NORTH CAROLINA. 



565 



marched upon Aguas Calientes and Rama, and 

 at its approach the rebels disbanded and fled into 

 the forest. The captains of the American and 

 English war vessels offered to arrange an armis- 

 tice with the revolutionists, and when the Gov- 

 ernment troops captured the bluff in front of 

 Bluefields Gen. Reyes took refuge in the British 

 consulate and offered to surrender without fur- 

 ther resistance. The captains of the foreign war 

 ships delivered Bluefields to President Zelaya's 

 troops on March 1, receiving a pledge that order 

 would be maintained and the revolutionists 

 spared. Gen. Torres, the new Governor appointed 

 by President Zelaya, called upon the merchants 

 to pay again the duties that they had already 

 paid to Gen. Reyes. Martial law was declared, 

 and a commission that had been appointed to 

 frame a permanent tariff was dissolved, disap- 

 pointing the merchants, who looked to it for 

 relief from burdens on foreign capital and com- 

 merce. The American merchants who had paid 

 duties to the insurgent government, although 

 warned by the Nicaraguan Government not to 

 do so, appealed to Minister William L. Merry, 

 who arranged with the Nicaraguan Government 

 that, pending a diplomatic settlement of the ques- 

 tion, the merchants should pay the duties claimed 

 into the hands of the British consul for safe- 

 keeping. While the negotiations were proceed- 

 ing Minister Merry found himself suddenly cut 

 off from telegraphic communication with Wash- 

 ington, and consequently he went on a war ves- 

 sel to Colon. Another British war vessel arrived 

 at Bluefields while the British consular authori- 

 ties were investigating the claims of British sub- 

 jects who had been shot or flogged during the 

 revolution. 



The federation called the Greater Republic of 

 Central America, formed in 1896 by treaty be- 

 tween the five Central American republics, in 

 which a central Diet that sat at Amapala was 

 intrusted with the partial direction of foreign 

 affairs and the settlement of questions in dispute 

 between the several states, came to a standstill 

 in consequence of mistrust and discord between 

 some of the republics. In 1899 the three adjacent 

 middle states of Nicaragua, Salvador, and Hon- 

 duras arranged to revive the scheme and to per- 

 petuate the league for themselves under the name 

 of the United States of Central America. It was 

 agreed that the President of the new republic 

 should be elected on Dec. 13, 1899, and that none 

 of the presidents of the component states, who 

 are reduced to the rank of governors, shall be 

 a candidate for the post. The capital was trans- 

 ferred from Amapala, Honduras, to Chinandega, 

 Nicaragua. The new Government could not be 

 organized, in consequence of a political upheaval 

 in Salvador. Therefore Nicaragua resumed her 

 independent international status in 1899, and ap- 

 pointed a separate minister to Washington. 



NORTH CAROLINA, a Southern State, one 

 of 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 

 officers during the year: Governor, Daniel L. Rus- 

 sell, Republican; Lieutenant Goverjior, C. A. 

 Reynolds, Republican; Secretary of State, Cyrus 

 Thompson, Populist; Treasurer, W. H. Worth, 

 Populist; Auditor, H. W. Ayer, Populist; Attor- 

 ney-General, Z. V. Walser, Republican; Adjutant 



General, R. B. Royster, Democrat; Superintend- 

 ent of Instruction, C. H. Mebane, Populist; Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, John R. Smith, Repub- 

 lican; Insurance Commissioner, James R. Young, 

 Democrat; Labor Commissioner, .]. V. 1 fain rick, 

 Populist; Railroad Commissioners, R. B. Royster, 

 L. C. Caldwell, J. H. Pearson, and I). 1 1. Abbott; 

 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William T. 

 Faircloth, Republican; Associate Justices, R. 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 1899 were $1,730,997.60, against disbursements 

 of $1,600,033.30. Among the receipts for 1899 

 were: Railroad company dividends on State's 

 stock, $37,998; license tax on banks, $4,723.70; 

 tax on bank stock, general purposes, $10,527.50; 

 prison debt bonds, $120,202.50; prison farm 

 bonds, $65,250; insurance fees, $6,868.50; insur- 

 ance licenses, $25,454.86; insurance companies, 2- 

 per-cent. tax, $54,662.59; North Carolina Rail- 

 road Company, dividends on State's stock, 

 $195,013; State Prison earnings, $84,707.20; 

 railroad property tax, general, $72,937.21: 

 railroad property tax, pensions, $11,220.41; 

 taxes from the counties, for general pur- 

 poses, $550,135; tonnage tax on fertilizers, 

 $59,644.76. Among the items of expenditure 

 were: Agricultural department, $64,985.16; in- 

 terest on 4-per-cent. consolidated bonds, $133,750; 

 on 4-per-cent. prison debt bonds, $2,200; on 6- 

 per-cent. construction bonds, $195,210; judiciary, 

 $63,869.15; normal schools, $16,650; College of 

 Agricultural and Mechanical Arts, $33,735; Ex- 

 periment Station, $15,000; Institution for Deaf, 

 Dumb, and Blind, $67,500; School for the Deaf 

 and Dumb, $47,189.46; Oxford Orphan Asylum, 

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

 000; State Hospital, Goldsboro, $45,000; State 

 Hospital, Morganton, $105,734.08; State Hos- 

 pital, Raleigh, $67,049.95; State Normal and In- 

 dustrial College, $30,000. 



The bonded debt of the State at the close of 

 the fiscal year was $6,501,770. 



The State's income from investments includes: 

 Income from railroad shares, $220,345, and in- 

 terest on bonds $5,470. The income to the State 

 Board of Education from investment is $5,850. 



Banks. There are in North Carolina 27 na- 

 tional banks, 44 State banks, 21 private banks, 

 4 savings banks, and 2 trust companies. The 

 total resources of all State and private sav- 

 ings banks in 1898 were $10,526,900. The report 

 of the Corporation Commission shows that the 

 total resources of the same classes of banks on 

 Dec. 2, 1899, were $13,222,501.12. In 1898 the 

 deposits in these banks subject to check were 

 $5,208,917; in 1899 the deposits were $8,178,- 

 782.47. 



Railroads. In the past year 108.25 miles of 

 railroad were built in the State. In the same 

 period the railroads increased their earnings over 

 1898 $796,281.93, the total earnings for 1899 be- 

 ing $13,253,627.43. The valuation of railroad 

 property in the State increased $10,769,099.34. 

 The railroads of the State earned during the year 

 a trifle over 12 per cent, on their total valuation. 



Education. The most important bill for pop- 

 ular education that has been enacted in a decade 

 by a North Carolina Legislature is that appro- 

 priating $100,000 for the public schools. It passed 

 both houses practically without opposition, and 

 was supported by members of all parties. 



The enrollment of white male pupils increased 

 from 133,788 in 1898 to 138,124 in 1899, and the 

 number of white females enrolled increased from 



