OREGON. 



Gil 



which figures the board made its levy as fol- 



Current expense tax, 4|jJ mills $700,489 51 



Support of ( >rt-ron Nations! Guard, ft mill 80,840 08 



Hupix.rt of Btate University, J mill 21,671 !.' 



Total $768,60099 



Under a decision of the Supreme Court, ren- 

 dered July 28, 1892, in the case of the Oregon and 

 California Railroad vs. E. M. Croisan, Sheriff of 

 Marion County, a portion of the rulings of the 

 Hoard of Equalization were declared null and 

 void, and by reason of that decision the total 

 amount of taxable property in the State was re- 

 duced to $149,884,243, necessitating a new ad- 

 justment of State taxes as between the State 

 and the several counties. 



Owing to the ruling of the State Board of 

 Equalization as to the assessment of mortgages 

 at their full face value, exceptions have been 

 taken by one or more counties of the State, and 

 the courts thereof have refused to pay the 

 amounts thus levied against them. The matter 

 is now pending in the higher courts. There re- 

 mains due the State on account of taxes for 

 1891 about $130,000. 



Including $223,144.29 turned over by ex-State 

 Treasurer Webb, Jan. 12, 1891, the receipts dur- 

 ing the two years were $2,561,457.14, and the dis- 

 bursements $2,220,328.39. 



The State has no indebtedness, bonded or oth- 

 erwise, with the exception of a few outstanding 

 warrants, which are being redeemed as rapidly 

 as remittances are received from counties that 

 are behind in the payment of their taxes. 



Education. The biennial report of the 

 schools closes with March 7, 1892. The number 

 of districts in 1892 was 1,826; the number of 

 persons between four and twenty years of age, 

 111,770; the number enrolled. 75,526; the aver- 

 age daily attendance, 52,724; the number of 

 teachers, 2.694 ; average number of days taught, 

 112'80; number of schoolhouses, 1,701; average 

 monthly salary of male teachers, $50.04 ; of fe- 

 male teachers, $41.49 ; number of private schools, 

 121 ; value of schoolhouses and sites, $2,220,- 

 780.08 ; total value of school property, $2,494,- 

 233.89 ; paid for teachers' salaries, $676.973.93. 



The interest arising from the irreducible 

 school fund is. under the laws of the State, dis- 

 tributed annually among the several counties 

 for the benefit and support of the common 

 schools, in proportion to the number of persons 

 of school age reported by the county school su- 

 perintendents. The distribution of 1891 amount- 

 ed to $153,151.90, and the number of school 

 children was 105,622, the per capita being $1.45 

 each. The amount distributed in 1892 was 

 $162,066.50, the per capita being the same as 

 the year previous, among 111,770 children. 



The enrollment for the year at the State Nor- 

 mal School was 376. The senior class numbered 

 40, the largest number graduated at one time 

 in the history of the school. 



The total number of students at the Agricul- 

 tural college in November was 246, of whom 174 

 were in the regular course and 72 in the prepara- 

 tory department. The number holding scholar- 

 ships was 70. Each senatorial and representa- 

 tive district is entitled to as many scholarships 

 as the number of its members in the Legislature. 



The register of students at Portland Univer- 

 sity reached 240 in the spring tenn. The pro- 

 ceeds of sales of lands in University Park are 

 devoted to retiring the bonds of the institution, 

 and when that is done they will form a perma- 

 nent endowment fund. The first building. \\Vst 

 Hall, was finished during the year, and subscrip- 

 tions are being received for East Hall, which 

 will be for the young ladies. 



Railroads. The assessment of railroads of 

 the first class ranges from $3,059 a mile in 

 Pierce County, to $9,470 in Whitman, and aver- 

 ages about $6,000. The uniform equalized as- 

 sessment of roads of this class last year was $5,- 

 300 a mile. The Portland and Astoria road is 

 building rapidly. The sale of the Oregon Pa- 

 cific was ordered to take place on Jan. 15, 1893, 

 the minimum price being set at $1,250,000. 



A bill was introduced by Representative Her- 

 mann declaring forfeited " the lands within what 

 is called the quadrant, northwest of Forest 

 Grove, in Oregon. The grant of the Oregon 

 Central Railroad Company, by the act of May 4, 

 1870, was declared forfeited by the act of Jan. 

 31, 1885, as to that portion between Forest 

 Grove and Astoria, and the lands forfeited were 

 restored to entry." The railroad company 

 brought suit to set aside a patent issued to a set- 

 tler for land within the quadrant, and the Unit- 

 ed States has intervened for the purpose of sus- 

 taining the patent and the action of the depart- 

 ment in restoring the lands to settlement. A'bout 

 90,000 acres are involved. Representative Her- 

 mann's bill is in the interest of the settlers. 



Suit was brought by the Southern Pacific to 

 enjoin the sheriff from attempting to collect 

 $1,600 taxes claimed as due from the railroad. 

 The State Board of Equalization raised the 

 assessment of all railroad lines in Marion County 

 from $3,500 to $5,000 a mile, increasing the 

 company's taxes $1,600. The Supreme Court 

 held that the State Board, being a board f equal- 

 ization and not of assessment, has no authority 

 to change individual assessments or classify 

 property into any class other than such as are 

 authorized by law and appear upon the county 

 assessment roll. 



Penal and Charitable Institutions. Near- 

 ly all these are overcrowded, and increased ac- 

 commodations will soon become necessary. There 

 were 416 convicts in the State prison in July, a 

 larger number than had ever before been there 

 at one time. 



The Reform School, though but recently in- 

 stituted, is already crowded. It was designed to 

 accommodate 50, but had 62 inmates in August 

 and 79 in November. It is near Salem, on a site 

 comprising 370 acres. 



Industries and Products. The salmon- 

 pack this year amounted to 465.550 cases. There 

 nas been a great decline in this industry in 

 recent years, but the present report shows a 

 slight advance. Among the measures recom- 

 mended by the Fish Commission are an appro- 

 priation by the Legislature of $6.000 for a fish- 

 way to be blasted in the rock at the Oregon City 

 falls, to permit food fish to ascend the Willa- 

 mette, where there are good spawning grounds ; 

 a law requiring the owners of water ditches to 

 place a wire screen at the inlet to prevent fish 

 from entering the ditch ; to prevent fishing by 



