MINNESOTA. 



451 



Roads. 



Lake Superior and Mississippi. ...... "\ 



Authorized to make up deficiency i 

 within thirty miles of the west line f 

 of said road J 



From Houston, through the counties 

 of Fillmore, Mower, Freeborn, and 

 Faribault, to the western boundary 

 of the State 735,000 



From Hastings, through the counties of 

 Dakota, Scott, Meeker, and McLeod, 

 to the western boundary of the State. 550,000 



Provides for two roads and two branches. 

 (No map filed.) 2,500,000 



Over and above the land-grants exhibited in 

 this list, exceeding 11,000,000 acres, Min- 

 nesota has her share in the 47,000,000 acres 

 granted to the Northern Pacific Eailroad; 

 besides that, numerous bills have recently been 

 introduced in the Federal Congress by her rep- 

 resentatives, proposing to build new roads, or 

 branches of old ones, and asking other land- 

 grants for their construction respectively. 



But the direct action of the State in forward- 

 ing the progress of her railroads has been so 

 vigorous and efficient, that, during the four 

 years last past, the extent of railway commu- 

 nication within her limits has quadrupled. The 

 number of miles constructed and opened for 

 traffic in 1869 was 224. These belong respec- 

 tively to ten different lines, the aggregate 

 length of which now in actual operation 

 amounts to 780 miles. Several hundred miles 

 more are now under construction, and others 

 have been contracted for. 



The public finances appear to be in a very 

 satisfactory condition. 



The aggregate amount of public revenue for 

 1870 is estimated at $433,224.04, and that of 

 the current expenses at $395,407.12, leaving a 

 probable balance in the Treasury of $37,816.97. 

 The recognized funded debt of the State is 

 $350,000, bearing interest at the rate of 7 per 

 cent. It consists of the war loan of 1862, due 

 in 1872, $100,000; ten-year loans of 1867, 

 $100,000; 1868, $100,000, and 1869, $50,000 

 for State Institution Buildings. 



Public instruction is remarkably well pro- 

 vided for, as both the State government and 

 individual citizens bestow upon it no small 

 share of their attention. The following sum- 

 mary of statements in regard to the number 

 and cost of the common schools in the State, 

 as well as their attendance and condition in 

 1869, has been taken from the last official re- 

 port of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion, and will prove not uninteresting to the 

 reader : 



The whole number of persons in the State between 

 five and twenty-one years of age, on the 30th of Sep- 

 tember last, was 144,414. an increase for the year of 

 15,311. The whole number of persons attending the 

 public schools during the school year was 102,086, an 

 increase of 20,390 over that of 1863. The percentage 

 of non-attendance in 1867 was 44, in 1868 it was 37, 

 and in 1869, it has been but 29. 



In the 2,377 school districts in the State, there was 

 a winter school in 1,793 districts, of an average in 

 months of 336. There was a summer school in 1,980 

 districts, with an average length in months of 321. 



It will thus be seen that quite four-fifths of all the 

 districts supported each class of schools at an aggre- 

 gate average length in months of 6.57. 



This exhibit of attendance surpasses that made by 

 many of the older States of the Union. 



The whole number of teachers in 1869, in the winter 

 and summer schools, was 3,775. The average wages 

 of male teachers for the year have been $34.20, and 

 'of female, $21.92. 



The whole amount of teachers' wages for the year 

 was $360,697.50 ; the value of all the school-houses 

 in the State is $1,339,690.88, the increase for the year 

 being $248,141.46. The cost of the school-houses 

 built in 1869 is $242,039.03 ; the whole amount ex- 

 pended for school purposes has been $823,571.82. 



The permanent School Fund received last 

 year an addition of $238,304.45, the proceeds 

 from the sale of nearly 40,000 acres of school- 

 lands. It amounts at present to $2,371,- 

 199.31 ; and it is anticipated that from the 

 sale of the remaining school-lands well man- 

 aged it will be not less than $16,000,000. The 

 interest of this fund, which was last year $148,- 

 520.40, is semi-annually distributed among the 

 counties, in proportion to the number of their 

 children attending school, respectively. The 

 rate in 1869 was $1.15 for each scholar. 



The "Teachers' Institutes," and the "Normal 

 Schools," which have been established for the 

 purpose of fitly training and qualifying teachers 

 for the peculiar duties of their arduous work, 

 are steadily gaining in the sphere of their use- 

 fulness, and also in the people's favor. The 

 Normal Schools are distributed into distinct 

 departments, styled "normal" proper, and one 

 " model." The attendance in the normal de- 

 partments last year was 373, while in the 

 "model" it was 444, numbering together, 817. 



The State University, whose building was 

 first erected at St. Anthony twelve years ago, 

 is now completely organized. The students at 

 present are about 150, some 50 young ladies 

 being among the number. The male students 

 wear a gray uniform called "university gray!" 

 "The attendance in the preparatory depart- 

 ment for the year was 146 ; the aggregate at- 

 tendance during the fall term was 154. It is 

 hoped that, after the present year, the income 

 from the permanent fund will suffice for the 

 current expenses." 



The charitable institutions are provided for 

 by the State with highly-commendable interest. 

 In the Hospital for the Insane the number of 

 patients under treatment during the year 1869 

 was 238. Some of these died in the course of 

 that time, while others were cured and dis- 

 charged, in all 77, so that those remaining in 

 the hospital on November 3d were 161 : men 

 81, women 80. The current expenses of the 

 institution for the year 1869 amounted to 

 $40,179,30 ; and for 1870 they are estimated 

 at $52,000. 



The combined Institution of the Deaf and 

 Dumb and the Blind, presents for the year 

 1869 the following relative statistics : " The 

 inmates in the mute department were 55 : 

 males 33, females 22 ; " and the blind 11 : 

 males, 6, females 5. The current expenses 



