460 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



To prevent the sale of intoxicating liquors in time 

 of riot or great public excitement. 



To provide for the incorporation of churches. 



Amending and enlarging the law relative to the 

 State militia. 



Providing for the incorporation of the town of 

 North Attlcborough, and its separation from Attle- 

 borough. 



To authorize the West End Street-Railway Com- 

 pany, and other street-railway companies authorized 

 to run cars in the city of Boston, to lease and to pur- 

 chase and hold the property, rights, and franchises of 

 each other, and to unite and consolidate with each 

 other, and to locate and construct tunnels, and to es- 

 tablish and maintain the cable and electric systems of 

 motive power, and for other purposes. 



To authorize the use of the Kcformatory Prison for 

 Women at Sherborn, and the State Industrial School 

 for Girls at Lancaster, for the punishment of female 

 offenders convicted in the United States Courts. 



To limit and regulate the sale of intoxicating liquors 

 by retail druggists and apothecaries. 



Prohibiting the employment of minors who can not 

 read and write in the English language, except during 

 school vacations, if the minor is under fourteen years 

 of age, unless it appears that the work of said minor 

 is necessary for the support of himself or his family. 



To provide for the punishment of habitual crimi- 

 nals. 



Prohibiting under penalty the admission of any 

 child under thirteen years of age to any licensed show 

 or place of amusement after sunset, unless accom- 

 panied by an adult. 



The session adjourned June 16, having occu- 

 pied 162 days. 



Finances. No payment was made upon the 

 funded debt of the State during the year. It 

 amounted, January 1, to $31,429,680.90. The 

 following statement shows the growth of the 

 sinking funds : 



Amount of sinking funds, Jan. 1, 1887 $18,964,412 62 



Amount of sinking funds, Jan. 1, 1888 26,151,516 78 



Increase $6,187,104 16 



Actual expenses, 1836 $5,275,50291 



Actual expenses, 1S87, so far as can be ascer- 

 tained 5,105,893 85 



The large increase in the sinking funds is 

 due to the sale of the Troy and Greenfield 

 Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, $5,000,000 of 

 Fitchburg Railroad bonds being put into the 

 Troy and Greenfield Railroad loan sinking 

 fund. The State also holds 50,000 shares of 

 common stock in the Fitchburg Railroad Com- 

 pany, par value $5,000,000, which belongs to 

 the Troy and Greenfield Railroad loan sinking 

 fund, but is not included in the above figures. 

 Of the estimated deficit ($1,718,619.89), $464,- 

 922.88 is represented by taxes of 1885, 1886, 

 and 1887, levied upon the stock of national 

 banks, which were paid under protest. This 

 money is held in trust in the State treasury, 

 awaiting the decision of the United States Su- 

 preme Court as to the constitutionality of the 

 law under which it was paid. 



There has also been collected of these taxes 

 $631,839.45 additional, which has been dis- 

 tributed to the cities and towns. If the law 

 should not be sustained by the court, both of 

 these sums mast be refunded. 



The receipts of the treasury for 1887 are as 



follow-: Cash on hand, January 1, $2,205,- 

 582.81; securities, $22,860,871.45; from rev- 

 enue, $11,488,143.95; sinking funds, $25,411,- 

 562.19; trust funds, $611,543.46; trust de- 

 posits, $203,496.80 ; miscellaneous funds, 

 $786,742.31 ; securities purchased in 1887, 

 $9,608,439.65; total, $73,176,382.62. The dis- 

 bursements were for actual payments in 1887, 

 $36,963,534.93; securities withdrawn or sold 

 or paid, $4,624,157.75; cash on hand Decem- 

 ber 31, $3,743,536.59 ; securities on hand, 

 $27,845,153.35; total, $73,176,382.62. 



The taxable property of the Commonwealth 

 is $2,341,555,841.65, divided as follows: Real 

 and personal estate as of May 1, 1887, $1,932,- 

 548,807; amount not included on account of 

 national bank stock held by non-residents, 

 $29,109,821.53: deposits in savings-banks, 

 Nov. 1, 1887, $181,878,137.12; shares in cor- 

 porations above real estate and machinery 

 locally taxed, $178,109,076. The valuation 

 shows an increase of $132,803,518 over 1886. 



Education. The annual report of the Secre- 

 tary of the Board of Education gives the fol- 

 lowing statistics regarding the public schools 

 of the State for 1886-'87 : Number of public 

 schools, 6,836 ; number of pupils, 353,361 ; 

 average membership, 291,539; average attend- 

 ance, 262,159 ; number of children in the 

 State between five and fifteen years on May 1, 

 1886, 353,052; number of teachers employed, 

 males, 1,033 ; number of teachers employed, 

 female*, 8,696 ; average wages of male teachers 

 per month, $116.85; average wages of female 

 teachers per month, $44.93. 



The number of pupils in the schools has in- 

 creased by 3,744 during the year, the average 

 membership 2,899, and the average attendance 

 2,071. The whole amount of money raised 

 by taxation for the support of schools was 

 $5,059,939.43, an increase of $242,510.42 over 

 the previous year. The amount received from 

 all sources and expended, exclusive of money 

 for the erection and repair of school-houses, 

 was $5,857.321, an increase of $180,251.92, 

 and an average of $16.59 for each child of 

 school age. The whole amount expended for 

 all public- school purposes was $7,000,083.52, or 

 $19.82 for each child of school age. The num- 

 ber of private schools in the State is reported 

 at 352 and the attendance for the year 28,941, 

 an estimate far too low, as it is known from 

 official sources that 30,000 pupils attended dur- 

 ing the year the schools maintained by the 

 Catholic Church alone. 



At the five State normal schools and the 

 Normal Art School, 1,232 pupils received in- 

 struction during the school year, and the num- 

 ber of graduates was 250. The Massachusetts 

 School for the Feeble-Minded contained 193 

 pupils on September 30, of whom 32 were 

 supported at private expense. The cost of 

 maintaining this school during the year was 

 about $41,000. The Legislature of this year 

 appropriated $20,000 for the purchase of a 

 more favorable site for the location of the 



