756 



TENNESSEE. 



option in taxing these stocks, since the consti- 

 tution provides that "all property, real, per- 

 sonal, or mixed, shall be taxed." The taxing 

 of .suits before justices of the peace is recom- 

 mended, and the adoption of more stringent 

 rules concerning the sale of lands for taxes. 



The statistics of 1870 afford the basis of a 

 charge that Tennessee is third in ignorance of 

 the States of the American Union. The fol- 

 lowing causes that have retarded the growth 

 of the educational system of the State are 

 specified : 



When the late civil war was inaugurated, Tennes- 

 see, with a population of 1,109,801, had a taxable list 

 of $389,011,668. 



At the close of the war the assessments showed 

 only $194,846,387 of taxable property. The war had 

 swept away $115,609,554, in slaves. 



And it is universally known that very little of the 

 millions of personal property (aside from slaves) 

 escaped the ravages of war. Meantime, the large 

 debt owing by our people, growing out of their com- 

 mercial and ordinary transactions, had swollen in 

 volume by four or five years of accrued interest, all 

 of which was unpaid. Tennessee, early in 1862, on 

 account of her geographical position, became, and 

 until the declaration of peace continued, the thea- 

 tre of military operations. The school-houses were 

 closed. The country was devastated. And not un- 

 til several years after hostilities actually ceased did 

 society attain such repose and security that schools 

 could be reestablished. 



Added to this, when the people were restored to 

 power, there was no educational fund, and the enor- 

 mous public debt, already against the State, rendered 

 it difficult to provide any permanent school fund. 



A large majority of the States were free from the 

 actual presence of war. All of them enjoyed seasons 

 of immunity from the scourges that daily afflicted 

 Tennessee throughout her borders. So that, with- 

 out regard to where the responsibility for the war 

 rests, the fact nevertheless cannot be controverted 

 that, for a period of time embracing the war and sev- 

 eral years afterward, a system of schools in Tennes- 

 see was impossible. 



And in 1869, when the people acceded to power, 

 they found a State debt of nearly $43,000,000 hang- 

 ing like a midnight shadow upon them. "We had 

 neither money nor credit. Our revenues were yearly- 

 absorbed in the redemption of the notes of the Bank 

 of Tennessee and outstanding Treasury warrants. 

 And the appalling question was, not whether we 

 could maintain a system of common schools by the 

 State, but could we preserve the State government 

 and sustain its faith and credit without bankrupting 

 the people of their private fortunes. That problem 

 is now happily solved. And while it is most unfor- 

 tunate for the State, and especially for her children, 

 that these untoward circumstances have paralyzed 

 the efforts of the friends of education, yet it cannot 

 be truthfully said that Tennessee is third in igno- 

 rance because of the indifference of her people to the 

 subject of education. Everjr true son of hers, at the 

 same time that he would aid in developing a plan 

 to educate her children, will not fail to relieve his 

 State from the obloquy attempted to be cast upon her 

 fair name. 



Of the total population of the State (1,258,- 

 520) in 1870, of whom the number from five 

 to eighteen years of age was 429,692, only 

 120,710 attended school. 290,549 persons, ten 

 years of age and over, could not read ; while 

 364,697 persons, ten years of age and upward, 

 were unable to write. Of the last number, 

 20,887 were white males from ten to fifteen 



years of age, and 17,991 white females ; 15,962 

 were white males from fifteen to twenty-one, 

 and 17,349 were white females; 37,713 were 

 white males, twenty-one and over, and 68,825 

 were white females. There were 16,407 col- 

 ored males, and 15,225 females, from ten to 

 fifteen years of age, unable to write, 16,299 

 males and 18,835 females from fifteen to twen- 

 ty-one, and 55,938 males and 63,248 females, 

 twenty-one and over. 



The system of public schools now prevail- 

 ing in Tennessee is known as the " county sys- 

 tem," which was adopted more than two years 

 ago. The backward condition of education is 

 indicated by the fact that in 1872 only twenty- 

 nine of the ninety-three counties in the State 

 levied a tax for school purposes. In some of 

 them the tax is merely nominal, and in others 

 only sufficiently liberal to keep up schools for 

 several months in the year. It is estimated 

 that the total school population of the State, 

 between the ages of six and eighteen, is 391,- 

 068. The Assistant Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction, Mr. J. B. Killebrew, who trav- 

 ersed the State during the year to promote the 

 cause of education, reports that, u from the re- 

 turns as published, it would be safe to say 

 that not one-fifth of that population has any 

 means of education. Indeed, in some of the 

 counties visited last summer, there was not a 

 single school, either public or private, in 

 operation. Nor were there any efforts being 

 made by the citizens to remedy the deficiency." 

 This condition of affairs is impelling the friends 

 of education to action which will doubtless 

 lead to early and important improvements in 

 the present system. 



The " Tennessee School for the Blind " has 

 38 inmates, with an increasing demand for 

 admission. According to the census of 1870, 

 there were 800 totally blind in the State. A 

 large lot, with improvements, in Nashville, has 

 recently been donated to the institution by a 

 wealthy citizen of that place. Under the 

 leasing system the penitentiary has become 

 self-sustaining. 



The Agricultural Bureau, organized under 

 the act of the 14th of December, 1871, has en- 

 tered upon its duties with a degree of zeal and 

 energy that promises the most valuable results, 

 not only for the immediate benefit of the agri- 

 culturist, but in the interest of immigration 

 and mining. Rapid progress has been made 

 in compiling statistics of soil, climate, popula- 

 tion, prices of land and labor, mineral re- 

 sources, etc., together with maps, which, when 

 completed and published, it is believed, will 

 attract attention more directly to Tennessee 

 than any other means yet devised for that pur- 

 pose. The Bureau also affords facilities for 

 the analysis of soils and commercial fertilizers, 

 which must result in incalculable benefit to 

 the farmer. 



The iron resources of Tennessee are begin- 

 ning to attract attention, and it is believed 

 that they will develop into one of the leading 



