514 



MISSISSIPPI. 



Education. The average term of the free 

 schools was six days longer in 1887 than in 

 1885, an increase of nearly 8 per cent, in time, 

 while the total amount expended was $841,- 

 697, being about $1,000 less than in 1885. The 

 total amount collected for free-school purposes 

 for the year 1887 was $967,644, an increase of 

 $100,000 above the collections for 1885. 



The expenditures were $126,000 less than 

 the receipts. The laws of 1886 have produced 

 some radical changes in the public-school sys- 

 tem. In many counties a gradual disintegra- 

 tion was creeping in, arising from the estab- 

 lishment of many small schools, and to check 

 the disastrous effects of this evil a. system of 

 districting the counties was ingrafted on the 

 law, limiting the number of schools by a fixed 

 territorial area and a minimum scholastic popu- 

 lation for each district. More than five hun- 

 dred small schools were discontinued, and the 

 reports from all counties except seventeen show 

 that enough, and in some instances more than 

 enough, schools are now maintained, and in 

 those seventeen counties the superintendents 

 report that all children can be accommodated 

 by establishing a few more districts. To im- 

 prove the corps of teachers, uniform examina- 

 tions and institutes were established. Many 

 abuses and inequalities arose under the old 

 salary system based on the per-diem average 

 attendance. The law now bases the salary on 

 the qualifications of the teacher and the kind 

 of work he is capable of doing, and for each 

 grade a maximum and minimum limit is fixed. 



The attendance of the State university for 

 the year reaches nearly 250 students, as against 

 185 for the preceding year. The disburse- 

 ments for its support amount to $33,791. The 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College, estab- 

 lished in 1880, reports an attendance of 260 up 

 to the end of the year. Between two hundred 

 and three hundred applicants were refused 

 admission during the year, on account of the 

 limited size of the dormitory, which is de- 

 signed to accommodate only 200 students. 



The State is in advance of its sister States in 

 providing instruction in agriculture and the 

 mechanical arts for its colored population. At 

 the Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 

 lege, instruction was given to 209 colored stu- 

 dents during the school year 1886-'87, and the 

 institution is reported to be prosperous. 



At Tugaloo University additional school and 

 industrial buildiugs, have been erected, thus 

 making all the appointments of the institution 

 excellent and commodious. The university is 

 indebted to the generosity of a private gentle- 

 man for the funds necessary for these build- 

 ings. The labor of erecting them was per- 

 formed by the students under the direction ot 

 the superintendent of industries. The State 

 Normal School, at Holly Springs, reorganized 

 in 1886 and placed in charge of the State Su- 

 perintendent of Instruction, reports 107 stu- 

 dents matriculated since that time, and the 

 prospect of renewed usefulness for this institu- 



tion. The industrial institute and college at 

 Columbus, for the education of white girls, 

 also a beneficiary of the State, has a large at- 

 tendance, which is limited only by the capaci- 

 ty of the institution. 



Insane. At the Insane Asylum at Jackson 

 the daily average number of patients for the 

 year was 446, or 12 less than in 1886. The 

 appropriation of $60,000 for its annual sup- 

 port was entirely expended. This asylum was 

 established and opened for patients in 1855, 

 and has been enlarged from time to time till 

 its comfortable capacity is 375 patients. 



The East Mississippi Insane Asylum, opened 

 for the first time in 1885, has treated 405 pa- 

 tients during the past two years, of whom 234 

 remained at the close of 1887. The disburse- 

 ment during the year for support, salaries, and 

 repairs was $30,340. 



Penitentiary. The number of State convicts 

 was 747 in February, a slight decrease from 

 last year. Of these, 189 are employed in and 

 about the State Penitentiary, while the re- 

 mainder are engaged in railroad and levee con- 

 struction. They are all leased for a term of 

 years to the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad 

 Company, the State receiving an annual in- 

 come from their labor. The State superin- 

 tendent, who is detailed to examine their 

 treatment by the lessees and to correct abuses, 

 reports their general condition to be satis- 

 factory, and that complaints of severe punish- 

 ment are decreasing. He suggests that a 

 reward should be offered for good behavior by 

 reducing the term of confinement for merito- 

 rious convicts, and that a prison hospital be 

 established for the confinement of those who 

 are physically unable to work. The State at 

 present does practically nothing for the ref- 

 ormation of its prisoners, but contents itself 

 with punishing them at the least possible ex- 

 pense to itself. No convicts are now employed 

 on farms or in any mechanicnl work that 

 would bring them into competition with other 

 occupations. The law of the last Legislature 

 requires their employment on public works or 

 works of internal improvement. The same law 

 provides for the election by the Legislature of 

 a Board of Control to see that the laws relating 

 to convicts are properly enforced. 



Levees. The completion and successful main- 

 tenance of the levees on the Mississippi river- 

 front, from the northern line of the State to 

 Vicksburg, is now fully protecting the Delta 

 from overflow, and has given a great impetus 

 to the settlement and improvement of the dis- 

 tricts. Much land is being brought into culti- 

 vation, and large tracts, heretofore held with- 

 out a purchaser, are now eagerly sought after. 



State Claims. The Supreme Court of the 

 United States rendered a decision this year by 

 which a considerable claim of the State arising 

 from the sale of public lands was adjudged 

 valid and payable. Under two acts of Con- 

 gress of different dates, Mississippi was en- 

 titled to five per cent, of the net proceeds of 



