738 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 



eminent for State, county, and schools are 

 about $1,800,000. The whole amount of taxes 

 levied for the fiscal year 1883-'84 is $1,783,521, 

 being $162,000 less than for 1882, and divided 

 as follows: For State, $752,559; for county, 

 $718,072 ; and for schools, $312,890. Of these, 

 $1,026,241 is levied on real estate, $573,423 on 

 personal property, and $183,857 on railroad 

 property. The tax levy averages 11 and 

 mills to the county, the rate being highest in 

 Picxens (18 mills) and lowest in Charleston 

 (9i mills). 



The amount of property returned for taxa- 

 tion for 1884 is: Real estate, $87,559,538; 

 personal, $46,904,705; railroad, $15,263,366; 

 total, $149,727,609. This is a loss of $881,695 

 on the return of 1883 ; personal property hav- 

 ing fallen off by $1,345,234, while real estate 

 has gained $128,137, and railroad property 

 $35,402. The increase in real estate is alto- 

 gether in the cities and towns, the returns of 

 country property having decreased by about 

 $90,000. The Comptroller-General estimates 

 that there are at least 2,000,000 acres of land 

 that are not upon the tax-books at all, and this 

 estimate is sustained by the report of the Sec- 

 retary of State. The taxable property of the 

 State may fairly be estimated at about $295,- 

 000,000, instead of $150,000,000, as assessed. 



Education. There were enrolled in the public 

 schools 84,028 white pupils, and 101,591 col- 

 ored, making a total of 185,619, an increase of 

 12,524 pupils over the enrollment of the pre- 

 vious year. According to the calculations of 

 the superintendent, this enrollment is found to 

 be 65 per cent, of the total school population ; 

 or, stated according to ^ race, 82 J- per cent, of 

 the white, and 56 - per cent, of the colored 

 children were enrolled. The increase in the 

 number of teachers is 190; in the number of 

 schools, 213. The school fund is also increas- 

 ing with the enhancement of property values. 

 The total available school fund for 1881-'82 

 was $471,171.19; for 1882-'83 it was $517,- 

 937.27. The amount for 1883-'84 can not be 

 definitely ascertained until the final accounting 

 of the county treasurers in April, 1885. 



The University of South Carolina, as at pres- 

 ent constituted, comprises the Claflin College, 

 for colored students, at Orangeburg ; the South 

 Carolina Military Academy, at Charleston ; and 

 the South Carolina College, at Columbia. 



The Military Academy was reopened on Oct. 

 1, 1882, since which time it has been in active 

 and regular operation. One hundred and thirty- 

 eight youths are now receiving its instruction. 

 The cadets enter into an obligation to teach for 

 two years after graduation, in the public schools. 



The South Carolina College was reorganized 

 in 1882. The catalogue shows a total enroll- 

 ment of 202 students a number exceeded but 

 twice in the history of the institution. Of these 

 202 students, 198 were natives of the State. 



The annual report of the Institution for the 

 Education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind 

 shows, an enrollment of seventy-six pupils. A 



department for colored pupils is in successful 

 operation. The last United States census shows 

 quite a number of deaf-mute and blind children, 

 of school age, in every county in the State. The 

 addition now being made to the building will 

 enable the institution to admit and provide for 

 a much larger number than is now in attend- 

 ance. The Board of Commissioners ask for the 

 following appropriations, viz. : For the support 

 of the institution, $10,000; for repairs, $500; for 

 completing and furnishing west wing, $6,000; 

 insurance, $385 ; colored department, $500. 



Lunatic Asylum, 1'he number of patients at 

 the beginning of the last fiscal year was 603 ; 

 number admitted, 293 ; readmitted, 5 ; making 

 the whole number under treatment during the 

 year 901. The number of inmates at the close 

 of the year, 628, was diminished by remand- 

 ing 33 imbeciles to the care of their respective 

 county commissioners. The average number 

 of patients was 66 more than in the year pre- 

 vious. The sanitary condition of the institu- 

 tion has been highly commended by the State 

 Board of Health. It appears that the number 

 of colored patients is so steadily increasing, 

 that they will, probably, in a few years, con- 

 stitute a majority of the inmates. 



The census of 1880 shows that there are in 

 the State 2,700 of the defective classes who 

 may claim admission to the asylum, less than 

 one-third of whom are now its inmates. The 

 per capita cost of maintenance has been re- 

 duced from $146.54 in 1883 to 142.78 in 1884; 

 or, deducting the amount received from pay 

 patients, the cost to the State has fallen from 

 $141.80 to 128.75 ; and of last year's appro- 

 priation, $6,828.48 remains to the credit of the 

 institution. The estimates for the coming year, 

 for all purposes, are less by $9,482.05 than the 

 amount appropriated last year. 



Penitentiary. The number of convicts on 

 October 31 was 956, an increase of 60 over the 

 corresponding period of the previous year. Of 

 these, 856 were colored males, 38 colored fe- 

 males, 60 white males, and 2 white females. 



The work of completing the north wing of 

 the prison has been pressed forward as rapidly 

 as possible, and a large workshop similar to 

 the one now in use is in course of erection. 

 Until the north wing is finished it will be im- 

 possible to provide accommodations within the 

 walls of the prison for all the convicts now 

 undergoing sentence. " The plan of hiring 

 convicts to contractors," says the Governor, 

 "to be worked without the supervision of the 

 officers of the prison, is open to many and seri- 

 ous objections." The Penitentiary is now not 

 only self-sustaining, but is a source of revenue. 

 The cash receipts for the last fiscal year 

 were $75,083.22 ; the disbursements, $74.517.- 

 74, leaving on hand a cash balance of $565.48. 



Department of Agriculture. The commissioner 

 collected during the year $25,262.16 tax ou 

 commercial fertilizers sold in the State from 

 Nov. 1, 1883, to Oct. 31, 1884. The commis- 

 sioner calls attention to the necessary expendi- 



