CONNECTICUT. 



231 



able quantity of property to its tax list was de- 

 cided in favor of the university. 



Steam Railroads. Of the 50,000,000 passen- 

 gers transported over these roads in the year not 

 one was killed, and only 12 were injured. There 

 was a small decrease in the number of passengers 

 and in the earnings of this part of the business, 

 but this decrease was more than offset by in- 

 crease in freight and in the revenue derived there- 

 from. The companies have a capital of more 

 than $99,000,000, and during the past years the 

 dividends to their stockholders have been nearly 

 $5,000,000. Their taxes paid to the State in 1898 

 were $910,137.50, or more than one third of its 

 revenue from all sources. 



Street Railways. The 31 street-railway com- 

 panies of the State have capital stock to the 

 amount of $10,451,040, a funded debt of $10,- 

 022,800, and floating indebtedness amounting to 

 $758,828.04. They pay a tax to the State of 

 $133,052.77. 



Agriculture. During the year the State paid 

 for the support of its various agricultural institu- 

 tions about $47,000. Of this sum, $3,500 went to 

 the State Board of Agriculture, about $12,700 

 to the experiment stations, $16,800 to Storrs 

 Agricultural College, about $7,500 to the Cattle 

 and Dairy Commission, and about $6,400 to agri- 

 cultural societies and associations. 



Cattle. The last General Assembly passed 

 new laws concerning diseases among domestic 

 animals, and repealed the tuberculin legislation 

 of 1895. The new law has worked to the satis- 

 faction of all concerned. It has resulted in the 

 subsiding of unnecessary alarm, in the increased 

 product and consumption of inilk, and in a sav- 

 ing expense to the State, compared with two 

 years ago, of more than $44,000. There are more 

 than 200,000 cattle in the State, and of these only 

 71 have been killed by action of the commissioner. 



Manufactures. The Commissioner of Labor, 

 S. B. Home, in his annual report, made public 

 Jan. 2, 1899, for the year ending Nov. 30, 1898, 

 gives much useful information concerning the 

 manufactures of the State. 



In cotton goods the total spindle capacity in 

 1897 (idle spindles included) was 1,094,068. The 

 number of spindles (idle spindles included) at the 

 taking of the eleventh census was 951,007. This 

 shows an increase of 143,061 spindles. In woolen 

 goods, according to the report mentioned above, 

 54 establishments used 17,626,388 pounds during 

 1897, to which amount should be added 4,041,171 

 pounds of " other material." There were 417 sets 

 of cards in use, 3,213 looms, and 91,928 spindles 

 in operation during the year. The average num- 

 ber of persons employed in all establishments was 

 7,738, of whom 4,761 were men, 2,507 women, and 

 470 boys and girls under sixteen years of age. 

 The proportion of boys and girls to the total 

 number employed was 6.1 per cent. The number 

 of yards of woolen goods produced by all estab- 

 lishments was 17,235,929. The stated value of 

 this production was $12,176,827.67. Deducting 

 from this amount the value of product " reported 

 elsewhere," and the net product value of the 

 quantity of goods reported as having been manu- 

 factured in 1897 was $11,887,227.67. The total 

 amount paid wages, exclusive of salaries, during 

 the year was $2,667,953.07. The proportion of 

 product value paid in wages was therefore 22 

 per cent. Fifteen establishments were closed 

 which had been engaged in the manufacture of 

 woolen goods during the previous year. 



There were 23 establishments for the manu- 

 facture of knit goods in operation in the State 

 during the year. The amount of capital invested 



(exclusive of surplus) was $1,863,000. The aver- 

 age number of persons employed during the year 

 was 3,006, of whom 913 were men, 1,921 women, 

 68 boys, and 104 girls. The total value of product 

 manufactured by these establishments in 1897 

 was $3,630,550.52, and the amount paid in wages 

 (exclusive of salaries) for the same period $967,- 

 752.47. 



Information was secured from 25 establish- 

 ments engaged in the silk industry which were in 

 operation in 1897. The amount of capital invested 

 in these (exclusive of surplus) was $4,008,000. The 

 value of the manufactured product was $7,488,- 

 485.05, and the amount paid in wages (exclusive 

 of salaries) $1,734,739. The average number em- 

 ployed in all establishments was 5,154, of whom 

 2,093 were men, 2,590 women, and- 471 boys and 

 girls under sixteen years of age. 



Shad Culture. The Commissioners of Fish 

 and Game report signal success in the propaga- 

 tion of shad. In the spring of 1895 they placed 

 half a million fry in a retaining pond whose out- 

 let flows into Farmington river. In the autumn 

 of that year they let out into the open water 

 these little shad, which then had grown to be 

 from three to five inches long. Three years later 

 thousands of the finest adult shad were caught 

 in Farmington river for the first time in many 

 years. 



In 1897 the commissioners carried 6,000,000 

 shad fry in the retaining ponds in the town of 

 Lyme, and in the autumn let them out into 

 Connecticut river. In 1898 they treated more 

 than 9,000,000 in the same way. 



Charities. The State Board of Charities re- 

 ports 176 institutions for the delinquent, defec- 

 tive, and dependent classes which are visited by 

 the board (including 88 town almshouses), and 

 the amount of State aid that has been applied to 

 the support of these institutions during the year 

 was $658,190, compared with $732,858 in 1897 and 

 $662,329 in 1896. Part of the decrease is ac- 

 counted for by the fact that about $58,000 less 

 was appropriated for building operations in 1898 

 than in the preceding year. 



Crime. The number of persons in the penal 

 and reformatory institutions in the State on 

 June 30, 1899, was as follows: State Prison, 506; 

 Hartford County jail, 245; New Haven County 

 jail, 258; New London County jails, 92; Fairneld 

 County jails, 188; Windham County jail, 56; 

 Litchfield County jail, 41; Middlesex County jail, 

 36; Tolland County jail, 11; State School for 

 Boys, 440; Industrial School for Girls, 254; total, 

 2,127. 



Legislation. The most important legislation 

 of the year was the passage to their first stage 

 of two amendments to the Constitution. One 

 abolishes the requirement of a majority vote in 

 the election of the State ticket. The other pro- 

 vides for rearranging the senatorial districts and 

 increasing their number. These amendments go 

 over to the next General Assembly for action in 

 both houses, a two-third vote being then required 

 for passage. If this is given, the amendments 

 will be submitted to the people. 



The highway law was changed in important 

 respects. The scope of investments by savings 

 banks in sound securities was widely enlarged. 

 Provision was made for testing the eyesight of 

 school children; seven years was made the com- 

 pulsory school age, and the law to encourage at- 

 tendance at high schools was extended to all 

 towns. The mechanics' lien law w r as variously 

 amended. 



The only enactment in the nature of a labor 

 law was a bill prohibiting employers from any 



