FLOKIDA. 



313 



Bonded debt . 

 Floating debt 



LIABILITIES. 



$747,945 08 



Total $1,311,469 97 



KESOUBCES. 



Revenue uncollected $604,672 45 



Amount due from United States... 220,000 00 



Total debt, January, 1872 $486,797 52 



The following are particular items of the 

 State debt : 



Total bonded debt, January, 1872 $747,945 08 



Add amount of accrued interest, as stated by 



Comptroller 157,606 09 



Amount due on 421 hypothecated bonds in 



New York 120,000 00 



Warrants and Treasury certificates 285,918 80 



Total bonded and floating debt $1,311,469 97 



There are 6,656,817 acres of land in the 

 State, having an average value of $2.60, mak- 

 ing the aggregate value $16,843,542. The 

 value of city and town lots is $5,873,940, and 

 the aggregate value of personal property $11,- 

 781,571. The total value of real and per- 

 sonal property, as determined by the Board 

 of Equalization, is $34,673,753 ; the State tax 

 proper amounts in the aggregate to $301,661.- 

 44 ; the general sinking fund and interest tax 

 is $104,021.07; special sinking fund and inter- 

 est tax, payable in coupons of bonds of 1871, 

 or in currency, $34,673.58; total State tax, 

 $475,029.67, or about $1.37 on every $100 of 

 property. The county tax amounts to about 

 $1.00 on every $100 of property. 



The receipts of the Treasury for the year 

 1871 amounted to $275,005.59; the expendi- 

 tures to $410,491.19. There were warrants 

 and Treasury certificates outstanding at the 

 beginning of the year amounting to $276,325.- 

 28, and $227,924.27 had been redeemed dur- 

 ing the year. This leaves $458,892.20 out- 

 standing on January 1, 1872. 



Very encouraging progress has been made 

 in public education during the year. In 1870 

 there were 15 counties which failed to levy a 

 school tax, 13 in which there were no organ- 

 ized boards of education, and 11 which had 

 no superintendents; the whole number of 

 schools then was 250, and the number of pu- 

 pils 7,500. This year only four counties failed 

 to raise a school tax, one had no board of edu- 

 cation, and two were without superintendents ; 

 the number of schools had increased to 331, 

 and the number of pupils to 14,000. The 

 whole number of youth in the State, between 

 the ages of four and 21, is 62,869, only about 

 one-fifth of whom attend school. The aver- 

 age duration of the schools was 4-f months, 

 and the average salary of teachers was $30 

 per month. There are two seminaries in the 

 State, one at Tallahassee, under the charge of 

 the Leon County Board of Instruction; the 

 flther at Gainesville, entirely independent of 

 the State system. The university which the 

 constitution of the State makes it the duty of 

 the Legislature to provide for has not yet been 

 founded. In his message to the Legislature 



of 1872, Governor Reed commends to its con- 

 sideration the policy of combining the Agricul- 

 tural College Fund with sucli other means as 

 can be afforded, and devoting the whole to the 

 organization of of a single strong State Agri- 

 cultural College, where thorough instruction 

 shall be given not only in the classical, mathe- 

 matical, and philosophical branches usually 

 taught in colleges, but also in mechanics, mod- 

 ern languages, the physical sciences, and prac- 

 tical agriculture. "Then," he says, "we may 

 have a State university worthy the name." 



Florida has never built up any creditable 

 system of charitable and penal institutions. 

 An old United States arsenal at Chattahoochee 

 has been granted to the State by Congress for 

 a penitentiary, and has been occupied for that 

 purpose. 



The railroad system of Florida, which was 

 begun on a very comprehensive plan in 1855, 

 has not been altogether fortunate. The Flori- 

 da road, 154 miles in length, was sold by the 

 board of trustees in 1866 for $116,000, leaving 

 $232,000 in mortgage bonds, the interest of 

 which was guaranteed by the State. There 

 was a large amount of accumulated interest, 

 for the payment of which suits have been be- 

 gun. The Central road, from Jacksonville to 

 Lake City, 60 miles, was sold by the board in 

 1868 for $111,000, leaving a large amount of 

 accrued interest for the State to pay. The 

 Pensacola & Georgia and the Tallahassee 

 roads were forfeited by the companies, with 

 $1,424,000 of bonds outstanding, and have 

 been sold for about the par value of the bonds, 

 leaving no encumbrance on the State except 

 for unpaid interest. Since 1869 the State aid 

 has been given for the completion of railroads 

 by a grant of $16,000 per mile in bonds. The 

 State holds the roads as security for the pay- 

 ment of principal and interest. 



The Legislature assembled at Tallahassee 

 for its annual session of 1872 on the 3d of Jan- 

 uary. With regard to the general condition of 

 the State, the Governor says in his message : 



Among the reconstructed States of the South none 

 started upon a more truly conservative basis than 

 Florida, and none have progressed more successfully 

 in the scale of social, political, and industrial im- 

 provement. 



Florida, upon the whole, may be said to have been 

 distinguished among the Southern States for general 

 peace and quiet, and obedience to law, notwithstand- 

 ing reports to the contrary which have prevailed, 

 much to the detriment of the State. 



Still, disturbances, breaches of the peace, infrac- 

 tions of the la\v, and scenes of fatal and disgraceful 

 violence, have occurred in many localities within our 

 borders. This I have attempted to correct by the 

 exercise of all the power vested in me by the con- 

 stitution, and by the use of all the means bestowed 

 for that purpose by the Legislature. But at times 

 all efforts have failed, and all the means at my com- 

 mand have seemed to be ineffective. 



Looking upon the suspension of the civil law as 

 an experiment always full of danger, and entirely 

 opposed to all the principles of free popular govern- 

 ment, I have hesitated and refused to take a step so 

 fraught with manifold dangers, except as the very 

 last resort, even at the risk of incurring the enmity 



