470 



KENTUCKY. 



This deficit (savs the Governor) may bo met by ei- 

 ther inercusini: UM t;ix or i>-uin^ londs; but I do 

 not think either to U- advisable or ncee>sarv. 



Although our pre-i-nt State tax is nnieli lower than 

 tlutt of ulm<t any other State in tlie 1'nion, yet it is 

 amply adequate t"- all our wants it' property is u 

 at anything like its n-al value. Tlie State tax amounts 

 to but fort\ -five cent- on the hundred dollars, of which 

 tuuiitv e< nt.-. L'o to the school fund,, and five cents to 

 the -.inking fund, leaving only twenty eeiits of what is_ 

 ealled revenue pn>j>er li>r the support and expenses of 

 the State government for nil purpo.-cs whatsoever. 



\i-i..n of our reveiie law.-, wlu-rel>ya fair, just, 

 and uniform assessment may l>e liad, will, at tlie pres- 

 <>f taxation, provide ample means to meet this 

 detieit, and keep pace with the growing wants of the 

 State tor years to eoine. Our system of assessments 

 is grossly defective. It answered very well so long as 

 our State was sparsely settled by a purely agricultural 

 people, but it is illy adapted to a State with large cit- 

 ies ami growing towns, and an extent and variety of 

 trade and traffic never dreamed of when these laws 

 were enacted. A large amount of property is never 

 reached by the assessor ; that which is listed is neither 

 fairly nor uniformly assessed ; the descriptions will 

 rarely ever serve to identify the property, and the as- 

 pes>ments are often ridiculously low. It is a sys- 

 tem which has been rejected by most of our sister 

 States. 



The bonded debt remains unchanged. There 

 are still outstanding bonds to the amount of 

 $180,394. Of this amount $6,394 is past due, 

 and tor many years has ceased to draw inter- 

 est. To meet this the State has in the hands 

 of the Treasurer $168,954.27: 406 shares of 

 Bank of Louisville stock quoted at $39,179; 

 stock in turnpike - roads grossly estimated 

 worth $500,000; making the total estimated 

 resources $708,133.27. 



During the last session of the General As- 

 sembly the common-school laws of the State 

 were thoroughly revised by the joint com- 

 mittee on education, aided by the suggestions 

 of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

 Certain important amendments were printed, 

 adopted, and laid before the Legislature, but, 

 owing to the press of the legislation in the 

 House on pending matters at the close of the 

 session, no final action was taken. 



The Agricultural and Mechanical College of 

 Kentucky closed the session of 1879-'80, the 

 last preceding the constitution of its present 

 board, with one hundred and thirty-seven stu- 

 dents. The first year under the new organ- 

 ization closed with two hundred and thirty- 

 four. Its matriculation list on November 9th 

 was two hundred and forty-eight. 



The new board of trustees, in reorganizing 

 the college, constituted the Normal School as 

 required by act of the Legislature, and, in order 

 to provide instruction in Latin for those teachers 

 who wished to add some classical learning to 

 their other acquirements, added a classical pro- 

 fessorship. They also established a professor- 

 ship of Practical Mechanics, and a professorship 

 of Agriculture, Horticulture, and Economic 

 Botany. The institution, thus enlarged in the 

 direction required by the Legislature, and in the 

 two essential elements of agriculture and practi- 

 cal mechanics, is fitted to accomplish in the fut- 

 ure a work which, during its former connection, 



it was never prepared to do. It now has the 

 following professorships established to carry out 

 the idea of scientific, technical, and industrial 

 education, viz.: professorship of Elementary 

 and 1'ractical Chemistry, professorship of Math- 

 ematics, professorship of Civil Engineering, 

 professorship of Botany, Comparative Anat- 

 omy, Zoology, and Geology ; professorship of 

 Agriculture, Horticulture, and Economic Bot- 

 any ; professorship of Practical Mechanics and 

 Drawing, and professorship of Agricultural 

 Chemistry. In addition to these departments, 

 there are other subjects closely related thereto, 

 for which no professorships have yet been creat- 

 ed, but whicli are taught by the professors who 

 have these several scientific departments in 

 charge. These, with professorships of Mental 

 and Moral Philosophy, Civil History, Modern 

 Languages, English Language and Literature, 

 Ancient Languages, and the two adjunct de- 

 partments of Theory and Practice of Teaching, 

 and a business course, comprising book-keep- 

 ing and commercial law, make up the several 

 courses of study in the State College. 



The Normal School has achieved a fair meas- 

 ure of success during its existence. A large 

 number of pupils from various parts of the 

 State have availed themselves of the advantages 

 afforded by normal instruction proper, and by 

 free access to the other departments of the col- 

 lege. The college-grounds, given by the city 

 of Lexington, contain fifty- two acres, valued 

 at $25,000, upon which new buildings are now 

 in process of erection at a cost of $85,000, 

 toward which the city of Lexington and county 

 of Fayette contributed $54,000. 



The important work of making a geological 

 and topographical survey of the State has made 

 favorable progress. Several counties hitherto 

 unexplored have been accurately mapped, and 

 positions and value of the mineral deposits de- 

 termined. Important discoveries of the exist- 

 ence of a coking-coal of superior quality, now 

 greatly in demand for the manufacture of iron, 

 have been made, and the position of coal traced 

 over a wide area. The publication of these 

 results has greatly stimulated the demand for 

 railways in portions of the State destitute of 

 such means of transportation, and convinced 

 capitalists that it will be a profitable investment 

 to build roads penetrating those regions. Al- 

 though the Bureau of Immigration has been 

 organized less than eighteen months, more has 

 been accomplished in making known abroad 

 the vast resources of the State, and the real 

 advantages offered by it to persons seeking 

 homes, than in the previous history of the 

 Commonwealth. The work and publications 

 of this bureau have been so directed as to at- 

 tract the most desirable class of immigrants, 

 and already several thriving colonies, composed 

 of farmers and skilled artisans, have been lo- 

 cated. 



The last Legislature abolished the lessee 

 system with respect to convicts, and left the 

 management of the Penitentiary and convicts, 



