

NORTH CAROLINA. 



507 



quito disturbances of 1894. It was agreed in the 

 convention of Nov. 1, 1895, to refer the matter to 

 a commission. Afterward a lump sum was agreed 

 upon, and a part of the amount was paid, but, in 

 spite of repeated urgent applications, the balance 

 was withheld until forcible measures to collect it 

 were threatened. The concession granted to the 

 Maritime Canal Company for the construction of 

 an interoceanic ship canal was declared to be for- 

 feitable at the expiration of the time limit, Oct. 9, 

 1899, and President Zelaya declined to renew it, the 

 company having ceased active operations. The 

 original contract under the Cardenas-Menocal con- 

 cession, signed in April, 1887, provided that the 

 concession should not become operative until $2.- 

 000,000 had been expended and that the canal should 

 be completed in ten years. As the Maritime Canal 

 Company claimed that this period only began after 

 the $2,000,000 had been expended, the Nicaraguan 

 Government agreed that it should date from Oct. 9, 

 1889. President Zelaya entered into negotiations 

 with another American syndicate, and Congress on 

 Nov. 1, 1898, approved a provisional agreement made 

 with Edward S. Cragin and Mr. Eyre, of Grace & 

 Co., representing these New York and Chicago cap- 

 italists, looking to an arrangement between them 

 and the Maritime Canal Company. 



The United States Government appointed, under 

 an act of Congress approved on June 4, 1897, a new 

 commission to investigate the proper route and the 

 feasibility and cost of construction of a Nicaragua 

 canal. This commission, consisting of Rear-Admiral 

 J. E. Walker, Col. Peter C. Hains, of the Corps of 

 Engineers, and Lewis M. Haupt, civil engineer, 

 employed 70 engineers and was engaged for ten 

 months in examining the canal region from ocean 

 to ocean. In the preliminary report, handed in on 

 Dec. 26, 1898, the commissioners recommended the 

 construction of a canal of greater dimensions than 

 had previously been proposed, both in length of 

 locks and in width, depth, and radius of curvature. 

 The greater dimensions were rendered necessary by 

 the demands of modern commerce, size and draught 

 of modern ships, etc. Two routes were examined 

 the one chosen by Civil Engineer Menocal for the 

 Maritime Canal Company, and a low level route, 

 somewhat longer, laid down by Commander Lull. 

 The Maritime route requires the construction of 

 artificial basins to control the San Juan, involving 

 an enormous amount of embankment, and in other 

 places deep cuttings. Two of the commissioners 

 estimated the cost by this route at $124,000,000 and 

 by the Lull route at $123,000,000. Col. Hains be- 

 lieved that this estimate, considering the difficulties 

 incident to work in tropical countries, was lower 

 than it should be by about 20 per cent., while he 

 concurred witli the other members as to the feasi- 

 bility of the canal. The commission preferred the 

 Lull route, which avoids many great cuttings and 

 a great deal of the embankment required for the 

 creation of artificial basins. The canal, if built over 

 this route, was pronounced more desirable because 

 it is easier of construction and presents no problems 

 not well within good engineering precedents, and 

 will be safer and more reliable when completed. 



NORTH CAROLINA, a Southern State, one pf 

 the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution Nov. 

 21, 1789 ; area, 52.250 square miles. The population, 

 according to each decennial census, was 393,751 in 

 1790; 478,103 in 1800; 555,500 in 1810; 638,829 in 

 1820; 737,987 in 1830; 753,419 in 1840; 869,039 in 

 1850; 992,622 in 1860; 1,071.361 in 1870; 1,399.750 

 in 1880; and 1,617,947 in 1890. Capital, Raleigh. 



Government. The following were the State of- 

 ficers during the year : Governor, Daniel L. Russell, 

 Republican; Lieutenant Governor, C. A. Reynolds, 

 Republican ; Secretary of State, Cyrus Thompson, 





Populist ; Treasurer W. H. Worth, Populist ; Au- 

 ditor, H. W. Ayer, Populist ; Attorney-General, 

 Z. V. Walser, Republican ; Adjutant General, A. D. 

 Cowles, Republican ; Superintendent of Instruction, 

 C. H. Mebane, Populist ; Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture, John R. Smith, Repubiican; Labor Commis- 

 sioner, J. V. Hamrick, Populist ; Railroad Commis- 

 sioners, J. W. Wilson (discharged during the year 

 by the Governor), L. C. Caldwell, J. H. Pearson, 

 and I). H. Abbott: Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, William T. Faircloth, Republican ; Associate 

 Justices, B. M. Douglas, Republican ; Walter Clark, 

 Democrat ; D. M. Furches, Republican ; W. A. 

 Montgomery, Democrat ; Clerk, Thomas S. Kenan, 

 Democrat. 



Finances. The receipts of the State Treasury 

 for 1897 were $1,308,691.81, against disbursements 

 of $1,294,725.24, receipts exceeding expenditures 

 by the sum of $13,960.57. The receipts in 1898 

 were $1,337,552.40, against disbursements of $1,254,- 

 592.09, receipts exceeding expenditures by $82,- 

 960.31. Among the receipts for 1898 were : Atlantic 

 and North Carolina Railroad dividends, $12,666; 

 license tax on banks, $7,428 ; tax on stock in banks, 

 $10,587; express companies' 2-per-cent. tax, $3,000; 

 interest on bonds belonging to the State, $8,175 ; 

 insurance companies' license, $27,642 ; insurance 

 companies' 2-per-cent. tax, $55,398 ; Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College, colored, $8,414; College 

 of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, $15,585 ; ex- 

 periment station, $15,000; railroad dividends, $195,- 

 013 ; Penitentiary earnings, $94,942 ; railroad 

 property tax, general, $70,599; railroad property 

 tax, pensions, $10,861 ; taxes from the counties for 

 general purposes, $543,883 ; for interest on in- 

 comes, $4,273 ; for interest on merchants, $26,254 ; 

 for interest on liquor, $5,488 ; for pensions, property, 

 $73,345 ; for pensions, poll, $21.965 ; tonnage tax 

 on fertilizers, $61,377. Among the items of expend- 

 iture were : The Agricultural Department, $56,- 

 037; Bureau of Labor Statistics, $3,500; convict 

 accounts, $4,543 ; Department of Public Instruc- 

 tion. $3,000; Eastern Hospital, $40,000; interest 

 on 4-per-cent. State debt, $136,275 ; interest on 6- 

 per-cent. State debt, $159,330 ; the judiciary, $62,- 

 832; normal schools, $16,000; Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College, colored, $18,414 ; College of 

 Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, $38,085 ; ex- 

 periment station, $15,000; Insane Asylum, $55,450; 

 Institution for the Deaf. Dumb, and Blind, $97,500 ; 

 Penitentiary earnings, $91,047; School for the Deaf 

 and Dumb, $55,000; Oxford Orphan Asylum, 

 white, $10,000; Oxford Orphanage, colored, $5,000; 

 pensions to Confederate soldiers, $100,840; public 

 printing, $8,810; Railroad Commission, $14,506; 

 Soldiers' Home, $8.500; geological survey. $11,833 ; 

 State Guard, $6,000 ; State Hospital, $90,00 ; Nor- 

 mal and Industrial College, $25,194; State Univer- 

 sity, $25,000; supplemental appropriations for pub- 

 lic'schools, $10.856. 



The bonded indebtedness of the State amounted 

 to $6,360,770. 



Banks. There are 71 banks in the State 44 

 State, 21 private, and 6 savings. Following is an 

 abstract of the condition of all at the close of busi- 

 ness in 1898 : Resources Loans on real estate, 

 $1.092,542.65 ; all other loans and discounts, $5.983,- 

 284.53: overdrafts, $125,647.32; United States 

 bonds on hand, par value, $47,300; North Carolina 

 State bonds, $80.165.45; all other stocks, bonds, 

 and mortgages, $271,889.02; premium on bonds, 

 $2,345; due from banks, $1,429.299.25; banking 

 house, $196,531.13; furniture and fixtures, $70,- 

 564.60; all other real estate owned, $140,813.22; 

 cash items, $171,561.21; gold coin, $197,871 ; silver 

 coin and all fractional currency, $106,711.20 ; na- 

 tional bank notes and other United States notes, 



