670 



OREGON. 



number, 31 ; 17 girls and 14 boys. Average 

 for the year, girls, 251 ; boys, 22 ; total aver- 

 age, 47*. 



At commencement a class of seven persons 

 was graduated, one woman and six men, four 

 of them in the classical course and three in the 

 scientific one. 



LANDS GRANTED TO THE STATE. Reference 

 has already been made to the 500,000 acres do- 

 nated for internal improvements. 



The grant of ten sections of land, for the 

 completion of public buildings, has been fully 

 realized. 



The grant of the salt-springs lapsed long ago, 

 and no benefit will probably ever be realized 

 therefrom. 



The seventy-two sections set apart and re- 

 served for a State University have been select- 

 ed, and about 29,000 acres thereof sold, leav- 

 ing about 17,000 acres unsold. 



The 90,000 acres of land granted under the 

 act of July 2, 1882, for an Agricultural College, 

 have been selected, and about 26,000 acres there- 

 of sold. The price at which they are required 

 to be sold by the terms of the grant, $2.50 an 

 acre, renders their sale slow. 



The sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in 

 each township, granted to the State for the use 

 of schools, have been and are being sold from 

 time to time, as the public surveys are ex- 

 tended. The full benefits of this grant will 

 not be realized until all the public lands in the 

 State are surveyed. 



The several funds arising from the sales of 

 the lands included in the said grants amount to 

 the following sums respectively : 



The University fund, principal $62,000 



The Agricultural College fund, principal 65,000 



The common-school fund, principal 655,000 



The investment of these funds, under the 

 present rate of interest, has become very diffi- 

 cult. 



" I think it absolutely necessary," says Gov- 

 ernor Thayer, " to lower the rate specified in 

 the present law from 10 per cent to 9 per 

 cent or lower. I doubt whether half of the 

 amount on hand will be called for during the 

 next year unless that is done." 



Referring to the swamp -land grant, the 

 Governor, in his message to the Legislature, 



At the commencement of my term of office there 

 had only been approved, by the Surveyor-General, 

 43,653-94 acres. During the time of its continuance 

 he has approved 443,789-36 acres, nearly all of which 

 have been selected, and the proof required by the 

 mode aforesaid furnished. Besides other selections 

 have been and are being made, which, when com- 

 pleted, will make the area of acres at least a half a 

 million, from which the State should realize nearly 

 that number of dollars. 



There should be remaining in that fund, after the 

 road warrants are paid off, fully $300,000. 



This fund, like the 500,000 acre grant, has been 

 unkindly dealt with. It has been rudely invaded, 

 and a great portion of its substance purloined. Some 

 portion of it may have been applied to useful purposes, 

 but it would be very small when compared with the 

 benefits that should be received by the State. The 



appropriations from it for the building of certain roads 

 was somewhat after the manner of the disposal of the 

 various grants by the United States to the State, for 

 the building of roads from and to certain points. Gen- 

 erally they went to enrich private parties. 



But the remnant may still be preserved and ren- 

 dered highly useful. Ten per cent of the swamp- 

 land fund is pledged by the laws of the State to the use 

 of the common schools. Another portion should be ap- 

 plied to the benefit of the State University, which will 

 enable an institution that should be the pride of Ore- 

 gon to gain a firm financial footing. Had such a policy 

 been pursued a few years ago we should not have wit- 

 nessed the humiliating spectacle of the prevention of 

 a forced sale of its building only through the kindly 

 intervention of a non-resident of the State. An insti- 

 tution that sheds its light and luster far and wide be- 

 coming a mendicant for foreign aid is not a pleasing 

 subject of contemplation. 



SALMON. On the regulation of the salmon- 

 fishery, the Governor says : 



Nature has bountifully supplied the Columbia Eiv- 

 er with salmon, a very excellent quality offish, which, 

 if preserved, will afford 'to the people of the State 

 and adjoining Territories a delicate and substan- 

 tial article of food for all future time. The State has 

 full control over the subject within its limits. That 

 authority has never been delegated. It has complete 

 power to regulate its fisheries. 



By proper legislation on the part of the State, and 

 of Washington Territory, the salmon of the Columbia 

 Kiver could be preserved and rendered a lasting bene- 

 fit to the people of both sections of the country. This 

 can be done by limiting the catch during the spawn- 

 ing-season. It mav require the arbitrary exercise of 

 authority, for no other kind will check the greed and 

 rapacity of a portion of mankind the class that will 

 prosecute any business as long as it can be rendered 

 profitable, regardless of the importance of the conse- 

 quences that are certain to follow. 



One of two modes should be adopted. Either short- 

 en the period in which salmon are allowed to be 

 taken during the season, and regulate the kind and 

 character of the appliances to be employed in taking 

 them, so as to catch only the larger-sized fish ; or limit 

 the catch of a season to a specified number. Either 

 mode may require the appointment of an officer in- 

 vested with authority to enforce the provisions of the 

 regulation, but the exigency of the case will justify it. 

 Some rigorous measure must be adopted to prevent 

 the extirpation of those valuable fish from the waters 

 of the Columbia Eiver. 



STATISTICS. The following statistics are for 

 the year 1881-'82 : Acres of land assessed. 5,- 

 201,654; value, $28,280,847; value of town- 

 lots, $9,727,988 ; value of improvements, $9,- 

 993,906; merchandise and implements, $11,- 

 114,159; moneys, notes, and accounts, $15,- 

 432,444; household furniture, carriages, etc., 

 $2,824,277; horses and mules, 114,024; value, 

 $4,831,352; cattle, 269,412; value, $2,771,040; 

 sheep, 854,750; value, $1,401,837; swine, 85,- 

 218; value, $193,816; gross value of all prop- 

 erty, $86,531,716; indebtedness, $22,300,912; 

 exemptions, $4,973,058; total taxable prop- 

 erty, $59,257,746; State tax, $325,917.38; 

 school-children, 61,641. 



LEGISLATURE. The Legislature met on the 

 llth of September, and adjourned on the 21st 

 of October. The following are among the acts 



An act to establish a paid fire department 

 for the city of Portland. 



An act to create the county of Crook, and 



