KANSAS. 



413 



sinking funds. From the general revenue are paid 

 the current expenses of the State government, includ- 

 ing the salaries of State and judicial officers, the ex- 

 penses of the Legislature, public printing, the sup- 

 port of educational and benevolent institutions, and 

 the money invested in the permanent public build- 

 ings. To a careful consideration of the items em- 

 braced in the disbursement of this considerable sum 

 your attention should be earnestly and vigorously 

 directed. From this sum there was expended during 

 the year $496,512.58, leaving undrawn, of the ap- 

 propriations made last winter, $17,941.57. Upward 

 of one-fourth, or about $140,000, was for the erection 

 of permanent public buildings, while nearly one- 

 half of the remainder was for the support of the va- 

 rious State institutions. 



The educational, charitable, and reformatory 

 institutions of the State are reported to be in 

 a prosperous condition. The trustees of the 

 Blind Asylum report a large increase in the 

 number of pupils in that institution, and speak 

 in the highest terms of its general management. 

 The increase in the number of pupils during 

 the last term is about forty per cent., and yet 

 the trustees are confident that the asylum can 

 be supported during the coming year by an 

 appropriation of $10,240, an excess over last 

 year's estimate of less than eight per cent. 

 The number of pupils now in attendance is 

 40. The trustees are of the opinion that the 

 necessities of the institution demand an ex- 

 tension of the building, and for that purpose 

 recommend an appropriation of $12,000 and 

 $1,000 for the establishment of shops for the 

 instruction of pupils in some useful occupa- 

 tion. The number of pupils in the Deaf and 

 Dumb Asylum is 80. The entire cost of the 

 institution to the State during the year, includ- 

 ing the support and maintenance of pupils, 

 and salaries of officers, teachers, and em- 

 ployed, was $164.41 per capita. The appropri- 

 ation made by the Legislature for the exten- 

 sion of the Insane Asylum at Ossawatomie has 

 been judiciously expended, and the capacity 

 of that institution considerably increased. A 

 still further extension of the building is recom- 

 mended. It is expected that the new building 

 will be ready for occupancy February 1, 1876, 

 when the capacity of the institution will be 

 increased to 200. The average number of 

 patients in the asylum during the year was 

 110. The construction of the asylum at To- 

 peka is not yet completed. The total number 

 of prisoners in the penitentiary at the close 

 of the fiscal year was 379, of whom 90 had 

 been convicted at twenty years of age or under. 



The educational report for 1875 shows that 

 the number of pupils enrolled in the common 

 schools has increased from 135,598 in 1874 to 

 142,606 in 1875 ; and the average daily attend- 

 ance from 77,384 to 85,580. There has been 

 an increase of 165 in the number of school 

 districts, 340 in the number of teachers em- 

 ployed, and $107,441 in the valuation of school 

 buildings and furniture. The report of the 

 Eegents of the State University shows that 

 institution to be in a flourishing condition. 

 During the year ending June 16, 1875, 194 



students were enrolled, representing 30 coun- 

 ties of the State. During the autumn of 1875, 

 there were in attendance 207 students, repre- 

 senting 40 counties of the State and five other 

 States. The industrial courses of instruction 

 recently incorporated in the curriculum of the 

 Agricultural College have led to satisfactory 

 results ; 237 students were enrolled in the col- 

 lege during the year. The appropriation of 

 $7,500 made last year has been expended in 

 the erection of a substantial stone-building, to 

 be used for purposes of industrial education 

 and in needed changes and improvements on 

 some of the old buildings. Each of the three 

 normal schools reports a largely increased at- 

 tendance. The number attending the school 

 at Emporia was 302, at Leavenworth 420, and 

 at Ooncordia 254. 



The constitutional amendments, making a 

 change in the sessions of the Legislature, have 

 been submitted to the people, and ratified by 

 a large majority. Beginning in 1877, the ses- 

 sions will be biennial, instead of annual, as 

 heretofore, and will begin on the second Tues- 

 day of January. 



In December, 1875, a body of over 300 Men- 

 nonites from the town of Saratov, near the 

 Yolga River, in Eastern Russia, reached Kan- 

 sas, with the view of settlement. There were 

 already over 200 families of Mennonites in the 

 counties of Harvey, Reno, Rice, Barton, and 

 Pawnee. 



One of the most important acts passed by 

 the Legislature during the session in the early 

 part of the year was known as the County 

 Relief bill, and was entitled 



An act to authorize the issuance and sale of State 

 bonds for the purpose of supplying the destitute 

 citizens of the State with grain and seeds for spring 

 planting in the year 1875, and to punish the viola- 

 tion of the provisions of this act, and repealing an 

 act entitled " An act authorizing the issue of bonds 

 for the relief of the destitute people of the frontier," 

 approved September 21, 1874. 



It provided for the issue of State bonds to 

 the amount of $95,000, payable in twenty 

 years, in denominations not less than $100, 

 bearing seven per cent, interest, payable semi- 

 annually. Sections 2 and 3 provide that 



The proper officer or officers of the State shall 

 cause to be levied and collected with the other taxes 

 of the State an amount sufficient to pay the interest 

 on said bonds as it becomes due, and to create a 

 sinking-fund sufficient to pay the principal of said 

 bonds at maturity. The State Treasurer shall cause 

 the interest on said bonds to be paid promptly as 

 the same becomes due and payable. 



The Auditor and Treasurer of the State are hereby 

 made the agents of the State to sell and dispose of 

 said bonds, at not less than ninety-eight cents on 

 the dollar, and they sball place the proceeds thereof 

 in the Treasury of the State, to be disbursed as here- 

 inafter provided. 



The president, vice-president, treasurer, and 

 secretary of the State Board of Agriculture 

 were constituted a commission to purchase and 

 distribute* the seeds in the manner prescribed. 



The present State government is composed of 



