RHODE ISLAND. 



C05 



Bishop of Sabina, one of the six suburban sees, 

 whose occupants are the six cardinal bishops, 

 and, as such, next to the Pope. The See of 

 Sabina belonging now to the territory of the 

 King of Italy, the Italian Government did not 

 recognize the papal appointment, and instituted 

 a trial against Cardinal Reisach for violating 

 the laws of the kingdom of Italy. He was, of 

 course, found guilty, but as he resided in Rome, 

 and not upon Italian territory, the sentence 

 had no practical consequences. On the con- 

 vocation of the Council, Cardinal Reisach was 

 appointed to the presidency of one of the com- 

 mittees charged with making the necessary 

 preparations ; but his health was too feeble to 

 allow him to take an active part in these pre- 

 paratory labors. At the suggestion of his 

 medical advisers, he left Rome, to seek relief 

 from the illness to which he soon after suc- 

 cumbed. 



RHODE ISLAND. The General Assembly 

 met at Providence in January, 1869, when the 

 Inspectors of the State Prison submitted their 

 report, in which they strongly deprecated im- 

 prisonment for debt, characterized it as a relic 

 of barbarism, and invoked the action of the 

 Assembly "to purge the statutes of a law which 

 is contrary to the genius of the age and the hu- 

 manitarian principles which should animate 

 the legislation of the State." They also pro- 

 tested against the practice of sending to the 

 jail demented and lunatic persons, as crim- 

 inals, when they were fit subjects for a dif- 

 ferent institution. The question which had 

 long been before the people of Rhode Island, 

 growing out of the great need felt in the State 

 for suitable accommodations for the care and 

 protection of the insane poor and paupers, was 

 settled at this session of the Legislature by the 

 establishment of a "Board of State Charities 

 and Corrections," and by the appointment of a 

 committee empowered "to negotiate for and 

 purchase a suitable farm of not less than two 

 hundred acres, for the location for a House of 

 Correction, State Asylum for the Insane Poor, 

 and such other institutions as the General 

 Assembly may order." In accordance with this 

 resolution, the committee subsequently selected 

 the site in Cranston known as the " Howard 

 Farm," consisting of nearly three hundred acres, 

 at a cost of $22,500. This is regarded as the 

 most advantageous location for the purposes for 

 which it was selected that could be found in 

 Rhode Island. About fifty acres of the farm is 

 woodland, which contains much heavy timber 

 that can be used to advantage in the erection 

 of the buildings necessary to carry out the de- 

 signs of the General Assembly. The large hill 

 on the farm commands an extensive view of the 

 bay, from the cove to the sea ; while the build- 

 ings to be erected upon it will be visible from 

 every part of the State. The adjacent farm of 

 one hundred and forty acres was also purchased 

 by the State, which, together with other con- 

 templated purchases to be made, will give the 

 State Farm an area of five hundred acres. The 



establishment of the Board of State Charities 

 was a measure of great importance, as it 

 contemplated the organization and system- 

 atizing of the various charitable and penal 

 institutions of the State. During the year a 

 new building for the male inmates of the work- 

 house has been erected and occupied, and two 

 large buildings for the insane poor were nearly 

 completed, tip to the close of the year, 101 

 males and 54 females had been committed to 

 the workhouse; these subjects represented fif- 

 teen towns of the State. 



Provision was made at the January session 

 of the Legislature for the "purchase and main- 

 tenance, in connection with the agricultural de- 

 partment of Brown University, of an experi- 

 mental garden or small farm, together with such 

 buildings as may be necessary." The bill, after 

 directing that said farm shall be under the con- 

 trol of a board of trustees, to be appointed in 

 part by the General Assembly and in part by 

 Brown University, and making an appropria- 

 tion of $10,000 from the State Treasury to aid 

 in carrying out this design, provides : 



1. That an equal sum of $10,000 shall be 

 raised by subscription from private individuals 

 on or before October 1, 1869, for the same ob- 

 ject. 



2. That $5,000 of the Agricultural Fund, or 

 10 per cent, of the entire amount for which the 

 lands donated by Congress were sold, be ap- 

 propriated by the university toward the pur- 

 chase of said experimental farm. 



3. That said experimental farm shall be 

 placed by the university under competent di- 

 rection, and shall be so managed as to afford a 

 practical illustration of the newest and most 

 approved methods of culture, and shall, under 

 proper regulations, be accessible to all who 

 may wish to visit it. 



4. That provision shall be made by the uni- 

 versity for a course of lectures, to be given each 

 year at the university, or some more convenient 

 place in the city of Providence, in which some 

 of the more important principles of agriculture 

 shall be unfolded, improvements made or sug- 

 gested within the year noticed, and the results 

 of experiments given. 



The National Union Republican State Con- 

 vention assembled at Providence on the 4th of 

 March, for the purpose of nominating can- 

 didates for the State offices, and organized, with 

 James M. Pendleton as president. About one 

 hundred and six delegates were in attendance, 

 and much enthusiasm and harmony were mani- 

 fested in the proceedings. No platform of 

 principles was adopted, but speeches were 

 made approving the impeachment proceedings 

 against Andrew Johnson, indorsing the pro- 

 posed policy of President Grant's Administra- 

 tion, and rejoicing in the triumph of Repub- 

 lican principles; asserting that the negro who 

 fights the battles of the country should have the 

 right of suffrage, and that the public securities 

 should be paid in gold, and in no other way. 

 The nominations of the convention were: Seth 



