NEW HAMPSH1IM-:. 



518 



what \vcri' originally moro than 50 sepa- 

 rate mxl Independent nun Is have pa.v-ed by sale, 

 md roiiM.lidalion into the control of live 

 corporations, the Boston and Maine, Concord 

 ami Mi ii it real, Fitchburg, -Maine Central, and 

 (Jnind Trunk, whose lines measure 8.105 miles, 

 of which 1,105 miles are in New Hampshire. 

 There are also two narrow-gauge roads, 17 miles 

 long, and ."> Inking roads, nearly 50 miles Inn;:. 

 In the opinion ol 'tin 1 hoard, nothing but good has 

 so far resulted from the consolidation of the roads. 



The most important railroad referee's decision 

 ever recorded in the State was given in the Su- 

 preme Court in January. It was a finding in 

 the case of the Manchester and Lawrence Rail- 

 road vs. the Concord Railroad Corporation, many 

 times on trial since Feb. 18. 1888. The plaintiffs 

 asked for a settlement by the defendants when 

 they were in close business relations. The deci- 

 sion orders the defendants to pay the Manchester 

 and Lawrence road $399,078.07, with interest 

 from July 1, 1888. 



Legislative Session. After a session of 

 twelve weeks the Legislature adjourned April 1. 

 There were on joint ballot 225 Republicans and 

 157 Democrats. On a bill to establish a police 

 commission in the city of Manchester, which 

 came up Feb. 22 for third reading in the House, 

 the minority refused to vote. When the roll 

 was called, the Speaker directed the clerk to 

 record the members as present and declining to 

 vote, thus "counting a quorum." The bill was 

 declared to have passed, 160 voting in favor, 9 

 against, and GO declining to vote. 



An act was passed constituting a forestry 

 commission, to consist of the Governor, ex officio, 

 and four other members 2 Republicans and 2 

 Democrats who shall be appointed by the Gov- 

 ernor with advice of the council, and be classified 

 in such manner that the office of one shall be- 

 come vacant each year. The provisions of the 

 act include the following : 



It shall be the duty of the forestry commission to 

 investigate the extent and character of the original 

 and secondary forests of the State, together with the 

 amounts and varieties of the wood and timber grow- 

 ing therein ; to ascertain, as near as the means at their 

 command will allow, the annual removals of wood and 

 timber thereupon and the disposition made of the 

 same, by home consumption anu manufacture, as well 

 as by exportation in the log ; the different methods of 

 lumbering pursued and the effects thereof upon the 

 timber supply, water power, scenery, and climate of 

 the State; th'e approximate amount of revenue annu- 

 ully received from the forests of the State : the dam- 

 ages done to them from time to time by forest fires ; 

 and any other important facts relating to forest in- 

 terests which may come to their knowledge. 



The Governor was directed to appoint a com- 

 missioner of labor, to serve three years, at an an- 

 nual salary of $1,500, who. with his clerks, shall 

 ronstitute a bureau of labor. 



A highway bill was passed of which the fol- 

 lowing are the principal provisions: "Each 

 town shall annually raise and appropriate for 

 repair of highways and bridges a sum not less 

 than one fourth of 1 percent, of the valuation of 

 the polls and ratable estates on which other 

 taxes are assessed by the town; each town shall 

 elect highway agents, not to exceed 3, to have 

 charge of the construction and repair of high- 

 ways and bridges." 



VOL. xxxin. 33 A 



Another act in relation to highways gives 

 power to the railroad commissioners to require 

 the proprietors of a railroad to raise any railroad 

 bridge or any overhead highway bridge, and in 

 case of a highway bridge to change the ap- 



E roaches thereto so as to make them as nearly 

 tvel as practicable. 



Still another highway act relates to damages 

 for injuries caused by defective roads, and pro- 

 vides for repairs and constructions on notice of 

 necessity for them by 3 citizens or taxpayers in 

 the State. 



A bill was passed making it unlawful "for 

 any building and loan association not organized 

 under the laws of this State to transact any 

 business in this State unless such association 

 shall possess assets of at least $500,000, and 

 shall first obtain a license from the bank com- 

 missioners." A penalty of $100 to $500 fine, or 

 ten days' to six months' imprisonment, or both, 

 was prescribed as punishment of any person sell- 

 ing or attempting to sell stock of any association 

 not thus authorized. The cities of Somersworth, 

 Laconia, and Franklin were established. 



Acts were passed exempting towns from open- 

 ing and repairing highways to summer cottages ; 

 repealing the law for taxation of dogs ; provid- 

 ing for the immediate completion cf the revised 

 record of New Hampshire soldiers and sailors in 

 the War of the^ Rebellion ; for the appointment 

 of a commission to revise and amend the militia 

 laws of the State; giving the State Board of 

 Health authority to establish quarantine, and 

 appropriating $10,000 to be used if necessary for 

 an epidemic fund ; granting to owners of cattle 

 killed by order of the cattle commissioners half 

 the value of the animals upon a basis of health, 

 providing they shall have been owned in the 

 State at least three months before the disease 

 was detected; changing the bounty on bears 

 from $10 to $5; imposing a fine of $50 for the 

 first and $100 or ninety days' imprisonment for 

 the second offense, on any one found guilty of 

 selling or causing to be sold adulterated butter, 

 oleomargarine, or imitation cheese; providing 

 for appointment of inspectors of buildings by 

 cities and towns ; forbidding guarantee savings 

 banks from changing their rate of interest with- 

 out having mailed to every depositor a notice of 

 the proposed change three months in advance ; 

 providing for the appointment of 2 appraisers to 

 visit the unincorporated lands of the State and 

 appraise them. 



In reference to Dartmouth College, $7,500 was 

 ordered paid to the trustees for the use of the 

 college, and by a further section of the. act the 

 State " relinquishes to the trustees of Dartmouth 

 College any rights which the State may have in 

 Culver Hall, at Hanover, and waives the pay- 

 ment by said trustees of the $15,000 appropri- 

 ated by the State July 9, 1869, in aid of the 

 erection and furnishing of said Culver Hall." 



A resolution was passed extending thanks to 

 Hon. William E. Chandler for his gift to the 

 State of the statue of John Parker Hale for the 

 Capitol grounds. 



A joint resolution was passed making provi- 

 sion for submitting to voters at the election in 

 November, 1894, the question of the expediency 

 of calling a convention for revising the Consti- 

 tution. 



