deficits in Antigua and St. Kitts, notwithstanding an abundant sugar crop, and labor riots in the latter island. The governments of the Windward Islands were insolvent and that of Barbadoes in financial difficulties, notwithstanding severe retrenchments and an increase of taxation. The abandonment of sugar estates in St. Vincent had been announced, and cultivation was being reduced in Trinidad and with serious rapidity in British Guiana, involving the loss of capital invested in expensive machinery. There seemed to be no prospect of an alternative industry soon taking the place of sugar cultivation in British Guiana or Barbadoes, where a large amount of capital was invested, and if this industry were abandoned the coolies in the former colony and the negroes in the latter would be thrown on the hands of an insolvent Administration, which would be unable to provide for their repatriation in the one case, although bound by contract to do so, or for their support or immigration in the other case. The circumstances of Antigua, St. Kitts, and Nevis were analogous on a smaller scale. The banking establishments in the West Indies were involved in the sugar industry to such an extent that a collapse of that industry would bring about a disastrous financial crisis. The special danger in the outlook lay in the fact that the sugar industry employs far more labor per acre than any possible substitute, and that no possible substitute was immediately available; that the revenue depended directly on the industry, so that the administrations were liable to be financially crippled, when they would be subjected to the greatest strain; and that any general failure of employment could be confidently expected to produce, if not immediate rioting, at least a very dangerous and unstable situation, in which more efficient police arrangements than existed in the majority of the islands, and possibly the presence of troops or ships of war, might be necessary to maintain order. The position of affairs had become so serious that Mr. Chamberlain was unwilling to acquiesce longer in the policy of nonintervention in regard to the sugar bounties without studying the probable cost to the. British exchequer, and without knowing as clearly as possible at what cost it might be to the welfare and stability of the West Indian colonies and to industries in which English capital was largely invested. The English Government had not pressed a bill introduced in 1889 to give effect to the sugar-bounties convention for the reason that these bounties gave a substantial advantage to certain British industries. It had now become a question whether the continued enjoyment of this advantage did not involve the ruin of the British sugar-producing colonies. The new German export bounties were from £1 58. to £1 15s. a ton; the French bounty was already equivalent to a grant of £3 58. a ton, and by the new law this bounty was raised to £4 10s. a ton. The effect of these liberal bounties and of the protective customs duties and the excise duty which is £10 a ton in Germany and £24 a ton in France was to make sugar 3d. or 34d. cheaper in England than it was on the Continent.

The Treasury concurred in Mr. Chamberlain's proposition for a royal commission, which was appointed in December, 1896, consisting of Gen. Sir Henry Norman, chief commissioner, and Sir David Barbour and Sir Edward Grey. The commissioners visited all the colonies and made an elaborate report, which was issued on Oct. 2, 1897. During the fifteen years in which the manufacture of beet sugar in Europe had been rapidly developed under the bounty system, which cost the taxpayers of Germany, France, and Austria £32,000,000 a year to maintain, the world's production of sugar

had risen from 3,799,284 tons in 1882 to 7,474,000 tons, and prices had fallen from 29.148. to 14.758. per hundredweight for refined and from 21.15s. to 10.348. for unrefined sugar. In the same period the cost of production had been reduced in British Guiana, the principal sugar-raising colony, from £16 18. 7d. a ton to £9 and in some exceptional cases to £8 08. 6d. a ton. The world's production of sugar had doubled in fifteen years, but that of the West Indies had not increased in the same proportion. At the same time the average cost of production had been reduced to half what it formerly was, but only the most advanced of the West Indian producers had succeeded in halving the cost.

Not all the colonies are dependent on sugar exclusively for their prosperity. Jamaica and Trinidad have other economic resources. Grenada has already given up the production of sugar for export, and the export from Dominica has been largely reduced. The commissioners found the condition of things in the sugar colonies very serious and rapidly approaching a crisis. They did not believe that the abolition of the bounty system on the Continent of Europe would restore the West India industry to its former prosperity. They believed, however, that it would render possible the maintenance of a large proportion of the present area of cane cultivation, and advised the Government to aim at the abolition, even at some sacrifice. In British Guiana and Barbadoes, where the soil is exceptionally favorable for the production of rich cane, and where the latest processes and the best machinery are already employed, only a few estates can now manage to make both ends meet. In the bulk of the colonies the governments will soon be unable to meet the absolutely necessary expenses of administration, to provide for the interest in their debts, pensions, even the maintenance of the poor and the wages of the police. The commissioners expressed the decided opinion that the mother country must submit to sacrifices in one shape or another in behalf of the colonies. The British Government stands under a direct moral responsibility for the black population, brought originally to the islands as slaves. The establishment of the negroes as small landowners, the introduction of new crops by the aid of botanic stations, the improvement of communications between the islands, and the encouragement of the fruit trade with New York were the palliatives suggested, for which the British Government was advised to contribute £27,000 a year for ten years, with a further grant of £20,000 a year for five years to enable the colonial governments to meet their ordinary expenditure, an immediate grant of £60,000 to clear off the floating debts of some of the smaller islands, and one of £30,000 for the settlement of the laboring population on the land. Sir Henry Norman proposed to meet the bounties with a countervailing duty, making sugar perhaps a halfpenny a pound dearer to the British consumer. The other commissioners did not join in this recommendation. The policy of some of the States of the American Union to encourage the cultivation of the sugar beet threatened the sugar colonies with a new danger, for the United States are the principal market for West Indian sugar. At the suggestion of West Indian planters and proprietors, the British Government instructed its ambassador at Washington to ascertain the views of the United States Government in regard to reciprocity trade relations between the British West Indian colonies and the United States under the clause of the Dingley tariff bill by which a reduction of 20 per cent. on the import duties in the United States may be obtained in exchange for equivalent remissions of duties on American goods.

WEST VIRGINIA, a Southern State, admitted to the Union June 19, 1863; area, 24,780 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census, was 442,014 in 1870; 618,547 in 1880; and 762,749 in 1890. Capital, Charleston.

Government. The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, George W. Atkinson; Treasurer, M. A. Kendall; Auditor,

GEORGE W. ATKINSON, GOVERNOR OF WEST VIRGINIA.

J. M. Lafollette; Attorney-General, E. P. Rucker; Superintendent of Schools, J. R. Trotter-all Republicans; Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, John W. English: Associate Judges, Marmaduke H. Dent, Henry Brannon, and H. C. McWhorter; Clerk, O. S. Long-all Democrats except McWhorter, Republican.

Finances.-The biennial report of the Treasurer shows that at the beginning of the fiscal year 1895'96 there was in the treasury the sum of $883,683.74; receipts from all sources during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1896, $1,524,879.45; total in treasury during the same fiscal year, $2,408,563.19; amount disbursed during the year, $1,581,233.76: balance in treasury Oct. 1, 1896, of all funds, $827,329.43. This balance was made up of: The State fund, $238,980.63; the general school fund, $327,076.98: the school fund, $261,271.82. The Auditor made the following estimate of the receipts at the treasury for the year ending Sept. 30, 1897: For the State fund, $795,000; balance on hand, $238,980.63; total, $1,033.980.63; charges for the year, $721,158; leaving a balance of $312.822.63. Receipts for the general school fund, $376,500; add balance on hand, $327.076.98; total, $703,576.98. Receipts for the school fund, $30,000; add balance on hand, $261.271.32; total, $291,271.32. Estimated receipts for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1898: For the State fund, $785,000; add estimated balance on hand, $312,822.63; total, $1,097,822.63; estimated charges for the year, $555,825; leaving a probable balance of $541,997.63.

Banks.-The State Bank Examiner reported the condition of the State banks, savings banks, and trust and investment companies as follows for the year ending Sept. 30, 1896: Resources-loans and discounts, $10,585,202.05; overdrafts, $51,011.93; real estate, furniture, and fixtures, $969,884.29; stocks and bonds, $989,106.45; due from banks, $1,714,153.46; current expenses, $123,386.09; cash and cash items, $1,325,254.94; other resources, $5,611.09; total, $15,763,610.30. Liabilities-capital stock paid in, $3,265,550; surplus fund, $903,915.81; undivided profits, $301,332.89; dividends unpaid, $3.223.80; due to banks, $543,218.67; deposits, $10,609,880.96; bills payable and rediscounts, $136,357.17; other liabilities, $131; total, $15,763,610.30. The Bank Examiner compares these results with those of 1891, when the first State report on banks was made, as showing the marvelous progress in material wealth and in banking" during the five years. In 1891 the total number of State banking institutions was only 42, against 60 in 1896, an increase in five years of nearly 43 per cent. Then the total capital stock paid in was $2,470,884.16, against $3,265,550 in 1896, an increase of over 33 per cent. Then the deposits subject to check were $8,331,940.97, against $10,609,880.96 in 1896, an increase of over 27 per cent. A similar gain appears in the loans and discounts. In 1891 the surplus fund was $526,388.18, against $903,915,81 in 1896, an increase of nearly 72 per cent. A comparison of the surplus fund of 1895 with that of 1896 shows an increase in one year of $113,472.71, and the undivided profits for 1896 were $50,527.56 more than in 1895.

Valuations.-The following valuations were reported for the year: Real estate, $141,925,633; personal property, $51,307,197: railroad property, $22,437,102; total value of all property, $215,669,

932.

66

The following is a summary of the condition of the 33 national banks of the State for the year ending Oct. 6, 1896: Resources-loans and discounts, $8,405,921.11; overdrafts, $54,605.01; stocks and bonds, $1,917,987.83; real estate, furniture, and fixtures, $613,931.01; due from banks and reserve agents, $1,173,352.85; cash and cash items on hand, $1,209,037.23; total, $13,374,835.04. Liabilitiescapital stock paid in, $3,451,000; surplus fund, $832,457.27; undivided profits, $297,415.40; national bank circulation, $1,151,120; due to banks, $337,642.90; dividends unpaid, $10,748.58; deposits, $7,200,450.89; bills payable and rediscounts, $94,000; total, $13,374,835.04. With an aggregate of capital stock slightly in excess of that of the State banking institutions, and with an increase in capital from 1895 to 1896 slightly in excess of that of the latter, the national banks of the State increased their deposits a little over 6 per cent. In the same time the State banks increased their deposits over 9 per cent. The national banks gained in deposits in one year $421,945.56, and the State banks $911,812.86. The loans and discounts for the same time grew in substantially the same proportions. The surplus fund of the State banks grew from $790,443 in 1895 to $903,915 in 1896, an increase of nearly 15 per cent., while for the same year the surplus of the national banks increased from $792,417 to $832,457, a gain of but little more than 5 per cent., or scarcely more than one third as much as that of the State banks. The examiner observes that, with a smaller capital and without any note-issuing department, the State institutions outstripped the national banks, not only in the business done, but also in the profits realized.

Insurance. In 1896 73 fire insurance companies were doing business in the State with these results: Risks written during the previous year, $29,102,414.84; premiums received, $397,006.78; losses paid, $214,608.96. The 37 life insurance companies wrote risks to the amount of $7,335,554; premiums received. $678,162; losses paid, $170,844. The 29 assessment life companies wrote risks to the amount of $880,950; premiums received, $45,302;

losses paid, $24,607. The accident, plate-glass, and other miscellaneous companies wrote risks amounting to $8,313,724; premiums received, $66,251; losses paid, $47,448.

Education. The Superintendent of Free Schools reported the total enumeration of school children in the State, white and colored, at 296,517, an increase over the previous year of 7,243; total enrollment, 215,665, a decrease of 2,043; total number not attending school, 80,825, an increase of 9,251; average daily attendance, 141,081; teachers employed, 6,454; total number of schoolhouses, 5,475; value of schoolhouses, $2,462,196; value of school lands, $351,589 The chief part of the school revenues is derived from "local levies "—that is, magisterial districts, independent school districts, and city levies, as laid by the various boards of education. These levies are made up of what is known as the "teachers' fund" and the "building fund," the former of which in 1896 amounted to $1,255,396.96, and the latter to $560,189.28, an aggregate of $1,815,586.25, which, added to the gross amount of the general school fund, viz., $405,650.98, gives a total of $2,221,273.22 expended for school purposes in 1896. Adding to this amount the sum of $21,200 expended by the State for the improvement and maintenance of the State University, and $56,950 expended for the State Normal School and its branches, there results a grand total of $2,299,387.22 expended by the State in 1896 for primary, secondary, and higher education. Enrollment in the normal schools amounted to 1,202, and 27 teachers were employed.

Coal and Oil.-The coal product of the State was reported as follows: Number of mines, 190; loaded at mines for shipment. 8,858,256 short tons; sold to local trade and used by employees, 445,023 short tons; used at mines for steam and heat, 50,595 short tons; made into coke, 2,034,087 short tons; total product, 11,387,961 short tons; total value, $7,710,575; average number of employees, 19,159.

The product of the oil fields was 8,120,125 barrels, of which 8,109,782 barrels were classed as illuminating and 10,343 barrels as lubricating oil; total value of product, $11,038,770, an average of $1.36 a barrel. The average per barrel of the illuminating oil was $1.359, and the lubricating oil as $2.04. Agriculture.-The Commissioner of Labor reported: Total number of farms in the State, 73,128. Acres in farms-total, 10.321,326; improved, 4,554,000; unimproved, 5,767,326. Valuation-land, fences, and buildings, $155,635,801; improvements and machinery, $3,245,420; live stock, $17,254,575; estimated value of farm products, $14,717,866; estimated cost of fertilizers purchased, $414,529. Farm acreage and products were given as follow: Wheat, 348,229 acres, 3,695,975 bushels; corn, 593,608 acres, 16,126,183 bushels; oats, 203,144 acres, 3,033,628 bushels; buckwheat, 14,113 acres, 125,014 bushels; rye, 14,541 acres. 118,167 bushels; potatoes, 26,503 acres, 1,938,106 bushels. Farms cultivated by owners, 60,152; farms under 10 acres, 1,535; 10 acres and under 20, 2,239; 20 acres and under 50, 9,735; 50 acres and under 100, 17,329; 100 acres and under 500, 27.294; 500 acres and under 1,000, 1,465; 1,000 acres and over, 555. Farms rented for fixed money value, 4,296; rented for share of product, 8,680.

Legislative Session.-By the passage of a joint resolution the Legislature organized a commission to revise the Constitution of the State, the commission consisting of 9 members of the House and 6 of the Senate, appointed by the presiding officers of the respective bodies. This commission will report to the next session of the General Assembly. It voted down a proposition to grant the right of suffrage to women.

Among the acts passed by the General Assembly were the following:

Appropriating $2,000 to mark the positions occupied by West Virginia troops at the battle of Gettysburg,

Requiring the removal of hats and bonnets during theatrical performances where an admission fee is charged.

Establishing an industrial home for girls.
Providing for a game and fish warden.

To prevent the administering of anæsthetics or narcotics to females by any physician or dentist except in the presence of some third person.

Creating a dairy and food commission.

WIRE GLASS. This name is given to a woven netting of wire imbedded in sheets of molded glass for use in skylights and other places where there is liability to breakage. It was first introduced as a successful article of merchandise in 1893, and is now in general use in large railway stations, factories, etc., all over the United States. The principal factories are at Philadelphia and St. Louis, operating under the patents of Frank Shuman, of Philadelphia, who perfected the process. Before the introduction of wire glass it was customary to protect large skylights with screens of wire netting on the inside so that when breaks occurred glass might not fall on persons below. Such protection was absolutely necessary in the case of glazing placed 50 or 100 feet above the level, where a large number of people were obliged to pass. The separate wire netting was unsatisfactory, however, in that it allowed small pieces of glass to drop through and in that it interfered with the cleaning of the glass, thus tending to darken the interior, a serious matter in large workshops and railway stations where the glass was being continually smoked. As long ago as 1871 efforts were made to cast wire netting within the glass by Thomas Hyatt, of England, but he failed to find means to keep the wire in the center of the glass, and could only make it in small panes. In 1882, 1887, and 1888 processes were patented in Germany and England, but they proved to be commercially impractical. The Shuman United States patent of 1892 solved all the difficulties and secured for the inventor the John Scott legacy and premium medal from the Franklin Institute. With this process it is necessary that the wire netting shall be kept at a heat within a few degrees of the temperature of melted glass. The iron casting table is set in the floor of the shop and the molten glass poured on with a large ladle. A frame carrying four large iron rollers is then run over the glass. The first roller smooths and levels the hot glass; the second roller carries in the redhot netting and imbeds it in the glass by means of corrugations or ridges in the roller surface; the third roller resmooths the surface of the glass, completing the covering of the wire; and the fourth roller serves to keep the glass, which becomes plas tic at this stage, from curling up behind the third roller, and also adds a smoother finish to the glass. The glass is next annealed so as to toughen it, and trimmed to the size of the wire netting, which determines the size of the sheet. Netting of almost any size may be introduced in the glass in this way, practice differing from the quarter-inch mesh to meshes in which the crossed wires are three inches apart. Sometimes for special purposes the wire is corrugated within the glass, this being accomplished by altering the form of one of the rollers. The thickness of this glass varies from three sixteenths to an inch, and the common sizes are 2×7 and 3 x 8 feet. The cutting of the glass to small sizes is slow work, as the lines are first scratched with a diamond and the glass cracked and then worked back and forth until the crack opens suffi

ciently to admit the blade of a fine steel saw, with which the wire is severed. When wire glass is broken by accident, the fractured pieces tend to hang on the wire. Wire glass is cheaper than ordinary glass protected by a screen, because the interior wire adds so much to its strength that it is practical to use it in much thinner sheets to secure a given strength. This also lessens the weight to be carried by the roof, an important item in some

cases.

WISCONSIN, a Western State, admitted to the Union May 29, 1848; area, 56,040 square miles. The population, according to the United States census of 1890, was 1,686,880; by the State census of 1895, it was 1,937,915. Capital, Madison.

Government. The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, Edward Scofield; Lieutenant Governor, Emil Barusch; Secretary of State, Henry Casson; Treasurer, Sewell A. Peterson; Attorney-General, William H. Mylrea; Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Q. Emery; Railroad Commissioner, Duncan J. McKenzie; In

EDWARD SCOFIELD, GOVERNOR OF WISCONSIN.

surance Commissioner. William A. Fricke-all Republicans. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John B. Cassoday; Associate Justices, Silas W. Pinney (Democrat), Alfred W. Newman (Republican), John B. Winslow, and Roujet D. Marshall (Republican). At the spring election in April, Roujet D. Marshall was re-elected Associate Justice for the full term of ten years, beginning in January, 1898.

Finances. On Sept. 30, 1896, the amount on hand belonging to the general fund was $49,815.56. The amount received during the year, including $340,000 borrowed from the trust funds, was $2,324,572.01. The largest items of the receipts were from railway companies, $1,264,270.98; from insurance companies, $128,964.18; from taxes on the counties, $391,438.09; from charitable and penal institutions, $79,916.32; telegraph companies, $10,684.28; telephone companies, $10,777.14; Secretary of State, office fees, $10,887.45; Insurance Commissioner, office fees, $38,292.87; peddler licenses, $12,499.90.

The disbursements during the year aggre

gated $2,340,709.36. The balance on hand Sept. 30, 1897, was $33,678.21. Some of the largest items disbursed were: Salaries and permanent appropriations, $123,175.75; legislative expenses, $153.832.03; publishing laws in newspapers, $49,700; State Hospital for Insane, $119,310.91; Northern Hospital for Insane, $130,661.75; School for Deaf, $59.837.37; School for Blind, $47,322.07; Industrial School for Boys, $70,644.41; State Prison, $114,380.96; Home for Feeble-Minded, $135,792.86; State Public school, $65,971.09; printing, $31,324.41; Normal School and teachers' institutes, $49,099; common schools, $110,373.51.

Education. The opening of the School for the Feeble-Minded at Chippewa Falls, June 15, 1897, completed the educational system of the State.

The faculty of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, consists of 135 professors, instructors, and lecturers. The number of students in attendance is about 1,700. The whole number graduated at the commencement in June, 1897, was 213.

The seven State normal schools are at Plattville, Whitewater, Oshkosh, River Falls, Milwaukee, Stevens Point, and Superior. All these, except the one at Milwaukee, provide two standard courses. The number of graduates of the seven schools during the year was: From the elementary course, 183; from the advanced course, 264. There are about 200 free high schools in the State. They are supported in part by an annual State appropriation of $50,000, and in part by local taxation. About 60 of these schools have three-year courses. In the others the course embraces four years' work.

The Legislature of 1895 authorized any board of education in the State having charge of a high school to establish and maintain a department of manual training in connection with the schools under its control and management. The school boards at Menomonie, Eau Claire, Appleton, Janesville, and Florence have complied with the law.

The common schools of the State, outside of the cities, in all of which graded school systems are maintained, are administered according to two different systems. In the southern and the central part of the State the district system is almost universal. There are 6,400 districts in charge of 19,200 officials. In many of the newer counties in the north the township system is common. There are 400 schools with an enrollment of fewer than 10 pupils each, and 1,650 with an enrollment of fewer than 20 pupils each. In Fond du Lac County, the second richest county in the State, there are 67 schools whose teachers are paid $20 a month, out of which sum they pay their board and traveling expenses. In most of the older portions of the State conditions are similar. In spite of low wages, the cost per pupil of maintaining these schools is very great. The Legislature of 1893 appointed O. E. Wells a commissioner to prepare a proposed revision of the school code; Mr. Wells reported to the Legislature of 1895 by a bill which did not pass; but interest in the question did not die out, and the Legislature of 1895 appointed J. Q. Emery commissioner to investigate the township system of school government, and to report by bill or otherwise. Mr. Emery did not agree with Mr. Wells that the township system should be made mandatory. Any district is authorized to vote a tax for the free transportation of children residing in the district who live more than a mile and a half from the schoolhouse.

The School for the Deaf is at Delavan. The average number of children in attendance is about 200.

Since 1885 the State has encouraged the maintenance of day schools for the deaf and dumb in the larger cities. For every pupil taught for nine months in one of these schools the State appro

priates $125. The cities of Milwaukee, La Crosse, Wausau, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Marinette, and Oshkosh maintained these schools. The total number of children taught in the nine schools was 121 in 1896.

The School for the Blind is at Janesville. The number in attendance is about 100.

The Industrial School for Boys is located at Waukesha. The average number of inmates in recent years is about 350.

The Industrial School for Girls is at Milwaukee. This school was founded by private charity, and is still under the control of a self-perpetuating board of managers. The school is large enough for the accommodation of 160 inmates.

The State Public School is at Sparta. It was opened Nov. 13, 1886. Its primary object is to furnish a temporary home for dependent and neglected children. The average number of inmates is about 250.

There are in the State about 3,000 feeble-minded and idiotic persons. Until the opening of the Home for the Feeble-Minded at Chippewa Falls, the State had made no provision for their care and instruction. The buildings already erected are adequate for the care of 250 inmates. Early in 1898 additional buildings will be opened for the reception of as many more. Up to Jan. 1, 1898, 239 inmates had been received.

The Legislature of 1897 provided for the founding of the State Reformatory, and the Board of Control has located this institution at Green Bay. Buildings are now in course of erection with a capacity sufficient for 600 inmates. The institution is designed for the custody and training of male offenders, whose ages at commitment are from sixteen to twenty-five years.

The thirty-sixth annual meeting of the National Educational Association was held in Milwaukee, July 6-9, 1897. The meeting was notable in the largeness of the attendance, and in the great value of the papers, lectures, and discussions.

Legislative Session.-Some of the important acts of the Legislature of 1897 were:

The election of John C. Spooner to succeed William F. Vilas as United States Senator.

The revision of the statutes of the State, and providing for the printing and publication of the same by Sept. 1, 1898.

Providing for an increase in the income of normal schools.

Authorizing the Governor to designate a day to be known as Arbor and Bird Day. To promote physical education.

To encourage the production of beet sugar.
To prohibit pool-selling.

To provide for enlarging and equipping the State Historical Library building.

To regulate casualty insurance corporations. To increase the efficiency of the Free Library Commission.

Relating to libel suits by newspapers.

giving them suggestions and directions relative to work in preparation for county semicentennial observances to be held Saturday, May 28, 1898.

State Prison.-The State Prison is at Waupun. The whole number of prisoners received from the opening of the prison up to Sept. 30, 1896, the date of the latest printed report, was 6,892. The number in confinement Sept. 30, 1896, was 582, of whom 19 were women. The board in their latest report say: "The sanitary condition of the prison for years has been deplorable."

The sanitary conditions have been greatly improved. An electric-light plant has been put in. Open air ducts from each cell have been opened into a large galvanized iron chamber over the roof, exhausting into a receiving room in the attic and thence into the open air.

About 300 convicts are employed in shoemaking under the contract system, at 50 cents a day. During the two years covered by the report the State received $103,718.37 from this source. The contract expired Dec. 31, 1897. The knitting shop is not so successful. The net income to the State for the last year covered by the report, for 17,067 days of convict labor, was only $1,322.64, or 74 cents a day for the labor of each convict. This shop is run on the piece-price contract system. The tailor shop plant netted $3,951.45 for 8,016 days' labor, or 49 cents a day for the labor of each convict employed. In 1895 the net daily cost per capita was 22-2 cents. In 1896 it had been reduced to 13.1 cents.

The Insane.-The State maintains two institutions for the care of the insane-the State Hospital at Mendota, near Madison, and the Northern Hospital at Winnebago, near Oshkosh. The whole number of patients in the State Hospital, Sept. 30, 1896, was 402; in the Northern Hospital the number was 520. The Wisconsin system of caring for the insane is unique, but very simple. The fundamental principle of the system is that the State hospitals shall have for their sole function the cure of the curable. So long as there is any hope that hospital treatment will benefit the patient, either physically or mentally, he is retained in the institution. When it is plain that there is no hope of his recovery, he is transferred to one of the 23 county asylums. On Sept. 30, 1896, there were 2,816 inmates in these institutions, and the State had paid for the care of these inmates for the two years ending on the date named $419,966.02.

Railways. From the report of the Railroad Commissioner it appears that on June 30, 1896, the total mileage of railways in the State was 6,279.46. The capital stock was $106,157,479.40; the funded debt was $153,445,697.89; the unfunded debt was $3,300,006.22. Dividends were declared amounting to $2,666,151.60 for the two years covered by the report. The annual license fees, which are in lieu of all State, county, and local taxes, are as follows: 1. Four per cent. of the gross earnings of all railroads, except those operated on pile and pontoon, or pontoon bridges, whose gross earn

To revise the banking laws.

To prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors. To prevent corrupt practices in elections. A joint resolution in favor of the Torrey bankrupt bill.

A joint resolution requesting the Governor to issue a proclamation for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the State.

A memorial to Congress for the passage of an act to strengthen the national credit.

Semicentennial.-The State Historical Society of Wisconsin is actively engaged in pushing the organization of local historical societies, and in

operated railroad. 2. Five dollars a mile of operated railroad of all railroads whose gross earnings exceed $1,500 a mile per annum, and are less than $3,000 a mile per annum of operated road; and in addition 2 per cent. of their gross earnings in excess of $1,500 a mile per annum. 3. Five dollars a mile of operated road by all companies whose gross earnings are less than $1,500 a mile per annum. 4. Two per cent. of the gross earnings of all railroads operated upon pile or pontoon, or pontoon bridges, which gross earnings shall be returned as to such parts thereof as are within the State. These license fees constitute by far the largest single item in the annual revenues of the State.