548 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



practice. Many of the school laws are con- 

 sidered uncertain, inconsistent, and needing 

 revision. The law which requires the attend- 

 ance of the youth in the schools is not prop- 

 erly enforced, as a large number of children 

 are losing the advantages of the common 

 schools, and grow up in idleness, while ample 

 provision is made by the State for their educa- 

 tion. The present school district division, as 

 kept up in most of the towns, employing 

 teachers of inferior qualifications, is believed 

 detrimental to the advance that might or ought 

 to be made in the educational system. 



As a means greatly conducive to improve the 

 practice of the school system, and establish uni- 

 formity in the methods of instruction through- 

 out the State, it is suggested that the Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, once a year at 

 least, in each county, hold a meeting where the 

 teachers of the county could meet and compare 

 their own methods of instruction, and receive 

 such information as might be communicated 

 from persons whose eminent qualifications 

 would entitle them to act in the capacity of in- 

 structors. 



The State Normal Sshool has been steadily 

 advancing in its usefulness and perfecting its 

 teaching. It is now graduating many very 

 competent instructors, whose superior attain- 

 ments are already seen in their effects in the 

 schools where they are employed. 



In the Agricultural College at Hanover, some 

 important innovations have been lately intro- 

 duced, which are likely to prove of great 

 benefit to that institution and the farmers 

 within the State. The trustees, in Septem- 

 bar, 1876, placed the farm under the charge of 

 a special superintendent eminently qualified 

 for that position, he being " thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with the science of farming in all its 

 departments, both practical and theoretical." 

 "Within the eight months elapsed from Septem- 

 ber, 1876, to June, 1877, his presence in the 

 farm had wrought a marked improvement in 

 its condition, to the entire satisfaction of the 

 trustees. 



With regard to the purely theoretical in- 

 struction given in the college, the trustees at 

 their annual meeting held in April, 1877, have 

 established for the future three distinct pro- 

 fessorships, to which the entire instruction is 

 to be confined, yet embracing all that may be 

 of use to know in agriculture. 



The geological survey of New Hampshire 

 was completed within the year. Its results 

 are detailed and explained with maps and other 

 local representations in a work of three 

 volumes. The first two volumes having previ- 

 ously been published, the third is now in the 

 course of printing. 



A raised map of New Hampshire has also 

 been constructed under the supervision of 

 Prof. Hitchcock, the State Geologist, exhibit- 

 ing the configurations and extent of the State, 

 together with the inequalities of its surface, in 

 relief, proportionate to the height of their 



several projections ; the localities of its lakes 

 and ponds, as well as the course of its rivers, 

 creeks, passage-ways, and railroad lines ; and 

 designating the places and names of all its 

 cities and towns. After 17 months' uninter- 

 rupted work, the map was completed by the 

 end of May, 1877, and placed in permanent 

 position at the State House, in the beginning 

 of June. Its dimensions are, 14 feet 10 inches 

 in length, and about 8 feet in width. It is 

 highly commended for accuracy and finish of 

 workmanship. A copy of one section of it, 

 about one-fifth of the whole, representing the 

 White Mountain region, which was finished 

 first, was sent to the Centennial Exhibition at 

 Philadelphia. 



Complaints against the slow pace of legal pro- 

 ceedings in the courts of the State, and in all 

 cases, are general, and the law's delays have 

 long been a by-word, the people commonly 

 asserting " that cases remain on the docket 

 year after year awaiting trial ; that parties, ex- 

 hausted by trouble, anxiety, and cost, abandon 

 their suits and their rights in despair, and go 

 out of court with diminished respect for free 

 government ; that many suffer serious wrongs 

 and losses without resorting to the legal 

 remedy, because they believe it is not likely to 

 improve their condition; and that for these 

 reasons the law is employed too much for re- 

 venge, and too little for redress." 



In 1859, the number of judges was reduced 

 from 8 to 6, while the number of cases, both 

 civil and criminal, has since the late civil war 

 largely increased. An inquiry into the subject, 

 and official statements made by the clerks of 

 the courts, show that one year ago there were 

 4,400 continued cases, and that on the dockets 

 of the Circuit Court more than 6,000 cases 

 have been entered since that time. 



The farming and manufacturing interests in 

 the State continue in their normal condition, 

 with a tendency to advance in their progress. 



Respecting the Centennial Exhibition at 

 Philadelphia last year, the State of New Hamp- 

 shire actively participated in it from the be- 

 ginning, by liberally subscribing to the stock, 

 and otherwise acting so as to encourage the 

 enterprise, and promote its success. She was 

 also creditably represented there in the several 

 departments of her industries, and compared 

 favorably with the other States of the Union. 



The Legislature of 1877 continued in session 

 for about six weeks, and closed it on the 19th 

 of July. 



A large number of laws were enacted, having 

 a private and local, as well as a general and 

 public, character. The titles and import of the 

 following acts seem worthy of mention : 



" Increasing the number of the Justices of 

 the Supreme Court;" which is hereafter to 

 consist of one chief justice and six assistant 

 justices, instead of five as heretofore. 



"Appropriating $6,000 for the purpose of 

 enabling the New Hampshire Asylum for the 

 Insane to build a new boiler-house, and to 



