Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/574

 522 UNITED STATES : — DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

of the United States, only, has authority to enact legislation and ap- propriate money for the municipal expenses. Congress has, by sundry statutes, empowered th e commissioners to make and enforce reasonable and usual police regulations for the protection of lives, health, quiet, &c, of all persons, and the protection of all property within the District, and other regulations of a municipal nature. They have also been constituted a ' Public Utilities Commission.'

Secretary to the Board of Commissioners. — Daniel E. Garges.

Area and Population- — The area of the District of Columbia originally was about ten miles square, but by the retrocession to the State of Virginia, in the year 1846, of the portion derived from that State, was reduced to 69*245 square miles, 60 '01 of which are land.

The population in 1800 numbered 14,093; in 1860, 75,080; in 1880, 177,624; in 1900, 278,718; in 1910, 331,069; in 1914, 353,378. Popula- tion on February 21, 1920, was 437,571, of whom approximately 115,000 were negroes or of negro descent.

A portion of the District of Columbia embracing 6,654 acres is known as the City of Washington. But that name is, and has been since May 31, 1871, a geographical distinction only, as the territory it includes is not a munici- pality separate from the rest of the District, but is subject to the same government in every respect.

Religion and Instruction- — The most numerous religious bodies are : Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Protestant, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Christian Science.

The public schools of the District in 1920 had 1,442 white teacher and 45,775 white pupils, and 654 negro teachers and 19,523 negro or coloured pupils. Total number of pupils, 65,298. There were 9 public high schools with 383 teachers and 8,470 pupils ; and 26 private schools with 2,400 pupils. For the instruction of teachers there were 2 public normal schools with 25 teachers and 199 pupils. Total expenditure on public education (1920), 4,155,790 dollars, exclusive of sites and buildings.

Superior education is given in Georgetown University, an institution under the management of the Jesuit Order, founded in 1795 ; it has 200 professors and 1,900 pupils: the George Washington University, non-sectarian, founded in 1821, has 249 instructors, and 3,333 students ; the Howard University, principally engaged in the higher education of negroes, was founded in 1867, and has 121 professors and 1,688 pupils ; the Catholic University, a post-graduate institution, was founded in 1884, and has 82 professors and 531 students.

Finance> — The revenues of the District are derived from the general real property tax, taxes on corporations and companies, and licences for various businesses and from appropriations by the United States of approximately three sevenths of the total revenues.

In 1920 the finance of the District of Columbia was as follows :—

Dollars Balance, July 1, 1919. . . 7,337,851

Receipts to July 1, 1920. . . 20,467,301

Total ... .. . 27,805,152

Disbursements, 1919-20. . . 19,504,578

Balance, July 1, 1920. « . 8,300,574