State House News Turns 130

Charles E. Mann (center), founder of the State House News Service, is pictured in 1903 with colleagues from the State House press corps on the occasion of his departure from the news business. Courtesy/Historic New England

It was 130 years ago, New Year's Day, 1894, and Charles Mann perched in the reporters' gallery, jotting down the latest intel on the unfolding start to a new term. As court officers and lawmakers busily prepared for the dawn of the 115th General Court, and Gov. Frederic Greenhalge prepared to give his inaugural address, Mann was launching a new enterprise. The 36-year-old recent Malden transplant left the stability of a fulltime job to start up a novel small business, covering the Legislature for newspapers who couldn't staff each and every session with their own reporters, and selling copies of his notes for publication.

The remarkable Mann was a Natick native, raised in Lynn, who dropped out of school and as a boy learned to craft the English language at his home away from home, the Lynn Public Library. He later penned books on local history such as the story of Dogtown, a village on Cape Ann, and worked in a printing shop before setting out as a news reporter. After a brief career at the Boston dailies, including as a State House reporter for the Boston Advertiser and Record, Mann saw the need for a reliable, detail-oriented news service covering policy and politics on Beacon Hill.

Republished here for the first time in 130 years is the State House News Service's first piece of copy, Mann's "State House Letter" from Jan. 1, 1894. It was printed by the News Service's inaugural subscriber, the Lynn Daily Item, in the paper's Jan. 2 issue. We see that Beacon Hill was abuzz over committee assignments, prospects of a city charter bill for Beverly (which was indeed incorporated as a city later that year), the coming state census and how the chief of the state Bureau of Statistics had acquired a "new counting machine" to speed up census tabulations.

STATE HOUSE LETTER.

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Probabilities of Receiving the Beverly Petition.

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A Valuable Labor Report to Come Soon.

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A Chairmanship for Senator Sawyer.

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[SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE CORRESPONDENCE.]

BOSTON, Jan. 1, 1894. — All is bustle and confusion on Beacon hill to-day. The large extra corps of assistant doorkeepers and messengers reported for duty to Sergeant-at-Arms Adams early this morning. Everything will be in readiness for business by Wednesday. The General Court will meet at 11 o'clock on that day. Senator Butler, of New Bedford, will call the Senate to order, and Representative Thomas E. St. John, of Haverhill, will perform a like service for the House. Each is senior member in his branch. Mr. Butler will be unanimously elected President of the Senate, and Representative George V. L. Meyer, of Boston, having previously received a majority, if not a unanimous, vote in the Republican caucus, will be elected Speaker of the House. Only a very unexpected breaking of slates can prevent this programme from being carried out.

A question some of the Representatives will have to decide before the caucus meets -- probably tomorrow night -- is whether there shall be any opposition to Mr. Meyer. Mr. Wellman, of Malden, is the only one of his rivals likely to remain in the field, and even he may withdraw. Some Wellman men yet hope that a change in sentiment may give the prize to their favorite, but this seems very doubtful. All the remaining officials of the two branches will be re-chosen.

To-day is the last today for the filing of those petitions to the General Court which require publication -- that is, those which affect the rights of the general public. At noon 44 of the 47 had arrived. Those belated were the Worcester and Millbury street railway, a water supply measure from Uxbridge, and Col. T. L. Livermore's Cape Cod canal petition. There is a good deal of gossip around Boston to the effect that the Beverly city charter petition cannot get before the Legislature, because it has not been advertised according to law. It is true that Speaker Barrett

Ruled Out a Beverly Division

petition in 1892, but the reason there was no opposition was because nobody then cared to fight it. Almost the first contest this year will be on the suspension of the ninth joint rule, to admit the Beverly petition. If Beverly can get a two-thirds vote it can be done. The probabilities are that she can.

A grist of reports from boards and commissions are already in the hands of the Governor and Secretary of State, ready to be transmitted to the Legislature. The Governor has the report of the Boston Board of Police, the Topographical Survey Commission and the State House Construction Commission. The Adjutant General's report is yet to come.

The State House report will give the committee on that subject plenty of matter to work upon. The new Legislature must decide how much of the present structure, built nearly a century ago, shall be left by the remodelling. A strong attempt will be made to practically rebuild the whole fabric. Great interest therefore centres in the composition of the committee. Its chairman will undoubtedly be Senator Blanchard, of Boston, and Senator Berry, of Salem, can return to it if he wishes. Gossip credits the latter gentleman with no chairmanship ambitions whatever, although this committee, Harbors, Prisons and possibly Street Railways have been within his grasp.

The Secretary of State has in his keeping the following reports: Registration of births, marriages and deaths, Labor Bureau, State Primary and Reform Schools, Danvers, Northampton, Taunton, Worcester and Westboro insane retreats, the State farm at Bridgewater and the Tewksbury Almshouse, the Perkins Institution for the Blind, Agricultural College, State Board of Health, statistics of manufactures, Dipsomaniac Hospital and one or two others. The report of the Metropolitan Park Commission is in the printer's hands. Its popularity last year indicates that there will be a rush for it when it appears.

The labor report is for last year. Very early in the session a new report may be looked for, giving valuable statistics regarding the number of unemployed in the State. It is safe to say that this will be more valuable than the police census of the unemployed in Boston, which allows this city less of that class than have applied for work at headquarters. Later in the year will come a volume on the distribution of wealth, which Chief Wadlin and his assistants have long been preparing.

State Census.

Next year the census will be taken. The United States has not yet finished the publication of the result of its census of 1890. Chief Wadlin intends to have every bit of his work published by Dec. 1, 1896. He has introduced a new counting machine, with a capacity of 15,000 an hour, and with this and three relays of clerks thinks he can present to the public the count of population, with sex, age, color, race, and related matter within 30 days of May 1, when the count begins.

There is a well-defined rumor that the next Chairman of the Street Railway Committee will be Senator Sawyer, of Danvers. If he gets it, Senator Blanchard will probably take the Public Charities Committee.

There is a pretty fight for the place of Democratic member of the Railroad Committee. Senator Leary, of Boston, has got it away from Senator Cronan, of the same town, but Senator Buckley, of Holyoke, has set up his ebenezer and says he is going to have it, so there! President Butler will settle the problem.

Last week Representatives Moriarty, of Worcester, and Rosnosky, of Boston, received circulars, asking them if they favored an Australian ballot in the Republican caucuses. As loyal Democrats they refused to heed this gentle invitation to go over to the enemy.

Representative Rugg, of New Bedford, seems sure of the House Chairmanship of Railroads. Mr. Mellen, of Worcester, is sure to return to it, it is said.

The rumor that parishes and religious societies would bear the names of Messrs. Mellen, Moriarty, Rosnosky and Casey is said to be incorrect.

Senator Smith of Gloucester can go on Railroads, if he wants to, it is said. The feeling is that he would much prefer Fisheries, which he can head. He will also go on Harbors.

The Chairmanship of Public Health is between Senators Bessom, of Lynn, Frothingham, of Haverhill, and Harvey, of Westboro. Each is sure of a good place, as Chairman of an important committee, anyway.

Manufactures seems to be mortgaged by Senator Lyford, of Springfield, who designed the bill which broke the back of the gas monopoly.