MICHIGAN. 



The following is the valuation of the several 

 in>titutionfl: 





n.lv.-rsity .................................. $488,600 



Acric-ultiiral College ............................ 252,800 



N .M in.il M'li.ml .................................. 62,700 



Mat,' 1'iitplic SchiH.1 ............................. 158.JWO 



1., M ui. lion lor H.-:it. Dumb, and Blind ............ 488.000 



Mi.hU'an Insane Asylum ........................ 1 .' 



Insane Asyfum ......................... U'.'tVNMI 



Ketoriu School . . . . .............................. 245,840 



House of Correction at Ionia. .................... 111,000 



t>tute-prison ..................................... 689,000 



Total ....................................... 18,910,600 



The State bonded debt was reduced during 

 the year $53,000, and during the four preced- 

 ing years $851,142.81. Of this amount $889,- 

 142.81 were matured bonds, and $462,000 

 bonds not matured, which were taken up in 

 advance on payment of a premium of $6,043.45. 

 The cash remaining in the Treasury applicable 

 to the payment of the bonded debt was $485,- 

 168.82. Deducting this from the existing 

 bonded debt leaves $906,980.99. The trust- 

 fund debt of the State is as follows: 



Primary-school fund ......................... $2,269,282 01 



Five |>t-r cent, primary-school fund ............ 299,676 59 



University fund ............................. 844,*>55 78 



Agricultural College fund ..................... 118,827 68 



Normal School fund ......................... 68,801 82 



Kailroad and other deposits. .................. 8,408 88 



Total ................................... $8,079,846 71 



The lauds now belonging to the State are : 



Acrtf. 



Primary-school lands ........................... 869.919.18 



Primary-school indemnity ...................... 49,178.29 



Primary-school forfeited ........................ 25.699.11 



Agricultural College ........................... 162,400.84 



Agricultural College forfeited ................... 2,898.40 



Salt-spring land ................................ 1,815.68 



Bait-spring forfeited ............................ 280 00 



Asylum ....................................... 680.00 



Asylum forfeited .............................. 1,080.00 



University .................................... 200.00 



University forfeited ........................... 98.25 



Normal School forfeited ....................... 160.00 



Internal improvement ......................... 880.81 



Asset (received in settlement of claims) ......... 8,850.90 



Swamp-land .................................. 2,405,017.98 



Swamp indemnity ............................. 46,718.12 



Bwainp forfeited .............................. 8,868.00 



Total acres ................................ 8,078,289.91 



In the Insane Asylum, at Kalamazoo, there 

 were, on September 30th, 618 inmates, an in- 

 crease within two years of 137. Weekly cost 

 of support per patient, $4.87. Number of in- 

 sane in the State according to reports of Su- 

 perintendent of the Poor, 1,193. A new asy- 

 lum at Pontiac is in course of construction, and 

 will be nearly or quite ready for reception of 

 patients within a year. 



The State Public School, at Cold water, con- 

 structed to furnish homes and education for 

 children who are objects of bounty, has re- 

 ceived since it was opened 412 children, of 

 whom 255 still remain. The most of these 

 were taken from the poor-houses of the State. 

 Places are found for these in private families 

 ns rapidly as opportunities offer. 



The State Reform School for Juvenile Of- 

 fenders, at Lansing, is reported as in a very 

 satisfactory condition. Governor Bapley, in 

 his retiring message, reports it as a Reform 



School in fact : " The bars and iron doom have 

 disappeared, the high fence that walled it in i* 

 kindling-wood. And the results are, no cor- 

 poral punishment, no escapes since its open- 

 ing, less destruction of State property, a gen- 

 eral tone of comfort and cheerfulness in all it* 

 surroundings, and a brighter, better look on 

 the faces of the boys. The general outfit of 

 the school is greatly improved. The table and 

 furnishing, the clothing, etc., are better than 

 heretofore, and all tend toward lifting this 

 institution out of the prison-mire, and on to 

 the higher plane of a school." Average num- 

 ber in the school, 230 ; average age when re- 

 ceived, thirteen and a half years. The Board 

 of Control recommend that boys over eight 

 may be received from their parents without 

 commitment, and that the limit of confinement 

 be fixed at eighteen instead of twenty-one, as 

 at present. Governor Bagley says: 



Iu the provision made by the State regarding 

 vagrant, neglected, and dependent children, through 

 the State Public School, and for criminal children 

 through tlie Reform School, it has followed the old 

 idea of institutional life ; but by far the wisest, most 

 economical, natural, and humane of all its endeavors 

 in this direction is the work being done by the 

 county agents of the State Board of Charities, under 

 the law of 1873 and 1875. The duties of the county 

 agents are, to investigate the case of every child ar- 

 rested for crime, and to advise with the magistrates 

 as to the disposition to be made of it, to visit chil- 

 dren adopted or indentured from the Public or Re- 

 form School, to procure homes for children, and 

 generally to keep watch and ward over these waifs 

 who seem to be deserted by every one but the Stntc. 

 They have attended to 252 cases of arrests for crime 

 224 boys and 28 girls that were disposed of as fol- 

 lows: 182 were discharged under suspended sen- 

 tence and returned to parents or guardians, 57 were 

 sent to the Reform School, 11 were sent to the House 

 of Correction, and two were fined. The average age 

 of children arrested was twelve and three-Jourths 

 years ; 86 are reported as having lost fathers, and 67 

 as having no mother. Of the 182 discharged, 12 

 were sent to the State Public School, six to poor- 

 houses, and homes were found for six. The children 

 for whom homes were found from the Stnte Public 

 School 117 in number have all been visited and 

 their situation reported upon to the school. The 

 total expense of this work up to September 80 ? 1876, 

 was 1474.45. In addition to these formal duties re- 

 quired by law, they have been of incalculable ser- 

 vice in preventing crime, preserving peac*e in fami- 

 lies, restraining cruelty, and in many other ways. 

 If the work ot these agents wan to be estimated 

 by simply dollars and cents, the amount of money 

 saved the State by keeping boys out of institutions 

 would be found to be very large. 



The following are the statistics for the year 

 relating to primary schools: 



Number of towns and cities 1.004 



" " districts '.-"4 



Average wages per month, males. 



" " " females $2878 



Number of children between ages of five and 



twenty years J' ' ~47 



Increase for the year I 1 .'"<>; 



Whole number o'f children that attended school 



during the year :i 1 4 ..: t> 



Average number of months schools were 



taught T.8 



Number of volumes added to district libraries 



during the year 1 '"''' 



Paid for books" for diotrict libraries $10.8(9 74 



Number of volumes in district Ubrariee 141,478 



