Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/350

 338 IOWA The total valuation of taxable property after equalization by the state board of assessment, and the state tax thereon, for a series of years have been as follows : YEAES. Total valuation. Rate. State tai. 1858 If mills $821,988 60 1859 197,828.250 U 296,784 81 1800 1} 1861 177.451,008 2 854,901 82 1862 t!75,000,000 2 850,000 00 1868 167,108,974 2 334,217 90 1864 tl65,000,000 2 880,000 00 1865 . ... 215,068,401 2 430,126 88 1866 t220,00,000 H 550,000 00 1867 256,517,184 641,292 88 1868 . . t260,000,000 650,000 00 1869 294,582,252 2 589,064 44 1870 t300,000,000 2 600,000 00 1871 848,642,728 2 697,285 55 1872 866,076,206 2i " 915,190 51 1878 . . 864,886,580 2 " 728,672 78 The valuation for 1873 included 33,730,669 acres of land; reported value, $217,907,148; reported value of town lots, $47,642,585 ; equalized value of lands and town lots, $273,- 797,687; value of personal property, $71,683,- 367; of railroad property, $18,885,526; re- ported total value, $356,088,626; total equal- ized value, $364,336,580. The entire tax in 1872 amounted to $10,711,925, as follows: state tax, 2^ mills, $909,464 ; county, $1,460,- 734 ; insane hospital, $217,691 ; county school, $402,435; district school, $3,954,210; bridge, $705,445; road, $360,700; special, $433,108; judgment and bond, $598,471 ; corporation, $340,359; railroad, $1,329,303. The college for the blind at Vinton receives students who are citizens of the state free of charge for board and tuition. This school is strictly edu- cational, and not for the treatment of disease. Since its opening in 1853, 269 pupils have been admitted; the number attending in 1873 was 112, who were instructed by 10 teachers. The total current expenditures for the two years ending Nov. 4, 1873, amounted to $51,175. In- struction is afforded to the deaf and dumb of the state, between the ages of 10 and 25 years, by the institution at Council Bluffs ; such per- sons may receive their board and instruction free of charge for a period of seven years. Es- tablished in 1855, this institution in 1873 had 7 instructors and 119 pupils; the current ex- penses for the two years ending Nov. 1, 1873, were $56,221. Iowa has two hospitals for the insane : one at Mt. Pleasant, which at the end of 1873 had 495 inmates, and for' which $229,- 441 had been expended during the previous two years; and the other at Independence, which was opened in May, 1873, and at the close of the year had 152 patients. Of the pa- tients treated in the former during the two years ending with 1873, 28'16 per cent, had recovered, 21 '65 per cent, had improved, and t Estimated, the valuation of realty being the same as the year previous. 27'64 per cent, had remained stationary. Iowa has three soldiers' orphans' homes, at Cedar Falls, Davenport, and Glenwood. The sup- port of these institutions during 1873 cost the state $146,050, besides $12,000 expended for improvements and $550 for libraries. At the end of the year there were in these homes 508 children, of whom 256 were at Cedar Falls, 154 in Davenport, and 98 at Glenwood. There is a reform school for boys at Eldora, and one for girls near Salem. In 1873 there were in the former 146 boys and in the latter 11 girls. The cost of the boys' school for the two years ending Nov. 1, 1873, was $32,031, and of the girls' $2,250. The penitentiary at Fort Madi- son has 318 cells, and at the close of 1873 con- tained 276 convicts, of whom 63 were sen- tenced by the United States. The labor of the convicts who are employed within the prison is disposed of by contract at 40J cents a day for each laborer. The number thus employed in 1873 was 258, and the earnings from this source for two years amounted to $54,081. These contracts will expire Jan. 1, 1875, when it is believed that much higher rates will be realized. The institution is self-sustaining. The total receipts for the two years ending Nov. 1, 1873, were $134,899, and the expendi- tures $118,912. Another penitentiary is in process of construction at Anamosa, in Jones county. According to the census of 1870, the total number of educational institutions in Iowa was 7,496, having 9,319 teachers, of whom 5,663 were females, and 217,654 pupils. There were 7,322 public schools, with 8,866 teachers and 205,923 pupils; 21 colleges, with 139 teachers and 3,061 students ; 34 academies, with 103 teachers and 2,333 pupils; and 100 private schools, with 136 teachers and 4,872 pupils. The total income of all the educational institutions was $3,570,093, of which $63,150 was from endowment, $3,347,629 from taxa- tion and public funds, and $159,314 from tui- tion and other sources. The system of public schools is substantially the same as that adopted in 1858. The constitution of 1857 vested the management of the educational institutions of the state in a board of education, consisting of the governor, the lieutenant governor, and an elected member from each judicial district in the state. This body was not empowered to levy taxes or make appropriations of money for school purposes, but was required to provide for the education of all the youths of the state through a system of common schools; such schools to be organized and kept in every school district at least three months a year, and any district failing to do so for two consecutive years may be deprived of its portion of the school fund. The permanent school fund em- braces all lands granted to the state by the general government for schools, and all estates of deceased persons who have died without leaving a will or heir. The money paid for exemption from military duty, and the net pro- ceeds of all fines collected in the several coun-
 * $214,625,730
 * 198,3S5,580
 * 290,078 30
 * t
 * t
 * Partly estimated, some counties not havinn reported,