Lower House. Members ‘seasonably attending’ are paid $200, exclusive of mileage.
Executive. The Governor and the five members of the Governor's Council are chosen biennially in the month of November. The resolutions and advice of the Governor's Council are recorded, and may be called for at any time by either House of the Legislature. A two-thirds vote of each House overcomes the Governor's veto. The president of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are in the line of succession to the Governorship in case of vacancy. The pardoning power rests with the Governor, with the advice of the Council. The Secretary, Treasurer, and Commissary-General are chosen by joint ballot of the Senators and Representatives.
Judiciary. The Legislature erects and constitutes judicatures, courts of record, and other courts. Most judicial officers, including the Attorney-General, coroners, and registers of probate, are appointed by the Governor. Judicial officers serve during good behavior, except justices of the peace, whose terms expire in five years.
Local Government. The laws of the State provide for the election in each county of a treasurer, register of probate, solicitor, sheriff, and register of deeds.
Militia. The population of militia age in 1900 was 88,149. The militia in 1901 numbered 1342.
Population. The growth of the population is shown by the following figures: 1790, 141,885; 1820, 244,022; 1850, 317,976; 1860, 326,073; 1870, 318,300; 1880, 346,991; 1890, 376,530; 1900, 411,588. New Hampshire ranked 10th among the States of the Union in 1790, 22d in 1850, and 36th in 1900. The largest gain was made in the first census decade, and the population actually decreased in the decade 1860-70. The gain between 1890 and 1900 amounted to 9.3 per cent., as compared with 20.7 for the United States. Throughout the century the State contributed largely to the tide of Western migration, but this outflow has been offset in recent years by the increase in the immigration of foreigners, particularly French-Canadians, who constitute over half of the 88,107 foreign born returned by the census of 1900. The 15 towns exceeding each 4000 inhabitants collectively contain 46.7 per cent. of the total population. The density of population in 1900 was 45.7 per square mile. The State sends two members to the National House of Representatives.
Cities. The population of the largest towns in 1900 was: Manchester, 56,987; Nashua, 23,898; Concord, 19,632; Dover, 13,207; Portsmouth, 10,637. The capital is Concord.
Religion. The Roman Catholic element amounts to about 10 per cent. of the total population of the State. The principal Protestant denominations are the Congregational, with about 20 per cent. of all the church members; the Baptist, with over 17 per cent.; and the Methodist, with about 12 per cent.
Education. A number of town schools were established in accordance with the law of 1647. Grants of land for educational purposes were made before the War of Independence. In 1769, 44,000 acres were granted for the establishment of a college, and in 1821 a law was passed appropriating for a literary fund the taxes from banking corporations. The illiterate population amounted in 1900 to 6.2 per cent. of the total population of ten years and over. Of the whole school population of 71,544 in 1900, there were enrolled 65,688. The average attendance amounted to 47,276, or about 72 per cent. of the total enrollment. The total number of schools fell off from 2644 in 1882 to 2198 in 1900, but the number of graded schools increased from 481 to 773 during the same period. The length of the school term was nearly 148 days in 1900, as compared with about 118 days in 1890. The school revenue for 1900 amounted to $1,120,219, of which only $15,707 was derived from the permanent school fund. From the State came $55,519, and from local taxes, $997,667. New Hampshire has only one State normal school (at Plymouth). Representing secondary education there were, in 1900, 57 public high schools, with a total attendance of 3700, and 33 private high schools and academies, with a total attendance of 2600. The institutions of higher education are Dartmouth College, at Hanover, and Saint Anselm's College (Roman Catholic), at Manchester.
Charitable and Penal Institutions. The State Board of Charity and Correction consists of five members appointed by the Governor and Council, and of the secretary of the State Board of Health. This board inspects all State and county charitable or correctional institutions, except the State prison and the asylum for the insane (both of which are located at Concord). The changes recommended by it must be made by the responsible officers. In 1902 there were 1203 children wholly or partially supported by public charity, 979 of them being in orphan asylums. There are 15 private orphan homes—7 Protestant and 8 Catholic—but in all but one of these, county or city children are boarded at public charge. There is a State industrial school for boys and girls, located at Manchester. In 1901 the State Legislature made appropriations for the erection of a State school for feeble-minded. During the year ending September 30, 1902, were accommodated in the almshouses of the State 1630 persons, of whom 687 were confined because of insanity, feeble-mindedness, or epilepsy. Drunkards and petty criminals are sometimes committed to the pauper institution, where they mingle freely with the other inmates. At the State prison the convicts are worked under the contract system, a fixed sum being paid per day per convict. The State has general control of the convicts.
History. The first explorer of this region was probably Martin Pring, who anchored in Piscataqua Harbor in 1603. It was included in the grant to the Council for New England in 1620, and this body on August 10, 1622, granted to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges all the land lying between the Merrimac and Kennebec for sixty miles inland, under the title ‘Province of Maine.’ The next year David Thomson settled at Little Harbor. In 1627 Edward Hilton settled at Dover Neck, and secured a patent later in 1629 or 1630. The province was divided November 7, 1629, and that part lying between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua fell to Mason. In November, 1631, Mason and Gorges, together with a number of merchants, received from the Council territory lying on both sides of the Piscataqua within the territory already granted to them. Several trading stations were founded, the most
