NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH. 



543 



on the banks of Passaic river, and the neces- 

 sary buildings have been in process of con- 

 struction during the year. 



State Prison. There were in confinement at 

 the State Prison, October 31, 877 prisoners; the 

 total number during the year was 1 ,380, and 

 the daily average 893, of whom 857 were 

 males and 36 females. The total expenditures 

 for the year were $162,858.64, and the earn- 

 ings $65,617.16, or $97,241.48 less than the 

 expenditures. The labor of nearly all the con- 

 victs is employed by the piece-price system 

 instead of by contract. This system has been 

 in operation since June, 1885, but according 

 to the report of the Supervisor it is not suc- 

 cessful " either as a revenue measure or as a 

 preventive of undue competition with honest 

 labor." It differs from the contract system 

 only in the fact that under it the State is 

 responsible for both quality and quantity of 

 product, whereas under the old plan it was re- 

 sponsible for neither, the contractor assuming 

 the risk. 



In regard to the general condition of the 

 prison the Governor says in his message : " The 

 crowded condition of the State Prison calls for 

 immediate attention ; its accommodations are 

 inadequate for the custody of the convicts as 

 required by law, or by the health and morals 

 of the prisoners." He recommends indefinite 

 sentences for hardened criminals. 



The State Reform School for Boys, at James- 

 burg, had charge of 441 pupils during the year, 

 of whom 269 remained October 31. This is a 

 decrease of 19 from the previous year. The 

 cost of the institution to the State for the year 

 was $42,857.94. At the State Industrial School 

 for Girls there were 67 pupils at the close of 

 the year. 



Militia. From the report of the Inspector- 

 General of the last annual muster and inspec- 

 tion, the strength of the National Guard is 

 shown to be 306 commissioned officers and 

 3,693 enlisted men. The force now consists 

 of 53 companies of infantry, two gatling com- 

 panies, and one company of sea-coast artillery 

 organized into seven regiments and three bat- 

 talions. 



In 1885 the Quartermaster-General secured 

 for the State a tract of 119 acres at Sea Girt 

 with an ocean front, in every way adapted to 

 the uses of a camp, rifle-range, and sea-coast 

 battery. It has been occupied under a lease at 

 a rental of $4,000 per annum. An agreement 

 for its purchase was also secured, and an act 

 was passed by which commissioners were ap- 

 pointed on the part of the State for the pur- 

 pose of completing the purchase, $51,000 be- 

 ing appropriated for that purpose. 



On attempting, however, to carry the act 

 into effect during the year, it was ascertained 

 that the sum appropriated was inadequate, and 

 further legislation will be requisite to secure 

 this place as a permanent encampment. 



Boundary. The exact location of the boun- 

 dary-line between the State of New York and 



New Jersey, in Raritan and Princes Bays and 

 out to the open sea, has long been a vexed 

 question, and has even led to the arrest and 

 imprisonment of citizens who were following 

 their vocation of taking oysters and clams in 

 what they believed to be the waters of their 

 own State. In pursuance of laws passed by 

 the two States, commissioners were appointed 

 to mark out and designate the boundary-line, 

 which had been settled upon by the agreements 

 between the States in the year 1834. After 

 much labor these commissioners finally fixed a 

 line, which was made the basis of an agree- 

 ment signed by the representatives of both 

 States. They then proceeded to mark the line 

 so agreed upon, which has been partially done 

 by the placing of eight buoys. The agreement 

 contemplates two permanent monuments, one 

 being the stone beacon on Roamer Shoals, and 

 the other one to be built in Raritan Bay. 



Political. An election was held in Novem- 

 ber, at which 8 members of the State Senate 

 and all of the Assembly for 1888 were chosen. 

 The Republicans elected 5 Senators and the 

 Democrats 3, making the complexion of the 

 next Senate the same as it was this year. The 

 Assembly will stand 37 Republicans and 23 

 Democrats, a Republican gain of 11 over 1887. 



NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH. The General Con- 

 vention of the New Jerusalem Church in the 

 United States of America is composed of ten 

 State associations, or similar bodies, compris- 

 ing 91 societies; 9 separate societies; and 4 

 members by election. There are connected 

 with it, 8 " general pastors," and 98 pastors and 

 ministers, besides 12 authorized candidates and 

 preachers. The directory of places containing 

 societies includes 128 names of such places. 

 The list of societies in other countries includes 

 67 societies in England and Scotland, 1 in 

 Austria, 4 in Denmark, 12 in France, 9 in Ger- 

 many, 1 in Hungary, 9 in Italy, 2 in Norway, 

 14 in Sweden, 6 in Switzerland, 12 in Aus- 

 tralia, 1 in Mauritius, 6 in South Africa, and 

 5 in the West Indies. 



The sixty-seventh annual meeting of the 

 General Convention was held in Detroit, Mich., 

 beginning June 9. The Rev. Chauncey Giles 

 presided. The Treasurer returned the amount 

 of the funds of the convention in his hands, 

 including the General Fund and five special 

 funds, at $16,946. The Board of Publication 

 reported that its income for the year had been 

 $4,726, and its expenditures $1,840, showing a 

 net gain in resources of $2,885. The policy 

 had been adhered to of making the work self- 

 sustaining as far as possible. Editions had 

 been printed of the books, '"The Nature of 

 Spirit" (5,000 volumes), '-The Last Judg- 

 ment," "Hosanna," and the "Book of Wor- 

 ship"; the remainder of the fine edition of 

 Martin's u Life of Swedenborg" had been pur- 

 chased from the former publishers. A trans- 

 lation of the " De Anima," by the Rev. Mr. 

 Sewall ; a volume on " The Parables," by the 

 Rev. K C< Mitchell ; and a new and improved 



