MARYLAND. 



475 



The receipts of the oyster fund, with balance 

 on hand, aggregated $58,227.34, the disbursements 

 being $55,083.92, leaving a balance on hand of 

 $3,143.42. The Comptroller said: "It is abso- 

 lutely impossible to maintain the State fishery 

 force upon such revenue. With the strictest econ- 

 omy and with a due regard for the efficiency of 

 the same the navy can not be maintained for less 

 than $60,000 per annum." 



The State debt aggregated $9,284,980.24, the 

 same as the year before. From this sum was 

 to be deducted t the available and productive assets 

 of the State, aggregating $1,587,470, as well as 

 the amount of stocks, bonds, and cash to the 

 credit of the sinking funds of $4,004,488.75, mak- 

 ing the total amount $0,251,958.75, leaving as the 

 net debt of the State at the close of the fiscal 

 year $3,033,027.49, as against $2,949,078.13 for 

 the corresponding period of the preceding year, 

 or an increase of $83,949.30. 



The assessed value of property for State pur- 

 poses amounted to $003,320,090, a decrease of 

 $4,639,170. The counties showed a gain of $65,- 

 900, while the shrinkage in Baltimore city was 

 shown to be $4,705,130; notwithstanding which 

 shrinkage there was a gain of $02,798,389 under 

 the new or " Bankard " assessment over the basis 

 of 1890, as made under the provisions of the as- 

 sessment of 1876. 



The gross receipts of the State tobacco ware- 

 houses during the year aggregated $40,439.69 ; the 

 disbursements were $35,552.47, leaving net earn- 

 ings of $4,887.22, as against $78,541.66 gross re- 

 ceipts and $72,283.78 disbursements, with net 

 earnings of $6,257.88 for the year previous, or a 

 loss in net earnings during the fiscal year of 

 $1,370.06. 



Banks. The 48 national banks of the State 

 reported resources and liabilities amounting to 

 $20,900,604.68. Among the resources were : Loans 

 and discounts, $11,568,200.18; United States bonds 

 to secure circulation, $2,337,750; N stocks, securi- 

 ties, etc., $2,414,821.58; due from approved reserve 

 agents, $1,606,479.14; lawful money reserve, $1,- 

 081,900.07. The individual deposits amounted to 

 $11,787,172.18. 



Education. The report of the Superintendent 

 of Education for 1898 shows that the number of 

 public schools in Baltimore was 192; in the coun- 

 ties, 2,273; making a total of 2,465. The number 

 of pupils in the city schools was 94,708; in the 

 counties, 141,295; a total of 236,003 and an in- 

 crease of 6,056. The highest number enrolled in 

 one term in the city was 67,192; in the counties, 

 134,924; a total of 202,116 and an increase of 

 12,220; average number of pupils in daily attend- 

 ance, city and counties, 134,539; number of teach- 

 ers, 4,987. 



It was shown by the Secretary of the State 

 Board of Education, reporting on the financial 

 condition of the public schools for the year ending 

 July 31, 1898, that receipts from all sources in 

 the city of Baltimore amounted to $1,484,518.55; 

 in the counties, $1,551,088.31 a total of $3,035,- 

 600.80 and an increase of $450,960.36. The amount 

 paid for teachers' salaries in Baltimore was 

 $1,092,762.06; in the counties, $874,195.34 a total 

 of $1,966,957.40 and an increase of $93,785.75. 

 There was paid for building, repairing, and fur- 

 nishing schoolhouses a total of $315,851.26; for 

 books and stationery, $141,226.39; for rent, fuel, 

 and other incidentals, $180,060.39. The amount 

 received from State school tax appropriated to 

 colored schools was $97,884.17; from county tax, 

 $646,892.95. 



Industries. The average yearly output from 

 the coal mines of the State in the past five years 



is officially reported to have been about 4,838,109 

 tons. From the extensive increase in the annual 

 output, and because of the improvements and 

 greater facilities for mining and transportation, 

 it is- expected that the average yield will be great- 

 ly increased. Experts in coal mining estimated 

 as early as 1854 that the three most important 

 veins would furnish a total of at least 1,210,- 

 000,000 tons. Between that date and 1898 there 

 had been taken from the coal region about 101,- 

 255,745 tons, and it was estimated that there 

 remained to be mined about 1,108,744,255 tons. 

 At the present rate of mining the veins now being 

 worked could not be exhausted in less than two 

 hundred and forty years. 



The fisheries give employment to more than 

 41,000 persons, with an invested capital of about 

 $8,000,000, while the fishery products, including 

 shellfish, were valued by the latest report at 

 nearly $7,000,000. Among the fish last reported 

 caught in the waters are the alewife or menhaden, 

 bluefish, sheepshead, butterfish, crocus, sea bass, 

 squeteague, spot, tautog, harvest fish, black bass, 

 brook trout, rainbow trout, sea trout, shad, sum- 

 mer herring, croaker, Spanish mackerel, striped 

 bass, salt-water chub, white perch, yellow perch, 

 rock, catfish, and others. The shad takes first 

 place, in 1896 the catch having been 1,541,050, 

 weighing 5,541,499 pounds, valued at $166,551. 

 In the menhaden fisheries Maryland holds first 

 place among the States as to the number of 

 fishermen employed, the capital invested, and the 

 number of gill nets, boats, and traps. In 1896 

 17,607,315 pounds were taken, valued at $126,050, 

 or more than one fourth the value of the entire 

 catch of the United States. 



In the season of 1898-'99 5,447,814 bushels of 

 oysters were inspected in the State, of which 

 amount 4,271,726 bushels were inspected in Balti- 

 more. These oysters were used for raw shipment 

 by the packers and for local use. 



Statistics showing inspections of tobacco at 

 the State warehouses for 1898 give the total re- 

 ceipts at 36,210 hogsheads, and the shipments at 

 38,739 hogsheads. Shipments exceeded receipts 

 by 2,529 hogsheads, due to a demand for con- 

 siderable common tobacco remaining in the ware- 

 houses for several years past. Of the total ship- 

 ments, 8,571 hogsheads were received from Ohio. 

 Shipments were as follow, in hogsheads: To 

 Bremen, 3,949; to Holland, 16,054; to Hamburg, 

 2,109; to Antwerp, 213; to northern Europe, 272; 

 to France, 19,009; to England, 30; home consump- 

 tion and coastwise, 5,674. 



The value of canned goods exported from Balti- 

 more in 1898 was $1,136,766, as against $941,729 

 in 1897. The price of tomatoes for the season 

 of 1899 advanced to $6.50 and $7 per ton. 



Political. Six parties were in the field at the 

 November election, and the contest was spirited. 

 The nominations were as follow : 



Republican party For Governor, Lloyd 

 Lowndes; for Comptroller, Phillips Lee Golds- 

 borough; for Attorney-General, John V. L. 

 Findlay. 



Democratic party For Governor, John Walter 

 Smith; for Comptroller, Joshua W. Hering; for 

 Attorney-General, Isador Rayner. 



Prohibition party For Governor, James 

 Swann; for Comptroller, Phineas F. Ball; for 

 Attorney-General, Finley C. Hendrickson. 



Union Reform party For Governor, William 

 Nevin Hill; for Comptroller, William E. George; 

 for Attorney-General, Robert Brent Walling. 



Social-Democratic party For Governor, Levin 

 Thomas Jones ; for Comptroller, Joseph C. Fow- 

 ler; for Attorney-General, Charles B. Bachman. 



