Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/249

 INDIANA 237 ily for a period of two years ; 7, the conviction of either party subsequent to the marriage, in any country, of an infamous crime. Divorces may be decreed by the circuit or superior court on petition of a person who is and has been a bona fide resident of the state for the prece- ding two years, and of the county for at least six months; such residence to be proved by the oath of the petitioner and the testimony of at least two witnesses who are resident freeholders and householders of the state. Murder, treason, and killing in a duel are capital offences, punishable with death. Mar- riage between negroes and white persons is declared a misdemeanor, the penalty of which is imprisonment from one to ten years. By act of 1873 women are declared eligible to any office the election or appointment to which is vested in the general assembly or the gov- ernor. The state debt on Nov. 1, 1873, was $4,898,657, including $3,904,733 domestic and $994,030 foreign debt. The receipts into the state treasury during the preceding year were $2,875,449, and the disbursements, including several extraordinary items, $3,445,298. Of the receipts, $438,191 were from state reve- nue, $1,372,993 from the common school fund, $190,003 from public institutions, and $1,524,- 545 from miscellaneous sources. The most important items of expenditure were $1,361,- 341 for common schools, $1,193,442 on account of public debt, $352,576 for benevolent insti- tutions, $296,180 for reformatory institutions, $289,934 for ordinary expenses, and $278,373 for legislative expenses. The state tax was 15 cents on the $100 for general purposes, and 16 cents for schools. The total valuation of real and personal property was $279,032,209 in 1856, $578,484,109 in 1866, $662,283,178 in 1870, and $950,467,854 in 1873, the last inclu- ding personal property to the extent of $247,- 146,331. The public institutions supported entirely or in part by the state are the hospi- tal for the insane, the institution for the deaf and dumb, and the institution for the blind in Indianapolis, house of refuge at Plainfield, soldiers' home at Knightstown, northern state prison at Michigan City, southern state prison at Jeffersonville, reformatory institution for women and girls in Indianapolis, normal school in Terre Haute, state university at Blooming- ton, and agricultural college at Lafayette. The state hospital for the insane, which was opened in 1848, had 474 inmates at the close of 1873; during the year 320 were admitted and 314 discharged. The current expenditures for the year amounted to $155,470. The institution for educating the deaf and dumb is open to all persons of that class in the state between the ages of 10 and 21 years, free of charge for board and tuition. It is not an asylum, but an educational institution, and comprises a man- ual labor department. In 1873 there were 14 instructors and 331 pupils; the total disburse- ments on account of the institution amounted to $73,632. The institute for the education of the blind is also strictly educational, and is de- signed for the benefit of those between 9 and 21 years of age. At the close of 1873, 106 pupils were receiving instruction from 11 teachers ; the resources of the institute during the year amounted to $42,174, and the expen- ditures to $39,793. The house of refuge, open to boys not exceeding 16 years of age, com- prises a farm of 225 acres, a chair factory, and a tailor shop. The number of inmates at the beginning of 1874 was 216; the total expendi- tures for the preceding year amounted to $56,- 244, including $10,497 for buildings and im- provements. This institution is conducted on the "family system," the inmates being divi- ded into families of about 50 each. The plan of the soldiers' orphans' home comprises edu- cational and industrial features. At the close of 1873 the number of inmates was 285 ; the cost of the institution for the year was $32,- 448. In the two state prisons of Indiana the convicts are employed in different branches of industry, prominent among which is the manu- facture of agricultural implements and railroad cars. The convicts receive regular instruction in the ordinary English branches, and also have the use of a library. The number of con- victs in the northern prison at the close of 1873 was 368; the total receipts of the prison for the year were $57,465, of which $50,069 was for labor; the expenditures amounted to $49,743. The average number of convicts in the southern state prison was 395. The or- dinary expenses of the prison for the year amounted to $66,806, and the total receipts from convict labor and all other sources to $67,088. Of the 751 convicts in both institu- tions at the beginning of 1874, 86 had been committed for murder, 18 for manslaughter, 413 for grand larceny, and 21 for forgery ; 57 were under sentence for life, and 14 for 21 years. The Indiana reformatory institution for women and girls, which has penal and refor- matory departments, was opened in Septem- ber, 1873. Of the 21 females in the penal de- partment at the beginning of 1874, 5 were un- der sentence for murder, 1 for manslaughter, 1 for forgery, and the remainder for larceny. The educational interests of the state are un- der the general supervision of the state board of education, which comprises the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, the presidents of the state university and the nor- mal school, and the school superintendents of the three largest cities in the state. The more immediate management of the common schools is vested in a state superintendent of public instruction, in county superintendents, and in trustees who have the general charge of educa- tional affairs in cities and towns. The oppor- tunity for obtaining a common school educa- tion without charge for tuition is afforded to all persons between the ages of X5 and 21 years; separate schools, however, are provided for ne- groes, who are not allowed to attend schools designed for white persons. Teachers must be