572 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



for the purpose of opium-smoking, shall be 

 punished by fine or imprisonment. 



The most important law concerning the ju- 

 diciary of the State is that which provides for 

 the retirement on three- fourths pay of any 

 justice of the Supreme Court at the age of 

 seventy, who has held his commission at least 

 ten consecutive years prior to his retirement. 



In railroad legislation several laws were en- 

 acted looking to the gradual abolition of grade- 

 crossings, and to the relief of the Eastern and 

 Central Massachusetts Railroads. 



It was provided that officers of any political 

 committee may affix to the ballots issued by 

 them a certificate of their genuineness, and the 

 printing or issuing of any false, forged, fraudu- 

 lent, or counterfeit certificates is forbidden un- 

 der penalty. 



A law regulating debt and taxation in cities 

 similar to that affecting Boston was passed, 

 the cities of Worcester, Lynn, Brockton, and 

 Gloucester being exempted until Jan. 1, 1889. 



The power of naturalization was giren to 

 any court of record; but the powers and pro- 

 cess of naturalization were surrounded with 

 strictures intended only to make the fraudu- 

 lent procuring of papers difficult and subject 

 to heavy penalties. The laws in regard to the 

 assessment and registration of voters were also 

 made more stringent. 



The publication and sale of papers devoted 

 exclusively to the recital of tales of bloodshed 

 and crime were prohibited, and the laws in re- 

 gard to pool-selling and search-warrants for 

 gaming instruments materially strengthened. 



The Legislature approved of the proposed 

 amendment relative to precinct voting, and sent 

 it to the people. It passed, and sent to the 

 next Legislature for action, an amendment pro- 

 viding for biennial elections and sessions. 



Finances. The funded debt Jan. 1, 1885, was 

 $31,432,680.90; on Jan. 1, 1886, it was $31,- 

 432,680.90. Amount of sinking funds, Jan. 1, 

 1885, $17,731,724.94; Jan. 1, 1886, $18,182,- 

 672.44. Actual expenses, 1884, $4,817,242.20 ; 

 1885 (so far as ascertained), $4,902,748.09. 



A State tax of $1,500,000 will evidently be 

 necessary. The connection of the State with 

 the New York and New England Railroad 

 Company has ceased by the sale of the bonds 

 of the company held by the State for $1,657,- 

 800 to parties who contributed fresh capital 

 to relieve and develop the road. 



SaTings-Banks. The number of banks in 1885 

 was 171 ; number of open accounts, 848,787; 

 amount of deposits, $274,998,412.93. 



When the fact is recognized that with a popu- 

 lation of 1,942,000 there are 848,787 open ac- 

 counts, over 40 per cent, of all the individuals 

 in the State, and that the average sum stand- 

 ing to the credit of each depositor is $323.99, 

 and the whole amount of deposits, if equally 

 distributed, would give each inhabitant of the 

 Commonwealth $141.64, the general thrift of 

 the people of scanty earnings is demonstrated. 



New Hampshire Boundary. Commissioners 



have been appointed on the part of this State, 

 a like commission having been constituted by 

 New Hampshire, for the purpose of establish- 

 ing the true boundary-line between the two 

 States. The two commissioners have entered 

 upon the work of survey and investigation, 

 and there is reason to expect an early adjust- 

 ment of this long controversy. 



Topographical Survey. During 1885 about 

 2,500 square miles, nearly one third of the area 

 of the State, have been covered. The United 

 States has also acted, by the Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey, in behalf of the Commonwealth, 

 in the triangulation of the valley of Connecti- 

 cut river. The city and town boundary sur- 

 vey has been begun in the counties of Suffolk, 

 Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol. 



Education. The outlay for common-school 

 expenses during 1885 reached the grand total 

 of $7,045,412.25, affording more than $20 to 

 each pupil between the ages of five and fifteen. 

 Number of public schools, 6,447 ; teachers, 

 9,521 ; persons between five and fifteen, 343,- 

 810 ; of all ages in public schools, 339,714. 



The building for the Normal Art School, 

 provided for in 1885, has been begun, and its 

 early completion is anticipated. 



Drainage. A commission was appointed in 

 1884 to consider a general system of drainage 

 for the valleys of Mystic, Blackstone, and 

 Charles rivers, and certain other portions of 

 the Commonwealth. Investigations have been 

 made from time to time, to discover adequate 

 methods of relief from the perils to life and prop- 

 erty consequent upon insufficient and faulty 

 systems of sewerage in the most populous por- 

 tions of the State, but no comprehensive ac- 

 tion has resulted. The present commissioners 

 have dealt with the problem in an exhaustive 

 manner, and they present facts, arguments, 

 conclusions, and recommendations, with drafts 

 of bills, by way of suggestion. 



Civil Service. The system for the administra- 

 tion of the civil service, inaugurated by the 

 statute of 1884, and defined by the rules pre- 

 pared by the commissioners and approved by 

 the Governor and Council, went into opera- 

 tion on March 30. Up to Dec. 1, 84 exami- 

 nations had been held for the clerical, po- 

 lice, prison, and fire service of the Common- 

 wealth and of the several cities, at which 1,052 

 men and 240 women were examined, and 958 

 passed. The number of appointments during 

 the period stated, from those certified as eli- 

 gible, was 188, of whom 133 were men and 55 

 were women. In two branches of the pub- 

 lip service the State Bureau of Statistics of 

 Labor and the Boston Police Department- 

 the new system has been fairly tested. The 

 chief of the bureau says, " In intelligence, in 

 capacity, in attainment, and in attendance 

 upon work, our present force reflects the great- 

 est credit upon the civil-service system." The 

 Boston Board of Police say, " It can be said 

 emphatically that the application of civil-serv- 

 ice rules to appointments and promotions in 



