support, is shown by the following summary statements taken from the official report for 1875, presented by the State Board of Education to the General Assembly at its session of 1876: There are 1,650 public schools in the State, an increase of eight during the year. Number of children between four and sixteen years of age, January, 1875, 134,976; increase during the year, 1,448; number of different scholars in public schools, 119,489-increase, 191; number in private schools, 9,145, an increase of 723. There are 12,970 between four and sixteen years of age who are in no school-a less number by 60 than that of the year before. The winter attendance is, as usual, much the largest. Of teachers, there are in winter 721 males and 1,910 females, and in summer no fewer than 2,324 of the latter, to 272 of the former. There are 264 graded schools. There are still a good many school-houses in poor condition, which it is the effort of the board to im prove. The dividend per child from the school-fund last year was $1.10, and nearly $150,000 was thus used, besides $202,119 paid for schools from State tax. Town taxes raised $668,167; district taxes, $463,775. Income of town deposit-fund, $46,534.97; of local funds, $15,614.79. Voluntary contributions for public schools, $6,881.26; from other sources over $41,500 was received; and the total amount received from all sources was $1,592,858.11. The aggregate amount of money paid from the Treasury during the year for the support of State beneficiaries in the various charitable institutions, not including the reformatory or penal, was $173,521. This charitable aid was afforded through the Governor's office in 1,136 cases during the year, and its recipients were as follows: 630 insane, 386 sick soldiers, 61 deaf-mutes, 17 blind, and 42 imbeciles. The State Hospital for the Insane, at Middletown, had 616 patients under treatment during the year, of whom there remained 460 at the end of April, 1876. Of this number 302 are town or State paupers, and 135 indigent-that is, able to pay one-half of the five dollars charged for weekly support. This hospital is filled to its utmost capacity. Besides the above-mentioned number of patients within it, 63 insane persons have been kept under treatment by State aid in the Retreat at Hartford, and in hospitals of neighboring States; there were probably 50 applicants for admission to the Middletown hospital, who were not provided for in other hospitals. In the State Reform School, at Meriden, there were, during the year, 466 boys for correction and instruction, of whom 345 were remaining in the institution on the 1st of April; a larger number than ever before. In consequence of the unfavorable condition of business prevailing, the receipts from labor-contracts last year were less than before, and not quite sufficient to cover the expenses of the institution. In the Industrial School for Girls, the labor of its inmates has made a net earning in the past year. Private donations have also been made to it during that period. In the State penitentiary there were at the end of April, 1876, 252 convicts in confinement, being 40 more than the cells of the prison can receive. The contract price for convicts' labor having been diminished by about one-third on account of the commercial depression, the earnings for the last year were proportionately less. The expenditures of the prison during the twelve months exceeded its receipts by $2,874.87. Among the first transactions of this session was the election of a United States Senator in the place of the late Orris S. Ferry, of Norwalk. In accordance with a concurrent resolution previously adopted, the two Houses separately balloted on May 16, 1876, the candidates voted for in both Houses being Henry B. Harrison, Republican, James E. English and William H. Barnum, Democrats; with the addition, in the Lower House, of Charles R. Ingersoll, also a Democrat. The results were as follows: In the Senate, the whole number of votes being 21-Barnum, 17; English, 1; Harrison, 3. In the House of Representatives, the whole number of votes being 246-Barnum, 151; Harrison, 81; English, 5; Ingersoll, 2. The presiding officer in each House declared William H. Barnum elected. On the next day, May 17th, the members of the two Houses met in joint convention to finish the work of the United States Senator's election, when, the results of each House's vote on the previous day having been added together, the joint vote stood as follows: William H. Barnum, Democrat. 168 84 6 2 260 The president There were seven absentees. announced the result of the concurrent votes, and formally declared William H. Barnum duly elected United States Senator for the unexpired term of the late Orris S. Ferry, ending March 4, 1879. The General Assembly closed its session on June 28th. The May session of 1876 was the shortest ever held in Connecticut since 1860. It was also regarded as an economical one, and the new enactments passed in it were less nu merous than usual. Among its acts were six amendments to the State constitution passed in 1875, and continued to the present session. Having been approved by the requisite twothirds of each House, they were submitted to the people's vote at the election of October 2, 1876, for their adoption or rejection. amendments were as follows: The 1. That any new town, hereafter incorporated, shall not be entitled to a representative in the Gen eral Assembly "unless it has at least 2,500 inhabitants, and unless the town from which the major part of its territory is taken has also at least 2,500 inhabitants," etc. 2. The "provisions of section 2, Article IV. of the constitution and the amendments thereto, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to all elections held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and annually thereafter." 3. Judges of the courts of Common Pleas and of the district courts shall be appointed for terms of four years; judges of the city courts and of police courts shall be appointed for terms of two years. 4. That the judges of probate shall be elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, 1876, and biennially thereafter; that judges so elected shall hold their offices for two years from and after the Wednesday after the first Monday of the next succeeding January; and that the judges of probate elected on the first Monday of April, 1876, sall hold their offices only until the Wednesday after the first Monday of January, 1877. 5. The compensation of members of the General Assembly shall not exceed $300 per annum, and one mileage each way for each session, at the rate of 25 cents per mile. 6. That Article VIII. of the amendments to the constitution be amended by erasing the word "white" from the first line. The following amendments to the constitution were passed at this session for continuance to next year: Increasing the senatorial districts of the State by an addition of from six to ten; increasing the number of judges; prohibiting the voting of town aid to railroads; providing for biennial elections of the Legislature; and prohibiting the use of money in elections. A constitutional amendinent was proposed purporting expressly "to prevent bribery in elections," and another "to prohibit the use of public money for Catholic schools," both of which were rejected. A resolution to encourage the resumption of specie payment, by the Federal Government, wis indefinitely postponed by the House of Representatives on June 28th, and by the Senate in concurrence on the same day. In preparation for the general election of November 7, 1876, when, in accordance with the new order of things, the people of Connecticut should for the first time elect their State officers to be installed in January next ensuing, the political organizations in the State severally met in convention again, for the purpose of nominating their respective State and electoral tickets. The Republican party assembled at New Hiven on August 30th, when the following named presidential electors were nominated: At large-Theodore J. Woolsey, the ex-President of Yale College, and Marshall Jewell. By districts-first, George Maxwell, of Vernon; second, John Allen, of Saybrook; third, George S. Moulton, of Windham; fourth, Donald J. Warner, of Salisbury. Concerning the nomination of State officers, it was moved "that the ticket of last spring, with Henry C. Robinson at the head, be nominated by acclamation," which finally prevailed. The following platform was adopted by the convention: 1. The Republican party of Connecticut renews its declaration of implicit allegiance to the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of VOL. XVL-14 A Connecticut, and its devotion to the inspiration in which the party was born, and by which it carried the nation in triumph through the period of the civil war. 2. It declares that the lesson taught by the late rebellion must be honored in the policy and conduct of our Government, and indignantly protests against the unblushing avowal by the Democratic leaders of theories of State sovereignty which were the legitimate parent of the infamous attempts at secession and the immediate cause of the terrible war throug.. which the republic has passed; and against the outrages of fraud, intimidation, and violence, by Democratic politicians in the reconstructed States upon the free suffrage and citizenship of the people of those States. 3. It declares for reformation in the civil service and in the administration of all public affairs, as set forth in the letter of acceptance of Rutherford B. Hayes; for economy and retrenchment in public expenses; for the speedy resumption of specie payment, and the prompt fulfillment of the obligations of the Government written upon its paper currency; and protests against the repeal by the Democratic House of Representatives of the clause of the law of 1875 for the resumption of specie payment in 1879, to which the national faith is pledged, and by whose repeal the national faith is dishonored. 4. It declares for generosity and good-will to the people of the South, for harmony and peace throughhonors and emoluments the services of rebellion and out the land; but protests against rewarding with treason, and insists upon the protection of every citizen in the exercise of his civil rights as granted in the amendments to our Constitution. liberty, its welcome to improvement and progress, and seeks for its supreme objects the comfort and elevation of the people, and the preservation, unstained, of the national honor. 5. It declares its unqualified love of law and 6. In matters of State policy, it declares for econ omy and simplicity; for the encouragement of industry; for a universal system of unsectarian education, secured by legislation; for short legislative 8 ssions; for general laws, and against special legislation; for the limitation of municipal indebtedness, and public appropriations to the legitimate objects tion of elections; against bargains and trades in of support by taxation; against bribery and corrupappointments, and for reduced expenses and lower rates of taxation. 7. It charges the Democratic party with subserviency to the men who have but just laid down rebellious arms; with evasion and dishonesty in its treatment of the financial question; with studied insult to the Union soldiers; with an utter disregard of the honor and fair name of the republic: and with the purchase of power in this State by bribery and corruption at elections. 8. It charges that the Democratic party is true to its record in proposing for Chief Magistrate of a restored Union a man who withheld from the friends of that Union his sympathy and support when the nation's existence was in peril; and, as a model reinence by associating with the most corrupt and former, a man who reached his first political promunscrupulous politicians who ever disgraced our land. 9. It accepts and most cordially indorses the platform and principles of the party as established by the Cincinnati National Convention, and in the nom-ination of General Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler for President and Vice-President it finds assurance of the elevation to those high places of men whose lives and records and letters of acceptance furnish a guarantee that the principles of the party will be enforced in the administration of our Government. It declares that President Grant is entitled to our thanks for his patriotic services to the country, and that his name will be deservedly enrolled among the honored sons of the republic; and it is Resolved, That the candidates nominated by this convention deserve the unanimous and enthusiastic support of the citizens of Connecticut. The Democratic-Liberal Convention, pursuant to a call issued by their State Committee on August 15th, was held at Hartford on September 6th. The names presented in the ticket were as follows: For Governor, Richard D. Hubbard, of Hartford; for Lieutenant-Governor, Francis B. Loomis, of New London; for Secretary of State, Dwight Morris, of Bridgeport; for Treasurer, Edwin A. Buck, of Windham; for Controller, Charles C. Hubbard, of Middletown. The nomination of presidential electors was made. The ticket was as follows: At largeCharles R. Ingersoll, of New Haven, and William B. Franklin, of Hartford. By districts first, John S. Dobson, of Vernon; second, Geo. E. Elliot, of Clinton; third, Charles Osgood, of Norwich; fourth, George Taylor, of New Milford. Unusual interest and importance was attached by this convention to the platform. Its reading was frequently interrupted by noisy applause, and a great demonstration was made in its favor at the conclusion. It was adopted unanimously, and was as follows: Resolved, That we cordially approve of the nominations, by the Democratic National Convention, of Samuel J. Tilden for President, and Thomas A. Hendricks for Vice-President-statesmen in whose purity of character, and ability to discharge the duties of the highest positions in our Government, the people may implicitly confide. Resolved, That in the platform adopted by the late Democratic National Convention, and in the views expressed by Governors Tilden and Hendricks in their letters of acceptance, we recognize the principles which are necessary for the preservation of our free institutions, and essential to bring back the administration of the Government to honest and economical service. Resolved, That a political party continued in power for a long period of time becomes arrogant, selfish, and corrupt; and that recent official investigations have proved that sixteen years of power in the Federal Government by the Republican party have brought steadily-increasing impurities into the public service; and combinations to deplete the public Treasury have grown so powerful, and their partisan influences so strong, that the Republican party is unable to reform existing abuses. That party having utterly failed to redeem its promises of reform within its own ranks, so earnestly made four years ago, and the abuses becoming day by day more general and alarming, a complete change of parties in the administration of public affairs is essential to secure a radical reform in the civil service, where demoralization has become a scandal and reproach to our free institutions. But now the chief actors in scenes of national shame seek to shift responsibility upon the heavily-burdened shoulders of a retiring President, and ask that they may be continued in power for the sake of self-reformation. All history teaches that reformation does not begin with continned reward. Resolved, That while one great cause of the prostration of business, with its resulting ruin of capable business-men and the idleness and suffering of tens of thousands of laborers, may be found in the unparalleled official corruption and extravagance of the Republican party, and its accompanying unbearable taxation by the Federal Government of more than $4,000,000,000 during the past eleven years, we nevertheless find the Administration and the entire Republican party in Congress earnestly opposing the retrenchment and the economic policy of the Democratic party. Resolved, That the Democratic-Liberal party of Connecticut, which has controlled the administration of the State for four years, to the satisfaction of the people, demands: expenditures; and we thank the Lower House of 1. That there shall be rigid economy in the public Congress for its zealous work, by which retrenchment to the amount of $80,000,000 in this fiscal year was accomplished, over the combined opposition of the Republican minority in the House, the Senate, the President, and the entire Administration. 2. That every dishonest incumbent of public office, and every official who tolerates and does not sternly oppose corrupt practices in the civil service, shall be removed; and that none except competent, honest, and faithful officers shall be intrusted with public duties. 3. That the military shall be subordinate to the civil authority; and that the array of Federal bayonets around the polls, when peaceable citizens are voting, shall cease. The Federal Government has no right to send its standing army into a State to interfere with its local affairs, except when called upon, under the provisions of the Constitution, ty the Governor or Legislature; and the recent order of the War Department, by direction of the Presi dent, to place Federal soldiers under the control of United States marshals around the polls in the Southern States, when no disturbance has occurred or occasion transpired for their presence, and no State authority has constitutionally called for them, is an outrage upon the people, and a violation of the principles of our Government. Its menace is, that a Federal Administration desiring to perpetuate its power may do so by silencing the sovereignty of the ballot by the use of the sword. 4. That there shall be a wiser policy in regard to our system of taxation; that our commerce, Low nearly extinct, shall be relieved from ruinous restrictions, and fresh life infused into the important interests dependent upon it, thus strengthening the revenue, sustaining the national credit, and giving employment to many thousands of deserving la borers who are idle and suffering. 5. That the interference of the Federal Government to control the elections shall cease; that the Government shall not impose revengeful acts upon any section of our common country-for such a polis cy is at war with the principles of our Government, and tends to paralyze all business interests. In the language of the enlightened statesman, Samuel J. Tilden, it is the duty of every good citizen and gov ernmental authority to establish "cordial fraternity and good-will among citizens, of whatever race or color, who are now united in one destiny of a com mon self-government." 6. That there shall be a return to specie payments, by the most speedy and practical methods; and we have entire confidence that under the wise states manship and large business experience of Samuel J. Tilden and the counselors he will bring about him, such a result will be surely effected without shock or detriment to any industrial, commercial, or finan cial interest of the country. The charge that the Democratic party is incapable of dealing efficiently with this problem, comes with ill grace from a party that is responsible for all the currency shams of the last ten years, and with unlimited powers has utterly failed during all that period to make the money of the people as good as the money of the bond holders. Resolved, That four years of economical Demo cratic administration in Connecticut have left the finances of the State in a sound and satisfactory condition, upon a reduced rate of taxation; that the conservative action of the Legislature, during this period, in adopting just measures and in observing rigid economy, merits the approbation of the people; and we confidently appeal to them for continued support of the same Democratic and Liberal party and policy. Resolved, That we invite and welcome the cooperation of all electors, without regard to their previous party affiliations, in our struggle to accomplish needed reforms in the administration of the Government, and the full reestablishment of the authority of the Constitution and laws of the Union. The Greenback party, which convened at New Haven, on September 12th, renominated the State ticket which they had nominated at their convention of the preceding March 9th, as stated above. For presidential electors they nominated the following: At large-John P. Phillips, of New Haven, and Henry S. Pratt, of Hartford. By districts-first, George Hibbard, of Hartford; second, Henry E. Jackson, of New Haven; third, Charles G. Beebe, of Stonington; fourth, Otto F. Porter, of Bridgeport. The platform adopted by the Greenback party at this convention indorses the nominations of Peter Cooper and Samuel F. Cary for President and Vice-President of the United States; demands the unconditional repeal of the resumption act; recommends the exchange by the Government of its interest-bearing bonds for non-interest-bearing notes, and that legal tenders should be made exchangeable for its inconvertible bonds bearing a low rate of interest; condemns the policy of increasing the foreign debt, and the demonetization of silver; and arraingns the two political parties of the State for their failure to protect the industrial classes. At the election held on October 2, 1876, the proposed six amendments to the State constitution were separately voted upon by the people, and each of them approved by an average najority of something more than fifteen yeas to one nay. The average whole number of votes cast in the State on each amendment was about 30,000. Governor Ingersoll, ou the 18th, issued a proclamation declaring that a majority of the electors had approved each and all of the proposed constitutional amendments, and that the same had become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the constitution of the State. The general election of November 7, 1876, resulted favorably to the Democrats. For the presidential electors the Democratic ticket received 61,934 votes; the Republican, 59,034; the Greenback party's, 774; the Temperance, 378. As to the State ticket, the votes cast for Mr. Hubbard, the Democratic candidate for Governor, numbered 61,934; for Mr. Robinson, the Republican nominee, 58,514. The candidates of the Greenback and Liquor Prohibition parties received 630 and 740 votes respectively. Of the four Congressmen voted upon in their respective districts, the Democrats elected three, namely, Mr. Landers in the first district, Mr. Phelps in the second, and Mr. Warner in the fourth. In the third district the Republican candidate, Mr. Wait, was elected. In the fourth district there was an additional election held for Congressman to fill the vacant seat during the remaining term of the present Congress. The candidates were the same, and the same was the result of the voting; Mr. Warner, the Democratic candidate, having here also been elected, and by a somewhat increased majority over the Republican. With reference to the members of the State Legislature, the Republicans obtained in the November election very considerable gains over the Democrats, so as to reverse the result of the election held for that purpose in the preceding April, and change the political complexion of that body from Democratic to Republican, as follows: Senate, Republicans 10, Democrats 11; House of Representatives: Republicans 141, Democrats 105; giving the Republicans a majority of 35 over the Democrats on joint ballot. In the last General Assembly the Democrats had a majority of 96 over the Republicans on joint ballot. The whole number of votes polled on the electoral and State tickets in Connecticut, at the November election in 1876, was 122,156 and 121,824 respectively. This exceeds by above 20,000 the largest number of votes cast in the State at any former election. Besides the change in the time of electing the State executive officers and members of the Legislature from April to November, the opening of the sessions of the Legislature was required to take place in January instead of May, to begin with January, 1877, and the fiscal year to be reckoned from December 1st to November 30th, commencing with December, 1876, instead of from April 1st to March 31st, as heretofore. These changes have been carried into practical execution. The members of the Legislature elected on November 7, 1876, met and opened its session on January 3, 1877, the appointed day, when also the State officers, returned at the same election, having taken the constitutional oath, were installed in their respective offices, and the new Governor read to the General Assembly his inaugural message. A summary statement of the financial affairs of the State during the eight months is as follows: Balance in the Treasury on April 1, 1876 Receipts from April 1 to November 30, 1876.. $526.839 51 755,261 80 $1,282,100 81 1,204,685 21 $77,415 60 $1.836.415 60 1,736,800 00 $99,615 60 CONYNGHAM, FRANCIS NATHANIEL, Marquis of, an Irish nobleman, born June 11, 1797; died July 17, 1876. He was educated at Eton, where he had among his school-fellows and form-fellows Lords Feversham, Bayning, Harborough, Camden, and Ellesmere. In 1821 he entered the army, obtaining a commission as ensign in the Life Guards. He rose by steady and regular promotion, becoming captain in 1823, major in 1827, colonel in 1854, and, attaining field rank in 1858, he was promoted to lieutenant-general in 1866. Having served an apprenticeship of three years (in 1823-'26) as Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he entered the Lower House of Parliament in 1825, while bearing the courtesy-title of Lord Mount Charles, as M. P. for the county of Donegal, which he represented in the Tory interest down to the period of the first Reform Bill, holding office as one of the Lords of the Treasury under the Duke of Wellington's administration in 1827-'30. He succeeded to his father's title and a seat in the Upper House at the close of 1832. About this time he changed his politics, as he held the postmaster-generalship twice-though on each occasion only for a short time-under Lord Melbourne, and subsequently for four years (1835-'39) held a high office about the court as Lord Chamberlain of the Household. In 1849 he was appointed Vice-Admiral of the coast of Ulster, and in 1869 Lord-Lieutenant of Meath. He was an ardent sportsman, having one of the finest stud of race-horses in Ireland. He was also Commodore of the Irish Yacht Club, and ViceCommodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He is succeeded by his son George Henry, Earl of Mount Charles. COOPER, PETER, an American philanthropist, born in New York, February 12, 1791. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to the trade of coach-making, in which he continued for some time. He next engaged in the manufacture of patent machines for shearing cloth, which were in great demand during the War of 1812, but lost all value on the declaration of peace; then in the manufacture of cabinet-ware; then in the grocery business in the city of New York; and finally in the manufacture of glue and isinglass, which he carried on for fifty years. His attention was early called to the great resources of this country for the manufacture of iron, and in 1830 he erected extensive works at Canton, near Baltimore. Disposing of these, he subsequently erected a rolling and wire mill in the city of New York, in which he first successfully applied anthracite to the puddling of iron. In 1845 he removed the machinery to Trenton, N. J., where he erected the largest rolling-mill at that time in the United States for the manufacture of railroad-iron, and at which, subsequently, he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof buildings. These works have grown to be very extensive, including mines, blast-furnaces, and water-power, and are now carried on by Mr. Cooper's family. While in Baltimore he built, after his own designs, the first locomotive-engine constructed on this continent, and it was used successfully on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He took great interest in the extension of the electric telegraph, in which he invested a large capital. He served in both branches of the New York Common Council, and was a prominent advocate of the construction of the Croton Aqueduct. His great object was to educate and elevate the industrial classes of the community. He early became a trustee of the Public School Society, and at the time of its being merged in the Board of Education was its vice-president. He subsequently became a school commissioner, but, feeling that no common-school system could supply a technological education, he determined to establish in his native city an institution in which the working-classes could secure that instruction for which he, when young and ambitious, sought in vain. In furtherance of this object, the "Union for the Advancement of Science and Art," commonly called the "Cooper Institute," was erected in New York at the junction of Third and Fourth Avenues, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, covering the entire block, at a cost of $650,000, to which Mr. Cooper has since added an endowment of $150,000 in cash. This building is devoted by a deed of trust, with all its rents, issues, and profits, to the instruction and elevation of the working-classes of the city of New York. The plan includes regular courses of instruction at night, free to all who choose to attend, on social and political science, on the application of science to the useful occupations of life, and on such other branches of knowledge as will tend to improve and elevate the working-classes. It includes also a school of design for females, now attended by 200 pupils: a free reading-room and library, resorted to daily by about 1,500 readers; galleries of art, collections of models of inventions, and a polytechnic school. The evening schools are attended by 2,000 pupils, mostly young mechanics, who study engineering, mining, metallurgy, analytic and synthetic chemistry, architectural drawing, and practical building. There are also for women a school of telegraphy, which in four years has sent out more than 300 operators, a school of wood-engraving, and a school of photography, all of which are free and are well attended. These schools employ upward of thirty instructors. In May, 1876, Mr. Cooper was nominated as a candidate for President of the United States, by the "Independent Greenback party," which met in convention at Indianapolis, Ind. (For the result of the election, see UNITED STATES.) COSTA RICA (REPÚBLICA DE COSTA RICA), one of the five independent states of Central America, extending from 8° to 11° 5' of north latitude, and from 81° 20' to 85° 53' west longitude. Its boundaries are: On the north, Nicaragua; on the east, the Caribbean Sea; and on |