NEVADA. 



591 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, Christopher 

 C. Stevenson, Republican, who died on Sept. 21 ; 

 Lieutenant-Governor, and acting Governor after 

 Sept. 21, Frank Bell ; Secretary of State, John 

 M. Dormer; Treasurer, George Tufly, who re- 

 signed in August, and was succeeded by George 

 W. Richard; Comptroller, J. F. Hallock: At- 

 torney-General, John F. Alexander; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, W. C. Dovey; 

 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Thomas P. 

 Hawley, who resigned in November, and was 

 succeeded by R. R. Bigelow ; Associate Justices, 

 Charles H. Belknap and M. A. Murphy. 



Population. The following table presents 

 the population of the State by counties, as de- 

 termined by the national census of 1890, com- 

 pared with the population in 1880 : 



Increase. 



In his message to the Legislature of 1891, 

 Gov. Bell says : " The late census shows a con- 

 siderable falling off in the population of the 

 State. Owing to the extent of territory thinly 

 settled and the small amount of compensation 

 allowed the enumerators, I am satisfied a large 

 number of inhabitants were overlooked in the 

 enumeration. In 1884 the popular vote of the 

 State was 12,789; in 1886, 12,365; in 1888, 

 12,415 : and in 1890, 12,421 certainly no great 

 decrease in six years." 



Finances. The summary of receipts and ex- 

 penditures at the State treasury for the two 

 years ending Dec. 31, 1890, is as follows: Bal- 

 ance on Jan. 1, 1889, $641,528.21 ; receipts for 

 the year ensuing, $356,707.82; disbursements 

 for the same period, $418,295.65; balance on 

 Jan. 1, 1890, $579,940.38; receipts for 1890, 

 $321,613.87; disbursements for the same period, 

 $539,995.07; balance on Dec. 31, 1890, $361,- 

 559.18. Of this balance the sum of $159,411.78 

 was in the general fund, $88,113.13 in the State 

 school fund, $24,212.38 in the general school 

 fund, $22,201.57 in the State interest and sink- 

 ing fund, $20,858.20 in the Territorial interest 

 and sinking fund, and $23,025.04 in the State 

 University fund. The disbursements for 1890 

 include an item of $245,452.18 for the purchase 

 of $200,000 United States 4-per-cent. bonds for 

 the State school fund, which, if deducted, would 

 leave $294,542.89 as the actual State expenses 

 for that year. 



The State debt on Dec. 31. 1890, amounted to 

 $579,887.83, divided as follows: Irredeemable 

 5-per-cent, bonds held by the school fund, $380,- 

 000; 4-per-cent. State bonds held by the same 



fund, $142,000; 4-per-cent. State bonds held by 

 the University fund, $49,000; other indebted- 

 ness, $8,887.83. 



Valuations. In 1888 the taxable property 

 in the State was assessed at $26,738.378.53 ; in 

 1889 the assessment was $26,629,681.23, a de- 

 crease of $108,579.32 ; and in 1890 it was $24 - 

 663,384.57, a decrease of $1,966,296.64 from 1889. 

 The rate of State taxation is 90 cents on each 



County Debts. The total debt of Nevada 

 counties is $857,278, a decrease of $33,739 in ten 

 years. Of this total, $651,840 is a bonded debt 

 and $205,438 a floating debt. Five of the four- 

 teen counties have no debt. 



Education. The public schools are prosper- 

 ous. In addition to support received from local 

 taxation, they are entitled to the income from a 

 State school fund, which contains $972,000 in- 

 vested in State and United States bonds, besides 

 -$88,113.13 in cash. The success of the State 

 University, which was opened at Reno in Sep- 

 tember, 1887, has been marked. Only 37 stu- 

 dents were enrolled the first year, but 'the num- 

 ber increased to 115 in 1888, 137 in 1889, and 

 145 in 1890. The permanent University fund 

 on Dec. 31, 1890, amounted to $111.025.04, of 

 which $88,000 is invested in State and United 

 States bonds. 



State Prison. The average number of pris- 

 oners in the State Prison during the years 1889 

 and 1890 was 95, a decrease of 19 from the aver- 

 age of the two years preceding. A part of the 

 prisoners are employed in the manufacture of 

 boots and shoes, but the industry has not proved 

 profitable to the State. 



Militia. At the beginning of the year the 

 total number of officers and men in the State 

 militia was. 556, divided into seven companies 

 and one battery. The cost of this organization 

 to the State was $7,581.88 in 1889, and $7,684.75 

 in 1890. 



Mining 1 . The product of precious metals in 

 Nevada for 1890, according to the annual report 

 of Wells, Fargo & Co., was $3,348,536, of which 

 $2,693,884 was the value of gold, and $654,652 

 of silver. 



Political. On Sept. 5 a Republican State 

 Convention met at Virginia City and nominated 

 the following ticket: For Governor, Ross K. 

 Colcord ; for Lieutenant-Governor, J. Poujade ; 

 for Secretary of State, 0. H. Grey; for Comp- 

 troller, R. L. Horton; for Treasurer, John F. 

 Egan ; for Attorney-General, J. D. Torreyson ; 

 for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Orvis 

 Ring ; for Surveyor-General, John E. Jones ; for 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, R. R. Bigelow; 

 for Clerk of the Supreme Court, Joseph Josephs : 

 for member of Congress, H. F. Bartine ; for Re- 

 gents of the State University, E. T. George and 

 J. W. Haines. A platform was adopted approv- 

 ing the National Administration, demanding the 

 free coinage of silver, and favoring the Austra- 

 lian ballot system. 



The Democratic State Convention met at Reno 

 on Sept. 12 and nominated the following ticket : 

 For Governor, Theodore Winters ; for Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, R. Sadler ; for Secretary of State, 

 John T. Brady: for Comptroller, A. C. May; 

 for Treasurer, 'N. H. A. Mason; for Surveyor- 

 General, T. K. Stewart ; for Superintendent of 



