766 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



WILKES, CHARLES. 



Third By averting the issue of national repu- 

 diation, which will inevitably become a plank in 

 American politics, unless monetary relief is speed- 

 ily brought to the people. 



1. We are, therefore, in favor of the immediate 

 payment of the entire national debt, so far as can 

 be done in good faith to both debtor and creditor, 

 in strict pursuance of the contract, in lawful money. 



2. AB lawful money meant greenbacks when a 

 large portion of the debt was contracted, it cannot 

 justly have a different meaning now. Hence, the 

 further issue of Treasury notes necessary for this 

 portion of the public debt should be stamped with 

 the proviso of inability to pay import duties and in- 

 terest on the public debt. 



3. So much of the public debt as was originally 

 payable in " coin " to be discharged forthwith oy the 

 sale of full legal tenders for silver bars, if found to 

 be the cheapest material for coinage. 



4. The payment of such part of the public debt as 

 calls for "gold" to be paid in that material, if the 

 same be in the Treasury. If notj then that sale be 

 made of full legal tenders, at their market value, to 

 be issued for that purpose, for the purchase of gold 

 coin or bullion, so far as may be necessary. 



5. The speedy withdrawal of all bank circulation 

 and payment of the bonds deposited for security 

 thereof. 



6. When the greenbacks reach the Federal Treas- 

 ury, the same to be replaced for circulation by the 

 issue of full legal tenders as the future paper circu- 

 lation of the country. 



The probable receipts and disbursements of 

 the General State Fund for the current fiscal 

 year and the following are officially estimated 

 as follows: For the year ending September 

 30, 1877 receipts, $374,175; disbursements, 

 $355,086.97. For the year ending September 

 30, 1878 receipts, $350,000; disbursements, 

 $313,988.26. 



The following summary statistics exhibit 

 the working of the school system for the year 

 ending August 31, 1877: whole number of 

 children of school age between 6 and 21 years, 

 194,940. Aggregate amount of the apportion- 

 ment of the general school fund, distributed 

 among the several counties in proportion to 

 the number of children of school age therein, 

 $195,183.75. Total expenditures for all school 

 purposes from the teachers' and building funds 

 for the said year, $770,658.86. Cost per pupil 

 for tuition for the year, based on the number 

 attending school, $4.80. Cost per pupil for all 

 purposes, based on the number of daily aver- 

 age attendance, for the school year, $7.66. 

 For the year ending August 31, 1876, it was 

 $7.72. Total assets reported from all sources 

 during the year, including the balance on hand 

 at its beginning, September 1, 1876, $921,- 

 307.10. Balance on hand of both teachers' 

 and building funds on September 1, 1877, 

 $160,122.85. 



The number of school-houses in "West Vir- 

 ginia is 2,959. 



The various charitable institutions of West 

 Virginia continue under praiseworthy manage- 

 ment. For their support and incidental ex- 

 penses, the following amounts were appro- 

 priated out of the moneys of the General State 

 Fund for the first and second years respectively : 

 For the Hospital for the Insane, $56,575, and 



$55,575. For the lunatics in jails, $15,000, and 

 $15,000. For the Institution for the Deaf, 

 Dumb, and Blind, $28,600, and $28,600. 



In the West Virginia Penitentiary there are 

 195 convicts, belonging to all classes of so- 

 ciety. 



The prison appears to be unexceptionably 

 managed in all respects. 



WILKES, CHARLES, an American naval 

 officer, was born in New York in 1801, and 

 died in Washington, D. C., February 8, 1877. 

 He was appointed a midshipman in 1816, and 

 served on the Mediterranean station in 1819 

 -'20, and in the Pacific in 1821-'23. In 1826 

 he was appointed as lieutenant. He was ap- 

 pointed to the Department of Charts and In- 

 struments in 1830, and was the first in the 

 United States to set up and observe with fixed 

 astronomical instruments. On August 18, 

 1838, he sailed from Norfolk, Va., in com- 

 mand of a squadron of five vessels and a store 

 ship, to explore the southern seas. He visited 

 Madeira, the Cape Verd Islands, Rio de Janei- 

 ro, Tierra del Fuego, Valparaiso, Callao, the 

 Paumotou group, Tahiti, the Samoan group 

 (which he surveyed and explored), Wallis 

 Island, and Sydney in New South Wales. He 

 left Sydney in December, 1839, and made im- 

 portant discoveries in the antarctic regions. 

 In 1840 he thoroughly explored the Feejee 

 group, and visited the Hawaiian Islands, where 

 he measured the pendulum on the summit of 

 Mauna Loa. In 1841 he visited the northwest- 

 ern coast of America and the Columbia and 

 Sacramento Rivers, and on November 1st set 

 sail from San Francisco, visited Manila, Soo- 1 

 loo, Borneo, Singapore, the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and St. Helena, and cast anchor at New 

 York on June 10, 1842. Charges preferred 

 against him by some of his officers were in- 

 vestigated by a court-martial, and he was ac- 

 quitted of all except illegally punishing some 

 of his crew, for which he was reprimanded. 

 He was made a commander in 1843. He pub- 

 lished " Narrative of the United States Explor- 

 ing Expedition, 1838-'42 " (6 vols. 4to, also 5 

 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia, 1845; abridged, 1 vol. 

 8vo, New York, 1851). Of the remaining 11 

 volumes, giving the scientific results of the ex- 

 pedition, he was the author of that on meteo- 

 rology. In 1849 he published " Western Amer- 

 ica, including California and Oregon" (8vo, 

 Philadelphia), and in 1856 his " Theory of the 

 Winds " (8vo, New York). He was made a 

 captain in 1855. In 1861 he was sent to the 

 West Indies in the frigate San Jacinto to look 

 after the Confederate steamer Sumter ; and on 

 November 8th he took forcibly from the Brit- 

 ish mail steamer Trent, in the Bahama Chan- 

 nel, Messrs. Slidell and Mason, commissioners 

 of the Confederate States to France and Eng- 

 land, and conveyed them to Boston. For this 

 action he received a vote of thanks from Con- 

 gress ; but his course was finally disapproved 

 by the President, and the commissioners were 

 surrendered to England. In 1862 he was com- 



