KENTUCKY. 



419 



before her armies. He lived in constant fear 

 that his turn would come next, and the Rus- 

 sians took little trouble to make his mind easy. 

 They blamed him for stirring up mischief in 

 the neighboring khanates. They knew that 

 if their sovereignty in Turkistan should be as- 

 sailed by a religious war, he would be at the 

 head of it. Anticipating invasion, he had built 

 a fort in a mountain pass leading from his 

 country to Russian territory, while at the same 

 time he had been eager to obtain support from 

 Great Britain. But a more formidable enemy 

 than Russia arose for him for the moment in 

 China, which, years ago, had set out to recon- 

 quer her Mohammedan provinces, and had, at 

 the close of 1876, succeeded in subduing the 

 rebellious Sungarians, had a few months before 

 his death even defeated the Amir himself, aud 

 forced him to retire to some fortified positions 

 which he had laboriously prepared. That 

 Yakub Beg clearly saw the danger which 

 threatened his country, seemed to be indi- 

 cated by the report that he appointed Hakim 

 Khan Tura, his faithful lieutenant, as his suc- 

 cessor, in preference to his own sons. Hakim, 

 however, declined the gift, and Kuli Beg, the 

 eldest son of Yakub Beg, succeeded to the 

 throne. Hakim Khan Tura is the sole direct 

 representative of the ancient reigning dynasty 

 of Kashgar before the conquest of that country 

 by the Chinese. He took a prominent part in 

 assisting the late Arnir in his early wars, and 

 was always greatly trusted by Yakub. Kuli 

 Beg, the eldest son of the late Amir, who has 

 ascended the throne of his father, is the son of 

 a Kazak woman of Ak-Musjid, and is now in 

 his thirty-third year. He was always distrusted 

 by his father, in consequence of his opposition 

 to the British alliance and his Russian sympa- 

 thies. 



According to another report, which reached 

 India through Cashmere, Yakub Khan had 

 been assassinated by Hakim Khan Tura, and 

 Yakub's eldest son had also been slain. It was 

 also stated in this report that Hakim Khan had 

 been recognized by the troops and the people 

 as Amir. 



Two official dispatches received in St. Peters- 

 burg in January, 1878, stated that the Chinese 

 troops had massacred at Manas upward of 15,- 



000 men, women, and children ; that they had 

 fortified Tootchtoagaran and Aksa, two strong 

 strategical points, and that the people were 

 flying in terror into Russian territory. 



KENTUCKY. The financial condition of 

 the State of Kentucky is very satisfactory. 

 The public debt amounts to only $183,894, 

 classified as follows : 



1 5-per-cent. bond due 1865, and outstanding.... $5,000 00 



4 6-per-cent. bonds due and outstanding 4,000 00 



Internal Improvement scrip due and outstanding. 894 00 



109 6-per-cent. bonds maturing In 1894 109,000 00 



60 6-per-cent. bonds maturing In 1 898 60,1100 00 



6 6-per-cent. bonds maturing In 1886 6,000 00 



Total $llaj94~<)0 



The $9,394 of over-due bonds and scrip re- 

 main outstanding, merely because they have 



never been presented for payment, and interest 

 on them ceased at maturity. To meet its in- 

 debtedness when it falls due, the State held, 

 on the 10th of October: 



280 United States 5-20 gold-bearing Interest bonds, 

 deposited in the Bank of America, at New York 

 and by act of the Legislature held specially for 

 the payment of the bonded indebtedness of the 



State, worth $246,000 00 



406 shares of stock in Bank of Louisville 82 480 00 



Stock in turnpike roads, worth 506'267 42 



Total $784,747 42 



At the beginning of the last fiscal year there 

 was a balance in the Treasury of $557,605.16. 

 The receipts of the year amounted to $1,484,- 

 685.35; expenditures, $1,458,895.73; leaving 

 a balance at the end of the year of $583,394.87. 

 The balance of the " Kentucky War Claim " 

 upon the Federal Government, yet unpaid, is 

 $397,587.27. 



The common school system of the State 

 shows rapid improvement. The following 

 statistics, making comparisons with the year 

 1869, exhibit the progress of eight years : 



In 1869, the total number of common schools taught 4,447 



In 1877, the total number taught 6,800 



In 1S69, the highest number of children at school ... 1 69,477 



In 1877, the highest number of children at school . . . 208,000 



In 1869, the number of children reported 876.S68 



In 1877, the number of children reported 470,828 



This indicates an increase of 1,353 common 

 schools taught in eight years, and an increase 

 of 93,455 of pupil children reported in the same 

 period. 



During the year there were 532 colored 

 schools taught ; and the amount of income 

 from the special tax, under the law of 1874, 

 was $50,736.93. In speaking of the working 

 of the system, the Governor says, in his mes- 

 sage to the Legislature of 1878: "We have 

 now had three years of experience with our 

 colored school system, and it may be safely 

 asserted that the result in this time has fur 

 surpassed that accomplished in the same length 

 of time when the system of public white 

 schools was inaugurated. There are, without 

 doubt, material benefits to be derived from 

 the education of all human beings ; and it is 

 to be hoped that the colored people will show 

 their appreciation of the system presented to 

 them, by cultivating a healthy sentiment in 

 favor of education, and by sending their chil- 

 dren to school, so as to prepare them to exer- 

 cise the privilege of voting intelligently, and 

 enjoy, to the fullest extent, all the sacred 

 rights of freemen." 



The Agricultural and Mechanical College, 

 which is connected with the Kentucky Uni- 

 versity at Lexington, is a State institution, and 

 receives $9,900 annually from the endowment 

 fund. The number of students has decreased 

 from 288 in 1868-'69 to 66 during the term of 

 1877-'78. 



The Institution for Feeble-Minded Children, 

 located near Frankfort, contained 120 pupils 

 at the end of the year, and was reported to be 

 in excellent condition. The expenses for two 

 years ending September 30th were $51,181.89. 



