710 



RHODE ISLAND. 



strengthened in its corps of teachers, and has 

 done excellent work during the year. This 

 school is the nearest approach the State has 

 to an industrial school. 



Relief of Soldiers and Sailors. An act of 1885 

 created a commission for the relief of disabled 

 and needy soldiers and sailors, appropriating 

 $5,000. There are residing in the State: sol- 

 diers and sailors, 5,703 ; widows of soldiers and 

 sailors, 766; children of soldiers and sailors 

 under sixteen years, 7,681 ; number receiving 

 United States pensions, 846. 



The commissioners recommend to the Gen- 

 eral Assembly that the sum of $10,000 be ap- 

 propriated to carry out the provisions of this 

 act for 1886, and state that this amount is by 

 no means too large to meet the anticipated 

 needs, judging from the number of worthy 

 cases already assisted. 



Charities and Corrections. For 1885, the sum 

 of $140,000 was appropriated for the Board of 

 State Charities and Corrections in addition to 

 their receipts. These receipts, derived from 

 labor and board of inmates, sales of produce, 

 etc., amounted during the year to $40,630.74. 

 This money, added to the appropriation, in- 

 creased their resources to $180,630.74. From 

 this sum was drawn a total of $171,327.26, 

 leaving a balance of $9,303.48. 



The new buildings for the insane, begun in 

 1884, have been finished and occupied. Their 

 total cost was $60,000, and they will accom- 

 modate about eighty inmates. 



The number of inmates in the several insti- 

 tutions, December 31, 1885, was as follows: 

 State Prison, 124; Providence County Jail, 204 ; 

 Sockanosset School for Boys, 166; Oaklawn 

 School for Girls, 27; "Workhouse and House 

 of Correction, 226; State Almshouse, 193; 

 Asylum for the Incurable Insane, 370. Total, 

 1,310. 



Shell Fisheries. The rentals received by the 

 State from oyster-beds were $10,757 in 1883, 

 $11,581 in 1884, and $10,433, with rents re- 

 bated and uncollected of $325, in 1885. The 

 falling off of receipts for the year was due to 

 the cancellation of leases, and there will be a re- 

 duction again for 1886 in income on account of 

 the continued abandonment of leased ground. 

 The surrender of leases for 1885 is attributed 

 chiefly to the fact that the planting of Virginia 

 oysters is unprofitable, the cost of stock having 

 advanced. 



The scallop-catch proved less than half the 

 usual one. The scallop " set " during the sum- 

 mer was very large, and the seed very general- 

 ly distributed over the scallop ground. 



State Boundary. On April 22, 1885, three 

 commissioners were appointed to act in con- 

 junction with commissioners appointed by Con- 

 necticut to agree upon the boundary-line be- 

 tween the two States "in the waters of the 

 sea." The commissioners agreed upon a the- 

 ory for establishing the State line from Paw- 

 catuck river through Little Narragansett Bay 

 to the State line formerly agreed upon between 



the States of New York and Connecticut. It 

 was found, however, that the boundary-line in 

 Pawcatuck river, from a bolt in a rock near 

 the junction of Ashaway river with the Paw- 

 catuck to the sea, had never been defined, 

 and considerable interests are affected by 

 the question of its location. Doubting their 

 authority over a part of this space, the 

 Rhode Island Commissioners delayed final 

 action. 



Population. The following table gives the 

 population of the State according to the cen- 

 sus of 1885, compared with two preceding 

 censuses : 



The total population in 1850 was 147,545 ; 

 1860, 174,620; 1865, 184,965; 1870, 217,353. 



Political. The Republican and Democratic 

 State Conventions were held in Providence on 

 March 19. The Republican nominees were: 

 Governor, George Peabody Wetmore ; Lieuten- 

 ant-Govern or, Lucius B. Darling ; Secretary ol 

 State, Joshua M. Addeman : Attorney-General, 

 Samuel P. Colt ; Treasurer, Samuel Clark. The 



