532 



NEBRASKA, 



The Legislature has taken steps to encourage 

 immigration to the State, a bill having passed 

 at the last session providing for a Board of 

 three Commissioners of Immigration, whose 

 duty it should be to publish information of the 

 resources and advantages of the State, and 

 secure its circulation in the English, German, 

 and Scandinavian languages. A State agent 

 was also provided to induce immigrants on 

 their arrival in this country to settle in Ne- 

 braska. William Bischoff, Frederick Kruz, and 

 C. 0. Smith, were appointed as the commis- 

 sioners, with 0. N. Karstens as the State agent 

 at New York. Pamphlets were prepared and 

 disseminated, and a large influx of immigrants 



from Europe is expected. ^__^ 



* Indians, t Including 27 Indians. $ Including 33 Indians. 



The total assessed value of property in the 

 State is $53,000,000, an increase of $11,000,000 

 over the valuation of 1869. The State has no 

 public debt, and the constitution forbids the 

 creation of a debt exceeding $50,000 in amount. 

 The public institutions and educational inter- 

 ests of the Commonwealth have been built 

 up to a large degree from the proceeds of 

 lands donated by the Federal Government. 

 One sixteenth of all the government lands in 

 the State, amounting to 2,643,080 acres, was 

 set apart for the creation of a public-school 

 fund, while 46,080 acres were given for the 

 endowment of a State University, and 90,000 

 acres for the State Agricultural College. The 

 constitution provides that the funds arising 

 from the sale of these lands shall be invested 

 in public securities, and kept inviolate and un- 

 diminished, the interest only being expended 

 for the support of the schools of the State. 

 The minimum price at which they can be sold 

 is $5 per acre, and at that rate the entire fund 

 derived from donations of public lands will be 

 no less than $13,895,000. The proceeds of all 

 fines and licenses are also devoted to the sup- 

 port of public education, and a tax of two mills 

 per cent, is levied for the same purpose. The 

 entire amount derived from the school fund 

 during the fiscal year 1869-'70 was $77,999. 

 The whole number of children in the public 

 schools during the same year was 32,619. The 

 State University and the Agricultural College 

 have not been completed as yet, but are pro- 

 gressing rapidly. One normal school has been 

 established, capable of accommodating 100 stu- 

 dents; located at Peru. 



In nothing has greater progress been made 

 in Nebraska than in the development of the 

 railroad system. The Union Pacific extends 

 from Omaha to Ogden, in the Territory of Utah, 

 a distance of 460 miles, and settlements* are 

 rapidly forming along the entire line. The 

 Fremont and, Blair Eailroad, 25 miles in length, 

 connects the Union Pacific with the Chicago 

 and Northwestern. The Elkhorn Valley road 

 is to extend from Fremont on the Union Pacific 

 to Niobrara, in the northern part of the State, 

 and open up to settlement one of the most 

 fertile districts in that region. It is not yet 

 completed. The Omaha and Southwestern, 

 extending from Omaha to Lincoln, a distance 

 of 65 miles, is under contract, and a portion 

 of it already in running order. The Omaha 

 and Northwestern will extend from Omaha to 

 West Point, and thence up the Elkhorn Valley 

 to the mouth of the Niobrara, but only a few 

 miles are completed. The Burlington and 

 Missouri Eiver crosses the State of Iowa, and 

 is already completed to Lincoln. It is to be 

 continued until it makes a junction with the 

 Union Pacific near Fort Kearney. The Mid- 

 land Pacific, from Nebraska City to Kearney, 

 by way of Lincoln, is in course of construction,' 

 and will make important connections with; 

 roads to the East. Among other lines already 

 projected . are the Nebraska City and South- 



