528 



MISSOURI. 



ernor of three railroad commissioners, whose 

 duty should be, among other things, to ex- 

 amine twice every year into the condition 

 of railroads and their appurtenances, and order 

 repairs when necessary, to prescribe the rates 

 of speed, or wholly stop transportion on defec- 

 tive roads, and to exercise general supervision 

 over the railroads of the State. This latter 

 measure was urgently recommended by the 

 Governor in his message, and, if passed, will 

 establish a strict system of State surveillance 

 over the railroads. Much time was also spent 

 on a new law relating to other roads, but it 

 failed to pass before the adjournment. 



The financial condition of the State, in the 

 language of the Governor, "is not without its 

 embarrassments, yet a careful scrutiny will de- 

 velop many features of encouragement." The 

 bonded debt amounts to $17,866,000. A tax 

 of one-fourth of one per cent, on the assessed 

 value of property, which is $575,000,000, is 

 set aside by law to meet the interest and ma- 

 turing principal of the debt, and there were 

 in the hands of the Treasurer 350 general 

 bonds, and 167 Hannibal & St. Joseph Rail- 

 road bonds, amounting in the aggregate to 

 $517,000. The tax for general revenue is also 

 one-fourth of one per cent., and the receipts 

 for eleven months, ending November 30th, 

 were $3,572,941.80, and the disbursements for 

 the same period were $2,725,759.24, leaving a 

 surplus in the Treasury of $847,182.59. Coun- 

 ty, township, and municipal indebtedness 

 throughout the State is as follows : Railroad 

 and other subscriptions for which bonds have 

 been issued, $28,933,833.81 ; railroad and other 

 subscriptions for which no bonds were issued, 

 $8,982,800.15; floating debt represented by 

 warrants, $2,995,331.50; total, $40,911,965.46. 

 An act of the last Legislature limited local in- 

 debtedness of this kind to ten per cent, of 

 taxable property. Up to the beginning of 

 1872 the State bonds had not been registered, 

 and no specific provision had been made for 

 paying interest or principal in gold. 



Considerable progress has been made during 

 the year toward perfecting the system of public 

 education. There are in the State 627,203 chil- 

 dren between the ages of five and twenty-one. 

 Of these, 323,164 are enrolled in the common 

 schools. The whole number of separate schools 

 is 6,164, against 5,418 in 1870, an increase 

 of 546. The amount of the county-school 

 fund is $3,597,084.84. Large amounts of land 

 have been granted by Congress for the benefit 

 of schools in the State, but up to this time 

 little benefit has been derived from them. The 

 disposal of the lands, and the care and dis- 

 bursement of the funds derived therefrom, were 

 originally intrusted to the county courts ; but 

 an investigation made by the Board of Educa- 

 tion revealed the fact that this trust has been 

 very imperfectly fulfilled, and that in many 

 cases the proceeds of the sales have been used 

 for general county purposes. The Board in 

 its report makes a full exhibit of tbe matter, 



and recommends not only new and efficient 

 measures for securing the benefit of these 

 lands to its legitimate purpose, but proceed- 

 ings which shall force the counties to refund 

 all the misappropriated moneys. The princi- 

 pal statistical results of the investigation are 

 contained in the following statement : 



SWAMP-LAND. 



The amount of fines, penalties, etc., placed 

 in the capital of the county fund (88 



counties reported) $278,590 31 



Total county fund (110 counties reported).. 2,040,646 18 



Total township fund (110 counties reported) 2,110,036 56 



Grand total (110 counties reported) 4,150,682 14 



Total amount improperly secured, or lost. .. 180,202 72 



Total available fund $3,976,480 02 



There has been a large increase during the 

 year in the attendance at the State University, 

 two large normal schools have been estab- 

 lished, the Agricultural College has been organ- 

 ized, and the School of Mines and Metallurgy 

 has been opened. 



The penal and charitable institutions of the 

 State are not organized on a satisfactory 

 basis. There are no separate establishments 

 for female and juvenile delinquents, and the 

 general penitentiary is in a bad condition. 

 The cost of supporting 800 persons has been 

 $79,297.59, while the earnings of their labor 

 were $113,232.55. 



Great progress has been made in the con- 

 struction of railroads, and very extensive con- 

 nections with the main lines in other States 

 will be completed at an early date. The fol- 

 lowing synopsis presents the important facts 

 connected with these great public works of 

 internal improvement : 



Number of miles completed and in operation, 



January 1, 1871 1,980 



Number of miles in course of construction, 



January 1, 1871 797 



Number of miles built from January 1, 1S71, 



to November 1. 1871 5CO 



Number of miles in course of construction, 



November 1, 1871 1,132 



Number of miles (estimated) completed and 



in operation January 1, 1872 2,750 



Capital invested in railroads, rolling-stock, 



and appurtenances $117,548,817 



Of roads connecting more or less directly 

 with the city of St. Louis, the number of miles 

 constructed during the year 1871 alone is in- 

 dicated in the following list : 



ROADS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Miles. 



Iron Mountain 45 



Iowa Central 169 



Atlantic & Pacific 73 



Missouri Pacific 92 



North Missouri 76 



Moberly to Hannibal 70 



Louisiana & Missouri Railroad 51 



Missouri, Kansas & Texas 216 



A tchi son & Nebras ka 49 



Leaven worth, Lawrence & Galveston 3 



Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Blufls 17 



Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 8 



Midland Pacific _57 



1,033 



EAST OF THE RIVEB. 



Chicago & Alton 37 



Qnincy, Alton & St. Louis 4 



Southeastern " 



Total... I- 201 



