Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/317

Rh CONNECTICUT 287 Ports. Imports. Fairfield $6617 Middletown 619 New Haven 1,174,921 New London 27-1,165 Stonimrton... 858 Exports. 28,927 none 2,925,631 118,605 none Total $1,457,180 $3,073,163 The chief articles of export were grain, fire-arms, provi sions, and manufactures of wood. Of the total number of enrolled, registered, and licensed vessels (820), 718 were sailing vessels, with a tonnage of 53,329, and 78 were steam vessels, with a tonnage of 26,550. The fisheries are carried on from New London and Stonington. In 1875, there were 173 vessels engaged in the cod and mackerel fisheries, with a tonnage of 3756; and in the whale fishery 14, with a tonnage of 2050 a great reduction on the de cade from 1850 to 1860. Engaged in coastwise trade and fisheries, there entered 2257 vessels and cleared 1678. In foreign trade there entered 161 and cleared 102. In 1870, 1001 persons were engaged in fisheries, and the annual product was 769,799. Ship-building is a considerable industry. In 1875, 34 vessels were built of 5915 tons. The great industry of the State is in manufactures. These are exceedingly numerous and very productive, and most of them such as require ingenuity and intelligence on the part of the workmen. The chief industries and some of their statistics in 1870 were : , Estab lish ments. Steam engines Horse power. Water- wheels Horse power. Hands. Capital. Annual Product. Cotton goods (of all sorts) Ill 103 145 124 108 66 9 32 205 13 23 8 41 33 28 281 18 860 2,258 2,640 2,721 1,424 567 815 685 185 1,183 401 654 376 534 481 19 13 10,840 6,110 1,773 1,480 728 5,007 30 499 401 981 300 224 1,046 56 430 30 258 12,086 7,285 7,246 3,48G 2,770 1,497 2,525 2,107 2,341 1,946 1,703 1,607 1,788 2,464 1,471 2,417 188 15 12,710,700 12,490,400 6,863,395 5,320,650 4,342,641 2,988,046 2,492,000 2,337,500 2,292,810 2,345,000 1,414,130 1,793,770 1,306 550 1,153,300 1,008,650 586,800 150,100 $ 14,026,334 17,365,148 12,111,034 7,552,725 6,010,379 4,874,291 3,949,000 4,066,800 4,164,480 4,239,329 3,314,845 2,222,873 2,099,895 3,740,871 2,747,153 2,319,546 2,849,743 Woollen goods Hardware Iron work (all sorts) Machinery, Paper, Sewing-machines and fixtures Carriages and wag- Indian - rubber and elastic goods Cutlery and edge tools Hats and caps Clocks, also materials and cases Boots and shoes Bleaching and dyeing Total (the above and all others) j 5,128 25,979 54,395 89,523 95,281,278 161,065,474 It ranks first among the States in the production of clocks, Indian- rubber goods, and hardware, and (small as it is) eighth in the total value of all manufactured products. It must be remembered, how ever, in connection with the above statistics, that the ninth United States census of 1870 is very inaccurate in relation to manufactures, the superintendent estimating that only about one-quarter of the capital invested is reported, and that there are other great errors in the way of under-estimate. In 1875 Connecticut had 1 mile of railway to 5 16 square miles of territory, and to 585 inhabitants. (Massachusetts had 1 mile to 4 29 square miles and 909 inhabi tants ; England 1 mile to 5 &quot;02 square miles and 1954 inhabi tants.) There were 23 railroad companies, with 1184 miles of single track. The cost of these was $75,831,210 ; receipts for the year, $12,020,194 (50 per cent, from passengers) ; net earnings, $2,816,004, being 3 71 per cent on the cost of the roads. Nine roads, costing nearly 8 millions, have no net income. The capital stock of all the companies was $59,282,784 (paid in), and debt, $17,077,739. The amount paid in dividends (only eight companies make any) was 4-3 per cent, on the entire capital of all the roads, but 9 24 on the capital of the dividend-paying ones. There is an elaborate system of State inspection of the roads and their accounts. There is a State tax of 1 per cent on the market value of stock and bonds alter_ deducting cash on hand. The principal lines are those running N. and S., connecting the shore with the valleys of the interior, and forming highways between the important cities of JNew England and New York city. Connected with these are important steamboat lines (passenger and freight) from Stonington, Aevv London, and New Haven to New York. The waggon road ways all over the State are kept in very fair condition, except in the poorer hill towns. There are about 13,000 miles of them, costing annually about $650,000. The banking interest of the State is commensurate with its large business, and shows a steadily increasing prosperity. At January 1, 1876, there were 79 national banks in the State, with a capital of $25,687,820 ; 4 State banks, with a capital of $1,450,000, and assets $3,917,953 ; 12 trust companies, with a capital of $2,450,000, and assets $6,183,643. These all do a heavy discounting and lending business with their capital and deposits, and pay dividends of 8 to 12 per cent, on their stock. The savings banks numbered 87, with a deposit of $76,489,310, and 208,030 depositors. The average income (during 1875) was 6 62 per cent., nearly all of which is paid to depositors, there being no capital stock. The management is very strictly controlled by law, and about three-quarters of the assets are lent on real estate in the State. The whole number of fire and marine insurance companies doing business in the State in 1875 was 130, of which 32 were Connecticut companies. The assets of these last were $17,345,790, of which over 16 millions were held by 10 companies (mostly in Hartford). The premiums received by all the companies were $1,949,867, and the corresponding losses $1,248,989 ; total risks written in the State, $165,660,801. The premiums received by the Connecticut companies from their entire business were $9,195,617, and corresponding losses $5,203,416. The life and accident companies doing, business numbered 27, of which 11 were Connecticut companies ; the assets of the last were $98,964,945. There were 2740 life policies issued in Connecticut in 1875, insuring $5,066,438. The life premiums paid amounted to $1,927, 663. The policies in force in the State numbered 25,359, insuring $51,063,720. The Connecticut com panies (all of Hartford) issued 26,104 policies, insuring $48,822,881 in 1875 (a large reduction on previous years), and paid losses of $6,463,473. The State debt in 1860 was only $50,000, which was borrowed from the school fund. From July 1, 1861, to October 1, 1865, five issues of bonds were made, amounting to $10,000,000, drawing 6 per cent, interest. This debt has been steadily reduced, and on April 1, 1876, was $5,014,500, or deducting cash in the treasury, only $4,302,775. The revenue of the State for the year ending March 31, 1876, was $2,117,719. This amount was chiefly derived from the tax of 1 mill on the grand list of the towns ($437,473), from savings banks ($462,664), mutual insurance companies ($398,266), and railroads ($302,758). In 1860 the assessed value of all property in the State was $341,256,976, and the true value $444,274, 114. In 1870 the assessed value of real estate was $204,110,500, and of personal estate $221,322,728; total, $425,433,228. The true value was $774,631,524. In 1860 the total taxation, not national, was $1,015,039; in 1870, $6,064,843. The total indebtedness of towns and cities in the State on June 1, 1874, was $13,995,090, more than one-third of which was incurred in aid of railroads. Social Statistics. A large number of public and charitable in stitutions are maintained wholly or in part by the State, and for them it spent $135,463 during the year ending March 31, 1876. Among them are the following. The American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, at Hartford, was incorporated in 1816, being the oldest institution of the kind in the United States. In all, 2056 per sons have received instruction, with an average attendance in 1875 of 218. The funds of the institution amount to $338,925. The annual State grant is $11,000. The charge per pupil is $175 a year. There is no asylum for the blind, but an annual grant of $6000 is made for the care of the indigent blind at the Perkins Institute at Boston. There is a general hospital at New Haven chartered in 1827, with a training school for nurses attached ; funds, $20,000 ; annual grant, $2000; patients in 1875, 436. The Hartford Hos pital was opened August 1, 1860 ; funds, $153,500, but considerably in debt; annual grant, $2000; patients in 1875, 707. The Con necticut Hospital for the Insane, at Middletown, was opened in 1868 ; cost, $640,043 ; it accommodates 450 with attendants and physicians, and is always crowded. To April 1, 1876, 1272 had been admitted. One-half the board of paupers is paid by the State. Bevenue in 1875, $124,305, of which the State paid $62,004. The Retreat for the Insane at Hartford was opened in 1824, and has treated 5786 patients. Though receiving large State and private aid, it is intended for patients who can pay for comfortable accommodation. It had in 1875 about 159 inmates. The Reform School at West Meriden was opened in 1854 ; cost $115,000, with a farm of 195 acres. The expense to the State in 1875 was $30,368. Boys from ten to sixteen years old may be sent to it for crime, by the several courts, for not less than 9 months, and during minority. The inmates are required to labour 6^ hours a day, and attend school 4 hours. The Industrial School for Girls at Middletown was opened in 1870. Its property has cost $122,363, mostly given by individuals. The expense to the State in 1875 was $16,223, and the inmates numbered 53. Girls from eight to sixteen may be committed to it for vagrancy, and are taught housekeeping, sewing, box-making, and farm and garden work. The School for Imbeciles at Lakeville cost $10,000, appropriated by the legislature. In 1875 its income was $14,165, with an average of 95 inmates. The State prison at Wethersfield, erected