MICHIGAN. 



551 



ending June 30, 1889, and the portion thereof 

 defrayed from the State treasury : 



The State debt at the beginning of 1890 

 amounted to $239,992.83, of which $229,000 be- 

 came due and was paid during the year, and the 

 remainder has long since ceased to bear interest, 

 being payable upon presentation of the bonds at 

 the State treasury. The debt is, therefore, prac- 

 tically extinguished. But there is a trust fund 

 debt on which the State agrees to pay interest 

 permanently for the benefit of educational insti- 

 tutions. This has been accumulating since 1845. 



Education. The following statistics cover 

 the public-school year 1888-'89 : Number of dis- 

 tricts 7,145, increase in one year 58 ; school pop- 

 ulation 640.069, increase 10,146 ; number enrolled 

 in public schools 423,604, decrease 1,614; average 

 duration of schools in months 7'7, increase ! ; 

 male teachers employed 3,681, decrease 92 ; female 

 teachers employed 12,394, increase 404; average 

 monthly wages, male teachers $46.31, increase 

 64 cents ; average monthly wages, female teachers 

 $32.32, increase 75 cents ; school-houses 7,493, in- 

 crease 65 (5,796 are frame, 1,199 brick, 71 stone, 

 and 427 log); value of school property $13,286,- 

 637, increase $529,534. The school revenue for 

 the year was as follows : Balance on hand, $881,- 

 587.24; receipts from one-mill tax, $672,465.09; 

 from primary-school interest fund, $827,773.44; 

 from non-resident tuition, $56,103.35; from dis- 

 trict taxes. $3,395,030.29 ; from all other sources, 

 $535,775.21 ; total, $6,368.734.62. The disburse- 

 ments were, for male teachers, $929,721.11 ; fe- 

 male teachers, $2,263,814 ; buildings and re- 

 pairs, $641,661.48 : bonded indebtedness paid, 

 $327,885.32 ; all other purposes, $1,117,327.17 ; 

 total, $5.280,409.08, leaving a balance of $1.088,- 

 325.54 at the close of the fiscal year. While 

 there were 10,146 more children of school age in 

 the State in 1889 than in the year preceding, it 

 appears that the attendance upon the schools 

 was less by 1,614. In the graded schools there 

 was an increased attendance of 3,285, while in 

 the ungraded schools there was a decrease of 

 4,899. The cause for this state of affairs is not 

 clear. The compulsory school law of 1885 has 

 not accomplished its object. It is so defective 

 that its enforcement in its present form is im- 



practicable. Under the free-text-book law of 

 1889, 520 districts, at their annual meetings in 

 1889, voted to. adopt the free-text-book system. 

 There has been a complete change in popular 

 opinion since 1887, when the free-text-book idea 

 had such weak support in the Legislature that 

 it was impossible to bring the question to a vote 

 in either branch. 



The principal of the various permanent edu- 

 cational funds held by the State on June 30, 

 1889, was as follows : Primary School fund, $4,- 

 529,677.44 : University fund, $545,946.47 ; Agri- 

 cultural College fund, $454,636.07; Normal 

 School fund, $69,556.54. 



During 1889 the State Superintendent reports 

 312 private schools, an increase of 6 over 1888, 

 with 277 male and 422 female teachers and 34,- 

 179 pupils, a decrease of" 21 teachers and an in- 

 crease of 3,106 pupils. 



The number of students at the various State 

 educational institutions for the year 1888-'89 

 was as follows: University of Michigan, Ann 

 Arbor, 1,885 ; Agricultural College, Lansing, 340 ; 

 Normal School, Ypsilanti, 803 ; Michigan Mining 

 School, Houghton, 40; School for the Deaf, 

 Flint, 302 ; School for the Blind, Lansing, 103 ; 

 State Reform School, Lansing, 712; Industrial 

 Home for Girls, Adrian, 299 ; School for Depend- 

 ent Children, Coldwater, 372. 



Charities. There were about 2,840 patients 

 at the four insane asylums of the State on June 

 30 of this year, 990 being at the Pontiac Asy- 

 lum, 687 at the Traverse City Asylum, 969 at 

 the Kalamazoo Asylum, and about 200 at the 

 Ionia Asylum for Insane Criminals. All of these 

 institutions are overcrowded, and the increase of 

 the insane is about 200 annually. 



At the State Soldiers' Home the number of 

 veterans admitted during the two years ending 

 June 30 was 495. At the beginning of that pe- 

 riod there were 395 inmates and 162 were read- 

 mitted. The current- expense fund was over- 

 drawn on June 30, 1890, $13,797.05. 



Live Stock. The following statistics of live 

 stock in the State reported for 1890 were com- 

 piled by the Secretary of State : Number of 

 horses, 396,883 ; milch cows, 405,675 ; .other cat- 

 tle, 363,519; hogs, 450,748; sheep, 1,908,254. 

 Compared with the statistics of the previous year 

 there is an increase of 11,892 in the number of 

 horses, and of 2,842 in the number of milch 

 cows, and a decrease of 36,586 in other cattle, of 

 5,258 hogs, and of 26.725 sheep. 



Railroads. The total revenue realized from 

 the operation of Michigan railroads during the 

 year was $96,423,071.62, or an increase of $15,- 

 755,306.59. The operating expenses for the same 

 period were $64,613,791.98, leaving a net income 

 for the year on traffic account of $31,809,276.64, 

 which was $6,136,631.28 in excess of the net in- 

 come of the preceding year. The amount re- 

 turned to shareholders in dividends was $8,096,- 

 184.32, or 3-41 per cent, more than was returned 

 the previous year. The average dividend was 

 4'81 per cent. 



The track mileage in the State, as ascertained 

 for purposes of taxation in 1890, was 6,668 miles. 

 The amount realized to the State treasury from 

 the specific taxation of railroad companies for 

 the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 1889, payable July 

 1, 1890, was $757,234.94, which was an increase 



