506 



MARYLAND. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



of Congress chosen at the same time were all 

 Democrats. The total vote in the city of Bal- 

 timore was 54,289, and the Democratic major- 

 ity 16,129. 



On the 22d of February, Daniel C. Gilman 

 was installed as President of the Johns Hop- 

 kins University, in Baltimore. This institution 

 had been founded by a board of trustees, ap- 

 pointed by the late Johns Hopkins, to carry 

 into effect the purposes of a munificent be- 

 quest of $3,500,000. They were left untram- 

 meled by conditions and restrictions, and their 

 plans contemplate the establishment of a well- 

 equipped university, which shall include not 

 only an academic department, but special 

 schools of soience, medicine, and jurisprudence. 

 Several chairs of instruction have been filled, 

 and courses of lectures established. For the 

 temporary accommodation of the institution, 

 buildings have been leased in the heart of the 

 city of Baltimore ; but the permanent site is 

 at Clifton, where it is proposed to construct 

 simple but substantial edifices adapted in the 

 best manner to the purposes for which they 

 are intended. At the beginning of the aca- 

 demic year 1876-'77, Prof. Huxley, of England, 

 delivered an address before the university on 

 the " Higher Education," and during the year 

 courses of lectures were given by eminent 

 scholars from different parts of the country. 



An important decision, involving the respon- 

 sibility of national banks for securities placed 

 in their keeping, was rendered by the Court 

 of Appeals in the latter part of February. A 

 Baltimore firm had in 1866 deposited bonds, 

 valued at $26,500, with the Third National 

 Bank of that city, as collateral security for 

 payment of all obligations then existing, or 

 thereafter to be incurred, with the understand- 

 ing that the officers of the bank had the right 

 to sell the bonds in satisfaction of such obliga- 

 tions. The firm was a regular customer of the 

 bank, obtaining discounts, borrowing money, 

 and sometimes overdrawing its deposit ac- 

 count. In 1872 the bonds were stolen from 

 the vaults of the bank by burglars, at a time 

 when nothing was due from the firm. Suit 

 was brought to recover their value. At a 

 trial before the Superior Court of Baltimore, 

 in 1873, the jury failed to agree. A second 

 trial in Howard County, in September, 1874, 

 resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff for the 

 full amount claimed. An appeal was taken to 

 the Court of Appeals, which decided against 

 the bank, confirming the judgment of the 

 court below. 



Another interesting case was decided by the 

 Court of Appeals in June. A citizen of Vir- 

 ginia was, prior to 1861, the holder of $8,000 

 of the coupon bonds of the Chesapeake & 

 Ohio Canal Company. Being assigned to duty 

 in the Southwest, in the early part of the war, 

 he left them in custody of his wife. At the 

 time of the evacuation of Petersburg, in 1865, 

 she, being fearful that tne bonds would be 

 stolen from her, caused them to be buried, 



sealed up in glass jars. They were discovered 

 and stolen, and no trace of them could after- 

 ward be found. The Circuit Court of Balti- 

 more City decreed that the company should 

 issue to the former owner of these bonds cer- 

 tificates of indebtedness in lieu of them, and 

 should pay them at maturity, with interest 

 thereon semi-anuually, upon his giving secu- 

 rity to indemnify the company against loss in 

 the event of the production of the original 

 bonds in the hands of bona-fide holders. This 

 decree was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. 



MASSACHUSETTS. The total amount of 

 taxable property in the State of Massachusetts 

 is $2,123,099,579.09. This includes $1,262,141,- 

 092 of real estate, as assessed May 1st; $537,- 

 708,263.86 personal estate, including national- 

 bank shares, as assessed May 1st; $243,340,- 

 642.75 deposits in savings-banks, October 1st ; 

 and $79,909,580.48 corporate property, other 

 than real estate and machinery. The aggre- 

 gate shows a falling off of $70,809,505.11 from 

 the amount in 1875. 



The amount and character of the public debt 

 of the State, and the changes of the year, are 

 shown in the following statement : 



Amount outstanding January 1, 1870 $33,886,464 



Negotiated during 1 the year: 



Worcester Hospital loan $350,000 



Dan vers Hospital loan 450,000 



Harbor improvement loan 800,000 



1,100,000 



Total $34,986,464 



Paid during the year : 

 Union Fund loan of 1S61 (final) 1,436,000 



Aggregate funded debt, January 1, 187T $33,550,464 



Classified as follows : 



Railroad loans $1T, 768,996 



War loans 11,068.188 



Ordinary loans 4,718,280 



Net reduction of debt in 1876. 



$336,000 



The loans which mature during the year 1877 

 are the Norwich & Worcester Railroad loan of 

 $400,000, a portion of the Union Fund loan 

 amounting to $400,000, and the last install- 

 ment of $50,000 of the Northampton Lunatic 

 Hospital loan. The redemption of these is fully 

 provided for by sinking-funds and otherwise. 



The following is a statement of the receipts 

 and expenditures of the Treasury for the year ; 



Cash on hand January 1, 1S76 $5,306,946 71 



Transactions during the year: 

 Receipts on account of revenue. $6,400.746 78 

 Receipts on account of funds. . . 4,7S5,07S 32 



11,185,825 10 



Total $16,492,771 81 



Payments from revenue $6,101,486 64 



Payments on account of funds. . 6,761,011 93 



12,862,448 57 



Cash on hand at the close of the year $3,630,323 24 



The estimated revenue for the year 1877 is 

 $4,008,241 ; estimated expenditure, $4,771,300. 

 The amount to be raised by State tax to cover 

 the deficiency, and provide for the wants of the 

 Treasury in anticipation of the revenues of 

 1878, is fixed at $1,400,000. This is a reduc- 

 tion of about $1,000,000 from the average of 

 fifteen years. 



