646 



OHIO. 



returns, the actual aggregate is probably in ex- 

 cess of the number given above. The number 

 of acres reported from eighty-one counties as 

 occupied for Infirmary farms is 17,398, of which 

 12,906 acres are under cultivation. 



The State Mine Inspector reports about 300 

 coal-mines in the State, of which all but twen- 

 ty-five were worked in 1876. The total amount 

 of coal raised was not over 3,000,000 tons, it 

 having been a year of unusual dullness in the 

 coal-trade, no one mining region working even 

 half-time. Seventy serious and thirteen fatal 

 accidents are reported. 



The Adjutant-General reports the infantry 

 force of the State to consist of nine regiments 

 and three battalions, including seventy-five 

 companies, with forty-two companies unat- 

 tached ; the artillery force includes two four- 

 gun and ten two-gun batteries; the cavalry 

 force consists of two unattached companies. 



STATE SEAL OF OHIO. 



The State Board of Centennial Managers re- 

 ported to the Governor that a very successful 

 exhibition had been made by the State at Phil- 

 adelphia, and that the sum appropriated by 

 the Legislature had more than sufficed for the 

 needs of the Board, there being a surplus of 

 several thousand dollars. The entire number 

 of Ohio exhibits was 1,000, of which 250 re- 

 ceived awards a proportion larger than was 

 obtained by any other State for the same class 

 of articles. 



Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated Gov- 

 ernor on the 10th of January. In his inaugu- 

 ral address he called the attention of the Legis- 

 lature to the great increase of local taxation 

 and local indebtedness. He said : 



The following statement, showing the increase of 

 municipal taxation and indebtedness in the cities 

 and large towns of Ohio, ought to arrest attention : 



In 1871, in thirty-one of the principal cities and 

 towns of the State, the average rate of taxation was 

 twenty - three and one-tenth mills on the dollar. 

 The total amount of taxes levied for all purposes 

 was $8,988,064. The total indebtedness was $7,- 

 187,082. 



In 1875, in the same cities and towns, the average 

 rate of taxation was twenty-eight and three-tenths 

 mills on the dollar. The total amount of taxes levied 



for all purposes was $12,361,934. The total indebt- 

 edness was $20,800,491, 



Under the provisions of the eighth article of the 

 constitution, already referred to, the State debt, 

 notwithstanding the extraordinary expenditures of 

 the war, has been reduced from over $20,000,000, 

 tlie amount due in 1851, until it is now only about 

 $7,000,000. An important part of the constitutional 

 provisions which have been so successful in State 

 finances is the section which requires the creation 

 of a sinking-fund, and the annual payment of a 

 constantly-increasing sum on the principal of the 

 State debt. Let a requhement analogous to this be 

 enacted in regard to existing local indebtedness; let 

 a judicious limitation of the rate of taxation which 

 local authorities may levy be strictly adhered to ; 

 and allow no further indebtedness to be authorized 

 except in conformity with these principles, and we 

 may, 1 believe, confidently expect that within a few 

 years the burdens of debt now resting upon the 

 cities and towns of the State will disappear, and 

 that other wholesome and much-needed reforms in 

 the whole administration of our municipal govern- 

 ment will, of necessity, follow the adoption of what 

 may be called the cash-system in local affairs. 



The Legislature met January 3d. One of 

 its first proceedings was to pass an act re- 

 pealing the " Geghan Law," the passage of 

 which by the preceding Legislature had cre- 

 ated much feeling, and was made an issue in 

 the political campaign of 1875, the charge hav- 

 ing been made that the law had been passed by 

 a Democratic Legislature at the demand of the 

 Catholics. The first session closed April 12, 

 one hundred and seventy-three general laws 

 and a large number of local and special laws 

 having been passed. Among the general en- 

 actments were laws reorganizing the govern- 

 ments of the State institutions, the preceding 

 Legislature having reorganized them on a differ- 

 ent party basis when it came into power. The 

 office of Controller of the Treasury was abol- 

 ished. Several laws were passed limiting the 

 taxing powers of municipal corporations, and 

 restricting their powers to incur debts, and pro- 

 hibiting appropriations beyond the amounts act- 

 ually in the Treasury to the credit of the several 

 funds. One law prohibits the making of con- 

 tracts for special improvements, such as street- 

 openings, paving, etc., until all the money has 

 been placed in the Treasury by special assess- 

 ment on the property benefited. -A large part 

 of the municipal indebtedness was made up of 

 bonds issued for special improvements, and 

 this enactment put a sudden stop to further 

 work of the kind. A law was also passed for 

 the protection of children engaged in public 

 shows, preventing a child under fourteen years 

 old being thus exhibited. 



The Prohibition State Convention was held in 

 Columbus, February 23d. The following State 

 ticket was nominated : Secretary of State, E. 

 S. Chapman, of Montgomery; Judge of Su- 

 preme Court, D. W. Gage, of Cleveland ; mem- 

 ber of Board of Public Works, Ferdinand 

 Schumacher, of Akron. 



The platform adopted was as follows: 



1. That the making and vending of alcoholic liquor 

 as a beverage is fraught with evil to property , peace, 

 health, and life. 



