NEW JERSEY. 



535 



small, owing to a diminution of the State tax 

 by nearly one-half and the payment of interest 

 on tho municipal war loan. It is nearly thirty- 

 two years before the last of the State bonds 

 mature, so that an average payment of $125,- 

 000 per annum will extinguish the principal 

 of the debt at maturity. In the estimation of 

 the Governor, an annual tax of $400,000 will 

 enable the Treasury to meet this demand in 

 addition to paying the current expenses of the 

 government, but as there was on the meeting 

 of the Legislature a temporary loan of $226,- 

 000 and $700,000 of the debt matured in the 

 course of two years, it was deemed expedient 

 to authorize a temporary loan of $500,000 to 

 meet present demands. This was done by the 

 Legislature. 



There is but one bank for discount doing 

 business nnder a charter from the State, and 

 that has a capital of but $50,000. There are 

 sixty -one savings-banks, seven having been or- 

 ganized during the year. The aggregate of 

 deposits in these institutions on the 1st of 

 June was $29,758,782.27, an increase of 14 per 

 cent, over the preceding year. The number 

 of depositors was 94,665, or nearly one-third 

 of the entire population. 



The educational interests of the State are in 

 a flourishing condition. The Agricultural Col- 

 lege has taken possession of its new buildings 

 at Hanover, and has admitted a class of 23 

 students. 



The Insane Asylum of the State only affords 

 accommodation for 79 out of 300 insane people, 

 the others being left to the tender mercies of 

 local authorities or private charity. The only 

 provision made for the education of the deaf 

 and dumb and the blind is the support of 17 

 persons at the American Asylum at Hartford, 

 Conn., and 9 persons at the Perkins Institute, 

 South Boston, Mass. 



The State-prison is self-supporting. The 

 profit of the labor of the inmates for the year 

 amounted to $8,000, and the books of the 

 treasurer now show a balance of $20,000 in 

 favor of the prison. 



The geological survey of the State is sub- 

 stantially finished, and the first volume of the 

 report was submitted at the last session of the 

 Legislature. A triangulation of the State by 

 a corps of engineers of the United States 

 Coast Survey, nnder the charge of Prof. E. T. 

 Quirnby, of Dartmouth College, has been in 

 progress, and will furnish valuable data for a 

 new map. 



NEW JERSEY. The public attention of 

 the State in the early part of the year was cen- 

 tred upon the passage of the General Railroad 

 Bill, which became a law early in April, a few 

 days before the adjournment of the Legisla- 

 ture. Much of the attention of that body was 

 absorbed by the consideration of this measure. 

 The contest for and against its passage was re- 

 garded as one between the people and the 

 Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company ; the 

 question being, whether that corporation 



should exercise the exclusive right o operat- 

 ing a railroad between Philadelphia and New 

 York. This right had been held by the Cam- 

 den and Amboy Railroad Company, whose rail- 

 road had been recently leased to the Pennsyl- 

 vania Central Company. The passage of the 

 law caused great rejoicing in the State. The 

 popular sentiment may be taken as reflected in 

 the following language: 



If the late Legislature Lad but enacted the General 

 Railroad law, and then adjourned -without the pas- 

 sage of another bill, it would have been entitled to 

 th e grateful remembrance of every true Jerseyman. 

 For more than thirty years, in the matter of railroads, 

 our State has been under the control of a giant cor- 

 poration, which, while it did much to foster railroad 

 enterprise within the State, opposed with all the 

 ability in its power, and by a plentiful use of money, 

 every attempt to secure a competing line between the 

 cities of New York and Philadelphia. It was urged 

 that in granting the charter of the Camden & Am- 

 boy Kailroad Company, one of the first to be built 

 in the country, which was at most an experiment, 

 and that on this account, and for certain concessions 

 made to the State, it was given the exclusive right to 

 carry passengers and freight between the above- 

 named cities tor a long period of years. Whenever 

 an effort was made to obtain a charter for another 

 road, there was a great outcry about the violation of 

 " vested rights," and " the inviolability of contracts," 

 which soon created a wide-spread alarm among the 

 people, and served to secure the defeat of every pro- 

 ject looking to a through-line. These " exclusive 

 privileges" were extended and practically remained 

 in force until the United Eailroads of New Jersey 

 were leased for nine hundred and ninety-nine years 

 to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The terms 

 of the lease had scarcely been ratified before a re- 

 newed effort was put forth to secure a competing 

 road between the two principal cities on the Atlantic 

 coast. This was as stoutly opposed as ever, but the 

 will of the people could not be brooked any longer, 

 and the result is the enactment of the General Kail- 

 road Law. This, then, through the action of the 

 Legislature, has been made the year of deliverance 

 for New Jersey, in that all barriers to future enter- 

 prise have been removed, and the right to build 

 railroads conferred upon all who have the means and 

 the disposition to invest it in that way. The results 

 cannot be foretold, but every indication points to an 

 era of permanent prosperity and material progress in 

 our State, such as has long been hoped for, but never 

 before realized. 



In passing the "General Railroad Law" no 

 vested rights were disturbed, as no movement 

 had been made for that purpose until the char- 

 ter granted to the Camden & Amboy Company 

 had legally expired. An important provision 

 of the law, which went into effect upon its 

 passage, is that "no franchises heretofore 

 granted to construct a railroad, or to build or 

 establish bridges or ferries, or operate any line 

 of travel, and take tolls or fares therefor, 

 shall hereafter continue' to be, or be construed 

 to remain exclusive, and that no like franchise 

 hereafter granted shall be or be construed to 

 be exclusive, unless in such grant heretofore 

 made or hereafter to be made it be so ex- 

 pressly provided." 



The law fixes the number of incorporators 

 requisite to form a new railroad company at 

 thirteen, a mtijority of whom must be residents 

 of the State. The termini of the road and the 



