Gentlemen of the Senate and of the

House of Representatives :

We have taken upon ourselves the obligations required by the Constitution, before entering upon the discharge of our official duties.

It is fit and becoming at this time, and in this place, to make a public acknowledgment to that great and good Being, whose watchful providence notices the falling sparrow, and guides the destiny of nations, for his mercies to our fathers in years that are gone, and for his kindness to the present people of the Commonwealth, in conducting them through the vicissitudes of another year, and again bringing their representatives together, in this their ancient and peaceful capitol.

To this should be added the amount of the State Tax intended for the service of 1844, and payable on or before February 1, 1845,

Amounting in the whole to

This was the provision made by the last Legislature to defray the current expenses of 1844, and to pay the scrip falling due that year, $47,538 08.

The expenditures of the year have been
The debt paid

67,000 00

$447,736 04

$415,306 74

47,538 08

$462,844 82

Showing that the expenditures have exceeded the provisions made for them the sum of

$ 15,008 78

This excess of expenditures is explained by the sums paid to County Treasurers, the Rolls of State Paupers and Lunatic accounts, and the amount paid the Militia, beyond the estimates for these purposes.

The amount paid for paupers is $82,641 41, and exceeds the estimate $9,506 40.

Whether a State Tax will be necessary to meet the wants of the Treasury the present year, will depend very much upon the amount of dividends received from the Western Rail Road, the modification of the pauper law, and the expense of the Legislature.

$46,450 00 of the State debt falls due in 1845, and $37,141

in 1846. Besides this we owe nothing until 1857.

The

debt of $1,000,000, incurred to pay our subscription to the Western Rail Road, falls due in 1857.

The shares at par will pay that debt, leaving on hand a sinking fund of $283,718 17.

Our public funds are in a satisfactory condition.

The School fund, which commenced in 1834,

amounts at this time to

This is safely invested.

There are belonging to this fund notes for land sold in the State of Maine prior to April, 1837, and secured on real estate, amounting to

Making

Since this fund was established there has been

received as interest, and paid to the towns for the use of schools,

The Western Rail Road Sinking Fund is
We have paid in interest on the Western Rail

Road Scrip,

$711,423 96

$38,100 70

$749,524 66

$ 230,195 58

$ 283,718 47

$223,529 67

It is certainly a matter of just congratulation to the people. of Massachusetts, that these large sums have been received into their Treasury, and more than a million of dollars funded as above stated, whilst the ordinary expenses of the Government, including about $200,000 which have been expended upon that noble institution at Worcester, for the insane, have

been regularly paid, with but one State tax, and that for only $75,000, during a period of thirteen years.

The amount paid for the support of State paupers in 1837, was $39,574 56. In 1843, it was $56,792 35, and in 1844, $69,540 11. This large and increasing item in the expenses of the State demands the attention of the Legislature.

I am not aware that any other State adopts our mode of supporting that class of paupers; and whether it is the best and most economical mode that can be devised, may well be inquired into. It is difficult to draw the line between a system dictated by an enlightened and liberal-hearted humanity, and one which would tax the industrious and virtuous portion of the community, to support the idle and the vicious.

The records of the Legislature show a very great inequality between the sums drawn from the treasury by the different towns and counties in the State for the support of paupers, compared with their population and the number of paupers returned. Whether this apparent inequality is produced by the actual number of paupers, by the length of time they are on expense, or by a different mode of administering the law, can only be determined by a careful investigation. It may be well questioned whether the same caution and economy will be observed by towns in regard to the expenses incurred for the support of the poor within their limits, when the State is to pay those expenses, as when the towns themselves are to bear the burden. The whole subject is one of great importance to the Commonwealth, and I deem it my duty to submit it to your deliberate consideration.

The reports of the several officers of the State Prison represent the affairs of that institution to be in a satisfactory condition. The Warden's Report shows an excess of receipts, over the expenditures, of something more than $200; the preceding year the receipts fell short of the expenses nearly $5000. A kind and mild course of treatment, expressly enjoined by the humane laws of the State, and inculcated upon men in all situations in life by that injunction of the Saviour, "do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you," evidently produces a salutary effect upon the prisoners. Among them there has been a general and willing observance of the rules of the prison; and but few cases have occurred, demanding the infliction of punishment.

The moral discipline of the prison, under the administration of the Chaplain, aided by the Warden and other officers, is believed to be doing much good. It is important that men, who are excluded from society for violating its laws, should be made to feel, that those who are placed over them do not act as masters and tyrants, but that they are the reasonable and necessary instruments of the law, to see that the penalties, which they have justly incurred, are properly executed.

It is worthy of inquiry by the Legislature, whether a greater amount of instruction than the prisoners receive under existing laws and regulations, would not tend to further the great ends of all human punishment, the reformation of offenders, and the prevention of crime.

As many juvenile offenders are now sent to the houses of correction in the several counties, would it not be well to au