828 



WISCONSIN. 



eral departments of business, we yet discover indica- 

 tions of a reviving prosperity. During this period 

 the crops have been abundant. The health of the 

 people has been exceptionally good. They have 

 paid their taxes, apparently with unusual ease and 

 creditable punctuality. The sheriffs have, with 

 commendable promptness, paid their collections into 

 the Treasury. The public institutions have been ad- 

 ministered with great economy. The merchants re- 

 port an increasing trade. There have been fewer 

 failures of business men than in any other State of 

 equal area and population. Many mines have been 

 opened, especially in the valleys of the Kanawha and 

 New Rivers. Our forests have attracted experienced 

 lumbermen, who have established enterprises which 

 furnished employment to labor, and increased the 

 wealth of the State. The attention of those interest- 

 ed in the organization of colonies has been directed 

 to the unimproved lands in the interior of the State, 

 and we have reasons to believe that the population 

 will soon be sensibly increased by the immigration 

 of worthy and industrious persons. ^The construc- 

 tion has been commenced of two railroads, one of 

 which will pass through a fertile agricultural and 

 grazing region, and the other through rich coal fields, 

 and forests of valuable timber. 



WISCONSIN". The Legislature adjourned 

 March 21st, after a session of 72 days. There 

 were passed 341 bills, 6 joint resolutions, and 11 

 memorials to Congress. The legislation com- 

 prised but few matters of any importance. 

 Chief among these were the remodeling of the 

 assessment and taxation laws ; amending the re- 

 gistry law, so as to make it less expensive, and 

 applicable only to the larger polling precincts; 

 the change in the system of publishing the 

 Supreme Court reports ; the provision for the 

 commission to obtain data and report on the 

 school text-book system ; the establishment of 

 a State Park in Lincoln County; and doubling 

 the license fees of life-insurance companies do- 

 ing business within the State. The following 

 new cities were incorporated: Two Rivers, 

 Waupun, Lancaster, Fort Atkinson, and Jef- 

 ferson. A short special session of the Legisla- 

 ture was held in June. It was summoned to 

 consider the revision of the General Statutes 

 and to provide for their publication and distri- 

 bution. The revision submitted to them was 

 promptly adopted, and the Legislature then 

 adjourned. 



The receipts from all sources into the State 

 Treasury during the year ending September 

 30, 1878, were $1,851,553, and the disburse- 

 ments $1,726,529. The balance in the Trea- 

 sury at the end of the year was $403,288. The 

 receipts into the general fund during the fiscal 

 year amounted to $1,120,837, of which $658,- 

 153 was derived from direct State tax, $379,- 

 474 from railroad companies' license taxes, and 

 $41,893 from insurance companies' license tax- 

 es. The disbursements from the general fund 

 amounted to $1,047,796, including $336,660 

 for salaries of officers and employees, perma- 

 nent appropriations, and interest on the State 

 debt, $107,605 for legislative expenses, and 

 $321,140 for benevolent and penal institutions. 

 The condition of the several trust funds of the 

 State at the close of the fiscal year was as fol- 

 lows: 



The indebtedness of the State remains as 

 at the close of the last fiscal year, and is as 

 follows : 



Bonds outstanding $14,000 00 



Currency certificates 57 00 



Certificates of indebtedness to trust funds 2,238,000 00 



Total .................................... $2,252,057 00 



The indebtedness of the counties, cities, 

 towns, villages, and school districts in the 

 State amounts to $9,831,158.50, according to 

 the returns received by the Secretary of State. 

 The total ascertained public indebtedness of 

 the people of Wisconsin is, therefore, $12,083,- 

 215.50 somewhat less than 2'7 per cent, of 

 the total assessed valuation. The values of all 

 property in the State subject to taxation, as 

 returned by the assessors for the past two years, 

 are as follows : 



Personal property .................. $77,362,481 00 



City and village lots ................ 91,521,992 00 



Other real estate ............... _____ 182,895,881 00 



Total ......................... $351,780,354 00 



1878. 



Personal property .................. $96,077.208 00 



City and village lots ................ 103,399.469 75 



Other real estate ................... 255,863,904 57 



Total ......................... , $455,340,582 32 



Assuming that the sales of real estate, as re- 

 turned by registers of deeds, afford an approx- 

 imately correct ratio of the assessed to the 

 actual value of all property, the taxable prop- 

 erty of the State in 1877 amounted to $727,- 

 871,620, and in 1878 to $887,083,700. This is 

 only the property represented on the assess- 

 ors' books, and is exclusive of the property 

 exempt from assessment by law, and that which 

 is concealed and omitted. " I think it safe to 

 say, therefore," says Governor Smith, "that 

 the value of all property in the State of Wis- 

 consin to-day exceeds a thousand millions of 

 dollars, and it is quite probable that the prop- 

 erty not by law exempt from assessment 

 amounts to that sum. The public indebtedness 

 is, therefore, but a trifle more than 1 per cent. 

 of the actual value of the property which con- 

 tributes to its payment, instead of 2*7 per cent., 

 as might be inferred, if the distinction bet ween 

 actual and assessed valuations was not con- 

 stantly kept in mind. It is important that the 

 facts in regard to such matters should be known 

 by the people, no less than by legislators, that 

 we may deceive neither ourselves nor others." 

 The total tax levied in the State for the year 

 1877 was $8,031,628, and amounted to $1.89 

 on each $100 of the State assessment of $423,- 

 596,290. The purposes for which this tax was 

 levied, and the respective amounts and rates, 

 were as follows: 



