WISCONSIN. 



809 



in wa^cs during the past two years in the build- 

 in-: trade- iii Milwaukee, where tin- l"\vrst 

 amount paid is 'Jli.'.) eeui> an hour, and also in 

 mo>( of tin 1 other cities considered. The upward 

 tendency of wages is also shown in the amount 

 paid to the labor in the factories of the Shite. 

 This will l>n seen by examination of the follow- 

 ing .statement : Number of employes at $4 and 

 over, 1.707 in 1889, and 2.271 in IHSU ; at $:;.n<) 

 but under $4. 908 in 1889, and 1,278 in 1891 ; at 

 *:; but under $3.50, 1,987 in 1889, and ,1,489 in 

 1891 ; at $2.50 but under $3, 4,300 in 1889. and 

 7.:! 1 1 in 1891 ; at $1.50 but under $2, 22,570 in 

 1889, and 29,212 in 1891 : at $1.25 but under 

 $1.50. 18.640 in 1889. and 19,249 in 1891 ; at $1 

 but under $1.25, 8,478 in 1889, and 10,447 in 

 ism ; at 75 cents but under $1, 5,406 in 1889, 

 and (5,111 in 1891; at 50 cents but under 75 

 cents, 5,582 in 1889, and 6.100 in 1891 ; at less 

 than 50 cents, 2,752 in 1889, and 2,931 in 1891. 

 The commissioner, however, says that "by an 

 examination of the different tables of this report 

 it will be seen that the per capita wages for the 

 last two years in a large number of cases is less 

 than in former years." 



Railroads. The total railroad mileage in the 

 State, on June 30, was 578,507 miles; the total 

 capital stock is $113,187.843.51 ; funded debt, 

 $150,769,694.39 ; net earnings for 1892, $11,649,- 

 434.65 . The total amount of license fees received 

 from railroad companies for 1892 was $1,220.- 

 674.88, equivalent to $211 per mile. There are 

 1 !:;<;; railway employes in the State, and they 

 received as wages in 1892 $11,999,992.38, an 

 average of $614.38. In 1892 there were 8 pas- 

 sengers killed and 45 injured ; 62 employes killed 

 and 400 injured ; 90 trespassers killed and 37 

 injured ; and 19 not trespassing killed and 23 

 injured. The total number of persons killed was 

 179, and injured 511. 



Fisheries. At the State hatchery 6,500,000 

 brook trout, 14,000,000 white fish, and 12,000,- 

 000 wall-eyed pike were raised during the past 

 season. The season's batch of brook-trout fry 

 was the most successful in the history of the 

 fish commission ; next year the number of breed- 

 ers in the Madison trout-pond will be doubled. 

 The experiment of propagating muskellunge is 

 being tried at Phillips. Wisconsin is the first 

 State to attempt the propagation of pike and 

 white bass. The commission has decided to con- 

 struct a hatchery in the northern part of the 

 State, and also to collect statistics relating to 

 the number of fish caught in the lakes and the 

 number of men engaged in the fishing industry. 



Internal Revenue. The amount of internal 

 revenue collected from all sources was $:!, r i'.l4.- 

 699. The report shows that 9.876 wholesale and 

 retail liquor dealers paid the special tax required 

 by law. During the fiscal vear ending on June 

 30, there were manufactured" in the State 91,831.- 

 959 cigars, and 6,822,448 pounds of smoking ;'iid 

 chewing tobacco. During the year ending Pee. 

 ?>\, Milwaukee brewers sold 2,213,078 barrels of 

 beer. 



Miscellaneous. A monument to the soldier 

 dead of Sauk County, erected in the cemetery ai 

 Reedsburg, was unveiled on June 4. The shaft 

 is a beautiful piece of sculpture ; it is of Barre, 

 Vt . granite, and stands 27 feet high from the 

 foundation. The shaft is surmounted by the 



figure of a soldier in full uniform, erect, but 

 with his musket at rest. 



The State Historical Society held its fortieth 

 annual meeting in December. The library con- 

 tains 152,474 volumes and pamphlets, and is by 

 far the largest reference library west of the 

 Alleghanies. The society has a high reputation 

 for its newspaper files, and has the largest and 

 most complete set in the country, with the excep- 

 tion of that in the national library at Washing- 

 ton. Its files of papers published during the 

 civil war are exceptionally complete. 



The problem of suppressing the tramp received 

 a great deal of attention from the various county 

 boards, and many plans for punishing them and 

 discouraging vagabondage were discussed. 



A succession of fires in Milwaukee, resulting 

 in enormous loss of property and the sacrifice of 

 at least five lives, believed to be of incendiary 

 origin, aroused the Common Council to call for a 

 grand jury to investigate the subject. The 

 Chamber of Commerce arranged a mass meeting 

 to take action against the fire-bugs, and insurance 

 companies refused to continue their insurance 

 except at excessive rates. The loss to insurance 

 companies in two months was over $5,000,000. 



Political. The People's party, at its first 

 convention, held March 30, approved the 

 resolutions adopted at the St. Louis conference, 

 demanding free and unlimited coinage of silver, 

 a graduated income tax, 'postal savings-banks, 

 and Government ownership of railroads and 

 telegraph and telephone lines. It demanded that 

 evidence of indebtedness shall be taxed, and 

 shall not draw interest unless shown to be duly 

 assessed ; that board-of-trade gambling be sup- 

 pressed, and laws enacted -to prohibit combina- 

 tions to control the markets ; asks Wisconsin 

 representatives in Congress to support the 

 passage of an anti-option bill, and favors woman 

 suffrage. On May 25 the People's party nomi- 

 nated its State ticket and chose candidates for 

 Presidential electors, and delegates to the Na- 

 tional Convention. 



The State Democratic Convention met at 

 Milwaukee May 4, and chose delegates to the 

 National Convention of the party. The platform 

 adopted favors tariff for revenue only ; opposes 

 the project of unlimited coinage of silver dollars 

 of less commercial value than gold dollars ; 

 denounces Republican legislation on this subject, 

 more particularly the Sherman act of 18!)0, and 

 demands its repeal ; opposes State interference 

 with parental rights and rights of conscience in 

 tlie education of children ; opposes sumptuary 

 laws ; praises the Democratic State Government ; 

 praises Mr. Cleveland, and instructs the delegates 

 to Chicago to act as a unit. A second State 

 Democratic Convention was held at Milwaukee 

 Aug. :!1. when the entire State ticket was 

 n nominated by acclamation. The platform 

 adopted at this convention dealt mainly with 

 State issues. It asserted that the pledges made 

 by the Democratic Convention in IMMi had Wen 

 redeemed; that economy and business method! 

 have characterized every branch of the State 

 Government, the result being a great saving to 

 the tax-payers ; that more than $60,000 have been 

 saved ill administrative and legisiativeexj 

 that the cost of maintaining the State institu- 

 tions has been economized more thau $52,000 ; 



