Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/321

 NEW JERSEY 309 There are two institutions for the care of the insane. The lunatic asylum in Trenton was opened in 1848, since which time 4,588 patients have been treated. During the year ending Nov. 1, 1874, 840 were under treatment. Of the 655 in the asylum at the close of the year, 106 were supported by their friends, 21 by the state, arid 528 by counties. In 1875 an addition- al asylum for the insane was nearly completed at Morristown, and is one of the largest institu- tions of the kind in the United States, having ac- commodations for about 1,000 patients. (See MOERISTOWN.) Prior to 1870, $60,000 was an- nually appropriated by the legislature for the maintenance of convicts in the state prison at Trenton ; but since that time the institution has been a source of income to the state. During the year ending Nov. 1, 1874, the earn- ings were $104,042, including $101,814 from convict labor, and the expenses $58,807, leav- ing a net gain, not including officers' salaries (about $30,000), of $45,334. The whole num- ber in confinement during the year was 1,025 ; at the end of the year, 653. The state reform school at Jamesburg was opened in 1867, and on Nov. 1, 1874, had 184 inmates ; the total number during the year was 298. They are chiefly employed in making chairs and shoes and in farm labor. The state industrial school for girls is near Trenton, and in 1874 had 19 inmates. A home for disabled soldiers is sup- ported by the state at Newark, in which 1,365 beneficiaries were cared for in 1874; and a soldiers' children's home at Trenton, which had 150 inmates at the close of 1874. Prior to April, 1871, New Jersey had no free school system, but its schools were then made free. The tax for school purposes is now assessed and collected by the state instead of the town- ships, and the funds are apportioned among the different districts according to the school population. Every district is required to main- tain a school for at least nine months in the year, or forfeit its share of the apportionment. The permanent school fund amounts to $857,- 426. The amount of the income from this fund that is devoted to schools is determined by the legislature, and is now $35,000 annu- ally; the remainder of the income goes to in- crease the principal. In 1871 the state gave to the free school fund the proceeds of sales and rentals of all riparian lands lying be- tween high and low water marks, and chiefly in and near the harbor of New York on the New Jersey shore. These lands will add to this fund not less than $5,000,000, and pos- sibly $10,000,000. The sources and amount of the funds for the support of the schools for the year ending Aug. 31, 1874, were : 1, the two-mill state tax, which amounted to $1,225,592 ; 2, additional state appropriation, including the income of the school fund, $100,000 ; 3, interest of the surplus revenue, $31,573 ; 4, township tax, $23,834 ; 5, district and city tax for teachers' salaries, $311,161 ; total, $1,691,160, besides $613,238 derived from district and city taxation for building and re- pairing school houses. The more immediate supervision of the schools is vested in a state superintendent and county superintendents, all of whom are appointed by the state board of education. County superintendents are au- thorized to hold examinations and grant cer- tificates to teachers. A law forbidding cor- poral punishment in schools was enacted in 1867. The condition of the public schools for the year ending Aug. 31, 1874, was as follows : Number of school districts 1,869 " buildings 1,498 " departments 2,835 Capacity of public schools 155,152 Number of unsectarian private schools 253 " of sectarian private schools 101 " of persons between 5 and 18 years old. 298,000 " enrolled in public schools (63 per cent.). 186,392 Average attendance (52 per cent.) 96,224 Attendance upon private schools (12 per cent.) . 86,527 Number not attending school (25 per cent.) 71,895 Average time schools kept open 9 mos. 12 days. Number of male teachers in public schools 960 Average wages per month $65 77 Number of female teachers 2,256 Average wages $88 00 Total amount appropriated for schools ($1,691,160 for maintenance and $618.238 for building and repairing school houses) $2,304,898 Valuation of school property $6,000,782 Average annual cost of education per pupil ac- cording to school population $5 67 According to average attendance $17 57 In several of the manufacturing cities and towns evening schools are maintained for adults and others unable to attend the day schools. There is an institution for training teachers at Trenton, comprising a normal school and a model school. There are two courses of study in the former, one of two and one of three years. In 1873-'4 there were 12 instructors and 269 pupils in the normal, and 17 instructors and 443 pupils in the model school. The Farn- ham school at Beverly, which is aided by the state, serves as a preparatory institution for the normal school. Since 1871 the state has supported a free library system in the public schools by extending aid to such districts as raise funds for this purpose, and nearly 400 free school libraries have been established and re- ceive annual aid from the state. New Jer- sey has four colleges : the college of New Jer- sey (evangelical Protestant), in Princeton (see PRINCETON) ; Rutgers (Reformed Dutch), in New Brunswick; Seton Hall (Roman Cath- olic), in South Orange ; and Burlington college (Protestant Episcopal), in Burlington. Rut- gers college, organized in 1770, has a classi- cal department with a four years' course, and a scientific department with courses in civil engineering and mechanics, in chemistry and agriculture, and a special course in chemistry. The scientific department of this institution has been designated by the legislature as the state college of agriculture and the mechanic arts, and is therefore entitled to New Jersey's share of the national grant of lands made for this purpose by congress in 1862 ; and 40 state students are educated in this department free of expense for tuition. An extensive model