266 



DAKOTA. 



July 1st, a place is to be selected, and the town or 

 town site chosen is to give the Territory 160 

 acres of land and $100,000 in cash for public 

 buildings. A bill reorganizing the legislative 

 districts passed. Each district is entitled to 

 one councilman and two representatives. 



Finances. The statement of receipts and dis- 

 bursements for the fiscal years 1881 and 1882 

 is as follows : 



RECEIPTS. 



Balance in Treasury, Dec. 1, 1880 . $1,905 73 



From counties, 1381 55,918 86 



From counties, 1882 102,005 93 



From railroads, 1881, for 1880 tax 22,583 89 



From railroads, 1882, for 1881 tax 35,614 39 



From telegraph companies, 1882 518 55 



From sale of Insane Hospital bonds, 1881 41,540 00 



From sale of Penitentiary bonds 51,522 50 



From insurance companies for loss on Insane Hos- 

 pital 8,00000 



From sale of codes, 1881 70 50 



From sale of codes. 1882 65 00 



From sundries, 1881 135 65 



Total $314,878 00 



DISBURSEMENTS. 



For Auditor's warrants, 1881 $77,434 57 



For Auditor's warrants, 1882 151,116 82 



For interest on warrants, 1881 1.693 57 



For interest on warrants, 1832 



For interest on Insane Hospital bonds, 1882 



For interest on Penitentiary bonds, 1882 



For counties, proportion railroad-tax, 1881 



For counties, proportion railroad-tax. 1882 



For exchange and express charges, 1881 



For exchange and express charges, 1882 



Balance in Treasury, Nov. 30, 1882 



693 00 



2.400 00 

 1,900 20 



22,594 66 



25 05 



148 65 



43,463 90 



Total ...................................... $814,878 00 



LIABILITIES OF THE TERRITORY, NOV. 30, 1880. 

 Five-twenty 6 per cent. Insane Hospital bonds, 



dated May 4, 1881 ............................. $40,000 00 



Five-twenty 6 per cent. Penitentiary bonds, dated 



May 1,1881 .................................. 50,000 00 



Total ...................................... $90,000 00 



ASSETS OF THE TERRITORY, NOV. 30, 1882. 

 Balance in general fund ......................... $41,149 29 



Balance in Insane Hospital construction fund ____ 68 



Balance in Penitentiary construction fund ........ 2,313 93 



Total ..................................... $43,463 90 



The assessed value of property in 1882 was 

 nearly $48,000,000. 



Bonds to the following amounts were au- 

 thorized by the last session of the Legislature : 



For permanent improvement Sioux Falls Peniten- 



tiary ....................... , ......... ..... $30,000 



Construction of Bismarck Penitentiary ............. 50,000 



Deaf-Mute School at Sioux Falls .................... 12,000 



Dakota University at Vermilion .................. 30 000 



North Dakota University at Grand Forks ........... 30,000 



Agricultural College at Brookings ................. 25,000 



Hospital for the Insane, Yankton, permanent im- 



provements ..................................... 77 SOD 



Building the Hospital for the Insane at Jamestown. . 50^000 



Total ......................................... $~304,500 



Gov. Ordway, in his report for 1883, says: 

 Four years ago the Territory owed some $20,000 in 

 warrants, which securities, bearing 10 per cent, inter- 

 est, for want of funds, were selling at a large discount. 

 These warrants have all been paid off from current 

 revenues, leaving a handsome surplus in the Treasury, 

 and the Territory will have an outstanding indebted- 

 ness, when all the bonds provided for by the last two 

 legislatures are issued, of $394,500, bearino- but 5 

 per cent, annual interest ; substantially the 



and 



same amount outstanding against Yankton county, 



but not as large an amount of indebtedness by one 

 third as Lawrence county owes. These two counties 

 have assets to show for tneir large indebtedness, ordi- 

 nary court-houses and jails, valued perhaps at $15,000 

 each. The Territory, on the contrary, will have t\\o 

 penitentiaries, two hospitals for the insane, two uni- 

 versities, two normal schools, one school for deaf- 

 mutes, and one and perhaps two agricultural colleges 

 all costing in round numbers $400,000, yet worth to 

 the people double that sum, and so located in the east, 

 west, north, and south that one great State or two 

 smaller ones can securely and safely be placed upon 

 these essential foundations. This total indebtedness 

 of the Territory could easily be paid and every Ter- 

 ritorial bond retired next year by the assessment of a 

 five-mill tax upon the assessable property in the Ter- 

 ritory, without the slightest shock to business enter- 

 prise. It has been thought, however, more just to 

 defer the payments for the erection of these institu- 

 tions until the public lands to be given to the State 

 under the " Burrows enabling act " shall become avail- 

 able. 



Education. The total school revenue of 34 

 counties, for the year ending March 31, 1882, 

 was $343,719, which the superintendent is satis- 

 fied a full report would have increased to $500,- 

 000. This sum is raised almost wholly by direct 

 taxation, since it does not seem from the re- 

 ports that the proceeds of bonds issued to ena- 

 ble districts to erect and furnish school-houses 

 were included in receipts to any considerable 

 extent. Reports from 33 counties show the 

 following statistics : 



Total school districts organized 1,225 



Total graded schools 40 



Total ungraded schools 965 



Number of school-houses 799 



Value of same $525,877 



Amount paid county superintendents 88,616 



Average wages paid teachers, male 88 



Average wages paid teachers, female 26 



Total expenses of the office of Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction for salary, mileage, office, print- 

 ing, books, stationery, and postage 950 



An agricultural college at Brookings, one 

 or two normal schools, Dakota University at 

 Vermilion, and Yankton College at Yankton, 

 have been established. 



Capital Removal. On the 2d of June the 

 commission for choosing a site for the Terri- 

 torial capital selected Bismarck, and on the 

 25th of August work was begun for the erec- 

 tion of the Capitol. On the llth of September 

 Gov. Ordway ordered the Territorial Auditor, 

 Secretary, and Treasurer to remove their offices 

 from Yankton to Bismarck. The Auditor com- 

 plied, but the Secretary and Treasurer refused 

 to remove. On the 15th of September the de- 

 cision of Judge Edgarton of the Supreme Court 

 declaring the appointment of the commission- 

 ers illegal, was made public. An appeal was 

 taken to the full bench, but it had not been 

 argued at the close of the year. 



State Constitution. On the 19th of June a con- 

 vention, comprising more than 400 delegates 

 from the southern portion of the Territory, 

 belonging to both political parties, assembled 

 at Huron to consider the question of calling a 

 constitutional contention. This body adopted 

 a preamble and resolutions, from which the 

 following extracts are taken : 



Whereas, The Territory of Dakota, lying south of 



