NEW JERSEY. 



541 



found that neither Abbett nor Sewell was like- 

 ly to secure the election. Abbett received 35 

 votes, and Sewell 35, while 11 votes, including 

 the 2 Labor votes, were divided between eight 

 other candidates. Thirteen ballots were taken, 

 with substantially the same result, neither Ab- 

 bett nor Sewell being able to obtain more than 

 35 of the 41 votes necessary to a choice. On 

 the fourteenth ballot, the Republicans, seeing 

 the impossibility of electing one of their own 

 party, even with their full vote, united with 

 the anti- Abbett Democrats in the support of 

 Rufus Blodgett, a Democrat, hitherto uninen- 

 tioned for the office, who was believed to be 

 unfriendly to Abbett. Blodgett received 39 

 votes on this ballot, and Abbett 38. The fif- 

 teenth and decisive ballot, cast on March 2, re- 

 sulted in the election of Blodgett by a vote of 

 42, to 36 for Abbett. 



The legislation of the session presents no 

 marked features. A State board of agriculture 

 was established, and also a State board of health 

 and bureau of vital statistics. Local boards of 

 health were required to be chosen in each city 

 and township, and their duties were defined. 

 Other acts of the session were as follow : 



To incorporate improvement societies in towns, vil- 

 lages, and boroughs. 



Authorizing municipal corporations to contract for 

 a supply of water for public use. 



Providing for summary arrests for violation of city 

 ordinances. 



Accepting the appropriation of money by Congress 

 for the eatablishment of an agricultural experiment 

 station. 



Authorizing the borough governments of seaside 

 resorts to construct and operate water-works. 



Allowing camp-meeting associations or seaside re- 

 snrts to license boats, hacks, and other vehicles, and 

 also hucksters and peddlers of merchandise, within 

 their limits. 



Authorizing railroad companies to borrow money 

 and to mortgage their property beyond the limit pre- 

 viously fixed by law, in certain cases. 



Giving the boards of chosen freeholders in the sev- 

 eral counties the right, at their discretion, to assume 

 the custody and management of the county jails in their 

 respective counties, superseding the county sheriffs in 

 these duties. 



Regulating consolidated school districts and the 

 election of the boards of trustees therein. 



Validating tax sales and titles under the act of 

 March 27, 1874. 



To extend the time for the completion of certain 

 railroads. 



That no one who has been convicted or sentenced 

 for crime shall be appointed State detective or State 

 policeman. 



To authorize the formation of companies for mutual 

 protection against damage to glass by hail. 



To regulate and license pawnbrokers. 



To prevent the transportation of dynamite and 

 other explosives on the ponds and lakes of the State. 



Prohibiting municipal corporations from issuing 

 bonds after default has been made in the payment of 

 past due bonds or the interest thereon or in the pay- 

 ment of any county or State tax or other legal in- 

 debtedness. 



To punish false pretenses in obtaining the registra- 

 tion of cattle and other animals, and to punish giving 

 false pedigrees. 



To enable cities to elect an assessor for three years. 



Providing for the pensioning of police officeVs and 

 policemen in certain cities of the State. 



Regulating the pay of officers and men of paid fire 

 departments in cities. 



To protect farmers, gardeners, and fruit-growers 

 against the loss of baskets and other packages. 



Regulating settlement for past due taxes. 



To authorize the transfer of licenses granted by the 

 excise board of any city. 



Regulating the placing of poles and wires by tele- 

 graph and telephone companies. 



Authorizing the mayor and council of boroughs to 

 order streets to be paved, graded, or otherwise im- 

 proved, to assess betterments therefor, and to issue 

 certificates of indebtedness for the cost. 



Providing a method for the appointment of inspec- 

 tors of public works in cities. 



To authorize cities to erect buildings for fire-depart- 

 ment purposes. 



To require the payment of debts incurred by coun- 

 ties in constructing or improving roads in such coun- 

 ties. 



To provide for the election of chosen freeholders in 

 incorporated boroughs. 



Making twelve hours a day's labor on all street- 

 railways and on all elevated railways in the State. 



Designating the first Monday of September as a 

 legal holiday, to be known as " Labor Day." 



Giving women the right to vote at school-district 

 meetings. 



To provide for the transfer of insane criminals 

 from the county prison to the insane asylum. 



To authorize police service in townships. 



Requiring foreign insurance companies to file annual 

 statements. 



Authorizing foreign corporations to acquire as well 

 as hold real property in the State. 



_ Making the purchasers of any railroad, canal, turn- 

 pike, bridge, or plank-road of any corporation created 

 by the State, a body politic and corporate succeeding 

 to the rights and duties of the former corporation. 



Appropriating $15,000 toward the erection of a 

 monument upon the Trenton battle-ground. 



To enable cities to furnish suitable accommodations 

 for the transaction of their business, and also to erect 

 an armory for the use of the National Guard. 



Authorizing cities to borrow money, not exceeding 

 $30,000, for the construction and equipment of ad- 

 ditional school- buildings. 



To pro vide for the indexing of recorded instruments. 



Exempting from taxation buildings for the use of 

 the National Guard. 



To provide for sewerage in and by adjoining cities, 

 towns, and townships. 



To authorize the boards of chosen freeholders in the 

 respective counties to acquire by condemnation or pur- 

 chase lands for public use in such counties, and to 

 issue bonds to pay for the same. 



To enable surveyors and their assistants to enter 

 upon lands for the purpose of surveying. 



To punish fraud in the weighing of live-stock, bay, 

 coal, and grain. 



Relating to assignments and mortgages of leasehold 

 estates. 



Raising the age of consent in women to sixteen 

 years. 



To provide for the assessment of benefits for the 

 construction of sewers in cities. 



Appropriating money for the encouragement of in- 

 dustrial education in the school districts of the State. 



Regulating the management of street-railways. 



Providing that minors and women shall not clean 

 machinery in motion in any workshop or factory, 

 and that fire-escapes shall be provided for such build- 

 ings. 



Requiring the publication of the public laws of 

 each session in the newspapers of the several counties. 



Exempting Union soldiers and sailors from the poll- 

 tax for school purposes. 



Finances. The amount of the State debt 

 outstanding October 31 was $1,356,300, of 



