762 



VERMONT. 



VIRGINIA. 



required by law will not be assessed, but in 

 lieu thereof a tax for schools not less than 

 twenty-five cents, and not more than fifty cents, 

 on the hundred dollars, will be assessed by the 

 selectmen. The advantage of this system over 

 the old one is, that the control of the schools 

 in each town will be concentrated in a small 

 board formed of the men best qualified for the 

 duty, and the schools can be located and 

 graded in Accordance with the needs of the 

 people, while there will be at the same time 

 greater economy and efficiency in the manage- 

 ment of public education. 



The State Normal School, at Randolph, is in 

 a flourishing condition, and was attended by 

 107 pupils during the year. The Reform School, 

 at Waterbury, had an average of 105 members, 

 53 being committed during the year. The 

 causes of commitment were : Larceny, 36 ; in- 

 toxication, 1 ; vagrancy, 9 ; arson, 1 ; burglary, 

 1 ; assault, 3 ; disobedience, 1 ; breaking win- 

 dows of school-house, 1 ; total, 53. Ages of the 

 boys committed during the year : Fifteen years 

 of age, 10; fourteen, 13; thirteen, 6; twelve, 

 12 ; eleven, 5 ; ten, 4 ; nine, 3 ; total, 53. 



The finances of the institution for the year 

 are exhibited in the following summary state- 

 ment : 



133 acres of land $10,200 00 



Amount paid out the past year for new build- 

 ings , 21,290 50 



Amount paid for improvement and repairing 



the past year 2,943 93 



Amount paid for current expenses of the 

 school, including salaries of officers, the 



past year $14,793 94 



From this deduct 

 Farm-products sold and "boys' wages,. . . $159 85 



Earnings in shop and mill 5,622 96 



From boys' parents 14500 5,92781 



Leaving a balance for current expenses for 

 past year 



The Rutland Railroad was leased in the 

 early part of the year to the Vermont Central 

 Company for a term of twenty years. By the 

 terms of the lease the Central agrees to pay 

 the interest (seven per cent.) on the preferred 

 stock of the Rutland Railroad Company, and 

 the interest on the seven per cent, and eight 

 per cent, bonds, assumes the leases and pays 

 the rent of the lines, steamboat company, etc., 

 heretofore leased to the Rutland road, and 

 pays upon the common stock of the Rutland 

 company an increasing rate of interest, begin- 

 ning at nothing and increasing by one per 

 cent, a year to a point which will give to the 

 holders of the common stock an average of 

 six per cent, per annum on their stock for the 

 whole term of twenty years. The consolida- 

 tion gives to the Vermont Central control of 

 nearly 600 miles of line. A new line of rail- 

 road is in course of construction from Mont- 

 pelier to Wells' River, and is making rapid 

 progress toward completion. The Portland & 

 Ogdensburg Railroad, which has been con- 

 structed to North Conway, N. H., and will 

 form part of an important through-line to the 

 West, will cross this State, entering its borders 

 at Lunenburg. 



Included in the census are 14 Indians. The 

 true value of property was $142,612,356. The 

 public debt, county, city, town, etc., amounted 

 to $2,592,200. The aggregate value of farm- 

 products, including betterments and additions 

 to stock, was $34,647,027; 3,102,137 pounds 

 of wool were raised ; 17,700 persons, ten years 

 old and over, cannot write, of whom 9,283 

 are males, and 8,417 are females. Of the 

 number of persons who are twenty-one years 

 old and over, who cannot write, 6,867 are 

 white males. 



CENSUS OF 1870. 



VIRGINIA. The session of the Legislature 

 of Virginia for 1870-'71 continued until the 

 31st of March. The most important subject 

 of legislation was that of adjusting, funding, 

 and providing for the payment of the State 

 debt. This debt, which, on the 1st of July, 

 1871, amounted to $47,090,866.43, was created 

 by upward of one hundred different statutes, 

 and for the most part prior to the separation 



of West Virginia from the remainder of the 

 old Commonwealth. According to the terms 

 of that separation, West Virginia agreed to 

 assume one-third of the debt then existing, 

 but measures have never been adopted for car- 

 rying out that agreement. It was proposed in 

 the early part of the session to secure, if pos- 

 sible, an adjustment of this matter, and reso- 

 lutions were adopted, after much discussion, 



