Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/156

 148 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA year in the District and 30 days in the precinct where they offer to vote, have the right of suffrage. The assembly has power to divide the territory not included in Georgetown and Washington into not more than three town- ships, and is required to maintain a system of free puhlic schools. The governor has a veto upon all legislative acts, which may be overcome by a two-thirds vote of each house. The supreme court of the District consists of a chief justice and four associate justices ap- pointed by the president with the advice and consent of the senate, who hold office during good behavior, and has general original juris- diction in law and equity, and appellate juris- diction of judgments of justices of the peace. It is divided into a circuit court (having also the powers and jurisdiction of a circuit court of the United States) for the trial of civil causes by jury; a criminal court; a district court, with the powers and jurisdiction of a district court of the United States ; and a spe- cial term for equity and probate matters ; each of which is held by a single justice. The gen- eral term, held by all the justices or a majority of them, hears appeals and writs of error from determinations of a single justice. From final judgments and decrees of the supreme court a writ of error or appeal lies to the supreme court of the United States. Justices of the peace are appointed by the assembly, and have jurisdiction of minor cases. The salaries of all officers appointed by the president are paid by the United States ; th.e other officers are paid from the local treasury. The property of a married woman, not received by gift or conveyance from her husband, is not subject to his control nor liable for his debts, and she may dispose of it in every respect as if single. The valuation of property, according to the federal censuses, has been as follows : At I8ES8ED VALt) R. TBTTE VALUE. YEARS. Total. Real estate. Personal estate. Real and per- sonal estate. 1860... $14018 R74. 1860... 1870... $41,084,945 74,271,693 $38,097,542 71,437,468 $7,987,403 2,834,225 41,084,945 126,873,618 At the last named date the total taxation was $1,581,569, of which $49,975 was county and $1,531,594 city tax; there was a city debt of $2,596,545, for which bonds to the amount of $1,640,584 had been issued. The assessed T %n f /JJ 1 69tate for the fiscal year ending ?w 3 ?'. 1873 > wa8 $87,869,924; the valuation )t Washington city was $72,880,380; of George- town $6,306,488; of the county of Washing- ton, $8,623056. The assessed valuation for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $96,433,- 72. lersonal property is not now assessed, but the comptroller, in his report of April 28 1873, estimates the actual value of all property including that of the federal government at $200,000,000. The receipts and expeSres for the 31 months from June 1, 1871, the date of the organization of the territorial govern- ment, to Dec. 31, 1873, were as follows : RECEIPTS. Loans and bonds $0,427,850 00 Licenses, markets, and miscellaneous 1,083,949 06 Special and personal accounts 446,642 84 Trust funds 81)7.975 49 General taxes 1,006,206 21 School taxes 688,837 26 Police taxes 255,241 45 Gas taxes 244,500 98 Personal taxes 87,316 52 Total on account of District of Columbia. . . $11,088,519 71 Total on account of the late corporations of Washington, Georgetown, and the levy court $3,063,906 07 Total from all sources $14,157,425 78 EXPENDITURES. Account of loans and bonds Salaries of general officers, and general contin- gencies Special and personal accounts Trust funds Salaries of local officers, and local contingencies Salaries of officers, teachers, and contingent ex penses of public schools Salaries of officers and members, and contingent expenses of metropolitan police Gas for street lamps Miscellaneous 800,959 09 407,359 79 576,835 78 405,887 46 657,195 65 244,558 99 187,646 49 1,002,760 85 Total on account of District of Columbia. . . $10,681,120 TO Total on account of the late corporations. . 2,682,074 41 Total on all accounts $13,363,195 11 Included in the expenditures on account of the late corporations is the sum of $215,948 20 for the completion of public school buildings and the proportion due to colored schools, making the whole amount expended for school pur- poses $873,143 85. The expenditures to Dec. 31, 1872, included $4,833,009 30 on account of the board of public works, $53,199 25 for the board of health, $450,000 for an additional supply of Potomac water, $186,330 57 for in- terest, and $109,051 58 for the fire department. The tax levy for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $2 in Washington city and Georgetown, and $1 58 in the county of Washington, on each $100 of taxable property, amounting to $1,888,152 22 in all. The debt on Dec. 31, 1873, was $9,878,039 91, of which $5,527,850 belonged to the present District government, $4,096,801 01 to the late corporation of Wash- ington, $251,689 'to Georgetown, and $1,699 90 to the levy court. The outstanding bonds issued by the present government amounted to $8,213,850, viz. : permanent improvement bonds, $4,790,000; funding bonds, $2,686,000; water stock bonds, $485,000; market stock bonds, $140,900; Chicago relief bonds, &c., $111,900. From 1797 to 1870 congress ap- propriated $42,228,963 80 for various objects connected with the District of Columbia. There are 22 important charitable and reform- atory institutions. The following are those more or less directly connected with the territorial or national government, with the number of inmates, Dec. 1, 1872. The Wash-