604 



NEW JEESEY. 



NEW YOEK. 



$1,225,592 ; 2. Additional State appropriation, 

 including the income of the school-fund, $100,- 

 000 ; 3. Interest of the surplus revenue, $31,- 

 573; 4. Township tax, $23,834; 5. District 

 and city tax for teachers' salaries, $311,161: 

 Total, $1,091,160, besides $613,238 derived 

 from district and city taxatien for building and 

 repairing school-houses. The more immediate 

 supervision of the schools is vested in a State 

 Superintendent and county superintendents, all 

 of whom are appointed by the State Board of 

 Education. County superintendents are au- 

 thorized to hold examinations and grant cer- 

 tificates to teachers. A law forbidding cor- 

 poral punishment in schools was enacted in 

 1867. The condition of the public schools for 

 the year ending August 31, 1874, is shown in 

 the following statement : 



Number of school districts 1,309 



" buildings 1,493 



" departments 2,835 



Capacity of public schools 155,152 



Number of unsectarian private schools 253 



" of sectarian private schools 101 



of persons between 5 and 18 years old 298,000 

 " enrolled in public schools (63 per 



cent.) 1S6,392 



Average attendance (52 per cent.) 96.224 



Attendance upon private schools (12 per cent.) 36,527 

 Number not attending school (25 per cent.). . . 71,895 



Average time schools kept open 9 mos. 12 days. 



Number of male teachers in public schools.. . 960 



Average wages per month $65 77 



Number of female teachers.. 2,256 



Average wages $38 00 



Total amount appropriated for schools $2,304,398 



Total amount for maintaining schools $1,691,160 



Valuation of school property $6,000,732 



Average annual cost of education per pupil ac- 

 cording to school population $5 67 



According to average attendance $17 57 



In several of the manufacturing cities and 

 towns evening-schools are maintained for adults 

 and others unable to attend the day-schools. 

 There is a State institution in Trenton for train- 

 ing teachers, comprising a Normal School and 

 a Model School. There are two courses of 

 study in the former, one of two and one of 

 three years. During the year ending July 1, 

 1874, there were 12 instructors and 269 pupils 

 in the Normal, and 17 instructors and" 443 

 pupils in the Model School. The Farnham 

 School, at Beverly, which is aided by the State, 

 serves as a preparatory institution for the 

 Normal School. Since 1871 the State has sup- 

 ported a free-library system in the public 

 schools by extending aid to such districts as 

 raise funds for this purpose ; nearly 400 free 

 school-libraries have been established and re- 

 ceive annual aid from the State. 



The commissioners appointed by the Legis- 

 lature of 1874 to examine into the sanitary 

 needs of the State, into the deficiencies of ex- 

 isting laws as to the securement of vital sta- 

 tistics, the abatement of nuisances, or what- 

 ever concerns the prevention or mitigation of 

 disease, have made an exhaustive report on 

 the subjects referred to them. The committee 

 was composed of Ezra M. Hunt, of Metuchin 

 (chairman); James E. Mercein, of Jersey City; 

 Samuel Lilly, of Lambertville ; George H. 

 Cook, of New Brunswick ; William Elmer, Jr., 



of Trenton; and Lewis W. Oakley, of Eliza- 

 beth. The committee recommend the passage 

 of a law establishing a State Board of Health 

 and Vital Statistics, similar to those in Massa- 

 chusetts and Michigan. The duties of this 

 board are stated in the following recommenda- 

 tion: 



The board shall take cognizance of the interests 

 of health and life among the citizens of this State. 

 They shall make sanitary investigations and inqui- 

 ries in respect to the people, the causes of disease, 

 and especially of epidemics and the sources of mor- 

 tality, and the effects of localities, employments, 

 conditions, and circumstances on the public health ; 

 and they shall gather such information in respect to 

 these matters as they may deem proper for diffusion 

 among the people. They shall also make inquiries 

 and reports in reference to disease affecting animals, 

 and the methods of prevention. They shall convene 

 on the call of any two members, and appoint a chair- 

 man, who shall call meetings as often as every three 

 months, or when requested to do so by two mem- 

 bers of the board. They shall, in the month of De- 

 cember, make report to the Governor of their inves- 

 tigations and opinions during the year ending De- 

 cember 1st, with such suggestions, as to legislative 

 action, as they may deem necessary. 



JOSEPH D. BEDLE, the present Governor of 

 New Jersey, was born in Monmouth County, 

 in that State, in 1830. Having been admitted 

 to the bar, he became prosecuting-attorney of 

 the county. When Governor Parker was first 

 elected, he appointed Mr. Bedle Circuit Judge, 

 and in 1873 reappointed him to that position 

 for seven years. In that year he was promi- 

 nently named for Chancellor, but the choice 

 fell upon Mr. Eunyon. 



NEW YOEK. The Legislature continued in 

 session till April 30th. The measure of most 

 general interest passed was perhaps the bill 

 for compulsory education, which, notwith- 

 standing considerable opposition, became a 

 law May llth, to take effect January 1, 1875. 

 It requires all parents, and those who have 

 the care of children between the ages of eight 

 and fourteen years, to see that they are in- 

 structed in spelling, reading, writing, English 

 grammar, geography, and arithmetic, at least 

 fourteen weeks in each year, either at school 

 or at home, unless the physical or mental con- 

 dition of the child may render such instruc- 

 tion inexpedient or impracticable. 



Eight of the fourteen weeks' attendance at 

 school must be consecutive. Any person neg- 

 lecting to comply with this requirement is 

 liable to a fine of one dollar for the first of- 

 fense. For each succeeding violation, after 

 having been properly notified, the offender 

 shall pay five dollars for every week, not ex- 

 ceeding thirteen in any year, during which he 

 shall fail to comply with the law. The fines 

 thus collected are to be devoted to school pur- 

 poses. 



No person shall employ any child under tire 

 age of fourteen years to labor in any business 

 during school-hours, unless the child has been 

 instructed, either at school or at home, for at 

 least fourteen of the fifty-two weeks next pre- 

 ceding the year in which such child shall be 



