686 



RHODE ISLAND. 



votes to 5,116 for Thomas A. Reynolds; Wil- 

 lard Sayles was elected Attorney-General, and 

 Samuel Clark Treasurer, by a vote nearly as 

 large as that of Addeman. There were fail- 

 ures to elect members of the Legislature in 

 several towns, and new elections were held on 

 the 16th of April. 



The regular session of the General Assembly 

 began at Newport on the 25th of May. It con- 

 sisted of 23 Republicans and 13 Democrats in 

 the Senate, and 60 Republicans and 12 Demo- 

 crats in the House of Representatives, making 

 the Republican majority 10 in the Senate and 

 48 in the House, or 58 on a joint ballot. The 

 first business of the session was the election of 

 Governor and Lieutenant-Governor in joint 

 convention, or "Grand Committee" as it is 

 called in this State. The only candidates who 

 could be voted for were the two receiving the 

 largest number of votes at the State election. 

 The number of votes cast was 106, of which 

 Henry Lippitt for Governor received 70 and 

 Rowland Hazard 36 ; for Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Henry T. Sisson received 66 and Daniel E. 

 Day 40. Mr. Lippitt was accordingly declared 

 elected Governor and Mr. Sisson Lieutenant- 

 Governor. 



The session continued until the 25th of June. 

 The most important subject of legislation was 

 the regulation of the liquor-traffic, and a joint 

 special committee was appointed to consider 

 propositions and report a bill. After a pro- 

 tracted discussion, the constabulary law was 

 repealed, and "an act to regulate and restrain 

 the sale of intoxicating liquors " was passed, 

 to take the place of the prohibitory law. It 

 authorizes the boards of aldermen of cities 

 and the town councils of towns to grant or to 

 refuse to grant licenses for the sale of liquors. 

 The aldermen of the city of Providence, 

 however, are required to choose three com- 

 missioners for the purposes, and other towns 

 and cities may elect commissioners, if the 

 qualified electors so determine. The licenses 

 granted shall run for only one year, and one 

 half the fees shall be for the use of the town 

 or city, and the other half turned over to the 

 State Treasurer. Before a license is granted to 

 any person, notice must be given, and an op- 

 portunity allowed for remonstrances. All per- 

 sons licensed must enter into a bond not to vio- 

 late the law, and penalties are imposed for all 

 violations. No one can sell liquor on Sunday 

 or to any minor or person of notoriously intem- 

 perate habits. There is a penalty for forcibly 

 ejecting any intoxicated person from the prem- 

 ises on which the liquor has been sold to him, 

 and the ^seller is held liable for any damage 

 done by intoxicated persons to whom he has 

 sold liquor. The husband, wife, parent, child, 

 guardian, or employer, of any intemperate per- 

 son may request a licensed dealer not to sell 

 liquor to such person, and may bring suit for 

 damages if the request is disregarded. The 

 sheriffs of counties and their deputies, and the 

 constables and police of towns and cities, are 



charged with the execution of the law, and 

 special constables may be appointed by town 

 councils and the aldermen of cities for the 

 same purpose. On the request of five qualified 

 electors in any town a vote shall be taken at 

 the regular town meeting on the question of 

 permitting licenses to be granted, and, if a ma- 

 jority shall vote in the negative, no licenses 

 can be granted in that town. The act does 

 not apply to the manufacture of cider or do- 

 mestic wines, or the sale thereof in quantities 

 of not less than one gallon. Before the close 

 of the year, $72,501.24 had been paid into the 

 State Treasury for licenses in twelve towns 

 and cities. The other twenty-four towns had 

 refused to grant licenses, or failed to make any 

 returns. 



The census, taken during the summer, fur- 

 nished the following table of population, show- 

 ing the change in each town in five years : 



The heavy loss in the town of North Provi- 

 dence is due to the fact that a large portion 

 has been annexed to Providence, and another 



