WISCONSIN. 



7G7 



missioned as commodore and placed first on 

 the list. "While in command of the flotilla in 

 James River he shelled and destroyed City 

 Point, on August 28th. In 1863 he command- 

 ed a special squadron in the West Indies, and 

 captured many blockade-runners. He was 

 commissioned as rear-admiral on the retired 

 list, July 25, 1866. 



WISCONSIN. The Legislature, which as- 

 sembled early in January, continued in session 

 for eight weeks. There were enacted 301 laws. 

 The amount of the State tax levied was $263,- 

 815, against $383,827 the preceding year, show- 

 ing a decrease of $120,012. Laws were passed 

 strictly of a local nature. 



The most important measure of this session 

 was the registry law, which repealed all for- 

 mer laws on this subject. It applies only to 

 cities and incorporated villages, and to towns 

 in which the same are attached for election 

 purposes. The mayors of cities and the presi- 

 dents of villages are directed to present to the 

 common councils or boards of trustees, as the 

 case may be, at their first regular meeting in 

 September of each year, the names of three 

 persons for inspectors and two persons for 

 clerks of election, for each election precinct in 

 such cities or villages, to be approved by these 

 bodies. Not more than two inspectors and 

 one clerk shall belong to the same political 

 party. 



The receipts from all sources into the State 

 Treasury during the year ending September 

 30, 1877, were $1,789,625 ; disbursements, $1,- 

 827,227; balance in the Treasury at the end 

 of the year, $278,264. The receipts into the 

 general fund during the fiscal year were $1,- 

 199,954.86 ; balance from previous year, $10,- 

 959.94 ; total, $1,210,914.80. 



The total disbursements from this fund were 

 $1,204,900. 



The State indebtedness remains as at the 

 close of the preceding fiscal year, and is repre- 

 sented by: 



Bonds outstanding $14,000 



Currency certificates. 57 



Certificates of Indebtedness to trust funds. 2,238,000 



Total.. $2,252,067 



In addition to this the Secretary of State re- 

 ports the total indebtedness of the counties, 

 cities, towns, villages, and school districts in 

 the State as amounting to $9,658,545.04, which, 

 added to the State debt proper, makes the total 

 public indebtedness of the people of Wisconsin 

 $11,910,602.04, being somewhat less than three 

 and one-half per cent, of the total assessed 

 valuation. 



The assessed value of all property in the 

 State, subject to taxation, as returned by the 

 assessors, is: 



Personal propertv $77,862.481 



City and village lots 91.521.902 



Land 7.7. 182,895,881 



Total... $351,730,854 



The value of the various kinds of property 

 exempt from taxation, reported for the year 

 1876, is as follows : 



United States property $557,535 



State property 1^9,515 



County property 1.162,666 



Town, city, and village property 880,970 



Cemetery property 2'>8,4C9 



Common school property l^S^.Olt 



Railroad property 7,4^7.627 



Church propertv 4,516.859 



College and academy property 6.'2.HOO 



All other property 813,238 



Total $18,524,196 



Deducting from this amount the value of 

 railroad, telegraph, and insurance property, 

 which, in the form of licenses, pays what is 

 regarded as a fair proportion of taxes, and also 

 the several items of public property, there re- 

 mains less than $6,000,000 exempt from tax- 

 ation. 



The total tax levied in the State, for the year 

 1876, was $8,097,435, amounting to $2.22 on 

 each $100 of assessed valuation. The purposes 

 for which these taxes were levied, with the 

 amounts and rates, were as follows : 



It thus appears that the direct State tax was 

 less than one-tenth of the total tax. The en- 

 tire State tax, direct and indirect, for 1877, 

 amounted to $1,199,955, and is only about one- 

 seventh of the total tax paid by the entire 

 people. 



The latest school statistics yet published are 

 those for 1876. The number of pupils attend- 

 ing school in that year, compared with the at- 

 tendance of the preceding year, was as follows : 



The total number of teachers employed in 

 1876 was 8,634, of whom 5,904 were males and 

 2,730 were females. The total value of school 

 property was $4,875,618. The expenditures 

 aggregated $2,153,811, including $1,462,826 for 

 teachers' wages. 



The number of convicts confined in the State 

 Prison September 80, 1877, was 290, which 

 was also the average number in confinement 

 during the year. In the manufacturing depart- 

 ment, $77,176 worth of goods was produced. 

 The net cost of the institution to the State dur- 

 ing the year was $21,450 ; but of this amount 

 $6,550 was for extraordinary expenditures. 



The Industrial School for Boys, at Waukesha, 



