$193,303 30 Making a total of special and permanent appropriations of.. 6,000 00 $199,303 30 In addition to the above items there have been paid at least $50,000 of appropriations made, or properly chargeable to years previous to 1858, making a total amount of $249,303 30, to be deducted from the amount above given as the disbursements of 1858, which would leave as the actual and legitimate expenses of carrying on the State Government, the very moderate sum of $190,949 86. The estimated income of the General Fund from all sources for the year 1859, including arrearages due the State, and excluding the deficiency in the account of Treasurer Janssen, is $632,156 55. The Secretary of State's report for October 1st, 1858, estimates the expenses to be paid from the Treasury, including appropriations to benevolent institutions, arrearages due individuals, and all other expenses, at $448,742 98 as before stated. From this amount deduct paid since October 1st, as appears from the statement of the Treasurer, about $42,000, leaves the sum of $406,745 98. Should the expenses reach the estimate of the Secretary of State, and the estimated revenues be realized, there would remain at the close of the year 1859, after paying all demands upon the Treasury of the State, the sum of $193,255. I insisted to the last Legislature, that the debts due from the State should be provided for and paid. With this view, satisfied that nothing could be seasonably, if at all, realized from Janssen's debt, provision was made for levying a State tax of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Added to this sum was the amount of arrearages from several counties to be collected from those counties, and the sum of two-fifths of a mill on the dollar authorized by law under acts of 1853 and 1855, to pay interest on State loans, &c. The interest on these two loans had not been provided for especially, by the different Legislatures, nor apportioned by the Secretary of State among the several counties, as required by the acts authorizing the loans, so that the interest had been paid out of the general tax; and in the aggre gate, running through several years, over $24,000 had been so paid. When the last apportionment was made, the two-fifths of a mill upon the equalized assessed valuation was levied as the law demanded. The sum to be realized, if the taxes are promptly paid, will be much greater than was necessary for the purposes intended by the Legislature when the law authorized the assessment, and much greater than was expected, because it could not have anticipated, that under the operation of the new assessment law, the equalized assessed valuation of property in the State would have been increased in a single year over one hundred millions of dollars, as the resulte have shown. The policy pursued, however, will entirely relieve the State from debt, and leave a large surplus in the Treasury to meet current expenses as they accrue. A comparative statement of amounts audited and chargeable to the several funds of the State, which have passed under the scrutiny and supervision of the Comptroller, during the months of June, July, August, September, October, November and December, of the years 1857 and 1858, shows a difference in favor of 1858, of $46,962 79. To relieve the State of the difficulties, embarrassments, and financial confusion of the last few years, has been the earnest effort of the present State officers. It is now unquestionable, that the exercise of a proper economy, after making appropriations for legitimate State purposes, and for the support of our charitable and penal institutions, will not necessarily require the levy of a State tax, for the next year, by this Legislature, of over $200,000. BANKS AND BANKING. On the first Monday of January, 1858, the whole number of banking associ ations doing business under the laws of this State, was 74, having an aggregate capital of.. $5,940,000 During 1858, 32 new banks have been organized with an aggregate capital of. Seven banks have increased their capital to the amount of... 2,240,000 275,000 $8,455,000 Eight banks have relinquished business, having an aggregate capital of.. 410,000 Leaving the whole number of banks in operation on the 1st Monday of January, 1859, ninety-nine (99) with an aggregate capital of. $8,045,000 The increase of banking capital for the year is.. $2,105,000 The whole amount of countersigned notes issued and delivered to the banks and outstanding on the 1st of January, 1859, is $4,882,442 Which are secured by the deposit of public stocks and specie, as follows: The amendments made to the banking law at the last session of the Legislature, were approved by the popular vote at the last election. The Bank Comptroller has filed an additional bond of fifty thousand dollars with approved sureties, thus increasing his bonds to the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, as required by the law. The Banks which have been located away from business centres, at inaccessible and remote localities, have been removed as required by section 19 of the amendatory act. Our banking law is now perhaps, as safe and unexceptionable as any that can be devised. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. The Superintendent of Public Instruction has made a very voluminous and able report. It indicates great thought and labor, and will be of great value. It exhibits better than has ever been done before, the conditions of our schools, the character of our system, the resources at command for their support, &c. The whole number of children reported between the ages of four and twenty, is................... Showing an increase over 1857, of............. 264,078 22,669 Only the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, surpass Wisconsin in the number of children of school age. During the year there has been a reported attendance at school of 167,110 children. Nine years ago the value of school house property in the State was $75,800 75 Last year it was. ... The amount of money expended last year for teachers' wages was over..... 863,478 49 334,000 00 It appears also from the Report that the school fund proper, after deducting the sum set apart for Normal School purposes, amounted on the 1st of Oct. last to $2,845,846 34. The interest on the present school fund at 7 per cent. is $199,212 04; added to which, $40,790 07 of School Fund Income in the Treasury, and the interest due prior to the 5th of March next, will give an aggregate of $240,002 for the next apportionment. The Report, independent of the information in regard to our own system of schools, makes a very readable and entertaining book. The State University, and the colleges and academies throughout the State, are in a high degree prosperous, and deserve encouragement from the friends to education everywhere, and the Regents of Normal Schools are doing a valuable and excellent work in the great cause of Popular Education. AGRICULTURE. The Report of the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society, shows the society to be highly prosperous, and of great practical utility to the agricultural interest. The receipts of the Society, for the past year, including $3,000 of State appropriation, and $1,273 61 balance over from 1857, amount to The expenditures Leaving balance of cash on hand $11,795 90 10,456 46 $1,339 44 The agricultural and mineral statistics, and the information in regard to the lumbering interest, are very meagre. Some efficient means ought to be provided for procuring every year, full and complete returns from every part of the State, showing the quantities of grain grown of different varieties, and the success of the people in stock raising; the amount of mineral raised, and lumber manufactured. Nothing would so completely exhibit the increasing wealth and real prosperity of the State, or operate to so great an extent to hold out inducements to citizens of other States, or residents of other countries, to settle among us. While to some extent there has been a failure of crops, as in other Western States, yet nothing has occurred to discourage our people. Misfortunes of this kind are incident to every agricultural people, and they cannot be guarded against. The fact furnishes an argument, however, in favor of a greater variety in agricultural operations, and gives a strong invitation to farmers to engage more in stock raising. I repeat the same recommendations, made in my last annual message, in regard to the initiatory steps for forming an Agricultural College. In the absence of an institution of this high order, great benefit might be derived by the formation of a Farmer's Club in every town, and a Farmer's Lyceum in every school district. Then once each week during the winter season, by lectures, readings from agricultural works and papers, discussions, and a mutual interchange of opinions, suggesting experiments, detailing results, and comparing views, new sources of pleasure and profit might be found. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. The report of the Trustees and Officers of the Wisconsin Institute for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, will be laid before you. The Institution has been as prosperous as the limited appropriation of the last session of the Legislature, and the stringent law of the same session, regulating the terms of admission of pupils, would warrant. The Legislature, at its session in 1857, made an appropriation of $15,000 towards the erection of the main or centre building, and in 1858, an appropriation of $6,000, for completing in part the main building, making in all the sum of $21,000. The original estimate of the expense of the main or center building was $30,000. The appropriations already made have not been sufficient, and the balance of the sum of $30,000 is asked for, and will be necessary for that purpose. At the last session the sum of $500 was also appropriated, for finishing the shop and out-buildings already commenced. During the term preceding the last annual report, the number of pupils in attendance was fifty-two. The next appropriation by the Legislature, for the annual expenses, will be for the twelve months commencing February 1st, 1859. The report shows, that in calculating for current expenses, it will be necessary to calculate for a household averaging ninety persons. This includes an anticipated increase of sixteen to twenty pupils. The estimated amount necessary for current expenses for the coming year, is $14,600 Estimated indebtedness, Jan. 31, 1859, 500 It is also estimated that there will be needed for the months of February, March and April, which intervene between the close of the present year (Jan. 31, 1859,) and the reception of the next appropriation, And for furnishing main building, including kitchen ranges, $3,000 800 The money appropriated last year appears to have been ju |