684 



EHODE ISLAND. 



legislation on the subject, and, obtaining no 

 evidence of such necessity, they did not feel 

 authorized to make any recommendation. 

 They regarded it as a matter for the courts to 

 deal with. A long discussion ensued, and on 

 the last day of the session the following was 

 adopted, in place of the resolution submitted 

 by the majority of the committee: 



Voted and Resolved^ That the majority and mi- 

 nority reports of the joint special committee on the 

 conflict of authority between the State Constable and 

 the Marshal of the United States for the District of 

 Ehode Island, with the accompanying resolution, 

 and the evidence in the case, be respectfully referred 

 to the Governor, to adopt such, measures in the 

 premises, not repugnant to law, as he shall deem 

 best conducive to the interests of the State and the 

 enforcement of the laws. 



" Property liable to and exempt from taxa- 

 tion " was the subject of an extended inquiry 

 by a special committee. A report was made, 

 taking decided ground against the exemption 

 of church property, but favoring a compromise. 

 Its conclusion was expressed as follows : 



Let the land be taxed as other land is taxed, but, 

 as the buildings are very generally of no convertible 

 value, let these be exempt. The funds of these in- 

 stitutions should also be taxed, except in the case of 

 Government securities, which are exempted by law 

 of Congress. This course would not, as a general 

 rule, bear heavily upon these societies. Those of 

 them occupying the most valuable sites can better 

 afford to pay the tax ; the small, poor churches in 

 the country towns will scarcely feel it. If it be said 

 that a church holding and occupying a large and very 

 valuable lot, in the heart of a city, will be compelled to 

 curtail its domain, the answer should be, that a sale of 

 a portion of its land will the better enable the church 

 to perform its true mission. The same reasoning 

 will apply to educational and charitable institutions. 



No change was made in the existing legisla- 

 tion on this subject. 



The question of granting the right of suffrage 

 to women was also referred to a special com- 

 mittee, and two reports were made upon it. 

 The majority of the committee recommended 

 the passage of a resolution submitting to the 

 people for ratification an amendment of the 

 constitution, granting the right to vote to 

 women owning real estate. After some dis- 

 cussion the subject was indefinitely postponed 

 in the House, by a vote of 31 to 29. 



Among the acts passed during the session 

 was one establishing a Board of Commissioners 

 of the Sinking Fund, to consist of the Gov- 

 ernor, Treasurer, State Auditor, the chairman 

 of the standing Committees on Finance of the 

 Senate and House of Representatives, and other 

 two persons to be elected by the General As- 

 sembly. The board is required to invest the 

 funds paid to them in bonds of the United 

 States, or those of any New England State, 

 or of the towns and cities of Ehode Island, 

 and, on receiving any of the bonds or certifi- 

 cates of indebtedness of the State, must cancel 

 them so as to prevent their reissue. The 

 Treasurer is required on the 1st of June, each 

 year, to pay to the commissioners for the re- 

 demption of bonds of the State, until they 



shall have matured, $119,000 for those due in 

 1882 ; $20,000 for those due in 1883 ; $20,250 

 for those due in 1893; and $21,750 for those 

 due in 1894; these sums to form a sinking- 

 fund for the redemption of such bonds. An 

 act was passed constituting the Superintend- 

 ent of State Charities and Correction and the 

 Secretary of State a commission to receive 

 and examine all complaints and communica- 

 tions from inmates of any insane asylum, or in 

 relation to them, and cause inquiry to be made, 

 when they deem it advisable, into the condi- 

 tion and treatment of such persons, for the 

 purpose of securing their discharge if they are 

 improperly confined. The Commissioners are 

 also required to visit the asylums and examine 

 into the condition and complaints of the in- 

 mates. Authority is given for the prosecution 

 of the officers of these institutions in case of 

 neglect of duty or improper treatment of the 

 persons confided to their care. Another act 

 authorized the Board of Education to pay 

 annually, to each public library maintained 

 in the State, $50 for the first 500 volumes in 

 such library, and $25 for each additional 500 

 volumes. The Board of Education is also re- 

 quired to establish rules for the management 

 of such libraries. Another act provided for 

 taking a " census of the population, manufact- 

 ures, fisheries, and business in the several cities 

 and towns of the State," as they existed " on 

 the 1st day of June, 1875, and every tenth 

 year thereafter." A Superintendent of the 

 Census was to be appointed by the Governor, 

 who with the Governor and Secretary of 

 State should constitute the " Census Board," 

 and the Superintendent was authorized to ap- 

 point agents in the different cities and towns 

 to carry out the work. 



Eeports were made in favor of building a 

 new State-House on the site of the old one in 

 Providence, and in favor of purchasing the 

 estate of the Providence High-School for the 

 use of the State Normal School. 



The Eepublican State Convention gathered 

 at Eepresentatives' Hall in the State-House at 

 Providence, on the 25th of March, but, the ac- 

 commodations proving inadequate for the 

 crowd in attendance, the Academy of Music 

 was secured. The session lasted all night, 

 reaching an adjournment at Y A. M. of the 

 26th. There were numerous contesting dele- 

 gations, and an organization was not effected 

 until far into the night. The cause of the di- 

 vision was the effort begun in advance of the 

 convention to secure the nomination of Henry 

 Lippitt for Governor, by those who were in 

 favor of a repeal of the prohibitory and con- 

 stabulary acts, and the inauguration of a license 

 system for the regulation of the liquor- traffic. 

 The result of the convention was the triumph 

 of the Lippitt faction, and the following ticket 

 was nominated : For Governor, Henry Lippitt, 

 of Providence ; Lieutenant-Governor, Henry 

 T. Sisson, of Little Compton; Secretary of 

 State, Joshua M. Addeman, of Providence; 



