514 



MISSISSIPPI. 



for the education of youth, used exclusively 

 for the benefit of such society or institution, 

 or held by the trustees of schools, and school 

 lands for the use of any school ; and all dogs ; 

 one gun kept for private use; poultry and 

 household furniture, not to exceed three hun- 

 dred dollars in value ; and all property of ag- 

 ricultural and mechanical associations and 

 fairs, where no dividends are declared ; to- 

 gether with all property of benevolent and 

 charitable institutions ; and the libraries of all 

 persons ; and the tools of any mechanic, ne- 

 cessary for the carrying on of his trade or oc- 

 cupation. 



The report of the Auditor of Public Ac- 

 counts, submitted to the Legislature in March, 

 shows the receipts into the Treasury from Oc- 

 tober 16, 1865, to March 1, 1870, to have been 

 $4,351,741.43, of which the sum of $2,267,- 

 488.66 was in uncurrent funds ; the disburse- 

 ments by warrant for the same period amount- 

 ed to $2,319,532.80. The amount of warrants 

 outstanding on the 1st of March, 1870, was 

 $287,993.95, of which the sum of $47,281.83 

 was on account of the Constitutional Conven- 

 tion. For the fiscal year ending May 1, 1866, 

 the receipts into. the Treasury were $2,079,- 

 319.72, and the disbursements by warrants for 

 the same period, $296,285.82; for the year 

 ending May 1, 1867, the receipts were $916,- 

 122.50, and the disbursements by warrants, 

 $555,627.83 ; for the year ending May 1, 1868, 

 the receipts were $429,551.19, and the dis- 

 burs^ments by warrants, $576,934.72 ; while 

 the receipts for the year ending May 1, 1869, 

 amounted to $501,975.84. The attention of 

 the Legislature was turned to the necessity of 

 amending the laws on the subject of the lands 

 held by the State for taxes. These lands now 

 amount to over two million acres, a portion 

 of which have been held by the State since 

 1848, and subject the State to an annual ex- 

 pense of not less than $30,000. It is thought 

 that by judicious legislation these lands could 

 be made a source of great revenue, and fur- 

 nish homes for thousands of her citizens. 

 Hence it was recommended that the penalty, in 

 the form of damages, where lands are delin- 

 quent for taxes, be increased at least 100 per 

 cent., in the belief that fewer lands will there- 

 by be suffered to become delinquent, and that 

 more of said lands will be purchased by the 

 citizens of the State. In making suggestions 

 concerning the proper financial policy to be 

 adopted, the Auditor says : " Our State, at 

 this time, presents the anomalous condition of 

 having no public debt, and yet her warrants 

 are at heavy discount, there being no funds in 

 the Treasury to pay them. This condition of 

 affairs should not exist. The resources of the 

 State are ample, and her citizens should not 

 be subjected to loss on account of any depre- 

 ciation of her paper. As to the remedy for 

 this evil, there may be great diversity of opin- 

 ion. After much thought and consideration, I 

 have come to the conclusion that, under the 



existing state of affairs, the best course to be 

 pursued would be to fund all outstanding war- 

 rants, at a fair rate of interest, thus securing a 

 loan from our own people ; then require the 

 taxes of the State to be paid in currency, and 

 the tax-collectors to report to the Auditor, and 

 pay into the Treasury, quarterly, all taxes col- 

 lected by them." 



The condition of the State prior to its re- 

 construction was not favorable to the success- 

 ful operation of the various charitable institu- 

 tions ; but, early in the year, efforts were 

 made by the proper authorities toward such 

 a reorganization of these important insti- 

 tutions as will meet the wants of all those in 

 the community needing their assistance. The 

 last report of the Superintendent of the Blind 

 Asylum shows that twenty-one pupils were 

 maintained during the year 1869, at an average 

 cost to the State of $474.70 per year for each 

 pupil ; this average cost is regarded as exceed- 

 ingly high, and arises from the omission in the 

 system of all training in handicrafts. A remedy 

 for this defect is urged both with a view of 

 reducing the cost of supporting the blind, and 

 of enabling them to support themselves after 

 leaving the school. Another defect in the law 

 is the provision limiting the privileges of the 

 institution to the whites. The removal of this 

 restriction has been recommended by the Gov- 

 ernor, and " that the law in this case shall bo 

 altered so as to make it conform to the prin- 

 ciple, that no law of Mississippi shall make 

 distinctions on the ground ipso facto of color." 

 Including the colored blind who need the bene- 

 fits of this charity, the whole number of blind 

 in the State, between the ages of ten and sev- 

 enteen and a half years, to be provided for, is es- 

 timated at about sixty. " I recommend," says 

 the Governor, " that I be authorized to make 

 the question of educating the blind the subject 

 of investigation by a commission, with a view 

 to a report on the existing State establishment, 

 the transfer of our blind scholars to the insti- 

 tute at Baton Eouge, or the establishment of 

 the charity on a footing commensurate with 

 the demands of the new order of things, under 

 a system of careful economy, by the employ- 

 ment of the opportunity presented to us for 

 that purpose in the present availability of cer- 

 tain public buildings at Natchez." 



For several years past the deaf and dumb of 

 the State have been provided for in the asylum 

 at Baton Eouge, La. It is estimated that there 

 are now nearly 200 of that class in the State, 

 and that of this number there are about forty 

 between the ages of ten and seventeen and a 

 half, needing instruction. The attention of 

 the Legislature has been called to the necessity 

 of establishing a school for these deaf-mutes, 

 and " so reorganizing it that when the pupils 

 shall have arrived at the limit of their term, 

 seventeen and a half years of age, they may be 

 given to the world not only trained in ele- 

 mentary knowledge, but also skilled in useful 

 trades." Until the completion of such an in- 



