or vicious conduct, such child is beyond the control and power of such parents or guardian, and that a due regard for the morals and welfare of such child manifestly required that he should be committed to the guardianship of the managers of the Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys: provided, in all cases, the terms of commitment shall not be less than to the age of twenty-one years. SECTION 3. Section ten of said chapter sixty-six is hereby repealed, and this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication. Approved March 11, 1873. AN ACT to amend chapter 105 of the general laws of 1873, relating to the government and management of the State Industrial School for Boys. SECTION 1. Section 2 of said chapter 105 shall be amended so as to read when amended as follows: "SECTION 2. Section 8 of said chapter 66 shall be amended so as to read as follows: The courts and several magistrates in any county in this state may, at their discretion, sentence to the Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys any such male child who may be convicted of any petit larceny or misdemeanor, and the several courts, may, in their discretion, send to the said Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys any such male child who shall be convicted before them of any offense which under the existing laws would be punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, and the county judge, and judges of municipal courts in any county in this state may, in their discretion, commit to the said Wisconsin Industrial School for Boys any male child, having a legal residence in said county, and being between the ages of ten and sixteen years, which upon complaint and due proof is found to be a vagrant or so incorrigible and vicious, that a due regard for the morals and welfare of such child manifestly requires, that he shall be committed to the guardianship of the managers of said school: provided, in all cases, the terms of commitment shall not be less than to the age of twentyone years." SECTION 2. This act shall take effect from and after its passage and publication. Approved February 28, 1874. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1874. ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, MADISON, Wis., Sept. 30, 1874. To his Excellency, WM. R. TAYLOR, Commander-in-Chief: GOVERNOR: I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report of the transactions of this office, as required by law. The demands upon this office for certificates, abstracts and information, relative to the service of soldiers in the late war, continue to be very great, rendering necessary the labor of an extensive correspondence. It would be no exaggeration to say, that thousands of soldiers have applied to this department, during the past year, for proofs of their service in the war of the rebellion. The certificate of this office is frequently the only available evidence in "proving up" claims to soldiers' pensions, bounties, or benefits arising under the acts of congress, relative to "homesteads." The application is sometimes made by the soldier himself, in his own behalf; but not infrequently by his widow or orphan children. The constant examination of the muster rolls of the late regiments on file, has greatly damaged these records, and unless some steps are soon taken to have them transcribed to books of a more permanent kind, they will be worthless as documents of reference. I desire to call the attention of your Excellency, and of the legislature, especially to this matter. There are no records connected with the history of the state that should be more carefully and sacredly preserved than those of the Wisconsin soldiers who did battle, in the late war, for the cause of the Union. A revision of the militia laws of the state was made by the legislature of 1873. The law is still very defective. It provides that each company or battery that may organize in accordance with the requirements of the law, shall receive from the state treasury the sum of one hundred dollars ($100) per annum, "which shall be full compensation for rent of armory, pay of armorer and keeping in repair the ordnance and ordnance stores, furnished such company or battery." The sum of money allowed under this act is utterly inadequate for the purposes intended. The amount is ridiculously small, and would seem to indicate a degree of impecuniosity on the part of our people, which we do not believe is justly attributable to them. We do not favor lavish appropriations for the support of an extensive militia organization; but the expediency of having an organized militia of moderate size and tolerable equipment will be apparent to all. The allowance now made by the state is just enough to encourage the organization of military companies, but not enough to secure efficiency or permanency in the organization. The law should be amended so as to limit the number of companies that may organize under the militia law; and then the aid afforded. by the state should be adequate for the decent support of the several companies. Each infantry company should receive at least $300, and each battery and cavalry company $1,000 annually from the state. At present, companies will organize, and, stimulated by the novelty of parade and glitter of uniform, the organizations survive just long enough to involve the members in an expense which they cannot bear, then disband, entailing upon the state the cost of transporting and re-transporting arms and accouterments, etc. We certainly think that the better policy would be to restrict the militia organizations to a reasonable number, and then let the state extend such aid to this limited organization as will secure efficiency and permanency. The following tables will exhibit the number and strength of the various military organizations of the state. In closing this report I desire to express my great obligations to Captain John G. Stock, Aid-de-camp, for constant and valuable assistance in the discharge of my duties. Respectfully submitted, ALFRED C. PARKINSON, |