MASSACHUSETTS. 



501 



the amount of the previous year. The average 

 earnings on each mile of road was $12,768.37, 

 the amount varying from $2,058 on the Dux- 

 bury & Cohasset to $34,500 on the Boston 

 and Albany. The cost of operation amounted 

 to $9,222.31 per mile. During the year 335 

 miles of steel rails were laid. Reports were 

 made by 24 street railroad corporations, whose 

 aggregate capital stock amounted to $5,043,- 

 584. The length of track, including branches 

 and sidings, was 179.29 miles. The average 

 cost per mile was $19,350 for building, and 

 $14,460 for equipment. The number of per- 

 sons employed on steam-roads during the year 

 was 17,670, on street railways 1,661. There 

 were 16 accidents on the steam railroads dur- 

 ing the year, seven of which were caused by 

 displacement of the rails, seven by collision, 

 one by the explosion of a locomotive, and one 

 by the, parting of a train. These caused the 

 death or injury of about 40 persons. There 

 were 304 casualties, of which 187 resulted in 

 loss of life. The number of passengers killed 

 or injured from all causes were 63 ; the num- 

 ber of employes killed and injured, 134; and 

 the number of persons in no way connected 

 with the roads, 136. Most of these last were 

 run over while walking on the roads. 



The opening of the Hoosac Tunnel from 

 the eastern portal to the central shaft was 

 successfully accomplished on the 12th of De- 

 cember. There still remained at that time 

 3,125 feet of rock to penetrate between the 

 shaft and the western portal. 



The financial condition of the State is every 

 way satisfactory. At the beginning of the 

 year, her funded debt amounted to $29,629,- 

 364. The changes for the twelve months end- 

 ing January 1, 1873, of the amounts liquidated, 

 are shown in the following statement : 



Funded Debt $29,629,364 00 



State War Fnncl loan $2,551.500 00 



Union Fund loan 303,700 CO 



State Almshouse loan 100.000 00 



Loan of 18G1 (1'undiug debt). 100,000 00 



3,115,200 00 



Balance remaining $26,514,164 00 



Added during the year on account of the 

 Troy & Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac 

 Tunnel loan 1,178.540 00 



Total $27,692,704 00 



With these changes, the existing debt, 



all of which is funded, may be thus 



classified : 



Railroad loans $13.803.010 00 



War loans 13,519.088 00 



Ordinary loans 870.000 00 



Funded debt $27,692,704 GO 



^ The only unfunded liabilities remaining con- 

 sist of small sums, for the payment of which 

 the Treasury is amply provided, and there re- 

 main now no funded liabilities for the payment 

 of which the State has not provided a sinking 

 fund. There was in the Treasury, at the end of 

 the year, about $600,000. The ordinary reve- 

 nues for 1873 are estimated at $2,300,000, mak- 

 ing the total resources $2,900,000, while the 

 ordinary expenses are set down at $4,420,000. 



The almshouses at Bridgewater and Monson 

 have been abolished, and the paupers trans- 

 ferred to the institution at Tewksbury, which 

 had, at the end of the year, about 800 inmates, 

 two-fifths of whom were insane or imbecile 

 persons. The Nautical School has also been 

 discontinued, and the school-ship sold, its in- 

 mates being transferred to the Reform Schools 

 at Westboro' and Lancaster, which had, on 

 the 15th of October, 575 inmates, against 547 

 in 1871, and 620 in 1870. These reformatories 

 used appropriations, during the year, amount- 

 ing to $96,695, while $14,000 was paid on their 

 behalf by cities and towns, and $9,500 was ob- 

 tained from labor and sales of products. The 

 net cost to the State was $75,000; to the com- 

 munity, $87,000. 



The three Insane Asylums of the State, at 

 Northampton, Worcester, and Taunton, con- 

 tained 1,286 patients, on the 15th of October, 

 of whom 342 were maintained by the State, 

 603 by towns, and 433 by their friends or rela- 

 tives. The average number, for the year, was : 

 429 at Northampton, 445 at Worcester, and 

 408 at Taunton. The State pays $3.50 per 

 week each for the support of pauper patients 

 at these institutions, and the amount paid, for 

 the year, at Northampton, was $32,762; at 

 Taunton, $18,295 ; and at Worcester, $9,099. 

 The value of the Worcester property is $904,- 

 929 ; that at Taunton, $276,963 ; and that at 

 Northampton, $332,655. 



There are 172 savings-banks in the State, 

 the statistics of which are as follows : 



Number of depositors 630.246 



Amount of deposits $184,797.313 92 



Number of deposits during the year 7G2,1S8 



Amount of the same $58,034,129 72 



Number of withdrawals during the year. 369.382 



Amount of the same $43,895,074 10 



Number of accounts opened last year 148.612 



Number of accounts closed last year SS.S'S 



Amount of surplus on hand $3.045,247 21 



Public fund? 21.S98.487 9 



Loans on public funds 1.660,283 28 



Bank stock 16,772,805 21 



Loans on bank stock 1,521,715 5 



Deposits in banks bearing interest 1,729.486 79 



Kailroad bonds 4,6G2,E67 24 



Loans on railroad stock 545,00 f 6 



Invested in real estate 1,968,485 80 



Loans on mortgages of real estate 89,684.246 17 



Loans to counties, cities, and towns 12,464,761 52 



Loans on personal security 33,329,244 27 



Cash on hand 1.657.489 45 



Aggregate amount of ordinary dividends. 9,622.775 ' 6 



Expenses of the institutions 469,681 80 



Average of ordinary dividends 6A- per cent. 



The political campaign of the year was less 

 exciting in Massachusetts than in many of the 

 other States. The first important convention 

 was that of the supporters of female suffrage, 

 who met in Boston, on the 31st of January, 

 and set forth their views, after much lively 

 discussion, in the following resolutions : 



1. Resolved, That we demand suffrage for woman 

 "because it is her right, and because its exercise is 

 essential to the progress and well-being of society. 

 That, as negro suffrage was a political necessity in 

 1870, so is woman suffrage a moral necessity in 1872. 



2. Resolved, That, while we hail as an indication 

 of progress the recommendation of Governor Wash- 

 burn, that women be allowed to vote upon the sale 



