232 



CONNECTICUT. 



from the following sources : Military commuta- 

 tion tax, $126,523.09 ; avails of courts and bonds, 

 $25,133.85 ; tax on savings banks, $308,080.25 ; 

 tax on nonresident stock, $94,214.92; tax on 

 mutual insurance companies, $258,451.04; tax 

 on railroad companies, $772,870.75 ; commission- 

 ers of insurance. $59,511.09 ; tax on investments, 

 $33,991.48 ; collateral inheritance tax, $143.606.- 

 07; tax on express corn panics, $32,462.99; direct 

 tax refunded by United States, $261,981.90 ; in- 

 terest, $40,750J3; miscellaneous, $133,374.70. 

 The disbursements were divided as follow : 

 Civil-list orders, $1,713,316.17; registered orders, 

 $540,967.20; interest on State bonds, $104,700; 

 other interest items, $2,984.59. No ad valorem 

 tax on property has been levied for several years, 

 the income from the above-mentioned sources 

 being sufficient to maintain the State govern- 

 ment. There was no change in the State debt 

 during the year. 



Valuation. The total assessed valuation of 

 property in the State for 1893 was $416,315,790 

 (with one small town estimated), an increase of 

 $35,154,183 over the figures for 1892. This heavy 

 increase was not distributed generally. Four 

 fifths of it was in Bridgeport, where there had 

 been a revaluation of all property, and an effort 

 to have it represented in the town list at some- 

 thing near its actual worth. 



Education. The following statistics from 

 the latest report of the State Board of Education 

 cover the school year 1892-'93 : Children of school 

 age, 167,809 ; enrolled in the public schools, 133,- 

 237 ; increase over previous year, 2,266 ; average 

 daily attendance, 86,255 ; increase, 1,368 ; average 

 school year, 182'74 days ; number of schoolhouses, 

 1,635; value of school property, $7,508,536.49; 

 male teachers in winter 390, in summer 321 ; 

 female teachers in winter 3,025, in summer 

 3,089 ; average monthly wages, male teachers, 

 $86.48 ; average monthly wages, female teachers, 

 $39.84; number of public schools, 1,584; num- 

 ber of school districts, 1,386 ; public high schools, 

 32. Sources of public-school revenue : From per- 

 manent funds, $168,839.25; from State taxes, 

 $251,713.50; from local taxes, $1,577,786.63; 

 from other sources, $147,887.61 ; total revenue, 

 $2,146,226.99. Expenditures for new buildings, 

 $248,232.19; for libraries and apparatus, $15,- 

 180.65 ; for running expenses, including salaries 

 of teachers and superintendents, $1,721,499.95; 

 for other expenses, $356,438.64 : total expenses, 

 $2,341,351.43. Children in private and parochial 

 schools, 20,981 : not attending any school, 29,898. 

 The State school fund, the income of which 

 is devoted annually to the support of public 

 schools, originally came from the sale of the 

 " Western reserve " lands in Ohio, aggregating 

 3,666,000 acres. These lands were offered for 

 sale in 1795, and $1,200,000 was obtained from a 

 syndicate of wealthy citizens of the State. In 

 1815 the fund had increased to $1,501,914, and 

 in 1880, when the present commissioner. Jere- 

 miah Olney, assumed office, it amounted to 

 $2,021,346.31. At the latter date almost all the 

 fund was invested in mortgages on Connecticut 

 real estate. Some of these mortgages have 

 proved poor investments, and the State has been 

 called upon from time to time to make up de- 

 ficiencies. During the past thirteen years, em- 

 bracing the term of the present commissioner, 



deficiencies amounting to $82,106.45 have been 

 restored to the fund, the capital of which is now 

 smaller than in 1880 by the sum of $6,896.90. 

 During the same period the locality in which 

 investments have been sought lias changed, and 

 as a result the mortgages in Connecticut have 

 been reduced from $1,734,239 to $867,583, and 

 those in Massachusetts from $7,853 to $3,257. 

 The bank stocks have decreased from $195,845 

 to $167,147, and the $50,000 of Connecticut 

 State bonds have passed from the list altogether. 

 Meantime the mortgages in Ohio have increased 

 from $3,500 to $805,630, and $55,110 has been 

 invested in mortgages in Indiana. It appears 

 that there is at present invested in Ohio and In- 

 diana mortgages the sum of $860.740, or nearly 

 half the total amount of the fund. 



The policy of placing so large a part of the 

 fund in Western loans has been questioned of 

 late, and fears have been expressed that the se- 

 curity might not prove ample, especially as the 

 agents placing the loans obtained their commis- 

 sions from the borrower, and might not in all 

 cases be anxious to exact full security. A fur- 

 ther development in the matter occurred in Octo- 

 ber of the present year, when Comptroller Staub 

 brought suit against Commissioner Olney to re- 

 cover commissions which he claimed the com- 

 missioner had converted to his own use. The 

 amount sought to be recovered was over $45,000. 

 The allegations of the Comptroller in this suit 

 are denied by the defendant. 



Militia. At the beginning of this year the 

 State militia consisted of 2,759 persons,' includ- 

 ing officers and men. An encampment is held 

 annually at Niantic, lasting several days. The 

 expenses for this and for other militia purposes 

 in 1893 were $133,910. 



Sayings Banks. During the year ending Oct. 

 1, 1893, the number of depositors in the savings 

 banks of the State increased from 331,061 to 

 335,879, and the total amount of deposits from 

 $130,686,729.28 to $133,967.220.11. The average- 

 amount due each depositor increased from 

 $394.75 to $398.95. Compared with correspond- 

 ing figures for the previous year, a decrease of 

 3,868 is shown in the number of accounts opened 

 during the year, and an increase of 5,279 in the 

 number closed. The amount of money depos- 

 ited shows a decrease of $741,352.38, and the 

 amount withdrawn an increase of $4,084,518.69. 

 A gain of $363,054.40 was made in income re- 

 ceived, and the large sum of $5,249,139.75 was 

 declared in dividends. Assets yielding no in- 

 come have been reduced to $380,863.63. Twelve 

 banks that discriminate in favor of small depos- 

 itors paid from 3 to 5 per cent., 2 paid a uniform 

 rate of 5. 19 paid 4^, 2 paid 4. and 52 paid 4 per 

 cent. The State banks and trust companies 

 showed remarkable strength through the finan- 

 cial panic. The 8 State banks, with $2.340.000^ 

 capital, have increased their surplus $58.296. 

 The trust companies (capital. $1.161,000) in- 

 creased their surplus and undivided profits 

 $69,548. 



Labor Statistics. Returns to the State Bu- 

 reau of Labor Statistics from the same 624 estab- 

 lishments for three years, from the same 238 for 

 four years, and from the same 85 for five years, 

 show a general increase in the percentage of 

 profit on investment, an increase in the cost of 







