nations. Matters have lately reached a crisis. The new industry of canning lobsters was introduced on the French shore" by British subjects, who erected more than 30 factories. The French resented this and protested against it, and then proceeded to erect factories of their own. They also set up an exclusive claim to the lobster fishery, and endeavored to remove the factories of the British from such places as they wish to occupy. The colonists contend that the treaties give the French no right to occupy the shore with such permanent erections as lobster factories, and in this view they are sustained by the British Government. Matters looked so serious in 1889 that the governments of France and England entered into a temporary modus vivendi in the early part of 1890 with the view of settling the whole fishery disputes by a treaty. The terms of the modus vivendi gave great offense to the colonists. Deputies were sent to England to represent their grievances, both by the local government and by the people assembled in mass meetings. Some of these deputies also visited Canada to awaken sympathy and obtain support. The British Government is moving in the matter, and negotiations are in progress in Paris for the purpose of effecting a settlement of the question.

The shores of Newfoundland are now of small value to France. The fisheries have declined, and last year only 7 French fishing vessels visited the coast, which is about 450 miles in extent. The main fishing operations of the French are on the banks, and are carried on from the Isles of St. Pierre and Miquelon, at the mouth of Fortune Bay, on the south coast, which were ceded to France by the treaty of Paris, in 1763. A fleet of more than 200 sail of French fishing vessels, from 100 to 400 tons, arrives here every spring from France, and makes it headquarters for the fishing season. The following figures show the quantities and value of codfish shipped from St. Pierre from 1879 to 1888, inclusive:

in 1840; 317,976 in 1850; 326,073 in 1860; 318,300 in 1870; 346,991 in 1880; and 376,530 in 1890. Capital, Concord.

Government.-The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, David H. Goodell, Republican (during the illness of Gov. Goodell, from April 22 to July 1, David A. Taggart, President of the State Senate, was the acting Governor); Secretary of State, Ai B. Thompson, who died on Sept. 13 (for the remainder of the year, Deputy Secretary of State C. B. Randlett was the acting Secretary); Treasurer, Solon A. Carter; Attorney-General, Daniel Barnard; Superintendent of Public Instruction, James W. Patterson, Insurance Commissioner, Henry H. Huse, who died on Sept. 7 and was succeeded by John C. Linehan; Railroad Commissioners, Henry M. Putney, Benjamin F. Prescott, J. M. Mitchell; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Charles Doe: Associate Justices, Isaac W. Smith, William H. H. Allen, Lewis W. Clark, Isaac N. Blodgett, Alonzo P. Carpenter, and George A. Bingham.

Illness of the Governor.-In the early part of the year Gov. Goodell delivered many addresses in the towns and cities of the State to supplement his proclamation of last year regarding the illegal sale of liquor and to arouse public sentiment against violations of the prohibitory law. In this work he so far overtaxed his strength as to bring upon himself, early in March, a serious and protracted illness. Early in April the public business had suffered so much from his absence that the Attorney-General began a suit in the State Supreme Court against David A Taggart, President of the State Senate, to obtain a legal decision whether that official could legally perform the duties of the Governor during the disability of the latter. Article XLIX of the State Constitution provides that "whenever the chair of the Governor shall become vacant by reason of his death, absence from the State, or otherwise," the President of the Senate shall become acting Governor. The court, by a decision rendered on April 18, held that under this article the President of the Senate was authorized to act as Governor, under the circumstances shown to exist. Mr. Taggart accordingly, on April 22, assumed the duties of the office, and he continued to discharge them until July 1, when Gov. Goodell had been restored to health.

Population. The following table shows the population of the State by counties, as determined by the national census of this year, compared with the population for 1880:

Carroll.

Cheshire Coos.. Grafton

COUNTIES.

Merrimack

Hillsborough.

75,684

93,247

17,618

Rockingham.

Strafford.. Sullivan...

Total..

* Decrease.

586

The cities and leading towns show the following population in 1890: Cities-Manchester, 44,

Atlantic and St. Lawrence, 52 miles; Connecticut river system, 2 roads, Ashuelot and Sullivan County, 49 miles; Fitchburg system. 3 roads, Cheshire, Monadnock, and Peterborough and Shirley, 67 miles; Concord and Montreal system, 14 roads, Concord, Portsmouth, North Weare, Acton, Suncook Valley, Suncook Valley extension, Old Boston, Concord and Montreal, Wing Road Branch, Pemigewasset Valley, Whitefield and Jefferson, Profile and Franconia, Lake Shore, Tilton and Belmont, Tilton and Franklin, 370.5 miles; Boston and Maine system, 21 roads, Boston and Maine, Eastern New Hampshire, Great Falls and Conway, Portsmouth and Dover, West Amesbury, Worcester and Nashua, Manchester and Lawrence, Dover and Winnipiseogee, Portland and Rochester, Peterborough, Wilton, Wolfeborough, Northern, Bristol Branch, Concord and Claremont, Hills borough Branch, Peterborough and Hillsborough, Manchester and Keene, Nashua and Lowell, Upper Coos, and Portland and Ogdensburg, 589 miles. As will be seen, 960 miles of road, or nearly nine tenths of the entire mileage of the State, is in the hands of the Boston and Maine and Concord and Montreal corporations.

The net earnings of New Hampshire railroads were never so large as this year, and the value of their stock was never so great. During the period when railroad properties elsewhere have been shrinking in value, New Hampshire railroad shares have constantly appreciated.

Insurance.-Fire insurance appears to rest on a more satisfactory basis than at any time during the past five years. For more than twenty years preceding 1885 New Hampshire had depended almost wholly on companies from outside the State. The Legislature of that year enacted a stringent law, popularly known as the "valued policy law," for regulating the dealings of fire-insurance companies. Immediately after the law became effective (Aug. 29), the 58 foreign companies retired from the State, leaving only

the 17 town mutual and 3 State mutual companies and 1 strong stock company. Two stock companies and 11 cash mutual companies began business the same year. During 1886 10 additional companies were organized and began operations. On Jan. 1, 1889, there were 12 stock and 38 mutual companies doing business in the State. During this year the foreign companies began to return, until, on Dec. 1, 1890, 37 of the 58 companies had resumed business.

Abandoned Farms. Early in the year Commissioner of Agriculture N. J. Bachelder published a pamphlet containing, among other statistics regarding the State, a descriptive list of abandoned farms, which could be purchased at low prices. The list included 1,442 farms having tenantable buildings upon them, located among the counties as follow: Rockingham, 113; Strafford, 52; Belknap, 54; Carroll, 124; Merrimack, 215; Hillsborough, 228; Cheshire, 211; Sullivan, 160; Grafton, 265; Coos, 20.

As a result of this publication and other efforts of the commissioner, 350 of such farms were repopulated, mainly by Americans, before the close of the year.

The Stark Statue.-The Legislature of 1889, at the solicitation of public-spirited citizens, passed an act appropriating $12,000 for the

erection in the State House yard of a statue of Gen. John Stark, of Revolutionary fame. Pursuant to this act, the Governor and Council caused a statue to be erected, which was unveiled on Oct. 23, Hon. James W. Patterson delivering an oration.

Political. The political contest of this year was opened by the Democrats, who in State Convention at Concord, on Sept. 2, nominated Charles H. Amsden, the candidate of the party in the canvass of 1888, for the office of Governor. The platform contains the following declarations on local issues:

We arraign the Republican party of this State for its extravagant expenditures. Under its long management the expenses of every department have yearly grown heavier until the annual State and local taxes amount to nearly ten dollars for every man, woman, and child. Meanwhile the value of taxable property in agricultural towns has been gradually decreasing. tion of intemperance, and the liquor laws of the We arraign it for its conduct in dealing with the quesState. It has never made an honest effort to impartially enforce the prohibitory law; but has used it as a political bludgeon to compel assessments from liquor dealers with which to purchase "floaters in blocks of five."

act," and the enactment of laws which will restrain, We demand the repeal of the so-called "nuisance regulate, and control the sale of intoxicating liquors in the interest of temperance and morality.

We demand the passage of an election law modeled on the Australian system, which will insure an absolutely free and secret ballot.

We demand the passage of laws which will protect the lives, the safety, and the health of operatives in

our mills and factories.

We demand a reform of the laws of the State.

The Prohibition State Convention met at Con

cord on Sept. 8, and nominated Josiah M. Fletcher for Governor. The following was among the resolutions adopted:

The free manufacture of intoxicating beverages in a Prohibition State is a fraud, and that honest prohibition must strike at the root of the evil, the manufacture of liquors; otherwise prohibition of its sale must be attended with serious difficulties; and we therefore demand the unconditional prohibition by statute law of the manufacture of intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage within this State; we also demand the strict and impartial enforcement of all prohibitory laws.

On Sept. 17 the Republican State Convention was held at Concord. It nominated Hiram A. Tuttle for Governor on the first ballot. The platform includes the following declarations:

We advocate the most careful preservation and the wisest utilization of our forests and the waters of our lakes and streams, and the promotion of the culture of food fishes. The so-called abandoned farms of the State may be readily converted into happy homes and health-giving summer resorts for the sons and daughters of New Hampshire or their descendants who re

side and have obtained wealth in other States. The success which has attended the efforts of the present State administration to draw attention to these farms and to secure their profitable and beneficial occupation should be recognized, and those efforts should be continued by our people.

The Republican party recognizes in the dram shop its most powerful opponent and the most dangerous foe to the community, and will continue its efforts to existing law as will conduce to that end and are apsuppress it, consenting only to such changes in the proved by the honest and practical temperance men and women of the State.

The tax laws which levy upon monied corporations, other than manufacturing, the expenses of the State and a large share of the county expenses, leaving little but local expenditures to be provided for by local taxation; those exempting from attachment family homesteads and the tools of mechanics, and which protect the earnings of wage workers from the grasp of the sheriff except when debts are for necessaries, and those establishing working men's liens, are all in line with Republican doctrine; but many of these statutes were intended to apply to different conditions from those that exist now, and they should be ammended so as to give working people a larger lien for their wages upon property which their labor has created, make them more secure in the enjoyment of their earnings, and remedy as far as possible the evils of double and other unequal taxation and any inequitable distribution of the State tax.

At the November election Tuttle received 42.479 votes; Amsden, 42,386; and Fletcher, 1,363. No candidate having received a majority of the votes cast there was no election by the people, and the choice of Governor devolved upon the Legislature of 1891, whose members were chosen at the same election. But the political complexion of this Legislature was a matter of grave doubt, certain persons having been chosen to the Lower House whose right to seats therein was a subject of dispute between the two political parties. The questions at issue are considered below. In each of the two congressional districts the Democratic candidate was elected by a narrow majority, a gain of one seat.

Election Dispute.-At the November election the vote in several senatorial districts was so close that the membership of the State Senate remained in doubt. The State Constitution requires the Governor and Council to open the returns sent to the Secretary of State by the town clerks, and to certify to the result in each senatorial district. In performing this duty, the Governor and Council declared that 13 Republican and 9 Democratic Senators had been elected, and that in two districts there was no choice by the people. For one of the two districts the correctness of this declaration was questioned. The result in this district depended upon the number of Prohibition votes that should be returned as cast in the town of Rochester. As announced by the moderator at the close of the election, the total Prohibition vote in the town was 34; but it was afterward discovered by the town clerk that 44 Prohibition votes had actually been cast. The latter, in making his return to the Governor and Council, as required by law, stated the facts and certified that 44 votes were actually cast. The 44 votes were counted, and the total vote for the district was found to be as follows: Felker, Democrat, 2.100; Parshley, Republican, 2,031; Bean, Prohibition, 68: scattering, 9. As neither candidate had a majority of all the votes cast, the Governor and Council declared that there was no choice by the people. But if the vote of Rochester had been counted as announced by the moderator, the total vote for Bean would have been 58 instead of 68, and Felker, the Democratic candidate, having a clear majority of the total vote, would be elected. The State Constitution provides that the moderator shall announce the result of the election, it being the sole duty of the clerk to record the proceedings of the town meeting at which the election is held. In order to determine the question whether,

under the Constitution, the town clerk had any authority to make a return of the vote differing in any way from the announcement of the moderator, a petition was filed on Dec. 20, in the State Supreme Court, in which the Democratic candidate asked for a writ of mandamus to compel the town clerk to amend his return so as to correspond with the announced result. A hearing before the Court was held, and early in January, 1891, a decision was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, to the effect that the clerk must certify only to the result announced by the moderator. The returns were accordingly amended, and Felker was declared elected. The Senate of 1891, when it assembled, therefore, consisted of 13 Republicans and 10 Democrats, there being no choice by the people in one district.

The membership of the Lower House depended upon the interpretation and effect of certain provisions of the State Constitution. That instrument establishes no fixed number of Representatives, but provides in Article IX that-

Every town, or place entitled to town privileges, and wards of cities having 600 inhabitants by the last general census of this State, taken by authority of the United States or of this State, may elect one Repre sentative; if 1,800 such inhabitants, may elect two Representatives; and so proceeding in that proportion, making 1,200 such inhabitants the mean increasing number for any additional Representative.

Prior to the amendments of 1889 it was also provided by Article X that towns, places, and wards of cities having fewer than 600 such inhabitants shall be classed or grouped together by the General Court into districts having at least 600 inhabitants, for the purpose of sending a Representative. In Article XI it was provided that when any town, place, or ward, having fewer than 600 inhabitants, should be so situated as to render the classing or grouping of it with another town, place, or ward very inconvenient, the General Court might provide by law that such town should send a Representative to the Lower House such proportionate part of the time as the number of its inhabitants bore to 600. Under Article IX, every town, place, or ward having 600 inhabitants or more was absolutely entitled to send one or more Representatives, according to the population, while under Articles XI and XII action by the General Court was first necessary either in classing the towns or in determining in what years the small towns not classed should elect Representatives. The Lower House had, therefore, three kinds of membersthose from towns, places, and wards having more than 600 inhabitants, those from classed towns under Article X, and those from towns electing only a part of the time or prorated under Article XI. Early in 1889 an amendment to the Constitution, proposed by the Constitutional Convention of that year, was adopted by the people, which abolished Article X and provided that towns, places, or wards formerly classed together under Article X should each come under the provisions of Article XI and elect a proportionate part of the time. It then became the duty of the Legislature, which assembled in June, 1889, to fix the years in which each town formerly classed should elect a Representative. This it failed to do, and at the November election each of these towns proceeded to elect a Representative, 11 Repub