08 



RHODE ISLAND. 



83,015 in 1820; 97,199 in 1830; 108,830 in 1840; 

 147,545 in 1850; 174,620 in 1860; 217,353 in 1870; 

 270,531 in 1880; 345,500 in 1890; and 428,556 in 

 1900. Capitals, Providence and Newport; after 

 1900, Providence only. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1900: Governor, Elisha Dyer, succeeded 

 May 29 by William Gregory; Lieutenant Gov- 

 ernor, William Gregory, succeeded by Charles D. 

 Kim kill: Secretary of State, Charles P. Bennett; 

 Treasurer, Walter A. Read; Attorney-General, 

 Willard B. Tanner; Auditor and Insurance Com- 

 missioner, Charles C. Gray; Superintendent of 

 Education, Thomas B. Stockwell; Adjutant Gen- 

 eral, Frederick M. Sackett; Railroad Commis- 

 sioner, E. L. Freeman; Commissioner of Indus- 

 trial Statistics, Henry E. Tiepke; Record Commis- 

 sioner, R. Ilammett Tilley; Factory Inspectors, 

 J. Ellery Hudson, Helen M. Jenks; Surgeon Gen- 

 eral, George H. Kenyon; Inspector of Beef and 

 Pork, James R. Chace; Inspector of Lime, Her- 

 bert Harris; Commissioner of Sinking Funds, 

 John W. Danielson, succeeded by Olney Arnold; 

 Inspector of Cables, S. B. Hoxsie: Inspector of 

 Scythe Stones, W. H. Comstock, succeeding Ben- 

 jamin Wilson; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, Charles Matteson, who resigned after a 

 continuous service of over twenty-five years, and 

 was succeeded May 29 by John H. Stiness; Asso- 

 ciate Justices, Pardon E. Tillinghast, George A. 

 Wilbur, Horatio Rogers, W. W. Douglas, Edward 

 . Dubois, John T. Blodgett; Clerk, B. S. Blaisdell. 

 All the State officers are Republicans. 



The elections of State officers have been held 

 annually in April, but by a recent change in the 

 Constitution they will be held hereafter in No- 

 vember. Inauguration of officers will take place 

 the first Tuesday in January. Annual sessions of 

 the Legislature have been held at Newport begin- 

 ning the last Tuesday in May, and annual ad- 

 journed sessions at Providence beginning in 

 January. By the amendment to the Constitu- 

 tion, there will hereafter be but one annual ses- 

 sion, at Providence, beginning the first Tuesday 

 in January. The length of the session is not 

 limited, but the pay of legislators ceases at the 

 nd of sixty days; it has been increased from $1 

 to $5 a day. The Legislature consists of 38 

 Senators and 72 representatives. The Constitu- 

 tion provides that a new apportionment may be 

 made after a census has been taken by authority 

 of the State or the United States. 



Population. The increase of population in the 

 last decade was 83,050, or 24 per cent. In the 

 decade next preceding the increase was 24.9 per 

 cent. The population by counties is as follows: 



Among the towns and cities, Cranston shows 

 the largest percentage of gain, 64.79. East Provi- 

 dence and North Providence each show a gain of 

 44.91 per cent., and Pawtucket 41.98. The census 

 returns of the larger places are as follow: Provi- 

 dence, 175.597; Pawtucket, 39,231; Woonsocket, 

 "28,204; Newport, 22,034; Warwick. 21.316; Cen- 

 tral Falls, 18,167; Cranston. 13.343: East Provi- 

 dence, 12,138; Lincoln, 8,937; Cumberland, 8,925; 

 Westerly, 7,541; Bristol, 6,901; Burrillville. 6,317; 

 (...entry, 5,279; Warren, 5,108; South Kini- 

 town. 4.972; Johnston, 4,305; North Kingstown, 

 4,194; Scituate, 3,361; North Providence, 3,016; 



Tiverton, 2,977 ; East Greenwich, 2,775 ; Hopkin- 

 ton, 2,602; North Smithh'eld, 2,422: Smithfield, 

 2,117; Portsmouth, 2,106. 



Finances. The balance in the treasury at the 

 beginning of the year was $52,557.28; the receipts 

 during the year, $1,481,479.75; total, $1,534,037.03. 

 Among the sources of receipt were: Tax assign- 

 ments, $296,693.58; State tax, $347,424.79; insti- 

 tutions for savings, $351,966.46; State insurance 

 companies, $73,719.28; foreign insurance com- 

 panies, $83,893.27 ; building and loan associations, 

 $401.21; town councils, $116,257.76; State insti- 

 tutions in Cranston, $50,323.78; State home and 

 school, $275.86; school fund dividend, $8,710.98; 

 charters, $14,140; civil commissions, $2,392; ped- 

 dlers' licenses, $2,485; auctioneers. $1,900.50; 

 Commissioners of Shell Fisheries, $20,973.08; com- 

 mercial fertilizers, $2,658; interest on deposits of 

 the revenue, $2,638.30; National Home for Dis- 

 abled Volunteer Soldiers, $12,179.81; Supreme 

 Court, $22,653.46; 

 tax on street rail- 

 way companies, 

 $24,485.80; on tele- 

 phone companies, 

 $4,259.29 ; on tele- 

 graph companies, 

 $881.79; on ex- 

 press companies, 

 $449.80. 



The disburse- 

 ments for the year 

 amounted to $1,- 

 355,447.95. Among 

 the items are: Sal- 

 aries, $137,499.22; 

 expenses of Gen- 

 eral Assembly, ex- 

 clusive of clerks 

 and committees, 

 $17,159.46; sup- 

 port of the State 

 institutions in 



Cranston, $300,323.78 ; interest on Statehouse con- 

 struction bonds, $76,500; interest on money bor- 

 rowed, war with Spain, $5,800; militia and mili- 

 tary affairs, $37,500; readjusting ward lines, city 

 of Providence, $4,569.31. 



The military and naval expenses occasioned by 

 the State's connection with the late war with 

 Spain appear to be kept as a separate account. 

 Under this head the total receipts, including the 

 balance on hand at the beginning of the year and 

 a check on account from the United States Treas- 

 ury Department for $32,601.46, were $34,340.3P. 

 The payments include the cancellation of a note 

 for $10,000 and the payment of $20.000 on an- 

 other note, and amount in all to $30.472.47, leav- 

 ing a balance on this account of $3.867.92. Tha 

 notes outstanding amount to $180.000. The War 

 Auditor held $44,776.80 of the State's claim for 

 additional evidence, and recommended that $37.- 

 300.41 be rejected as being for charges not deemed 

 proper by the department. 



The balance in the treasury at the close of tli? 

 year was $178,589.08. 



The bonded debt of the State amounts to $2.-^ 

 300.000. 



Education. The Legislature appropriate*! 

 $140.000 for the support of public schools. $57,50) 

 for the normal school. $800 for institutes ami 

 lectures. $6,000 for evening schools, $3.500 for the 

 School of Design. $4.000 for purchase of school 

 apparatus, $14,000 for education of blind and in - 

 becile children. $136,700 for the Institute for the 

 I >caf. $15.000 for the College of Agriculture and 

 Mechanic Arts, and $7,000 for free public libraries. 



WILLIAM GREGORY, 

 GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND. 



