370 



INDIANA. 



that the Attorney-General was the proper rela- 

 tor, held that the law itself was unconstitutional ; 

 but the Supreme Court reversed the decision and 

 held the law to be constitutional. Some of the 

 balances were paid on demand of the Attorney- 

 General's agent, and upon these sums that offi- 

 cial collected fees. The law gives the Attorney- 

 General 12 per cent, on moneys collected or 

 property recovered for the State. The total 

 amount collected was $541,242.62. In the At- 

 torney-General's report at the end of the year it 

 was shown that the cities and towns of Indiana 

 had an excess on hand of State school funds 

 amounting to $202,078.57. 



Augustus Cronkhite, ex-treasurer of Warren 

 County, who fled in January, 1893, upon finding 

 that his defalcation was about to be discovered, 

 was captured in March at Los Angeles, Cal., and 

 brought to trial, found guilty, and in May was 

 sentenced to three years in the Penitentiary. He 

 was serving his second term as treasurer, and 

 had appropriated to his own use about $65,000 

 of the money of the county. 



The Fee and Salary Law. This law (see 

 " Annual Cyclopjedia " for 1893, page 407) has 

 been declared by the Supreme Court unconstitu- 

 tional so far as it relates to county treasurers, 

 on the ground that " it violates that part of the 

 Constitution which requires all laws relating to 

 the fees and salaries of county officers to be uni- 

 form throughout the State and of general opera- 

 tion. In no instance is the law allowed to be 

 special or local. By reason of the omission in 

 the act of 1891 to p'rovide for the salary of the 

 treasurer in Shelby County, as in each of the 

 other 91 counties of the State, the law became 

 local, and therefore unconstitutional. The act 

 of 1893, which purported to amend the law by 

 providing a salary for the omitted officers of 

 Shelby County, was considered by the court. 

 The original law being invalid, it was as if there 

 was no law, and the amendment, therefore, could 

 not avail to remove its unsoundness." 



Banks. The statements of the Indianapolis 

 banks, showing their condition July 18, exhibit, as 

 compared with that of Oct. 3, 1893, an increase in 

 total assets from $11,876,798.53 to $13,434,404.83 ; 

 in deposits, from $8,264,678.12 to $9,827,151.47; 

 in cash and exchange, from $4,559,077.38 to $5,- 

 405,005.14 ; and a decrease in loans and dis- 

 counts from $5,592,402.93 to $5,407,601.24. 



The trial of those concerned in the wrecking 

 of the Indianapolis National Bank, which failed 

 July 25, 1893, resulted in their conviction. The 

 ex-]> resident of the bank, T. P. Haughey, pleaded 

 guilty to 5 of the 167 counts against him, 

 charging him with falsifying accounts and mis- 

 applying the funds of the bank. The defend- 

 ants, F. A. and P. B. Coffin, were sentenced to 

 ten and five years in prison respectively, and A. 

 S. Reed was released on suspended sentence and 

 bond. During the progress of the trial, April 

 25, it was discovered that one of the jurors, 

 named Armstrong, was attempting to secure a 

 bribe. He was convicted, and sentenced to eight- 

 een months in the Penitentiary. J. W. Paris, on 

 trial for his part in the Greentown Bank case, 

 was found guilty of false pretenses, and sentenced 

 to six years' imprisonment and $1,000 fine. 



Education. The report of the State Superin- 

 tendent, made in May, shows the total school 



population children from six to twenty-one 

 to be 808,091. The amount available for appor- 

 tionment was $1,237,590.34. Of this the Slate 

 Normal School received $15,000, and the re- 

 mainder, except $10,453.84, which was left in the 

 treasury, was apportioned among the counties ;it 

 the rate of $1.50 per capita. 



In reply to the question of certain school trus- 

 tees whether they could enforce a rule to have 

 the Bible read in the schools, the State Superin- 

 tendent gave it as his opinion that such a require- 

 ment could not be enforced. Section 4493 of t he 

 Revised Statutes says : " The Bible shall not be 

 excluded from the public schools of the State." 

 This simply authorizes its introduction into, or 

 rather prohibits its exclusion from, the schools, 

 without saying how it may be used. This is the 

 point construed by the Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction. He says : " In view of the provi- 

 sions of the State Constitution, it seems that the 

 only thing the Legislature intended to author- 

 ize school authorities to do in section 4493 is 

 to put the Bible in the school and leave the use 

 of it to the judgment and conscience of the 

 teacher." 



At the annual meeting of county superintend- 

 ents in June the action of the State Board in 

 readopting the schoolbooks in use was ap- 

 proved, but it was declared to be the sense of the 

 association " that the schoolbook law of this 

 State should be amended so as to require the 

 schoolbook companies to place the text-books 

 used in the schools of this State in the hands of 

 local dealers, and that county superintendents 

 and trustees be relieved from all responsibility 

 concerning the same without imposing extra 

 burdens upon the schoolbook companies." 



The farmers' institutes for the year cost 

 $3,870. The State appropriates $5,000 for 

 them. 



The record of attendance at the State Nor- 

 mal School at Terre Haute in May showed a 

 total enrollment of different sttidents for the 

 year of 1,330, an increase of 240 over the preced- 

 ing year, and a term enrollment of 1,182, an in- 

 crease of 255 over the last spring term. The 

 number of graduates in June was 58. 



The North Manchester College and Normal 

 School of the Church of the United Brethren in 

 Christ received in March an endowment of 

 $1,000,000. 



The catalogue of Wabash College, at Craw- 

 fordsville, showed the total number of students 

 at the spring term to be 246. A summer school 

 was held during six weeks of the vacation. 



The management of Purdue University at 

 Lafayette announces the establishment of special 

 elective courses for the winter in the School of 

 Agriculture. These courses will include live- 

 stock husbandry, soils, crops and buildings. 

 dairying, chemistry, bacteriology, and rural 

 law. The National" Association of Master Me- 

 chanics at Saratoga, in June, voted to carry on 

 its proposed experimental and scientific work 

 for the coming year in Purdue laboratories, ap- 

 pointing a committee to superintend the work 

 and raise funds to carry it on thoroughly. This 

 will involve an expenditure of probably $20,000, 

 and the location of the headquarters of the great 

 railway interests in experimental work in Lafay- 

 ette for one year. 



