Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/451

 MISSOURI

399

MISSOURI

Commodity Value

Fresh fruit $5,089,384

Wool and mohair 1,308,812

Mine and quarry products 24,992,789

Stone and clay products 8,904,013

Unclassified products 4,623,953

Total value $314,743,528

Means of Communication. — Although the Missis- sippi River runs the full length of the eastern boun- dary of the state, and the Missouri flows directly through the state, neither of these streams is of any considerable commercial value as a means of com- munication or transportation. Railroad facilities, however, are ample, there being 7991 miles of main line with about 3000 miles of sidings. There are 63 steam systems operating in the state. There are one railroad bridge, one street-car bridge, and one combi- nation railroad, street-car, and passenger bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis, and a municipal free bridge for the accommodation of railroads, electric roads, wagons, and foot traffic, is in process of con- struction.

Educational System. — Slate University. — The State University of Missouri was established by legis- lative act approved on 11 February, 1839, and the university was located at Columbia, Boone County, on 24 June, 1839. The comer-stone of the main build- ing was laid on 4 July, 1840. Courses of instruction in academic work were begun on 14 April, 1841, and a Normal Department was established in 1867 and opened in September, 1868. The College of Agricul- ture and Mechanic Arts and the School of Mines and Metallurgy were made departments of the university in 1870, the School of Mines and Metallurgy being located at Rolla. The law department was opened in 1872, the medical department in 1873, the engi- neering department in 1877, and the department of journalism in 1908. In 1888 the Experiment Station was established under Act of Congress, and the Mis- souri State Military School in 1890. For the schol- astic year 1908 there were enrolled in the entire university 3033 students. The officers of instruc- tion and administration consisted of 104 professors, 64 instructors, and 54 assistants. Apart from the above-mentioned institutions, which are all under the supervision of the University of Missouri proper, the state maintains the Lincoln Institution at Jeffer- son City for the education of negro children in agricul- ture and mechanic arts.

Public Schools. — The state is divided into 10,053 school districts. The total number of teachers in the public schools in the year 1908 was 17,998, the total number of pupils being 984,659. For the year ending 1 July, 1908, the public schools cost the tax-payers $12,769,689.93. The law requires that every child with sound body and mind, from six to fourteen years of age, attend either a public or private school during each school year. Missouri has the largest permanent interest-bearing school-fund of any state in the Lfnion. This fund in 1908 amounted to $14,014,335.45. Apart from the primary and high schools there are six state normal institutions, of which one is located in each of the following cities: Columbia (Teachers' College), Kirksville, Warrensburg, Cape Girardeau, Springfield, and Maryville.

First Settlers. — The first settlement was made at Ste. Genevieve in 1735 by the French, and the second by the French at St. Louis in 1764. The Spanisji also came up the river in search of gold, and .St. Louis was soon a busy trading centre for the citizens and the Indians inhabiting the surrounding territory. From the eastward soon came emigrants from other states — especially Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Virginias — and later came the emigrants from foreign shores, par- ticularly the Germans, Irish, and some Scotch. The later growth of the state has been made up of settlers from almost all of the states lying to the eastward, but

more particularly from those mentioned, with many from Maryland and the Carolinas. There are settle- ments of Italians, Hungarians, and Bohemians, but on the whole these nationalities make up only a small part of the population. St. Louis is a cosmopolitan city, but the predominant strains of foreign blood are German and Irish.

Admission to the Union. — Missouri was admitted into the Union conditionally on 2 March, 1820, and was formally admitted as a state on 10 August, 1821, during the presidential administration of James Mon- roe. At a convention held at St. Louis on 19 July, 1820, the people passed on the Act of Congress, which was approved in March of the same year, and a consti- tution was drawn up and a new state established. Under this constitution, in August, 1820, the people held a general election, at which state and county officers were chosen and the state government organ- ized. The constitution now in force was adopted by vote of the people on 30 October, 1 875, and came into operation on 30 November of the same year.

Notable Events in Political History. — The ad- mission of Missouri as a state provoked much bitter discussion in Congress, and terminated in what has since been known as "The Missouri Compromise". This bill provided that Missouri should be admitted as a slave state, but forever prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Loiusiana Territory lying north of 36° 30' N. lat., which line is the southern boundary of Missouri. The matter of slavery was the cause of many controversies during the early history of the state, and during the Civil War over 100,000 soldiers were contributed to the Union army and 50,000 to the Confederacy.

Matters Directly Affecting Religion. — Free- dom of Worship. — Section 5, Article 2, of the Constitu- tion of 1875 provides " that all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to their own conscience; that no person can, on ac- count of his religious opinions, be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this State, nor be disqualified from testifying, or from serving as a juror; that no human ai/thority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person ought, by any law, to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion or profession ; but the lib- erty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so con- strued as to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of this State, or with the rights of others. " The recognition of a God herein manifested does not in any way prejudice the interests of atheists. That a man is an atheist or has peculiar religious opinions does not prejudice him as a witness (11 Mo. App. 385). Sun- day regulations are not void on account of peculiar religious opinions of certain citizens (20 Mo. 214); nor can a contract be voided by one voluntarily entering into it on the ground that it requires him to live up to certain religious beliefs (Franta v. Bohemian Roman Catholic C. IT., 164 Missouri, 304). The Constitution also provides that no penson can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place or system of worship, or to maintain or support any priest, minister, preacher, or teacher of any sect, church, creed, or denomination of religion; but if any person shall voluntarily make a contract for any such olijcct, he .-ih:ill bo held to the performance of the .'<aino; that no muncv shall ever lie taken from the public tri':isiiry (lircctly or indirectly, in aid of any church. sctI, (.r .Irnoiiiinatiou of religion, or in aid of any priest, iht.ic-Ii.i-. rniriistcr, or teacher thereof as such: and Ih^it no prcrcrcnci' shall be given to nor any discrimination inacle against any church, sect, or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or worship; that no religious corporation can be established in this state, except such as may be created under a general law for the purpose only of holding the title to such