Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/555

Rh WEST VIRGINIA 519 West Virginia. Railway construction is exceedingly active in all parts of the State, several new lines arid numerous branches of existing lines being under construction and in contemplation. Educa- The State early in its history (December 1863) adopted a liberal tion. system of free schools. The plan is known as the township or district system, the magisterial district or subdivison of each county being taken as the unit for taxation, and the general control of all the school interests of the district being placed in the hands of a district board of education elected by the people, and authorized among other duties to levy taxes, to determine the number of months of school and the number of sub-districts, to plant and build schoolhouses, and to manage the financial and other school interests of the districts. There is likewise in each county a superintendent, and in the State a general superintendent. This system has since been maintained and strengthened by legislative enactment till from 133 schoolhouses and 431 public schools of all grades in 1865 there were in 1887 4587 schoolhouses in the State. In 1865 the amount expended in support of free schools was 7722 ; this gradually increased till in 1887 the amount was 1,087,674. The number of teachers employed by public appropriation was 387 in 1865 ; in 1887 it was 5106. The estimated value of school- houses in the State, 140,000 in 1865, was 2,000,000 in 1887. The average attendance in 18G5 was 44 days ; in 1887 it was 108. The school system of the State is made permanent by the constitutional enactment referred to, which requires that the legislature shall provide by general law for a thorough and efficient system of free schools. The general school system involves the education of teachers, and with this object from 1867 to 1872 the legislature provided for the establishment of six normal schools, which are in successful operation. In these schools tuition is free to all who desire to prepare themselves for teaching. They are popular among the people, and have done much to elevate the general standard of education. They prescribe courses of three years ; nearly all of them have preparatory courses ; four of them give collegiate training, and in all of them the study of ancient and modern languages is optional. The school system involves also what is known as the irreducible school fund. The principal, which now amounts to 600,000, is permanently invested. This fund is constantly augmented from sources provided by law and by voluntary contributions. Public The United States Government has erected public buildings for institu- its judicial, postal, and revenue departments within the State at tions. Wheeling, Clarksburg, I arkersburg, and Charleston, the capital of the State. While WHEELING (q.v.) was temporarily the capital, a building was erected by its citizens for the uses of the State, which is now used for city purposes. The six normal schools already referred to have suitable buildings at Fairmont, Glenville, Hunt- ington, Concord, Sheplierdstown, and West Liberty. The hospital for the insane at Weston in Lewis county and a branch asylum in course of construction at Spencer in Roane county, a deaf-mute and blind asylum at Komney in Hampshire county, a penitentiary at Moundsville in Marshall county, and a university supported by the State at Morgantown in Monongalia county may be mentioned among the other public institutions of West Virginia. Value of I 1 ! 16 assessed valuation of real estate in 1887 amounted to property 118,753,342, and that of personal property to 43, 710,175 ; that of railroad property in 1880 was 4,497,030. and in 1887 22,797,984. The State tax is 30 cents on each hundred dollars of valuation. Liquor A&quot; amendment to the constitution is now pending, by which it laws. i- s Proposed to prohibit the sale or manufacture of intoxicating liquors. At present the laws of the State and they have been en forced with more or less of modification almost since its foundation involve the high licence system. The granting of the licence is based in all cases on good character, and is subject to the discretion of the county commissioners. Under the operation of these laws, and by virtue of local sentiment in its enforcement, no licence has been granted (and hence in effect the traffic has been prohibited) in as many as 38 of the 54 counties. The licence is subject to a tax fixed by the State law, and where sales are to be made in incorporated villages it is subject to an additional tax, which is fixed by the authorities of the incorporation. Popula- I&quot; 1880 the population of the State was 618,457. That of the tion principal cities was Wheeling, 30,737 ; I arkersburg, 6582 ; Martinsburg, 6335 ; Charleston (the State capital), 4192 ; Grafton, 3030 ; and Charlestown, 2016. The coloured population numbered 25,886, the foreign-born population 18,265. The increase in population from 1870 to 1880 was 39 - 9 per cent. The proportion of native whites was 93 per cent, of the whole number of whites, which is larger than that of any other State in the Union. The popular vote at late elections indicates a population of 800,000, and that of Wheeling, Charleston, and Parkersburg is shown by local investigation to have very largely increased. Adminis- The executive power is vested in a governor elected by the people tratiou. f r a term of four years, and ineligible under the constitution for re-election. There are also an auditor, a treasurer, an attorney- general, a secretary of state and State superintendent of free schools, who with the governor constitute a board of public works, and are likewise elected by the ixjople for terms of four years, except the secretary of state and a librarian (who is ex officio adjutant- general), who are appointed by the governor. The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of delegates. The senate embraces 26 members, half of whom are elected every alternate two years, for a term of four years. The house of delegates consists of 66 members, who are elected every two years. The legislature meets biennially, and may be convened in extraordinary session by the governor, or by the concurrence of three-fifths of its members. The veto power is vested in the governor, but a majority con curring in each house of the legislature overrides it. The judiciary consists of a supreme court of appeals, with four judges, who in case of their equal division affirm the judgment of the lower court, and of circuit courts, with one judge each, exercising general original power and. appellate jurisdiction over magistrates or justices of the peace, and of magistrates and justices of the peace, whose jurisdiction in civil cases is limited to 300, and who exercise criminal jurisdiction in petty offences, and may issue warrants of arrest and make preliminary examination and commit for trial in the circuit court in cases of crime. The fiscal regulations of the counties are confided to a board, consisting of three county commis sioners. The county organization consists of these commissioners, a sheriff, deputy sheriffs, a circuit court clerk, a county clerk, who is recorder of deeds, wills, &c., board of education, school trustees, overseers of roads, a commissioner of school lands, an overseer of the poor, and a commissioner of accounts. All these except the deputy sheriffs, commissioner of accounts, commissioner of school lauds, and overseer of the poor are elected by the people. History. The establishment of West Virginia as a State was consummated on 20th June 1863. Its creation and admission were due to conditions which existed prior to the civil war of 1861-65, to popular sentiment which those conditions developed when the war was precipitated, and to the exigencies of the war itself. The Alleghany Mountains had divided the State of Virginia politically and commercially, and in the sentiment relating to her systems of taxation, revenue, and public expenditure into a Virginia and a &quot;Western&quot; Virginia, long before the civil conflict gave perma nent result and fixed an official definition to the line of demar cation between them. Even after the war and the formation of the new State the title to two counties, Jefferson and Berkeley, &quot;lying east of the mountains,&quot; was the subject of legislation and contention before the courts. They were in 1870 judicially de clared by the supreme court of the United States to be a part of the State of West Virginia. The western part of Virginia was sparsely peopled, its great forests undeveloped, its vast mineral resources only partially realized, and its slave interests compar atively small. The eastern section contained the larger population, owned the great bulk of slave property, and exercised controlling power over State affairs. The Alleghanies, dividing the two sec tions, in the absence of transverse railroad facilities naturally sent the citizens of one side with the flow of their navigable waters to western and southern markets, while those of the other, moved by similar natural causes, turned to the seaboard for their commercial and business intercourse. The basis of taxation, the basis of re presentation, and the relation of the slave interests to these, with the measure and distribution of public funds for works of internal improvement and other questions of local concern, constituted elements of continual controversy, and served to detract largely from the homogeneity of the population. Early in January 1861 the legislature of Virginia, in extra session, passed a bill calling a convention of the people to meet in the following month. At the same election the people were to vote on the question whether the separation of Virginia from the Union should be determined by the convention or be submitted by the convention to the people for ratification or rejection. The majority at the election in favour of submitting the question of secession to the people was overwhelming, and was construed as indicating the loyal sentiment of the people of north-western Virginia. On the 17th of April, after the bom bardment of Fort Sum tor, the convention passed an ordinance of secession, and on the 24th a schedule submitting it to the people. The ordinance of secession was adopted by the people of Virginia, but the majority against it in the north-western part of the State was very large. A convention of the unionist counties, which met at Wheeling in June, adopted an ordinance for the reorganization of the State government, and in August adopted an- ordinance pro viding for the formation of a new State, to be named &quot;Kanawha,&quot; comprising thirty-nine specified counties, and to include other counties also named, provided their vote should indicate such desire. Under this provision a number of counties were afterwards added to the original thirty -nine. At the time of the vote upon the proposition to form a new State war was raging throughout its proposed borders, and many of its counties had been the scene of violence and blooodshed. Many citizens were in the field as soldiers on the respective sides, and this fact, coupled with the general con ditions, caused a small vote to be polled. Of this comparatively small vote, however, a large majority was for the new State, and members were elected to a constitutional convention. This coiivcu-