522 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



certify the accuracy of the lists. The prayers 

 of the District Attorney were therefore grant- 

 ed and those of the defense refused. They 

 were fined $5 each, with costs amounting to 

 $145. 



William Ilinton, a judge of election in the 

 first precinct, Fifth Ward, was then put on 

 trial for receiving and depositing in the ballot- 

 box the ballot of Samuel Young, colored, whose 

 name was not on the list of voters for that 

 precinct. George W. Wayson, Jr., supervisor, 

 testified that he was present when Samuel 

 Young offered to vote a ticket he picked up 

 from a pile of tickets near the ballot-box. 

 Young's name was not found on the poll list 

 of registered voters. Hinton, however, said 

 he knew Young, and he should vote. Charles 

 P. Krantz, special deputy marshal, testified 

 that none of the judges objected to Young's 

 vote, but the Republican judge, William Hep- 

 burn, shrugged his shoulders. This closed the 

 evidence for the prosecution. For the de- 

 fense William Hepburn, judge of election, tes- 

 tified that he was in his place near Hinton all 

 day, except during a short absence at dinner, 

 and he did not see or hear the circumstances 

 testified to for the prosecution. George W. 

 Fay, a judge at the same precinct, Charles 

 Selvage and George Peters, the clerks, testified 

 that they saw none of the occurrences testified 

 to by the Government witnesses; the names 

 of all those whose votes were taken by the 

 judges were put down by the clerks, and the 

 count tallied with the list. Several of these 

 witnesses and Robert H. Hyde, a Republican 

 deputy marshal, testified that Supervisor Way- 

 son said at the close of the voting that every- 

 thing had passed off pleasantly, and the elec-. 

 tion was fairly conducted. The poll lists were 

 put in evidence, and did not show the name of 

 Samuel Young. The jury found Hinton guilty. 

 Judge Bond said it did not appear from the 

 evidence that the defeudent was a ballot-box 

 stuffer. He would fine Mm $25 and costs, 

 which were paid. 



The penalty for interfering with a supervisor 

 or deputy marshal in the discharge of his duty 

 is a fine of not over $3,000, or imprisonment 

 not exceeding two years, or both ; and for vot- 

 ing illegally a fine not over $500, or imprison- 

 ment not more than three years, or both. 



MASSACHUSETTS. The session of the 

 Legislature was closed on May 17th. It passed 

 284 acts and 48 resolutions. The proposition 

 to adopt biennial sessions through an amend- 

 ment of the Constitution was not received fa- 

 vorably by the committee to whom it was re- 

 ferred, and failed to pass. The subjects acted 

 upon were strictly of a local nature, and all 

 resolutions relative to national affairs, the cur- 

 rency, and the remonetization of silver were 

 laid aside. 



By prudence in legislation the State tax was 

 reduced to a million dollars less than half the 

 average amount for the past fifteen years. In 

 1861 the State tax was $300,000, and for the 



five years preceding, the average was $242,000. 

 In 1862 the tax was $1,800,000 ; in 1867 it was 

 $5,000,000, the highest amount it ever reached; 

 and last year it was $1,500,000. The average 

 from 1862 to 1876, inclusive, was $2,590,000. 

 The special appropriations were very small, 

 less than $100,000 in all. Among the extra 

 appropriations made were $10,000 for the pres- 

 ervation of the Old South Church ; $10,000 for 

 the Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth ; $2,500 

 for the School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded 

 Youth ; $8,000 for the Eye and Ear Infirmary ; 

 Reformatory Prison for Women, $11,000 ; and 

 State Prison, $18,000 for the purpose of needed 

 furnishings ; $5,000 to provide knapsacks for 

 the militia; $500 for the educational exhibit 

 at the Paris Exposition; and $6,000 for the 

 State Primary School at Monson. Among the 

 appropriations asked for and defeated were 

 $60,000 for the Institute of Technology, $40,- 

 000 for the Worcester County Free Institute, 

 $150,000 for altering the State House, and 

 $25,000 for the Agricultural College. -As a 

 pledge of the public faith of the State, it was 

 enacted that the interest and principal of all 

 scrip or bonds of the State shall be paid in gold 

 coin or its equivalent. 



The continuance of the State detective force 

 was a subject of much discussion, and finally 

 the following act was passed : 



SECTION 1. Hereafter the State detective force shall 

 consist of not less than twenty-five nor more than 

 thirty members, including the chief; and the Gov- 

 ernor may remove from said force such members 

 thereof as are in his judgment unfitted for its duties. 



SEC. 2. Each member of said force shall, once in 

 each week, render to the chief a written report of all 

 his doings ; and the chief, at the end of each month, 

 shall render to the Governor a written report of the 

 doings of said force, summarizing the aforesaid week- 

 ly reports of the members thereof. 



SEC. 3. No moneys shall be paid to or for the ac- 

 count of the chief, or any member of said force, or 

 any person employed by them, except as provided 

 in section 6 of chapter 15 of the acts of the year 1875. 



SEC. 4. This act shall take effect upon its passage. 



The liquor question was agitated entirely in 

 the lower House. There were numerous peti- 

 tioners for a prohibitory law, including a large 

 number of the clergymen of the State, and a 

 bill was reported embodying a substantial re- 

 enactment of the old prohibitory law, and this 

 was defeated in the House by a vote of 93 yeas 

 to 118 nays. A bill was then presented con- 

 taining several stringent amendments to the 

 present license law. Some of these found 

 favor with the House, especially one to restrict 

 the number of licenses granted to one in every 

 1,000 of the population, and at one time a local 

 option proviso prevailed ; but, through the fact 

 that the acceptable amendments were coupled 

 so closely with those that were distasteful, the 

 entire legislation proposed was defeated. Sub- 

 sequently, three bills were passed affecting 

 this trade : one prohibiting the transportation 

 of liquor into towns' where licenses are not 

 granted ; another reducing to a nominal sum 

 the license fees to apothecaries, who are to sell 



