NEW JERSEY. 



631 



tore, $2,835,574; value of school apparatus, 

 $53,368. School revenue from all sources, 

 $634,873; total expenditures, $613,200. In- 

 crease of school revenue, $4,787 ; increased ex- 

 penditure for teaching, $20,369; for super- 

 vision, $2,322. Teachers' institutes, organ- 

 ized under the law of 1883, have been held 

 in each of the ten counties in the State, which 

 have been attended by 859 teachers, at an 

 expense of $1,708. Text-books free for the 

 use of pupils are now being furnished in 

 many cities and towns, at an expense less by 

 half than when furnished by parents. Physi- 

 ology and hygiene relative to alcoholic stimu- 

 lants and narcotics are now taught in the 

 schools. The Legislature of 1885 enacted sev- 

 eral laws having especial bearing upon the in- 

 terests of education : first, to abolish the sys- 

 tem of division of towns into school districts, 

 and to establish the town system of schools, 

 which will go into effect in 1886 ; to prohibit 

 the sale and circulation of impure and corrrupt- 

 ing literature; to regulate the attendance of 

 teachers upon teachers' institutes ; in relation 

 to special school districts and powers of boards 

 of education. There are 41 public schools 

 of a higher grade in the State, employing 

 43 male and 60 female teachers, with 1,266 

 male students and 1,609 female students ; also, 

 47 private schools or academies, fitting young 

 men for college courses, under 99 male teach- 

 ers and 61 female teachers, with 837 male and 

 154 female students. Of these are the nota- 

 ble schools expressly for boys St. Paul's, at 

 Concord, and Phillips Academy, at Exeter. 

 They have 24 libraries, containing 21,604 vol- 

 umes. 



NEW JERSEY. State Government. The follow- 

 ing were the State officers during the year : 

 Leon Abbett (Democrat), Governor ; Henry C. 

 Kelsey, Secretary of State ; John P. Stockton, 

 Attorney-General ; John J. Toffey, Treasurer ; 

 E. J. Anderson, Comptroller ; William S. Stry- 

 ker, Adjutant - General ; Theodore Runyon, 

 Chancellor ; Abraham V. Van Fleet and John 

 T. Bird, Vice-Chancellors; Mercer Beasley, 

 Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court; Associate 

 Justices: William J. Magie, David A. Depue, 

 Jonathan Dixon, Manning M. Knapp, Alfred 

 Reed, Edward W. Scudder, Bennet Vansyckel, 

 and Joel Parker ; Judges of Court of Errors : 

 John Clement, William Paterson, John Mc- 

 Gregor, Hendrick H. Brown, Martin Cole, and 

 Jonathan S. Whitaker; Robert A. Sheppard, 

 Commissioner of Railroad Taxation ; Edwin O. 

 Chapman, Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion; James Bishop, Chief of the Bureau of 

 Labor Statistics ; Ezra M. Hunt, Secretary of 

 the State Board of Health. 



The Court of Errors and Appeals consists 

 of the Chancellor, the Justices of the Supreme 

 Court, and the lay judges above-named. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature met on 

 Jan. 13, and adjourned at the close of April. 

 Among the acts of the session are the follow- 

 ing: 



To extend the time for completing the Hudson River 

 Tunnel. 



Enabling borough governments to raise money to 

 defray current expenses. 



To punish persons who send children out to beg, 

 and to protect children from destitution and exposure. 



Authorizing the payment of taxes with 7 per cent, 

 interest that fell due previous to 1883 ; allowing rail- 

 road and canal companies to pay their taxes quarterly. 



For the more stringent enforcement of the mechan- 

 ics' lien law. 



Making it lawful to sue unincorporated companies. 



Providing that land-improvement companies, not 

 located on the line of a railroad, may subscribe for 

 railroad-stock so that the road may run through their 

 lands. 



Continuing for five years the annual appropriation 

 for the completion of the State Geological Survey. 



Preventing railroads from leasing their road or 

 franchises till they have obtained the Legislature's 

 consent. 



Providing that the Board of Managers of Savings- 

 Banks shall elect a committee of three depositors, who 

 shall in no wise be related to the managers, to exam- 

 ine in connection with the Finance Committee the 

 affairs of the bank. 



Requiring fish-wardens to enforce the game and 

 gunning laws on the Sabbath. 



Providing for the taking of the State census. 



Providing that no more than 600 voters shall be in 

 any single election district ; when there are more, the 

 district must be divided. 



A prohibitory amendment passed the House, 

 but failed in the Senate. The Legislature of 

 1886 will consist of 13 Republicans and 8 

 Democrats in the Senate, and 31 Republicans 

 and 29 Democrats in the House. 



Finances* The Legislature, by the act of 

 April 10, 1884, and the act of April 18, 1884, 

 adopted methods by which increased revenue 

 has been secured from corporations, which will 

 forever render a State tax unnecessary under 

 an honest and economical administration of 

 public affairs. The reports of the Comptroller 

 and Treasurer present in detail the financial 

 condition of the State for the fiscal year end- 

 ing Oct. 31, 1885. During that year the State 

 fund received from sources other than loans 

 and balances on hand, $1,171,814.23. 



The disbursements for State account during 

 the same period other than the payment of 

 loans amounted to $1,168,900.46. 



The balance to the credit of the State ac- 

 count Oct. 31, 1885, was $81,266.46. 



Railroad Taxation. Under the act of April 

 10, 1884, the State Board of Assessors taxed 

 ninety-six railroad and canal companies for 

 the year 1885 for State purposes the sum of 

 $964,821.60, and for local purposes $377,486.- 

 04, making a total of $1,342,307.64. The rail- 

 road and canal companies of the State own 

 one fifth of all the real and personal property 

 in the State. 



Sinking Fond. The Commissioners of the 

 Sinking Fund report that the assets of the 

 fund amount to $903,628.04. Of this amount 

 $342,834.90 is represented by the -real estate 

 that the commissioners have been obliged to 

 take in satisfaction of mortgages held thereon. 



Schools. The sum of $2,449,015.61 was ex- 

 pended for public schools during the fiscal year 



