KANSAS. 



371 



K 



KANSAS, a Wr-tcrn State, admitted to the 

 Union Jan. 29. iHil : area, *-.>.( >M> square miles. 

 Tin' population, according to each decennial <-ni- 



sus, was 107.20(5 in ]M;O : :!i4.:!!9 in 1MO; 996,096 

 in 188(1: and 1.427.n9i> i,, 1*90. By the Stale cen- 

 sus in 1895 it \vas 1.334.6<>s. Capital, Topeka, 



Government. The following were the State 

 ollicers during the year: Governor, Edmund N. 

 31<>rrill : Lieutenant Governor, James A. Trout- 

 man: Secretary of State. W. (_'. Edwards; Auditor, 

 _ I'.. Cole; Treasurer, Otis L. Atherton ; At- 

 torney-General, F. B. Dawes; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction. Edwin Stanley all Repub- 

 licans; Adjutant General. S. M. Fox: Bank Com- 

 missioner, John \V. Breidenthal : Superintendent of 

 Insurance, George T. Anthony, who died Aug. 5 ; 

 Railroad Commissioners. S. T. Howe, J. M. Sinip- 

 .-M. and J. G. Lowe; Labor Commissioner. \V. (1. 

 Bird ; Secretary of Board of Agriculture, F. D. Co- 

 burn ; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. David 

 .Martin ; Associate Justices, S. J. Allen and W. A. 

 Johnson; Justices of the Appellate Court, W. A . 

 Johnston, G. W. Clark. T. F. Carver, A. W. Denni- 

 son. E. C. Cole, and A. I). Giersun. 



Finances. The total valuation of taxable prop- 

 erty as fixed by the Board of Equalization this year 

 i- $321,846,698, and upon this a total levy is 

 made of $1.367.845.48 for State taxes. The total 

 a r>sed valuation of all railroad property, includ- 

 ing telegraph and Pullman and Wagner cars, for 

 l>9(i i- x59.341.535. In 1895 it was $59,503.654. 



The total State debt on June 30, 1896, was $752.- 

 000, of which the permanent school fund of the 

 State owned $487,000 and the university permanent 

 fund $9,000. Seventy thousand dollars of the bonds 

 matured July 1. 1*96. and have been paid off. 

 Bonds amounting to $200,000 at 7 per cent, will 

 mature in 1897 ami $220.000 in 1Q98. 



Bonds aggregating :fO>53.987 are held by the 

 various school funds, and on many of the county 

 bonds among these no interest has been paid for a 

 number of years. Several counties also owe large 

 balances to the State on account of taxes levied in 

 former years, some dating as far back as 1HV2. 



The expenditures for the State departments and 

 institutions for the year ending June 30, 1896, 

 air-regated $753,146.61 : in 1894 the aggregate 

 was XSKU23.23; and in 1895 was $900,083.98. 

 At the beginning of the fiscal year July 1. 1894. 

 there was $842.326.23 on hand. The receipts 

 during the fiscal years ending June 30. 1895 and 

 1896. were $4,898,092.83, making a total of $5.749.- 

 419.06. The disbursements for the two years were 

 $5,135.889.96. leaving a balance in the treasury. 

 June 30, 1896. of $604,529.10. The report for tlie 

 ending Dec. 31. 1896, shows that the balance 

 on hand wa< x:-;r>:!. 333.38. and that the permanent 

 school fund amounts to $7.016,993.10. 



In December the commissioners of Lane County 

 formally declared the county insolvent and issued 

 instructions to the county treasurer to refrain from 

 further payment of interest on the county's bonded 

 indebtedness. . The funded debt of the county is 

 $125.000. The city and county of Leavenworth are 

 also reported in financial straits. The number of 

 delinquents in the city is increasing each year, and 

 the inability of the authorities to sell property for 

 taxes has placed both the city and county in pecul- 

 iar circumstaii' 



Education. The tenth biennal report of the de- 

 partment shows that there are 9,284 organized 



school districts in the State. The school popula- 

 tion is 495.771. The enrollment in the public- 

 schools is :!78.:!:!9; number of teachers. 11.700; 

 average salary paid male teachers. $43.s2 : avc 

 salary paid female teacher,-. s:;.V,s : average length 

 of school year in weeks. 24 : average levy I'm- school 

 purposes. 11 - 19 mills: value of school property, 

 $10,145.6ol : total expenditures for schools during 

 the year. $4,133,195.24. The bonded indebtedness 

 of the school districts was s44.545.708. One hun- 

 dred and five counties held teachers' institutes, 

 which cost $38.776.60. 



It was found, by a committee appointed by the 

 Legislature to examine the condition of the school 

 fund, that about $200.000 has been invested in 

 securities of doubtful value, aside from the Law- 

 rence bonds. 



The total attendance at the State Xormal School, 

 at Emporia. for the past year was 1.739. an increase 

 of 90 over the preceding year. The increase in the 

 regular normal classes was 241. The graduating 

 class in 1896 numbered 100, and that for 1897 num- 

 bered 179. Kansas sends pupils from 89 counties, 

 and 13 States and Territories are represented. 



The State Agricultural College graduated 66 in 

 June. It has 647 students. 



The enrollment at the State University at the 

 end of the year was 915. The law class gradu- 

 ated in June numbered 41, and that from the 

 school of music 2. 



The Dunkard College, at Mc-Pherson, has just 

 been cleared of debt, and has an increased attend- 

 ance about 180. 



Bethany College, a Swedish institution at Linds- 

 borg, has received benefactions this year from the 

 King and Queen of Sweden. 



A new university at Kansas City is under the 

 presidency of II. J. Heintz, of Pittsburg, Pa. 



The Haskell Indian School, at Lawrence, was al- 

 lowed by Congress $1(57 for each of 500 pupils a 

 year, and for other expenses $6.500. It graduated 7 

 from the normal department and 13 from lower 



Charities. Both insane asylums are overcrowd- 

 ed. The last Legislature provided for n new cen- 

 tral building and other improvements at the Ossa- 

 watomie Asylum, and these have been completed, 

 but others are called for. 



The Asylum for Imbeciles, at Winfield. has 117 

 pupils, with accommodations designed for 110. The 

 report of the Board of Charities says there are not 

 fewer than 1,000 children in the State who should 

 be in an institution of this kind. 



The School for the Deaf and Dumb has an en- 

 rollment of 240. 



A gymnasium and industrial building has been 

 erected at the Asylum for the Blind, in Kansas 

 City. 



The average number of inmates at the State 

 Soldiers' Home the first half of the year was 421, 

 and the cost of maintenance $14.08:5.51. 



The Soldiers' Orphans' Home l\n< had in its care 

 329 children since its opening, of whom 151 have 

 been returned to relatives who have become able to 

 provide for them. The report of the board >a\s 

 that the increase in its capacity is likely to lead to 

 making many children permanent wards of the 

 State: the laws should be so amended as to give 

 the State power to place them in homes where they 

 can be kept under its supervision and care. 



From the 8 institutions under the supervision of 



