The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-01-07

ture on the part of the state, and a
scheme.
[ commend to your attention the re-
port of the state board of charities for
further information upon the subject,
and to the report of the directors of the
reformatory.
State Prison.
The number of convicts confined in
the institution for the year ending
October 1, 1885,. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1896
During the fiscal year there have
been received. ...lSS
Making the total number in confine-
ment during the year. 5S3
OF the above numbeA there have
been discharged ....,.............,.19S
Leaving in confinement September
or ten less in the prison than on the
same date of the preceding year.
improvements on the prison building
contemplated by the last general as
sembly, for which an appropriation of
$4,000 has been made, have been COM
pleted within the amount appropriated.
The erection of an insane ward at the
prison Is needed. Insane convicts are
transferred to the Insane Hospital at
Middletown, and thus afforded an OPP
portunity to escape from the latter in
stitution, which was not constructed or
intended for criminals. This opportu-
nifty to escape is also an incentive for
feigning insanity on the part of those
confined in the prison. There are at
present held in the insane hospital SO
convicts from the prison at Wethers-
field. l recommend an appropriation
for the building of this muchneeded
addition to the prison, and thus remedy
serious defect in the equipment Of the
institution.
The Connecticut Prison Association.
The Connecticut Prison Association
is an organization to assist discharged
prisoners in various ways, such as
clothing, tools, tickets to their homes,
or to places of employment.
During the year, number assist
ed ................ .............. 165
Assisted prisoners, discharged
from Jails ....................
Amount received from the state$3, 0000 90
Expended in aid of prisoners. 2,647. 90
On account Of salary of agent. 35202
The agent reports that for the past
fourteen years less than per cent. of
prisoners discharged from the Connect
icut state prison have returned to that
institution.
The Marett Request.
l am informed that the fund given to
the state by Philip Marrett for the ben
eft of idiots, imbeciles and feeble
minded persons, has never been for
mally accepted by the general assem-
bly,, but that, owing to a misapprehen-
sion of the nature of the trust and the
rights of the state under the will the
general assembly Of 1898 rejected a res
olution directing the treasurer to ac-
cept this fund. The supreme court has
since decided that the whole beneficial
interest in this bequest would have be-
come vested in the state, had the state
not refused to accept it in 1893. Upon
learning of this decision the treasurer
brought an action against the trustee
under the will, claiming among other
things that the action of the general as
sembly of 1898 did not constitute a re-
fusal of the fund Should the court de-
eide this case in favor of the state, it
will be your duty to act without delay,
if any Legislative action be necessary to
insure the rights of the state.
Connecticut National Guard.
The Connecticut National Guard, I'M
der the command of Brigadier- General
George Haven, consists of two hundred
and five (205) commissioned officers and
| twenty-six hundred and seventy-eight
enlisted men C,67S).
The strength Of the governors guard
is twenty-five (25) commissioned Off
GERS, and three hundred and seventy
three (373) enlisted men.
The greatest need of the guard at
present is new arms. The old Peabody
rifles ought to be discarded. A bill is
passed, will furnish the states with the
Springfield rifles, and it is hoped this
will be accomplished before the guard
is again called to camp.
The Soldiers Home at Noroton is
managed by the soldiers hospital
board, and the institution ranks among
the first of state soldiers homes in the
country.
Number of soldiers on the roll
November 80, 1896, was. ....... Asa
Number in the Connecticut Hos
pital for Insane. Observation-Disclosures. q
The state has paid to the Sol
diers' Hospital Board. $50, 900
For building ......................1 Ia, ZOO
Total expenses STA, 700
The Tennessee Centennial and Interna-
tiOnal Exposition.
In common with other states, Con-
necticut has been invited by the state
of Tennessee to partake in celebrating
the one hundredth anniversary of her
admission into the Uuion, the event to
take the form of a centennial and in
terna tional exposition, to be held at
Nashville for six months, opening May
l, 1897. Preparations are being made
upon such a scale as to indicate that it
will be an attractive and meritorfous
enterprise, and, aside from the materi-
al advantage it offers for the exhibit