of intoxicating liquors, and is mainly in accordance with the long existing law which has repeatedly received the approval and sanction of the people through their Legislatures. It is to be observed, however, that the law allows the sale of intoxicating liquor for medicinal, mechanical, and chemical purposes, while the proposed amendment restricts it to medicinal purposes only. In this connection I may allude to the fact that, owing to disagreements between county commissioners and local authorities, many towns have no agency for the sale of liquor, thus forcing entire communities into a violation of law. In considering the question of court, jail, pauper, reform-school, house of correction, and state prison expenses, it is well always to bear in mind that a large share of them are directly traceable to the illegal traffic in intoxicating liquor, and that the enactment of laws or constitutional amendments tending to restrain and destroy this evil, is in the direction of moral and economical legislation. Men may differ as to what such laws should be, but those that are enacted should be uniformly enforced. OFFICIAL BONDS. I would suggest, as an improvement in the form of official bonds now used in the State, that in all cases the sureties should make affidavit on such bonds as to their qualification in property. The form of official bond used by the United States Government requires the sureties to make oath showing the amount of unir cumbered property owned by them, over and above all debts and liabilities, to be double the penal sum named in the bond. It seems to me that the adoption of this feature in our own official bonds would not only throw about the execution of these important instruments an increased and proper solemnity, resulting in better security to the State, but would also relieve in some measure those whose duty it is to approve such bonds from the necessity of making inquiries as to the sufficiency of the sureties. SAVINGS BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES. There are sixteen Savings Banks and six Trust Companies now doing business in the State, and the total amount of deposits therein on the thirtieth day of June last, was.... an increase in the two years of... Of this total sum there was due non-residents.. .$12,675,269.00 3,599,955.00 2,454,091.00 42,583 7,714 $298.00 373 The number of persons credited with sums in excess There has been credited to depositors' accounts in an increase of..... $382,821.00 30,849.00 The surplus held by all the banks is..... or about one-eighteenth of the total deposits. Under the tax law of 1878 there was received by the State Treasurer, during the past year, as taxes, from these Banks... of which there was distributed to towns.. leaving in the treasury from deposits by non-residents Other important and interesting statistics will be found in the report of the Inspector of Finance. This officer bears gratifying testimony to the skilful and honorable management of these institutions in the main. He has exercised great care and good judgment in the performance of his duties, and I trust that his recommendation will receive your serious notice. Coming from a bank officer, they are likely to be within, rather than in excess of the necessities of the case. His cautious but decided words in regard to certain banks that he does not name, if not heeded, may lead to disaster and distress. I especially recommend to your notice his remarks as to Trust Companies, and in regard to large loans to, and deposits from a single person. In other States the bank officer is required to ascertain and report the number and amount of deposits remaining in each bank, undisturbed, for a certain number of years. The increase in deposits may be taken as an indication of general thrift and prosperity, and, though doubtless some portion of this increase is due to the fact that many persons, competent to manage their own property, are unable to find a better place of investment, yet, as a whole, these deposits represent the savings of years of toil and self-denial. It is your duty to see that all the safeguards that prudence and experience can suggest are thrown around the vital interests of these persons. "Limited deposits, restricted investments, economical management and conservative dividends, will insure security." But laws will be of no avail unless they are enforced. The Inspector of Finance should be given ample power, and it should be made his duty, to enforce the observance of the law. A mere report from year to year that certain banks do not entirely comply with the law will never remedy the evil. The suggestions of this officer are not to be taken as indicating distrust or criticism of the way in which the banks are managed; on the contrary, they are mainly intended to point out the steps already taken by our oldest and soundest institutions, and which, in his opinion, should be followed by all. STATE BANKING LAW. Should the National Government continue the payment of its bonds at the present rate, the securities, on which rest over sixty per cent. of the national bank notes, will be extinguished within the next four years. In this event, it is not impossible that existing corporations may avail themselves of the provisions of the State law. Hence, this law should be carefully examined, and be of such a nature as would afford absolute security to note-holders. INSANE ASYLUM. The management of this private charity is a credit and an honor to the State. Its per-centage of deaths and recoveries compares favorably with that of similar institutions elsewhere. Its Trustees are scrupulously faithful to their trust. Dr. Goldsmith says: "The most searching inquiry has failed to find that a single dollar of the millions which have passed through their hands has ever been misapplied or unaccounted for." The Superintendent, Dr. Draper, is commended in the warmest terms by those able men who in past years have severely criticised the construction of the Asylum and its fitness for the care of the insane, and to whose efforts, in directing attention to the matter, much credit is doubtless due for subsequent improvements. Dr. Fasset says: "Dr. Draper is an educated, intelligent man; has had many years' experience in general practice and in the care of the insane; is a man of good judgment, kind and humane in disposition, devoted to his profession, zealous and earnest." He further says: "We are convinced that the food of the inmates is abundant and of good quality. The entire institution is kept very clean; as completely so as any Asylum in our knowledge. The inmates are decently clothed, and their clothing, as well as their persons, is kept carefully clean. The most perfect good order prevails throughout the entire hospital. Kindness and gentleness, so far as they are consistent with mechanical restraint and seclusion, are everywhere apparent. We believe that no cruelty or harsh treatment on the part of attendants is ever permitted if known." The present Supervisors say: "We believe the Superintendent, his assistants, and employees generally, to be eminently fit for the business in which they are engaged, and we are quite sure that there should be no distrust of their kind and faithful care of all who are put in their keeping." During the past few years, the Trustees have expended large sums in enlarging and improving the Asylum. They have added ventilation by means of a steam fan, new heating apparatus, a gymnasium, workshop, new and extensive park and summer retreat, billiard, bowling, and reading rooms, while every ward now opens to light, air and sunshine. It will thus be seen that nearly every cause for stricture has been removed, and that the institution deserves, and should receive the unreserved confidence of the people. One remaining source of complaint lies in the fact that the inmates are too numerous for the best good of all. INSANE POOR. This unfortunate class deserve our deepest commiseration and genBut common sense and reason should not be left behind in our action for their relief. The State should not be burdened with erous care. the support of transient poor from other States, or of those improperly committed by towns. The Supervisors in their report say that some town authorities "send to the Asylum all their paupers who are in the least demented, idiotic or vicious." It has also been clearly charged in several previous reports that many persons are confined who should be taken care of by the towns from which they came. This is a great wrong to those towns that deal justly with the State in this respect. Under the law giving the Supervisors the right to discharge all persons who should not be inmates, they have discharged twenty-five, and say they would have sent away many more but for fear they would become the lawful prey of the historic poor-house. I believe the towns, as a rule, treat their paupers with humanity and kindness, and that the "historic poor-house" is a mere tradition, and that the harmless, incurable insane would receive no injury from being returned to their respective towns. The State should support none but those needing restraint and medical treatment. The supervisors having the power, it should be made their duty, to purge the Asylum of every such inmate. If this were done, there would be abundant room for the best treatment of those who remain. This distribution of the harmless insane poor among the alms-houses has been adopted in other States with favorable results, as regards both health and expense. With the greatest respect for the ability and high character of the Supervisors, I cannot pass without comment their views on THE LAW RELATIVE TO THE INSANE. After quoting from the report of the previous Board of Supervisors, that "the incarceration of the sane in an insane asylum would be an impossibility in Vermont," they say: as the law now is, such a thing, in our opinion, would be by no means difficult. 66 The law allows the careless opinion of two physicians to send any person to an asylum, and from this there is no appeal. Whose dog would we kill without more sanctity and better evidence? And yet an overworked, nervous and sensitive woman, if she becomes disagreeable to an unfaithful husband or other interested person, may be sent to an asylum by any two inexperienced, ignorant or designing physicians." The law reads as follows: "Sec. 2906. No person, except as hereinafter provided, shall be admitted to, or detained in an insane asylum, as a patient or inmate, except upon the certificate of such person's insanity, made by two physicians of unquestioned integrity and skill "SEC. 2907. Such certificates shall be made not more than ten days previous to the admission of such insane person to the Asylum, and, with a certificate of the Judge of Probate of the district in which the physicians reside, that such physicians are of unquestioned integrity and skill in their profession, shall be presented to the proper officer of the Asylum at the time such insane person is presented for admission." "SEC. 2908. The certificate of the physicians shall he given only after a careful examination of the supposed insane person made not more than five days previous to making the certificate; and a physician who signs a certificate without making such examination, shall, if the person is admitted to an asylum upon the certificate, be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars." It will be observed that the statement is made, that "there is no appeal" from the "careless opinion of two physicians." While this may be technically true, it is one of the main duties of the Supervisors to protect all inmates from injustice. The law directs that one of their number shall visit the Asylum as often as once a month, and that they shall "hear the grievances of the patients, apart from their officers and keepers, and investigate the cases that, in their judgment, require special investigation, and particularly shall ascertain whether persons are confined in any asylum who ought to be discharged, and shall make such orders therein as each case requires." This matter is presented at some length in the belief that it is a fair example of much of the adverse criticism to which the Asylum and our laws relative to the insane have been subjected for years, to the great detriment of the institution and the good name of the State. But if the Supervisors have found that in its practical working the law is defective, it should be amended. It has been strongly urged that such part of section 2893 as provides for the payment of one dollar a week by the State and for mileage, should be repealed. It The good effect of State supervision is seriously interfered with by frequent changes of the officers. Having a good board, we should retain at least one of its members in the new board to be elected. would be better if the Supervisors were elected for two, four and six years respectively. In regard to a new Asylum, it may be stated that the lowest estimate for its cost is $300,000, and as to its being in any measure selfsustaining, the Reform School may be mentioned as an illustration of the error of any such expectation. Its projectors claimed that plain, substantial buildings, with a farm in connection, were all that was needed, and some confidently predicted that its entire cost would not be over $20,000, and that it would thereafter be nearly self-sustaining. Instead of this, we have an expensive structure, and the school has cost the State over $370,000, or over $20,000 per annum for 18 years. The State paid for the support of its beneficiaries at the Asylum in |