NORTH DAKOTA. 



553 



ernment and ballot reform : and demanded that 

 the farmer and the householder be allowed the 

 same exemption from taxation as the bondholder 

 and the capitalist namely, the right to deduct 

 from the taxable value of his property of what- 

 ever kind the amount of his just indebtedness. 



H. G. Connor withdrew and Walter R. Mont- 

 gomery was nominated for justice. 



The convention of the Democratic party was 

 held at Raleigh, Aug. 8. Samuel McD. Tate was 

 nominated for Treasurer, James E. Shepherd for 

 Chief Justice, and Walter Clark, James C. Mc- 

 Rae, and Armistead Burwell for Associate Jus- 

 tices. The resolutions declared it to be the duty 

 of Government to restore the free coinage of sil- 

 ver in the ratio of 16 to 1 ; favored the abolition 

 of tax on State-bank issues and imposition of an 

 income tax ; advocated, " as a matter of State 

 policy, such regulation and restriction of the is- 

 sues of banks chartered by North Carolina as will 

 secure a sound currency " ; commended the Presi- 

 dent for his action on tariff reform, Federal elec- 

 tion laws, etc. ; " pointed with pride " to the 

 record of the party in the State ; and further re- 

 solved " that we favor the abolition of the inter- 

 nal-revenue taxes on spirits and tobacco as soon 

 as practicable, and if this can not be done, that 

 the harsh and unjust features of the law for its 

 collection be modified." 



The result of the election was a victory for the 

 fusion candidates. The vote for Shepherd (Dem- 

 ocrat) for Chief Justice was 127,593, and for Fair- 

 cloth (fusion), 148,344. The Senate will have 9 

 Democrats, 15 Republicans, and 26 Populists. 

 The House will have 46 Democrats, 36 Republi- 

 cans, 33 Populists, and 1 Prohibitionist, giving 

 the fusionists a large majority. 



Senator Vance having died April 14, the Gov- 

 ernor appointed Thomas J. Jarvis to serve till 

 the Legislature should elect. As Senator Ran- 

 som's term expires in 1895, this Legislature will 

 elect 2 Senators, 1 for two years and 1 for the full 

 term. 



NORTH DAKOTA, a Northwestern State, 

 admitted to the Union Nov. 3, 1889; area, 70,- 

 795 square miles. The population, according to 

 the census of 1890, was 182,719. Capital, Bis- 

 marck. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor. Eli C. D. 

 Shortridge, Independent ; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Elmer D. Wallace; Secretary of State, C. M. 

 Dahl ; Treasurer, Knud J. Nomland ; Auditor, 

 Arthur W. Porter ; Attorney-General, William 

 H. Standish ; Commissioner of Agriculture and 

 Labor, Nelson Williams ; Commissioner of In- 

 surance, James Cudhie ; Siiperintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction. Laura J. Eisenhuth ; Adjutant 

 General, W. H. Jopping; Railroad Commissioners, 

 Peter Cameron, Nils P. Rasmussen, Benjamin B. 

 Stevens ; Commissioner of Irrigation and Forest- 

 ry, W. W. Barrett ; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, Joseph M. Bartholomew ; Associate Jus- 

 tices, Alfred Wallin and Guy C. H. Corliss. 



Finances. The report of the Treasurer, giv- 

 ing a summary of receipts and disbursements for 

 the year ending June 30, 1894, has the following 

 items : The balance on hand Oct. 31, 1893, was 

 $114,144.48; the receipts brought the total to 

 $750,171.36. Included in this amount was the 

 gross earnings tax from railroads, $49,606.81, and 



the tax on insurance companies, $12,861.59. The 

 State taxes amounted to $164.240.23. 



The total of disbursements was $612,62070 

 of which $230,502.05 was from the general fund. 

 The balance in the treasury June 30 was $137- 

 550.66, of which $2,480.66 was in the general 

 fund. At the end of the year the finances were 

 reported in bad condition, the general fund over- 

 drawn $7,440, and the balance on hand $38,763, 

 with large bills outstanding. 



The expenses of the State institutions for the 

 two years were : School for the Deaf, $19,000 ; 

 Penitentiary, $59.590 ; Soldiers' Home, foj- main- 

 tenance, $17,550 ; State University, $73.920 ; 

 normal school, $40,520 ; insane, $139,070. There 

 were other appropriations, aggregating $124,- 

 390, and improvements or construction of State 

 institutions, $90,950. making the aggregate for 

 public institutions $564,990. 



The taxable valuation in 1894 was $83,495.230. 

 The highest rate of taxation allowed by the Con- 

 stitution is 4 mills. The railroad taxes for the 

 past two years amounted to $109,247.82. The 

 actual amount handled during the two years was 

 about $837,600, while the aggregate of the ex- 

 penses as above was about $120,000 in excess of 

 that amount. 



It must not be inferred that the State is bank- 

 rupt. Its public institutions are of great value, 

 and are well endowed with land aggregating 

 over 700,000 acres, some of which has already 

 sold at high prices. In addition to this land it 

 has school lands that will produce when sold 

 more than $25,000,000. 



The permanent school fund now has outstand- 

 ing contracts for land which draw 6 per cent, in- 

 terest, amounting to $1,848,042.22, bonds amount- 

 ing to $405,684, and $69.846 in cash. Two years 

 hence there will be due the fund on account of 

 lands already sold $350,000. 



The report of the manager of the State exhibit 

 at the World's Fair shows that $12,347.17 was 

 paid on the building account, and $34,383.30 for 

 general expenses, leaving a balance unexpended 

 of $2,367.48. In addition to this, propertv to 

 the value of $3,227.65 was given to various State 

 institutions. 



The Capitol-addition bonds have been negoti- 

 ated, and the Treasurer received in June a draft 

 for $41,118.36 in payment for them. These 

 bonds are the remainder of the $50,000 that were 

 authorized by the last Legislature for the com- 

 pletion of the south wing of the Capitol build- 

 ing. Of the amount, $10,000 was taken in 1893 

 by the State Board of University and School 

 Lands, and the work of building was carried as 

 far as, the amount would warrant. The remain- 

 ing $40,000 were offered for sale in the spring of 

 1894, and were sold in Chicago in June. 



Farm and Home Ownership. Statistics 

 show that of every 100 families living on farms 

 in North Dakota 90 own the farms, and 46 have 

 no incurnbrance on those farms. On the owned 

 farms there are liens amounting to $11,168,854, 

 which is 36-3 per cent, of their value, and this 

 debt bears interest at the average rate of 9'54 per 

 cent., making the average annual interest charge^ 

 $86 to each family. Each owned and incum- 

 bered farm on the average is worth $2,486, and 

 is subject to a debt of $902. 



The corresponding facts for homes are that 



