AEKANSAS. 



ing a new suit filed to test the validity of the act of 

 April, 1893, under which the assessments are made. 



Education. By the enumeration of 1895, the 

 total school population amounts to 448,1)41, of which 

 123,645 are colored. The males number 230,823, 

 and the females 218,118. The amount distributed 

 in August from the State treasury, according to 

 this enumeration, was 323.237.52, an average of 72 

 cents for each pupil. 



It appears that, in violation of an act passed in 

 1875, the 10 per cent, of the net proceeds of the 

 sales of State lands never has been passed into the 

 common-school fund. All this source of revenue 

 has been lost to this fund for more than two decades. 

 The reason for this appears to be that the Commis- 

 sioners of State Lands and the State Treasurers have 

 maintained that the act does not specify it as the 

 duty of either to set aside this pro rata for the 

 school fund when a sale of land is made. 



It appears also that the permanent school fund, 

 or a part of it, has been invested in State bonds 

 upon which interest has not been paid for several 

 years, so that about $300,000 is now due. 



The State expends $10,000 yearly on summer 

 normal schools for teachers in the counties, which 

 are held for twenty days. About 80 per cent, of 

 the teachers were enrolled in them in 1895. 



State Institutions. A fire in the laundry build- 

 ing of the State Insane Asylum, Jan. 11, entailed a 

 loss of about $7,000, covered by insurance. The 

 State has a suit seeking to hold the trustees and the 

 German National Bank responsible for the shortage 

 of the ex-treasurer, Buchanan. From the time of 

 his re-election as treasurer, iu 1891, the board did 

 not require him to execute a bond, yet permitted 

 him to act as treasurer from April 4 to October of 

 that year and delivered to him warrants on the 

 Auditor to the amount of $29,350, which said war- 

 rants were by him delivered to the German National 

 Bank, which bank collected the money from the 

 State Treasurer, and afterward Buchanan drew the 

 sum of $23,806.72, which he applied to the purposes 

 designed by law and also the balance, $5,543.28, 

 which he embezzled. 



The Confederate Home, near Little Rock, which 

 has been under the care of the Legislature since 

 1891, having recently been enlarged, now has ac- 

 commodations for 50 inmates. In July there were 

 48. The appropriation allows $180 for each veteran. 



The record of the Penitentiary for 1895 shows 

 that the present system of working the convicts 

 makes the institution self-sustaining. The inmates, 

 of whom there are more than 700, are mostly em- 

 ployed on the crop-share system. 



The Deaf-Mute Institute has nearly doubled its 

 numbers within the past five years. The last Legis- 

 lature provided additional accommodations, so that 

 the school is in condition to receive all entitled to 

 its benefits. 



Banks. The Savings Bank and Trust Company 

 of Hot Springs failed on May 1. The assets to offset 

 liabilities, amounting to nearly $300,000, consisted 

 principally of the personal notes of the president, 

 E. Hogaboom, for amounts ranging from $10,000 

 to $50,000. The president and the cashier, W. W. 

 Wright, were indicted in October for embezzlement. 



Railroads. The demand for a railroad commis- 

 sion seems to be general throughout the State, 

 caused by alleged discrimination in freight charges 

 by the Missouri Pacific system, which is made pos- 

 sible by the lack of competition. The State Consti- 

 tution seems to forbid the creation of any perma- 

 nent State nfl'ice not expressly provided for. 



Meantime, there are various projects for extend- 

 ing railroad facilities by new roads and extensions. 

 A road 50 miles long was building this year from 

 Hamburg to the Mississippi. Congress, in Febru- 



ary, passed a bill granting the Arkansas and Choc- 

 taw Railroad Company the right of way through 

 the Choctaw Nation grounds in the Indian Terri- 

 tory. The Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Rail- 

 way also received an amendment to its charter, 

 granting it the right to build into the city of F< >rt 

 Smith without the consent of the Indian tribe, 

 through whose territory it passes. The same road 

 has been granted the right to construct a branch to 

 Hot Springs. A new line, called the Iloxie, Poca- 

 hontas and Northern road, starting at Iloxie, in 

 Lawrence County, and running, via Walnut Ridge, 

 in the northwesterly direction to Pocahontas. ilie 

 seat of Randolph County, 17, miles was completed 

 in the autumn. The Little Rock, Hot Springs and 

 Texas, an unfinished road, was placed in the hands 

 of a receiver in February. The mileage of railr 

 in 1894 was 2.343'91, and the assessed valuation 

 $19,931,840. 



In the suit against the Little Rock and Fort 

 Smith Railroad, the Governor appointed L. H. Mc- 

 Gill a special Associate Justice of the Supreme 

 Court to act in lieu of Judge S. P. Hughes, who 

 was Attorney-General of the State when the suit 

 was instituted. The present suit has been in the 

 courts about eight years. The bonds at stake in 

 the current litigation involve about $1,000,000. 

 The purpose is to compel the railroad company to 

 pay the interest on the bonds and to appoint a re- 

 ceiver to take charge of the income and revenue of 

 the road to that end. In the decision of the United 

 States Supreme Court the case was that of the State 

 on one hand and the railroad company on the other, 

 while this is a suit between the bondholders of the 

 railroad company. 



The State also had a suit against the Little Rock 

 and Fort Smith Railroad, seeking to recover $80,- 

 000 alleged to be due for taxes in 1878-'83. 



Crops. The report of Dun & Co.'s Commercial 

 Agency in September is summarized as below: 

 "The cotton crop last year was only 600.000 bales. 

 whereas the year prior to that it was 'MMl.OOU This 

 year it will not exceed 400,000 bales. Crops on the 

 hill lands have suffered most. In many cases it 

 will require 10 acres to make one bale. The 

 southern and southwestern counties are the great- 

 est sufferers. The corn crop is at least 45 per 

 cent, short of last year's production. Enough corn 

 will not be raised for home consumption. Hay and 

 potatoes are 50 per cent, short, while fruit is almost 

 a failure. Sorghum is 80 per cent, short." 



The State received the award of the grand prize 

 for its exhibit of apples at the Atlanta Exposition. 

 and also gold medals for its horticultural and agri- 

 cultural exhibits in general. 



At the State convention of cotton-planters, in 

 February, it was agreed that less cotton and greater 

 diversity of crops would be advantageous. 



Minerals and Lumber. The report of the State 

 Inspector of Coal Mines, rendered in November, 

 1895, says : " The coal industry in the State is in- 

 creasing, but the increase is with the large compa- 

 nies, the small companies going out of business. 

 as they can not compete with the large companies 

 in the market. The number of mines in the State 

 is 44. The coal mined during the year was 9Q0.671 

 tons, an increase of 156,811 tons over 1894, employ- 

 ing 2,360 men. There has been an increase in the pro- 

 duction in every coal-mining county in the State." 



Steps are taking for the development of the baux- 

 ite lands in Pulaski County, and of the chalk de- 

 posit in Little River County. It is claimed that 

 Arkansas ocher can be made into " wagon red " of 

 a deeper color than that from any other ocher 

 known, and a large ocher plant is to be erected. 



Gold and silver in paying quantities have been 

 found on King's river near Eureka. 



