366 



GEOKGIA. 



country. In August, 1878, he was on the Oya- 

 pock River, which he intended to ascend to 

 its source, afterward crossing again the Tumuc 

 Huinac Mountains, and following up the Suri- 

 nam to its source. He followed up the Oya- 

 pock to its source, which was in an uninhabited 

 region, and crossed the ridge between its basin 

 and that of the Amazon into the country of the 

 Oynmpi.s, seeking some unknown stream by 

 which he could descend to the Amazon. 



GEOKGIA. The balance in the State Trea- 

 sury on January 1, 1877, was $564,283.33. The 

 amount received from all sources during the 

 year was $1,998,346.84. The disbursements 

 for 1877 were $1,728,910.80, leaving a balance 

 of $833,719.37 on January 1, 1878. The re- 

 ceipts for nine months of 1878 were $612,080.- 

 35, and the disbursements $1,150,010.04; bal- 

 ance October 1st, $295,789.68. The improve- 

 ment in the financial condition of the State has 

 been such that it has become unnecessary to 

 make temporary loans to meet the periods of 

 heavy expenditures. The debt of the State on 

 January 1, 1878, was $10,644,500, and the an- 

 nual interest $719,135 ; of the principal, $200,- 

 000 was paid in 1878. The whole amount of 

 principal and interest payable in 1879 is $1,- 

 008,135. No State in the Union is more sol- 

 vent or should have a stronger financial reputa- 

 tion than Georgia. The public debt is but one 

 twenty-third of the taxable property. The 

 State has nearly ample assets in its two val- 

 uable railroads and other property, if sold, to 

 pay off the debt. There is a constitutional 

 prohibition against any further increase in 

 the State indebtedness, while the annual in- 

 come pays the expenses, and, in addition, liqui- 

 dates yearly from two to three hundred thou- 

 sand dollars of the debt. 



The State University and the Agricultural 

 College show a decrease in the number of stu- 

 dents, which is considered as temporary. It is 

 proposed to establish a branch of the Agricultu- 

 ral College in the public buildings in Milledge- 

 ville, like the branch at Dahlonega. At this 

 branch 300 pupils receive instruction at an ex- 

 pense of $4,440. 



The appropriation to the Lunatic Asylum 

 for 1877 was $107,250. The balance on hand 

 at the beginning of the year was $1,965.36. 

 The expenses of the asylum for the year were 

 $81,250, leaving $26,000 of the amount appro- 

 priated undrawn from the Treasury. The cost 

 per capita of maintaining the institution was 

 36-63 cents a day against 37| cents the year be- 

 fore. The number of patients was 673 at the 

 close of the year, against 605 the year before, 

 being an increase of 68 in number. Accommo- 

 dations were added during the year for about 

 136 additional patients, the capacity of the in- 

 stitution being enlarged to about 800 patients. 

 For the ten months beginning December 1, 



1877, and extending to September 30, 1878, the 

 Trustees report the expenses $73,291.41, for an 

 average of 725 patients. On the 1 st of October, 



1878, the number of patients was 742. The ex- 



pense per capita was 34'55 cents during the 

 ten months. The amount of $40,000 of the ap- 

 propriation remains unexpended. The num- 

 ber of colored persons of this unfortunate class 

 is increasing yearly. 



In the Academy for the Blind there were 

 63 pupils in 1877, and the expenditures were 

 $12,438. 



The number of pupils in the Deaf and Dumb 

 Asylum from July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878, 

 was 73, or 25 more than in the previous year. 

 Of these 37 were males and 36 females. 



In 1877 the attendance at the common schools 

 was 190,626 ; in 1876, 179,405 ; in 1875, 156,- 

 394; and in 1873, 88,677. These figures show 

 the steady growth of the common-school sys- 

 tem. In 1877 the attendance of white chil- 

 dren was 126,962, and of colored, 61,664. The 

 statistics for 1878 are not made up until the 

 close of the term. The State school fund, in- 

 cluding the poll-tax, is about $300,000. The 

 counties and cities raised by local taxation, 

 under local laws, in 1877, the sum of $100,153.- 

 19, making the entire free-school fund for 

 that year about $400,000. The enumeration 

 of the school population in 1878 shows 236,- 

 319 whites and 197,125 colored ; total, 433,444. 

 This is a total increase over the enumeration 

 of 1874 of 39,407 ; whites, 17,586 ; colored, 

 21,821. While there has been an increase in 

 the school population, there has been a de- 

 crease of illiteracy in the State. In 1874 the 

 number of persons between ten and eighteen 

 unable to read was 106,244, of which the 

 whites were 26,552, and the colored 79,692. 

 The returns for 1878 show a total of these il- 

 literates of 85,630 (whites 22,323, colored 63,- 

 307), showing a decrease of 20,614 (whites 

 4,229, colored 16,385). 



The Department of Agriculture has proved 

 of great advantage by the knowledge it has 

 imparted and the interest in farming which it 

 has excited. During the year 1878 the receipts 

 for the State Treasury from the fees for the 

 inspection of fertilizers under the new system 

 have not only paid the expenses of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, but left a very con- 

 siderable balance in the Treasury. The gross 

 amount for inspection in 1878 was $45,235.77; 

 expenses of inspection, $11,150.80, leaving net 

 bn lance of $34,085.47. Deducting from this 

 $14,700, the cost of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, there remains $19,385.47 in the Trea- 

 sury of income for the State from this 

 source. 



The State Geologist has steadily progressed 

 in the work of a survey of the State, covering 

 the western third and nearly all north of the 

 Chattahoochee River, embracing the main por- 

 tion of the mineral territory. Maps have been 

 completed of 27 counties. The marl-beds in 

 52 counties have been located, and analyses 

 made of 75 marls, showing a great variety in 

 character as well as abundance in quantity. 

 The measurements of watercourses have been 

 continued over nearly the whole State, especial 



