804 



WISCONSIN. 



any intoxicated person, or in consequence of the 

 intoxication of any person, shall have a right of ac- 

 tion in his or her own name, severally or jointly, 

 against any person or persons who shall, by selling, 

 or giving away intoxicating liquors, have caused the 

 intoxication, in whole or in part, of such person or 

 persons, and any person who shall have caused such, 

 intoxication, as aforesaid, shall "be liable for all dam- 

 ages sustained, and for exemplary damages, and a 

 married woman shall have the same right to bring 

 suits and to control the same as a feme sole, and all 

 damages recovered by a minor under this act shall 

 be paid cither to such minor or to his or her parent, 

 guardian, or next friend, as the court shall direct, and 

 the unlawful sale or giving away of intoxicating li- 

 quors shall work a forfeiture of all rights of the lessee 

 or tenant under any lease or contract of rent upon 

 premises when such unlawful sale or giving away 

 shall take place, and all suits for damages under this 

 net may be by any appropriate action in any of the 

 courts of this State having competent jurisdiction. 



Separate penalties by fine and imprisonment 

 are provided for the violation of each provision 

 of the act. 



Among other acts passed were one author- 

 izing cities and villages to establish free public 

 libraries, and one exempting private property 

 from seizure and sale for municipal debts. A 

 large number of propositions were discussed, 

 which failed to pass. Among these was one 

 for a convention to revise the constitution, and 

 others embodying amendments to the consti- 

 tution, providing for biennial sessions of the 

 Legislature and minority representation. Bills 

 for the establishment of an Insurance Bureau, 

 a Board of Immigration, and a State Superin- 

 tendent of Forestry, also failed to pass. 



There was no election for State officers in 

 Wisconsin this year. At the presidential elec- 

 tion, 192,305 votes were cast, including 834 

 " scattering," most of which were for O'Conor 

 for President. The Grant and Wilson ticket 

 received 104,992, and that for Greeley and 

 Brown 86,477 ; giving the former a majority 

 of 18,515. Eight Representatives in Congress 

 were chosen at the same time, of whom those 

 from the 1st, 2d, 3d, 6th, 7th, and 8th dis- 

 tricts were Republicans, and those from the 

 4th and 5th districts were Democrats. 



The new Legislature consists of 21 Repub- 

 licans, 10 Democrats, and two Liberal Repub- 

 licans in the Senate, and 60 Republicans, 

 36, Democrats, and four Independents, in the 

 House. The constitutional amendment in fa- 

 vor of increasing the number of judges of the 

 Supreme Court was rejected by a vote of 16,- 

 272 in its favor, and 29,755 against it. 



The material condition of the State is very 

 promising. The public debt on the 30th of Sep- 

 tember was: $2,252,057, consisting of $18,100 

 of outstanding bonds, $2,233,900 of certificates 

 of indebtedness, and a small amount of curren- 

 cy certificates. Of the certificates of indebted- 

 ness, $1,559,700 belonged to the school fund, 

 $111,006 to the University fund, $50,600 to 

 tbe Agricultural College fund, and $512,600 

 to the Normal School fund. At the beginning 

 of the fiscal year, October 1, 1871, there was 

 an unexpended balance of $329,845.82 in the 



Treasury ; during the year the receipts amount- 

 ed to $1,829,797.82, and the disbursements to 

 $1,920,534.53 ; and, at the close of the year, a 

 balance of $239,109.11 remained unexpended. 

 The valuation of taxable property for the year 

 amounted to $390,454,875, and the amount 

 raised by taxation was $765,291.55, the rate 

 being l^ mills on a dollar. The estimated 

 revenue for 1873 is $1,087,291.55, and the 

 expenses $1,027,972.55. The trust funds of 

 the State amount to $3,776,185.15, distributed 

 as follows: School fund, $2,482,771.28; Uni- 

 versity fund, $206,983.88; Normal School 

 fund, $880,371.79; Agricultural College fund, 

 $206,058.20. The amount of public land still 

 held by the State is 2,089,715.75 acres, valued 

 at from 75 cents to $3 per acre. Over 350,000 

 acres were sold during the year. 



There are in the State 423,717 children be- 

 tween the ages of four and twenty. Of these, 

 266,789 attended the public schools during 

 some portion of the year. There are 5,103 

 school districts in the State, not including the 

 cities. The average number of days during 

 which schools were maintained was 153. The 

 number of teachers required was 5,881 ; aver- 

 age monthly wages of male teachers in the 

 country, $43.33 ; of female teachers, $27.04 ; 

 average monthly wages of male teachers in 

 cities, $98.20; of female teachers, $37.60. 

 There are 4,979 public school-houses, capable 

 of accommodating 312,612 pupils. .The value 

 of the school-houses is $3,611,607, the value 

 of sites $513,089, and the value of apparatus 

 $87,468. The total amount expended for 

 school purposes during the year was $2,004,- 

 154.56, against $1,938,284 in 1871. At the 

 opening of the fall term of the State University, 

 there were 203 male and 142 female students 

 in attendance. There are three normal schools 

 in operation one at Platteville, one at White- 

 water, and one at Oshkosh, and a fourth is in 

 process of construction at River Falls. The 

 number of students at the normal schools is 

 850. Among the private educational institu- 

 tions of the State are Beloit College, Gales- 

 ville University, Lawrence University, Milton 

 College, Milwaukee Female College, Racine 

 College, Ripon College, and the Wisconsin Fe- 

 male College.. 



There is an Institute for the Blind at Janes- 

 ville, which has been in operation twenty- 

 three years. Its expenses for the past year 

 were $23,218.59. Eighteen pupils were ad- 

 mitted and 13 dismissed during the year, the 

 whole number in attendance being 76, of 

 whom 43 were males and 33 females. In ad- 

 dition to the elementary branches of learning, 

 they are instructed in various industrial occu- 

 pations. The Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, 

 at Delavan, has been in operation twenty years. 

 During the past year the cost of maintaining 

 it was $34,174.34. The whole number of pu- 

 pils connected with the institution during tbe 

 year was 164, of whom 144 were remaining at 

 the close. The sign language is used as the 



