44 



ARKANSAS. 



$600,000 In addition to the sum now held by the 

 Treasurer. This healthy condition of our finances 

 brings us, to use the language of the Treasurer, " face 

 to face with the question of the settlement of our un- 

 disputed debt." This debt, principal and interest, is 

 $4,869.943, more than one half of which is interest. 

 No interest has been paid thereon since 1872. 



The people, at the recent election, have, by an 

 overwhelming majority, declared that they do not 

 intend to pay what is known as the disputed debt of 

 the State, including the railroad aid, the levee, and 

 the Holford bonds. Their action in that behalf meets 

 my hearty approval, but I can no longer see any valid 

 reason or excuse for not making settlement and pro- 

 vision for the payment of the interest, and gradual re- 

 duction of the principal, of our undisputed debt. The 

 Auditor and Treasurer both fully demonstrate by their 

 reports that it is possible to reduce the rate of taxa- 

 tion, meet all legitimate expenses of the State govern- 

 ment, and make provision for the settlement of this 

 old undisputed debt, which has so long tended to 

 paralyze the energies of the people, repel immigra- 

 tion, and retard the development of the State's re- 

 sources. 



Chancellor Carroll's decision, rendered at the 

 beginning of the year, in the case of the State 

 vs. ex-State Treasurer Churchill and sureties, 

 submitted to him on its merits after argument 

 by counsel on all controverted points, declares 

 the aggregate indebtedness to the State of the 

 ex-Treasurer to be $80,522.01, not counting 

 interest. The Chancellor had previously de- 

 cided that the erasure of names on the first 

 and third bonds, covering the entire defalcation 

 except $3,008.87, rendered those bonds worth- 

 less, and relieved all the sureties who had made 

 the plea of non est factum. Any of the sure- 

 ties who had not applied for this mode of re- 

 lief, together with the ex-Treasurer, are liable. 

 No sureties on the second bond are relieved. 

 Both prosecution and defense appealed. 



Education. " The report of the Superintend- 

 ent of Public Instruction," says the Governor, 

 " shows a steady and most gratifying increase 

 in the number of school-houses, and in the at- 

 tendance of pupils throughout the State upon 

 our common schools. The amount of money 

 distributed by the Superintendent to the va- 

 rious districts last year far exceeds the sum 

 distributed in any previous year. I can not 

 agree with the Superintendent, that the money 

 arising from liquor-licenses, insurance agencies, 

 and the proceeds of forfeited lands, should be 

 diverted from the general revenue fund and 

 appropriated for school purposes. Such a dis- 

 position of this money would render it impos- 

 sible to provide for the ordinary expenses of 

 the State, the interest on the public debt, and 

 at the same time grant the people a reduction 

 in their taxes." 



Penitentiary. The number of convicts in the 

 penitentiary has increased within the past two 

 years. In addition to paying the cost of trans- 

 porting the convicts from the various counties 

 to the State Prison, the lessees paid into the 

 State treasury $24,600 for the year beginning 

 May 7, 1883, and ending May 7, 1884. The 

 death-rate among the convicts has been com- 

 paratively light during the past two years. 

 Under the present contract allowing the con- 



SCIENCE ASSOCIATIONS. 



victs to be worked outside the walls of the 

 penitentiary, they have been distributed at va- 

 rious points in the State, principally in the 

 counties of Pope, Con way, Johnson, Jefferson, 

 and Phillips. 



Consolidation of Elections. " I repeat," says the 

 Governor, " the recommendation made by me 

 two years ago, that the time of holding the 

 general election for the State be changed from 

 the first Monday in September to the Tuesday 

 after the first Monday in November. Undir 

 the present mode the citizens are subjected to 

 the inconvenience of being compelled to aban- 

 don their ordinary labors and business, and 

 vote twice within a period of two months. The 

 expense to the counties is simply doubled, and 

 the impossibility of inducing all of the electors 

 to vote a second time in November has caused 

 the State and our people to be greatly misun- 

 derstood and misrepresented abroad." 



ART. See FINE ARTS. 



ASSOCIATIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 

 SCIENCE. American. The thirty-fourth annual 

 meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science was held in Ann Ar- 

 bor, Mich., Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, 1885. The 

 meeting was small, but the character of the pa- 

 pers presented was high. The attendance of 

 members reached 364, and the number of pa- 

 pers was 174. The following is the list of vice- 

 presidents and secretaries of sections at tliis 

 meeting, respectively followed by the number 

 of papers presented in each section : 



A. Mathematics and Astronomy J. M. Van Vleck, 

 Middletown, Conn. ; E. W. Hyde. Cincinnati, : 12. 



B. Physics C. F. Brackett, Princeton, N. J. ; A. 

 A. Michaelson, Cleveland, O. : 23. 



C. Chemistry W. K. Nichols, Boston, Mass. ; F. 

 P. Dunnington, Charlottesville, Va. : 17. 



p. Mechanical Science S. Burkitt Webb, Cam- 

 bridge, Mass. ; C. J. Woodbury, Boston, Mass. : 12. 



E. Geology and Geography Edward Orton, Co- 

 lumbus^. ; H. Carvill Lewis, Philadelphia, Pa.: 27. 



F. Biology B. G. Wilder, Ithaca, N. Y. ; M. C. Fer- 

 nald, Me. : 32. 



G. Histology and Microscopy S. H. Gage, Ithaca, 

 N. Y. : W. H\ Walmslev, Philadelphia, Pa?: 4. 



H. Anthropology W. H. Dall, Washington, D. C. ; 

 Mrs. Erminnie A. Smith, Jersey City, N. J. : 26. 



I. Economic Science and Statistics Edward Atkin- 

 son, Boston, Mass. ; J. W. Chickering: 21. 



The following were the general officers: 



President, H. A. Newton, New Haven, Conn. 



Permanent Secretary, F. W. Putnam, Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



General Secretary, C. S. Minot, Boston, Mass. 



Assistant General Secretary, C. C. Abbott, Tren- 

 ton, N. J. 



In the organization of the society two changes 

 of importance were effected. One was the 

 abolishment of Section G. This was done on 

 the theory that microscopy is now an auxil- 

 iary in so many branches of science that it 

 should not be treated as a separate division. 

 The second change was in the addition of the 

 words "and Engineering" to the title of Sec- 

 tion D, thus inviting all classes of engineers to 

 contribute the results of their work to the rec- 

 ords of the Association. In action affecting 



