406 



IOWA. 



same time named member of the Imperial Coun- 

 cil of Public Instruction. 



IOWA. The population of the State of 

 Iowa has increased very rapidly daring the 

 last two years. The State census, taken in 

 1867, gives the whole number of inhabitants as 

 902,400, of whom 4, 715 are colored. This shows 

 an increase in the total population of 150,000 

 since the census of 1865. The assessed value 

 of real and personal property in the State is put 

 down at $256,517,184. Though agriculture is 

 the leading interest of the State, manufac- 

 tures are greatly on the increase, the capital 

 employed in them in 1867 being more than 

 fifteen millions of dollars, while two years be- 

 fore less than one-half of that amount of money 

 was invested in that department of industry. 



The fiscal term in the financial transactions 

 of this State is a period of two years, the last 

 one ending November 2, 1867. At the begin- 

 ning of this period there was a residue in the 

 Treasury of $47,236.62. The total receipts of 

 the State Treasury during the two years 

 amounted to $1,365,158.57, the expenditures to 

 $1,315,654.74, leaving an unexpended surplus 

 of $96,740.45. $300,000 of the disbursements 

 were made under extraordinary appropriations 

 for the Orphans' Home, Agricultural College, 

 and Asylums for the Blind and the Insane. 

 $114,000 have been devoted to the liquidation 

 of the bonded debts of 1858 during this fiscal 

 term, and $85,000 of that debt remain unpaid. 

 Besides this, the State has a debt of $300,000 in 

 seven per cent, bonds, issued in 1861, to raise 

 money for war purposes, and 'due on the 15th 

 of January, 1881. The State has claims upon the 

 Federal Government to the amount of $300,000 

 for military expenditures, which are in pro- 

 cess of adjustment. 



Liberal provision is made in Iowa for the 

 support of common schools. The amount of 

 money expended for this purpose during the 

 year is $2,069,597.82, or over eight dollars for 

 each pupil attending the schools. Aside from 

 this indispensable class of educational institu- 

 tions, there are in the State already sixty-two 

 academies, colleges, and universities. Among 

 the latter is a State University, provided for by 

 the constitution and placed under the control of 

 the Legislature ; a new building for the use of 

 this institution has been completed during the 

 year. A building is also in course of construc- 

 tion for the State Agricultural College, which 

 will be one of the finest edifices in the State. 



Most of the charitable institutions of Iowa 

 were projected on a liberal scale, and have been 

 uniformly under efficient management, but the 

 provision made for the care of the deaf and 

 dumb was felt to be inadequate, and the last 

 General Assembly passed an act permanently 

 locating an asylum for that unfortunate class of 

 persons, at Council Bluffs, and appointing com- 

 missioners to choose the site, prepare a plan of 

 the building, and make a contract for its con- 

 struction. The work of these commissioners 

 has been done during the past season, and a 



contract entered into for erecting a suitable 

 building at a cost of $310,000. The Orphans' 

 Home, for the care of the children of deceased 

 soldiers, was originally founded as a private 

 corporation, and supported by voluntary con- 

 tributions, but was adopted by the State by an 

 act of the General Assembly passed in July, 

 1866. Since that time, $106,864.58 has been, 

 paid from the State Treasury for its support. 

 It is located at Davenport, but there are 

 branches also at Cedar Falls and Glenwood. 

 The whole number of children maintained at 

 the three establishments at the present time is 

 834. There afe 160 convicts in the State peni- 

 tentiary, which is nearly double the-number con- 

 fined in that institution at the close of the year 

 1865 ; as the State has no reform school, a large 

 proportion of these are youthful offenders, who 

 would be fit inmates for an institution of a re- 

 formatory character especially adapted to their 

 needs. 



A geological survey of Iowa has been going 

 on for two years past, nnder the direction of 

 C. A. White, the State geologist ; two years 

 more will be required for its completion ac- 

 cording to present estimates. One of the 

 most important subjects of investigation, and 

 one to which much attention has been given 

 during this survey, is whether coal exists in 

 sufficient quantity for profitable mining. Beds 

 of considerable thickness and of excellent 

 quality are found along the valley of the Des 

 Moines and in Jefferson County. In both these 

 localities successful mining operations have been 

 carried on for some time, and are constantly 

 increasing in extent. Considerable deposits 

 of building-stone are also found and extensively 

 used for local building purposes; it consists 

 chiefly of a variety of limestone. The agricul- 

 tural resources of Iowa are unexcelled, the soil 

 being very productive and easily worked. Cattle 

 and hogs are raised in great abundance for ex- 

 portation. Large quantities of wool are also 

 produced, both for exportation to other parts of 

 the country and for home consumption. The 

 rapidly-growing manufactures of the State are 

 chiefly of woollen fabrics. 



The trade of all the States on the Northern 

 Mississippi is seriously impeded by the Des 

 Moines and the Eock Island rapids. The 

 former extend from the city of Keokuk to Mon- 

 trose, a distance of eleven miles, with a fall of 

 twenty-one feet. The obstructions to naviga- 

 tion consist of a series of ridges of solid rock. 

 A canal on the Iowa side of the river is pro- 

 posed for the relief of the navigation of the 

 Upper Mississippi at this point. The design 

 is, to cut this canal through the rock in the bed 

 of the river, with sufficient depth and width to 

 float the largest river steamers at any season of 

 the year. The estimated cost of the work is 

 $2,100,000, one-third of which has been al- 

 ready appropriated by the Congress of the 

 United States. The Rock Island rapids extend 

 fourteen miles and a half, from Davenport to Le 

 Claire. The obstructions here consist of reefs of 



