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incident to the prosecution and punishment of criminals, forms a great item in the disbursements of the Treasury; and it is believed under a judicious system may be considerably reduced. There remain in the State prison of Massachusetts twelve convicts who were tried and sentenced in Maine before its separation, and for whose support this State would be now chargeable had its government been organized previous to their conviction. From the prison calendars, there appear to be seventy six persons charged criminally now confined within the several prisons in this State, of whom all but eleven were committed within the past year. More than fifty of this number, being sentenced to solitary confinement and hard labor, would probably have been ordered to a State prison, if one had been provided. These prisoners are now supported in the several counties without labor, at an average annual expense of one hundred and four dollars each, exclusive of clothing. From evidence derived from many of the other States, there is reason to believe the charge for their subsistence in a State prison, well arranged and properly managed, would be much less. In the adjoining State, the whole expense, including clothing, superintendants [superintendents], guards and every other charge, averages to between fifty and sixty dollars only for each convict, annually; and this the prisoner fully pays by his own labor. By a statement, which has been obligingly furnished, showing the situation of the penitentiary in that State, and which will be laid before you, it appears that the annual receipts, arising from the sale of articles manufactured therein, exceed the whole annual expenditure. There is reason then for hoping that from a like establishment in this State, similar results might be realized. A better