MASSACHUSETTS. 



537 



crease of $5,387,120. Of the 1,859 corporations 

 attended to, 22 had been dissolved, 39 were in 

 process of dissolution, and 172 were new com- 

 panies. Notwithstanding the increase in valu- 

 ation, the amount assessed in 1881 was some- 

 what less than in the preceding year. The 

 amount realized by the State was $526,598. 

 The amount of the tax on bank-shares was 

 $1,647,305. Of $1,063,771 collected, the bal- 

 ance remaining to the Treasury, after paying 

 $871,534 to towns, savings institutions, insur- 

 ance companies, and literary and charitable so- 

 cieties, was $92,236. The insurance premium- 

 tax amounted to $132,959. Of life-insurance 

 excess $195,309 was collected. The Supreme 

 Court has been applied to for a decision on the 

 validity of the latter tax. 



Of the public debt, amounting, January 1st, to 

 $32,799,464, the harbor improvement loan of 

 $400,000 was paid off in 1881, leaving the prin- 

 cipal, on December 31st, $32,399,464. Of this, 

 $17,738,966 consist of railroad loans, $10,468,- 

 188 of war loans, and $4,192,280 of loans for 

 public buildings, etc. The amount of the 

 sinking funds increased during the year from 

 $13,050,192 to $14,285,781. The value of the 

 securities held was about $900,000 in excess 

 of cost, and the value of lands to be sold for 

 the benefit of the sinking funds, and of un- 

 settled credits applicable to this purpose, about 

 $1,455,000 more; so that the funds amounted 

 to more than half the debt. 



The Governor has recommended the Legis- 

 lature, on the ground of public honor, to pro- 

 vide some method for the Troy and Greenfield 

 Kailroad Company to redeem the tunnel and 

 railroad. Under the control of the Common- 

 wealth the works have been nearly completed. 

 The final cost of the Hoosac Tunnel turned out 

 to be nearly fourteen times the original esti- 

 mate. In the year ending September 30th 

 there were expended on construction account 

 $345,584, for completing the central shaft, the 

 Greenfield depot, double track over more than 

 half the line, etc. The sum required for com- 

 pleting the double track, and other work to be 

 finished in the next two years, according to a 

 resolve of the Legislature, is $514,552, as esti- 

 mated by the manager. The business of the 

 line showed a large increase, though the rates 

 were extremely low, as was the case with 

 all through-traffic. The receipts for the year 

 were $245,457 ; the operating expenses, $183,- 

 296. 



The Commonwealth still owned in 1881 only 

 a small minority of the New York and New 

 England Railroad stock, and had ceased to con- 

 trol the property. The value of the stock had 

 risen greatly in the market, the prospects of the 

 road were good, and its completion by private 

 capital assured. 



The aggregate net indebtedness of municipal- 

 ities in Massachusetts in each year, from 1871 

 to 1881, and the total property valuation and 

 percentage of the debt to the same, were as 

 follows: 



In the last two years 194 towns diminished 

 their net debt, 78 increased it, and 23 did not 

 change it ; 50 towns, which had no debt in 

 1880, contracted none in 1881 ; 2 discharged 

 their debts during the year, making 65 towns 

 in the State without indebtedness ; and in 46 

 the percentage of liabilities to valuation had 

 increased. The gross interest-bearing debt of 

 municipalities May 1, 1881, was $87,352,750; 

 the amount raised in 1881 by taxation for in- 

 terest alone was $5,241,165. The aggregate 

 net debt of the municipalities showed for tho 

 twelve months a decrease of $3,104,236. The 

 aggregate local assessment of taxes for State, 

 town, and county purposes for 1881 was $24,- 

 180,245, of which $1,500,000 was State tax, 

 $1,093,050 county tax, and $21,587,195 local 

 tax for municipal purposes, a proportion of 89 

 per cent. The total amount of sinking funds 

 reported in 1880 was $18.204,610 ; in 1881 it 

 was $19,839,483, an increase of $1,634,873. 

 Eighty-one towns increased their indebtedness 

 by the amount of $728,728. For water-works 

 the gross debt was $29,957,888, for which there 

 were sinking funds amounting to $3,757,005, 

 leaving a net water debt of $26,200,883, or 40 

 per cent of the net indebtedness. 



The study and care which have been bestowed 

 in Massachusetts upon prison management and 

 criminal reformation have not prevented abuses 

 in management from being committed, nor se- 

 rious faults in the system from being retained. 

 The authorities do not, however, neglect this 

 subject, and efforts are continued to bring the 

 system up to the highest standard. The State 

 Prison at Concord has been placed under a new 

 manager, who maintains a firm and humane 

 discipline, and has effected a saving in the cost 

 of the institution. The net cost was $60,315 

 in 1878, the first year at Concord ; but in 1880 

 it had been decreased to $19,289, and the earn- 

 ings increased from $66.42 to $120.98 for each 

 man. The number of inmates in 1880 was 750, 

 a decrease of 20. Of the 150 committed dur- 

 ing the year, 96 were intemperate, 68 being 

 of foreign parentage, 21 had been in reform 

 schools, and 75 per cent had a fair education. 

 The number of deaths was 18, of pardons 12. 

 The criminal laws of the Commonwealth have 

 lately been altered, so as to permit longer peri- 

 ods of confinement for habitual criminals, espe- 

 cially such as are of intemperate habits. Tho 

 .-judiciousness of such a measure is illustrated 

 by a report of the Boston House of Industry, 



