402 



ILLINOIS. 



any of the courts of this State having competent 

 jurisdiction. 



Violation of the law is to be punished by a 

 fine of not less than $20 nor more than $100, 

 and imprisonment in the county jail for not 

 less than ten nor more than thirty days for each 

 offence. Giving away or disposing of liquors 

 by any shift, in lieu of selling, is to be treated 

 as unlawful selling; any building leased or 

 rented as a place for selling intoxicating liquors 

 is made liable to be sold to pay fines, costs, 

 damages, etc., in all cases arising under the* law. 



At the reassembling of the' Legislature, 

 January 3, 1872, it was expected that many 

 important matters would be presented for 

 consideration, such as an act to establish 

 and maintain a system of free schools in the 

 State, being an amendment of the present 

 law, etc. 



The Railroad and "Warehouse Commissioners 

 who were appointed under the act of April, 

 met in the early part of October, and appor- 

 tioned the classification of roads, as shown in 

 the following table : 



This list is incomplete, owing to imperfect 

 reports from some of the companies, and no 

 reports from others. Among the new roads 

 opened during the year was the Oilman, Clin- 

 ton & Springfield, 110 miles in length. The 

 construction of the Champaign, Monticello & 

 Decatur Railroad is well under way, and will 

 be completed as early as is practicable. 



The finances of the State are in a satisfac- 

 tory condition. In response to resolutions of 

 inquiry, a legislative committee in February 

 reported that on the first of that month there 

 was in the Treasury, after deducting all out- 

 standing warrants, $1,217,210.31. They esti- 

 mated the revenue to be derived from the as- 

 sessments of 1870-'7l at $2,002,500, basingtheir 

 estimate upon a tax of 25 cents on the $100 

 of property, the gross valuation in 1870 being 

 $480,000,000. The amount of revenue from 

 all sources for 1870-'7l, including the surplus 

 in the Treasury, the two-mill debt tax, and the 

 receipts from the Illinois Central Railroad, 

 they state at $4,793,710.31, but deficits in the 

 debt and interest funds, etc., were anticipated 

 amounting to $779,370.59. The amount of es- 

 timated expenses and of appropriations asked 

 for and estimated for 187l-'72 is set down at 

 $5,277,294.33. Coin to the amount of $3,100,- 

 000 was purchased in pursuance of an act 

 passed in January for the purpose of making 

 payments on the State debt. The bonded debt 

 at the beginning of December, 1870, was 

 $4,890,937, of which $2,998,540 came due on 

 or before July 1, 1871, and had been at that 

 time duly liquidated. 



The public schools of the State are in a 

 flourishing condition. The number of chil- 

 dren between the ages of six and twenty-one is 



862,544, of whom 855,325 are white, and 7,219 

 colored. There are 10,593 school districts, 

 and 652,715 pupils in attendance at the schools. 

 The total cost of supporting the educational 

 system is $8.38 for each pupil enrolled. Funds 

 for the support of the schools are derived: 1. 

 From the net proceeds of the tax of two mills 

 upon each dollar's worth of taxable property 

 in the State. 2. From the interest on the 

 "School, College, and Seminary Fund." 8. 

 From the interest on the County Fund. 4. 

 From certain fines and forfeitures, which go 

 by law for the support of schools. 5. From 

 the interest on the Township Funds ; and, 6. 

 From special taxes levied and collected in and 

 by the respective local school districts. There 

 are several colleges in the State, of which the 

 following are the most prominent ; Monmouth, 

 with 341 students ; Northwestern University, 

 307; Chicago, 277; Blackburn, 274; Knox,266; 

 KcKendree, 261 ; Northwest College, 239 ; Lin- 

 coln University, 206 ; Illinois Wesleyan, 200 ; 

 Westfield, 169; Lombard, 155; Eureka, 135. 

 The whole number in these colleges is 2,830. 



The system of public charitable and penal 

 institutions is not yet fairly completed, and 

 there has been much discussion during the 

 year in regard to changing the location of 

 some of them. At Jacksonville, where sev- 

 eral are now located, there is said to be a 

 deficient water-supply, and it is stated that 

 the place is unfavorable on many other ac- 

 counts. A proposition has been made, that 

 these various institutions be concentrated at 

 the State capital. Investigations have been 

 set on foot by the Legislature, which are likely 

 to result in some definite action on the subject 

 at an early day. 



