CALIFORNIA. 



85 



cal economy has not succeeded in demonstrating the 

 exact best method of collecting a revenue, and prop- 

 ably cannot under the varying conditions of civilized 

 society, it is not the fault of legislators, who, in the 

 apportionment of taxes, endeavor, to the best of 

 tlieir judgment, to adopt an equitable system ; and 

 the refusal of any one to pay is not an imaginary in- 

 jury to that incorporeal something called the State, 

 but a substantial wrong to those who are compelled 

 to make the default good. 



In regard to the finances of the State he 

 makes the following showing : 



At the beginning of this administration, the 

 indebtedness of the State, exclusive of 

 money on hand to redeem bonds, was.. ..$4,042.864 93 



On June 30, 1873 8,714,668 SB 



Decrease $388,196 01 



On November 1, 1871, the debt of the State, 



bearing Interest, In private hands, was... . $2.121.500 



On November 1, 1873 U134.000 



Decrease $487,900 



The entire funded debt, exclusive of money 

 applicable to redemption, was, November 



1,1873 $3,443,000 



Of which there was held : 



In trut for the school fund $1,417,500 



In trust for the University fund 8SW.501) 



In private hands 1,634,000 



It seems to have grown into a prescriptive usage 

 that the State should hold a portion of her own 

 bonds, in trustj for purposes of her own good gov- 

 ernment, and that the sum so held should figure in 

 the annual exhibit of her indebtedness an in- 

 debtedness held by herself against herself. 



It is true, a portion of these bonds are the pro- 

 ceeds of lands given to the State by the General 

 Government for educational purposes ; but the State 

 does, and always will, discharge that obligation, and 

 more, and could do so equally well without the un- 

 necessary machinery of bond and coupon accounts; 

 and, if tne appropriation were made direct, we should 

 have a more definite idea of the amount of money 

 devoted to the support of each department of gov- 

 ernment. 



The State really owes, November 1, 1878: 

 On bonds to parties other than to herself. .. .$1,034.000 00 

 On outstanding warrants 660,604 !>4 



Total $2,294,60494 



When we consider the circumstances under which 

 the State was settled : the habits of speculation and 

 personal extravagance which were stimulated by its 

 early methods of business ; the changeable character 

 of its population ; the facts that public buildings had 

 to be provided in, a brief period that appropriations 

 for public charities have necessarily been exception- 

 ally large, and those for educational purposes unon 

 a liberal scale we are compelled to the conclusion 

 that the fiscal policy of the State government, as a 

 whole, has been prudently managed 



The total of the funded debt of the counties is 

 87,523, 6S>>. 41. Much of this was contracted in the 

 "flush times," from an unfortunate habit of liberally 

 discounting the future ; a considerable portion of it 

 is f >r subsidies to railroads and toll-roads ; and, in 

 some instances, it is so heavy a burden as to threaten 

 the bankruptcy and practical dissolution of the 

 county governments. I find in this the most 

 ii y outlook of the financial future of the people 

 of this State, and the most dttlicult one for the Legis- 

 lature to deal with. 



The revenues received by the State from all 

 sources, for two years, beginning July 1, 1871, and 

 ending June 30, 1873, whicli were applicable to pay- 

 ment of current expenses, and principal and interest 

 of public debt, were $4,948,937.22. This does not 

 include such receipts from lands as are invested in 

 bonds for the school and university funds, or the 

 receipt* from the San Francisco wharves, which are 



set apart and used only for the improvement of the 

 water front but does include $250,000 from the sale 

 of State Capitol bonds. 



The values of land are distributed between the 

 towns and cities and the country, as follows : 



Towns and city lots $162,887,859 00 



Lands in the country 152,128,004 00 



Total $315,015,863 00 



Improvements on town and city lots $64.814.343 CO 



Improvements on lands 29,266,030 00 



Total .'. $94,070,373 00 



The value of personal property Is $118,117,746 00 



Total valuation of property $5-27,203,983 00 



These are assessed values, and are probably 

 not far from 50 per cent, of the real values. 



The report of the Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction is devoted to the discussion of 

 three important topics concerning the com- 

 mon-school system of the State, viz., compul- 

 sory education, the need of trained teachers, 

 and the support of common schools. 



The statistics given show the attendance at 

 the public and private schools, and the non-at- 

 tendance and truancy of census children for a 

 period of eight years. 



In 1873 there were on the census-roll 141,610 

 children. Of this number, 12,507 attended pri- 

 vate schools, and 97,018 were enrolled in public 

 schools ; but only 71,170 or 50.26 per cent, of 

 the whole attended regularly enough to bo 

 considered pupils. 



As shown by the tables annexed to the re- 

 port of the Superintendent, there were 1,462 

 school districts in 1873, of which 637 main- 

 tained an eight months' school ; in many dis- 

 tricts the appropriations were only sufficient 

 to maintain a school for three month's, and 100 

 districts from inability to support a term of 

 three months were deprived of their " pro- 

 portion of the interest of the public fund." 



The number of census children has increased 

 9 per cent, since 1871, and, as the funds pro- 

 vided by the State have increased only 1.5 per 

 cent., the appropriation has decreased from 

 $3.56 to $3.18 to each census child. 



The total expenditures for common schools 

 in the State, from June 30, 1872, to July 1, 

 1873, was $2,113,356.25. The funds for school 

 purposes are obtained : 1. from the State ap- 

 portionment. 2. From county apportionments. 

 3. From district apportionments. The prop- 

 erty of the public schools is estimated at 

 $4,000,000, and it is generally in excellent con- 

 dition. 



The reports of the Board of Trustees and of 

 the Principal of the State Normal School show 

 that institution to be now in a prosperous con- 

 dition. The corps of teachers is satisfactory. 

 Two additional teachers will be needed during 

 the present year. A training-school has been 

 organized in connection with the institution, 

 and its advantages are so evident that other 

 classes will soon be added. 



The University of California took possession 

 of its permanent site at Berkeley, July 16, 

 1873; and instructions in literary and scientific 



