WISCONSIN. 



777 



dition of the funds for this important public pect that the Government means by this course to 



improvement is shown in the following state- provide ample means for this purpose. 



ment: 



Amount available for Wisconsin River, July 



1,1878. $5112103 



Amount appropriated by act of March 3. 1873. 300,000 00 

 Amount expended during fiscal year cndinf 



June 30, 1SW 123283 90 



Amount available July 1, 1873 227 837 13 



Amount required for fiscal year ending June 



- 1875 750,000 00 



The total receipts into the State Treasury 

 during the year, from all sources, were $1,774,- 

 558, while the disbursements amounted to 

 $1,798,023. The total receipts of the general 

 fund were $1,095,872, of which $781,875 were 

 from direct State tax upon the assessed valua- 

 tion of property; $210,374 from taxes on the 



In view of the importance of this improve- gross receipts of railroad companies ; $63 299 

 ment to the country, as an outlet for the prod- froiu taxes on fire and life insurance companies, 

 nee of the States west of the Mississippi an d the balance from miscellaneous sources. 

 River, as well as a cheap route for supplying The total disbursements from the general 

 those States with lumber and iron from Wis- f nn d during the fiscal year were $1,191,966.01 

 consin and Michigan, Congress is urged to an excess of $96,093.72 above the receipts! 

 make liberal appropriations for completing the Deducting from this excess of expenditure the 



balance in the general fund at the commence- 



n his report for the year ending June 30, m ent of the fiscal year September 30, 1872 

 373, Major Houston uses the following sig- Ka ^ the deficiency in this fund for the year end- 

 nificant language in speaking of this important in S September 30, 1873, is found to be $66,- 



923.80. 



The disbursements on account of the several 

 public institutions of the State were : 



State-prison 45 550 47 



Hospital for the Insane, Madison .'.'...' ]19',438 15 



Northern Wisconsin Hospital for the Insane 198 677 21 



Institute for the Blind 20875 00 



Institute for the Deuf and Dumb 2373725 



Industrial School for Boys 65715 10 



Soldiers' Orphan Home 28^19369 



The total debt of the State amounts to $2,252.- 

 657. 

 ^ Treasurer Baetz says ; " The credit of the 



8 ., ,,,.,- State is good at home and abroad, and its entire 



wo in number, are 160 x 35all good for five feet " eD t only a trifle over two and a quarter million 

 draft, and many of them forsix feet. These can also dollars, or $2.13 per capita on the United 



'-/,","-" esired extent. States census of 1870." 



eluding an independent canal on the Wisconsin Ane loilowing is a comparative statement of 

 does not exceed $5,000,000. Assuming the work to t' le amounts of the several productive trust 

 ;ost this sum, we will have for the whole cost of funds, September 30, 1872, and September 30, 

 the work, adding what the Government has already 1373, and shows an increase during the vear of 

 oxpcnili-d in lands and moneys, about $6,000,000. $94 409 . 



With this amount a line of water transportation. ' 



S70 miles in length, can be secured. It is believed 

 that the cost of the improvement on the plan now 



'ing carried out on the Wisconsin River, will be School Fund., 

 much less than the above estimate; but when we University Fund. 



improvement : 



The feasibility of the improvement of the Fox and 

 Wisconsin Rivers is now demonstrated, and, in view 



f the great benefits to the country which this im- 

 provement will bring, it would seem that the Gov- 



rnment having assumed the work, by act of Con- 

 gress, and by subsequent legislation, should push 

 the work vigorously, so that these benefits may be 

 secured at as early a day as practicable. In addition 



3 those considerations, a true economy demands that 

 the appropriations be liberal, so that the requisite 

 facilities, machinery, etc., for carrying on the work 

 vigorously, may be procured. The size of the locks 

 m the Erie Canal is 110 x 18, with a draft of seven 

 feet. The existing locks on the Fox River, twenty- 



TRUST FUNDS. 



istt. 



$2,482,771 28 

 206,983 88 

 880,371 79 

 206,058 20 



$3,776,185 15 $3,870,653 71 



isrs. 



$2,510,181 12 

 216,519 88 

 918,643 48 

 225,809 78 



"" 4W WWW VWIUISHIV, UUII ItllVU W O *J III Gi P I IJt A" U 111 I 



consider the results to be obtained, as compared Normal School Fund 



with the cost of railroads, and their high charges. Agricultural College Fund., 

 the estimate is small. _ . 



The importance of this work has been fully set 



forth in former reports, and in various documents. ,, , 



There is no public work more national in its cliarac- lne unproductive trust rands are composed 



ter than this. By it the products of the Northwest of unsold lands held in trust by the State for 



1 8nd cheap transportation to the seaboard, and the funds, and are estimated as follows 

 the lumber and iron of the North to the Mississippi 8cl)00 i F . m ., t9Qn .. nn 



Valley. One great problem of the day is to secure VriJihna. :'.:'"''' '.'.I IS 009 90 



heap transportation for these indispensable and Normal School Fund ! SloioOO 00 



bulky commodities, and while no one route will meet Agricultural Collepe Fund 70^400 00 



the demand of the country, there is no other route Drainage Fund (held in trust for counties).. 1,038,000 CO 

 which will meet the necessities of BO large a section 

 of the United States at so small an expense as this. 

 It is with these views that I submit the estimates 

 herewith. If small appropriations are made, the 

 work will not only be delayed, but a spirit or dis- 

 satisfaction will be aroused. It is not many years 

 since the Government donated to the State of Wis- 

 consin a grant of land for this improvement, and yet 

 no results such as were anticipated have been realized. 



Total $2,221,400 80 



The State tax levied for 1871 was $629,143 ; 

 for 1872, $765,291 ; and for 1873, $671,582. 

 The rate percent, of this tax upon the assessed 

 valuation was 1.38 mills in 1871 ; 1.96 in 1872 ; 

 nnd 1.72 in 1873. The assessed valuation for 

 1873 was $390,454,875. 



A considerable portion of the annual revenue 



The dissatisfaction has been so great that the Gov- 

 ernment has been induced to resume control of the 

 work, and by appropriating money indicate n in- 18 derived from the tax on railways; the tax 

 tentioncf carrying it out. The people naturally ex- fixed by the Legislature being three per cent. 



