Buffalo & Lake Huron (Buff. to Stratford), 117 Great West. (Niagara Falls to Detroit), Cobourg and Peterboro, 23 Length. Miles. 229 28 Toronto Branch (Hamilton to Toronto), 38 Erie & Ontario (Niag. Falls to Chippewa), 17 Mont. & N.Y. (Mont. to Mooer's Junc.), 42 Grand Trunk. For Portland Dist. see Maine. Plattsb'g & Mont. (Mooer's J. to Platts.), 20 Montreal District, 143 Ont., Sim. & Huron (Tor. to Collingwood), 95 Ottawa & Prescott (Pres. to Bytown), Other roads, Total, Quebec Dist. (Richmond to Quebec), 96 333 Toronto & Sarnia District (Tor. & Strat.) 89 St. Thomas Branch, 491 54 37 1,459 Surveyed Routes for a Railroad from the Mississippi or its Tributaries to the From the Report of the Secretary of War. Pacific Ocean. I. MAINE. Capital, Augusta. Area, 35,000 sq. m. Population, 1850, 583,169. Government for the Year ending the 1st Wednesday in January, 1858.† JOSEPH H. WILLIAMS, of Augusta, Alden Jackson, James W. Webster, Gilman Turner, of Augusta, 900 of Portland, 1,600 of Belfast, 500 of Exeter, of Rockland, of Augusta, 1,000 of C. Elizabeth, of Norway, Sup't of Insane Hospital, Sup't of State Reform School, 1,500 Sup't of Common Schools, 1,200 [and travelling expenses. of Augusta, Sup't of Pub. Buildings, $1.25 per day. of Farmington, Bank Commissioners. Pres. of Senate, pro tem, $4 per day. 4 " Councillors. Abner Coburn, of Bloomfield; Benjamin F. Eastman, of Phillips; William M. Reed, of Bath; Joseph S. Monroe, of Abbott; Ichabod Frost, of Sanford; Nathaniel A. Joy, of Ellsworth; and George Pierce, of Harrison. *For the table exhibiting the Seats of Government, the times of the election of State Officers, and the meeting of the Legislatures, of the several States, see ante, p. 212; and for their population at the several censuses, see pp. 205, 214. † Hannibal Hamlin, of Hampden, was Governor until Feb. 26, 1857, when, having been elected Senator, he resigned, and Joseph II. Williams, of Augusta, then President of the Senate, succeeded him Lot M. Morrill, of Augusta, has been elected Governor for the year ending January, 1859. Officers of session of 1857. The State is divided into three Judicial Districts, denominated the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts; and for the purpose of hearing and determining questions of law and equity, the terms are held for these districts, instead of being held, as heretofore, in the several counties. These terms are held annually in Portland for the Western, in Augusta for the Middle, and in Bangor for the Eastern District. The other cases are tried, as heretofore, in the several counties where they are commenced. Municipal and Police Courts. Samuel Titcomb, of Augusta; Spencer A. Pratt, of Bangor; Jacob Smith, of Bath; Joseph Williamson, Jr., of Belfast; Henry Orr, of Brunswick; Luther Brackett, of Calais; William Palmer, of Gardiner; Samuel K. Gilman, of Hallowell; William Paine, of Portland; S. C. Fessenden, of Rockland; and William Berry, of Biddeford, are Judges at those places respectively. Some are paid by salaries, others by fees. Amount of expenditures from January 1, 1856, to December 31, 1856, $593,312.04 39,130.37 632,442.41 486,165,00 $146,277.41 $ 21,819.28 3,264.37 3,149.25 Printing, binding, and stationery, 10,740.88 29,553.29 Insane Hospital and insane paupers, 10,004.00 5,913.18 Deaf, dumb, and blind, 4,872.68 Public Debt. -The public funded debt of the State, January 1, 1857, was $699,000. There are besides funds to the amount of $314,257.85, held in trust by the State, and for which the State must provide the payment of interest. There are other liabilities to a small amount for unpaid warrants, &c. A recent amendinent of the Constitution limits the amount of State indebtedness at any one time, to be afterwards created, to $300,000. The amount over this sum is the balance of the old debt. Common Schools. By the Act of April 17, 1854, provision is made for the appointment of a Superintendent of Common Schools. His duty is "to devote his time to the improvement of common schools and the promotion of the general interests of education in the State." He is to hold annually in each county a Teachers' Convention, for one week at least, of which he has the charge, and he is to employ suitable instructors and teachers to assist him therein. To defray the expenses of these conventions $2,000 are to be appropriated annually. School Fund. -The permanent school fund is $136,346.51. The amount apportioned for the year 1856 was $66,619.11. The bank tax for the support of schools is one per cent on their capital. The apportionment is made ratably among towns making returns. Towns are obliged by law to raise annually an amount of school money equal to 60 cents for each inhabitant. During the year 1856, there were 4,855 public schools in the State; 4,061 school districts, and 340 parts of districts; number of children in the State between 4 and 21, 241,197; scholars in summer schools, 120,781; average number, 96,366; scholars in winter schools, 153,832; average, 116,442; ratio of attendance throughout the year to the whole number of scholars, 44 per cent.; male teachers, 2,659; female teachers, 4,240; average wages, exclusive of board, males per month $21.96, females per week $2.11. Average length of all the schools for the year, 19.8 weeks. Amount raised for schools by taxes, $386,438.53 being $39,237.73 more than the law requires. Amount received from the State, $66,619.11; from local funds, $17,735.28; expended for private schools, $28,631.64; school-houses built during the year, 127; estimated cost, $ 129,248. Aggregate expended for school purposes, $499,872.66. Good school-houses 1,781, poor do. 2,013; estimated value of all the schoolhouses, $895,987. Amount of school-money raised per scholar, $1.495, received from the State, $0.276. Returns were received from all but 5 towns in the State. 15 Teachers' Conventions were held in the several counties during the year, and were attended by nearly 1,200 different teachers. |