872 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



adapted to sewing-machines, jig-saws, venti- 

 lating-fans, revolving show-cases ; to dentists' 

 use, to printing-presses, cottee mills and 

 roasters, jewelers' and locksmiths' lathes, drug 

 and paint mills, grindstones, emery-wheels, 

 etc. 



WEST VIRGINIA. The Legislature of this 

 State opened its session of 1881 on January 

 12th, A. Edgar Summers having been unani- 

 mously elected permanent President of the 

 Senate, and E. Willis Wilson Speaker of the 

 House of Delegates. 



Respecting the ante-war debt of Virginia, 

 and the long-mooted question whether and in 

 what proportion West Virginia can be made 

 responsible for it, Governor Mathews, who was 

 about to retire from office, informed the Legis- 

 lature that he had shortly before received a 

 communication " from ' The Western Virginia 

 Committee' of London a committee repre- 

 senting the holders of certificates issued under 

 the Virginia funding acts of 1871, Ife72, and 

 1879, known as 'Western Virginia' or 'de- 

 ferred certificates ' ; the communication con- 

 tained alternative proposals for a settlement 

 between the States of Virginia and West Vir- 

 ginia and the holders of the said certificates." 

 This communication he transmitted with his 

 message to the Legislature " for such action as 

 they might deem proper." The new Govern- 

 or, Jacob B. Jackson, who was installed in 

 office upon Governor Mathews's retiring from 

 it, received, in May, 1881, a letter from the Sec- 

 retary of the Western Virginia Committee of 

 London, asking whether the propositions of the 

 said committee which accompanied the com- 

 munication previously addressed to Governor 

 Mathews " were discussed by the Legislature, 

 and, if so, with what result." Governor Jack- 

 son answered the letter on May 16th, "giving 

 the information sought, together with his views 

 on the merits of the committee's proposals, 

 disclaiming, however, any authority to speak 

 for the Legislature." No progress was, how- 

 ever, made in an adjustment. 



The January session of 1881 was closed on 

 March 15th, the two Houses having been then 

 adjourned till the second Wednesday in Janu- 

 ary, 1882. Among the acts passed at this ses- 

 sion, the following seem worthy of notice : " An 

 act to amend and re-enact section 1 of chap- 

 ter xlvii of the acts of 1872-'73." It strikes 

 the word " white " out of the act embodied 

 in the said chapter, which at the time of its 

 passage was commonly known as " The Woods 

 Jury Bill." "An act to establish a State 

 Board of Health, and to regulate the practice 

 of medicine and surgery." The board consists 

 of six physicians, taken in equal numbers from 

 the three congressional districts of the State, 

 to be appointed and commissioned by the Gov- 

 ernor for terms of office so arranged among 

 the districts that two of the six members of 

 the board shall be appointed every two years. 

 The act went into force on June 11, 1881. 

 " An act to amend and re-enact section 2 of 



chapter xxiv of the Code of West Virginia, 

 as amended and re-enacted by chapter xxii of 

 the acts of 1872-'73." It reduces the State 

 tax on foreign insurance companies from 3 to 

 2 per cent. " An act to provide a suitable 

 block of stone to be placed in the Washington 

 Monument by the State." "An act to revoke 

 and repeal the certificate of incorporation, is- 

 sued October 19, 1874, to ' the Livingston Uni- 

 versity of America.' " " An act making appro- 

 priations to pay the First Battalion of West Vir- 

 ginia Volunteers, for services rendered the 

 State in assisting the civil officers to preserve 

 peace and execute the laws in Fayette County, 

 in January, 1880." Two acts were passed by 

 this Legislature amending and re-enacting two 

 of its own acts passed on a previous day at the 

 same session. 



The continuance of a prosperous course of 

 affairs in West Virginia during the year 1881 

 is officially stated by Governor Jackson in his 

 message to the Legislature at the beginning of 

 1882, as follows : " It affords me much pleasure 

 to say that the general condition of the State 

 is satisfactory; that we are gradually increas- 

 ing in population and wealth ; and that our 

 progress in developing our material interests is 

 very gratifying." 



The State receipts and expenditures during 

 the fiscal year ending September 30, 1881, were 

 as follows : Receipts, including $253,798.82 

 cash balance in the Treasury, October 1, 1880, 

 $928,929.36; disbursements, $682,628.51 ; bal- 

 ance in the Treasury, October 1, 1881, $246,- 

 300.85. 



The condition, progress, and cost of public 

 instruction in the common free schools of West 

 Virginia for the year 1881, as compared with 

 the corresponding items in 1880, were as fol- 

 lows: 



Total value of school property for the year 1881 $1,743.929 84 



Increase over 1880 78,374 43 



"Whole number of school-houses for the year. . . 3,703 



Increase over 1880 14(5 



Whole number of schools during the year 8,915 



Increase over I860 104 



Number of teachers employed during the year. 4,8'27 



Increase over 1880 103 



Total number of children in the State between 



six and twenty-one years of age 213,441 



Increase over 1880 8.828 



Attended school during the year 141,182 



Decrease 1,718 



Total receipts from all sources for the teachers' 

 and building fund, including balance on hand 



during the year $900.24132 



Increase over 1880 80,547 54 



Total expenditures for all purposes during the 



year 775,032 17 



Increased expenditures over 1880 67,479 26 



Number of Institutes held during the year 65 



Number enrolled in county and district insti- 

 tutes 4.410 ' 



Average daily attendance 4,078 



The aggregate number of students in the 

 normal schools during the year 1881 was 538 ; 

 of whom fifty -five graduated, receiving normal 

 diplomas. It is officially stated that above five 

 hundred students have graduated from these 

 schools since their establishment ; that nearly 

 90 per cent of that number -are actually en- 

 gaged in school-work, and perhaps twice as 



