RHODE ISLAND. 



881 



of Public Schools, Thomas B. Stockwdl; Chief 



.JuMic f I In- Supreme Court, Charle> .Matte-cin ; 



ate .luMice>, 1'iinlon K. Tillinghast, John 

 11. Stinos, (JenrL'e A. \\ iHmr, Hi. ratio I. 

 ami William \V. Douglas. 



riiianc<>s. The following is a statement of 

 (lie Siati- finances at the close of 18!). ' : 



Funded debt $1,288.000 00 



Sinking fund 1,146,891 82 



State debt less sinking fund .f l:'.7 1"~ r,s 



State debt less Kinking fund, Jan. 1, 1892 288,286 82 



Decrease past year 9(5,127 64 



Balance in the treasury. Ja:i. 1, 1892 75,940 07 



Beceipta from Jan. 1, 1S92, to Dec. 81, 1892. . . . 1,186,199 40 



Total .. $1,214,13947 



Payments from Jan. 1, 1892, to Dec. 81, 1S92.. . 1,114,131 68 



Balance in treasury, Dec. 81, 1892 $100,007 94 



This is the first year in which there has been 

 an excess of receipts over expenditures since 

 1889, when there was a balance amounting to 

 s 1 1 ' i. 454.05. At the close of 1890 the excess was 

 upon the expenditure side to the extent of $93,- 

 (539.16 ; and at the close of 1891 the excess in the 

 same direction was $9,588.50, or $97,081.84 if we 

 deduct from the receipts of that year $87,493.34, 

 the amount of direct tax money received from 

 the Federal Government. 



On July 1, 1893, a part of the State debt, to 

 I hi- amount of $584,000, will be paid out of the 

 sinking fund. 



Legislative Session. The General Assem- 

 bly, elected in 1891, convened at Providence on 

 Ian. 1!), and adjourned on May 21. Two impor- 

 tant amendments to the State Constitution were 

 proposed one providing for biennial instead of 

 annual elections for State officers and members 

 of the General Assembly; the other, authorizing 

 the General Assembly to pass general laws for 

 the creation and control of all corporations, ex- 

 cept those having power to exercise tlio right 

 of eminent domain or to acquire franchises in 

 streets and highways. Corporations of the latter 

 ela<s shall be created only by special act. 



The sum of $120.000 was appropriated for 

 the support of public schools, and a further ap- 

 propriation of $25.000 was made in aid of the 

 exhibit at the Columbian Exposition. 

 Provision was also made for submitting to the 

 people at the November election the question 

 whether the General Assembly should bo di- 

 rected to authorize the issue of State bonds not 

 exceeding $1.500,000 in amount, the proceeds to 

 be expended in purchasing a site and erecting a 

 building for a new State House. 



Other acts of the session were as follow : 



Renpportioning the members of the Lower House 

 among the several towns. 



Prohibiting the sale or giving of cigarett 

 minors under sixteen years of age. and prohibiting 

 sueli minor from using tobacco in any form in the 



Streets or puhlie }' 



Further regulating the sale of commercial fertil- 



To prevent blindness in children. 

 Providing tor the establishment and control of free 

 public libraries in towns. 

 To iippoint and regulate railroad and steamboat 



pot lee. 



Accepting the provisions of the act of Congress for 

 the more complete endowment and support of e..l- 

 leges of agriculture in the several States. 



The General Assembly chosen at the April 

 election assembled at Newjtort, on May HI, and 

 declared the election of I). Rn^cll Brown as 

 Governor. Melville Hull as I.initcnaiiMiov.-ni- 

 or, and George II. Utter as Secretary of State. 

 There having been no election by the people for 

 General Treasurer and Attorney-General, it pro- 

 ceeded to elect, by a strict party vote. Samuel 

 Clark to the former and Holier) W. Burbank to 

 the latter office. On June 14, U. S. Senator 

 Nelson \V. Aldrich, Republican, was re-elected 

 for the full term of six years from March '.',, 1893, 

 the vote being: Senate Aldrich 25, David S. 

 Baker, Jr., Democrat, 10; House Aldrich 89, 

 Baker 28. The two constitutional amendments 

 proposed at the January session received the ap- 

 proval of a majority of this Assembly, and pro- 

 vision was made for submitting them to the 

 people at the November election. An act was 

 passed, prescribing the manner of voting for 

 presidential electors under the Australian ballot 

 law, and another act established Oct. 21, 1892, as 

 a legal holiday. The session ended on July 1. 

 In October the members were called together by 

 Gov. Brown, in special session, for the purpose 

 of amending the laws in relation to municipal 

 elections. Through the differences of local o'ffi- 

 cials in the city of Newport no call was issued 

 and no election held in that city in September 

 on the day set apart by law for such election. 

 It was even claimed by Democratic officials of 

 the city that the law respecting the holding of 

 such election was invalid and should not be 

 obeyed. The session was called to meet on Oct. 

 4, from which day an adjournment was taken to 

 Oct. 7. An act framed by the Republicans was 

 then passed, which provided for 'a new election 

 on the fourth Wednesday of October following, 

 and every year thereafter, and which imposed a 

 fine of $1,000 and imprisonment not less than 

 three months nor over one year on every local 

 official who should fail to perform the duty 

 imposed upon him by the election laws. This 

 measure proved effective ; the election was held 

 on Oct. 26, and the officials then elected were 

 inaugurated in January, 1893. 



Education. For the school year ending April 

 30, 1891, the Commissioner of Public Schools re- 

 ports the following statistics : Pupils en rolled, 51,- 

 482 ; average attendance, 34.901 ; average school 

 year, nine months eight days; male teachers, 17") ; 

 female teachers, 1,280; average monthly wages 

 male teachers, $89.54; female teachers, $49.11; 

 paid for teachers' wages. $614.923.32 : total re- 

 ceipt s for school purposes during the year, $1,185,- 

 103.53; total expenditures for school purposes, 

 $1.057,650.22 ; number of schoolhouses, 491 ; 

 value of school property, $3,002,123. There 

 were 59 evening schools 'conducted during the 

 year, for an average of twelve weeks, in which 

 8.527 pupils were enrolled, the average attend- 

 ance being 3,408. There were 145 male and 250 

 female teachers employed in these schools. The 

 annual census of children of school age (between 

 five and fifteen years of age) taken in January, 

 1891. showed 44'.<>!H Attending public schools; 

 8,663 attending Catholic schools; 1.440 attend- 

 ing select schools: and 11,915 not attending any 

 school. The attendance at the State Normal 

 School for the year ending June 26 was 203, an 

 increase of 3 over the previous year. There were 



