Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/508

NEW HAMPSHIRE. In the next decade the banks recovered, and by 1863, when the national banking system was introduced, there were fifty two State banks in operation, with a capital of almost $5,000,000. By 1870 all but three banks had become national. State banks have remained unimportant since then. Private banks have been prohibited since 1799.

 Trust companies appeared in 1885 and tried to do the business of both discount banks and savings banks. Six of them are in existence. Savings banks have always been numerous and popular. The two savings banks chartered in 1823 were among the first in the country. The savings banks deposits grew with special rapidity after the Civil War. About one-fourth of all the savings banks went into liquidation in the panic of 1893, and a bill was passed for their regulation in 1895, strictly limiting their investments. The act was further amended in 1901. In 1902 there were 147,928 depositors (one for about every 2.8 of the population), with an average deposit of $407.29. The condition of the banks in the State in 1902 is shown in the following table:

. Up to the beginning of the Civil War the debt of the State was insignificant, amounting to $60,000 in 1860. The war expenditures made loans necessary, and their aggregate sum rose from less than $1,000,000 in 1862 to $4,236,000 in 1865. The total expenditures of the State treasury for war purposes were $6,852,678, only $897,122 of which were repaid by the Federal Government. The State debt was gradually reduced, and by 1872 amounted only

to $2,205,695. In that year, however, the commonwealth assumed the Civil War debt of the towns and cities, which increased the State debt to $4,138,124. The financial condition has been sound since then, and the debt is being reduced at the rate of from $100,000 to $200,000 a year. In 1878 a law was passed by the Legislature for taxation of railroads. In 1902 the total liabilities were $1,669,071, out of which the State owed $813,574 to trust funds, and $839,200 formed the funded debt. The cash in the treasury on June 1, 1902, was $575,612. The receipts for the fiscal year 1901-02 were $1,389,332, derived as follows: 30 per cent. from a general State tax; 25 per cent. from a tax on savings banks deposits; 27 per cent. from tax on railroads; and the rest from miscellaneous sources. The disbursements were $1,261,614, of which $570,136 was returned to towns as their share of the railroad and savings banks tax. . The present Constitution was adopted in 1877. The question of revising the Constitution is submitted to the people every seven years, and if approved by a majority of those voting, a convention for revision must be called. The right of suffrage is given to male citizens twenty-one years of age who have resided in one town six months. Paupers and persons excused from paying taxes are excepted.

. Every town or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having 600 inhabitants may elect one representative to the Lower House, and one additional representative for every additional 1200 inhabitants. Whenever the unit of representation contains less than 600 inhabitants, it is entitled to a representative such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants shall bear to 600. The State is divided into twenty-four districts, paying approximately equal portions of direct taxes. Each of these districts is entitled to one Senator. Representatives and Senators are elected biennially in November in open town meetings. The Legislature convenes on the first Wednesday of January. Money bills must originate in the