230 



CONNECTICUT. 



State Prison or additions to the existing one failed, 

 and the proposed $125,000 for additions to the Insane 

 Hospital at Middletown was cut down to $75,000. 

 Commissioners are created to inquire into the State- 

 Prison subject. 



A bill to insure greater safety at grade-crossings of 

 highways by railroads was passed. 



The rfew York and New England Eailroad Com- 

 pany was authorized to issue 50,000 shares of preferred 

 st- >dk, and to use the proceeds of the remaining second- 

 iiinrtirage bonds for double- tracking the road. 



It was voted to accept the sum agreed upon as a 

 fair settlement of taxes due from the Housatonic Kail- 

 road Company. 



A commission was appointed to revise the probate 

 laws, and all proposed amendments of those laws were 

 rejected. 



A bill allowing official stenographers for the Supe- 

 rior Courts was passed. 



A bill was passed under which, in trials involving 

 the death-penalty or life-imprisonment, juries may be 

 kept under the control of the sheriff, and not permit- 

 tea to go at large, as at present. It is discretionary 

 with the court. 



The election law is amended so that names can not 

 be added to the " to be made " list later than Thurs- 

 day at five o'clock, before the day of election. The 

 present law allows till five P. M. on Friday. 



A constitutional amendment providing for biennial 

 sessions after 1886 was approved and sent to the peo- 

 ple at the time of the October town elections. 



Many measures for changes of the license law were 

 offered, but all were rejected excepting a bill giving 

 prosecuting agents $5 in each case, and $5 additional 

 when conviction is secured. 



Among bills passed were the following : 



Providing that there shall be no distinction against 

 an v person on account of race or color. 



Prohibiting under penalty the placing of telegraph 

 or telephone poles, etc., upon a highway without con- 

 sent of the adjoining proprietors or approval of a 

 county commissioner ? or the willful injury of any 

 tree in the highway for the purpose of constructing 

 therein any telegraph or telephone fixtures or wires, 

 without the consent of the adjoining proprietor. 



That all sick veterans residents of Connecticut, 

 whether of Connecticut regiments or those of other 

 States, shall be entitled to enter the State hospitals. 



That children under twelve years shall not be em- 

 ployed as acrobats, gymnasts, peddlers, beggars, etc. 



Instructing the State Board of Agriculture to in- 

 quire whether any legislation is necessary to prevent 

 the destruction of the woodlands of the State, and to 

 encourage tree-planting. 



To relieve the State Prison, now overcrowded, male 

 prisoners having only short terms may be transferred 

 to county; jails. 



t Prohibiting the placing of children between one and 

 sixteen years of age in almshouses, and providing for 

 their care in temporary homes at the public expense. 



For the protection of water in public reservoirs. 



Prohibiting the sale of impure ice cut from water 

 impregnated with sewage, etc., for family or hotel use. 



Making the new time the standard for the State. 



To promote instruction in music in public schools. 



Fmanftol. The funded debt of the State on 

 Dec. 1, 1884, amounted to $4,275,100. During 

 the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 1884, new bonds 

 to the amount of $1,000,000 were issued and 

 sold ; and outstanding bonds, maturing Jan. 1, 

 1884, to the amount of $1,315,000, were paid; 

 thus the debt was reduced to the extent of 

 $315,000. The balance of cash in the treasury 

 at the beginning of the year was $837,868.80; 

 the balance at the end of the year. $524,583.38 ; 

 thus the reduction of the funded debt was al- 



most exactly counterbalanced by the reduction 

 of the amount of the balance in the treasury. 



The rate of interest upon the newly issued 

 bonds is 3| per cent., and the bonds were sold 

 at a premium of 6*85 per cent. 



During 1885 bonds amounting to $1,741,100 

 will mature. 



The total resources of the treasury during 

 the fiscal year (including the balance on hand 

 at the beginning of the year and $1,068,500 

 received from the sale of bonds already men- 

 tioned) amounted to $3,452,328.68. 



The principal sources of ordinary revenue 

 were as follow : Taxes received from towns, 

 amounting to $540,667.90 ; taxes on mutual in- 

 surance companies, amounting to $217,323.38; 

 taxes on savings-banks, amounting to $193,- 

 511.73; and taxes upon railroad companies, 

 amounting to $412,284.18. 



The principal items of expenditure, other 

 than payment of State bonds, were as follow : 

 On account of sessions of the General Assembly, 

 $108,284.08; judicial expenses, $239,896.98; 

 board of prisoners in county jails, $86,573.89; 

 on account of common schools (in addition 

 to the amount paid from the school fund), 

 $228,926.50 ; on account of State Reform School, 

 $72,752.20 ; on account of humane institutions, 

 $162,346.92 ; on account of the National Guard, 

 $152,945.68; and on account of interest on 

 State bonds, $229,641. 



In some of these amounts, however, espe- 

 cially in the amount specified as expenses of 

 the National Guard, are included sums that 

 can not be classified as ordinary expenses. 



The taxable valuation by counties in 1882 

 and 1883 was as follows: 



Education. The number of public schools is 

 1,639, and the number of children between the 

 ages of four and sixteen years shown by the 

 enumeration of January, 184, was 156,601, 

 being a small increase over 1883. The total 

 expense of maintaining the schools, not includ- 

 ing the expenses of the Normal School, during 

 the past year, was $1,777,277, of which amount 

 the sum of $1,130,863 was paid to teachers. 

 Of the whole expenditure, $112,950.75 came 

 from revenue of the school fund ; $228,926.50 

 from the treasury of the State, $42,089.06 

 from income of town deposit funds, $810,- 

 253.98 from town taxes, $484,343.55 from dis- 

 trict taxes, and the rest from other sources. 



The principal of the school fund on Nov. 

 30,^1884, was $2,017,158.74, and its income 

 during the year ending on that date was $127,- 



