NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



549 



Governor and Railroad Commissioner. The re- 

 sults of the ballot were as follows : For Gov- 

 ernor, whole number of votes cast, 379 ; of 

 which Hiram R. Roberts had 186, Pers9n C. 

 Cheney 193. Mr. Cheney was declared elected. 



For Railroad Commissioner, whole number 

 of votes cast, 351 ; of which Adams T. Pierce 

 had 171, Charles H. Powers 180. Mr. Pow- 

 ers was declared elected. 



At the same session the convention declared 

 the following named members of the State 

 Council as elected by the people at the elec- 

 tion of March preceding, they having received 

 the required majority of all the votes then 

 cast in the respective districts, as counted and 

 reported in detail by the special committee 

 appointed for that purpose : First District, 

 Charles A. Foss ; Second District, Moulton II. 

 Marston; Third District, Edward D. Burn- 

 ham; Fourth District, Albert S.Scott; Fifth 

 District, Jeremiah Blodgett. 



At a later day the two Houses met in con- 

 vention again, to elect the Secretary of State 

 and other officers. Those who received a 

 majority of the votes cast, and were declared 

 elected, were as follows: For Secretary of 

 State, Benjamin F. Prescott; for State Treas- 

 urer, Solon A. Carter; for Commissary-Gen- 

 eral, Frank W. Miller ; for State Printer, Ed- 

 ward A. Jenks. 



The State debt is at present $3,741,330.45. 

 During the last fiscal year it had been reduced 

 $85,259.97. 



The public revenue during the same year 

 was $505,654.21; derived, for $400,208, from 

 the State tax ; the rest from other sources. 

 The aggregate amount of the public expendi- 

 tures was $420,394.64; including ordinary ex- 

 penses, $149,64,80; extraordinary, $35,240.04; 

 interest paid on the State debt, $236,89.80. 



The same amount of tax is considered to be 

 sufficient to meet the expenditures of the State 

 government, and gradually reduce its debt. 



There is in New Hampshire only one bank 

 for discount which does business under a State 

 charter. It has a capital stock of $50,000. 

 In the past year it paid a dividend of ten per 

 cent, to its stockholders, and has a surplus of 

 $13,315.85. 



The number of savings-banks in the State 

 during 1874 was 68, the aggregate amount of 

 their deposits being $30,214,585.71 ; which ex- 

 ceeds their deposits in the previous year by 

 $1,385,108.88. The whole number of deposi- 

 tors is 96,938, or 4,150 more than they were in 

 1873. 



The existing system of education in the 

 State is well sustained so far as the common 

 schools are concerned. 



The almost general opposition which the 

 Agricultural College and the Normal School 

 met with from the people at the beginning has 

 sensibly decreased, and will undoubtedly die 

 out entirely, and be replaced by a decided and 

 permanent popular favor. 



The charitable, reformatory, and penal in- 



stitutions of the State appear to be under ef- 

 ficient management, accomplishing the pur- 

 poses for which they were severally intended. 



As to the convicts in the State Penitentiary, 

 for the year ending April 30, 1875, the whole 

 number was 151 ; received, 56, which is the 

 largest number committed in any one year, ex- 

 cept 1866, when they were 60 ; discharged, 20 

 on expiration of term, 15; by pardon, 5: 

 four died. The whole number remaining on 

 May 1, 1875, was 127 females 6, males 121, 

 of whom three are negroes. Of these con- 

 victs, 28 are under 20 years of age; 52 be- 

 tween 20 and 30 years; 29 between 30 and 

 40; 11 between 40 and 50; and 7 over 50. 

 The crimes of which they have been convict- 

 ed, respectively, are as follows : Murder in the 

 first degree, 2 ; murder, second degree, 6 ; 

 manslaughter, 3; attempt to kill, 4; arson, 11; 

 highway robbery, 3 ; burglary, 26 ; breaking 

 into and stealing, 17 ; stealing horses, 10 ; 

 stealing, 26 ; obtaining goods on false preten- 

 ses, 4 ; forgery, 2 ; passing counterfeit money, 

 embezzlement, and breaking seat on railroad 

 car, 1 each; obstructing railroad track, 3; 

 gross outrages on women, 7. These convicts 

 have been sentenced, 3 to 30 years' confine- 

 ment ; 1 to 25 ; 1 to 21 ; 3 to 20 ; 14 to from 

 10 to 18 years; 23 to less than 10 and more 

 than 4 years ; 13 to 4 ; 26 to 3 ; 14 to 2 years ; 

 4 to 1 year. They are natives of the United 

 States, 97 ; of Ireland, 9 ; England, 4 ; Scot- 

 land, 4; Nova Scotia, 2; Canada, 8; Sweden, 

 2 ; Spain, 1. 



The earnings of the convicts' labor, during 

 the past year, amounted to $30,664.02. The 

 expenses of the State-prison for the same time 

 were $14,971.57 ; leaving a gain over all ex- 

 penditures of $15,692.46. 



The material interests of the State in re- 

 gard to trade, manufactures, and agriculture, 

 are generally in a satisfactory condition. 



The Governor invited the attention of the 

 Legislature to the expediency of calling a con- 

 vention to frame a new constitution for the 

 State, or to revise and amend the present one, 

 which has been in force since 1792. The Gov- 

 ernor avers that in many particulars it is de- 

 fective, ambiguous, and has at least one serious 

 blemish, namely, "the clause known as the 

 ' religious test,' requiring that certain officers 

 must be Protestant." This clause, he says, is 

 in practice a dead letter, Catholics as well as 

 Protestants hoi ding important offices every year, 

 but adds that such a stain should be wiped out 

 of the State constitution, even in reference to 

 the letter. 



A Constitutional Convention was held in 

 1851, when a new constitution was framed ; 

 but the delegates to that convention pro- 

 tracted their session so long, and thereby so 

 increased the amount of its expenses, that the 

 people were displeased, and looked on the 

 whole work with disfavor. "When the new 

 document was submitted to the popular vote 

 for its adoption or rejection, the people were 



