MASSACHUSETTS. 



491 



dinary purposes. The railroad loans are the 

 Troy & Greenfield Railroad, and Hoosac Tun- 

 nel loan, amounting to $8,125,452 ; the Boston, 

 Hartford & Erie, $3,599,024; and the Nor- 

 wich & Worcester, $400,000. The redemp- 

 tion of the two last mentioned is fully pro- 

 vided for by appropriate sinking funds ; the 

 first is secured only by the franchise of the 

 property and a sinking fund of about $700,000. 

 All the sinking funds of the State amount to 

 about $13,000,000. The war-debt, amounting 

 to $16,434,888, matures at various periods up 

 to 1894, only $3,400,000, falling due in the 

 present decade. The revenue of the year 

 amounted to $6,614,634.92, and the expenses 

 to $6,663,839.06. The estimated expenditures 

 for 1872 are $4,384,213.54, and the revenue 

 $2,392,725, leaving $1,991,488.54 to be pro- 

 vided for. 



The aggregate expenditures on behalf of 

 public schools in the State during the year 

 were $3,272,335, exclusive of $1,712,073 ex- 

 pended for erecting new buildings. Of 278,- 

 249 children in the State between the ages of 

 five and fifteen years, 273,661 were enrolled in 

 the public schools. The expense to the public 

 of each child in the schools was $11.75. The 

 Agricultural College, at Amherst, has been es- 

 tablished on a firm basis, and the other insti- 

 tutions of higher education are all in a flour- 

 ishing condition. 



The charitable and reformatory institutions 

 of the State are also in a very promising con- 

 dition. In the State Lunatic Hospital, at 

 Taunton, there have been 762 persons under 

 treatment, the new patients admitted during 

 the year numbering 388, and those discharged 

 380. The number remaining at the end of 

 the year was 382, of whom 203 were males 

 and 179 females. The annual cost of each 

 patient was over $201. The assets of the in- 

 stitution amount to $275,049.39; the receipts 

 of the year were $79,414.74, and the payments 

 $79,833.78. The liabilities of the hospital 

 are $8,338.24, while there are debts due it 

 amounting to $17,476.72. 



At the Almshouse, at Tewksbury, 2,215 have 

 been supported during the year, the average 

 weekly number being 749. In the insane de- 

 partment 961 have been admitted, and 666 dis- 

 charged. The value of the property of the 

 institution is $263,121.76 ; the cost of support- 

 ing it during the year was $70,509.77, or $1.81 

 per week for each inmate. A new hospital has 

 been in course of construction during the year. 



in the Almshouse, at Bridgewater, there 

 have been 373 paupers, of whom 229 were 

 discharged, leaving 85 at the end of the year. 

 The number of prisoners in the workhouse 

 department was 587, of whom 275 were dis- 

 charged before the end of the year. The av- 

 erage number of inmates in the institution 

 each week was 393, and the cost of their sup- 

 port was $1.86 each per week. The assets of 

 the establishment are $207,308.35; total cur- 

 rent expenses for the year $37,926.80. 



The Almshouse and Primary School, at 

 Monson, has received 567 children, the average 

 attendance being 309. The expenses of the 

 year were $61,253.50. 



There were 472 boys received atthoEeform 

 School, at Westboro, of whom 72 were taken 

 away on trial, 83 on probation, 23 were ap- 

 prenticed, and two transferred to the school- 

 ship, leaving 272 at the end of the year. At 

 the Industrial School for Girls, in Lancaster, 

 543 girls have been received since 1861, of 

 whom 143 remain. Of the other 400, 20 have 

 died, 50 are leading vicious lives, while 260 

 maintain themselves honestly and respectably. 



The annual session of the Legislature be 



fan on the 4th of January, and closed on the 

 6th of May. During that period 399 acts 

 and 95 joint resolutions passed and received 

 the sanction of the Governor, and two bills of 

 no general importance were vetoed. All at- 

 tempts to obtain expressions of opinion on 

 national affairs failed. Two new towns were 

 created, Ayer being made up from portions of 

 Groton and Shirley, and Maynard being formed 

 in like manner from portions of Stow and 

 Sudbury. The name of North Chelsea was 

 changed to Revere, and Somerville and Glou- 

 cester were incorporated as cities. Several 

 attempts were made to secure amendments to 

 the constitution, but all of them failed. In 

 the first place, the advocates of female suffrage 

 appealed to have the word male stricken from 

 the clause relating to the electoral franchise. 

 A patient hearing was given to the advocates 

 and opponents of the change by the proper 

 committee, and two reports were made, that of 

 the majority giving the petitioners leave to 

 withdraw, and that of the minority favoring 

 the amendment. In the House, there was an 

 equal division on the question, and the amend- 

 ment was defeated by the casting vote of the 

 Speaker. It was also proposed to remove the 

 restriction which requires an ability to read 

 and write as a qualification for the exercise 

 of the right of suffrage, but the proposition 

 was defeated. Finally a bill was brought in, 

 and discussed at some length, providing for a 

 convention for a general revision of the con- 

 stitution, but the House, after passing it through 

 one stage, threw it out. 



The question of restraining the sale of in- 

 toxicating liquors did not occupy so much at- 

 tention as usual, and the only important change 

 made in the law was one prohibiting the sale 

 of malt liquors unless it were permitted in the 

 different towns by a vote of the people. As 

 the law stood before, the sale of these liquors 

 was allowed, unless prohibited in the different 

 towns by a popular vote. The State constab- 

 ulary system was completely overhauled. In 

 the first place, a thorough investigation into its 

 workings was instituted, during which there 

 was considerable difficulty with contumacious 

 witnesses. In one instance, General Henry 

 Emory, of Lowell, refused to give evidence, on 

 the ground that it tended to criminate himself, 



