494 



MARYLAND. 



preceding year by $2,689.90. In the expendi- 

 tures is included" $2,726.68 for building two 

 schooners. The amount standing to the credit 

 of this fund at the close of the fiscal year 1891 

 was $79,720.76. 



The total indebtedness of the State at the 

 close of the fiscal year 1891 was $10,721,642.52, 

 an increase of $30,518.07 ; but this is only tem- 

 porary, as the amount of. the " exchange loan 

 of 1891," issued at the close of the year, was that 

 much greater than the amount exchanged and 

 redeemed of the old loans, for the exchange and 

 redemption of which this new loan is being 

 issued. Deduct from the gross debt the pro- 

 ductive stocks held by the State, and the cash 

 and stocks held by the sinking fund, and the 

 net debt will be $3,876,046.88, a decrease of 

 $536,170.77 since last year. 



The assessment of the real and personal prop- 

 erty in the several counties and city of Balti- 

 more for 1891 is $510,003,077, being greater than 

 that of 1890 by $27,818,253. The levy for State 

 taxes for 1891 on the real and personal property 

 of the State, at 17f cents on each $100, amounted 

 to $905,253.50. 



The State levy for public schools for the fiscal 

 year 1891 amounted to $535,503.25 The re- 

 ceipts'of school tax for 1891 amounted to $576,- 

 350.64, an increase over that of 1890 of $8,418.36. 

 The disbursements of the school tax amounted 

 to $607.205, an increase of $5.217.99. 



United States Direct Tax. By act of 

 Congress, chapter xlv, of 1861, a direct tax of 

 $20,000,000 was levied upon the several States to 

 meet the expenses of the war then being waged, 

 and Maryland's quota of this tax was $436,- 

 823.33. The General Government made every 

 provision to collect this tax, but at the same 

 time accorded the privilege to the States to as- 

 sume their quotas, and for prompt payment a 

 discount of 15 per cent, was stipulated. Mary- 

 land assumed her quota of the levy, and by an 

 act of the General Assembly of 1862, chapter 

 cxliii, issued the " Maryland defense loan " to 

 provide means for the defense of Maryland, and 

 especially to meet the State's proportion of the 

 United States direct tax, levied, or to be levied, 

 for the purpose of suppressing rebellion and 

 maintaining the integrity of the Union. On 

 June 28, 1862, Maryland paid her proportion 

 of this war tax, $436.823.33, less 15 per cent., 

 leaving the net sum $371,299.83. 



Congress at its last session passed an act to 

 credit and pay to the several States and Terri- 

 tories and the District of Columbia all moneys 

 collected under the direct tax levied by the 

 act of Congress approved Aug. 5, 1861. The 

 Comptroller suggests that after the amount 

 ($371,299.83) paid to the General Government is 

 returned to the State treasury, it should be 

 placed to the credit of the Defense Redemption 

 Loan Sinking fund, a fund created for the re- 

 demption of loans issued to defray the expenses 

 incurred by the State during thecivil war. 



Education. The whole number of different 

 pupils enrolled in the schools of the State dur- 

 ing the year was : White, 189,214 ; colored, 34,- 

 796 : total, 224,010. The average number of 

 pupils in daily attendance in all schools was: 

 White, 106,170; colored, 17,273; total average 

 attendance, 123,443. The total expenses for 



school purposes derived from all sources 

 State, county, and city were $2,237,164.33, of 

 which amount there was paid from the State 

 treasury for white schools $470,345.16 ; for 

 colored schools, $122.983.88; total, $593.329.04 

 The amounts received from the State treasury 

 for white and colored schools, respectively, were 

 $4.43 each for the white pupils in average 

 daily attendance and $7.12 each for the colored 

 pupils in average daily attendance. The total 

 amount of expenses of all the schools in the 

 State shows an expenditure of $9.98 each for 

 the total number of pupils enrolled during the 

 year, and of $18.12 each for the total number 

 of pupils in average daily attendance. The 

 average daily attendance of white pupils was 

 only 56 per cent, of the number enrolled, and of 

 colored pupils only 50 per cent. 



The State Normal School during 1891 was full 

 to its utmost capacity, reaching the limit of 

 numbers fixed by law, and the applicants for 

 admission far exceeded this limit. The Board of 

 Education and the Association of School Com- 

 missioners of Maryland have united in request- 

 ing the General Assembly to provide for enlarg- 

 ing the building. 



Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Subsequent 

 to the filing of the opinion of Judge Alvey. on 

 Oct. 2. 1890. detailed in the "Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1890, an appeal was taken by the 

 State and the canal company to the Court of 

 Appeals, but the decree of the court below was 

 affirmed in February. 1891. The trustees were 

 unable to complete the repairs by May 1, 1891, 

 as stipulated, and the time was extended, and, 

 by the latter part of August the canal was suf- 

 ficiently repaired to permit transportation. Tho 

 cost of repairs largely exceeded the highest 

 estimate, and has amounted to $360,000, while 

 the tonnage has only been about 50,000 tons of 

 coal and the gross receipts about $20,000. The 

 practical results thus far accomplished are: The 

 canal has passed under the control of the Balti- 

 more and Ohio Railroad Company; an addi- 

 tional debt of at least $360,000, taking priority of 

 the claims of the State, has been created : the 

 revenues are not sufficient to pay the expenses 

 of the restored work, and a sale, sooner or later, 

 seems to be inevitable, perhaps, even before the 

 expiration of the four years named in the court's 

 decree. The proceeds of this sale will in all 

 probability prove not more than enough to re- 

 imburse the trustees for the cost of these repairs 

 and to pay the repair bonds of 1878, if indeed 

 they prove adequate for these purposes, and 

 consequently the State and the bondholders of 

 1844 will get nothing. Had the lease as au- 

 thorized by the act of 1890 been made, the 

 results would have been very different. A rail- 

 road competing in the interests of the people 

 with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad would 

 have been built along the line of the canal from 

 Cumberland to Georgetown ; the repair bond- 

 holders of 1878 and the labor claims of $70,000 

 for repairs prior to the recent expenditures 

 would nave been paid in full ; the bondholders of 

 1844 would have received 25 per cent, of their 

 bonds, and the State would be in the regular 

 receipt of an annuity of $15,000. The building 

 of a railroad through Allegany, Washington. 

 Frederick, and Montgomery counties would also 



