed in loans 

 made to railroad corporations, which are se- 

 cured by bonds, mortgages, sinking funds, and 

 collaterals. Of this debt the payment of $22,- 

 005,568 is provided for by sinking funds, pledged 

 and supplied each year for that purpose ; and 

 the sum of $2,393,656.25, including the coast 

 defence loan ($888,000), and the three years 

 loan (1,055,656.25), accrued without any special 

 provision for its redemption other than the or- 

 dinary resources of the treasury. The accumu- 

 lations of the debt extinguishment fund, from the 

 increased value of its securities, of the union 

 loan sinking fund, and of some other funds, 

 promise largely to exceed the amount necessary 

 for the redemption of scrip for which they are 

 pledged. At the commencement of the year 

 the treasury had upward of two millions of 

 dollars in hand with which to retire the seven 

 per cent, temporary loan, soon to commence 

 its maturity, and to liquidate other portions of 

 the unfunded loans and floating liabilities. 



The aggregate expenditure of Massachusetts 

 on account of the war, amounted to more than 

 $50,000,000, including that of her municipali- 

 ties, and the sum thus far paid and payable 

 directly from the State treasury is not less than 

 $30,000,000. Of this last-named amount, the 

 sum of $3,532,092.78 has been charged to the 

 United States Government, under the pro- 

 visions of the acts of Congress authorizing 

 partial indemnification for expenses incurred 

 by the loyal States; and a total reimbursement 

 of $2,555,749.74 has thus far been received on 

 this account. Of the unadjusted balance of 

 $976,343.04, about $30,000 remains to be sub- 

 mitted to the proper department at Washing- 

 ton. 



The estimate of ordinary revenue for 1867 is 

 about $1,200,000, and of ordinary expenditures 

 about $5,000,000, including $1,800,000 allowed 

 for aid to disabled soldiers and the families of 

 the slain, under an act of the Legislature 

 passed in 186-6. 



The returns made by the Board of Educa- 

 tion show that there were nearly ten thousand 

 more pupils in the schools of Massachusetts in 

 1866 than in the previous year, and that the 

 average attendance during the same period in- 



