MISSOUKI. 



551 



A bill, proposing to make dealers in intoxi- 

 cating liquors liable for tbe damage done by 

 intoxicated persons, was introduced, but failed 

 to pass, after occupying a good deal of time. 

 Various changes in the school laws were pro- 

 posed and debated, but were not consum- 

 mated. A bill, providing that treason against 

 the State and murder in the first degree should 

 be the only crimes prosecuted by indictment, 

 and that grand-juries should not be summoned 

 unless by order of a judge, was among the 

 measures discussed but not passed. A bill, 

 dividing the State into congressional districts 

 in accordance with the new apportionment 

 law, was not passed before the adjournment, 

 which fact induced the Governor to call an 

 extra session, to begin on the 19th of June. 

 The redistricting of the State was necessary, 

 in order to provide for the election of the 

 presidential electors which the State was en- 

 titled to choose. The new apportionment of 

 Congress increased the number of these elec- 

 tors by four. The Legislature was in Cession 

 only a few days in June, and the passage of 

 the bill redistricting the State was the only 

 important action taken. 



Two amendments of the constitution were 

 submitted by the Legislature to a vote of the 

 people at the election in November, both of 

 which were ratified at that time. One of 

 these provides for the in vestment of the school 

 fund, and the other increases the number of 

 the judges of the Supreme Court by two. The 

 question of a complete revision of the consti- 

 tution is beginning to be agitated. 



The last Legislature provided for the con- 

 struction of a new Insane Asylum, and appro- 

 priated $200,000 for the purchase of a site 

 and the erection of the necessary buildings. 

 Under this act five commissioners were ap- 

 pointed by the Governor, to select a location 

 and obtain plans and specifications for the 

 buildings. The site chosen is near the city of 

 St. Joseph, and provision has been made for 

 the immediate establishment there of the pro- 

 posed institution. 



There were at the end of the year 821 con- 

 victs in the State-prison. The' expenses of 

 this institution for the year amounted to 

 $109,696.42. When, against this, credit has 

 been made for various supplies on hand, and 

 the amount paid for the support of United 

 States prisoners, the actual cost is reduced to 

 about $90,000. The labor which was done by 

 the prisoners, under contract, brought in $37,- 

 654.01, and the work done for the State, in 

 extending and improving the buildings and 

 grounds of the prison, is estimated at outside 

 prices as worth $111,723.35. About 300 pris- 

 oners have worked under contracts, at forty 

 cents a day, and new contracts have been en- 

 tered into, for the employment of 500 more, 

 at 45 and 50 cents a day. 



The State University is in a flourishing con- 

 dition, being entirely free from debt, and hav- 

 ing nearly 400 students. The policy of admit- 



ting women to all departments of the univer- 

 sity has been adopted. A medical department 

 has just been established. The Normal 

 Schools and School of Mines are also reported 

 as in a very favorable condition. The number 

 of children in the State between the ages of 

 five and twenty-one is 702,901, an increase of 

 68,458 over the number in 1871. The other 

 important school statistics are as follows : 



Children attending public schools, 1872. . . 362,179 

 Children attending public schools, 1871. . . 330,070 



Increase 32,109 



Teachers in public schools, 1872 9,265 



Teachers in public schools, 1871 8,816 



Increase. 



Number of public schools, 1872 7.585 



Number of public schools, 1871 6,942 



Increase 643 



Number of private schools reported 439 



Number attending private schools 13,124 



TW T O serious disturbances of the public 

 peace occurred in the State during the year : 

 one in Lafayette County, in February ; the 

 other in Cass County, in April. In the for- 

 mer case, a man named Douthitt, accused of 

 stealing some mules, was killed by a party of 

 about forty men in open daylight, and without 

 any disguise. The Governor interfered in 

 this case only to secure the action of the 

 officers of the law according to the usual pro- 

 cesses. Several persons have been indicted 

 for participating in this affair, and will be 

 brought to trial during the coming year 

 (1873). 



The outrages committed in Cass County, 

 and known as the Gunn City tragedy, origi- 

 nated in a feeling of great exasperation among 

 the people against officials who were charged 

 with corruptly issuing bonds and contracting 

 obligations to certain railroads to an amount 

 inflicting heavy burdens upon tax-payers. It 

 culminated in the stoppage of a train, in which 

 certain of the parties were travelling, in the 

 firing upon it by an armed and masked body 

 of men, in the killing of a Mr. Dutro, Circuit- 

 Attorney Hines, and Judge Stevenson, the two 

 latter of whom were charged with complicity 

 in the bond transaction. For some days great 

 excitement prevailed over the neighboring 

 townships, and extended into adjoining coun- 

 ties. Popular feeling had been very much 

 aroused against those who were thus mur- 

 dered, and, in consequence, was largely enlist- 

 ed in the suppression of all evidence against 

 those who executed this summary vengeance. 

 Governor Brown at once ordered Captain 

 Phelan's company, of Kansas City, to the 

 vicinage, dispatched the Adjutant-General to 

 the scene of the crime, to report upon the 

 facts, and organized a commission, composed 

 of Colonel Phillips and Colonel Cockerel], who 

 were authorized to visit the county for the 

 purpose of uniting those who were willing to 

 act together in sustaining the execution of 

 the laws. No further disturbance occurred, 

 protection was offered, to enable those who 



