218 



CONNECTICUT. 



they passed, among others, a resolution author- 

 izing the Governor and the other State officers 

 to remove to the new State Capitol, and the 

 transfer of the old State House to the city of 

 Hartford. After a two days' continuance in 

 the new Capitol the session was finally closed 

 with the usual formalities on the 28th of 

 March. 



Among the laws and resolutions passed at 

 this session are the following: 



" An act creating a State Board of Health, 

 composed of six members to be appointed by 

 the Governor." This bill was long and warm- 

 ly debated, with hearings of physicians and 

 other competent persons before the Judiciary 

 Committee, to whom it had been referred for 

 consideration and report. At the vote first 

 taken on its passage it was rejected in the 

 lower House; a large number of members op- 

 posing the measure, chiefly on the ground of 

 the expense which the establishment of such a 

 Board would cost the State. The matter was 

 subsequently reconsidered, and the bill finally 

 passed in concurrence on March 13th. By a 

 special message sent to the Senate on the 28th, 

 the Governor nominated the six members of 

 the Board of Health, two of them for the term 

 of two years, two for four, and two for six 

 years. His nominations were confirmed by 

 the Senate. 



"An act relating to salaries of State offi- 

 cers, and fees of the Secretary." It fixes them 

 as follows: 



SECTION 1. After the first day of January, A. D. 

 1879 ; the several officers herein named shall annually 

 receive the following salaries: Secretary, fifteen 

 hundred dollars ; Treasurer, fifteen hundred dollars ; 

 Comptroller, fifteen hundred dollars ; School Fund 

 Commissioner, two thousand dollars ; Executive Sec- 

 retary, twelve hundred dollars ; State Librarian, 

 eighteen hundred dollars ; Adjutant-General, twelve 

 hundred dollars ; Quartermaster-General, twelve 

 hundred dollars ; Paymaster-General, six hundred 

 dollars ; executive messenger, two dollars per day. 



SEC. 2. All fees paid into the office of Secretary 

 shall be paid by him into the Treasury of the State. 



Approved March 27, 1878. 



" An act to punish the making of false an- 

 nual statements by officers of fire-insurance 

 companies." It inflicts the penalty of five 

 hundred dollars for the first offense, and of one 

 thousand dollars for the second. 



" An act relating to railroads." It provides 

 that any person, detained at railroad crossings 

 by railroad cars longer than five minutes, is 

 entitled to sue the railroad company, and re- 

 cover fifty dollars from it. 



" A joint resolution authorizing the Gov- 

 ernor to appoint a commission of three mem- 

 bers, to inquire into the necessity of erecting 

 another State hospital for the insane poor." 



" A joint resolution in aid of the family of 

 Wells Shipman, the night-watchman of the 

 State Prison, murdered by convicts on Septem- 

 ber 1, 1877.'| It appropriates eight dollars a 

 month for his widow during her widowhood, 

 and six dollars and fifty cents a month for his 

 little daughter until she becomes fourteen years 



old ; both appropriations to be paid quarterly. 

 In the House of Representatives this resolution 

 was passed unanimously. . 



Three resolutions were passed by the House 

 of Representatives, on February 28th and 

 March 15th, respectively, proposing the follow- 

 ing three amendments to the State Constitu- 

 tion, to be continued to the next General As- 

 sembly, and published with the laws passed at 

 the present session : 



First. Proposed amendment to the Consti- 

 tution relating to biennial sessions of the Le- 

 gislature : 



Members of the General Assembly shall be elected 

 on the Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem- 

 ber, 1880, and biennially thereafter, and they shall 

 hold their offices for two years from and after the 

 Wednesday following the first Monday of the Janu- 

 ary next succeeding their election. 



Their compensation shall not exceed three hun- 

 dred dollars for the term for which they are elect- 

 ed, and one mileage each way for the regular session 

 at the rate of twenty-five cents per mile : they shall 

 receive one mileage at the same rate for attending 

 any extra session called by the Governor. 



The regular sessions of the General Assembly shall 

 commence on the Wednesday following the first 

 Monday of the January next succeeding the election 

 of its members. 



The Kepresentatives elected from the several towns 

 on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 

 1878, shall hold their offices for two Vears from and 

 after the Wednesday following the first Monday of 

 January, 1879. 



The Senators elected on the Tuesday after the first 

 Monday of November, 1877, shall hold their offices 

 until the Wednesday following the first Monday of 

 January, 1881. 



If the General Assembly of 1879 holds an ad- 

 journed session during the year 1880, its members 

 shall receive for all services performed during said 

 year a sum not exceeding five dollars per day for not 

 exceeding twenty days. 



If this amendment is adopted, there shillbe no 

 election held on the Tuesday after the first Monday 

 of November, 1879. 



Second. Proposed amendment concerning va- 

 cancies in judicial offices: 



All vacancies arising in the offices of judges of the 

 courts of Common Pleas, district courts, city courts, 

 and police courts, shall he filled by the General As- 

 sembly for the remainder of the unexpired terms 

 only. 



The provisions of this amendment shall apply to 

 any vacancies that may be filled by the General As- 

 sembly of 1879. 



Third. Proposed amendment concerning ten- 

 ure of office of judges: 



The judges of the Supreme Court of Errors and 

 of the Superior Court hereafter appointed, shall hold 

 their offices during good behavior, but may be re- 

 moved by impeachment; and the Governor shall 

 also remove them on the address of two thirds of 

 each House of the General Assembly. 



No judge of the Supreme Court of Errors or of the 

 Superior Court shall be capable of holding office 

 after he shall arrive at the age of seventy-five 

 years. 



A joint resolution authorizing the^Etna Life 

 Insurance Company to capitalize its surplus of 

 $600,000 was vetoed by the Governor, on rea- 

 sons set forth in his message for that purpose. 

 The resolution with the Governor's objection 



