512 



MAINE. 



cost of $22,000, and the prison is now in a 

 better condition than ever before to give profit- 

 able employment to the inmates. The ex- 

 penses of the Eeform-School exceeded the re- 

 ceipts from the labor of the boys by about 

 $14,000. The Industrial School for Girls was 

 completed during the year, and made ready 

 for the reception of inmates. The Home for 

 Soldiers' Orphans receives an annual appro- 

 priation of $10,000 from the State, and has 55 

 children under its care. 



The business of the State Land-Office has 

 been closed up, but the abolition of the office 

 of Land Agent, which was resolved upon by 

 the last Legislature, can be accomplished only 

 by an amendment of the constitution. The 

 State has 146,000 acres of vacant public land 

 set apart for settlement, 100,000 acres of which 

 are mainly valuable for the lumber growing on 

 it. There are also 9,000,000 acres of wild land 

 owned by individuals, and 754,000 owned by 

 the European & North American Kailroad 

 Company. The Swedish settlement in Aroos- 

 took County is reported to be in a flourishing 

 condition. The Penobscot tribe of Indians 

 continue to nourish under the guardianship of 

 the State. They have three schools ; one - on 

 Oldtown Island, one on Mattanawock Island, 

 and one on Olamon Island. About $8,420 was 

 expended for them during the year, derived 

 from appropriations from the State, and $5,- 

 766.85 derived from leases of the shores be- 

 longing to the tribe. 



The voluntary militia of the State consists 

 of ten assigned and two unassigned companies 

 of infantry, and one battery of artillery in all, 

 918 enlisted men and 55 officers. The expense 

 of maintaining it for the year was about $12,- 

 000. 



There were 276 convictions in the Supreme 

 Court under the prohibitory liquor law, and 41 

 commitments to jail ; and $30,898 was collected 

 in fines for violations of the law. 



During the year, 487 divorces were granted, 

 which shows that one in thirteen of the mar- 

 riages contracted in the State is dissolved by 

 decree of the Supreme Court. The Governor 

 recommends an amendment of the divorce law. 



The Justices of the Supreme Court, in an- 

 swer to questions propounded by the Governor 

 and Council, have given an opinion that women 

 cannot under the constitution act as justices 

 of the peace, or hold any office mentioned in 

 that instrument. The Governor also recom- 

 mends a change in this particular, and suggests 

 the propriety of a commission to propose needed 

 amendments to the constitution, which has 

 now been in force fifty-five years. 



The last session of the Legislature of Maine 

 began on the 7th of January, and closed on the 

 4th of March. Of the 342 acts and 113 resolves 

 adopted, more than two-thirds were of a spe- 

 cial character, relating to various local inter- 

 ests of different towns and cities. Charters of 

 incorporation were granted to twenty-three 

 manufacturing companies, with an aggregate 



capital of $7,130,000, and thirty-seven cheese- 

 factories, with a total capital of $370,500. An 

 attempt to pass a general railroad law, which 

 had been carefully prepared, and was discussed 

 at considerable length, finally failed. A bill 

 abolishing the death-penalty was also defeated, 

 as well as one providing that women might 

 vote at presidential elections, and one appro- 

 priating $100,000 for the erection of new build- 

 ings on the State-Hospital grounds for the ac- 

 commodation of insane patients. Among the 

 bills passed was one abolishing the office of 

 Land Agent, and providing that the Governor 

 and Council should wind up the business of the 

 office before the close of the year ; one giving 

 any official in charge of a rail road -train or 

 steamboat power to arrest persons gambling 

 on such train or boat, and making the penalty 

 for such gambling a fine of not less than $100, 

 or imprisonment for not less than three months, 

 or both, and affixing a penalty of $100 to any 

 railroad corporation neglecting to post a copy 

 of the act in every saloon and palace-car or 

 steamboat doing business in the State ; one 

 making strict provision for the prevention of 

 accidents on steamboats, and providing for the 

 recovery from the owners thereof of damages 

 not exceeding $5,000 for the loss of any life 

 by explosion or fire. Provision was also made 

 for the taxation of railroad companies on their 

 share capital, and of foreign insurance compa- 

 nies on their premiums, and for preventing the 

 running of passenger-trains over railroads that 

 are in a dangerous condition. A bill was 

 passed appropriating $12,500 for the establish- 

 ment of an Industrial School for Girls at Hal- 

 lowell, on condition that an equal sum be con- 

 tributed by citizens for the same purpose, 

 which was promptly done by the residents of 

 Hallowell. One of the most important acts of 

 the session has for its object " the better man- 

 agement of the Insane Hospital, the protection 

 of its inmates, and the regulation of commit- 

 ments thereto." This provides for a committee 

 of three visitors, one of whom shall be a 

 woman, to visit the hospital at irregular inter- 

 vals of not more than one month, and without 

 previous notice, for the purpose of ascertaining 

 whether any of the inmates are improperly 

 treated or wrongfully detained, and to report 

 any instance of abuse or ill-treatment to the 

 trustees. The visitors have power to obtain 

 the discharge of persons wrongfully detained, 

 and, in general, to act in behalf of the inmates 

 to secure their rights and a redress of their 

 wrongs. The names and addresses of the vis- 

 itors are to be kept posted in every ward of 

 the hospital, and the patients are to be allowed 

 to write to thm freely without any supervision 

 or inspection of their letters, and the superin- 

 tendent is required to furnish them with writ- 

 ing-materials when asked, and to see that their 

 letters are delivered. The purpose of the com- 

 mittee of visitors is to act as the representatives 

 of the patients of the hospital, and secure for 

 them such protection of the laws as they may 



