248 



DELAWARE. 



the officer and his posses be free from legal re- 

 sponsibility ; he may also require the assist- 

 ance and use of any other boat or vessel, its 

 owners or crew receiving compensation ; and 

 it shall be an offence, punishable by a fine, for 

 any sheriff or constable to refuse to act, or any 

 person to refuse to serve on a posse, or refuse 

 the use of boats ; and it shall involve a similar 

 penalty to fish between sunset on Saturday 

 night and midnight on Sunday, throughout the 

 year; to fish for shad nearer than one mile 

 from shore, or the mouth of any creek within 

 the limits of the State after the 15th of June 

 of each year ; and to have in possession, or ex- 

 posed for sale, any shad caught in the river 

 Delaware or its tributaries, within the juris- 

 diction of this State, above the southern point 

 of Reedy Island, between the llth day of June 

 and the 10th day of August in any year. 



A law was passed prescribing some new reg- 

 ulations in regard to the rights of married 

 women. It provides for the protection of 

 property belonging to the wife in a case where, 

 after she has been deserted by her husband, 

 she shall engage in business on her own ac- 

 count. Under the old law the husband could 

 return and claim her earnings. 



The school system of Delaware has remained 

 unchanged for more than forty years, and con- 

 sequently the progress of popular education 

 has been exceedingly slow. For the past five 

 years several districts have been entirely with- 

 out public schools, and many which have had 

 such schools have had incompetent teachers. 

 In the rural districts the teachers are paid but 

 about $100 a year, and the schools are in ses- 

 sion only four or five months. The education 

 of the colored people depends entirely on 

 their own resources, unaided by any State as- 

 sistance, and upon such help and oversight as 

 are given by a voluntary organization of phil- 

 anthropic citizens called " The Delaware As- 

 sociation for the Moral Improvement and Edu- 

 cation of the Colored People." This has thir- 

 ty schools under its supervision at different 

 points in the State, which have given instruc- 

 tion at one time to as many as 1,200 children. 

 The last Legislature did nothing toward an 

 improved school system. Its acts concerning 

 education were very few. The most impor- 

 tant amended the charter of the Delaware Col- 

 lege, so as to admit ten students from each 

 county free of tuition ; and repealed the char- 

 ter of the State Normal University. The lat- 

 ter created considerable indignation, the asser- 

 tion being repeatedly made that it was impelled 

 by personal pique and malice, occasioned by 

 the statements made by the principal of the 

 University to the National Commissioner of 

 Education, denunciatory of the school system 

 of the State, and incorporated in his formal 

 report. Soon after the passage of the bill, 

 the students of the university held an indig- 

 nation meeting, and passed a series of resolu- 

 tions, the most important of which were as 

 follows : 



Whereas, This institution has given instruction to 

 several hundred students, aiding many in securing 

 better qualifications for mercantile, mechanical, and 

 agricultural pursuits, and has qualified at least twen- 

 ty-five persons for the business of school-teaching, 

 including the graduating class of 1871, and has sub 

 scriptions of money pledged to nearly the amount oi 

 $50.000; and- 



Whereas, The State of Delaware was paid its fee 

 for the act of incorporation ; and 



Whereas, The State has never given any appropri- 

 ations of money or other aid to this institution : 

 therefore 



Resolved, That we regard the recent act to repeal 

 the charter of the Delaware State Normal University, 

 dictated by a United States Senator and passed by 

 the State Legislature, as severely unjust and cruel to 

 those of our number who have been pursuing a labo- 

 rious course^ of study with a view to securing their 

 degrees, as insulting to our honorable trustees and 

 instructors, as unwise, impolitic, and entirely un- 

 worthy of the supposed wisdom and appropriate dig- 

 aity of legislators. 



Resolved, That we thank the trustees for so prompt- 

 ly conferring degrees upon the graduating class of 

 1871, previous to the passing of said act. 



Resolved, That we have never heard any political, 

 partisan, or sectarian remark in this institution from 

 any instructor. 



Resolved, That, without disparagement to any 

 _ school or teacher, we have received the most thor- 

 'ough,_ progressive, interesting, and satisfactory in- 

 struction in this institution that it has ever been our 

 privilege to enjoy. 



The university was incorporated in 1867, 

 to confer all degrees customary to be conferred 

 by universities and to grant diplomas ; to con- 

 fer, in addition to other degrees, the degree of 

 Bachelor of School-teaching upon such of the 

 students in the Normal Department as, upon 

 examination, shall be found qualified to act as 

 teachers, and the degree of Master of School- 

 teaching upon those who shall have been en- 

 gaged in the business of teaching three years 

 from the time of graduation. 



The railroads of the State are yearly in- 

 creasing in value, influence, and number. Work 

 on the new road known as the "Wilmington 

 & Western was begun on July 8, 1871, and 

 it is to be completed in July, 1872. The line 

 as originally surveyed runs from Wilmington 

 to Landenberg, there to connect with the 

 Pennsylvania & Delaware Railroad, which 

 crosses the Baltimore Central and extends to 

 the Pennsylvania Central ; but, in order to se- 

 cure a connecting link between the West and 

 the commerce of the Delaware River, it is pro- 

 posed to extend it to Oxford, from which place a 

 narrow-gauge road is assured, connecting with 

 the lines leading to the West. Other important 

 railroad projects are under way. A connect- 

 ing line between the Wilmington & Reading 

 and the Lehigh Valley Railroads is in progress, 

 which will give Wilmington a direct line into 

 the extensive Lehigh and Schuylkill districts ; 

 and a new road is proposed from Elkton to 

 Middletown, which will bring the agricultural 

 and fruit-growing section into as direct com- 

 munication with Baltimore, and make it as ac- 

 cessible to the peach-growers as Philadelphia 

 and New York now are. 



