Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/309

NEW HAMPSHIRE 297 electoral college. The total debt of the state on June 1, 1874, was $3,826,590, all of which is funded and will mature in 31 years in nearly equal annual amounts. The actual revenue and expenses of the state for two years end- ing May 31 were as follows : KEVENUE. SOURCES. 1873. 1874. State tax. $800,000 00 104,959 26 11,710 92 4,478 83 $600,000 00 102,918 94 12,179 41 20,721 44 4,046 22 196 23 Railroad tax . . . Interest United States war claims Balance municipal war loan 264 00 Totals $421,412 51 $740,062 24 EXPENSES. DESCRIPTION. 1873. 1874. Ordinary expenses $118,736 78 44,808 58 251,903 33 $136,721 52 37,566 97 259,798 77 404 46 Extraordinary expenses Interest Increase municipal war loan Totals $415,448 69 $434,491 82 305,570 42 Excess of revenue over expenses The chief items of expense were as follows: ex- ecutive department, $3,130 ; secretary's, $2,845 ; treasury, $3,023; adjutant general's, $2,403; public instruction, $6,964; insurance depart- ment, $877; legislature, $45,549; supreme ju- dicial court, $17,980 ; probate court, $7,662 ; state library, $2,393 ; compiling provincial records, $3,674; state house, $3,804; asylum for insane, $7,120 ; education of deaf and dumb, $3,198; education of blind, $2,850; reform school, $8,263; state prison, $2,467; New Hampshire medical school, $5,000; normal school, $5,486; volunteer militia, $13,767; board of agriculture, $4,934; mountain roads, $3,000 ; geological survey, $4,525. The total valuation of property in the state, made by the assessors of the several cities and towns for purposes of taxation, was reported at $103,652,835 in 1850, $127,018,117 in 1860, $129,856,167 in 1864, $149,065,290 in 1868, and $152,987,177 in 1872. These returns are considered to be very much below the real value, which is estimated at more than $250,- 000,000. The true value of real and personal estate was reported by the federal census of 1870 at $252,624,112, and the assessed value at $149,065,290, including real estate valued at $85,231,288 and personal property at $63,834,- 002. The state tax is divided among the sev- eral cities and towns according to an appor- tionment made every fourth year, based upon the assessed valuation of the taxable property. The amount varies. Before the war, when the state was without debt, it never exceeded $70,000 a year ; but since 1861 it has been as follows: for 1862, $80,000; 1863, $270,000; 1864, $500,000 ; 1865 and 1866, $750,000 each ; 1867 and 1868, $625,000 each; 1869, 1870, and 1871, $600,000 each; 1872, $300,000; 1873, $600,000; 1874 and 1875, $400, 000 each. Each city and town pays its proportion of this tax directly to the state treasury. Cities and towns also levy a tax for local purposes. The rate of taxation for all purposes varies in the several cities and towns, but is generally from 1 to 2 per cent. Railroads are taxed separately, the judges of the superior court fixing "the actual present value of the cap- ital" and assessing it "as near as may be in proportion to the taxation of other prop- erty " in the towns where they are situated. The railroads pay these taxes to the state trea- surer ; and one fourth of the tax of each road is paid by him to the towns through which the road passes, in proportion to the share of its capital therein expended; such portion of the residue to towns where stock is owned as the number of shares owned there bears to the whole number of shares of the road ; and the remainder goes to the state. The propor- tion of this tax to some towns more than pays their state tax. Savings banks pay 1 per cent, on their deposits, which is divided among the towns in proportion to the amount of deposits held by citizens thereof. New Hampshire has no institution for the blind or the deaf and dumb, but the state in 1874 paid $2,850 for the education of the former class in the Perkins institute in Boston, and $3,198 for the educa- tion of deaf and dumb at the American asy- lum in Hartford. The asylum for the insane, opened in 1842, is in Concord. In 1874 the state paid $6,000 for the support of indigent insane, and $873 for the convict insane. The number of inmates on April 30, 1874, was 281, while the total number cared for during the year was 416, and the average number was 267. Of the 140 admitted during the year, 109 were supported by themselves or friends. The state prison in Concord was established in 1812, and on May 1, 1874, had 95 inmates. The earnings of the prison for the preceding year amounted to $23,679, including $22,106 from the labor of the convicts, and the expenses were $13,067, leaving a net profit of $10,612. The average number of working men was 75. The prisoners have the use of a library, and those who on entering cannot read or write are instructed in these branches. The state reform school at Manchester, opened in 1855, had 91 inmates on May 30, 1874; the whole num- ber during the year ending at that date was 149. Boys and girls under 17 years of age are committed for offences against the laws. The ordinary English branches are taught. The chief employments are chair seating and farm- ing. The ordinary expenses for the year were $22,938; total expenses, $27,684; total re- ceipts, $27,167, including $8,000 from state treasurer, $6,253 from labor of inmates, and $10,434 from towns, &c., for board of in- mates. At Franklin is the New Hampshire orphans' home school of industry, a corporate institution which was opened in 1871, and is supported by contributions. The general su-