in the propagation of free schools, and in the dissemination of information relative to school affairs. The Journal was adopted as the official organ of the school department at a meeting of the State board in January, 1871. STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. A State teachers' association was organized in 1869, at Little Rock. Delegates were appointed to attend the national association, to be held the August following, at Trenton, New Jersey. The second meeting of the association was held in July, 1870, at which there was a respectable attendance, and delegates were again appointed to attend the national association which met at Cleveland, Ohio, in August following. CHANGE IN THE SCHOOL YEAR RECOMMENDED. It is recommended that the law be so changed that the school year shall commence with the first of July instead of October, and that the district meetings be held in August, in order to afford more time for the getting in of reports in season for the superintendent's report in December. THE PAY OF TEACHERS. Much dissatisfaction has been occasioned by the fact that teachers have had to take uncurrent funds in payment of their wages. Treasurer's certificates by law were made receivable for all State dues, and as the greater portion of the taxes were paid in this kind of funds, it was in turn paid out to teachers, and there being no money in the treasury for the redemption of these certificates, the teachers were subjected to a heavy discount on the amount of their wages. CIRCUIT SUPERINTENDENCY. Arkansas has a system of circuit superintendency, which was adopted, it is stated, upon the supposition that it would be difficult if not impossible to find suitable persons in the several counties who would be willing to perform the duties of county supervision, and that upon the ground of economy it would be cheaper to pay ten competent men who would devate their entire time to the work, at good salaries, than to have a man in each county at a very moderato salary, even if competent persons could be obtained. The opinion is expressed that though this system may not be the best, yet at the present juncture it would be injudicious to make any radical change in it, for the next two years at least. OPPOSITION TO THE TAX FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. Difficulty has been encountered in securing the levy and collection of district taxes for schools, in some cases by the electors of the district refusing to levy such taxes, and in others by the county court refusing to place the amount of tax on the collector's book. In either case the result is to deprive the children of the means of education. In Union County a victory which was of great benefit to the school interest was obtained when the county court absolutely refused to levy a school tax which had been properly certified by one of the trustees of the county, through a writ of mandamus granted in the circuit court to compel the levy according to law. A change of the law in relation to the collection of school taxes is desired by some of the friends of education, by which the levy of a State tax sufficient for the support of schools should be authorized, instead of the present levy of one-fifth of one per cent., which, with the accrued interest on the vested school-fund and poll-tax, is apportioned to the several counties, leaving the additional amount necessary to the support of schools to be levied by the people of the respective districts as a local tax. An amendment is also advised which will prevent the diversion of certain school moneys from their proper use, such as funds accruing from fines, penalties, forfeitures, &c. Circulars have been sent by the board of school commissioners to all justices of the peace, and to all county courts in the State, instructing them that such moneys belong to the school fund, yet there are many magistrates and other officers in the State who have entirely disregarded these instructions, and in some instances it is believed that funds are being applied to the private use and benefit of those having them in possession. LANDS GRANTED BY THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. Taxes which have been collected on lands belonging to the sixteenth sections, and which should in all cases be paid into the common-school fund, have for several years past been merged into the general revenue of the State, no separate account having been kept of them. Of the United States land-grant for educational purposes, the superintendent says: "The past educational history of the State, it is remarked, clearly proves that the failure to establish a practical system of public instruction was not owing to the want of adequate means at the disposal of the State for the accomplishment of that object, for the United States Government had made munificent grants of land for the support of common schools, and the State legislature had passed several acts with a view of the creation of a school fund, and the establishment of a system of public schools, and yet for the want of a proper co-operation on the part of the people, the whole enterprise proved a lamentable failure, and much of the land which was designed for the promotion of education in the State was sold, and the funds squandered." The seminary lands granted by Congress in 1827 to the Territory of Arkansas, and confirmed to the State in 1836, amounted to two entire townships, or seventy-two sections. At the request of the general assembly of the State, Congress in 1844 so modified the grant that the State was authorized to appropriate the land to the use of common schools in the State, "or in any other mode the general assembly might deem proper for the promotion of education in said State." In 1836, seventy-two sections of saline lands were granted to the State for the support of schools, with a provision that the State should not sell such lands, nor lease them for a longer term than ten years. This provision was annulled by Congress in 1847; therefore the State was at liberty to sell, and did sell the greater part of these two munificent grants of land. "The outstanding amount of principal of the notes given for seminary land," is stated to be about $35,000, and of notes given for sale of saline lands about $10,000. It is stated also that "after May, 1831, the State diverted from their proper purposes, and used for general expenditures of the seminary fund, $7,260 81, and of the saline fund, $4,633 13." Also, that "the claims of the State, in the form of notes and bonds for school-lands sold and moneys loaned, amount perhaps, with the accrued interest, to three-quarters of a million of dollars." The amount of permanent school-fund on hand on the 1st day of October, 1870, was $35,192 40. EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORTS OF CIRCUIT SUPERINTENDENTS. "I can only say, in general terms, that about everything that has ever been done in reference to the education of the masses in my district has been accomplished within the last two years. Many more children have attended school within two years than attended in twenty-five years before, under old democratic rule. The greatest obstacle has been a wart of funds to build houses. The people generally have been unwilling to tax themselves beyond what was actually necessary to pay teachers."-W. H. GILLAM, superintendent third district. "There are seven thousand two hundred children in the district who have not attended the public schools. Out of this number there are about one thousand included in new districts that were not organized sufficiently soon for schools this year. A few are in attendance at private schools; some are so scattered among the mountains that they are out of the reach of all schools; others are kept at home by parents opposed to popular education, and still others by parents opposed to any education at all.”—W. H.H. CLAYTON, Superintendent fourth district. "Our teachers now number three hundred and seven, a majority of whom have proved themselves noble laborers in the cause of human progress. They are a growing class, not only in numbers, but in efficiency and influence. They have sustained the adverse criticisms of cavilers uncomplainingly. They have done well in the schoolroom. They have refuted arguments against the present system, and have responded to all the demands for labor in the progress of the cause."-E. E. HENDERSON, superintendent fifth district. "Near two hundred educational journals have been taken during the year, against none before 1868. The law requires more of the circuit superintendent than mortal man can accomplish. The land report required is simply an impossibility."-W. A. STEWART, superintendent sixth district. "I know, of personal knowledge, of several districts in which schools have been tanght in compliance with the present school laws, from which no reports have been received, and in several instances reports which have come to hand from districts having had a school, are so incomplete as scarcely to justify an apportionment of public money to their respective districts.”—J. H. HUTCHINSON, superintendent tenth district. THE PEABODY FUND. The aid furnished to different localities has been, to Little Rock, $2,000; Fort Smith, $1,500; Helena, $1,000; Camden, $1,000, and to Van Buren, $800; a total, with smaller sums to several other places, of $9,450. In some cases these appropriations were granted for the pay of the teachers after the school moneys of the cities were entirely exhausted. The school board at Helena received aid, under promise of keeping the schools open ten months, for six hundred 2D DISTRICT. children. The general agent of the board notices that prejudices which had existed against free schools were much diminished; and that Pine Bluff, which commenced its operations under the influence of the fund, is now supporting them liberally without this aid. School officers of those localities aided declare, on the other hand, that the offers from the Peabody fund gave them life and nerve, and induced them to co-operate with the regular free schools. LIST OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS. Hon. THOMAS SMITH, superintendent of public instruction, Little Rock. I.—Table of statistical details of schools in Arkansas, by districts and counties, for the year ending September 30, 1870. POPULATION BETW'EN NUMBER ATTENDING NO. OF TEACH- WHOLE AMOUNT PAID TEACH Not reported by circuit superintendent. The reports with respect to the number of persons attending school are very meager and imperfect In many instances nothing but the aggregate is given, and in some cases not even that. 33 2, 925 62, 157 47 1,500 302 257 1,757 26 22 3 29 2,793 00 49 9 58 3,953 00 360 00 3, 153 00 200 00 2,584 C 780 00 4,633 00 Unorganized in 1869. Total. CALIFORNIA. The area of this State embraces about 160,000 square miles-the second in the Union in regard to size. It is nearly as large as the Eastern and Middle States combined. The population in 1870 was 560,247. Native, 350,416; foreign, 209,831-a larger proportion of foreign population than any other State in the Union. The area of the State is territorially divided into fifty counties, which contain eighty cities and towns. The last biennial report of Hon. O. P. Fitzgerald, State superintendent of public instruction, gives the number of school districts in the State in 1869 as 1,144, in every one of which a school must be kept up and supported at least three months in every year, or forfeit its proportion of the interest of the public fund during such neglect. The total expenditure for public schools for the year 1869 was $1,290,585. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FIRST SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA. Hon. James Denman, one of the pioneers in the cause of education in the State, farnishes us with the earliest data in regard to schools. He says: "The first American school in San Francisco was organized in April, 1847. Here were collected from twenty to thirty pupils, which then comprised nearly all the children in the city. It was a private institution, supported by the tuition fees from the pupils and the contributions of the citizens. It was taught by Mr. Marsten, who is entitled to the honor of being the first Yankee school-master upon the Pacific coast. "Late in the fall of 1847, active measures were first taken by the citizens of San Francisco to organize a public school, which resulted in erecting a comfortable onestory school-house. The history of this old building is cherished by the early pioneers with many pleasing associations. Every new enterprise here germinated into existHere churches held their first meetings, and the first public amusements were given. After the discovery of gold it was deserted for school purposes, and dignified into a court-house. ence. "On the 3d of April, 1848, a school was opened by Rev. Thomas Douglas, a graduate of Yale College; although it was regularly organized as a public school, under the control and management of trustees, yet it was mainly supported by private tuition fees from the pupils. The success and usefulness of this school were soon paralyzed by the great discovery of gold, which rapidly depopulated the town, leaving the teacher minus scholars, parents, trustees, tuition, or salary. In the general excitement and confusion which followed the first rush to the mines, the school enterprise was for a time abandoned. "The education of the children, who were rapidly increasing from the flood of immigration pouring into San Francisco from every part of the world, was entirely neglected until the 23d of April, 1849, when Rev. Albert Williams opened a small select school, which he taught for a few months. "In October, 1849, Mr. J. C. Pelton and wife opened a school, which was at first commenced as a private enterprise, being supported by such compensation as the friends of the school were disposed to contribute." This proved to be the germ of the first public school in the State. From the multiplied advantages which California offers to emigrants, coupled with the fact that the grandest resources of a country are the educational facilities it has to offer, it is presumed that a condensed epitome of the origin and development of the free-school system of the State will not be devoid of interest to the nation. No complete file of State school reports exists, except in legislative journals; neither reports nor continuous statistical records can be found, either in the offices of county superintendents or elsewhere. For this valuable aggregation of important information the State is indebted to the indefatigable labors of Hon. John Swett, who, with great painstaking and protracted research, has succeeded in gathering from the scanty records of this department, from the journals of the State legislature, and from newspaper files, the fragmentary records of the schools during their early struggle. From this confused material he has gleaned a connected compendium of school legislation, reports, and statistics, and has placed on record, in a condensed and accessible form, the history of public schools in the State. The foundation of the public-school system of California was laid in the constitutional convention held in Monterey, September, 1849. The select committee on the State constitution reported in favor of appropriating the 500,000 acres of land granted by Congress to new States for the purpose of internal improvements, to constitute a perpetual school fund, with a proviso, however, that the legislature might appropriate the revenue so derived to other purposes, if the exigencies of the State required it. An animated debate occurred on this proviso, which was finally stricken out by the close vote of 18 to 17. SCHOOL ACTION OF SAN FRANCISCO. San Francisco was the first place in the State to organize, by her common council, independently of State law, a free public school. The following is a copy of the crude ordinance: “Be it ordained by the common council of San Francisco, That, from and after the passage of this act, it shall be the duty of J. C. Pelton, who has been employed by the council as a public teacher, to open a school in the Baptist chapel." Said school was to be free to all children over the age of four, or under the age of sixteen, whose parents should obtain an order for their attendance from the chairman of the committee on education. The number of scholars should not exceed one hundred. Thus the first city free school was established by Mr. Pelton, in December, 1849, and opened with three scholars. From the records, this seems to have been the first free public school established in the State. SCHOOL LAW OF 1851. The school law of 1851 was cumbersome and imperfect in many of its provisions. It provided for the survey and sale of school lands in so impracticable a manner that no lands were sold under its operation. It provided, also, for the apportionment of the interest of the State school fund; defined the duties of the superintendent of public instruction; provided for a superintending school committee of three, who were to be elected annually; and, also, for the distribution of the school fund among religious and sectarian schools, in the same manner as provided for district schools. The first school ordinance passed under the State school law was that of San Francisco, adopted in September, 1851. This made provision for a city board of education, composed of seven inembers, and for a city superintendent, and appropriated $35,000 for the support of schools. Thomas J. Nevins, who mainly prepared the ordinance, was elected superintendent of schools and proceeded to organize the department. The first schools organized under this ordinance were the Happy Valley School and the Powell Street School. Hon. James Denman, for many years superintendent of San Francisco County, and present principal of the Denian School of San Francisco, was clected the first teacher of the Happy Valley School. Hon. John G. Marvin, the first State superintendent of public instruction, made his first annual report to the third legislature, 1852. Mr. Marvin donated to the school fund the sum of $1,456, the same being the amount which he had received for military services in an expedition against the Indians, while holding a civil office. This was the first and last "bequest" which the State school fund ever received. It is recorded as a most refreshing example of official honesty and scrupulous sense of honor. The estimated number of children in the State, between four and eighteen, was about 6,000. Most of the schools were private, supported by tuition. At the third session of the legislature, in 1852, the chairman of the senate committee on education made an able report in behalf of common schools, and introduced a revised school law, much more complete than the former one. Paul K. Hubbs was elected as successor to John G. Marvin, and took office in 1854. His published reports constitute a quaint and interesting portion of early school history. In his fifth annual report, in 1855, he says: "From the solitary teacher of a very common school, in 1849, at San Francisco, my predecessor had witnessed their increase to fifty-six during his term of office. I have just reported to your honorable body nearly six times that number, with a just demand for a quadruplication of the present force. Strong in the sympathies of the good, great in our natural resources, stimulated by the energies that accompany knowledge, our rank will be continuous in the front till progressive civilization encircles the globe." FIRST TEACHERS' CONVENTION. The first State teachers' convention, called by Superintendent Hubbs, was held in San Francisco, in 1854, about one hundred teachers being in attendance. CONTRAST BETWEEN COST OF CRIMINALS AND SCHOOL CHILDREN. Mr. Hubbs was succeeded in office, in 1857, by Andrew J. Moulder, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. In his eighth annual report, 1858, he opened with the statement that the schools of California were not creditable to the State, and showed the necessity of an immediate appropriation by the State of $100,000. Concerning this, he goes on to show, by a classification and analysis of reports, that 29,347 children, between four and eighteen years of age, had received no instruction during the year. He adds: "Damning as the record is, it is yet lamentably true, that during the last five years the State of California has paid $754,193 80 for the support of criminals, and but $284,183 69 for the education of the young. In other words, she has expended $1,885 on every criminal, and $9 on every child." |