RHODE ISLAND. 



691 



Jan. 1, 1883, to Dec. 31, 1883, were $930,433.- 

 43 ; balance in the treasury Jan. 1, 1883, 

 $324,919.44; payments for the fiscal year, 

 $889,935.96; balance in the treasury Jan. 1, 

 1884, $365,416.91. The receipts were from 

 the following sources : 



State taxes and other taxes $582,114 25 



Liquor-licenses 71,87788 



Courts and jailers 88,706 83 



Shell fisheries 10,757 00 



State institutions, Cranston 52,E63 50 



School fund 12,053 50 



Judgment against the city of Boston 129,981 41 



Miscellaneous 82,879 61 



Total $930,433 43 



The payments were for the following pur- 



Principal and interest of State debt and sinking 



fund $330,321 02 



Salaries 67,459 03 



The courts, and the care and support of offenders 



and dependent persons 251 ,328 88 



The military 22,992 97 



Educational purposes 106,613 82 



Purchase of land and erection of buildings 37,525 35 



' '1 other expenses 73,634 89 



Total $839,935 96 



By a vote of the General Assembly at the 

 [ay session, an additional sum of $129,981.41 

 ras ordered to be paid to the sinking fund. 

 he amount of the State debt Jan. 1, 1883, was 

 1,615,500. The bonds outstanding, Jan. 1, 

 1884, were as follow : 



>nds issued Oct. 1, 1861 $500 00 



i issued Sept. 1, 1862 8i),000 00 



>nds issued April 1, 1865 11,000 00 



>nds issued July 1, 1863 631,000 00 



ads issued Aug. 1, 1864 738,000 00 



Total $1,410,500 00 



To provide for the payment of the outstand- 

 ig bonds the General Treasurer is required 



pay annually, in January, $100,000 into the 

 sinking fund. 



Education. The Commissioner of Education 

 eports the following statistics relating to 

 shools : 



Iren from five to fifteen years enumerated.. 58,399 



.ildren attending public schools 36,109 



iildren attending all other schools 7,680 



lildren not attending school 14,610 



iildren attending school less than the time re- 

 quired by law viz., twelve weeks 2,241 



Turnber of schools 842 



Average length of schools 9 mos. 4 days 



Number of different pupils enrolled 



42,671 

 31,579 

 28,553 



Average number belonging. . 



Average attendance 



Number of teachers regularly employed . 



Amount paid teachers $412,008 76 



Total receipts 674,395 52 



Current expenditures 512,389 79 



Permanent expenditures, buildings, apparatus, 

 etc 134,925 70 



State Institutions. The appropriation for the 

 Board of Charities and Corrections for the year 

 was $100,000, in addition to the amount re- 

 ceived for labor, board of inmates, and sale of 

 the product of the farm and workshop, which 

 amounted to $52,563.50. An appropriation of 

 $23,153.55 was, also made to meet the defi- 

 ciency of 1882. The board drew from the" 

 treasury the sum of $97,011.30 in addition to 

 the amounts received by them as above. This 



sum of $97,011.80 represents the actual cost to 

 the State of supporting the State- Prison, the 

 Providence County Jail, the Sockanossc-i 

 for Boys, the Oaklawn School for (iirls, the 

 State Workhouse and Mouse of Correction, the 

 State Almshouse, and the State Asylum for the 

 Incurable Insane. 



The number of inmates in each of the de- 

 partments, December 31et, was as follows: 

 State-Prison, 95 ; Providence County Juil. 1 74 ; 

 Sockanosset School for Boys, 173 ; Oukhnvn 

 School for Girls, 37; State Workhouse and 

 House of Correction, 240; State Alnishouse, 

 200 ; State Asylum for the Incurable Insane, 

 300. Total, 1,219. 



According to the practice under the present 

 statute, insane paupers not regarded as incur- 

 able are sent for treatment to the Butler Hos- 

 pital, the State aiding in their support to the 

 extent of $120 a year, whether they have or 

 have not legal settlements in the town. Dur- 

 ing the year the State paid the Butler Hospital 

 $3,091.71, and all the towns, $5,905.62. 



The State School for the Deaf has satisfac- 

 torily continued its workings during the year. 

 The number of pupils attending at any time 

 was 33, the same as in the preceding year ; but 

 the average was 21'9, against 18 in 1882. 



Institutions for Savings. The amount of de- 

 posits and of profits on hand December 31st 

 was $52,445,334.43, an increase of $1,787,457.- 

 63. The number of depositors was 120,482, 

 an increase of 8,010. The average amount due 

 each depositor was $416.07. There has been 

 a gratifying increase of the number of small 

 depositors, as the number of those having less 

 than $500 deposited has increased 6,796. 



The sum of $15,000 was appropriated for the 

 support of the insane poor at Butler Hospital 

 and for the education of indigent deaf, dumb, 

 idiotic, and blind persons, for the year 1883. 



Divorce. On this subject the Governor says : 



The State of Khode Island has acquired a reputation 

 in regard to divorces as unenviable as it has in the 

 matter of illiteracy. The proportion of divorces to 

 marriages is constantly increasing. In 1882 there 

 was one divorce to every 9 '7 marriages. And when 

 we consider that probably one third of our population 

 are adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, in which 

 divorces are not recognized for any cause, the propor- 

 tion of divorces becomes absolutely startling. For 

 the ten years ending Dec. 31, 1882, there were 2,824 

 applications for divorce in the State, of which 2,201 

 were granted. The large majority of these divorces 

 were granted without opposition, and therefore upon 

 ex parte depositions, which are practically only such 

 depositions of interested parties as would make 

 prima facie cass. Though the law provides that no 

 divorce shall be granted if it shall appear that there 

 is collusion between the parties, yet it is a well-known 

 fact that in a large number of cases there is actual col- 

 lusion, though it may not be brought to the attention 

 of the court. About one fifth of the applications al- 

 Jeo-e adultery as a cause for divorce, and yet I am in- 

 formed by the Attorney-General that no prosecution 

 for adultery was ever known to him based on evi- 

 dence brought out in a divorce case. In fact, a divorce 

 for this cause would be granted upon evidence that 

 would not warrant for a moment the holding of a per- 

 son upon a criminal charsrc for the commission of the 

 crime. Our statute practically limits the causes of 



