Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/507

 NORTH CAROLINA 493 The Dismal Swamp canal, lying in North Caro- lina and Virginia, affords communication be- tween Albeinarle sound and Chesapeake bay. Important improvements have been made by the Roanoke navigation company in the Roa- noke, Dan, and Staunton rivers. A part of these is the Weldon canal, 12 m. long. Im- provements in Cape Fear and Deep rivers are also owned by companies. At the beginning of 1875 there were 11 national banks in opera- tion, with a paid-in capital of $2,200,000; circulation issued, $2,130,320 ; outstanding, $1,- 824,545. The latter amount was $1 70 per capita of the population; ratio of circulation to the wealth of the state, ^ per cent. ; to bank capital, 82 '9 per cent. The government is ad- ministered under the constitution adopted in 1868, which declares that the state shall ever remain a member of the American Union, and that there is no right on the part of the state to secede therefrom ; that every citizen owes paramount allegiance to the constitution and government of the United States ; that the state shall never assume or pay any debt incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave ; that slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than for crime whereof the parties shall have been duly con- victed, shall be and are for ever prohibited ; and that no property qualification shall be required as a condition of voting or holding office. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly consisting of a senate of 50 and a house of representatives of 120 mem- bers, who are elected by the people for two years. The sessions are biennial, beginning on the third Monday of November in even years. In and after 1876 the state election will be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The president of the senate and speaker of the house receive each $7 a day during the session of the legislature, and 20 cents for each mile travelled in going to and returning from the capital. Members receive $5 a day and mileage. The executive officers are elected for a term of four years, and are as follows: governor, salary $4,000; lieuten- ant governor, who is president of the senate ; secretary of state, $1,000 and fees ; auditor, $1,250 and fees; treasurer, $3,000; super- intendent of public instruction, $1,500 ; attor- ney general, $1,500 and fees. The governor may grant reprieves and pardons after convic- tion, but has no veto. The executive officers enter upon their duties on the first day of Jan- uary succeeding their election. The governor and lieutenant governor are ineligible for two successive terms. The secretary of state, audi- tor, treasurer, and superintendent of public in- struction constitute the council of state, which advises the governor in the execution of his duties. The judicial power is vested in a su- preme court consisting of a chief justice and four associate justices, a superior court with one judge in each of the 12 judicial districts into which the state is divided, and courts of justices of the peace. The supreme court has in general only appellate jurisdiction; the superior courts have general original jurisdic- tion both civil and criminal, and hear appeals from justices of the peace and probate judges ; justices of the peace have jurisdiction in civil 'cases wherein the amount involved does not exceed $200, provided the title to real estate does not come in question, and of criminal pro- ceedings for minor offences. The clerks of the superior courts act in most matters as probate judges. The judges of the supreme and supe- rior courts are elected by the people for eight years, and receive a salary of $2,500 each. The elective franchise is conferred upon every male citizen of the United States, 21 years of age and upward, who shall have resided in the state one year next preceding the election, and 30 days in the county in which he offers to vote. A registration of voters is made compulsory. All qualified electors are eligible to office, except persons who shall deny the being of Almighty God, and those who shall have been convicted of treason, perjury, or any other infamous crime, since becoming citizens of the United States, or of corruption or malpractice ih office. The property of a married woman remains her own, free from liability for the debts of her husband, and may be devised and bequeathed by her, and with the written consent of her husband conveyed, as if she were single. The grounds for divorce are impotence, abandon- ment, and living in adultery, "or any other just cause for divorce." North Carolina has two senators and eight representatives in con- gress, and is therefore entitled to ten votes in the electoral college. The state debt, on Oct. 1, 1874, including unpaid interest, was : " Old bonds," issued before the war $11,379,015 Bonds issued since the war under acts passed before the war 8,088,910 Bonds issued during the war for internal im- provements.- 1,714,590 Funding bonds issued since the war 5,604,140 Bonds not special tax issued under acts passed since the war 2,199,208 Bonds commonly called " special tax " 14,935,980 Total $38,921,848 Of the above, $23,985,918 are not special tax. During the year ending Sept. 30, 1874, the re- ceipts of the public fund amounted to $667,114, and the disbursements to $451,339. The re- ceipts of the educational fund were $44,384; disbursements, $56,030. The valuation of property as reported by the federal census has been as follows : Assessed value of real estate. Personal estate. Total assessed value. True value of real and per- sonal estate. 1850.. I860.. 1870.. $226,800,472 358,789,899 260,757,244 $116,866,573 83,822,012 $175,931,029 47,056,610 $292.297,602 130,878,622 In 1874 the total property of the state was reported by the auditor at $143,723,813, in-