Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/680

MISSISSIPPI. 30 per cent. were for common school purposes and 15 per cent. for redemption of the State debt.

The following figures show the growth of population: 1800, 8850; 1830, 136,621; 1850, 606,527; 1860, 791,305; 1870, 827,922; 1880, 1,131,597; 1890, 1,289,600; 1900, 1,551,270. The rank of the State was advanced from 20 in 1810 to 14 in 1860, and receded to 20 in 1900. The greatest absolute gain was made in the decade 1870-80. In the last decade the increase was 20.3, or nearly the same as for the United States. The foreign-born population in 1900 numbered only 7981, or less than that in, any other State except the two Carolinas. The colored population in 1900 numbered 907,630, or about 58 per cent. of the total population, which is a larger per cent. than is found in any other State, although Georgia contains a larger absolute number. The per cent. of increase for the decade 1890-1900 was 22.2 for the negroes and 17.7 for the whites. The negroes are most numerous in the western or Mississippi Valley counties, in some of which they are five times as numerous as the whites. The Indians number about 2200; they are of the Choctaw tribe. Only 10 places in the State exceed 4000 in population, and together constitute but 5.3 per cent. of the total number of inhabitants, being the smallest per cent. of urban population found in any State. The largest towns in 1900 were: Vicksburg, 14,834; Meridian, 14,050; and Natchez, 12,210.

In 1846 a law providing for a public school system was passed. Although educational matters have shown signs of improvement of late, they still suffer from causes peculiar to the South, and the present facilities are far from adequate. Like most Southern States, Mississippi has no compulsory attendance law, and there is a complete separation of the races. The census of 1900 gives Mississippi a total school population (five to twenty years of age) of 633,026, including 379,873 colored. The illiterate population amounted to 351,461, or 32 per cent. of the total population of the State ten years of age and over, the native whites numbering 36,038, or 8 per cent. of the total native white population, and the colored 314,617, or 49.1 per cent. of the entire colored population. The total enrollment in 1900 was about 387,500, and the average attendance 258,995—133,098 whites and 125,897 colored, the proportion of school attendance to school population in the case of the whites and the colored being about 53 and 33 per cent. respectively. The length of the school term in 1900 was 105 days, as compared with about 86 days in 1889-90. Out of the 8515 teachers employed in the public schools in 1900, 5147 were white and 3368 colored. The proportion of male teachers fell off from 61.2 per cent. in 1879-80 to 39.4 in 1898-999. The State Board of Education is composed of the Secretary of State, Attorney-General, and the Superintendent of Education. This board and the Senate appoint school superintendents in each county. Before 1886 licenses to teach were granted practically without any examinations. In that year a law was passed providing for uniform State examinations, payment of salaries according to licenses held by the teachers, and for the establishment of teachers' institutes. The maintenance of the public school system in 1900 cost the

State $1,472,432, or 95 cents per capita of population. The State taxes which formerly yielded the bulk of the revenue for school purposes have been decreased and now amount only to about one-half of the total revenue, the rent being derived chiefly from local taxes. In 1899-1900 there were 4052 secondary students (including 394 colored) attending the public high schools; in the same year 1977 students (including 166 colored) were in private high schools. The chief higher educational institutions of the State besides the State University, near Oxford, and the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Agricultural College, are the Mississippi College (Baptist) at Clinton, Millsaps College (Methodist) at Jackson, Whitworth Female College at Brookhaven, and Woman's College at Oxford. The principal higher educational institutions for the colored youth are Tougaloo University at Tougaloo, near Jackson, Rust University at Holly Springs, the States Normal School at Holly Springs, and Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College at Westside.

The State institution for the deaf and dumb (white and colored) is located at Jackson; and the school for the blind (white) is also at that place. There are two State hospitals for the insane, one at Jackson and the other at Meridian. The State aids in the support of hospitals at Vicksburg and Natchez. The penitentiary is located at Jackson. Most of the prisoners are employed in farm labor, or in the production of articles of necessity in the prison administration. Some of the prison farms are owned by the State, others are rented. The farm labor system is considered very satisfactory and does not incur any financial loss. Prisoners committed to the county jails are also put to labor upon farms.

Over half of the Church population of the State belong to the Baptist Church, and the majority of the remainder to the Methodist. Of the lesser denominations the more important are the Presbyterian, Catholic, Christian, and Protestant Episcopal.

The present Constitution was adopted in 1890. If two-thirds of the members of each House vote each day for three several days in favor of a proposed amendment, the same will be submitted to the people of the State, and it becomes a part of the Constitution if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting. Voters must have resided in the State two years, in the election district one year (six months for ministers of the Gospel), and have paid taxes legally required. Registration is necessary, and the would-be voter, in order to register, must be “able to read any section of the Constitution of the State; or he must be able to understand the same when read to him, or give a reasonable interpretation thereof.”

Representatives and Senators are elected for terms of four years. The regular session of the Legislature meets on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of January, every fourth year after 1892; special sessions of the Legislature are held on the corresponding day every fourth year, beginning with 1894, unless sooner convoked by the Governor. Special sessions cannot continue longer than thirty days unless the Governor extends them by proclamation. Compensation is prescribed by law, but at the special session not more than $5 per day and mileage can be allowed. Revenue bills and bills providing for