Litchfield enquirer., 1875-05-13

the wiser course to provide for this yearly
 deficit of current means by q special and
 temporary tax. L-a. .E4-ts-ssE s.s5T , | These are arrears of taxes emeunt,nn4G Lover two hundred and fifty theusand dok lars due the state from the following rail
 road c0fnpanies,@ s,@4s1z the New Haven, Middletown & Willimantic the, Connecticut
 Western and the Valley,-wish little hope i of present collection. o ~ !
 The bonded debt of the state re mars at five millions and fourteen thou 1 sand five hundred dollars (S5, ,014, ,500) | bearing six per cent. interest and is now l redeemable at the pleasure of the state.
 The grand list of the state for October, 1 1874, shows an increase of four million
 ttree hundred and ninety-one thousand
 seven hundred and forty-four dollars GA, 391, ,744 over that of the previous year,
 and now amounts to three hundred and ffty-eight million four hundred and nine
 ty one thousand four hundred and fifty
 one dollars (S35a, 49I, ,451l.
 l The great bulk of the revenue of tue state, it will be seen, is derived from say | Ings banks, insurance companies and railroad companies Their condition, therefore. IS of special importance to the state government.
 SAVINGS BANKs-INsURANCE-R
 The savings banks of the state return an l aggregate of deposits amounting to nearly 1 seventy-four millions of dollars. being an increase during the year of over three mil lions. Their assets amount to nearly scv- en millions of dollars Six new savings banks have been organized during the year. | This increase, during year of depress- l ed business, indicates idle capital rather than savings, and tendency to use these institutions for purposes of investment. I hardly need repeat, however, what have hAfnra this had occasion to say. that inst Ice 10 the main body of fIla depositors Ja these institutions requires you, in any leg islation affecting them, to keep in constant view, and before anything else, the secur- ty of the deposit. am happy to say. in expression of the opinion of the Bank commissioners, that the savings banks of the state are now, generally, managed with ability and proper regard to the 1 main object of their incorporation Nor do know how further legislation can make them more secure to the depositor 1 Indeed a savings bank.manager has very little to do except to follow, in his invest ments, the plain directions of the law as'it IS, to insure fidelity to his important trust
 It is, in my judgment, hardly possible, unless. to be sure. through some extraor- dinary commercial cOnvulsion overthrow ing all values. for savings bank. in Con- necticut, to become insoivent without a deliberate violation of the laws of the state by its managers and cuipable neg lect of official duty on the part of the bank commissioner charged with it's examina- kHn1a m k~ T.: that the present bank commissioners, on coming to their office during the past year found 1t necessary to cause proceedings to be instituted against one of the princ1- pal savings institutions of the state. the TOwnseRd savings bank of New Haven, by reason of its insolyent condition; and the institution has gone into the hands of re- ceivers. That its condition and history may aid you ill remedying any imperfec- tion of law, if 1t exists, or of providing for its greater efficiency, if necessary. call your attention to the report of the bank commissioners on this subject. Under the act of the last General Assembly Iappoint ed Lucien W. Sperry, of New Haven, and George M. Landers, of New Britain to be bank commissioners of the state.
 commend to your consideration the several reports of the Insurance commis- sioner. The magnitude of the insurance interest of this state Is disclosed by the fact that our fire insurance companies transact one eighth of the entire insurance business of the United States, and have perpetuaily outstanding fire risks in force equal to twice the amount of the entire grand list of all the real and personal pro- perty of Connecticut, and last year had a cash income of more than eleven millions of dollars, of which over ten millions came to companies in the city of Hartford. The exhibit of Life Insurance companies is equally impressive. The accumultted re- serveheld by the Life Insurance companies of this state amounts to over eighty-two millions of dollars, being considerably more than one-third of that held by all the oth- CT companies in the United States. The income of these companies during the last year amounted to over twenty-five millions of dollars E +' @s
 The extraordinary growth, substantially within the last twenty-five years, and un- der circumstances of powerful competi- tion, is the highest possible proof of the technical skill, financial ability and integ- rity with which these important interests have, in general, been managed, and should certainly secure them from ex- posture to the hazards of any crude UT has ty legislation. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the rapid accumu- lation of such large amounts of money in any hands, however honest and capable, weakens the sense of its value, and is al- most sure to be attended with powerful temptations to novel and speculative in vestments. It seems to me that the law should place some restriction upon this .SNf1v 4E,4A kl .s-Az
 ests of the companies would be promoted thereby. . s-... .....ssss
 The affairs of the American National Life and Trust Company, of New Haven. have received the special attention of the Insurance Commissioner, and the results of his examination will be made the sub iect of a special report by him to the General Assembly. l59--
 Of the twenty-three railroad corpora tions doing business in this state only eight are dividend paying. The paid in capital of all these corporations amounts to nearly thirty-seven millions of dollars, and their aggregate indebtness to over twenty millions of dollars. Nearly half of the capital stock is held in Connecticut by thirty eight hundred and eighty-nine (3.- SS9) stockholders. The cost of these roads and their equipment makes total of over hfty-five hundred thousand dollars, being | slightly decreased from the previous year.
 Over ten million passengers have been transported over the roads during the past year, a small increase from the previous year of whom fourteen were accidentally injured, four fatally. ThIrty-fiye employ ees of the companies have also received injuries during the year and thiryy-four persons walking or lying on the track or at highway crossings. - - ..a | Under the acts of the last General As sembly l have since the adjournment, ap- pointed George M. Woodruff, of Litch- field, to be a Railroad Commissioner.g z CHARITABLE AND REFoRHAToRT lSsT1Tu- | as TONS. sa1Ee@ s1
 The charities of the state form an i'm portant part of its expenditures. The payments on this account (but not includ- ing the reformatory institutional, during
 the year, have Teen as follows:s : | Ta Al.