

KANSAS. 



461 



organized. These counties had, at the date of their hands of individuals and corporations, $574,500 



organization, an aggregate population of 38,841, and being held by different State funds. The bonds 

 they polled, at the November election (three not vot- d S^n-foii i n the treasurv on Deo 31 1886 



ing) a total of 13,108 votes. They include a territorial ana * ec> 8 *i lbyb > 



area of 14,355 square miles. Only two of the one aggregated $4,678,046. bJ. 



hundred counties of the State, embracing an area of From July 1 to Dec. 31, 1886, the receipts 



1,860 square miles, remain to be organized. During o f the State treasury were as follow : From 



the same period, two cities 2 Wichita and Kansas City, taxes $454 074.07 from Penitentiary earn- 



have been organized as cities of the first class, and 'ARI O/-YO *H. f" 1 T Aa 1 <&P91 



thirteen, Cherryvale, Abilene, Eureka, Minneapolis, 1U & S 5 $oi,zuo.i< , n .nsane Asymnii., $>o^i , 



Anthony, El Dorado Seneca, Weir, Great Bend, from State Librarian, sales of Supreme Court 



Dodge City, Larned, Hutchinson, and South Topeka, Reports, $1,344.50; from the Insurance De- 



as cities of the second class. Two years ago the rail- par tment, $10,124.92; from sales of school 



way mileage of Kansas aggregated only 4,486i miles, ' 



assessed at $28.455,907.86, and traversing seventy- 

 three counties of the State. To day Kansas has 6,060 

 miles of completed railway, the assessed value of 

 which is fully $39,000.000. These lines traverse 

 eighty-six of our hundred counties. In 1884 the as- 

 sessed value of all the property of the State was $237,- 

 020,391 ; for 1886 it was $277,575,353. We had, then. 

 13,011,333 acres in cultivation; last year we had 

 15,473,495 acres. 

 The year just closed has not been, in many re- 



rts, a prosperous season. The crops have been 

 t, epidemics have brought heavy losses upon stock- 

 raisers, the prices of all cereals and stock have ruled 

 low, and many of our citizens are feeling the stress of 

 the wide-spread industrial depression. 



The fifteen counties organized during the past two 

 years are the following: Comanche, February 27; 

 Clark, May 5 ; Thomas, October 8 ; and Meade, No- 

 vember 4, 1885 ; and Hamilton, January 29 ; Kiowa, 

 March 23 ; Cheyenne, April 1 ; Lane, June 3 ; Seward, 

 June 17 ; Scott, June 29 ; Stevens, August 3 ; Gove, 

 September 2 ; Sherman, September 20 ; Morton, No- 

 vember 18 ; and Wichita, December 24, 1886. 



Finances. During two years the receipts of 

 the treasury (including a balance of $754,- 

 512.07 on hand July 1, 1884) aggregated $5,- 

 547,167.33, and the disbursements for the same 

 period were $4,962,894.17, leaving a balance in 

 the treasury, June 30, 1886, of $584,273.16. 

 The total bonded debt of the State, on Jan. 1, 

 1887, was $830,500, showing a reduction, since 

 Jan. 1, 1885, of $105,000. Of the debt out- 

 standing, only $256,000 of bonds remain in the 



lands, principal, $286,503.86; from sales of 

 school lands, interest, $146,325.41 ; from sales 

 of University lands, principal, $5,953.76, and 

 interest, $1,997.94; from sales of Normal 

 School lands, principal, $5,856.10, and interest, 

 $3,994.65 ; from sales of Agricultural College 

 lands, principal, $23,371.34, and interest, $4,- 

 495.64 ; from principal of county, township, 

 and school-district bonds, $95,229.17, and 

 from interest on same, $124,252.11 ; from sale 

 of State bonds, $9,105 ; and from miscellane- 

 ous sources, $125 making a total of $1,224,- 

 577.94, which, added to the balance on hand 

 June 30, 1886, makes a total of $1,808,851.10. 

 The disbursements during the same six months 

 were as follow : On warrants drawn by State 

 Auditor, $571,667.06 ; drawn by School-Fund 

 Commissioners, $445,639.89 ; by State Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, $242,470.81 ; 

 by Regents of Normal School, $6,600 ; by Ag- 

 ricultural College Loan Commissioners, $62,- 

 652 ; by Regents of Agricultural College, $14,- 

 993 ; on payment of State bonds, $17,000 ; and 

 on payment of coupons, $29,662.50 making a 

 total of $1,390,685.26. The balance in the 

 treasury, Dec. 31, 1886, was $418,165.84. 



Stats Property and Taxation. In the following 

 table the area of the public grounds, and value 

 of grounds, buildings, and equipment, are given 

 in detail : 



The percentage of taxation annually levied 

 for State purposes, rarely large, has been 

 steadily decreasing during the past fourteen 

 years, until, for the present fiscal year, it is 

 less than half that levied in 1872. 



Municipal Debts and Taxation. On this subject 

 the Governor says : " The rapid and enormous 

 increase of property valuations has brought no 

 corresponding decrease in the percentages of 

 tax levied by the municipal authorities. In 



many counties and cities, indeed, the tax rates 

 have steadily increased. Worse than all, too, 

 the aggregate of municipal indebtedness is 

 rapidly and enormously swelling, until it has 

 reached proportions that should alarm every 

 citizen who has at heart the prosperity of the 

 State and the well-being of its people. Two 

 years ago the municipal indebtedness of the 

 State aggregated $15,951,929. Of this amount 

 the county indebtedness aggregated $8,065,- 



