826 



WELSH, JOHN". 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



vention, and was chairman of the Connecticut 

 delegation. In March, 1861, he was appointed 

 by President Lincoln Secretary of the Navy, 

 in which office he continued until March, 1869. 

 In the latter year he retired from public life, 

 but he wrote for magazines several articles on 

 members and events of Lincoln's Administra- 

 tion, which attracted wide attention and dis- 

 cussion. 



WELSH, JOHN, United States Minister to 

 England, was born in Philadelphia in 1805; 

 and has long been one of the best known and 

 most enterprising merchants of that city. For 

 several years he was a member of the City 

 Council, and for many years has been President 

 of the Sinking Fund Commission. He has 

 been a member of the Fairmount Park Com- 

 mission since 1862. He has been widely known 

 for several years as President of the Philadel- 

 phia Board of Trade and has long been a di- 

 rector in the Manufacturers' and Mechanics' 

 Bank and the Philadelphia National Bank. 

 For a short time after its organization he was 

 President of the North Pennsylvania Railroad 

 Company. He was chosen President of the 

 Centennial Board of Finance in April, 1873, 

 and he labored zealously for the success of the 

 Exhibition. After the close of the Exhibition 

 $50,000 was subscribed by his fellow citizens as 

 a testimonial of his services. At Mr. Welsh's 

 suggestion the money was devoted to the en- 

 dowment of a professorship of English Litera- 

 ture in the University of Pennsylvania, which 

 now bears his name. Mr. Welsh was an active 

 member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 

 and is one of the founders and largest contrib- 

 utors to the Protestant Episcopal Hospital in 

 Philadelphia. He has always been an active 

 Republican. In October, 1878, he was named 

 for the English mission, and the nomination 

 was promptly confirmed. He is a man of large 

 wealth, cultivated manners, and public spirit. 

 His appointment gave universal satisfaction 

 in this country, and was cordially received in 

 England. 



WEST VIRGINIA. The election for mem- 

 bers of Congress in West Virginia was held on 

 the second Tuesday in October, being the 8th, 

 and resulted as follows : 



The votes severally polled by the Republican 

 and Democratic parties throughout the State 

 in October, 1878, fell short of their votes at 

 the Presidential election in November, 1876 

 by 22,663 and 6,137, respectively. The Green- 

 backers, who in 1876 polled 1,373 votes for 

 Peter Cooper, their nominee for the Presidency, 

 polled in 1878 a total of 24,531 for their three 

 candidates for Congress. At this election the 



people voted also for members of the Legisla- 

 ture, with the following result : Senate Demo- 

 crats 20, Republicans 3 ; House of Delegates 

 Democrats 31, Republicans 7, Greenbackers 8, 

 Independent Democrats 5. 



The Legislature opened its regular session at 

 Wheeling on January 8, 1879. 



The receipts and disbursements of the State 

 during the fiscal year ending September 30, 

 1878, were as follows : Receipts from all sources, 

 including $192,869.38 cash balance in the Trea- 

 sury on October 1, 1877, $886,276.29; disburse- 

 ments on all accounts, $572,343.75. Cash bal- 

 ance in the Treasury October 1, 1878, $313,- 

 801.92. 



The education of youth is well attended to 

 in West Virginia, the free-school system having 

 been adopted and put in operation. There are 

 a few loud and earnest opponents of the funda- 

 mental idea of free schools in the State; but, 

 notwithstanding this opposition, the subject 

 may be regarded as settled by the highest ver- 

 dict of popular approval. The aggregate num- 

 ber of children of school age for the scholastic 

 year ending August 31, 1878, was 201,237, of 

 whom 130,184 were enrolled as pupils in the 

 free schools, an increase of 4,852 over the pre- 

 ceding year. The number of teachers was 3,- 

 747, of whom 2,822 were males. The average 

 school year for 1877-'78 was reckoned through- 

 out the State at 4-28 months, a slight increase 

 over that of 1876-'77, which was 4'13 months. 

 On this point it is remarked that, as nearly all 

 of the 82 graded schools in the State, and many 

 of the ungraded ones in the most populous sec- 

 tions, remain open for ten or at least eight 

 months each year, the duration of teaching-time 

 in the schools of some districts must be ex- 

 ceedingly short. There are 56 county and city 

 superintendents of free schools in West Vir- 

 ginia. The number of schoolhouses on August 

 31, 1878, was 3,297, of which 11 are stone, 89 

 brick, 1,905 frame, and 1,292 log buildings. 

 The number built in 1876-'77 was 126, and in 

 1877-'78, 80. The cost of the public schools 

 for all purposes in the latter year was $88 T - 

 840.35, or 11 -5 per cent, less than in the pre- 

 ceding. The average cost of the public schools 

 per capita, reckoned on the whole number of 

 children of school age, was $2.49 for tuition, 

 and $5.23 for all expenses, including the out- 

 lay for schoolhouses, land, and their mainte- 

 nance. The State normal schools continue in 

 their useful work of training and fitting teach- 

 ers to be employed in the public schools. The 

 West Virginia University appears to be in a 

 satisfactory condition, with a prospect of fur- 

 ther improvement. It is said to have " an able 

 and scholarly faculty, and a curriculum equal 

 to that of the best American colleges." In 

 1878 it had 108 students from 28 counties in 

 the State. 



In the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane 

 the number of patients during the year ending 

 September 30, 1877, was 485 males 267, fe- 

 males 218. At the close of that year it was 417 



