230 



DELAWARE. 



The Governor was authorized to appoint a Su- 

 perintendent of Public Education, with a salary 

 of $1,800 a year. The Superintendent was 

 required to examine teachers, visit each school 

 once a year, and to hold a teachers' institute 

 in each county. Teachers are required to pay 

 two dollars each for their certificates. School 

 directors are to be chosen by the people in each 

 district, and these directors are required to 

 levy a tax of not less than $100 in each district 

 in Newcastle and Kent Counties, and $60 in 

 Sussex County. The Board of Education must 

 hold a meeting on the first Tuesday in January 

 of each year, and the superintendent is re- 

 quired to submit a report on the condition of 

 the schools. Another act provides for a tax 

 of thirty cents on each hundred dollars of the 

 property of colored persons on the assessment- 

 lists, to be set apart as a separate fund for the 

 maintenance of colored schools. This fund is 

 to be paid over by the County Treasurers to the 

 Treasurer of the " Delaware Association for 

 the Education of Colored People," to be ap- 

 plied by the Association for the support and 

 maintenance of colored-schools throughout the 

 State. 



Many petitions were received on the subject 

 of new legislation for the regulation of the 

 liquor-traffic some asking for a prohibitory 

 law, some for local option, some for a more 

 stringent license system, and some for a more 

 liberal license law. Several bills were intro- 

 duced, that for a more liberal license system 

 meeting with most favor, but all of them were 

 finally defeated. The subject of increased 

 representation had been recommended to the 

 attention of the Legislature in the Governor's 

 inaugural address, and several bills on the sub- 

 ject were introduced and discussed. The gen- 

 eral purpose was, to add to the representation 

 of Newcastle County in both branches of the 

 Legislature, giving an additional senator and 

 three or four new representatives to tbe city 

 of Wilmington, and making that a district by 

 itself. It was also proposed to divide Newcas- 

 tle County, but all these propositions were de- 

 feated. As the matter now stands, the three 

 counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, have 

 an equal representation of three in the Senate, 

 and seven in the House of Representatives, 

 although the population of the first-named is 

 greater than that of the other two together, 

 and the assessed value of its property is more 

 than three times that of the other two. The 

 city of Wilmington has no representative of 

 its own in either the Senate or the House, al- 

 though its population is greater than that of 

 either Kent or Sussex County, and its valua- 

 tion and taxes greater than those of both. The 

 present apportionment has been retained with- 

 out change since the adoption of the first con- 

 stitution in 1792, when the population of the 

 three counties was nearly equal, and that of 

 the whole State was considerably less than that 

 of Newcastle County now. 



The efforts to secure a loan of the State 



credit to various railroad enterprises also failed. 

 An amendment of the constitution permitting 

 a general incorporation act, which had been 

 adopted by the previous Legislature, was rati- 

 fied at this session, and a general act was passed 

 providing for the incorporation of associations 

 for religious, charitable, literary, and manufact- 

 uring purposes, for the preparation of animal 

 and vegetable food, for building and for loan 

 purposes, and for the drainage of low lands. 

 This cuts off the necessity for a large class of 

 special legislation. Among the other acts of 

 the session was one ceding to the United States 

 title to and jurisdiction over land for sites for 

 lighthouses, a beacon life-station, and other 

 aids to navigation on the waters of the State; 

 one incorporating the city of Newcastle, and 

 one allowing married women to have control 

 over their own property, whether in their pos- 

 session at the time of marriage or acquired af- 

 terward. This last also allows married women 

 to make a last will and testament without the 

 consent of their husbands. The town of New- 

 castle, which was incorporated as a city, had 

 2,300 inhabitants. A separate act established 

 a Board of Education for the city of New- 

 castle, as the general school law already men- 

 tioned does not apply to that city or to the city 

 of Wilmington. 



An act passed shortly before the adjourn- 

 ment, entitled "An act in relation to hotel- 

 keepers and others pursuing a public occupa- 

 tion," authorizes keepers of hotels, proprietors 

 of places of amusement, steamboat and rail- 

 road companies, and " others pursuing a pub- 

 lic occupation," to provide separate accommo- 

 dations for any class of persons who may be 

 " obnoxious " to their patrons or passengers. 

 Although there was no mention of " color " 

 in this act, its purpose was to offset the " civil- 

 rights bill" of Congress, and authorize sep- 

 arate accommodations for colored persons. 



Though no action was taken by the Legisla- 

 ture directly affecting the finances of the State, 

 that subject was brought under discussion dur- 

 ing the session, and some important informa- 

 tion elicited. It was shown that the cost of 

 the executive and judicial departments of the 

 government in 1874 was as follows : 



Salaries of the judges $12,000 00 



Attorney-General 1,500 00 



Governor 2,500 00 



Secretary of State 1,000 00 



Auditor and Treasurer 8,375 00 



Librarian 150 00 



Expenses of legislative committee 210 24 



Printing Auditor's report, 1874 324 40 



Sundry expenses 250 00 



Total $21,309 64 



This aggregate was ^reduced for 1875 to 

 $19,400. The cost of the last preceding Legis- 

 lative session was $25,500, and it was claimed 

 that the cost of this session would not exceed 

 $23,000. The extraordinary appropriations 

 this year amounted to $17,300, consisting of 

 $10,000 for the Centennial Exhibition, $4,000 

 for legal services in railroad cases, $1,500 for 



