444 



KANSAS. 



Number miles of side track 



Average value of side track per mile $2,000 00 



Total value of side track $891,290 00 



Value per mile of rolling-stock $1,145 84 



Total value rolling-stock $4,235,939 00 



Value per mile of tools, machinery, moneys, 



credits, etc $9425 



Total value of tools, machinery, moneys, cred- 

 its, etc 1 $848,91129 



Value of buildings $653,945 00 



Total value of all property $25,0^8, 156 46 



Average value per mile of all property $6,786 43 



The amount of taxes for all purposes paid by 

 the several railroad corporations in the State 

 of Kansas for the year 1881 was $740,786.57. 



This amount does not include taxes paid on 

 lands, hut includes only taxes paid on right of 

 way, track, road-bed, rolling-stock, tools, ma- 

 terials, etc. 



The following statement shows the taxes 

 levied upon the property of the people of 

 Kansas for the year 1881, for all purposes for 

 which taxes are collected State, county, city, 

 township, and school district: 



State taxes $857,553 64 



County taxes 2,178,846 84 



City taxes 513.117 33 



Townshiptaxes 612,377 16 



School-district taxes 1,992,363 03 



Total $6,154,258 00 



Average rate on each $100, $8.60. 



The State debt amounts to $1,181,975. 



COUNTY DEBT. 

 On July 1, 1880, the aggregate county indebtedness 



amounted to $7,676,894 



Samedebtin 1882 8,036,736 



An increase of. $356,842 



TOWNSHIP DEBT. 



Township debt, July 1, 1880 $2,260,055 



Township debt, July 1, 18s2 2,250,347 



A decrease of $9,707 



CITY DEBT. 



City debt July 1, 1880 $2.016,797 



City debt, July 1, 1882 2,102,159 



An increase of $85,662 



SCHOOL-DISTRICT DEBT. 



School-district dsbt, July 1, 1880 $2,041,858 



School-district debt, July 1, 1882 2,082,475 



An increase of $40,617 



Total debt State, county, city, township, and 

 school district July 1, 1882, $15,653,994.72. 

 This is an increase in the last two years in the 

 aggregate debt, of $473,415, or 3 per cent. In 

 the same period of time the taxable property of 

 the State has increased 16 per cent. The ag- 

 gregate debt of all kinds as stated above is 

 equal to 8| per cent of the taxable property. 



STATISTICS. According, to the Secretary of 

 the State Board of Agriculture, there were in 

 the State at the close of the year, 1,404,488 

 head of neat-cattle, valued at $49,192,408; 

 1,228,683 swine, valued at $12,286,830; and 

 980,767 sheep, valued at $2,942,301. 



The State has 9,000,000 acres of land under 

 cultivation; $91,000,000 of taxable lands ; $22,- 

 000,000 of town lots ; $22,000,000 of railroad 

 property ; $34,000,000 of personal property, or 



an aggregate taxable valuation of $170,000,000, 

 the true valuation being $341,000,000. 



Of the 1,000,000 people in the State, 348,000 

 are of school age; 249,000 are enrolled, and 

 139,000 attend school. Eight thousand teach- 

 ers are employed to teach in 5,752 school- 

 houses, valued at $4,800,000. 



There have been planted in Kansas, since its 

 settlement, forest- trees as follow : 



VARIETY. Acres. 



Walnut 9.512 



Maple (mostly soft) 13,545 



Honey locust 1,916 



Cottonwood 47,363 



Other varieties 67,659 



Total acreage 139,995 



The number of fruit-trees planted in the 

 same time is as follows : 



As a rule, the forest-trees have been set out 

 under the timber-culture act, but a number of 

 thousands have been started by farmers and 

 others who have not a timber claim. 



A rough estimate of the amount of sponta- 

 neous growth in Kansas is 20 per cent of the 

 number of acres set out. This would make 

 27,945 acres. 



GUBEKNATOEIAL RECOMMENDATIONS. Th 6 



Governor, in his message, makes the following 

 observations and recommendations regarding 

 the death -penalty, assessment of real estate, 

 highways, etc.: 



The law fixing the death-penalty should "be amend- 

 ed. As it now stands, it is left discretionary with the 

 Executive to issue his warrant to carry out the sen- 

 tence of the court. No one is willing to exercise dis- 

 cretionary power in a case of life and death, while any 

 Executive would obey the law and issue the warrant 

 in such cases were it mandatory. The warrant then 

 would issue as a matter of course, and the law, and 

 not the Executive, would be responsible for its effect. 

 Though I am clearly of the opinion that the court that 

 renders the judgment and fixes the penalty of the law 

 should provide for carrying into execution the sen- 

 tence, I am aware that there is a divided sentiment 

 as to whether or not the death-penalty should be in- 

 voked in cases of murder. But this is no excuse for 

 leaving the law in its present unsatisfactory condi- 

 tion, as our manhood dictates that the death -penalty 

 should be executed in a reasonable time after sen- 

 tence, or that the horrors of an anticipated hanging 

 should be ended by a sentence of imprisonment for 

 life. The person who now commits the crime of mur- 

 der, with all its attendant horrors, is on an equality 

 with the criminal who steals but twenty dollars, and 

 is free to murder his keeper, or the warden of the 

 prison, with the assurance that a score of murders 

 does not increase his punishment. There are now in 

 the Penitentiary about twenty-five persons who are 

 under the sentence of death, who have all the kindly 

 treatment, and the benefits of all rules, and the laws 



