Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/429

KANSAS. Baptists, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Lutherans, Congregationalists, and Friends.

. The following are the charitable and penal institutions supported by the State, the number of inmates for each as returned for May, 1900, being given in parenthesis: Insane Asylum, Topeka (860); Insane Asylum, Osawatomie (1030); Blind Asylum, Kansas City, Kan. (85); Imbecile School, Winfield (204); Deaf and Dumb School, Olathe (250); Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Atchison (134); Soldiers' Home, Leavenworth (2740 in 1901); Penitentiary, Lansing (988); Industrial Reformatory, Hutchinson (220); Industrial School (girls), Beloit (116); Reform School (boys), Topeka (180). For several years the parole system has been in operation at the State Industrial Reformatory. The Governor, under the exercise of his pardoning power, has applied the parole system to the State penitentiary, although there has been no law explicitly authorizing it. There are 14 private institutions in the State engaged wholly or partly in charitable work, receiving aid in the way of appropriations. In each of the fiscal years 1900-01 the Legislature made an appropriation of $700 to each of them. Some of these institutions receive and care for indigent persons without charge. Others make a charge for all who enter.

. In 1900 the illiterate population 10 years of age and over amounted to only 2.3 per cent. of the population, there being but two States which had a better record. This result was attained notwithstanding the fact that the State's compulsory attendance law has been a dead letter. Since the population is largely rural, Kansas has had to contend with the problem of rural education in an exaggerated form. The low value of the taxable property in many of the school districts often results in a short school term of only three or four months, and not infrequently in inefficient teachers. Unusual interest, however, is manifested in education, and the poorest districts are likely to levy the heaviest school rates. In 1900 the population between the ages of 5 and 21 was 508,854, and the school enrollment for the same year was 389,582 and the average attendance 261,783.

In 1900 there were 118 city high schools with courses complete enough to prepare pupils for the State University, and a number of others with courses which fell a little short of this requirement. In that year there were 3765 male and 7748 female teachers. The average monthly salary received by the male teachers was $42.04, and by the female teachers $35.20. A marked improvement in the efficiency of teachers in general is now in progress. There is a State normal school at Emporia, and there are a number of private normal schools whose graduates are entitled to a three-year State certificate upon passing an examination in the professional courses. Graduates of the normal courses of certain State collegiate institutions receive a three-year State certificate without examination. Graduates of the following approved institutions who have completed the required work in pedagogy for the teacher's diploma at the State University are entitled to a State certificate, which leads to a life certificate: Fairmount College, Wichita; Macpherson College, Macpherson; Baker University, Baldwin; Ottawa University, Ottawa; Friends' University, Wichita; Bethany College,

Lindsborg; Southwest Kansas College, Winfield; Salina Wesleyan University, Salina; College of Emporia, Emporia; Lane University, Lecompton. The (q.v.)—the State University—is located at Lawrence. Another important and successful institution is the well-known State Agricultural College at Manhattan. The young farmer student is here taught to become familiar with all the practical problems of farming, and scientific experiments and investigations are continuously carried on with the idea of improving all kinds of agricultural and stock-raising methods. There are besides the above a number of other institutions which assume the name of college or university. The inspection of the higher institutions of the State by the State board and the granting of certificate privileges to those approved have resulted in an enlargement of the equipment and a raising of the standard of those institutions.

In 1900 the total amount received for educational purposes in Kansas was $5,277,702, of which $3,897,873 was received from district taxes through the county treasurer, and $421,133 was received from State and county school funds. The total amount paid out during the year was $4,622,363, $3,173,062 being paid for teachers' wages and supervision.

. Among the Indian tribes who lived within the present boundaries of Kansas were the Shawnees, the Osages, the Omahas, and, of later arrivals, the Kickapoos and the Illinois. In 1541 a small force of Spaniards and Indians under Coronado traversed the region from southwest to northeast; but no results followed this expedition. The country remained unexplored till 1719, when it was visited by Frenchmen from Louisiana. In 1803 the greater portion of what is now Kansas passed into the possession of the United States as a part of the Louisiana Purchase; the southwestern section of the State was ceded by Texas to the Federal Government in 1850. The region was explored by Lewis and Clark in 1804, Lieutenant Pike in 1806-07, and Lieutenant Long in 1819. Fort Leavenworth was erected in 1827, and four years later the Baptists founded a mission to the Shawnees near the Missouri River. Emigrant trains on the way to California crossed the region as early as 1844; and the army of General Kearney, intended for the invasion of Mexico, set out from Fort Leavenworth in 1846. In 1854 the population was estimated at 700. The region formed a part of the Territory of Missouri till 1821, remaining unorganized from that year till 1854. When it was proposed to organize the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska (see ), the supporters of slavery incorporated in the act of organization a declaration repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and leaving the question of slavery to be decided by the inhabitants of the Territory in framing their Constitution. The act, passed in May, 1854, thus removed the barrier to the extension of slavery which had been created by Congress thirty-four years previously, and to the maintenance of which, during all that period, both the northern and southern portions of the Union had held themselves to be ‘forever’ bound. The plea by which it was sought to justify this act was that the compromise of 1850, which had been adopted by Congress as a final settlement of all the differences respecting slavery which then existed,