CONNECTICUT. 



235 



the citizens, both because it was not practi- 

 cally observed between lender and borrower, 

 "very little money being, in fact, loaned at 

 that rate, except from the School-Fund," and 

 because it drives out of the State large amounts 

 of money seeking markets, not safer, but of 

 better legal returns. The Governor advised 

 that the present law should be repealed, or 

 modified, by increasing the rate of interest, or 

 leaving its determination to the agreement of 

 the parties concerned. 



Another amendment to the organic law was 

 to be submitted to the people by legislative 

 enactment at this session, declaring that there 

 shall be but one capital in the State, and fix- 

 ing its location. The seat of government had 

 been heretofore divided, as it were, between 

 the cities of Hartford and New Haven. 



This question is of long standing, and has 

 been often discussed by the citizens, and re- 

 peatedly proposed to the General Assembly 

 for final settlement. It came to the latter this 

 year from a resolution adopted for that pur- 

 pose at the last session ; and their action ex- 

 cited the most intense interest in the members 

 generally, and in the people. After long and 

 warm debates, the proposition of submitting 

 the amendment to the people was put to vote 

 in the Senate, on May 31st, when the vote 

 stood yeas 13, nays 8 ; and the amendment 

 was lost by one vote, the concurrence of two- 

 thirds being requisite for its passage. In the 

 Lower House, the voting took place on June 

 14th, with a similar result yeas 145, nays 87, 

 or 10 short of the two-thirds. Six members 

 were absent. 



The common belief in the State appears to 

 be, that by far the largest portion of the peo- 

 ple are decidedly in favor of one permanent 

 capital, except the residents of New Haven 

 city and county, who seem resolved to let the 

 present system of two semi-capitals continue 

 until a certain, event shall take place, when 

 they feel confident the people will declare 

 New Haven to be the one capital. Meantime, 

 whenever the proposition has been made to 

 the Legislature to submit the one-capital ques- 

 tion to the people, they have done their ut- 

 most to defeat the measure. In this they have 

 been so far successful at the session of 1871 

 for the third time. 



The one-capital question having thus ended 

 at this session, a resolution was soon after 

 offered in the House of Kepresentatives ap- 

 propriating half a million dollars for the pur- 

 pose of erecting in Hartford a new State build- 

 ing; the old one now used there being, on ac- 

 count of its age, srnallness, unhealthiness, and 

 other great inconveniences, not only utterly 

 unfit for the holding of the sessions of the 

 Legislature, as well as for the transaction of 

 the public business of the Executive depart- 

 ment, and the several offices necessarily con- 

 nected with it, but in such a condition as not 

 to be worth remodelling or repairing. 



The object of this resolution was not less 



strenuously and firmly opposed, chiefly by the 

 New Haven representatives, than the propo- 

 sition of submitting the one-capital question to 

 the decision of the people. In consequence of, 

 and, as it were, ia. connection with it, when- 

 ever it was taken up for action, they succes- 

 sively moved, first to refer it to the Judiciary 

 Committee, then to append to it a resolution 

 appropriating $600,000 instead of $500,000, 

 one-half of that sum to be expended for a 

 State-house in Hartford, the other half for a 

 State-house in New Haven, and remit both to 

 the said committee ; then to amend the origi- 

 nal resolution so as to couple the two cities 

 together in it, and appropriate $500,000 for a 

 State building in each ; finally, they intro- 

 duced a separate resolution appropriating 

 $500,000 for the erection of a new capitol in 

 New Haven, to be acted upon at the same 

 time with the like resolution pending in be- 

 half of Hartford. All these, and other inci- 

 dental motions, were severally, some of them 

 repeatedly, discussed at length and voted upon, 

 so that the debates on them and on the original 

 resolution occupied almost every day of the 

 session in the House for the space of a month. 

 The opposition was this time unsuccessful. 

 The erection of a new capitol in Hartford ap- 

 peared absolutely indispensable. In the course 

 of those frequent debates the opposers of the 

 passage of the resolution, as well as its advo- 

 cates, admitted the fact that the present build- 

 ing in Hartford was utterly inadequate to meet 

 the requirements of the State. 



The resolution came up for a third reading 

 and discussion on June 20th, when the repre- 

 sentative who had introduced it proposed 

 three other resolutions as connected with and 

 dependent on it, but to be acted upon only in 

 the event of its passage. Their objects were, 

 respectively, these : The first appointed a State 

 Board of six commissioners, with power to 

 contract for and erect to its full completion, 

 in the city of Hartford, " a building suitable 

 for the use of the State as a State-house," 

 and bound the city to appropriate and place, 

 subject to the order of the president of the 

 board, the sum of $500,000 of her own money, 

 to be expended, together with the $500,000 of 

 the State, in the erection of the said building, 

 and furnish also, at her own expense, a site (val- 

 ued at $400,000 more), for the determination 

 of which the board are to confer with the city 

 authorities. The second authorized the city 

 to raise the money necessary for carrying out 

 the two purposes mentioned in the preced- 

 ing resolution, by issuing her bonds to the 

 amount of $1,000,000, to be called "capito] 

 bonds of the city of Hartford," bearing inter- 

 est at six per cent., and be free from taxation. 

 The third authorized the city of Hartford 

 " to hold a special city meeting for the pur 

 pose of authorizing the said city to issue bonds 

 mentioned in the foregoing resolution; the 

 vote of the said meeting to be by ballot, and 

 the ballots, having the word "yes" or "no" 



