NEW YORK (STATE). 



573 



Legislature was three and one-fourth mills on 

 eaoh dollar, which on this valuation would 

 furnish a revenue of $9,334,836.31 for the fiscal 

 year 1883-'84, an amount considerably in ex- 

 cess of the requirements of the treasury from 

 that source. The receipts of the year from 

 the special tax on corporations was $1,935,- 

 179.31, of which $351,183.75 was for taxes 

 due in 1880, which had been in litigation. 



Canals. The cost of maintenance and re- 

 pairs of canals was $240,535.54 from Oct. 1, 

 1882, to Feb. 1, 1883, and $349,319.36 for the 

 remainder of the fiscal year, under the ad- 

 ministration of the new superintendent. The 

 estimated expense of the canals for the fiscal 

 year 1883-'84 is $650,000 for repairs and main- 

 tenance, $500,310 for interest on canal debt, 

 and $450,000 for the canal debt sinking fund, 

 or $1,600,310 in all, to be met by taxation. 

 During the season of navigation, the first un- 

 der the system of freedom from tolls, the total 

 traffic on the canals was 5,775,651 tons, an in- 

 crease of 324,350 tons over that of the previ- 

 ous year. The gain was only about six per 

 cent., while there was a much larger increase 

 in the traffic over the railroad lines which com- 

 pete with the canals. The shipments of grain, 

 however, from Buffalo by canal amounted to 

 42,350,916 bushels, against 29,430,688 bushels 

 in 1882. State Engineer and Surveyor Sey- 

 mour estimated the cost of putting the canals 

 in thorough repair at $3,502,443, and Comp- 

 troller Davenport recommended substantial 

 improvements in these water-ways, including 

 the deepening of the prism one foot. 



Prisons. The number of convicts in the three 

 prisons of the State on the 30th of September 

 was 2,828, distributed as follows : at Sing Sing, 

 1,462 ; at Auburn, 882 ; and at Clinton, 484. 

 There has been a progressive decrease in the 

 number since 1877, when it was 3,567. The 

 earnings and expenditures of the prisons dur- 

 ing the year were as follow : 



AUBURN PRISON. 



Earnings $125,280 30 



Expenditures.. , 119,851 42 



- Surplus $5,42288 



SING SING. 



Earnings $231,23848 



Expenditures 183,219 73 



Surplus 54,018 75 



Total surplus $59,441 63 



CLINTON. 



Earnings $44,542 80 



Expenditures 94,878 20 



Deficiency 50,835 40 



Balance surplus $9,106 23 



The first fiscal year during the whole of 

 which the present system of administration 

 under a State Superintendent was in operation 

 was 1878. The cost of maintenance showed 

 at once a very large decrease, being then $429,- 

 599.76, against $625,733.44 for the previous 

 year, and much higher figures under the old 



system. For 1883, it was reduced to $397,- 

 955.35. The net deficiency from earnings in 

 1877 was $317,411.06. The next year it was 

 reduced to $67,800.45 ; in 1881 it was con- 

 verted to a small surplus ; and in 1883 the sur- 

 plus was $9,106.23. 



Of the results of the preseni system the 

 superintendent claims: "The productive en- 

 ergy and capacity of the prisoners are con- 

 stantly increasing. The physical and moral 

 condition of the prisoners is steadily improv- 

 ing. The number of prisoners incarcerated in 

 the State Prisons is gradually diminishing, al- 

 though the population of the State is increas- 

 ing. An enormous annual deficit on account 

 of the maintenance of the State Prisons has 

 been changed to a yearly surplus." 



There were, on the first of December, more 

 than 15,000 persons confined in the prisons, 

 houses of refuge, penitentiaries, jails, and oth- 

 er penal establishments in the State. 



Charitable Institntions. The value of the prop- 

 erty held by the various charitable institutions 

 of the State, on the first day of October, was 

 $42,935,360.04, of which $35,415,555.45 was 

 in real estate, and $7,519,804.59 in personal 

 property. The receipts of all these institutions 

 for the year ending Sept. 30, 1883, were: 



State institutions $909,221 52 



County and city institutions 2,363.720 42 



Incorporated benevolent institutions 7,157,002 15 



Total $10,429,944 09 



Of this sum, $719,753.98 was derived from 

 the State, $4,876,519.37 from cities and coun- 

 ties, and $1,520,571.15 from legacies and dona- 

 tions. The expenditures during the year were : 



By State institutions $1,485,242 62 



By county and city institutions 2,363,720 42 



By incorporated benevolent institutions 6,492,431 04 



Total $10,291,394 08 



The number of insane in the various institu- 

 tions, on the 30th day of September, was 11,- 

 270, distributed as follows : 



State Lunatic Asylum at LTtica 600 



Hudson Kiver State Hospital 806 



State Homoeopathic Asylum 260 



Buffalo State Asylum 



Willard Asylum (chronic insane) 1,740 



Binghamton Asylum (chronic insane) 



County poor-houses and asylums 1 ,867 



City almshouses and asylums 5,010 



In private asylums 498 



Asylum for Insane Criminals 



Asylum for Insane Immigrants 



Total 11,270 



The number of State paupers under care on 

 the first day of October, 1882, was 163: There 

 were 1,426 committed during the year ending 

 Sept. 30, 1883. There remained on the first 

 day of October, 1883, under care, 189. 



Public Education. The following are the sta- 

 tistics relating to public schools for the year 

 ending September 30th : 

 Total receipts, including balance on hand Oct. 



11382 $18,206,06.^14 



Total expenditures 11 ' 8 2?' 5 ?i 2S 



Amount paid for teachers' wages 8,265,452 8* 



Amount paid for school-houses, repairs, furni- 



ture 



nt paid lor scnooi-nouses, repairs, imui 



, etc 1,925,671 27 



