MISSISSIPPI. 



545 



76 885 of winter, wheat, 78,088 of rye, 4,743,- 

 117 of Indian-corn, 10,678,261 of oats, 1,032,- 

 024 of barley, 53,438 of buckwheat, 8,247 

 pounds of tobacco, 401,185 of wool, 46,601 

 bushels of peas and beans, 1,943,063 of Irish, 

 and 1,594 of sweet, potatoes, 1,750 gallons of 

 wine, 9,522,010 pounds of butter, 233,977 of 

 cheese, 208,130 gallons of milk sold, 695,053 

 tons of hay, 3,045 bushels of grass-seed, 828,- 

 269 pounds of hops, 240,110 of flax and 5,528 

 bushels of flax-seed, 1,781,855 pounds of maple- 

 sugar, 94,686 gallons of sorghum, and 23,637 

 of maple, molasses, 280,325 pounds of honey, 

 and 14,571 of wax. 



The total number of manufacturing estab- 

 lishments was 2,270, using 246 steam-engines 

 of 7,085 horse-power, and 434 water-wheels 

 of 13,054 horse-power, and employing 11,290 

 hands, of whom 10,892 were males above six- 

 teen, 259 females above fifteen, and 139 youth. 

 The total amount of capital invested was $11,- 

 993,729 ; wages paid during the year $4,052,- 

 837 ; value of materials consumed, $13,842,- 

 902; of products, $23,110,700. 



The whole number of newspapers and peri- 

 odicals was 95, having an aggregate circula- 

 tion of 110,778, and issuing annually 9,543,656 

 copies. There were six dailies with a circu- 

 lation of 14,800; five tri-weekly, circulation 

 4,200; 79 weekly, circulation 79,978; five 

 monthly, circulation 11,800. 



There were 1,412 libraries, having 360,810 

 volumes. Of these, 825, with 200,020 volumes, 

 were private; and 587, with 160,790 volumes, 

 were other than private, including 23 circulat- 

 ing libraries, with 16,601 volumes. 



The total number of religious organizations 

 was 677, having 582 edifices, with 158,266 sit- 

 tings, and property valued at $2,401,750. The 

 leading denominations were : 



The condition of pauperism and crime is 

 shown by the following statistics: 



Total population 439,706 



Number of persons receiving support during the 



year ending June 1, 1870 684 



Cost of annual support $66.167 



Total number receiving support, June 1, 1870. ... 392 



Native 126 



White 120 



Colored 6 



Foreign 266 



Number of persons convicted durincr the year 214 



Total number of persons in prison/June'l, 1870. . 129 



Native 73 



White 65 



Colored 8 



Foreign 56 



_ MISSISSIPPI. The last session of the Mis- 

 sissippi Legislature began on the 3d of Janu- 

 ary and continued until the 5th of April. There 

 was much discussion on the subject of re- 

 VOL. xii. 35 A 



trenchment, and some earnest efforts to secure 

 the passage of measures which should reduce 

 the expenses of the government. A proposi- 

 tion, made at the outset, to reduce the com- 

 pensation of members to $4 per diem, was de- 

 feated. Several investigations were ordered, 

 with a view to ascertaining wherein retrench- 

 ment could be effected, and a number of bills, 

 which came to be designated as "reform meas- 

 ures," occupied a large share of attention dur- 

 ing the session.- These reduced the number 

 of officials employed, the number of terms of 

 courts held, and cut down salaries very gener- 

 ally, but most of them failed to receive the 

 approval of the Governor. A funding act 

 was passed, which provided that the Treasurer 

 should issue bonds, bearing 8 per cent, inter- 

 est, for the redemption of State warrants, a 

 large amount of which had been issued from 

 time to time without any provision for their 

 redemption. There were generally no funds 

 wherewith to pay them when presented at 

 the Treasury, and they were constantly held 

 at a discount. A tax of one-half of one mill 

 on the dollar for the year 1872-'73, and of one 

 and one-half mill .thereafter, was to be levied 

 on real and personal property of the State 

 subject to taxation, for the payment of the 

 principal and interest of these bonds. The 

 first series is made payable on the 1st of Jan- 

 uary, 1875, and one series at the beginning of 

 each year thereafter, until all are paid, $150,- 

 000 constituting a series, and a sufficient num- 

 ber being issued to fund all outstanding war- 

 rants. The same act provided for the collec- 

 tion of a tax, for general purposes, of seven- 

 tenths of one per cent, on all property subject 

 to taxation, and restricted the power of county 

 supervisors to levy taxes for all purposes, so 

 that the tax of any one year, with the State 

 tax added, shall not exceed $25 on $1,000 

 of assessed valuation. 



A law providing for the management of the 

 penitentiary, which had been repeatedly urged 

 by the Governor, was passed near the end of 

 the session, after a long discussion. It author- 

 ized the Governor to appoint a Board of Three 

 Inspectors of the Penitentiary one from the 

 northern, one from the southern, and one from 

 the middle section of the State to hold office, 

 one for two, one for four, and the other for six 

 years, their successors in each case being ap- 

 pointed for six years. It is made their duty 

 to investigate, from time to time, the condi- 

 tion of the prison and its management, and 

 make an annual report to the Governor. Pro- 

 vision is also made for a superintendent and 

 other officers of the penitentiary. The act 

 prohibits cropping the hair of female convicts, 

 or punishing them by blows or stripes. Full 

 and explicit provisions are made for the regu- 

 lation of the institution, and the inspectors 

 are directed to select and purchase, with the 

 approval of the Governor, "a suitable site for 

 a penitentiary and farm of not less than five 

 hundred acres, situated at some convenient 



