NEBRASKA. 



585 



was God's only beaotten son, that lie was 

 " holy, harmless" undefiled, aud separate from 

 siniK-rs." by virtue of this divine begetting; 

 and thus possessing an unforteited life, he was 

 in a position to give that life as a ransom for 

 the race of which he was not a member. The 

 Nazarenes are looking for the early second 

 coining of Christ, when he and " his immor- 

 tal brethren " will rule the whole earth in 

 righteousness from Jerusalem. They are be- 

 lievers in conditional immortality, regard sin 

 as the only devil, hold that the fourth com- 

 mandment is abrogated, and disbelieve in the 

 unity of God and Christ. Their churches are 

 in England. 



3EBRASKA. State Government. The follow- 

 ing were the State officers during the year: 

 Governor, John M. Thayer, Republican : Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, H. H. Shedd: Secretary of 

 State. George L. Laws: Treasurer, Charles 

 PI. Will ml : Auditor of Public Accounts, H. 



A. Babcock ; Attorney-General, William Leese ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, George 



B. Lane; Commissioner of Public Lands and 

 Buildings, Joseph Scott : Chief-Justice of the 

 Supreme Court. M. B. Reese: Associate Jus- 



-MTiiuel Maxwell. Amasa Cobb. 



Finanefs. The financial condition of tlio 

 State is highly satisfactory. The receipts and 

 expanditures of the treasury for the past two 

 years are as follow : Balance in treasury, Nov. 

 30, 1886. $944,352.76; receipts, Dec. 1, 1886, 

 . 1888. $-!.. t? total receipts. 



$5,180,881.70; disbursements, Dec. 1, 1856, to 

 Nov. 30, 1888, $4.244.->:2. 1' 1 - : balance in treas- 

 ury. Nov. 30, 1888, $936,298.72. Of the total 

 receij ".093.43 was raised by taxation, 



and $1,681.186.45 was revenue from land and 

 other sources. The levy of 1888 will yield the 

 following amounts: Generalfund. $871.668.63; 

 school fund, $(36.004.80; capitol fund, $132.- 

 009.60; sinking kind, $27.596.49; with other 

 funds making a total of $1,325,887.7'.'. 



For the next two years the Legislature is 

 asked to appropriate' $2.890.294.57 for the 

 expenses of the Stute Government and public 

 institutions. This is an increase of $846,- 

 72"). 84 over the estimates of two years ago. 



The assessment of 1888 gave the value of the 

 property of the State for taxation at $176,012,- 

 820.45. *a total increase for two years of $32.- 

 080,249.94. The rate of taxation for State 

 purposes for 1887 was 8-J- mills, and for 1888, 

 7^ mills on each dollar valuation. The Gov- 

 ernor, in his message, says the valuation re-ts 

 on a fictitious basis, aud. it' property had been 

 -,-d at its true value, the amount given 

 above would have been ten times as large. 

 This seems to be due to a desire of the counties 

 to escape taxation for State purposes. The 

 Governor gives the following table, compiled 

 from official sources, showing the assessment 

 value of the principal kinds of property in Ne- 

 braska and the adjoining States to prove that 

 the assessment valuation in Nebraska is far 

 below the actual value. 



Education. The report of the State Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction shows the schools 

 to be in a prosperous condition. The total 

 amount contributed for public education for 

 the year ju>t closed was $4. 057.274.06, an in- 

 crease of $934,659.84 over the amount of the 

 previous year. The value of school property 

 is reported at $5,123,179 for 1888. $4.770.'- 

 116.22 for 1887, and $3,821.317 for 1886. The 

 total number of school-children is 298,006. Of 

 these, 215.889 are enrolled as pupils in the 

 schools. This is an increase of nearly 50,000 

 children in two years. The total number in 

 average attendance for the year was 129,623. 

 The following table, giving the number of 

 teachers employed and the amounts paid in 

 salaries to teachers, shows the rapid increase 

 in school accomodations : 



One of the most striking features of the 

 growth in education is the increase in graded 

 schools. In 1888 there were 243 such schools 

 in the State, while two years before there were 

 but 188. The schools in the rural districts are 

 making progress, and a united effort is being 

 made to bring a large percentage of all chil- 

 dren into the schools and give them a system- 

 atic course of instruction. The State Univer- 

 sity has grown rapidly in all departments 

 except the medical school, which was sus- 

 pended in 1887. There were, in the autumn 

 term of 1888, 186 students in the colleges. 120 

 in the preparatory department, and 94 in the 

 School of Fine Arts. Graduates of high- 

 schools in the State are admitted to the uni- 

 versity on the presentation of their diplomas. 



The tabulated statement shows that the num- 

 ber of acres granted and confirmed to the State 

 for educational purposes is 2,884,398 acres; 

 162,051-66 have been deeded, leaving 2,722.- 

 34:6-34 acres, title to which is still vested in the 

 State. There are now under contract of sale 

 639,454-16 acres, and under lease contract, 

 1.427.460-19 acres, and 655,431'99 acres that 

 have not been leased or sold. The increase in 

 the permanent school fund in the past two 

 years has been about 13 per cent. There is 

 now invested 1.807.142.35; unpaid principal 

 on sales. 84.432,048.51, and cash on hand in 

 the treasury, $293,602.10, making a grand 

 total of the permanent fund of $6,532,792.96. 



