811 



wa> 6.900. Tin- gross expenses of the system 

 amounted to s 1 .v.'.">.UUO. About halt' of this sum 

 was contributed l>ytlie Slate, and the remainder 

 was raised by taxation in (lie counties and cities. 

 Four tit'ths of the whole amount expended was ap- 

 plied to the pay of teachers and tin- remainder to 

 miseellaneoiis expen-es.such as school buildings, fur- 

 niture, repairs, fuel, insurance, pay of superintend- 

 ents, treasurers, etc. The approximate vah;> 

 school property owned by the public schools is 

 s:!.iM)ii.(iui). including grounds, buildings, furniture, 

 ami apparatus. During the year several school 

 buildings were erected, and the Stale Superintend- 

 ent lias observed a decided improvement in the 

 character of the houses built. He is satisfied that 

 there has been marked advancement on the part of 

 teachers, and hence more efficient work in the 

 schoolroom, and he attributes these results largely 

 to the work of the summer normal schools. During 

 the year 1.690 teachers attended these schools. The 

 Superintendent notes a growing tendency to organ- 

 ize high schools and thus extend the system to meet 

 the wants of pupils who desire a college course. 

 All the cities have complete systems, including well- 

 organized high schools, but only a lew counties 

 maintain high schools. He favors the organization 

 of county high schools, whereby the rural schools 

 may be brought in closer touch with the higher in- 

 stitutions. 



In his message to the Legislature the Governor 

 says : " Every year shows a slight advance in the 

 revenues applied to the support of the system, but 

 there is urgent need of more money. The term is 

 -hort in country schools, teachers' salaries are 

 insufficient, and there are other demands which 

 must be met to bring our system abreast with the 

 schools of other States, where the revenues are much 

 larger." 



Real Estate. The total valuation of real estate 

 in Virginia is $304,204,590, of which $298,276,748 is 

 owned by white, and xio.927,842 by colored citi- 

 zens. One tenth in value of the whole amount of 

 this property is in the city of Richmond. The col- 

 ored pci-ple's next largest holdings in cities are in 

 IVtersburir. s-HKs:',.-, : in Lynchburg, $407.420: in 

 Alexandria. *2:}0.660 : in Norfolk. $223,950; and in 

 Danville, $203,605. In the counties. Norfolk shows 

 K535.915 : Elizabeth ( 'ity. S470.926 : Ilenrico, *459.- 

 421; and Nansemond. $204,295. Buchanan is the 

 only county that reports no colored owners of real 

 estate. 



Penitentiary. The profit realized during the 

 year at the Penitentiary was S51.9S4. After deduct- 

 ing the deficit at t he farm S2.987.63 there remains 

 a net profit of s JS.997.12. The institution is greatly 

 overcrowded. More than 1,200 male convicts are 

 kept in 190 cells. In several of the larger cells 20 

 to :!(). and in the smaller cells (not over 6 feet wide) 

 as many as 6 are confined. 



Pardons. During the year the Governor ex- 

 tended clemency to 134 lawbreakers who were serv- 

 ing terms in the various penal institutions of the 

 Stale. In many instances where absolute pardons 

 were granted conditions were made and promises 

 exacted that the offender would either leave the 

 State, never to return, or refrain in future from vio- 

 lations of the law. But the greater number of par- 

 dons to Penitentiary convicts were granted on the 

 recommendation of the surgeon of that institution, 

 who certified that longer imprisonment would re- 

 sult in death. 



Insurance Companies. Foreign insurance com- 

 panies, life and fire, are required to deposit with the 

 Treasurer of the State bonds of the State, of the 

 United States, or of certain cities, to an amount 

 equal to 5 per cent, of their capital stock, not to 

 exceed $50.000 nor to be less than $10,000. These 



bond> are held for t! 'curily of the insured, and, 



in ca-e of the default of a company to : 

 its liabilities, the bonds an- directed to i 

 sat isfy the claims. The (iovcnior recommends that 



home companies be required to make .! 



t he -aine i 



I'ri/e Fiirlitincr. Tin- Governor in _ 

 prize lighting ai pri- 



vate or public, in a park, club, or other place, fur 

 admission fees, a purse, or any other thing, directly 

 or indirectly lie made a felony. He say-: " I 

 lighting has repeatedly occurred in the State within 



\&\ t wo years. It has been inn 



vict the participants, because the spectator- have 

 been in sympathy with tie .1 affair-: and. 



however brutal the contest, in the opinion of tl 

 sympathizers, when introduced a- v. 

 not a prize fight, but an innocent glove cor 

 Men in the ring have assaulted each other in a man- 

 ner which, if done elsewhere, would have made 

 them amenable to severe punishment: but. a- 

 assaults were made in the ' manly-art' ring, it was 

 regarded as harmless amusement. These exhibi- 

 tions are neither innocent, harmless, nor manly, but 

 brutal tis a bull or dog fight. They are degrading 

 in the extreme, and tend to inculcate in the minds 

 of the youngthat it is better to become a champion 

 prize fighter than to excel in the mechanic arts, 

 trades, or professions." 



Live Stock. The number and value of farm an- 

 imals in the State in Is'.Mi were: Horses. 246.046. 

 value 9.808.229; mules. :!s.24s. value s-,'.i:!4.i:i:{ ; 

 milch cows. 265.635. value *4,Sls.ii]! : other cattle. 

 386,670. value $6,138,896; sheep, 426,889, value $894,- 

 760: swine, 985.748, value $3.514.6*7: total value. 

 $27,563.151. 



Decision. The case of the New York. Phila- 

 delphia and Norfolk Railroad Company against 

 the Board of Supervisors of the county of North- 

 ampton was decided in the Supreme Court of 

 Appeals in March. The question involved was the 

 power of the appellee, the Board of Supervisors, to 

 tax the appellant company for district-school pur- 

 poses. The effect of the court's decision is to 

 declare that the county supervisors can not lay such 

 a tax upon railroad, canal, telegraph, and telephone 

 companies for school purposes, under the existing 

 statutory laws. The judge delivering the opinion 

 of the court holds that the remedy necessary to do 

 this lies only in the Legislature. The decision does 

 not affect the State and county taxes for school 

 purposes levied against railroads and similar corpo- 

 rations. It is estimated that the total loss of 

 revenue to the school districts of Virginia by this 

 decision will be between $50,000 and $75,000 

 a year. 



'Union Theological Seminary. The question 

 of removing Union Theological Seminary from 

 Prince Kdwarel County, where it was established in 

 1*24. has been decided". It is to go to Richmond. 

 The Richmond " Dispatch " says : "The project of 

 removing the seminary became a practical question 

 nearly two years ago. when the Board of Tn.- 

 appointed a committee to receive and consider 

 offers of sites and of money looking to the establish- 

 ment of the seminary in some more eligible locality. 

 The seminary being an historic, well-endowed, and 

 influential institution of learning, witli alumni occu- 

 pying pulpits all over the Southern States, many of 

 them being men of national and world-wide reputa- 

 tions, a number of cities began to make offers for 

 the establishment of the institution within their 

 bounds. Lynchbunr. Charlottesville. Danville. Nor- 

 folk, and Richmond all had offers to make, but the 

 capital of the old Dominion was able to offer the 

 strongest inducements. A splendid site of llf 

 acres proffered by Major Lewis Ginter. and a sub- 



