NEW JERSEY. 



627 



eighty beneficiaries have been cared for since 

 the opening of the Home. The cost of main- 

 tenance for the year was $32,514.53. 



The Legislature in 1886 appointed a com- 

 mission to select or purchase land and purchase 

 or erect suitable buildings as a home for dis- 

 abled soldiers and sailors, and appropriated 

 $60,000 therefor. The commission was di- 

 rected after the completion of the Home to 

 turn it over to the managers of the New Jer- 

 sey Home for Disabled Soldiers. The commis- 

 sion has drawn $13,000 of the appropriation 

 from the treasury, and has used $12,000 there- 

 of for the purchase of land. The land pur- 

 chased is on the east bank of Passaic river, 

 one mile north of Newark. The commission 

 describe it as " an elegant plateau with a grad- 

 ual descent to the bank of the river." Plans 

 have been adopted which will be submitted to 

 the Legislature for a series of buildings capa- 

 ble of accommodating over 300 inmates. The 

 estimates for the erection of these buildings 

 and the laundry, offices, and dining-hall, in- 

 cluding cost of land, call for an expenditure of 

 $115,000, and as the same will require to be 

 furnished, the commissioners ask for an addi- 

 tional appropriation of $65,000. They urge 

 immediate action, as the lease of the present 

 Home expires May 1, 1887. 



Vital Statistics. The vital statistics for the 

 year ending July 1, 1886, show 12,351 mar- 

 riages, 25,49V births, and 22,734 deaths. 



National Gnard. The strength of the National 

 Guard, as shown at the last annual muster and 

 inspection, is 294 commissioned officers and 

 3,441 enlisted men, a total of 3,735. This is 

 an increase over the strength reported last 

 year of 10 officers and 188 enlisted men. 



Pilot Commissioners. Fifty-six Sandy Hook 

 and three Perth Amboy pilots are licensed by 

 the State. The service contains eight boats, 

 the largest measuring 71 '85 tons, and the small- 

 est 44'28 tons; 1,342 steamers and vessels 

 were piloted inward, and 1,117 outward dur- 

 ing the year. The Board of Commissioners di- 

 rect attention to the fact that during the last 

 three years ten pilots have died, and that no 

 additions to the corps of deputy-pilots have 

 been made during that period. There have 

 been no apprentices in the service since 1883, 

 as no requests have been made by the pilots 

 for the indenture of apprentices. The boara 

 states that if such decrease continues at the 

 same rate during the next three years, the 

 service will be seriously crippled. To remedy 

 this evil the board suggests that an act be 

 passed by the Legislature providing that the 

 pilots shall select from their crews the best 

 and most reliable men who have served at 

 least two years as boat-keepers, and recom- 

 mend them for promotion as often as a vacancy 

 occurs or the demands of the service require 

 additional pilots. 



State Prison. The average number of con- 

 victs in the State Prison during the year was 

 892, as against 863 for the previous year. The 



total expense of the State Prison for all pur- 

 poses for the year ending Oct. 31, 1886, was 

 $151,053.28, being an increase of $16,401.44 

 over the total expenses of the previous year. 

 The total earnings for the same period were 

 $66,411.03, being an increase over the previous 

 year of $8,889.18. The net cost of the Prison 

 to the State for 1886 amounted to $84,642.25, 

 being an increase over 1885 of $7,532.26. 



Political. The Democratic State Convention 

 met in Trenton on September 28, and nomi- 

 nated Robert S. Green for Governor. The 

 following are extracts from the platform : 



We contemplate with pride and satisfaction the ad- 

 ministration of Gov. Abbett, and cordially affirm that 

 he has redeemed, with full, well-rounded measure, 

 every pledge made by him to the people of New Jer- 

 sey when he was a candidate for their suffrages. By 

 reason of the adoption of many of his wise recom- 

 mendations the State Treasury has been guarded by 

 the hands of prudence and economy. The enactment 

 of a portion of the system of taxation of corporations, 

 recommended in his inaugural address, has, during 

 his entire administration, protected the people from 

 the imposition of a general tax for the use of the 

 State government. His earnest and successful efforts 

 to ameliorate the evils resulting to honest workmen 

 from the competition of convict-labor, entitles him to 

 the gratitude of all fair-minded citizens. 



We demand that the laws governing immigration 

 shall be so _ amended and enforced as to absolutely 

 prevent the importation of convict and pauper labor. 

 We welcome manhood in search of liberty and equal- 

 ity ; we will not tolerate the intrusion of those who 

 would assail that manhood by degrading competition. 



We applaud the efforts of the Democratic House of 

 Representatives to restore to the public domain mill- 

 ions of acres delivered by Republican Congresses to 

 satisfy the greed of corporations and the grasp of 

 foreign speculators. The public lands of the United 

 States should breed homesteads not railroad stock. 

 Whenever the conditions upon which those lands 

 were granted have been violated, forfeiture must 

 be enforced. Over the acres which are to be the 

 homes of millions the Democratic party has alone 

 proved itself capable of maintaining the legend, 

 " These lands are held by the people, for the peo- 

 ple." The interest-bearing debt of the United States 

 should be reduced whenever the surplus in the Treas- 

 ury can be used for that purpose. Idle dollars dis- 

 courage honest hands. 



Every child is entitled to a fair education at the 

 expense of the Commonwealth. Laws for the regu- 

 lation of the employment of children should be so 

 framed and enforced that the brains and bodies of 

 the youth of to-day shall not be unfitted for the 

 healthy comprehension and performance of the du- 

 ties of the citizen of to-morrow. 



The Democratic party sympathizes with the work- 

 ingmen of the country* and recognizes the justice of 

 their complaints against the invidious legislative dis- 

 tinctions which have been made in favor of consoli- 

 dated capital, and we submit that an unbiased review 

 of the record of the Democratic party supports its 

 claim to be the protector of the working men and 

 women of the United States. We are in favor of en- 

 actments that will remedy the evils of which labor 

 justly complains. We favor the protection of the 

 wage- workers of the country in their right to fair 

 compensation, and denounce as unjust the laws 

 which protect capital in its assault upon labor. La- 

 bor and capital should be friends, seeking a* common 

 prosperity, and, to the end that this friendship may 

 be promoted, we favor legislative encouragement of 

 the principles of arbitration. 



It is the duty of the State to encourage and foster 

 the interests of those who are engaged in agricultural 



