greater part of the cultivable land of St. Vincent has passed into the hands of money-lending merchants. The Government has adopted a scheme for creating a peasant proprietary out of the present rack-rented tenants. Barbadoes has an area of 166 square miles, with a population of about 190,000. Nearly the whole surface of the island is planted to sugar cane. The product of raw sugar in 1897 was 58,600 hogsheads. The exports of manjak or glance pitch, a bituminous mineral used as fuel, were 1,880 tons, valued at £3,760. The annual catch of fish is about £17,000 in value. The merchant shipping of the colony consists of 48 sailing vessels and 2 steamers, having an aggregate burden of 7,105 tons. Barbadoes is the headquarters of the British troops in the West Indies, numbering 32 officers and 815 men. There are 24 miles of railroad and telegraph line, and 635 miles of telephone line. The total value of imports in 1897 was £1,008,699; exports, £736,163. The exports of sugar were £447,430; of molasses, £86,094. The imports of flour were £57,843; of rice, £50,664; of fish, £82,457; of cotton cloth, £131,562. The tonnage entered and cleared during 1897 was 1,335,962 tons. The revenue for 1897 was £184,606; expenditure, £ 172,551; debt, £409,150. The revenue from customs was £106,880. The expenditure for salaries was £78,406; for debt, £31,561; for police, £23,370. No island in the world is more densely populated than Barbadoes, and no soil is better adapted to the production of sugar cane; but this is the only crop for which the soil is suitable. The great damage caused by the hurricane that swept this island in 1898 has been in part repaired by means of a loan of £50,000 obtained from the British Government. The chief agricultural station created in accordance with the recommendations of the West Indian commission has been established here under the supervision of Dr. Morris, and under the auspices of the new Imperial Department of Agriculture in the West Indies a conference was held in January to devise a co-operative policy for the promotion of the economic interests of the colonies. Trinidad has an area of 1,754 square miles, with a population estimated in 1897 at 254,518. Of the total area of 1,120,000 acres, 442,924 acres have been sold to private owners. There are 57,000 acres planted to sugar cane, 99,500 acres to cacao and coffee, 13,500 acres to ground provisions, and 14,000 acres to cocoanuts. From the pitch lake 124,672 tons of asphalt were taken in 1897. The total value of imports in 1897 was £2,161,231, of which £309,611 were for textile goods, £127,383 for flour, and £148,777 for rice. The total value of exports was £1,994,926, of which £537,107 were sugar exports, £605,053 cacao, and £165,494 coffee. Ships of 1,296,902 tons were entered and cleared during the year. The revenue for 1897 was £567,158; expenditure, £579,027; debt, £516,518. Tobago is a dependency of Trinidad. The area is 114 square miles; population, 20,785. Cacao, cotton, and tobacco are cultivated. The imports in 1897 were £11, 655; exports, £4,681. The revenue was £8,107; expenditure, £,8,387; debt, £9,500. Sugar, molasses, and rum are important products in Trinidad, though no longer the mainstay of agriculture. There are 83,000 coolie immigrants, who are brought over from India and returned to their homes by the Government, as in British Guiana also, the only other colony that still employs them on a large scale. The Imperial Government has guaranteed a loan of £110,000 for harbor improvements at Port-of-Spain and the extension of the Government railroad. The ex British Guiana has an area of 76,000 square miles, not including 33,000 square miles between the formerly accepted limits and the Schomburgk line claimed in the dispute with Venezuela. The population in 1891 was 278,328, comprising 2,553 Europeans, 99,615 negroes and colored, 105,465 East Indian coolies, and 3,714 Chinese. In 1898 there were 4,500 Europeans, not counting 12,000 Portuguese laborers from the Atlantic islands. The numbers of Indian coolies had risen to 116,000. Georgetown, the capital, had 53,176 inhabitants. There were 79,278 acres under cultivation, of which 69,814 acres were under sugar cane. The number of sugar estates was 74. Gold mining has been carried on in the disputed territory since 1886. The total value of gold obtained in the ten years ending with 1896 was £2,796,300. The yield of the mines in 1897 was 126,702 ounces; in 1898, 125,080 ounces. The total value of imports in 1898 was £1,282,976; of exports, £1,783,764. The imports of textiles were £156,120; of flour, £139,107; of rice, £95,933; of machinery, £73,381; of fertilizers, £72,597; of fish, £45,859; of coal, £36,451; of hardware, £28,336. ports of sugar were £1,023,523; of molasses, £9,821; of rum, £132,586; of balata, £30,957; of rice, £21,385; of gold, 125,080 ounces, value £ 456,436. During 1898 vessels of a total of 621,198 tons visited the ports. The shipping of the colony consisted of 116 sailing vessels, of 5,065 tons, and 16 steamers, of 1,238 tons. There are 40 miles of railroad. The telegraphs and cables, which belong to the Government, have a total length of 546 miles; telephones, 610 miles. The revenue in 1898 was £505,369, of which £294,671 came from customs, £49,780 from the duty on rum, £108,859 from licenses, and £23,902 from the royalty on gold. The chief expenditures were £156,718 for civil, £22,586 for ecclesiastical, and £37,854 for judicial purposes, £31,431 for education, and £23,800 for public works. The public debt is £949,402. The area of British Guiana is fifteen times greater than that of all the island colonies put together, and its population is as thin as that of the islands is dense, being only 2.5 to the square mile. Of the population it has, less than 2 per cent. are Europeans proper. The area under cultivation is confined to the heavy, rich soil near the coast, where sugar is grown at great expense for drainage and for labor, but still with profit on the best cultivated estates. This has been the only industry of the colony, and the sugar planters who control the Government on account of the labor problem have prevented the settlement of the elevated lands of the interior. The discoveries of gold have encouraged migration of labor to the diggings, the intermittent activity of which is the only life and enterprise in this promising region. The colony has drifted almost into a state of insolvency. The deficits for the three years ending with 1898 amounted to $469,307, and the floating debt to $787,000. Sir Walter Sendall, the Governor, while speaking of the desirability of retrenchment, yet presented a budget for 1900 that was $90,000 in excess of the estimates for the previous year, to which the representative section of the Legislature demanded that the expenditure should be limited. The importation of 5,000 additional Indian coolies entails an expense to the Government of $66,000 and an obligation to provide nearly the same amount to restore them to their own country when the term of their indentures is over. British Honduras has an area of 7,562 square miles, with a population estimated at 34.277, comprising 462 whites and 33,815 negroes and colored. The chief products are mahogany and logwood. Cultivated products are coffee, sugar, bananas, and cocoanuts; and articles brought down for export from the neighboring countries are India rubber, coffee, and sarsaparilla. In the upland district cattle are reared. The value of the imports in 1897 was $1,422,097; exports, $1,404,387. The export of mahogany was 6,777,382 feet. In the year 641 vessels, of 194,144 tons, were entered, and 633, of 196,189 tons, cleared. The shipping of the colony comprised 220 sailing vessels, of 4,906 tons, and 5 steamers, of 748 tons. The revenue for 1897 was $314,017. Duties on imports yielded $166,618. Other sources are excise, licenses, a land tax, and sales and leases of public lands. The expenditures amounted to $322,990. The debt was $168,815. French Colonies.-The French colony of Guadeloupe has an area of 583 square miles, with the dependent islands of Marie Galante, Les Saintes, Désirade, St. Barthélemy, and St. Martin, 688 square miles, with 167,000 inhabitants. It is represented by a Senator and two Deputies in the French Chambers. The sugar estates, 502 in number, embrace 25,400 hectares. Coffee plantations cover 3,500 hectares, and cacao is grown on 1,634 hectares. Bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, manioc, corn, tobacco, and vegetables are cultivated for domestic consumption. The trade is largely with France, whence 13,085,051 francs of imports were brought in 1897, while exports to France amounted to 11,287,915 francs. On the plantations 15,000 coolies are employed in addition to native labor. The local revenue in 1898 was 5,774,564 francs, and expenditure the same. The debt is 1,000,000 francs. The contribution of the French Government in 1899 was 1,627,037 francs. The cyclone of August, 1899, ruined the coffee and cacao crops, half demolished the town of Le Mourle, which has 10,000 inhabitants, and blew down several villages. Martinique has an area of 381 square miles, with a population in 1895 of 187,692, divided into 90,373 males and 97,319 females. The number of French-born residents was 1,307. The number of marriages in 1895 was 624; of births, 6,026; of deaths, 5,007. St. Pierre, the capital, has 25,382 population. The products are sugar, coffee, cacao, tobacco, and cotton, besides yams, corn, and other food crops, to which 15,067 hectares were devoted. The exports of sugar in 1896 were 34,429 tons; of rum and arrack, 3,765,000 gallons. The imports from France in 1896 were valued at 18,997,565 francs, the exports to France at 12,965,952 francs. The revenue raised in the colony in 1898 was 5,096,048 francs. The contribution of France for 1899 was 2,581,848 francs. The public debt consists of an annuity of 95,000 francs. French Guiana has an area of 46.850, including a zone on which gold has been discovered, which has been in dispute between France and Brazil. The population is 22,714, not including savage tribes in the mountainous districts. Cayenne, the capital, has 12,351 inhabitants. The country has been used as a convict colony, and agriculture and industry are backward. Gold is the chief product, and of this 101,938 ounces were shipped in 1896, of which 58 per cent. came from the disputed territory. The imports from France in 1897 amounted to 11,648.848 francs; exports to France, 10,849.482 francs. The local revenue in 1898 was 2,453.261 francs. The expenditure of France in 1899 was 6,368,139 franes, including 4,915,000 francs for the penal establishment. Dutch Colonies. The island colony of Curaçao, with the dependent islands of Bonaire, Aruba, St. Eustache, Saba, and the Dutch part of St. Martin, has an area of 403 square miles, that of Curaçao alone being 210 square miles. The total population is 49,599, that of Curaçao being 28,884. The chief products are corn, beans, cattle, salt, and lime. The number of vessels entered at the ports in 1896 was 2,569, of 526,148 tons. Dutch Guiana has an area of 46,060 square miles, with a population of 64,372, exclusive of forest negroes. Paramaribo, the capital, has about 30,000 inhabitants. The production of sugar in 1896 was 10,390,747 kilogrammes; of cacao, 3,088,194 kilogrammes; of bananas, 562,949 bunches; of coffee, 280,875 kilogrammes; of rum, 1,000,747 litres. The output of the gold mines was 874,897 grammes, valued at 1,198,600 guilders. The total production from the discovery of the gold fields in 1876 was 20,694,380 guilders. Stamp mills have recently been erected for treating quartz, the mining hitherto having been alluvial. The total value of imports in 1897 was 5,635,161 guilders; of exports, 5,241,671 guilders. The local revenue for 1897 was 2,348,000 guilders, and the expenditures were 2,348,000 guilders, the difference being made up by a contribution from the Dutch Gov ernment. Danish Colonies.-The islands of Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, and St. John belong to Denmark. Their area is 138 square miles, and their population 114,229, mostly negroes, who raise sugar and make rum for export. The imports of Denmark from these islands in 1897 were valued at 2,959,000 kroner, and exports to the islands at 4,139,000 kroner. The imports from them into Great Britain were £20,122, mainly sugar, and British exports to them were £55,086. Santa Cruz was visited on Aug. 8 by a cyclone that nearly destroyed the town of Fredericksted as well as most of the sugar estates. WEST VIRGINIA, a Southern State, admitted to the Union June 19, 1863; area, 24,780 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census, was 442,014 in 1870; 618,547 in 1880; and 762,749 in 1890. Capital, Charleston. Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, G. W. Atkinson; Secretary of State, William M. O. Dawson; State Superintendent of Free Schools, J. R. Trotter; Auditor, L. M. Lafollette; Treasurer, M. A. Kendall; Attorney-General, Edgar P. Rucker; Librarian, P. S. Shirkey; State Bank Examiner, O. B. Wetzel; Adjutant General, J. W. M. Appleton; Commissioner of Labor, I. V. Barton: Chief Mine Inspector, J. W. Paul; Game and Fish Warden, Frank Lively-all Republicans; Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Marmaduke H. Dent; Associate Judges, Henry Brannon and H. C. McWhorter; Clerk, J. A. Holley-all Democrats except McWhorter, Republican. Finances. As an official statement of the finances is issued only once in two years, there is nothing new to report this year. The Annual Cyclopædia for 1898 contains a statement covering the biennial period ending Sept. 30, 1898. The estimated receipts of the treasury during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1899, according to the State Auditor's report, included the following items: State tax for 1898, $375,000 from the State and $250,000 from the general school fund; license tax, 1899, $90.000; license tax, 1898 and previous years, $80,000; interest on deposits of public funds, $12,500 from the State and $12,500 from the general school fund; tax on gross receipts of insurance, express and telegraph companies, $22,000; license tax on charters, $90,000; dividends on stock held by the Board of the School Fund, $11,000. The total estimated receipts for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1899, were as follow: State, $722,000; general school fund, $349,500; school fund, $32,000. The total estimated expenditures for the same period, $599,235, include the following: West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, $34,600; West Virginia Reform School, $18,600; Hospital for the Insane at Weston, $127,500; Second Hospital for the Insane at Spencer, $41,800; State Board of Agriculture, $5,000. Railroads. An official statement as to the assessed value of railway property, based on returns for the year ending Dec. 31, 1898, and subject to levy for 1899, shows 51 lines operating within the State. The grand total of all taxable property belonging to the most important lines is as follows: Chesapeake and Ohio, $4,554,260.50; Baltimore and Ohio (main line), $5,167,804.80; Norfolk and Western, $3,133,883; Ohio River, $1,459,337.38. Agriculture.-The latest official report of the State Board of Agriculture says: "Of our estimated 825,000 population, fully 473,000 are found upon our 75,000 or more farms, and are sustaining themselves, with much to spare, in some sections, at least, to feed the remaining 352,000 who are engaged in the other call ings and professions. Farming in West Virginia is much more profitable than in many of the Western and Northwestern States. The State is well adapted to general agriculture, including fruit growing and stock raising. According to recent figures the percentage of incumbered farms in one of the Western States was more that 55 per cent., and nearly as much in 8 other States the so-called great agricultural States and the average for the United States is more than 28 per cent. In West Virginia it was less than 13 per cent. of the whole, there being probably not more than 7,000 incumbered farms in the State. . . . Nearly half of our total area is cleared and in use for farming and grazing, while the remainder is covered with valuable timber, underlaid with beds of coal, oil, or gas. A very considerable area of the forest lands is untouched by the woodman's axe, and only a beginning has been made upon our coal and oil area." The acreage and yield of the principal crops, Sept. 30, 1898, was as follows: Corn, 624,037 acres, yielding 17,293,210 bushels; wheat, 376,420 acres, yielding 4,525,045 bushels; oats, 188,087 acres, yielding 4,707,755 bushels; Irish potatoes, 29.283 acres, yielding 2,632,780 bushels; hay (all kinds), 569,962 acres, yielding 753,700 tons. At the same date the number and value of farm animals were as follow: Horses, mules, asses, and jennets, 169,106, valued at $6,003,055; cattle, all ages, 579,002, valued at $14,326,550; sheep, all ages, 785,763, valued at $2,802,409; hogs, all ages, 390,839, valued at $1,789,040. Mining. From the latest available report of the Chief Mine Inspector, showing conditions for the year ending June 30, 1897, the following facts appear: Counties in which coal is mined on a commercial scale, 20; firms operating coal mines on a commercial scale, 215; openings of all kinds subject to the mining law, 350; tons (2,240 pounds) of pick-mined coal from commercial mines, 10,791,482; tons of machine-mined coal from commercial mines, 600.418; estimated tons of coal from small mines, 133,929; tons of coal converted into coke, 2,090.304; tons of coke manufactured (2,000 pounds), 1,374,497 value of coal at the mines, $8.229,198; value of coke at the ovens, $1,718,121.25; value of a ton of coal at the mines (2,240 pounds), 70.3 cents: value of a ton of coke at the ovens (2,000 pounds), $1.25; mining machines in use, 55; coke ovens in use, 8,046; pick miners em ployed in commercial mines, 13,218; machine operators and miners employed in commercial coal mines, 652; other underground employees in commercial coal mines, 3,199; outside employees connected with the commercial coal mines, 2,047; number of coke employees, 2,306; total number of men employed at the commercial mines and ovens, 21,422. Political. The Democratic caucus of the Legislature on Jan. 18 nominated John T. MeGraw for United States Senator, the ballot being: McGraw, 35; Watts, 5; Anderson, 2; Wilson and Bennett, each 1. The nomination of McGraw was made unanimous. The Republican caucus was held on Jan. 19. On the first ballot Nathan B. Scott received 18 votes; Gov. Atkinson, 14; Goff, 5; Poffenbarger, 6; Caldwell, 2; Gaines, 1. On the fourth ballot Scott received 24 votes, a majority of the caucus, but not of all the Republican members of the Legislature. Eighteen ballots were taken, the final result giving Scott 28, Goff 15, and Atkinson 3. The House and Senate took a ballot on Jan. 24, with this result: Scott, 46; McGraw, 46; Goff, 1; Blizzard (Republican), 1. The joint ballot was taken on the following day, resulting in the election of Scott, the vote being: Scott, 48; McGraw, 46. The Democrats filed protests against the votes of Senators Getzendanner and Pierson, declaring that they had forfeited their seats by accepting commissions in the army, which they resigned before the Legislature convened. WISCONSIN, a Western State, admitted to the Union May 29, 1848; area, 56,040 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census since admission, was 305,391 in 1850; 775,881 in 1860; 1,054,670 in 1870; 1,315,497 in 1880; and 1,688,880 in 1890. By the State census of 1895 it was 1,937,915. Capital, Madison. Government. The following were the State officers in 1899: Governor, Edward Scofield; Lieutenant Governor, Jesse Stone; Secretary of State, William H. Froehlich; Treasurer, James 0. Davidson; Attorney-General, Emmett R. Hicks; Superintendent of Education, L. D. Harvey; Railroad Commissioner, Graham L. Rice; Insurance Commissioner, Emil Giljohann; Adjutant General, C. R. Boardman; Dairy and Food Commissioner, H. C. Adams; Labor Commissioner, Halford Erickson; Bank Examiner, E. I. Kidd; Health Commissioner, F. M. Schultz; Fish and Game Warden, J. T. Ellarson; Tax Commissioners, Michael Griffin, George Curtis, and Norman S. Gilson; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, J. B. Cassoday, Republican; Associate Justices, John B. Winslow and Joshua E. Dodge, Democrats, and Charles V. Bardeen and Roujet D. Marshall, Republicans; Clerk, Clarence Kellogg. With the exceptions mentioned, all the elected officials are Republicans. Finances. The estimate of expenses for the biennial period 1899–1900, as given in the message in January, was, not including any special appropriations, $6,877,372; and the estimated income $6,830,850. The measures taken to increase the revenue and the decisions in regard to special appropriations will be found under Legislative Session. The Board of Equalization raised the total valuation of the property in the State for assessment from $600,000,000 to $625,000,000. Under the new insurance law, the additional taxes paid by the stock life companies were estimated at $167,396.19 for 1899, of which $152,739.21 was from the Northwestern Mutual Life of Milwaukee. The law taxing express. sleeping car, freight line, and equipment companies also makes a considerable addition to the income. The debt of the State, which is in certificates to the trust funds of the educational interests, amounts to $2,251,000. Education. The school population in 1898 was 708,535; the enrollment in public schools, 430,827; of these, 306,000 were in schools under county superintendents, which cost $3,171,000, and were taught by 9,800 of the 13,465 public-school teachers in the State. There were 72 county superintendents. The number of high schools has increased to 220, and the Legislature increased the appropriation for them from $50,000 to $100,000. A committee appointed by the Teachers' Association to investigate and report on the advisability of shortening the time for the grade school work now requiring eight years, reported against any change in the length of the course, though in favor of other changes-more study of language as one. The school fund distribution in December was on a basis of $1.102 to each person of school age. The enrollment at the university in 1898 was 1,767, the number of instructors 125. The receipts were $447,434.66; the expenses, $449,330.16. A summer session of six weeks was decided upon for the present year-a new departure. The short course in agriculture in winter was attended by 249 students. The enrollment in the 7 normal schools was 2,797, and the expenses for two years were $662, 304.13. There are 16 day schools for the deaf, 4 in Milwaukee. The State aid is limited to $150 per capita for nine months' instruction. A bill to furnish them with a superintendent was defeated. They have an enrollment of 160 pupils. The State school is at Delavan, and has nearly 200 pupils enrolled. The School for the Blind, at Janesville, has more than 100 pupils, with an average of 83, and costs about $36,000. State Institutions. The secretary of the Board of Control gives a table showing the cost for the year of subsistence at the State institutions, excepting the Reformatory, reports for which were not in. The average was $63.62 for each of the 2,617 inmates; but as this includes also the subsistence of the 597 officers and employees of the same institutions, the actual average for the inmates themselves is a little more than 20 per cent. less. The total amount is $166,505.11. There are altogether 597 officers, employees, and teachers in these institutions. The cost of care of the chronic insane in county asylums for the year ending Sept. 30 was $354,479.29. The new reformatory at Green Bay for first offenders from sixteen to thirty had in February 30 inmates, with 25 more to be admitted. When the buildings are complete there will be accommodations for 600. The site comprises 200 acres 3 miles from the city. Railroads. There are 46 lines of road reporting to the commissioner, in 42 systems. The value of railroad property is about $300,000,000. The taxes paid this year amounted to about $100,000 more than in 1898. The Kickapoo Valley road was sold in October, under a mortgage foreclosure, for $500,000. The mortgage was for $600,000. The line was in operation from Wauzeka to La Farge, about 54 miles, and is completed to Readstown, a total of 84 miles. Banks. The report of the condition of the banks on Sept. 7 shows resources and liabilities of $63,302,388.98. Compared with their condition April 5, the changes are as follow: Increase in resources and liabilities, $2,773,634.78; increase in loans and discounts, $2,401,182.32; increase in bonds, stocks, and securities, $649,666.44; increase in surplus and profits, $79,807.74; increase in deposits, $2,803,239.75; decrease in capital, $153,430.80; decrease in available cash, $268,286.67. Insurance. The receipts of the insurance department for 1899 show an increase over the previous year of $149,673.76. The total receipts for the past year were $388,448.19. These came from the following sources: Taxes, $312,078.79; license fees, $28,600; agents' certificates, $28,091; filing annual statements, $8,140; interest, $9,713.40; copies of statement, $933.05; filing charters, $700; certificates and seals, $149.95; service of summons, $42. Of the $28,600 collected for license fees in 1899, $19,200 was for back taxes. There are now 325 licensed insurance companies doing business in the State, an increase of 18 in the year. Political. At the election, April 4, two justices of the Supreme Court were chosen. John B. Cassoday was elected for the full term, to succeed himself, and Joshua Eric Dodge to fill the unexpired term which he was appointed to fill temporarily upon the resignation of Judge Pinney. New Richmond.—This little city, in St. Croix County, in the extreme western part of the State, was almost totally destroyed by a cyclone, June 12. The loss of life was very great; estimates placed it at 150 to 200; and one fourth to one half the population of about 2,000 were said to be injured. Aid was sent from other parts of the State and from neighboring States, notably from Minnesota, and the rebuilding of the town was begun within a week. The same storm caused damage in Barron, Clear Lake, and other places. Legislative Session. The session of the Legislature began Jan. 11 and ended May 4. L. W. Thayer was President pro tempore of the Senate and George H. Ray was Speaker of the House. The term of John L. Mitchell as United States Senator ended this year, and the Legislature balloted several days for a successor, the Republican candidates being Joseph V. Quarles, Joseph W. Babcock, Isaac Stephenson, Samuel A. Cook, and Charles M. Webb. T. E. Ryan was the candidate of the Democratic members. On Jan. 30 Mr. Quarles was nominated in the Republican caucus, and he was elected in joint convention, Jan. 31, by a vote of 110 to 18 for Mr. Ryan. Many important measures became law. Among them was the so-called antilobby bill, designed to prevent secret lobby influence. It requires agents of those interested in legislation to register in dockets kept by the Secretary of State for that purpose. They must enter opposite their names the number and title of every measure concerning which they are employed, also the name, occupation, and address of the employer; and they must file written authority from him. Thirty days after adjournment the employer must file a sworn statement of all moneys expended. Severe penalties are prescribed for a violation of any of these provisions, and lobbyists may be shut out from legislative privileges. Another measure, designed to protect weak legislators and officials, was the antipass bill. This forbids the giving or offering of any free pass or frank, or any privilege withheld from any person, for the traveling accommodation or transportation of any person or property, or the transmission of any message of communication, to any "political committee, or any member or employee thereof, to any candidate for or incumbent of any office or position under the Constitution or laws, or under any ordinance of any town or municipality, of this State, or to any person at the request or for the advantage of all or any of them," and forbids the acceptance of such privileges by such committees, candidates, or incumbents. Any violation of the law is to be punished by imprisonment in the State Prison not more than five years nor less than one year, or by fine not exceeding $1,000 nor less than $200. An amendment to the Constitution, which was referred to the next Legislature, provides that the giving or accepting of a free pass or frank shall be deemed bribery. Other constitutional amendments proposed and referred to the next Legislature authorize State highway taxes and give the Legislative power to pass a general banking law. Instead of repassing the amendment referred by the Legislature of 1897, fixing the term of the State School Superintendent at two years, this Legislature passed and referred to that of 1901 an amendment fixing it at four years. The other amendment of 1897, authorizing the Legislature to limit taxation in cities and towns, was not repassed. A tax commission appointed by the preceding Legislature to gather and submit information relating to taxation in this State and elsewhere made its report this year, and an act was passed providing for a commissioner of taxation and first and second assistant commissioners. The term of office is ten years. An act concerning life insurance companies provides for the stipulated premium plan and largely increases the income from these companies. Another revenue measure is for assessment of sleeping car, express, freight line, and equipment companies on the basis of their property in the State, at the average rate of taxation, State and local together, in the State. A direct inheritance tax is to be collected (1 per cent.) and a collateral tax of 5 per cent., on personal property exceeding $10,000. The general act relating to negotiable instruments, which was recommended by the conference of commissioners on uniform legislation and has been adopted by many of the States, was enacted into law. Provision was made for reorganization of the militia on the system of the regular army. The marriage license law was amended; county clerks must give the license five days before the ceremony takes place, and may not grant to minors without the written consent of parents or guardians. The caucus law of 1897 amended by the omission of the requirement for the preliminary meeting. Some minor amendments to the election laws were made. The game law was amended; the close season for aquatic wild fowl begins Jan. 1, instead of May 1. Hunters must be provided with licenses, excepting that a resident of the State may hunt any kind of game in the open season, except aquatic fowl or deer, provided he does not use a dog. Thirty special deputy game wardens are authorized. The law governing the State Reformatory was generally amended. The State Board of Control is to inspect twice a year the sanitary arrangements and fire equipment of county asylums, poorhouses, and jails, and is authorized to visit charitable institutions under corporations. limit of the total tax of a city was raised from 3 to 3 per cent. of the total valuation. Cities may levy a poll tax of $1.50. Land sold for city taxes may be redeemed in three years with interest at 15 per cent. Electric railway, light, and power companies have their license fees increased. It was provided that before the salary of a circuit judge is allowed he must swear that no case submitted to him has remained undecided for ninety days, exclusive of time when he has been disabled by illness. Besides the new law for taxation of life insurance companies already referred to, there were other regulations of insurance busi was The ness. College graduates may be authorized to teach on filing evidence that they have given the required amount of study to pedagogy and psychology, and college or normal graduates may receive unlimited certificates after experience-one year for home graduates and two for foreign. County boards may establish training schools except in counties having State normals. Adjoining districts, towns, etc., may unite to establish high schools. The limit of State aid to high schools is raised from $50,000 to $100,000, of which not more than $75,000 may be paid to graded districts. A special commissioner is to investigate the subject of manual training and the study of agriculture. Acts to assist in forming and circulating libraries were passed. Among other enactments were the following: Providing for the branding and sale of renovated butter. Requiring employers of labor to provide seats for the use of women employees when they are not on active duty. Regulating the manufacture of cigars. Prohibiting discrimination by employers against union labor. Regulating employment agencies. Making it a misdemeanor to threaten an employee or promise higher wages in order to influence his vote; and providing that when an employer requires notice from an employee intending to quit work on penalty of forfeiture of wages, he shall be liable to the same amount for discharging without notice. To regulate child labor. Providing that the State, counties, and municipalities shall have no preference over other creditors of insolvent banks. Admitting destitute army nurses and mothers of Union soldiers to the Soldiers' Home. Raising the age of consent from fourteen to eighteen years. Reducing the bounty on wolves from $5 to $3, and on wildcats and lynxes from $3 to $1, to be paid by the county, with an equal sum from the State. Providing for inspection of nursery stock. To prevent adulteration of linseed oil. Providing that license may be refused to an exhibition employing acrobats under fifteen years of age. Making it a misdemeanor to advertise an indecent play. The act of 1897 for licensing plumbers was this year declared partly void. In providing that in the case of a firm or company the licensing of one member is sufficient it is held to discriminate against plumbers doing business alone, and therefore to violate the constitutional requirement of equal protection. Some of the appropriations were as follow: To the State University, $268,000; $30,000 to the Agricultural College, and $15,000 to the College of Mechanics and Engineering; to the State Fire |