MINNESOTA. 



519 



road exceed fifty millions of acres in the winter- 

 wheat regions of the country. In October, 

 the track was completed across the State of 

 Minnesota, 250 miles toward the Bed Eiver, 

 and regular trains were running over the com- 

 pleted sections. In the latter part of Septem- 

 ber, contracts were let for the construction of 

 the Dakota Division, extending 200 miles west- 

 ward, from the crossing of the Eed Kiver to 

 the crossing of the Missouri, in Central Dakota. 

 This division is to be finished by the first of 

 July, 1872. A section of 65 miles between the 

 Columbia Kiver and Puget Souod, in "Washing- 

 ton Territory, was to be completed in the 

 winter of 1871. In the fall, the main line of 

 the branch, previously known as the St. Paul 

 & Pacific, was completed to the Bed River at 

 Breckenridge, and the branch line from its 



S resent terminus at Watab, on the Mississippi 

 iver, 70 miles northward to Brainard, as 

 already stated, where it joins the trunk line. 

 In the fall, also, contracts were let for the con- 

 struction of a branch road from St. Cloud, 75 

 miles north of St. Paul, to Pembina, on the 

 British border, a distance of 375 miles, to be 

 completed at the close of this year. It will 

 drain the richest portions of the Bed Biver 

 Valley, open direct communication with the 

 British settlements of Winnipeg, and the rich 

 Saskatchewan Basin. It will also serve as the 

 southeastern arm of the Northern Pacific road, 

 reaching to St. Paul and Minneapolis, and thus 

 connecting with Chicago and the trunk lines 

 to the East. When this is completed, the 

 Northern Pacific will have 900 miles of road 

 within the limits of the State, and the trunk 

 line will be carried nearly one-third of its dis- 

 tance across the continent. Anticipating the 

 increase of business, the Hudson's 'Bay Com- 

 pany has already leased docks and warehouses 

 at Duluth, preparatory to doing the whole of 

 its immense business over this line. Settlers 

 are also occupying the lands along the route 

 with surprising and gratifying rapidity. 



The capacity of all the State institutions has 

 been increased during the year, by the erection 

 of additional buildings. In the Hospital for 

 the Insane, the whole number of patients under 

 treatment during the year was 345. At the 

 close of the year there remained 244, of whom 

 129 were males, and 115 females. Whole num- 

 ber discharged during the year, including 

 deaths. 101 ; discharged, recovered or im- 

 proved, 76, or 22 per cent, of the whole num- 

 ber under treatment during the year; dis- 

 charged without change, 4. The hospital has 

 been crowded, as heretofore, to the utmost 

 limit of its capacity. The Institute for the 

 Deaf and Dumb and the Blind was attended 

 by 77 pupils ; 60 in the mute, and 17 in the 

 blind department. In nine years, which .cover 

 the history of the school, not one death has 

 occurred. The superintendent urges the im- 

 portance of teaching trades to the pupils, in 

 order that each one on leaving the school may 

 be able to do something to earn a livelihood. 



There were 131 convicts in the penitentiary. 

 Of these, 71 were in at the beginning of the 

 year ; 44 were committed during the year for 

 offences against the State, and 16 for offences 

 against the United States. The whole number 

 in prison, December 1st, was 87. The earnings 

 of the prison during the year have amounted to 

 $12,256.94. To the Beform School, 44 children 

 have been committed during the year, and, at 

 its close, 109 were in the institution, of whom 

 8 were girls. 



The school statistics show marked progress 

 during the year. The whole number of persons 

 in the State, reported between the ages of five 

 and twenty-one years, is 167,463, an increase 

 of 11,696 over that of last year. Whole number 

 attending school during the year was 113,983 ; 

 whole number of teachers employed, 4,385, of 

 whom 2,903 were females. The whole amount 

 paid for teachers' salaries was $540,388.12; 

 average for each male, per month, $37.68, and 

 each female, $25.51 ; increase over 1870, $107,- 

 945.10. The total value of the school-houses 

 in the State is $1,758,133.03. The permanent 

 school-fund is derived from the proceeds of 

 the sale of the school-lands of the State, com- 

 prising one-eighth of the public domain, and 

 from the sale of permits to cut pine-timber on 

 these lands. The fund at the close of the year 

 amounted to $2,544,076.12, which is in amount 

 the fifth permanent school-fund in the United 

 States, and the largest derived exclusively from 

 the Government land-grants for that purpose. 

 With good management, the school-fund, when 

 all the lands shall have been converted into 

 money, the Governor states, cannot be less 

 than $15,000,000. In addition to the interest 

 on this permanent fund, a two-mill tax is levied 

 each year, pursuant to general law. The pro- 

 ceeds of this tax, added to the interest on the 

 school-fund, amounted to $346,317.83 for the 

 last fiscal year, which has been apportioned 

 and distributed among the school districts. 

 To the amount so received, each district makes 

 such further addition as its electors see fit to 

 assess for school purposes. From all sources 

 there was realized and expended for school 

 purposes, in 1871, $1,011,656.73, against $792,- 

 852.91 for 1870 an increase, for the year, of 

 $218,803.82. 



Favorable progress has been made at the 

 State University, the chief educational institu- 

 tion of the State. There were in attendance 

 in all the departments during the year 321 stu- 

 dents, of whom 92 were women a large in- 

 crease over the preceding year. The total per- 

 manent fund of the university, now at inter- 

 est, amounts to the sum of $119,762.76. This 

 fund has arisen from the sale of lands granted 

 by Congress. 



In the following table will be found more 

 full details of the census of 1870,' together 

 with the assessed value of property, taxation, 

 etc. The State covers a large space of ter- 

 ritory, containing more than 81,000 square 

 miles : 



