MASSACHUSETTS. 



477 



100 acres near the junction of the Boston & 

 Fitchburg, Lowell & Mansfield, and Nashua & 

 Acton Krailroads. 



A railway side-track will be laid to any part 

 of the premises without expense to the State, 

 upon which freight can be run from either of 

 the railroads before mentioned. It was ori- 

 ginally thought desirable to locate tlie prison 

 within ten or twelve miles of Boston, while 

 the Concord site is about eighteen miles dis- 

 tant. This fact alone prevented its selection 

 at once upon the first examination. But after 

 many months of careful study and unwearied 

 search, and on full consultation with the of- 

 ficers of the prison and other persons conver- 

 sant with the wants of such an institution, it 

 was found to possess in so marked a degree all 

 the other indispensable requisites, and seemed 

 so greatly preferable to any other available 

 tract, that the commission and the Council 

 finally and unanimously determined to secure 

 it, and the initiatory steps to obtain a satisfac- 

 tory plan for the buildings were at once taken. 

 For many years the Massachusetts State 

 prison has been a source of considerable rev- 

 enue to the public Treasury; and it is thought 

 that with more spacious and convenient work- 

 shops, and better facilities for motive power, 

 the institution will become still more profit- 

 able, while its reformatory power will be 

 greatly enlarged with the increased facilities 

 for the classification of prisoners. The receipts 

 during the year ending September 30, 1873, 

 were $152,712.65; expenses, $129,285.27; ex- 

 cess in favor of the prison, $23,427.38. The 

 whole number of convicts October 1, 1872, 

 was 562; received, 174; discharged (including 

 nine deaths and one escape), 150; remaining 

 September 30, 1873, 586. 



The site selected for the new Hospital for 

 the Insane is situated about two miles from 

 the village of Danvers, .five from Salem, and 

 seventeen from Boston. The selection em- 

 braces about 200 acres, on an elevated plateau, 

 and a considerable part of it is in a high state 

 of cultivation. It is expected that operations 

 on the buildings will be begun early in the 

 spring. 



The prohibitory question was kept promi- 

 nently before the public during the year by 

 the numerous seizures made by the State po- 

 lice. According to the report of the Police 

 Commissioners, the number of places in Boston 

 where liquor was sold was 2,952 in 1871, 2,708 

 in 1872, and 2,427 in 1873, showing a reduc- 

 tion of 525, and a reduction of ten per cent, 

 in the cases of drunkenness and disorderly 

 persons since the appointment of the commis- 

 sioners. The work of the department in the 

 State for the year has resulted in 8,136 liquor 

 prosecutions, and 4,265 prosecutions for gen- 

 eral offenses; 5,545 liquor seizures, and 105 

 gaining seizures; fines paid, $145,027.47; costs 

 paid, $62,643.21 ; fees turned over to the Stnte 

 Treasury, $18,849.20; bribe -money turned 

 over to Surgeon-General, $270 ; stolen proper- 



ty recovered, $29,298.10; sales of furniture 

 from gaming-houses, $219.76; proceeds of 

 sales of vessels delivered to State Agent, $10,- 

 932.14; proceeds of sales of liquor, $13,071.14; 

 estimated value of liquors on hand, $50,000; 

 in hands of Agent, $3,000 ; aggregate, $333,- 

 311.02; number sentenced to houses of cor- 

 rection for violation of liquor law, 521 ; com- 

 mitted, 272 ; details for musters, picnics, etc., 

 212 ; days of detail service, 1,030 ; distilled 

 liquors seized, 40,269 gallons; malt liquors 

 seized, 91,629 gallons; returned by order of 

 the courts, 3,198 gallons; total expense of the 

 department, $149,974.66. The total force of 

 the department comprises a chief, four clerks, 

 seven detectives, and eighty-eight men besides, 

 or one officer to four cities and towns ; forty- 

 eight of these are located in the cities. There 

 is one officer to about every 17,000 of the pop- 

 ulation of the State. There is a constant de- 

 mand for more officers, and the commissioners 

 believe that the welfare of the Commonwealth 

 requires the increase of the force to 200 men, 

 which they recommend, and state that with 

 that number the whole expense to the State 

 would not be over $300,000. 



The question of prohibition is treated at 

 length by Governor Washburn in his annual 

 message to the Legislature of 1874. He ad- 

 mits that the law has been "but a partial suc- 

 cess in some of our larger cities," and adds 

 that " vehement and vituperative censure and 

 condemnation, not only by laymen, but also 

 by ministers of the gospel of peace, have been 

 heaped upon the chief constable, the police 

 commissioners, and the Executive, because the 

 law is not thoroughly enforced in this city." 



In Boston there seems to be a formidable 

 opposition to the prohibitory law. Here, as 

 in other large cities, a special State police force 

 has been organized by the Legislature for the 

 purpose of executing the law. In discussing 

 this question in his message to the Common 

 Council of Boston, Mayor Cobb takes the 

 ground that "there can be no substantial and 

 permanent relief but in a change of legislation." 

 He declares in favor of a license law. 



The negotiations long in progress concerning 

 the improvement of the South -Boston flats 

 were concluded during the year. By the 

 terms of an agreement, signed by the Common- 

 wealth, the Boston & Albany Railroad Com- 

 pany, the Boston Wharf Company, and the 

 city of Boston, the completion of this vast 

 enterprise will have an important influence 

 upon the fnture growth and commercial pros- 

 perity of Boston. 



It embraces in its ultimate scope a valuable 

 domain of the Commonwealth bordering on the 

 main channel of Boston Harbor, between seven 

 and eight hundred acres in extent, along the 

 line of whose frontage the freights of a vast 

 inland and maritime commerce may easily be 

 exchanged. It will greatly improve and en- 

 large the harbor by increasing the area of its 

 deep water, and will, in time, undoubtedly 



