348 



ILLINOIS. 



to have paid more than its cost since it was con- 

 structed. The commissioners under the act 

 of 1836, for the construction of this great pub- 

 lic work, expended $4,979,903 upon it, and 

 $1,429,606 more were expended by the Canal 

 Trustees under the act of 1843. Since the 

 year 1848, when the canal was opened to 

 navigation, $4,527,825 have been received from 

 the sales of lands given in aid of the work by 

 the Government of the United States, and the 

 tolls have yielded $2,185,695 over and above 

 the expense of operating the canal and keep- 

 ing it in repair. Thus it will be seen that the 

 receipts have exceeded the cost by the sum of 

 $771,966. The receipts from the tolls of this 

 public property in 1867 amounted to $252,- 

 231.23, and in 1868 they were $215,720.72. 



The first river tunnel constructed in this 

 country was begun at Chicago, in July, 1867, 

 and completed in December, 1868, at a cost of 

 about $330,000. The length of the foot-way 

 from entrance to entrance is 810 feet. The 

 diameter of the tunnel is 19 feet at the en- 

 trance, and increases to 23 150 feet from the 

 river centre. There are ventilation-shafts 110 

 feet from the entrance, and lights at intervals 

 of forty or fifty feet. There is a double car- 

 riage-way throughout the structure, each road- 

 way being 11 feet wide and 15 feet high. 



The commissioners appointed under the act 

 of February 25, 1867, to superintend the erec- 

 tion of a new State-House at Springfield, have 

 been prosecuting their labors with energy. The 

 county of Sangamon and the city of Spring- 

 field conveyed to the State in fee simple the 

 land on which the building is located, and 

 more than $350,000 have been expended al- 

 ready in preparing the ground and laying the 

 foundation of the structure. In the opinion of 

 the commissioners and architects who have 

 the work in charge, $650,000 will be required 

 in the next two years to carry it on efficiently. 



Previous to the extra session of the Legis- 

 lature in June, 1867, the State Penitentiary, at 

 Joliet, had been leased to the Illinois Manufac- 

 turing Company, but, by an act of the General 

 Assembly at that time, provision was made 

 for its management by the State authorities ; 

 and on the 1st of July it was surrendered by 

 the lessees. Up to that time, $1,075,000 had 

 been expended in its erection, and $54,525 

 worth of property was then found on the prem- 

 ises in the form of workshops, fixtures, etc. 

 Since this institution has been in charge of the 

 State, two systems of management have been 

 tried, one by hiring out the labor of the con- 

 victs, and the other by employing it directly 

 by the State. The former plan is pronounced 

 a failure, and by the latter the expenses have 

 been $463,569.60 in eighteen months, while 

 the earnings derived from the sales of manu- 

 factured articles have amounted to $333,373. 

 A large outlay, however, was necessarily in- 

 curred in inaugurating the new system of em- 

 ploying the convicts. The number of inmates 

 of the Penitentiary on the first of December, 



1864, was 586 ; in 1866, it had increased to 

 1,073, and December 1, 1868, they numbered 

 1,162. Need is felt of larger accommodations, 

 and separate institutions for women and for 

 youthful offenders are required ; 33 of the 

 present inmates are females. The act of the 

 last Legislature providing for a new prison, to 

 be called the Illinois Southern Penitentiary, has 

 not been carried into effect, owing to the fact 

 that the nominations of commissioners to take 

 charge of the work were never acted on by 

 the Senate. A law was also passed in 1867, 

 for establishing a State Reform School, for the 

 correction of juvenile offenders, which failed to 

 go into operation from the same cause which 

 defeated the Southern Penitentiary Act. The 

 nomination of commissioners in both cases was 

 made at the extra session of the Legislature in 

 June, 1867, and it was voted by the Senate that 

 all nominations sent in by the Governor "be 

 postponed until the next regular session of the 

 General Assembly." 



Much has been done in Illinois to provide 

 for the unfortunate classes of persons who are 

 the natural wards of the State ; but the provi- 

 sions which have been made have hardly kept 

 pace with the rapid increase of the population. 

 The number of patients admitted to the Insane 

 Asylum since December 1, 1866, is 623, of 

 whom 333 are males, and 290 females. Of the 

 males 198 were unmarried, and 123 married; 

 while of females, 93 were unmarried, and 170 

 married. The most prominent causes of insan- 

 ity, according to the report of the superin- 

 tendent, were vicious indulgences and religious 

 excitement. Much the greater part of the in- 

 mates consisted of farmers, laborers, and per- 

 sons occupied with domestic labors. There 

 were 48 students, 10 teachers, 8 physicians, 3 

 clergymen, and 1 lawyer. The expenditures 

 of the institution for two years have amounted 

 to $229,749. The number of inmates remaining 

 in the hospital on the 1st of December was 406. 



In 1865 an experimental school for the in- 

 struction and training of idiots and feeble-mind- 

 ed children was established, and, from appro- 

 priations made in 1867, convenient buildings 

 have been erected for its use, capable of giving 

 adequate accommodations to about sixty pupils. 

 Since the opening of the school, 221 applica- 

 cations for admission have been received, 131 

 of them in behalf of male children, and 90 for 

 females. The efforts of those who have charge 

 of these unfortunates have found great en- 

 couragement in the marked improvement which 

 has been displayed in many instances. The 

 superintendent of the school says : " In no other 

 class can the power of amelioration be applied 

 by private individuals, or local authorities, with 

 such prospects of success. Furthermore, in a 

 large percentage of cases, it may be affirmed 

 that an appropriate education will develop a 

 capacity for productive industry, where, with- 

 out it, an utter inability for useful occupation 

 would exist." 



The State has an institution for the deaf and 



