MISSISSIPPI. 



Ml 



was $95,097,480 ; personal property, $85,702,- 

 040. Tho State warrants, which in January, 

 1875, were sold at seventy-three cents on a 

 dollar, rose during the session of the Legisla- 

 ture to ninety-live cents, and before the end 

 of the year were only one per cent, below 

 par. There were still outstanding of Auditor's 

 warrants on thu 80th of November $590,368.- 

 f>-J. The total indebtedness of the State on 

 the 1st of December was $3,226,847.43, but, 

 deducting the Chickasaw school - fund of 

 $814,743.23, and the common-school fund of 

 $878,572.67, on which the State is required to 

 pay interest only, the balance of $308,582.55 

 in the Treasury December 1st, and the war- 

 rants in the Treasury owned by the State and 

 reckoned in the indebtedness, we have remain- 

 ing $1,110,605.22 as the net indebtedness. Dur- 

 ing the year, $137,400 was paid on the bonded 

 debt, and $41,824 for interest, and certificates 

 of indebtedness amounting to $122,504 were 

 canceled. John H. Echols was appointed in 

 April, under the law of the last session, as 

 Revenue Agent, u to investigate frauds and 

 collect revenues due the State, counties, and 

 levee boards of the State." 



The following are the school statistics of 

 the year : 



NUMBER OP CHILDREN OF SCHOOL AGE IN THE STATE. 



White males . 84,972 



" females 79.946 104,918 



Colored wales 89.907 



" females 100,171 190,078 



8M.996 

 TOTAL NUMBER IN SCHOOLS. 



White ... . 76,028 



Colored 90,178 166,204 



AVERAGE MONTHLY ENROLLMENT IS SCHOOLS. 



White ... . 65.884 



Colored 68,680 133,964 



NUMBER OF TEACHERS EMPLOYED. 



White ... 2,128 



Colored 1,288 8,861 



Receipts for scholastic year, from fifty counties re- 

 ported (exclusive of universities and normal 



schools) $441,422 80 



Expenditures for scholastic vear, from fifty coun- 

 ties reported (exclusive of universities and nor- 

 mal schools) $417,760 27 



Average number of days taught, during 

 scholastic year, in schools outside incorpo- 

 rated cities and towns, is 80. 



Average monthly salary paid teachers, as 

 reported in 50 counties, is : white, $43 ; col- 

 ored, $39.55. 



Hon. Joseph Bardwell was appointed Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction in August, to 

 succeed Hon. Thomas S. Gathright, who had 

 been chosen President of the Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College of Texas. 



The number of students at the University 

 of Mississippi during the year was 114; in the 

 normal department of the Tongaloo Univer- 

 sity there were 112, and in the preparatory 

 department 109 ; and at the Normal School at 

 Holly Springs there were 70. The two last- 

 named schools are for colored students. The 



Alcorn University, which had become sadly run 

 down, has been reorganized, with Hen. II. I:. 

 Hovels as its president, and bids fair to become 

 a prosperous and useful institution. It bad 60 

 students at the close of the year. 



The Lunatic Asylum contained, on the diet 

 of December, 167 male and 169 female pa- 

 tients, an increase of ten males and two females 

 during the year. The number admitted during 

 the year was 88, discharged recovered 42, dis- 

 charged improved 9, died 24. The appropria- 

 tion for the expenses of the institution was 

 $60,000, which was not wholly expended. 



The Institution for Deaf-Mutes had 24 

 pupils on the 20th of December, and the Insti- 

 tution for the Blind had an average of 28 

 during the year. 



The number of convicts in the State peni- 

 tentiary on the 20th of December was 711, of 

 whom 83 were white, and 628 colored. Only 

 159 were within the walls of the penitentiary, 

 while 552 were outside. The institution con- 

 tains 200 cells, only 174 of which are service- 

 able. Under the act of April 15th the convicts, 

 buildings, and property, were leased by the 

 inspectors, on the 9th of June, to J. S. Hamil- 

 ton and J. L. Hebron, the lessees to take care 

 of the prisoners, bear all expenses, pay all 

 salaries and wages, except the salary of the 

 State Superintendent, and pay the State $1.10 

 per month for each convict over the number 

 of 140. On the 9th of November the lessees 

 entered into a contract with a sub-lessee under 

 the old lease to French & Jobes, by which the 

 sub-lessee is to retain 150 convicts in his pos- 

 session till January 1, 1878. On the 30th of 

 December, the lessees made a contract with 

 French & Jobes, by which the latter surren- 

 dered all the convicts held by them under the 

 act of February, 1875. 



The Republican party of the State held a 

 convention at Jackson, on the 80th of March, 

 to appoint delegates to the National Conven- 

 tion at Cincinnati, nominate candidates for 

 presidential electors, and choose a State Ex- 

 ecutive Committee. The following platform 

 was adopted : 



The Republicans of Mississippi, in convention as- 

 sembled, declare : 



1. Their adhesion to the principles of Republican- 

 ism as repeatedly uttered in State Conventions from 

 1867 to the present time, and in the National Conven- 

 tions of the party from its organization, the cardinal 

 tenets of which are : freedom of speech, freedom of 

 the press, a free ballot, freedom lor all, and the en- 

 forcement of the laws. 



2. Adopting the sentiments of the call for the 

 National Convention, we invite all Republican elec- 

 tors and all other voters, without regard to past 

 political differences, or past party affiliations, who an? 

 opposed to reviving sectional issues and desire to 

 promote friendly feeling and harmony throughout the 

 country by maintaining and enforcing all constitu- 

 tional rights of every citizen, including the full and 

 free exercise of the rights of suffrage without intimi- 

 dation and without fraud ; who are in favor of con- 

 tinued prosecution and punishment of all official 

 dishonesty, and of an economical administration of 

 the Government by honesU faithful, and capable offi- 

 cers ; who are in 'favor or making such reforms in 



