Resolved, That the Republicans of Massachusetts emphatically disapprove of and condemn the action of those members of the last Congress, Republicans and Democrats, who availed themselves of the occasion of an increase of the salary of the President, and of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and of the members of the cabinet, supposed to be just and necessary for the future, to secure to themselves a disproportionate and extravagant compensation for past as well as future services. Resolved, That while we recognize the full right of every citizen to express and act upon his convictions upon all questions of public interest, no person holding public office has the right to seek to influence the action of his subordinates by exciting their fear of loss of place if their opinions and actions shall differ from his own, and we call upon the President further to remove all public officers who have improperly interfered with the independence of the Republicans of Massachusetts in the management of their local concerns, whenever the fact is proved to their satisfaction. Resolved, That the adoption of a policy which shall so reduce freights on railroads that the raw material, food, and coal of the West and South shall be exchanged at the least possible cost for the manufactures of New England interesting the whole country is vital to the industries of Massachusetts; that the power vested by the Constitution in Congress to regulate commerce between the States includes jurisdiction over this great subject, and that we call upon Congress and our State Legislature to so exercise all their powers over railroads and all such monopolies. Resolved, That every great achievement for personal liberty, for the preservation of the Union, for education, for the elevation of labor, for the elevation of woman, for the extension of suffrage, which has been accomplished in this country for a generation, has been due to the Republican party; that while none of these great causes has any thing to hope for in the future from any other source, while every new truth, every claim founded on justice will in the future, as in the past, find its earliest converts, its most generous recognition, its strongest advocates and its first victories among the Republicans of Massachusetts; and that pressing duty of the day is to secure honesty and purity, the right of the people peaceably to assemble and take counsel on public matters and select their agents free from violence, intimidation, and fraud; the right to hold caucuses and conventions without being cheated and bullied, and we therefore call upon all honest Republicans, however they may differ on other questions, or howsoever they may have advanced in their reception of new ideas, to unite in purging the Commonwealth and the nation of violence, treachery, and corrup tion. especially those for the suppression of crime, intemperance, and disorder; that the character and dedecide through their representatives chosen to the tails of such laws must be such as the people shall two branches of the Legislature, and, when so determined, should be obeyed cheerfully by all lawabiding citizens, until repealed by the same authority. look with pride upon the Republican administration Resolved, That the Republicans of Massachusetts af the Commonwealth, and recognize in their candidate for Governor, William B. Washburn, the same qualities of good sense, fidelity, and uprightness, the same watchfulness for the public interest and care for the public welfare which he has so conspicuously exhibited as one of our representatives in Congress, and we commend him and his associates upon the ticket this day nominated to the hearty support of the good people of the Commonwealth." A supplementary resolution was adopted, providing that hereafter all meetings in cities for the election of delegates to the State Convention shall be held by wards; that no delegates be admitted to the convention without credentials from the proper ward officers; that no one but Republican voters are entitled to vote for delegates to the State Convention; that any ten Republican voters may demand the use of the check-list; and, if after such demand, the list is not used, delegates so chosen shall be refused seats in the hall of the convention by the committee. The election resulted in the success of the entire Republican ticket. The total vote was 132,333, of which Governor Washburn received 72,183; William Gaston, 59,360; and 790 were scattering. The political composi tion of the Legislature is as follows: On the temperance question 10 in the Senate are pronounced prohibitionists, 11 declare for license, and the views of the remainder are indicated as unknown; in the House, 70 are avowed prohibitionists; 79 favor license, and the views of the remaining 51 are not known. William B. Washburn was born in Winchendon, January 31, 1820, and graduated at Yale College in 1844. After leaving college he devoted himself fo manufactures, and entered public life in 1850, when he was elected to the State Senate from Orange. He became a member of the Republican party upon its or ganization in 1856, was elected to Congress in 1862, and was returned biennially until 1871, when he was chosen Governor of the State. He was reelected in 1872, and has now been chosen for the third time, In the Third Congressional District an election was held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Whiting. Henry L. Pierce, Republican, the Mayor of Boston, was elected by a majority of 5,805 over all opponents, he having received 6,856 votes, while 788 were cast for Benjamin Dean, and 212 for Charles G. Greene. Massachusetts has successfully maintained her financial credit and prosperity notwithstanding the monetary and commercial depression of the year. Maturing indebtedness has been liquidated without recourse to taxation, temporary loan, or draft upon the ordinary revenues. During the year the Troy & Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel loan was necessarily increased by further issues of scrip, amounting to nearly $1,200,000; but the extinguishment of other maturing liabilities leaves the net increase of the funded debt less than $800,000. The amount and character of the State debt are exhibited in the following statement: Funded debt, January 1, 1873.. Retired during the year: for the improvement of the South - Boston Flats. Other public improvements to be provided for are the new State-prison, the new Insane hospitals at Danvers and_Worcester, and extensive additions to that at Taunton. The debts of the different cities of the commonwealth, together with the increase during the year, are shown in the following statement: The net increase of the debt in Boston proper is $4,950,567; but the debts of Charlestown, Brighton, and West Roxbury, carry the total to $8,751,780. Charlestown had a sinking fund of $176,000, but Brighton and West Roxbury had made no provision of this kind. The debt of Newton is about the same as last year. $27,692,704 Union Fund loan.... $293,500 2,697,246 1,583,499 $8.751,780 686,509 653,779 Balance outstanding........ $27,274,204 Somerville.. Lynn.. $798,600 Newton 421,000 400,000 5,000 Lawrence... Installments of the funded debt, amounting to $544,000, will mature during the present year, viz.: Of the Union Fund loan, $300,000; State - House Enlargement loan, $100,000; Almshouse loan, $50,000; and the Taunton Lunatic ospital loan, $94,000. All these are payable from their several sinking funds, the last three being the only outstanding installments of the loans they represent. With the exception of floating liabilities, consisting mainly of sums due and uncalled for, the whole of comparatively small aggregate and fully provided for, the State has now no debt whose liquidation is not contemplated by established sinking funds and their large and increasing accumulations. The ordinary revenues for 1874 are estimated at $2,536,000, and there is about $1,387,000 cash in the Treasury applicable on the same account. It is estimated that the ordinary expenses of the year will reach nearly or quite $5,245,000. To meet the apparent deficit in resources for the payment of estimated expenses, it is thought that a State tax of from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 will be required. In addition to the funds that must be provided for ordinary expenses and the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel under the Shanly contract, an appropriation will be required for work upon the Troy & Greenfield Railroad, to place it in readiness for the traffic of the tunhel, and there will be a demand upon the Treasury for money to carry out the contract There has been a remarkable increase in the value of the property of Massachusetts during the past two years. In 1872 the inState amounted to the unparalleled sum of crease in the entire taxable property of the $224,000,000; while in 1873 the increase over The valuation of the entire taxable property the previous year amounted to $71,000,000. of the State for three years is shown in the following statement: 1878. Loss and Gain. $14,455,468 Loss. $814,052 16,483,031 Gain.....611,475 70,677,755 Gain...5,668,840 27,109,732 Loss .625,804 324,400,562 Gain..28,521,404 2,364,282 Gain 153,125 112,191,837 Gain....163,219 34,864,478 Gain ..332,734 714,088,934 Gain..12,383,341 137,629,086 Gain...6,606,093 Total.....$1,696,599,969 $1,763,429,990 to explain the phenomenal change in value shown during the past two years. The Boston Journal, after showing that the increase of wealth and population have been mainly con3,374,734 Loss......17,033 fined to the more populous centres of the 159,564,494 Gain...4,399,438 Commonwealth, adds that this fact "presents to politicians and social statisticians very important problems which have important bearings upon the future of Massachusetts. Should this state of affairs continue, it must at no distant day work a political revolution in Massachusetts, while many social questions will be seriously affected by the change which the above figures indicate. A State controlled by the residents of large cities and large towns, living in compact bodies, will be a very dif ferent commonwealth from one where 'the hardy yeomanry' are sufficiently numerous to be taken into account, when politicians lay out a campaign, or legislators meet to make laws. The necessity already exists for a convention to revise the constitution of Massachu setts, which is older than two-thirds of the cities, and, as compared with the progressive constitutions adopted by several States, is a very poor bit of work. It was adapted to the stage-coach era, not to the days of railroads and the magnetic telegraph." In 1873 the growth was largely checked by the Boston fire. The valuation of personal property, as returned by the assessors of cities and towns, was also materially affected by a change in the method of assessing the banktax, which operates throughout the State to reduce the valuation of personal property. The purchase of bank stocks by savings institutions has taken this class of property from the taxable values of the municipalities of the State. Thirty-seven per cent. of capital stock of Boston banks is held by savings institutions, insurance companies, and chari table societies, and is exempt from local taxation. The city of Boston lost upward of $7,000,000 by this change from its list of personal property. These two causes, however, are not sufficient In the following statement are shown the grand total of personal and real estate in the cities of the State, together with the taxation for 1872 and 1873: From the above it will be seen that in all the cities, except Charlestown, Somerville, and New Bedford, the rate of taxation has increased, and in every city, except Charlestown, there has been an increase in the tax levy. The various educational, reformatory, charitable, and penal institutions of the State are reported to be in a prosperous condition. The new Normal School building at Worcester has been completed, and was ready for occupancy early in 1874. An additional boarding-house at Bridgewater, and a large dormitory at Westfield, were built during the year to meet the necessities of the institutions at those points. The Agricultural College and the Technical Institutes of the State are crowded with pupils, and seem to be filling their special mission in a most satisfactory manner. The commission under the act of the Legislature of 1873 to provide for the building of a new State prison, after examining fifty-eight dif ferent sites, selected one in the western part of Concord, which has been approved by the Executive Council. The site embraces about 705.257 15 80 16 60 222,249 28.122 177,900 17 40 20 00 220,077 83.895 885,606 14.10 15 50 139,529 24.990 19.00 20 00 161,352 2,900 100 acres near the junction of the Boston & Fitchburg, Lowell & Mansfield, and Nashua & Acton Rrailroads. A railway side-track will be laid to any part of the premises without expense to the State, upon which freight can be run from either of the railroads before mentioned. It was originally thought desirable to locate the prison within ten or twelve miles of Boston, while the Concord site is about eighteen miles distant. This fact alone prevented its selection at once upon the first examination. But after many months of careful study and unwearied search, and on full consultation with the of ficers of the prison and other persons conversant with the wants of such an institution, it was found to possess in so marked a degree all the other indispensable requisites, and seemed so greatly preferable to any other available tract, that the commission and the Council finally and unanimously determined to secure it, and the initiatory steps to obtain a satisfactory plan for the buildings were at once taken. For many years the Massachusetts State prison has been a source of considerable revenue to the public Treasury; and it is thought that with more spacious and convenient workshops, and better facilities for motive power, the institution will become still more profitable, while its reformatory power will be greatly enlarged with the increased facilities for the classification of prisoners. The receipts during the year ending September 30, 1878, were $152,712.65; expenses, $129,285.27; excess in favor of the prison, $23,427.38. The whole number of convicts October 1, 1872, was 562; received, 174; discharged (including nine deaths and one escape), 150; remaining September 30, 1873, 586. The site selected for the new Hospital for the Insane is situated about two miles from the village of Danvers, five from Salem, and seventeen from Boston. The selection embraces about 200 acres, on an elevated plateau, and a considerable part of it is in a high state of cultivation. It is expected that operations on the buildings will be begun early in the spring. The prohibitory question was kept prominently before the public during the year by the numerous seizures made by the State police. According to the report of the Police Commissioners, the number of places in Boston where liquor was sold was 2,952 in 1871, 2,768 in 1872, and 2,427 in 1873, showing a reduction of 525, and a reduction of ten per cent. in the cases of drunkenness and disorderly persons since the appointment of the commissioners. The work of the department in the State for the year has resulted in 8,136 liquor prosecutions, and 4,265 prosecutions for general offenses; 5,545 liquor seizures, and 105 gaming seizures; fines paid, $145,027.47; costs paid, $62,643.21; fees turned over to the State Treasury, $18,849.20; bribe - money turned over to Surgeon-General, $270; stolen proper ty recovered, $29,298.10; sales of furniture from gaming-houses, $219.76; proceeds of sales of vessels delivered to State Agent, $10,932.14; proceeds of sales of liquor, $13,071.14; estimated value of liquors on hand, $50,000; in hands of Agent, $3,000; aggregate, $333,311.02; number sentenced to houses of correction for violation of liquor law, 521; committed, 272; details for musters, picnics, etc., 212; days of detail service, 1,030; distilled liquors seized, 40,269 gallons; malt liquors seized, 91,629 gallons; returned by order of the courts, 3,198 gallons; total expense of the department, $149,974.66. The total force of the department comprises a chief, four clerks, seven detectives, and eighty-eight men besides, or one officer to four cities and towns; fortyeight of these are located in the cities. There is one officer to about every 17,000 of the population of the State. There is a constant demand for more officers, and the commissioners believe that the welfare of the Commonwealth requires the increase of the force to 200 men, which they recommend, and state that with that number the whole expense to the State would not be over $300,000. The question of prohibition is treated at length by Governor Washburn in his annual message to the Legislature of 1874. He adinits that the law has been "but a partial success in some of our larger cities," and adds that "vehement and vituperative censure and condemnation, not only by laymen, but also by ministers of the gospel of peace, have been heaped upon the chief_constable, the police commissioners, and the Executive, because the law is not thoroughly enforced in this city." In Boston there seems to be a formidable opposition to the prohibitory law. Here, as in other large cities, a special State police force has been organized by the Legislature for the purpose of executing the law. In discussing this question in his message to the Common Council of Boston, Mayor Cobb takes the ground that "there can be no substantial and permanent relief but in a change of legislation." He declares in favor of a license law. The negotiations long in progress concerning the improvement of the South-Boston flats were concluded during the year. By the terms of an agreement, signed by the Commonwealth, the Boston & Albany Railroad Company, the Boston Wharf Company, and the city of Boston, the completion of this vast enterprise will have an important influence upon the future growth and commercial prosperity of Boston. It embraces in its ultimate scope a valuable domain of the Commonwealth bordering on the main channel of Boston Harbor, between seven and eight hundred acres in extent, along the line of whose frontage the freights of a vast inland and maritime commerce may easily be exchanged. It will greatly improve and enlarge the harbor by increasing the area of its deep water, and will, in time, undoubtedly prove a source of much revenue to the Commonwealth. For an account of the completion of the Hoosac Tunnel, see HoOSAC TUNNEL. Boston.-One of the most important events in the history of Boston during the year was the election held October 7th, which determined the annexation to Boston of Charlestown, Brighton, and West Roxbury, to take effect January 1, 1874. This seems to be only a step in the commendable policy adopted by Boston some years since of extending her municipal jurisdiction over the suburban cities and towns, thus greatly enlarging her area and increasing her wealth and population. The original limits of Boston embraced but 690 acres; 1,700 acres were acquired by the addition of South and East Boston, and by filling the surrounding flats; 2,100 by the annexation of Roxbury; 4,800 by the annexation of Dorchester; and 880 by filling flats in other places; making the entire area of the city previous to the annexation of 1873, 10,170 acres. In 1860, the population of Boston was 177,840; in 1870, 250,526, the city ranking seventh in the United States. Roxbury was annexed in 1867, and now constitutes the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth wards, containing, according to the census of 1870, 34,772 inhabitants. Dorchester was annexed in 1869, and now forms the sixteenth ward, with (in 1870) 12,259. By the annexation of 1873, the population of Boston has been increased to 292,489, according to the census returns of 1870, and there is little doubt but that its present population is considerably greater; the area is increased to upward of 19,000 acres and the valuation to $765,470,651. The particulars of this increased area are given in the following statement: Boston... Charlestown... Brighton... West Roxbury.. Total.... Taxable Area Population, Valuation, in Acres. 9,583 2,370 6,627 19,100 1870. 1873. largely in favor of annexation. Of the other places voting, only Brookline refused annexation. The vote of Boston was: For Charlestown, 5,960 yes, 1,863 no; Brookline, 6,205 yes, 1,516 no; West Roxbury, 6,110 yes, 1,633 no; Brighton, 5,629 yes, 2,133 no. The vote of Brighton was 1,622 yes, 123 no; West Roxbury, 720 yes, 613 no; Charlestown, 2,240 yes, 1,947 no; Brookline, 299 yes, 706 no. The city is connected with Boston by the Charles River Bridge, 1,503 feet long, and the Warren Bridge, 1,390 feet long. The annexation of Charlestown brings Bunker Hill within the limits of Boston, gives access to a supply of water which will be sufficient for the next eight or ten years, and brings the Navy-Yard and both sides of the Charles River, and all Boston Harbor, within city jurisdiction. The 34,942,120 freight stations of the Boston & Lowell, 14,548,581 Maine, Fitchburg and Eastern Railroads, are also brought within the limits of the city proper, and many difficulties incident to the conthe river are avoided. By gaining control of signing of vessels to the Charlestown side of Brighton, the city gets authority over its cattlemarkets, and obtains one of the finest places for suburban residences in Massachusetts. The 250,526 $693,831,400 22,148,600 292,489 $765,470,651 Elections were held on the same day, October 7th, in each of the cities and towns interested. In Boston the vote was light, but Valuation Charlestown, 1872. |