DELAWARE 789 



Commissions were appointed to report on child labour and on employer's liability 

 to the legislature of 1913. The filling of prescriptions for intoxicating liquors for medi- 

 cal purposes was strictly regulated by law. Cold storage food may be sold only if it is 

 marked with the date of storage; this act does not apply to fruit or fish. A state live 

 stock sanitary board was created. Twenty acts of 1911 deal with fish, oysters and game 

 and the provisions for the protection of fish, birds and game are made more stringent. 

 A contract for a state armory in Dover was let in March 1912. A city charter for Wil- 

 mington proposed by the legislature was defeated June i, 1912 by 7,700 to 991 votes. 

 For Wilmington a public utilities commission was created in 1911. The i2th of October 

 (Columbus Day) was made a state legal holiday. 



Finance. The outstanding indebtedness on January I, 1913 was $826,785; in January, 

 1912 the school fund was $944,407, of which $712,500 was the market value of shares of 

 stock in the Farmers' Bank of the State of Delaware, in whose board of directors the state 

 is represented. A revenue and tax commission was to report in 1913 to the legislature. New 

 revenue laws require manufacturers to pay for an annual licence and to turn in an annual 

 report; require gypsies to take out a licence for which they must pay $300; and require a 

 licence ($300 in large cities, less in small cities) for travelling shows and other licences for 

 smaller concerns, and a licence to carry dangerous weapons. 



The annual report of the treasurer showsa balance on January I, 1912 of $49,987; receipts, 

 (.3,572; expenditures, $801,211; and balance on hand December 31, 1912, $92,348. 



Education. The legislature of 1911 abolished the old state board of education and pro- 

 vided for a new board (with increased powers) to be appointed by the governor and to 

 receive no compensation. A special commission was created to report on the higher educa- 

 tion of women in the state. Half an hour a week in public schools must be devoted to 

 teaching morals and humanity, and experiments in public schools on live animals are pro- 

 hibited; the act does not apply to Wilmington. A retirement fund is authorised for teachers 

 in the public schools of Wilmington. A special appropriation was made for negro school- 

 houses. In Delaware college the State Chair of History, a pathological and bacteriological 

 laboratory and a division of agriculture extension were established. Of the total population 

 10 years and over, 8.1 % were illiterate in 1910 ,( I2 % i 1900): whites 5% (7% in 1900); 

 negroes 25.6% (38.1 % in 1900). 



Charities and Corrections. In 1911 the legislature provided for the appointment by 

 judges of the 'superior court of a probation officer to act for the whole state and for a juvenile 

 court in Wilmington. The state commission for the blind reports (1912) that there are in 

 the state 378 feeble minded (246 under 25); 277 blind (46 under 25 and 12 in special schools); 

 and 154 deaf (77 under 20 and 16 in schools for the deaf). 



History. There was delay in 1911 in the organisation of the legislature and then a 

 deadlock over the choice of United States senator, through the disaffection of state 

 Senator Lewis A. Drexler, who complained that the party organisation had failed to 

 keep a promise to make him president of the senate pro tern.; but on January 25th H. 

 Algernon du Pont (b. 1838) was re-elected to the United States Senate. The Republican 

 governor, Simeon Selby Pennewill (b. 1867) came out for Colonel Roosevelt's candidacy 

 in March 1912. There was not merely a progressive schism from the Republican party 

 but two " Progressive " parties were formed one calling itself the " Original Progres- 

 sives " was represented on the National Committee of the Progressive party and 

 nominated a full state ticket; and the other, called the " National Progressive " party, 

 had on its ticket the Roosevelt electors and the Republican state county and district 

 nominations. The Republican candidate for governor, Charles R. Miller, endorsed by 

 one Progressive faction, received 22,745 votes to 21,460 for Thomas M. Monaghan, 

 (Dem.), and 3,019 for George B. Hynson (Prog.) third; but the Democratic candidates 

 for other state offices were elected. Woodrow Wilson carried the state with 22,631 votes 

 to 15,997 for Taft and 8,886 for Roosevelt, 556 for Debs (239 in 1908). A Democratic 

 congressman was elected, and as the state legislature is Democratic on joint ballot 

 (senate, 9 Republicans and 8 Democrats; house, 14 Republicans and 21 Democrats), 

 a Democrat was chosen in 191,3 to succeed Harry Alden Richardson (b. 1853), Republican, 

 United States senator, namely Willard Saulsbury (b. 1861), Democratic national 

 committeeman from Delaware. 



Bibliography. Laws of Delaware, Vol. xxvi (Wilmington, 1911) and other public docu- 

 ments; C. H. B. Turner, ed., Some Records of Sussex County (Philadelphia, 1909) and Rodney's 

 Diary (1911); A. C. Meyers, ed., Narratives of Early Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Jersey, 

 1630-1708 (New York, 1911). 



