636 



NEW JERSEY. 



recommencing either of them the sale of a 

 sufficient amount of the State's securities, or 

 the imposition of a State tax. "The first 

 method," says the Governor, in his message 

 to the Legislature of 1882, "I agree with my 

 predecessors, would be ill-judged ; because the 

 possession of these securities enable the Treas- 

 ury to borrow money to meet any unexpected 

 demand, as has often occurred in the past, and 

 undoubtedly will in the future; and because it 

 would result only in a postponement and aggra- 

 vation of the evil attempted to be treated, 

 inasmuch as the State would be deprived of 

 the income now derived from them. As to 

 the second plan suggested, I feel that, while it 

 is advisable that the government of the State 

 should be administered with reasonable liber- 

 ality, it is equally clear that the people have 

 the right to demand that that administration 

 should be as economical as is consistent with 

 the dignity and well-being of the State. Be- 

 fore resorting to the levying of a tax, there- 

 fore, our first duty should be to ascertain 

 whether, or not, the receipts can not be in- 

 creased, and the expenditures from, and charges 

 against, the State Fund be judiciously reduced." 

 The Commissioner of the Sinking Fund gives 

 the following statement of the assets of the 

 fund: 



Principal amount of mortgages $797,217 19 



Interest due on same 44,749 04 



United States bonds 20,000 00 



Chambersburg school-bonds 8,000 00 



Notes 8,808 87 



Real estate (thirty-five pieces) purchased at 



foreclosure 873,512 85 



Balance in bank. 17,718 43 



of the financial operations of the institution is 

 given : 



Maintenance $58,004 52 



Less increase of inventory 1,195 84 



~ 68 



Total $1,265,000 43 



The outstanding war bonds, for the securi- 

 ty of which this fund is intended, amount to 

 $1,896,000. Of these bonds, $100,000 mature 

 each year up to 1891, and to meet them as 

 they come due there is annually paid from the 

 State Fund the sum of $90,000, the Sinking 

 Fund being required to provide the additional 

 $10,000 of principal and the amount of interest. 



The business of the Riparian Commission 

 for the year was very large, and shows a con- 

 siderable increase over that of the preceding 

 year. The commissioners report the following 

 transactions during the year : 



Grants of the fee $65,106 89 



Leases, bearing 7 per cent interest. 73,397 09 



Total $138,503 98 



Received on grants and leases of previous years . 61,835 52 



Total $200,339 50 



There has been received since 1864, for 

 riparian grants, the sum of $1,389,908.34, in 

 addition to which leases hav been made of 

 the principal amount of $969,574.09. On these 

 7 per cent rent is paid. 



The number of convicts in the State Prison, 

 on the 31st of October, 1880, was 836 ; during 

 the year 428 were received and 461 discharged, 

 leaving the number in confinement on October 

 31, 1881, to be 803. The following statement 



Repairs 



Repairs extraordinary 7,550 88 



Salaries of deputies, etc 46,345 19 



Salaries of supervisor, keeper, aiid inspectors. . . 9.207 84 



1'ald discharged convicts 1,889 50 



Total $125,036 46 



By cash received from supervisor 50,147 52 



Net loss to the State $68,888 94 



This amount is $21,528.67 in excess of the 

 deficiency of the previous year. The increase 

 is accounted for by a combination of circum- 

 stances: 1. There was a charge against the 

 institution in 1881 of $7,550 for repairs of 

 shops injured by the fire; 2. The sum of $1,- 

 500 was paid to a contractor for loss of time 

 and business caused by the burning of the 

 shops, and the payment diminishes the amount 

 of cash reported as having been paid by the 

 supervisor; 3. An excess of loss in produc- 

 tive labor this year over that of last, pending 

 the rebuilding of the shops, amounting to about 

 $1,900; 4. The abandonment by one of the 

 contractors of his contract, three months before 

 it would have expired, at a loss to the State of 

 $2,400 ; 5. A loss in the employment of labor 

 during the adjustment of the contracts under 

 the new law, amounting to about $13,400, 

 making a total of $26,750. The law passed at 

 the last session of the Legislature, limiting the 

 number of men to be employed in any one 

 branch of labor to one hundred, has been 

 strictly complied with by the authorities. Con- 

 tracts have been made with different parties 

 for the supplying of labor in the manufacture 

 of seven different articles. These contracts, 

 while requiring the manufacturers to pay for 

 20, 40, 80, and 100 men, whether used or not, 

 allow them to employ as high as 100 men if 

 their business requires it. And, as a matter 

 of fact, there were used and paid for at times, 

 in the month of October, as many as 475 men, 

 with a daily average during the month of 419. 



The inspectors and the supervisor unite in 

 the statement, however, that, at the present 

 rates received for the labor of the prisoners, 

 even if all the men were employed, the State 

 would not receive more than $90,000 per an- 

 num. To meet the usual and ordinary expenses 

 of the prison, $120,000 is required. An offer 

 was made to the supervisor in June by a manu- 

 facturer to take all the labor of the prisoners at 

 rates which would have produced an annual 

 income of $110,000; but he was unable to 

 accept it because of the law above mentioned, 

 and contracts were made, as has been stated, 

 which are expected, with other ordinary re- 

 ceipts, to produce some $80,000. 



The reports of the managers and superin- 

 tendent of the Reform School for Boys show 

 the number of the inmates at the beginning of 

 the year to have been 258 ; committed and re- 

 turned to the school during the year, 98 ; total, 



