IX .J to have done. Much has been done by correspondence, in obtaining furloughs, transfers, discharges, descriptive rolls, and otherwise assisting them. I have personally visited them in Hospitals, so far as time and attention to other duties of my office would permit. I have also sent agents to then, and through these mans many who were lingering in Hospitals, and who could be of no further use to the Government, have been discharged and 1cturaed to their families. Many others have been provided with comforts, which have tended to soften their af 'ctions and materially aid in their speedy recovery and return to du v. Get credit is due our citizens generally for their efforts in behalf of our sick and wounded soldiers From nearly every hamlet and village all over the State, have gone forth comforts for them. To the Ladies' Aid Soieties especially is great credit due r the assistane they have rendered in caring for them and their milies They have with mely aid alleviated much suffering, and have doubtless been the means of saving many valuable lives. The thanks of a grateful people, the gratitude of the brave soldier. the destitute orphan, wife and mother, are their rewards. Hospitals have been established at Madison, Prairie du Chien and Milwaukee, and Wisconsin soldiers are enjoying their benefits so far as I have been able to get them transferred or ordered to report to these Hospitals. I have urged upon the War Deparment the importance of providing Hospital accommodations, and sending all our sick and wounded soldiers into our own State, where they might receive the benefits of our bracing and invigorating atmosphere, and be accessible to their relatives and friends, whose kind care and attention would aid much in restoring them to health and usefulness. The claims of the sick and wounded soldiers should receive careful consideration at your hands Ample provisions should be made for their wants, and for the wants of the families of all Wisconsin soldiers now engaged in this great struggle. I am informed that many citizens who have enjoyed the protection of the Goverment, and whose property, in some instances. is still protected by it, have, to avoid doing their duty u the field, ignominiously fled to foreign countries. I would suggest to the Legislature the propriety of taking away from such men rights they will not aid in defending. I took cecasion.one's year ago, at the opening of the legislative sesision, to call the special attention of your predecessors to our agricultural, wining, manufacturing and commercial interests. I desire To impress upon you, also, the necessity of fostering these important interesis, as upon them largely depend the substantial wealth of our State; but you too well understand their importance to require 'further notice from me. I will only refer you to my remarks upon 8 these subjects in my last annual message, 90 ,, The condition of our State Prison has been greatly improved during the last year, and its expenses largely reduced. The present efficient Commissioner is entitled to great credit for bringing about this result. I am of the opinion that still greater reduction in the expenses of the prison may be effected by a change in our system. While in many other States the prisons are selfsupporting, and in some instances produce a revenue to the State, Wisconsin has been paying from twenty to forty thousand dollars a year for the support of her convicts. I am aware that this great difference in expense may be accounted for, in part, by the fact that our prison is new, and a great part of the labor has been necessarily employed in erecting permanent improvements; yet, from a careful examination of the prisons in several of the older States, I am satisfied that the difficulty lies, in part, in the system we have adopted. Instead of buying raw materials, manufacturing asd selling the manufactured articles, experience has taught other States that it is much more profitable to let the labor of the convicts by contract to individuals, (the labor to be performed within the prison yard, under the control of the Prison Commissioner,) these individuals furnishing the raw material, taking the articles manufactured, and paying the State for the labor bestowed upon them; thus reliev ing the State of the outlay for raw material, the labor in obtaining it, keeping accounts of purchases and sales, and of other expenses necessarily attending the sale of the manufactured articles. Whether the labor of our convicts may not be so organized and systematized as to make it pay the expenses of the prison is a subject worthy of your careful consideration, and as such I commend it to you. The number of prisoners confined in the State Prison since its organization, is 906; number discharged from prison since its organization, 786; number in prison Oct 1st, 1864, 120 For further details you are respectfully referred to the report of the Commissioner, herewith presented. Your attention is invited to the able and interesting report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This report contains many valuable suggestions concerning the management of our schools, and is evidently the result of much care and thought. And especially would I call your attention to the views expressed therein upon the subject of Normal Schools. Our system of common schools is, perhaps, not surpassed by any; but common school systems can have but little vitality without competent teachers to carry them into execution. Many of those who have heretofore been engaged in teaching our common schools are now in the military service of the Government. Others have sought employment in different directions, and there seems to be at this time, a special necessity for the adoption of some means to supply their places. The measure proposed by the State Superintendent of establishing a State Normal School, at which advanced pupils from our common schools may further educated and fitted for teachers, is worthy your careful consideration. There is no subject of more vital importance to the interests of the State and Nation than the subject of Education. As no people can be enslaved with it, so no people can become great and powerful without it. We see a deplorable instance of the want of it in the Southern States to-day. Want of general intelligence among the masses of the people of the South, is a prominent reason be why they are now endeavoring to subvert this Government. It has The whole number of persons in the Sate between the ages of Value of all the school houses in the State.. Average wages paid male teachers per month. Average wages paid female teachers per monthour. Number of pupils in at endance during the last year...... 329,906 163,056 166,850 7,585 4.930 $1,487,495 33 832 39 1819 43 T320,391 $415.884 47 $613,891 93 The State University, as shown by the report from this institution, is now entirely free from debt; has fine and commodious buildings erected, excellent professors appointed, and is, in all respects, in a condition for greater usefulness: The amount expended by this institution during the last year for current expenses was. Amount paid in liquidating the debts of the institution. Amount paid for furniture.. Number of students attending the institution during the last year $10,313'94 368 485 Among the institutions worthy of your especial attention is the State Reform School. This school commends itself to the kind consideration of every lover of good morals. It is intended, as its name imports, as a place of reformation and instruction, and not as has been supposed by many, as a loathesome prison, and place of punishment for juvenile offenders. The object is to make its inmates better, wiser and happier, and not more wretched and miserable. In short it is intended as a school and not a prison; to furnish a home for the ' homeless child, reform the erring, and by the laws of love and kindness, teach them the way of truth and poliness, and induce them to walk therein. 1 When the character of the children sent to this school is considered, many of them homeless, friendless, and with no visible means of support, driven almost by necessity to the commission of crime, and when we consider the influence upoa the community of allowing these children to grow up in idleness, ignorance and crime, the benefits of this institution in a moral point of view cannot be too highly cstimated. But aside from the beneficial results to the pupils themselves and the community, in a moral point of view, if we look at it pecuniarily, it is far cheaper to educate and reform these children and teach them some usciul trade by which they can earn a livelihood, than to bear the burdens they will necessarily impose upon society, if left to become bardened criminals and paupers. Few of the older States can boast of a beter institution for reforming the your, than can Wisconsin; beautiful and commodious buildings, and well conducted, it is the pride of our State, and worthy of the people who established it. As the beautiful building erected for this institution stands out as a monument to mark our advancement in architecture, so does the purpose for which it was erected tell of a people's goodness. Accompanied by our worthy Secretary I visited this institution during the last summer and was much pleased with its manage rent. I invite your attention to the valuable report of the Managers and Superintendent, herewith presented, for a detailed account of the manner in which it has been conducted, and would recommend that the appropriation asked for the present year be granted. The total amount expended in support of the school during the last - Total amount expended in building, 4.7. Total amount of appropriation asked for the present year.. Whole number of pupils received since the opening of the school.. Whole number now in school.. Whole number discharged during the last year. $15,956 53 $12.456 53 $3,500-00 $16,000 00 246 83 137 18 The Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane, T would also commend to your patronage. Experience has established the fact that cases of insanity which may be easily cured if proper steps are taken in their early stages, become incurable if allowed to remain any great length of time without proper treatment. It is greatly for the interests of the State, therefore, that all cases of this nature, should receive prompt attention, and thereby avoid the necesity of their becoming a permanent I charge upon the State: Humanity also, demands that the unfortu -mate class of persons afflicted with insanity should be cared for, and if possible, restored to health, happiness and usefulness. At times of great mental excitement like the present, cases of this nature most frequently occur. An institution for their treatment is more important, therefore, during our present national troubles than in times of peace. I lay before you the interesting reports of the officers in charge of this institution. It will be a source of much gratification to all, to learn from them that the last year's labors, under the present efficient superintendent, have greatly improved its condition and added much to its usefulness. Fifty per cent. of the cases received during the last year have been cured. The average number of cases cured in other institutions so far as 1 can learn, is 43.05 per cent. 'il The expenses of the institution have also been much reduced.' These results have been brought about doubtless, in a measure, by the employment of the inmates, so far as could be properly done, in necessary labor about the Hospital and its grounds. Saying nothing of the economy of giving employment to the insane, there is no question that employment of some kind, as well as amusements, are quite as necessary agents in restoring them to health and reason as the drugs of the physician. I believe it is a well established fact that over fi. y per cent. of the cases of insanity that occur in our country, are the results of inebriety. Inasmuch as the General Government sanctions the traffic in spirituous liquors, and is deriving large revenues from it, I would suggest the propriety of ask- ! ing congress to aid in caring for this class of cases, by appropriating a certain per centage of the income derived from this traffic to the State, for the support of the Lunatic or Inebriate asylums. It would seem to me to be no more than justice that the General Government should aid in bearing a burden it assists in and profits by creating, and that the unfortunate victim of intemperance should share in the enjoyment of the revenue his folly has so largely aided in producing: The number of patients now in the Hospital for the Insane is. The number admitted during the last year was. The number discharged during the last year was. The number admitted since opening the Hospital is; 170 112 130 469 .$37,983 50 The amount expended for the support of the Hospital during the last year was... I would recommend that the appropriation asked by the trustees for the present year be granted. An examination of the reports from the berevolent institutions of the State, will show remarkable prudence and economy in their management during the last year. And from personal visits and examination I am happy to corroborate many of the statements made în these reports. The institutions for the Blind, and Deaf and Dumb, I think I can safely say are not surpassed by any institutions of the kind in the country. Models of neatness unsurpassed in usefulness, they are an honor to the State that fosters them. The officers and teach dr ers of the two institutions last named, have performed so well their duties to their pupils and the State, so disinterested and benevolent have been their labors, that I take pleasure in specially commending them and the institutions they have in charge, to youf notice. I 15 |