I have on former occasions

alluded to the

absence of uniformity in the government, economy and discipline of our penal institutions, and to a fact, somewhat remarkable, that while a man may be sentenced to the State Prison, where he would be under the immediate guardianship of officers and inspectors appointed by and responsible directly to the Commonwealth, he may also for the very same offence, at the discretion of the same judge, be sent to the House of Correction, where, though convicted and punished for breaking the laws of the State, he would be governed and disciplined wholly by officers over whom the Commonwealth exerts no control. I respectfully submit that abdicating this control does not discharge the responsibility of the Commonwealth; and I trust that the condition of our county prisons and prisoners, and the character of their discipline and treatment, will receive the faithful attention of the General Court.

Education of Deaf Mutes.

The amount annually appropriated for the support of indigent pupils at the American Asylum, at Hartford, for the deaf and dumb, has for several years fallen short of what is required. The number of our State pupils is eighty-eight, of whom seventy-one have

been under instruction for one year and upwards, and seventeen were introduced last year. Many deserving cases have, for want of vacancies, been postponed from year to year, until last summer I found it imperative that the number of State pupils should be increased. I accordingly issued warrants for the admission of eight pupils in addition to the number (80) which has been the average for the past few years. Even with this number of admissions I have been obliged to postpone a few deserving cases until another year. The eight I could not in conscience postpone until another September, which is the month in which the school year begins; and I am sure that all the members of the General Court would have concurred in my disposition of cach case, had they been present to examine it.

The present appropriation of $8,500 per year was established in 1847. An average of ninety pupils now, bears no larger proportion to our population, than the average of seventy-five did to the population at the time when the present rate of appropriation was adopted. Notice has also been received from the Trustees of the Asylum that, owing to the increased expenses of living, an annual additional charge will hereafter be made of $25 for each pupil, making the annual amount paid by the State for its beneficiaries,

$125 each. I therefore recommend an increase in

the annual appropriation.

The Governor and Council have not failed, during the term of my connection with this department, annually to visit the Asylum. We have found no charity more grateful, certainly none more useful. The introduction of the light of knowledge into the minds of youth, once deprived of the delights of learning, the enjoyments and uses of cultivated and instructed reason, is one of the triumphs of philanthropic enterprise, and one of the blessings of

our age.

It is usually impossible to send a child under the age of ten years to the American Asylum. The postponement of all effort to teach deaf mute children until an age so much later than that at which other children are taught, is an additional disadvantage, aggravating their original burden. A society has been formed in Boston, establishing a school and a church, maintained by private liberality, with special reference to the condition of children not congenitally deaf, but made so by disease, who are taught according to the German method, and though deaf, learn to articulate. I beg your attention, gentlemen, to this experiment. By judicious fostering it may open the way of knowl

edge even to our younger unfortunates; and it may open it a little wider to all of them.

Hospital for Invalid Soldiers.

I am happy to inform the Legislature that there is now a reasonable hope of a United States General Hospital in this Commonwealth, to which our sick and wounded soldiers, invalided in other States, may be transferred. On the recommendation of the Medical Director of the Military Department of the East, who was specially detailed by the Acting Surgeon-General of the United States to visit the State for this purpose, and in accordance with my own views and with the suggestion of the Head of our own Medical Department, it is expected that Worcester will be selected by the proper authorities as its locality. I have sent to the Secretary of War, through our State Military Agent, documents bearing the signatures not only of the Surgeon-General and myself, but also of all the Senators and Representatives of Massachusetts in the present Congress, urging the importance of this measure, for its influence on the health and comfort of our soldiers and the convenience and satisfaction of their friends, and also as needed to avoid future embarrassments contingent upon the want of a large General Hospital. A

salubrious location, with the cheerful influence of rural scenery, and at a point where railroad facilities centre, is not only desirable in a sanitary point of view, but for the convenience of the friends of the soldiers.

I refer you to the report of the faithful and able Surgeon-General of the Commonwealth, which will be presented hereafter, for other interesting particulars connected with the service, pertaining to his department. Special details have been made during the past year, of some of our most eminent medical men, to examine and report upon the condition of our Massachusetts soldiers, invalided in the Departments of the West, South, Gulf, and the Army of the Potomac. Their visits have had a salutary influence, assuring our brave men that their comfort and welfare are not forgotten by the State, cheering them with kindly words and deeds of encouragement, besides furnishing the proper departments with correct information useful to the service and grateful to the families and friends of the absent soldier.

To the Medical Commission of the Commonwealth, for their voluntary and important services as a Board of Examining Surgeons of candidates for our Medical Staff, the Commonwealth is under new obligation, and I offer to them the grateful thanks of the State