688 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



Area and Population. The area of Paraguay 

 is estimated at 98,000 square miles, and the popu- 

 lation at 000,000 whites and 130,000 Indians. Ihe 

 number of foreigners living in Paraguay is esti- 

 mated at 17,000, including 5,000 Argentinians, 

 2500 Italians, 1,500 Spaniards, 1,250 Germans, 

 800 French, GOO Brazilians, 600 Swiss, 400 Austro- 

 Hunoarians, and 200 English. The number of 

 immigrants in 1898 was 337. Asuncion, the capi- 

 tal, has about 45,000 inhabitants. 



Finances. The revenue in 1897 was $5,752,84 

 in currency, of which $4,950,311 came from cus- 

 toms. The expenditures were $8,346,179. leaving 

 a deficit of $2,593;338. The internal debt in 1: 

 was $12,085,234. The foreign debts amounted to 

 $30 773,089, consisting of a debt to Brazil of 

 $9,876,466, a debt of $13,423,423 due the Argentine 

 Republic, an English debt of $4,973,200, and treas- 

 ury bonds for $2,500,000. 



Commerce. The imports in 1897 were valued 

 at $2,203,459 in gold, and exports at $12.908,299 

 in currency. The chief imports are textile fabrics, 

 wine, and rice. About 85 per cent, of the textiles 

 and 48 per cent, of the total imports come from 

 Great Britain. The export of yerba mate, or 

 Paraguay tea, was 6,547,642 kilogrammes, valued 

 at $5,475,633 in currency. The Government for- 

 merly owned the lands yielding this valuable 

 product, but has disposed of them to foreign com- 

 panies. Brazil now produces more of it than 

 Paraguay. The export of tobacco in 1897 was 

 1,064,593 kilogrammes, valued at $595,609 in cur- 

 rency; of hides, 169,490 pieces, valued at $1,959,- 

 293; of timber, the value of $1,164,162: of oranges, 

 the value of $146,485. There were 197 vessels, of 

 132,592 tons, entered at the port of Asuncion 

 during 1897. The value of the imports in 1898 

 was $2,608,487 in gold; exports, $2,463,924. 



A railroad to Asuncion has a length of 155 

 miles, and there are three lines of telegraphs, one 

 along the line of the railroad, one of 210 miles 

 to the Argentine frontier, and one of 125 miles 

 from Asuncion to Concepcion. The number of 

 dispatches in the internal service in 1897 was 

 15,691; in the foreign service, 37,273. 



PENNSYLVANIA, a Middle State, one of 

 the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 Dec. 12, 1787; area, 45,215 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 was 434,373 in 1790; 602,365 in 1800; 810,091 'in 

 1810; 1,047,507 in 1820; 1,348,233 in 1830; 1,724,- 

 033 in 1840; 2,311,786 in 1850; 2,906,215 in 1860; 

 3,521,951 in 1870; 4,282,891 in 1880; and 5,258,014 

 in 1890. Capital, Harrisburg. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1899: Governor, William A. Stone; 

 Lieutenant Governor, J. P. S. Gobin; Secretary 

 of the Commonwealth, William W. Griest; Sec- 

 retary of Internal Affairs, James W. Latta ; Treas- 

 urer, James S. Beacom; Auditor, L. G. McCau- 

 ley; Attorney-General, John P. Elkin; Adjutant 

 General, Thomas J. Stewart; Superintendent of 

 Instruction, N. C. Schaeffer; Insurance Commis- 

 sioner, Israel W. Durham; Commissioner of 

 Banking, Thomas J. Powers; Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, John Hamilton; Commissioner of For- 

 estry, J. H. Rothrock; Dairy and Food Commis- 

 sioner, Levi S. Wells; Zoologist, H. T. Fernald; 

 Factory Inspector, James Campbell; Veterinari- 

 an, Leonard Pierson; Librarian, George E. Reed; 

 Superintendent of Public Buildings and Grounds, 

 T. L. Eyre; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 James P. Sterrett; Associate Justices, Henry 

 reen, Henry W. Williams, who died Jan 25 

 James T. Mitchell, J. Brewster McCollum, John 

 Dean and D. Newlin Fell; Prothonotaries, 

 harles S. Greene, William Pearson, and George 



IVarson; Justices of the Superior Court, C. E. 

 Rice, J. A. Beaver, J. J. Wiekham, George B. <M 

 lady, P. P. Smith, William Porter, and Dimner 

 Bee'ber, appointed to take the place of Howard 

 J. Reedtr, who died at the close of 1898. N. C. 

 Schaell'er and Judges McCollum and Smith are 

 Democrats; the others are Republicans. 



Finances. There is a deficit of more than $3,- 

 500.000 in the State treasury. The decision of 1 he 

 Supreme Court in declaring unconstitutional the 

 direct-inheritance tax law makes quite a serious 

 reduction in receipts. On the other hand, the ne\v 

 charter bonus law adds materially to the rev- 

 enue. It appears that the Carnegie Company 

 alone must pay $600,000. There is am increase 

 from added liquor license fees of about WUioo a 

 year. The new mercantile tax law will go into 

 effect in 1900. The receipts for the year ending 

 'Nov. 3, 1898, were $13.235,120.97: for the ten 

 months ending Sept. 1, 1899, they were given as 

 $12,927,872. 



The total amount of county debts reported by 

 the Secretary of Internal Affairs is $08.724. <i.~i. 

 Philadelphia reporting $58,971,995, and Alle- 

 ghany $3.282.058. 



The value of real estate, as returned by the 

 assessors, is $2,814,545,927: this includes property 

 exempt from taxation. The number of taxables 

 reported for 1898 was 1,805,490, a decrease from 

 the number of the previous year. 



Education. The whole number of pupiK in 

 the public schools at the last biennial report \\a> 

 1.143.100; the average attendance, 8H4.020: i la- 

 total expenditures, $19,644,401. The Le-Nat un- 

 appropriated $11.000,000 for the schools for t In- 

 next two years, but the Governor red need it to 

 $10,000.000. The act lengthening the minimum 

 school year to seven montns affects about 200,000 

 children. 



The Governor cut also the appropriation of 

 $200,000 for the 13 normal schools. A bill pro- 

 hibiting school directors from fixing flu -a la lies 

 of county superintendents below $1.500 wa- ve- 

 toed, and therefore the item of $230,000 in tin- 

 appropriation bill for their salaries wa- reduced 

 to $205,000. The appropriation to the State Col- 

 lege was cut to $55.551.90. The trade school of 

 the Builders' Exchange in Philadelphia was < -l.-,-d 

 on account of the disapproval of the appropria- 

 tion for its support. 



The graduating class in the School of Me, Heine 

 of the university numl>ered 21ft. In the examina- 

 tion by the State Board of Medical Examiner^. 

 which is a prerequisite to practice in Hie Mate. 

 143 of the graduates were examined and one 

 failed, the general average being 80 per cent. < >f 

 the women's college, 28 were examined, none 

 failed, and the average was 81.22. Of the whole 

 number examined (425) the failures were 52, and 

 the average 80.94. 



Charities and Corrections. The provision 

 for the insane appears to be wholly inadequate. 

 The condition of the old buildings at tin- Hani- 

 burg Asylum is described as horrible room> in- 

 tended for one having two to four iiTmatt -. and 

 the floors of the halls being covered with mat- 

 tresses laid close together without any aisle |>a < 

 between. New buildings were provided for by the 

 Legislature of 1897, but they were not begun till 

 April, 1899. The other institutions for the in- 

 sane are also crowded. Some of the countie- are 

 building asylums under the county care act of 

 1897, which provides that counties providing 

 quarters for their insane on plans approved by 

 the Board of Charities may take their own pa- 

 tients and receive from the State $1.50 a \\rek for 

 each. They now pay $1 to $1.75 to the State 



