Carroll County, Indiana - Benevolent Institution.s, 1882

Benevolent Institution.s

THE Blind - Legislative Actios Concerning It - The Result - What WAS Accomplished - Institute for the Deaf and Dumb - Its Location and the Authority Therefor- Female Prison and Reformatory - Its Origin and Purpose, Mission and Wouk - House of Refuge for .Tuyenile Offenders- Appropri.ation for Building the Edifice - The Early Promoters of the Institution - Its Work.

BY an act of the General Assembly of the State, approved January 19, 1846, it was provided that the Commissioners of the Indiana Lunatic Asylum were authorized to cause to be erected suitable buildings for the use and accommodation of said institution, thereafter to be called the "Indiana Hospital for the Insane," upon the grounds purchased for that purpose, piu-suant to an act approved January 13, 1845, two and a half miles east of the city of Indianapolis, at a cost of $4,000, the tract consisting of 160 acres. The main building was erected in 1847 and 1848, of brick, trimmed with di-essed stone, and consisted of a central building and two wings. These wings " extend from each end of the central structui-e, laterally and backward, giving to the front a broken, receding range. The entire linear extent of the edifice is 624 feet. The three principal parts of the building, as it now stands, were erected at as many different periods - the center, in 1847-48; the south wing, in 1853-56; and the north in 1866-69." " The center building has five stories, inclusive of basement, and a superior, or half -story. The basement is used for storerooms, etc. ; the second story for offices, public parlor, dispensary, officers' dining room, etc. ; the third and fourth stories, for private rooms for the Superintendent and other officers; and the fifth stoiy is occupied by the female employes. The wings are three and fom' stories in height, and are entirely occupied by wai-ds for the patients. The entire capacity of the wards is about five hundred patients. Forty-four feet in the rear of the center building, and connected with it by a wooden corridor three stories in height, is the chapel building, 50x60 feet, the first floor of which contains the general kitchen, bakery, dining rooms for the employes, etc. ; the second, the Steward's office, sewing room, rooms for employes, , etc. ; and the third floor is entirely occupied by the chapel, having seating accommodations for 300 persons. Immediately in the rear of the chapel building is the engine building, 60x50 feet, the first floor of which contains the requisite boilers for heating all the buildings throughout, and the pumps of the water works, connected with which ai-e six fire-plugs, to furnish hose attachments in case of a fii'e breaking out. The second floor is occupied by the laimdry, and the third by rooms for the male employes. The entire building is lighted by gas. It has complete water works of the Holly system, * * « also an approved apparatus for forced upward ventilation."* The whole cost of the buildings and grounds has been about the sum of $37a4.)00 - a very small siun comjiiu'cd with the present value. In addition to the other buildings, a department for women has recently been erected, at a cost of $000,(100. The present oflicei-s ai-e: Joseph G. Rogers, M. D., Superintendent; Assistant Physicians, Department for Women - J. C. Walker, M. D., J. W. Smith, M. D.; Department for Men A. J. Thomas, M. D., AV. H. Hubbard, M. D.

Institute Foe The Blind

The buildings erected as an asyhim, as well as an institution for the education of the blind, and the grounds belonging thereto, comprising an ai-ea of eight acres, occupy a position bounded on the south by North street; on the west by Meridian street; on the north by Walmit street; and on the east by Pennsylvania street. The institute was founded by an act of the General Assembly of the State, in the year 1847, and was first opened in a rented building, on the 1st of October of that year. The permanent buildings were completed and tii'st occupied in the month of Februaiy, 1853. The original cost of the buildings and grounds was $110,- 000; their present value is not less than S35O,000. " The principal edifice is composed of a center building, having a front of ninety feet and a depth of sixty-one feet, and is five stories in height; together with two foiu'-story wings, each thirty feet in fi-ont by eighty-three feet in depth; making a total frontage of lot) feet. Each of these sections of the building is siu'mounted by a handsome cupola, of the Corinthian order of architeetm-e. The building is mainly constracted of brick, stuccoed in imitation of sandstone, the basement story being faced with sandstone ashlar, rustic-jointed. The portico of the center building, and verandas on the fi'onts and sides of the wings, are of sandstone: the former thirty feet wide by thirty-five feet deep, and extending to the top of the third story. The portico and cornices of the building ai-e of the Ionic order. In addition to the main struotm-e and usual outbuildings, there is a plain three-story brick building, forty by sixty feet, containing the work-shops for the several trades of the pupils. The grounds ai-e handsomely adorned, and the goveiTiment of the institution is excellent, and the efficiency second to none of the kind in the country.

" Mental and physical training are the prime objects of school life: but, in the Indiana Institute for the Blind, the physical training is of equal importance. To meet this acknowledged defect in the institute, a class in calisthenics has been formed, and is now in successful operation. To eradicate bad habits of cai-ly life, to give gi-acefulness of caiTiage and better health of body and mind, ai-e the results anticipated from this course of training."

The principal officers aie: Ti-ustees -John Fishback, President; AVilliam V. AViles, Treasiu-er; and Daniel MowTer, Secretary. Superintendent, W. B. Wilson. Teachers in the Literary Depai-tment, J. C. Black, Miss H. A. Daggett, Miss M. B. Pile and Miss E. Green; teachers in the Music Department, E. A. Newland, Miss H. A. Hauvy and Miss Josephine Culbertson; teachers in the Handicraft Department, J. M. Bichards and Miss Livonia Mason.

The construction of the buildings appertaining to this institution was authorized by an act of the Legislature passed and approved in 1844. The institute proper consists of thi-ee buildings, connected by con'iders. Two of these buildings were erected in 1848-49; the third, in 1S89-70. " The fi-ont building has a fagade of 260 feet, and contains the offices, library, general study rooms, officers' and teachers' rooms, and the dormitories for the pupils. The center oE this building is eighty by fifty-foiufeet, and five stories high; the lateral wings, sixty by thirty feet. and three stories in height; the transverse wings, thirty by fifty feet and four stories high. The middle building contains the storerooms, kitchen, laundi-y, bakery, dining halls, servants' rooms, hospital and several school -rooms. It is thi-ee stories high, the centar being forty by eighty feet and the wings thirty-two by seventy feet. The rear building contairjs the chapel and ten school-rooms. It is two stories high, the center being fifty feet square, and the wings forty by twenty feet. " The aggregate cost of these and the detached buildings belonging to the institute was $220,000.

The grounds comprise an area of 105 acres. The portion immediately surrounding the buildings are beautifully laid ofi' in walks and drives, and are elaborately ornamented with shrubbeiy and forest trees, and contain, also, a flower garden and conservatory. Appropriate spaces are devoted to the purposes of an orchard, a vegetable garden and play-grounds. Altogether, the location is one of the most beautiful spots within the limits of the city of Indianapolis, and tends greatly to make those for whose benefit the institution, with its attractive surroundings, was constructed, forget for the time their misfortunes in the scenes of beauty which suiTound them.

The nmnber of pupils admitted into the institution within the year- ending October 31, 1880, was 390; of these. 41 were dismissed; the number remaining at the end of the year, 349. Dm-- ing the same period, the disbui-sements for ordinary expenses were $50,005.88; for extraordinary expenses, $6,523.53; in the aggregate. $56,539.41. The appropriation made for the year 1881 to cover ciu-rent expenses was $55,000, which was deemed to be sufficient for the pmpose. The officers at the close of the year 1880 were: John Fishback, President; James A. Cravens, Secretary; and M. James, Treasurer. William Glenn, Superintendent.

This institution is one of the fi"uits of the agitation of the question of prison reform that had prevailed diu-ing the few years immediately preceding the year 1869, when the movement took form in the preparation for trying the experiment which was to determine its practicability. At the session of the General Assembly of 1869, upon the recommendation of Gov. Baker, an act was passed authorizing the planning and construction of buildings adapted to the purposes contemplated. Two departments are provided, one of which is penal and the other reformatory. The act creating the institution explains the nature and objects aimed at, as follows:

" As soon as the Penal Dej^artment of the institution created by this act shall be ready for the reception of inmates, it .shall be the duty of the Warden of said State Prison, upon the order of the Governor, to transfer and convey t« the institution created by this act all the female convicts who may be confined in said prison, and deliver them to thu Superintendent of said institution, with a certified statement in writing, signed by such Warden, setting forth the name of each convict, the coiu't by which, and the offense of and for which, she was convicted and sentenced, the date of the sentence, the term of com-t at which sentence was pronounced, and the term for which said convict was sentenced, which certified statement in writing shall be sufficient authority for the confinement of such convict in the institution created by this act, for the portion of the term of such convict which may be and remain unexpired at the time when she shall be transferred to said institution as aforesaid."

to be open for the reception of girls in the Reformatory Department thereof, it shall be lawful for said Board of Managers to receive into their care and mangement, in the said Reformatory Department, girls under the age of fifteen years, who may be committed to their custody, in either of the following modes, to wit: When committed by the Judge of any Circuit Coiu-t in the State, on complaint and proof by the parent or guardian, that, by reason of her incorrigible or vicious conduct, she has rendered her control beyond the power of such parent or guai'diau. Second, when she shall be committed, as aforesaid, upon complaint of any citizen, due proof having been submitted showing her to be a fit subject for the guardianship of such an institution. And third, when she shall be committed as aforesaid, on complaint and due proof of the Trustee of the township in which she resides, that such infant is destitute of a suitable home and of adequate means of obtaining an honest living, or that she is in danger of being brought up to lead an idle and immoral life."

The building is situated just north of the Asyliun for the Deaf and Dumb, between it and the Arsenal building, and presents a co:umanding appearance, especially when viewed from the National road. It is of brick, two stories high, with a Mansard roof, and is 174 feet long, composed of a main building with side wings, and transverse wings at either end, the latter being 109 feet in length.

In the Penal Department, for the year ending October 31, 1880. the number of inmates was 48, 34 having been admitted during the year, which, with 41 inmates at the beginning of the year, aggregated 75. 30 having been discharged or otherwise disposed of. In the ReformatojT, there were 147 inmates, October 31, 1879: at the end of October, 1880, there were 148.

House Of Refuge

By the provisions of an act approved March 8, 18(57, the Legislature of Indiana authorized the creation and maintenance of an institution to be known as " A House of Refuge for the Correction and Reformation of Juvenile Offenders" - and $50,000 was appropriated for the purpose of carrying out those provisions. The general supervision and government of the institution was vested in a Board of Control, consisting of three Commissioners. The first board consisted of Charles F. Coffin, of Wayne County; A. C. Downey, of Ohio County; and Joseph Orr, of La Porte County. This boai-d, at their first meeting, on the 23d of April, 1807, having elected Mr. Coffin President, resolved to visit and examine the working systems of the various Reform Schools in the adjoining States of Ohio and Illinois. The result was an organization under what is known as the " Family System," after the model of the Ohio Reform Schools. This institution, for obvious reasons, was located near Plainfield, in Hendi-icks County, on the line of the Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Vandalia & St. Louis Railway, fourteen miles west of Indianapolis. The site is a very eligible one, and is of easy nccess from all parts of the State. The farm upon which it is situated contains 225 acres, combining beauty of location with fertility of soil. The building is beautifully located on an elevated plateau, about eighteen feet above the jilane of the adjacent valley. On the 27th of August. 1807, Mr. and Mrs. Frank B. Ainsworth were appointed rcispi'ctivcly Supi-i-inteudent and Matron, who at once entered activi'ly upon tlic discharge of the duties assigned them. The

The plan of the buildings is an elongated octagon. Most of the family house.-* front to the center of the plateau, while the main building stands east of the center and fronts to the east, and is 64x128 feat, external measure, and has three stories above the basement. In the basement are the vegetable cellars, wash-room, furnace-room and the kitchen. On the first floor are the office, reception-room, officers' and boys' dining-rooms, pantry and storerooms. On the second story are the Superintendent's family rooms, private office, and five dormitories for officers, etc. The third floor is occupied by the Assistant Superintendent's rooms, a storeroom and library, Ehe chapel and hospital. The family houses are uniform in style, and are thirty-six by fifty-eight feet. The first boy was received from Hendricks County, January 23, 1808. A few days later, ten boys were transferred from the Northern Prison.

Legislative Enactment.s - Congre.ssional Town.siiip Fund - The Saline Fund - Suhplus Uevenue Fund - Bank Tax Fund - Si.NKiNu Find - Forfeitures - E.scueats - Swamp Land, etc. n^HE various funds of which the proceeds have been and are used -*- for the maintenance and utilization of om' present excellent school system, are the outgrowth of judicious forethought exercised by the legislative fathers of nearly a century ago, and of the subsequent direction of other soiu-ces of revenue into channels which ultimately concentrate the deposits of years into a common fund for the promotion of educational interests. Shortly after the close o E the Revolutionary struggle, when the people of the colonies were taking their first steps toward solving the prob lem of self-government, and the territory northwest of the Ohio River was beginning to assume prominence, the Congress of the Confederation, by ordinance dated May 20, 1785, in prescribing the mode for disposing of lands within those limits, inserted the following: " There shall be reserved the Lot No. 16 of every town ship for the maintenance of public schools within the said township; also, one-third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines, to be sold or otherwise disposed of, as Congress shall hereafter direct."

This purpose was further defined by the same authority, in Article 3 of the " Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the River Ohio," dated July 13, 1787, as follows: "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encoui'aged." These provisions extended to the entire territory, and were incorporated as a part of the organic law of the several States into which that vast area was af terwai-d cai'ved. Indiana was the second of the States so carved out, and the Congress of the United States, in the first of a series of propositions embodied in Section 0 of the "Act to enable the people of the Indiana Territory to form a constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on equal footing with the original States," approved April 19, 1810, submitted the following to the convention of the said Territory of Indianji, when formed, for their free

" First, that the section numbered 16 in every township, and, when such section has been sold, granted or disposed of, other lands equivalent thereto, and most contiguous to the same. sh,all be granted to the inhabitants of sucli township fur tlie use of schools. "

The people of Indiana Territory having met in general convention pursuant to the aforesaid act, and formed a constitution entitling them to admission into the Union on the same tenns as original States, by ordinance dated June 29, ISIO, for themsleves and their posterity, agreed, determined, declared and ordained that they would and did thereby " accept the propositions of the Congress of the United States, as made and contained in their act of the Hlth of April, ISIO, ****** that this ordinance and every part thereof should forever be and remain in-evocable and inviolate, without tlir ri,iis,.iit if tlic United States, in Congress assembled, first had :iiii! oI.i.him^I for the alteration thereof, or any part thereof." In the coii^titulidn so formed, Ai'- ticle 9, Sections 1 and 2, the provibions cited, and others, were guaranteed to the people of the State of Indiana, as follows:

Section 1. Knowledge and learning, generally cliffiised through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government, and spreading the opportunities and advantages of eilueation througli the various parts of tlie inuntrx lieinn liii.'hl\ rouilucivc to this end, it should plishment of the gr.md object loi \\hiili they are or may be intended : But no lands granted for the use of schools or seminaries of learning, shall lie sold by authority of this State, prior to the year 18'>n, and the moneys which m.iy tin raisi il mit uf tb^ - ili of mv -ur-li binds or otherof

Sec. 2. It shall be tin- .liii.\ ot the General Assembly, as soon as ehcumstances -will permit, to ]irovide by law, for a general .system ot education, ascending in a regular graduation from township schools to a State University, wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all.

Section 8 also provides that, " for the promotion of such salutary end, the money which shall be paid as an equivalent by persons exempt from militia duty, except in times of war, shall be exclusively, and 'in equal proportion, applied to the support of county seminai-ies; also, all fines assessed for any breach of the penal laws shall be applied to said seminaries, in the coimties wherein they shall be assessed."

Section 5, too, makes a fiu-ther provision for the creation of a fund which has subsequently become an integral part of oiu' present common school fimd. This provision prescribes that, at any time when the Legislatiu'e should lay off a new county, " at least 10 per centum [should] be reserved out of the proceeds of the sale of town lots in the seat of justice of such eoimty, and at the same session, ***** incorporate a library company, under such rules and regulations as [would] best secure its pennanence and extend its benefits."

The fii-st step taken by the Legislature towai-d the utilization of the sixteenth section in each Congi'essiontil township was an act passed at the first regular session, and approved December U, 1 8 1 H.

Under the provisions of this act, Superintendents of such sections, termed " school sections," in the several township.s, were ajjixiinted with authority to lease such lands for a term of time not exceeding seven years, the lessee being required to set out, each yeai', twenty-five apple trees and twenty-five jieaoh trees, until 100 of each had been planted. By this means, those lauds were kept in a condition which would command a better price when offered for sale, since the State had not the authority to sell the same prior to the yeai' 1820, and appropriate moneys arising therefrom to their legitimate ptu-pose.

At the session of 1820-21, by an act approved January 9, 1821, the General Assembly appointed John Badollet, David Hart, William W. Martin, James Welch, Daniel I. Caswell, Thomas C. Searle and John Todd, a committee to di'aft and report to the next Legislatm-e a bill providing for a general system of education, with instructions to guard particularly against " any distinction between the rich and the poor." The work of this committee resulted in the preparation and arrangement of the first general school law in the State, which was entitled: " An act incorporating Congressional townships, and providing for public schools therein," and approved January 31, 1824.

The first provision of that law required " that the inhabitants of each Congiessional township, being either freeholders or householders, after notice given by any three of such inhabitants set up for twenty days, at three of the most public places in such township, shall meet at the section reserved by Congress for the use of schools, or at some place convenient thereto," and, should twenty of such inhabitants be present, they should elect thi'ee Trustees, freeholders, which election being properly certified and filed in the Clerk's office of the proper county, such inhabitants would become " a body coi-porate and politic, under the name and the number of such township and range, subject to rules and regulations thereafter prescribed. By the provisions of Section 3 of that act, " the lands reserved by Congress for the use of schools in each Congressional township [should] be vested in the corporation thereof, and such corporation, through and by their said Trustees, [might] dispose of all such lands, gifts or donations, made or reseiwed for the use of township schools, in such manner as [might] seem most conducive to the best interests thereof; except that no sale of the fee simple of any such reserved lands [should] be made, nor * * any lease thereof be given or gi-anted upon any other condition than that of forfeitm-e l.iy the lessee, upon his failing for one whole year to perform the conditions of such lease or any part thereof."

The fifth section of said act provided, also, that the Trustees as aforesaid should, within ime month of their election, divide their respective townships into such number of districts as would best accommodate the inhabitants thereof, defining the same by boundaries. Upon the formation of the district, it was also made the duty of the Trustees to appoint for each of said districts three Sub-Trustees, or Directors, who should have charge of the immediate affairs of such districts and the schools therein. The duties of these Sub-Trustees, or Directors, were, by the provisions of Section 6, more particularly defined to be to call a meeting of all the inhabitants, fi-eeholders and householders, within ten days after their appointment, who should express, by wi'itten ballots, whether they would siipport a school in the district, and, if so, for what length of time. An exjiression of the majority of stich inhabitants being had in favor of supporting a school, it was next made the duty of such inhabitants to determine upon a suitable site for a schoolhoiTse. as near the center of the district as practicable. When such site had been so agreed upon and fixed, the Directors were required to appoint a time for the inhabitants of the district -' to meet aod commence the building of a suitable schoolhouse for the accommodation of as many pupils as [would] probably attend such school; said house to be built of brick, stone, hewn timber or fi-ame, according as a majority of such inhabitants [might] agree upon, the building and completion of which [being] superintended and conducted by such Sub-Trustees." In the construction of such schoolhouse, " eveiy able-bodied male person of the age of twenty-one years and upward, being a freeholder or householder, * * within the boimds of such district, [was] liable equally to work one day in each week until such building [should] be completed, or pay the siim of 37 J cents for every day he [might] so fail to work." Such schoolhouses were required to be " eight feet between floors, and at least one foot from the surface of the ground to the first floor, and finished in a manner calculated to render comfortable the teacher and pupils ; with a suitable number nf seats, tables, lights, and every other thing necessary for the convenience of such school; which [should] be forever open for the education of all childi'en within the district, without distinction."

The various minor funds of which our present magnificent common school fund is composed are divided, for the sake of distinction, into the productive, the contingent and the non-productivo. The first class is composed of the following separate funds, to wit:

This fund occupies the first position because it was primarily the fund first set apart by the pioneer fathers for the exclusive use of succeeding generations as an eflicient aid in forwarding the educational processes of the futm'e. It will be rememliered that in the act of Congress enabling the peojile of the Territory to construct a State, the ordinance provided that the proceeds of the sixteenth section of eveiy Congressional township should be dedicated to the purposes of education for the benefit of children residing within such township. The fund was therefore called the Congi-essional Township Fund. At the date of the last report, in .Time, 1878, the aggi'egate of this fund was stated to be !?2,453.- 100.73- -an increase of $100.91 in one year.

branch of the public school fund. This money, according to the conditions of the distribution, is liable to be retm'ned again into the national treasm'v: yet more than forty years have elapsed since the distribution, and no part of it has been or is likely to be called for by the General Government.

Section 15 of the charter gi-anted to the State Bank of Indiana, in 183-t, provided that there should be deducted from the dividends, and retained in the bank each year, the sum of r2i cents on each share of stock, other than that held by the State, which should constitute part of the permanent fund to be devoted to the purposes of common-school education under the direction of the General Assembly, and suffered to remain in bank and accumulate until the Legislatm'e should so appropriate it. The aggi'egate of the fund derived fi-om that som'ce amounted to the sum of about $80,000, which is now bearing interest, and forms an important element of the permanent school fund of the State.

Sinking Fund

The stock of the State Bank above referred to. was in part owned by the State and a part by individuals. To pay, her subscription to the Bank Stock, the State borrowed the sum of $1,300,000, and to pay, also, by loans to them, the stock of individuals. The balance remaining after appropriations to these pm-poses, together with the princijaal, interest and dividends of so much as were loaned to these individual stockholders, was appropriated to the creation of a sinking fund to meet the contingent indebtedness of the bank ; hence the name of this branch of the permanent fund. When the charter of the bank had expired, which was at the end of twenty-five years, aad all the liabilities of the bank fully liqui dated and canceled, the residue so remaining was transferred to the common school f mid of the State, and amounted in the aggregate to the sum of s(.7Ci7.S().">.s<.). The sum of these several fimds amounted t^ s7.^^7.:!'^-"l.-"l 1. This is the total of the productive or interest-liearijig fund, other than the amounts derived from sale of the county seminaries of the State, and all the property, real and personal, belonging thereto, after deducting necessary expenses. The exact amount of this latter fimd does not appear. Of the class of contingent funds, we have the following:

The Saline Fund

Another clause in the enabling act before referred to provides that all salt springs in the territory, and the land reserved for the use of the same, should be granted to the State for the use of the people of the State, on such temis as the Legislatm'e should prescribe. The Legislatm-e subsequently enacted that the proceeds of these reservatitms, likewise, should become a part of the school fund of the State. Those lands sola for the aggregate sum of aliout $85,000, which has, since that time, been at interest, yielding a res])i'ctable portion of our annual income.

Surplus Revenue Fund

In June, 1830, by an act of Congress of that date, the sni-plus funds remaining in the treasury, after the payment of the national debt created during the Revolutionary war, and the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, was disti-ibuted among the several States according to the ratio of their rejirosentation in Congress. The jiortion set apai't for the State of Indiana was $800,254. By act of the Legislatiu-e, approved Februai-y 0, 1837, $573,502.90 of this sum was set apart as a pennanent

In this class is included all flnes for the violation of the penal laws of the State, assessed and collected in the process of litigation. The amount of money derived from this source is considerable, as shown by the returns of the proper officers.

All recognizances of witness and of parties indicted for the commission of penal oflenses against the State, which have been forfeited because of failure to appear and testify, or answer, as ordered by the courts in whose jurisdiction the cases are prosecuted, are collectable by law, and, when so collected, are made a part of the common school fund of the St:ite. and reported by the Commissioners of the proper county. Tlic ;iiiiouiit^ so retiiriii'd make the aggregate sum of from $:!ii.iiiiO to sls.dOO iuinuidly.

It is provided, in the elevcntli section of the law of descents, that: " The estate of a person dying intestate, without kindred capable of inheriting, shajl escheat to the State, and shall be appliei? to the support of common schools, in the manner provided by law." There is now in the treasury of the State about §20,000, -liable to be appropriated to the purpose contemplated by law, whenever the period limiting its retention in the treasury shall have expired.

Sw.Imp Land Fund

Oiu' present State constitution (Ai'ticle 8, Section 2) provides that " all lands which have been or may hereafter be granted to the State, when no special purpose is expressed in the grant, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, including the proceeds of the sales of the swamp lands granted to the State of Indiana by the act of Congress of the 28th of September, 1850, after deducting the expenses of selecting and draining the same," shall become a part of the common school fund. In this grant, no purpose was expressed touching the subsequent appropriation or application of these funds, and the State was at liberty to make such disposition of the same as might be deemed proper. Accordingly these lands were ordered to be sold, and. after paying expenses mci dental thereto, the residue of the proceeds was converted into a fund for the maintenance of common schools.

Taxes On Corporations

Another som'ce of revenue designed to be merged n the common school fund is that defined by the constitution as " taxes on the property of corporations," which may be assessed by the Leg s lature for common school piu'poses. This source is said to 1 e un certain, since the pm-pose of the fi'amersof that instrument is not well defined. However, in 18-47, a charter was granted foi ihe construction of a railroad fi'om Indianapolis to Terre Ha ite A clause contained in that charter is to this effect: " When the ag gregate amount of dividends declared shall amount to the f ill sum invested, and 10 per cent per annum thereon, the Leg sla ture may so regulate the tolls and freights that not more than Id per centum per annmn shall be divided on the capital emj loved and the sm-plus profits, if any, after paying the expenses an 1 re ceiving such proportion as may be necessary for future c nt n gencies, shall be paid over to the Treasurer of State foi tl e use of common schools."- (Local laws, 1847, Section 23, pp. " S4 ) This would seem to define, with some degree of certainty, the con ditions precedent to the appropriation of that class of f n Is to the purpose intended. The sum likely to be derived fionths source, as soon as the necessary provision is made for its ace im la tion, will not be less than 11,000,000. In addition to those already enumerated, there is another source, denominated ' Unj r ductive," from which a very considerable sum may be eventually realized, in the shape of rents and profits, and proceeds of the sales of remaining sixteenth sections yet undisposed of, the st mated value of which is about $95,000.

The different funds, being the separate som-oes or accumulation, which combine to constitute the common school fund of Indiana, as given above, are denominated as " a perpetual fund, which may be increased, but never diminished," because the proceeds only are liable to be used for the maintenance of the public schools of the State. The capital fund thus far accumulated, as shown by the rejiort of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 1880, amounts to $9,065,254.73 - an increase of $52,192.98 over the preceding year, pf this fund, 12,711,328.88 was held by counties, $8,904,783,21 consisted of non-negotiable bonds, together making the common school fund $6,616,112.04. This latter sum being added to the Congressional township fund, gives the gi-and total as above. A like ratio of increase since 1880 would make a little less than 89,750,000 as the capital stock of oiu- common school fund at this date. The capital of 1880 produced an allowance for distribution among the several coimties of the State, as applicable to school piu-poses for the year ending June 30, 1880. in the sum of $2,943,105.77.

Political Status

An exhibit allowing the votes cast for the several candidates for President in 1860 ; for Governor in 187'2, and for Governor in 1880, in the different counties of the State.

The following statement shows the acres of land, its value, valuation of improvements, valuation of town lots and the improvements thereon, value of personal property in the several counties of the State, and the aggregate :