Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1883 — Page 2

MESSAGE ALBERT G. PORTER, GOVERNOR OF INDIANA, TO THE LEGISLATURE

January 5, 1883. Senators and Gentlemen or the House of Representatives: The clrctimstances under which you assemble could not well be more satisfactory. The condition of the State has never been more prosperous. During the year lust ended the products of our iields nave been unusually abundant. Our manufacturing" and mining industries have yielded good returns. Within the past year stto miles of railway have been built within theßtate—a larger number than in any previous year. Of the ninety-two counties in the State, there are only four through which railroads do not pass, and three of these; happily, border on the Ohio river. More than 225,000 acres of land have, during the year, been brougfitfor the first time into cultivation. The practice of underdraining soils charged with an ex<scss of moisture has never been so energetically prosecuted. Along with it has come increased productiveness, and a lessening of all malarial diseases. Our common schools, under the careful superintendence of a diligent and capable officer, have increased in usefulness and in public favor. THE STATE DEBT. The State is indebted as follows: Five per cent, certificates, State stock $14,460.(0 Two and one-half per cent, certificate", State stock 2,355.1(1 Fiv" per cent, bonds payable in New York, due Dec. 1, IHs9, but payable at the pkasnro of the State after April 1. 1884 585,000.10 Twenty-four intern il improvement bonds, past due 24,000.00 Six 5 per cent, internal improv ment bonds, due July 1, 1880, held by the Uu ted States 0,000 00 —i Total... : $631.82V12 The accumulated interest upon the twen-ty-four old bonds above mentioned should be added, but the precise amount cannot now be stated. The indebtedness of the State to the school fund Is evidenced by five non-negotiable bonds for the aggregate sum of $3,904,788.22, bearing 15 per cent interest; and the indebtedness to Purdue University is evidenced by one bond for $340,000, bearing 5 per cent interest RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. At the beginning of the fiscal vear 1881, there whs in the general fund it the State treasury a balance Of $504,894.94 There was received into the fund from all sources during the year... 1,408,026.08 Total $1,912,920.02 The total disbursements from the fund during the fiscal year were... 1,634,691.80 Leaving a balance at the end of that year $278,228.22 The estimats of expenditures for the support of the State Government for 1881, made In pursuance of law l.y the Auditor of State, in 1879, amounting to the aggregate sum of 1,206,576.09 These estimates were insufficient with respect to several important * items. The expenditures on account of benevolent atiel penal institutions exceeded the estimates by , 166,878.28 The expenses of the Legislature consequent upon the extra session, made necossarv by lie revision of the laws, were in excess of the estimates In the sum of 26,620.50 The estimates did not include the following items of disbursement: A transfer from the .general fund to i the State House fund, pursuant to an act of the General Assembly, of 100,000.00 A payment of remaining war loan bonds 139,000.00 A payment of an old internal improvement bond, -principal and interest 0 563.16 A payment of a per cent certificate of State stock 663.22 The salaries of five Commissioners appointed pursuant to an act of the Gener 1 Assembly, to aid the Supreme Court in bringing up its decisions in submitted cases 8,199.66 Expenses of Commissioner of Fisheries 600.00 Expenses relating to printing of Revised Statutes 516.69 Total $443,384.33 Deducting from the total disbursements fur the year 1881, which were, as above stated $1,634,691.80 The linestimated amounts above specified, viz - 443,381.33 { A balance Is left of $1,19 ,307.47 This amount, it will be perceived, is considerably below the Auditor’s estimate for that year. , The balance in the general fund at the beginning of the fiscal year 1882 (Nov 1,183 ), was $ 278,228.22 The total receipts to the iund during the fiscal year were 1,260,401.64 Total amount of general fund during the fiscal ye 'r 18-2 $1,538,629.86 * Deduct disbursements during this A balance is left at the end of the fiscal 'ear 1882 of $ 101,729.21 The estimates of | expenditure for the ; support of the State Government • for 882, made by the Auditor of * state in 880. were ....$1,174,470 01 The disbursements were in fact 1,436 900.65 ißetng in excess of the estimates $ 3 9,430.65 This excess is explained by the following disbursements: , There was transferred from the general fund to the State Hons ■ fund. .$ 200,000.00 The expenditures on account of the ■ benevolent and p; al institutions • exceeded t e estimates 41,677.05 Printing the Revised Statues not es- •' ttraaied for ;... 21,716 77 Other expenses connected wi.h the '• revision not est mated for 2,127.95 Appropriations t v the General As- , sembly to State Uni versify, Purdue 1 University and t.,e State Normal ■ School, in excess of estimates 11.500 CO Expense of 1 oard'of Visitors to ihe 1 Noimnl School not estimated for.. 113.85 State Board or Agr cultui e, regular annual appropriation and approJ piiation to pay interest on its bonds j 10,700.00 Supreme Court 1 Commissioners salaries - 19,951.48 Department of Geology and Natural Dis orv 4,510.30 Commissioner of Fisheries’ salary and expenses 808.33 Mine Inspector’s salary 1,5.0.00 Anpr priation for removing a har In Calumet river, caused by the con- * struct lon of a Slate ditch 5,802.90 Expenditure under act of the General Assembly for the survey of Kankakee river region 3,930.34 Erroneous payments by County Treasurers 956.45 Total $325,295.42 Deducting from the disbursements for he year 1882, which are as above stated , •.. $1,436,900.65 The t‘ tal amounts of the Items last mentioned for which no estimates were mpde 325,295.42 J Leaves ...* ' $'.111,606.23 This amount, it will be nerceived, falls considerably below the estinSte for 1882. . The estimate required by law to £e made

by the Auditor of State to the General Assembly at each biennial meeting, of the expenditures to be paid from the treasury for the ensuing two fiscal years, can not, of course, anticipate all the expenditures which may prove to be necessary. There are always, in the case even of items included in his estimate, appropriations which exceed the sums estimated, and there are always appropriations for other proper and necessary objects which naturally could not be foreseen when the Additor’s estimate was made. A chief purpose of the Auditor’s estimate is to enable the Legislature to perceive within what limits other disbursements must be confined, in order to avoid the necessity of a higher rate of taxation. When appropriations, however, have been made by the Legislature la excess of sums estimated, or for objects not included within the estimates, it is proper that they shall be brought to public attention, in order to undergo a fair public scrutiny. It will be perceived that the receipts to the general fund from all sources during the fiscal years 1881 and 1882 have fallen short of like receipts during the fiscal year 1880. The receipts to the general fund in 1880 were $1,477,(509.02, and in 1882 were only $1.2(50,401.(54, a falling off of $217,208128 during the latter yeSl*. The cause of this decrease is as follows: The appraisement of all taxable real estate in this State was, prior to the passage of the statute of 1881, required by law to be made once In five years. The last appraisement was mode in 1880. The next preceding one was in? 1875, when the prices of real estate were yet inflated. The appraisement of 1880 fell below that of 1875-$155,424,597. The assessed value of personal property in 1880 was also less than in 1879 by $54,223,545. None of the taxes levied under this lower assessment were payable to the State Treasurer until in May, 1881. At that time half of the State taxes for 1880 were required by law to be paid into the treasury. The other half was not required to be paid into the treasury until in January, 1882. The taxes collected for the fiscal year 1381 were one-half collected under the high valuation of real estate made in 1875, and one-half under the lower valuation of 1880. The taxes for the fiscal year 1882 were all dolleeted ’ under the lower valuation of 1880. The taxes feCeived into the State treasury in 1881 fell short of the taxes received in 1879 for the reasons above stated $40,974.27, and in 1882 Ml short of the taxes received in 1879 $ 158,1X53.77. For the last two fiscal years, therefore, the State Government has had to be conducted on less revenue • than for several years preceding. Although, however, no now appraisement of the real estate will be made for purposes of taxation until the year 1880, the great increase of personal property has begun to lie apparent on the tax lists, and by 1884 will probably have swollen the total value of taxables to as high an amount as they have been in any period of the State’s history. An addition to the revenues of the -State will be apparent hereafter by the higher appraisement of the State Board of Equalization, during the years 1881 and 1882, of the right of way and other property of railroad companies. The enlarged earnings of these companies were deemed to justify an average increase to the extent of 10 per cent. In the valuation of property returned by them for taxation. In addition to this increase there has been an increased assessment, through the vigilance of the Auditor of State, by securing aii assessment of buildings and improvements, such as machine shops and other expensive structures, situate on what the courts have interpreted to be the ‘'right of way” of these companies, which, since 1872, had, for the most part, escaped taxation. The revenue, however, from the taxation of such buildings and improvements would be still further augmented, without an infliction of injustice, by a requirement that they shall be apiiraisecl by local officers in the townships in which' they are situate. The Btate Board of Equalization can never ascertain their value with satisfactory accu-

racy. llnder a loose interpretation given to our statute concerning voluntary associations the State’s revenues from insurance companies are being diminished, and an injury is being inflicted upon many communities Dy irresponsible and fraudulent insurance companies, from other States and at home, which are engaged in the transaction of business under the shelter of that enactment These companies have so far affected the business of sound and responsible companies, doing a fair and legitimate business, and honestly paying their taxes, as seriously to diminish their earnings and to make some of them contemplate a withdrawal of their agencies from the State. There is need for a prompt adoption of such measures os will put a stop to fraudulent aud Bjiccuiative schemes which, sheltering themselves under the law of the State, inflict great injury upon our citizens, and bring reproach upon the State itself. THE benevolent institutions. The average dally number of inmates in the Hospital for the Insane during the last fiscal year was 1,070. The average cost per eapita for maintenance, exclusive of clothing, is stated to have been $184.97. The number of pupils at the Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, at the end of the last fiscal year, was 344 The average daily attendance is not given in the reports.. The cost per capita is stated to have been $156.82. The number of pupils enrolled at the Institute for the Education of the Blind, during Hie fiscal year, was 126. The reports do not give toe average daily attendance. The cost per capita is stated to have been $21(5.67. The number of pupils at the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home and toe Asylum for FeebleMinded Children, institutions under one roof and one government, is stated in toe Superintendent’s report to have been as follows: Soldiers’ orphans present at the end of the fiscal year, 187. Twenty other orphans are accounted for by toe Superintendent’s statement that three have “eloped,” and that seventeen have failed to return after the summer vacation. Of feeble-minded children, eighty-one pupils are reported as having been present at toe end of toe fiscal year*, and fourteen as discharged or away temporarily. The latter fourteen are said, in the Trustees’ report, not to have returned from the summer vacation. The cost of maintenance is stated by toe Superintendent to have been $125 per capita. The average daily attendance Is not specified. The two last-named institutions are not, with respect to the reports required of the Trustees and Superintendent, governed by the statute relating to toe other benevolent institutions. The statute does not define with the same particularity what the reports shall contain. Nor does tile statute relating to any of them define the mode of determining the cost per capita of maintaining their inmates. An examination of the reports of the several institutions will, I think, show that a uniform rule of ascertainment does not prevail, and that the mode of ascertainment in one or two of them, quite unintentionally, no doubt, is untrustworthy. I recommend that a common requirement be adopted with respect to what shall be shown in the reports of the Trustees and Superintendents of toe several institutions, and that the manner in which toe cost per capita of maintaining the inmates shall bo ascertained shall be specifically defined by law. Your attention is specially invited to the recommendations contained in toe report of toe Trustees of the Hospital for toe Insane, and which are strongly reinforced in the able and Instructive report of toe Superintendent; of that institution. The capacity of toe buildings erected by the State for the care of the insane, spacious aud imposing as they ore, is sufficient for little more toon half of the State's insane. Those who are unable, for lack of room in

the State’s Hospital, to be admitted as patients, suffer great, and often cruel, neglect. They are confined in uncomfortable and sometimes shocking quarters in poorhouses, where they receive insufficient attention, or they are a burden upon poor kindred who are unable to make adequate provision for them, and to whom they are a source of distressing anxiety, and often of danger. Our provision for the insane is bo Inadequate that it falls quite below the provision made for the same class of sufferers by neighboring States. The mode suggested by the Superintendent for enlarging hospital accommodations is commended to your earnest consideration. The provision contained In our statutes for ascertaining the number of insane, deaf and dumb, blind and idiotic persons is imperfectly executed. Township Assessors are charged with the duty of ascertaining at the time of assessing personal property the number of such persons in their respective townships; but this requirement is so frequently neglected that these lists furnish very imperfect information. A specific penalty Rhould be prescribed for a neglect to perform this important duty. The clause in the revised code which provides that a summons against an insane person w*ho has no guardian shall, where such person is confined in a hospital, be served Xn the Superintendent, is regarded generby the legal profession as not being applicable to writs of summons issued in divorce cases, and against administrators and guardians in the course of the settlement of estates. The consequence is that inmateg of the Insane Hospital are often greatly excited, and their recovery retarded, by a personal service upon them of writs. This clause of the statute should, it would seem, be made to include all writs of summons in civil proceedings. I recommend that, in the Department for Women in this Hospital, it shall be required by law that at least one of the physibians shall be a woman. 'There are now* in this State not a few women who bear diplomas from respectable medical colleges, and who are qualified by professional attainments and experience to nil places as physicians in public institutions with credit and usefulness. It would be peculiarly fit that their services should be sought in cases of insanity among members of their own sex. Three claims of considerable magnitude are pending against the State for work and materials under contracts entered into with the Provisional Board of the Insane Hospital, it being the board charged by law with the duty of constructing the building for the department for women. Two of the claims have been refused. One has been allowed by a compromise with the contractor, subject to a condition that the Legislature will make an appropriation for Its payment, there being now no appropriation available for that use. The facts relating to the case, briefly stated, are these: The Provisional Boara advertised for bids for the brick work of the building, the work to be executed and paid for according to the plans and specifications of the State’s architect. The specifications provided for a measurement of the work in the wall as the work progressed, according to the rule of mason measurement of work in the wall then in use in Indianapolis. The bid of the claimant, John Martin, was accepted. Before, however, a formal contract had been entered into with him, the State's Superintendent of Construction,, himself a member of the board, desiring that what were the rules of mason measurement of brick in the wall at Indianapolis should be precisely defined in the contract, requested the claimant to allow a clause to be inserted, providing that the measurement contemplated should be according to the printed rules of the master builders and contractors for brick work in this city. The clause having been inserted, the contract was reported to the board and signed on behalf of the State by Gov. Hendricks, the President, and by every other member.' Before the allowance to the claimant was made, for which he will ask an appropriation, the work was carefully measured by the State’s architect and by two experts specially appointed by the board for that purpose, and their several measurements having agreed, the allowance was made in conformity thereto.

It is perhaps due to Mr. Martin to state that In a report made to the Governor by the Superintendent of Construction, wh Ai the work was nearly completed, he referred to his work as having been prosecuted diligently, and in the most satisfactory manner and added that he felt it due to’Mr. Martin to make a public record of toe fact that he had “from the beginning manifested a constant, active and earnest interest in his work, with an- evident purpose that it should be an honest job, creditable to the State as well as to himself. ” The capacity of toe Institution for toe Education of toe Blind is now insufficient for toe accommodation of more than half of the blind youth who, by law, are entitled to the benefits of the institution. The edifice was completed for toe admission of blind pupils more than thirty years ago, and has never been enlarged. Applicants are constantly refused admission to toe institution on account of a want of room. Provision should be made by law for an enlargement of toe building. The Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home and Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children should be regarded, on account of toe character of both classes of pupils, with particular favor. It has had to struggle under the difficulty of narrow appropriations, and, during a part of its history, with other difficulties hardly less serious The instructors have, however, been diligent and devoted to duty, and toe progress of»toe pupils has been highly satisfactory. The soldiers’ orphans have been particularly proficient in their studies, and the success attained in unfolding and strengthening the faculties of the feebleminded children has been most encouraging. A sufficient appropriation should be immediately made to provide additional securities against tire. The means of escape in case of a sudden fire are wholly inadequate. Outside stairways at the outer end of the main halls should be erected as soon as possible; and, as toe building is already furnished with gas pipes, a gas generator should be erected so as to supply the building with a safe light for illumination, so that the use of oil lamps may be discontinued. PENAL AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Your attention Is particularly invited to the report of the House pf Refuge for Juvenile Offenders. The average number of inmates during toe year was 850. The expense of providing toe equipments and instructors requisite for teaching toe boys in this institution the most useful manual occupations has been found too great, in the opinion of past Legislatures, to warrant them in making toe necessary appropriations. A boy, as the case now is, though instructed in the simpler branches of education, leaves the institution, in most cases, little better fitted to earn a livelihood, so far as manual skill is concerned, than when he entered it. He is too apt. on that account, to fall back into a life of crime. A system of industrial education has recently found much favor, which, not professing to teach manual trades, gives boys a dexterity in handicraft which may be equally useful in many different tradea It instructs them in the use of what, it has been said, are the “half-dozen universal tools, viz.: the hammer, saw, plane, chisel, file and square.” It is said that “in all constructions a certain number of typical forms are found, which, being more or less modified, adapt themselves to special casea These forms will also shape themselves into groups, each to be worked out in a certain way and with special tools; and the student taught to work out these forms, each in the best way and with toe tools best suited for the work will be far advanced in toe skill which will make him available and useful in construction. ” A boy instructed in this way

in a knowledge of forms, and, acquiring aptness and dexterity in the use of tools, would leave the institution with a feeling of capability and of self-confidence; could more readily obtain emplovment; and could speedily qualify himself for almost any of the various lucrative trades. One teacher, it has been found, can instruct thirty-two students at a time in this system, and, boys going through the exercises in separate classes at different times, the education can be imparted with very little cost either in implements or materials. I Invite your attention to the schools that, at Boston, St Louis and elsewhere, have recently entered upon this new system of industrial education for indigent boys, and to the propriety of such legislation as will give it a fair trial in our House of Refuge.

Under the guise of committing children to this institution as incorrigible, or as juvenile offenders, children are often sent to it by the courts who are simply poor, or whose parents, desiring to get riu of the cost or care of iearing them, are willing to make them a charge upon the State. Children merely poor should not be allowed to be thrown x»to association with juvenile offenders, and .the sternest vigilance should be practiced to pi event negligent parents from shifting l tipon the State the responsibility of maintaining and rearing their offspring. Beside, it is not possible to ascertain to what extent the class of boys intended to be received into this institution are reformed, if children not criminal or incorrigible are admitted Sufficient provision should promptly be made by law, against the abuse of admitting boys not belonging to the classes of criminal and incorrigible. The recommendation of the Superintendent that boys released from the institution upon tickets-of-leave shall be placed by law under the surveillance of tne Township Trustees in the counties to which they are sent, secmß to be a most judicious one. A knowledge by boys thus released that their conduct was watched by persons of character, for an honest purpose of preserving their morals, would help to restrain them from turning to crime. The additional advantage would also be gained that, if they should fall again into a profligate life, they could promptly be returned to the institution for further ciiscipline. The management of the Reformatory for Women and Girls deserves unqualified commendation. A desire to keep expenditures within the limits of appropriations, and to administer the institution with proper economy, has been constantly evident The proportion of inmates who, after their return to their homes, lead correct lives is greater than the most sanguine might reasonably have expected. There is reason for regret that, in selecting a site for the Reformatory, more regard was not had to convenient facilities for sewerage. The only means of conveying the sewage from the buildings is by the current of a rivulet that, after passing through the grounds, runs through a populous part of Indianapolis. With all the care that can be exercised and an exhaustion of all means of purification, complaints are made of offensive odors. The stream, after passing through the grounds of the Reformatory, runs in part throijgh, and in part near the edge of, the United States Arsenal grounds, and persons there employed have induced the authorities at Washington to cause a suit to be instituted in the United States Circuit Court at Indianapolis to enjoin the Trustees from allowing the sewage to be conveyed through said stream. Nothing but a belief that the present Legislature will, by a proper law, provide for building a sewer by which the waste from the Reformatory will be carried off by other means than said stream lias, it is believed, prevented an allowance of an injunction. Provision by law for the construction of a proper sewer is imperatively necessary. An act was passed by the last General Assembly providing for the construction of such a sewer at the joint expense of the State and the city of Indianapolis; but, as the consent of the city to bear its proportion of the outlay was requisite before the work could be undertaken, the work fell through, the city not having given the needed consent As the sewer will be of material benefit to the city, it is just that it should bear a due proportion of the expense. The necessity for a walled inclosure for the purpose of allowing a space for needful exercise for women sentenced for crimes, whom it would be unsafe to permit to be at large upon open grounds, is evident, and an appropriation of the comparatively small amount asked for by the managers would seem to be most proper. The State’s Prisons at Jeffersonville and at Michigan City are more nearly self-support-ing than they have been for several years. The average number of prisoners at the former prison during the past year was 5(54. The average number of prisoners at the prison at Michigan City was (521. The Specific Appropriation bill, which failed at the last session of the General Assembly on account of its consideration having been deferred to too late a period of the session, contained an appropriation of $5,000 for building special wards at the prison at Michigan City for the use of insane prisoners, and for a transfer to that prison of all insane prisoners in the prison at Jeffersonville. I earnestly urge the appropriation of a proper sum of money for the building of cells at the former prison for insane prisoners, which shall be remote from the cells of other convicts. The insane convicts are at present, for want of any other provision, kept in cells so near those 'of other prisoners that their cries at night disturb and frequently destroy the rest of these hard-worked man, whose condition at the end of each day’s labor requires that they should have undisturbed repose. It is cruel and discreditable to require prisoners deprived night after night successively of needful sleep to perform the laborious daily tasks demanded of them by the practice of the prisons. Insane persons require, also, a very different attentioh from that given to the sane, and from that which necessarily they are now accustomed to receive. The abbreviation of the terms of sentences allowed by statute to prisoners for good conduct Is believed not to lie sufficiently liberal. No incentive to good behavior is found to be so strong with them as a knowledge that such behavior will shorten the term of imprisonment. I earnestly recommend legislation giving to prisoners whose conduct has been continually exemplary a large credit for good conduct on their sentences. The effect of such legislation would be followed, I have no doubt, by a great improvement in discipline and a lessening of expense in the conduct of the prisona Complaint is made by the city authorities of Michigan City that the sewage of the prison at that city, which is conveyed into a small stream qailed Fish Lake creek occasions a nuisance injurious to the health of the inhabitants. Tne growth of the city has recently been rapid, and its limits now extend beyond the point at which this refuse is conveyed into the stream. The necessity for the construction of a sewer by the State seems to be urgent i EDUCATION. The number of persons in the State of school age, viz., between the ages of (5 and 21 years, is 709,424. The number admitted to the schools was, in 1882, 498,792. The average daily attendance of pupils last year was .5,513. The uumber of school teachers Is 18,259, The number of school-houses in the State is 9,550, of which forty-eight are log, eiglity-three are stone, 2,481 are brick and (5,944 are frame. The amount of the public school fund is $9,138,408.81. The addition made to it annually, taking as a basis an average of the nast five years exceeds $54,000. This sum does not include the large sum—about $260,000 a year—received from particular licenses and

other sources, and applied each year to tuition. The amount of tuition money derived from interest on the school funds m 1882 was $<550,173.4L The whole amount received from State and local tuition taxes was $2,059,616.44 The proportion of the entire expense of tuition paid from taxes. State and local, was 57 per cent. It will thus be seen that, ample as our school fund is, three-fourths of the expenses of tuition are derived from public taxes The fact that these taxes are paid without complaint is thfe highest evidence of the esteem in which the public school system is held. The report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is replete with interesting facts and suggestions. The State Normal School is shown, bjr the report of the Trustees and Superintendent, to be in a highly flourishing condition. The average number of students during the last year was 802. The need for a moderate appropriation for the purchase, of apparatus for instruction in the science* is urgent. '• The important suggestions contained in the reports of the Trustees of the State University, and of the Trustees and President of Purdue University, will properly engage your most considerate attention. STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. The State Board of Agriculture has shown commendable zeal during the past year in the discharge of its official dufaea It is required by law to hold a meeting in the month of January of every year, together with the delegates from the several county societies, for the purpose of deliberation and consultation respecting the “wants, prospect and condition of agriculture throughout the State.” At this meeting reports from the county societies, required to be made annually, with regard to the condition of. agriculture in the several counties, are delivered, pursuant to law, to the President of the State Board. It, was doubtless the expectation of the framers of this statute that these county reports would furnish the chief basis for tlie deliberations and consul-’ tations of the board relating to the condition and prospects of agriculture in the State. If filed a proper time before the January meeting they doubtless would, but, notbeing delivered until after the meeting has. begun, they cannot be examined during the meeting with any care, and therefore form no basis for consultation or deliberation. The consequence is that they are, as a gen-, eral rule, hastily prepared, contain little varied or specific information, and fail to present with f ullness or vividness the condition of agriculture in the counties. If the reports were required to be delivered to the Secretary of the State Board by the Ist of December of each year, and ft were made his duty to present to the board at its January meeting a copious abstract of their contents, and to arrange and index them so that the several subjects could be readily referred to, they would soon form a qasis for the deliberations and discussions of the board, and their quality would be greatly improved. It would be good policy for the State to offer a reasonable premium annually for the best county report This would excite emulation, and in the end would make these reports of much value to our farmers. Some of the professors of Purdue University—the State’s agricultural college—devote the greater part of every year to studies and experiments in agriculture. If these particular professors were made members of the State Board, they would impart much freshness and interest to its discussions, and give to it increased energy and spirit I recommend that two members of the Faculty of Purdue University be made ex ojjuio members of the board.

MINES AND MINERS. The number of coal mines in the State is 150. The number of miners employed in them is 5,100. The production exceeds 2,000,000 tons a year. The law in relation to coal mines, though carefully framed, is believed to need some amendment in order to give proper security to the lives of miners. The State Inspector is a practical miner of long experience, and thoroughly acquainted with the needs of mines. Hempen ropes for hoisting are, in his opinion, unsafe in cases of fira Beside, no ordinary inspection can detect with certainty secret defects which often render them unreliable. Steel-wire ropes should be required to be substituted in their place. Every mine, in the Inspector’s opinion, should have at least two outlets. Where a furnace is employed for purposes of ventilation, and one of the outlets is used for the escape of smoke and steam, the outlet so Used is useless as a means of retreat in case of sudden danger. A mine in this condition has practically but one outlet. An additional one should, in such cases, be required. It is made the duty of the Mine Inspector to examine all scales used iu any coal mine, for the purpose of weighing coal taken out of the mine. Miners are usually paid by the ton for their work. Justice to them and the preservation of harmony between them and their employers require that correct scales shall be used. The State, however, not having provided the Inspector with sealed weights, he has no accurate means of determining satisfactorily whether scales are cor-s rect. The State should provide him with a set of sealed weighta COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. Tha General Assembly, at its special session in 1881, enacted a law providing for an appointment by the Governor of a Commissioner of Fisheries Commissioners had previously been appointed, under provisions of law, in thirty-one States of the Union and two of the Territories. I appointed to the office a gentleman who had given much study to the habits of fishes and to their propagation, and had been specially successful in the cultivation of the carp. I invite your attention to the suggestions contained in his report The law of 1881 seems to have been intended rather to set on foot an intelligent investigation into the best means of restoring our many fishing streams and of preventing a renewal of the reprehensible practices by which they have been impoverished, than to provide an efficient plan for supplying these streams, or to prevent a wanton or thoughtless depopulation of them. The business of fishing, if our fishes were undisturbed in the spawning season, would soon become a profitable industry, and would give employment to many citizens. A most wholesome and nutritious food would soon be made abundant The temperature of our streams and lakes, and their purity, adapt them to a great variety of fishes. The black bass, which multiply so rapidly when their spawning grounds are undisturbed that artificial propagation is never necessary, is native to our streams. The carp can be successfully and inexpensively cultivated It has been described by Prof. Baird, the United States Fish Comissioner, as being emphatically a farmer’s fish, on account of requiring little more care than his swine and poultry. If Indiana has lagged somewhat behind a majority of her sister States in providing for restocking her nearly numberless streams,and the beautiful lakes which abound near her northern border, shall she not make up for time neglected by a prompt adoption of the best methods, by the passage of wise protective laws, and by a resolute spirit on the part of her inhabitants to secure their enforcement? TBE DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS. The Department of Statistics, separated by the last General Assembly from the Department of Geology, has been conducted with zeal and energy, and has collected statistics on a variety of subjects of general popular interest. Its monthly crop reports ' have been received with much favor by farmers and by dealers in produce. It has, during the past year, organized a corps ojf efficient weather observers, who have reported monthly to the head of the depart-