MASSACHUSETTS. 



573 



this department has been attended with very 

 satisfactory results." 



Liquor Laws. " Under the operation of the 

 statute of 1885," says the Governor, " prohibit- 

 ing the sale or delivery of intoxicating liquors 

 on election-days, the results thus far observed 

 in the towns and cities abundantly justify the 

 enactment. In Boston, the daily average of 

 such arrests is 47, while on the day of the last 

 State election but 11 were arrested, and on 

 the last municipal election-day only 16." 



Prisons. The number of prisoners in all the 

 prisons in the Commonwealth, Oct. 1, 1884, 

 was 4,388; Oct. 1, 1885, it was 5,352. Un- 

 doubtedly much the largest portion of tliis ap- 

 parently alarming increase is due to the opera- 

 tion of the law imposing heavier penalties for 

 drunkenness. But there is alarming evidence 

 that the more serious crimes are more fre- 

 quent. In the year 1883-'84 (ending Oct. 1) 

 there were 124 commitments to the State Pris- 

 on; while in 1884-'85 there were 139. Be- 

 sides, during the latter year the Reformatory 

 at Concord had been receiving prisoners, many 

 of whom would have been otherwise sentenced 

 to the State Prison. At present the number 

 of convicts in the State Prison, 510, is as large 

 as the institution can accommodate. In the re- 

 cent alterations, the number of cells was much 

 reduced by the enlargement of their size. A 

 year ago the number of prisoners in the Mas- 

 sachusetts Reformatory at Concord was 140. 

 From that time there has been a rapid gain 

 until the number stands now at 620. 



Lunatic Hospitals. From the reports of the 

 trustees and superintendents of the lunatic 

 hospitals it appears that the pressing demand 

 is for more room for patients. When arrange- 

 ments are completed probably in the spring 

 of 1886 for reception of patients at Westbor- 

 ough, there will be accommodations, on pres- 

 ent plans, for 325 in that institution. " I see 

 no way," says the Governor, "to meet the exi- 

 gency except by the construction of a commo- 

 dious and comparatively inexpensive asylum, 

 sufficient for 200 or 300 persons, in connection 

 with one of the present establishments." 



Population. A census was taken by the State 

 authorities during the year. The following 

 table gives the result by counties compared 

 with the census of 1880 : 



The following is the population in 1885 of 

 the cities and towns of over 10,000 inhabitants : 

 Boston, 390,406 ; Worcester, 68,383 ; Lowell, 

 64,051 ; Cambridge, 59,660 ; Fall River, 56,863 ; 

 Lynn, 45,861 ; Lawrence, 38,845 ; Springfield, 

 37,577 ; New Bedford, 33,393 ; Somerville, 29,- 

 992; Salem, 28,084; Holyoko, 27,894; Chelsea, 

 25,709; Taunton, 23,674; Haverhill, 21.795; 

 Gloucester, 21,713 ; Brockton, 20,783 ; New- 

 ton, 19,759 ; Maiden, 16,407; Fitchburg, 15,- 

 375 ; Waltham, 14,609 ; Pittsfield, 14,466 ; 

 Newburyport, 13,716; Attleborough, 13,175; 

 Northampton, 12,896 ; North Adams, 12,540 ; 

 Quincy, 12,144; Woburn, 11,750; Chicopee, 

 11,528 ; Marlborough, 10,941 ; Wey mouth, 10,- 

 740. The population of Boston in 1875 was 

 341,919 ; in 1880, 362,536. The population of 

 the State in 1875 was 1,651,919. 



Political. The Republican State Convention 

 met in Springfield on the 30th of September, 

 328 towns and cities being represented by 

 1,024 delegates. The Governor and other State 

 officers* were renominated, except that A. W. 

 Beard was nominated for Treasurer. The plat- 

 form demands the enactment of a bankrupt 

 law, the suspension of silver coinage, the en- 

 forcement of the Edmunds law in Utah, the 

 extension of the Civil-Service Act, the submis- 

 sion to the people of the State of the biennial 

 elections amendment, favors a protective tariff 

 and congressional aid to education in the South, 

 and denounces the suppression of the colored 

 vote in that section. It contains the follow- 

 ing plank : 



Massachusetts under Eepublican rule has done much 

 for labor. No other State approaches our record in 

 this respect. We urge a close and continued atten- 

 tion to all questions affecting this great interest, and 

 we commend to the Legislature a careful considera- 

 tion of the plan of a State Board of Arbitration, of 

 the principle of employers' liability, of the regulation 

 of convict-labor, so that it shall not compete with the 

 honest labor of the Commonwealth, and of more fre- 

 quent payment of wages by corporations. 



The Democratic State Convention was held 

 in Worcester on the 7th of October. Its nomi- 

 nees were the following : Governor, Frederick 

 O. Prince; Lieutenant - Governor, Henry H. 

 Gilmore ; Secretary of State, Jeremiah Crow- 

 ley; Treasurer, Henry M. Cross; Auditor, 

 James E. Delaney; Attorney-General, Henry 

 K. Braley. The Prohibitionists and Greenback- 

 Labor party also had candidates. 



On Nov. 3 the Republican ticket was elected. 

 The following was the vote for Governor: 

 Republican, 112,243; Democratic, 90,346 ; Pro- 

 hibition, 4,714; Greenback, 2,227 ; scattering, 

 138. The Executive Council, chosen at the 

 same time, consists of 7 Republicans and 1 

 Democrat. In the Senate, there are 28 Re- 

 publicans and 12 Democrats; in the House, 

 154 Republicans, 77 Democrats, 3 Independent 

 Republicans, 3 Independents, 2 Greenback- 

 Labor men, and 1 Independent Democrat. 



For the proposed amendment to the Consti- 

 tution, giving the Legislature power to divide 

 towns into election precincts for State elec- 



