Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/493

MICHIGAN. first portion of the State settled, and the mass of the population is still found in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. The population is steadily increasing, however, in the more northern regions. The early settlers were largely from New England and New York, but a very considerable German element settled in the State about the middle of the nineteenth century. The position of Michigan relative to Canada has resulted in giving it a large Canadian element—greater than that of any other State except Massachusetts. The Canadians form the most numerous foreign-born element in the State. They predominate in many northern localities. The German-born population is second in importance among the foreign-born. The total foreign-born population in 1900 was 521,653. In that year there were 26 cities having each over 8000 inhabitants, and aggregating 30.9 per cent. of the total population. The largest cities, with their population in 1900, are as follows: Detroit, 285,704; Grand Rapids, 87,565; Saginaw, 42,345: Bay City, 27,628; Jackson, 25,180: Kalamazoo, 24,404; Muskegon, 20,818; Port Huron, 19,154; Battle Creek, 18,563; Lansing, 16,485; Ann Arbor, 14,509; Manistee, 14,260.

. The Methodist and the Roman Catholic churches are in the lead, followed in the order named by the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Protestant Episcopalians.

. In 1900 the total illiterate population ten years of age and over was 4.2 per cent. In 1900 there were 498,665 pupils enrolled in the public schools, of whom 350,000 were in average attendance. In 1899 there were 692 graded and 6469 ungraded school districts in the State, but the attendance in the former was much greater than in the latter. The average duration of the graded schools was 9.26 months; of the ungraded, 8.05 months. There are county boards of three school examiners, who determine the qualifications of persons proposing to teach in public schools; township boards of three school inspectors, whose title indicates their work; and district boards of six trustees for graded school districts and boards of three trustees for ungraded ones, their duties being to look after the educational interests of the respective districts, specify the studies to be pursued, prescribe textbooks, and elect teachers. No separate school for any race is allowed. Schools must be unsectarian and must be taught at least nine months in districts having eight hundred or more youths of school age, and at least five months in districts having from thirty to eight hundred, and three months in smaller districts. In 1899-1900 there were 15,564 teachers, of whom 12,093 were females. The average monthly wages of men in 1900 were $44.48, and of women $35.35. The State contains normal schools at Mount Pleasant, Ypsilanti, and Marquette. The primary school fund amounted in 1897 to $4,646,204. The greater part of this fund was acquired from the sale of the sixteenth section of land in every township. The remainder was acquired from the sale of swamp lands. The total expenditure of the State for public schools in 1899-1900 was $6,539,146, of which $4,312,245 was paid as salaries to teachers and superintendents. The State University, located at Ann Arbor, is one of the foremost higher educational institutions in the country. The university fund amounted in 1897 to $549,621. The State also maintains an agricultural college and a school of mines. In 1897 there was a State educational fund of $569,951. Besides the State institutions, there are the following denominational schools: Adrian College, at Adrian (Methodist); Albion College, at Albion (Methodist); Alma College, Alma (Presbyterian); Detroit College, Detroit (Roman Catholic); Hillsdale College, Hillsdale (Free Baptist); Hope College, Holland (Reformed); Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo (Baptist); Olivet College, Olivet (Congregational).

. There is a State board of correction and charities appointed by the Governor for a term of 8 years. This board is authorized to examine into the conditions of every city and county poor-house and county jail, visit the State charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions, and make reports and recommendations concerning the same. The law authorizes the Governor to appoint an agent of the board in every county to look after the care of juvenile offenders and dependent children. The system is intended to secure reformation without commitment to State institutions, and only one-third of the children arrested are sent to the Industrial School for boys at Lansing, and to the Industrial Home for girls at Adrian. The State Public School for the care of dependent and neglected children is located at Coldwater. The Michigan School for the Deaf is located at Flint, and the School for the Blind at Lansing. The State insane asylums, with the number of patients June 30, 1900, were as follows: Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo, 1392 patients; Eastern Michigan Asylum, at Pontiac, 1056 patients; Northern Michigan Asylum, at Traverse City, 1050 patients; and the Upper Peninsula Hospital for Insane, at Newberry, 345 patients. The charge of maintenance of the State's insane has been gradually decreased from $4.06 per week in 1883-84 to $3.08 in 1899-1900. The Wayne County Asylum at Eloise (414 patients) is recognized by the State and is under the supervision of the State board. The State has a home for the feeble-minded and epileptics at Lapeer. The State penal institutions are the Michigan State Prison at Jackson; the State House of Correction at Ionia; and the Upper Peninsula Prison at Marquette. On June 30, 1900, 1372 convicts were confined in these institutions. Besides these the Detroit House of Correction receives prisoners from different counties. Most of the convicts in this institution are on short-time sentences. The State has a parole law under which certain prisoners are allowed to be at large, while still under the control of the prison authorities. The State House of Correction was intended as an adult reformatory, but new legislation has converted it into an ordinary prison, to which all classes of prisoners are sentenced. Part of the prisoners are employed under the State account system, others by contractors who hire the convicts. Various occupations are followed, shirt-making and laundering probably being the most important. The prisoners in county jails are generally kept in idleness.

. Remains of ancient mines and mining implements have been found within the present limits of the State. The white discoverers and first settlers were French missionaries and fur traders, some of whom visited the site of Detroit as early as 1610. In 1641 French Jesuits found