The debt of the state is $545,435, nearly half of which is due to the permanent school fund.
The public institutions maintained by the state are the college for the blind at Vinton; the school for the deaf and dumb at Council Bluffs; the hospitals for the insane at Mount Pleasant and Independence; the soldiers' orphans' homes at Cedar Falls, Davenport, and Glenwood; the reform school for boys at Eldora, and one for girls near Salem; and two penitentiaries, one at Fort Madison, the other at Anamosa. The common school system is under the joint direction of state and county superintendents and district directors. The number of persons of school age (between 5 and 21) in the state in 1878 woe 577,35:3; number enrolled, 431,317; number in attendance, 264,702. The number of school districts in 1873 was 2,586; graded schools, 419; schools ungraded, 8,397; school-houses, 8,856; number of teachers—males, 6,091; females, 10,193—total, 16,284: average monthly compensation of male teachers, $36.28; of females, $27.68. The number of private schools was 121; of their teachers, 364; of their pupils, 12,132. The amount of the permanent school fund in 1873 was $3,294,742, producing an income of $275,789; total expenditure in that year for school purposes, $4,229,455, of which $2,248,676 was for the salaries of teachers. There is no state school devoted exclusively to the training of teachers. Among the higher institutions of learning in the state are the following: The state university at Iowa City, and the state agricultural college at Ames, both under the patronage of the state; Upper Iowa uni versity at Fayette, Methodist; Tabor College at Tabor, Congregational; German college at Mt. Pleasant, Methodist; Iowa Wesleyan university at Mt. Pleasant, Methodist; Whittier college at Salem, Friends; Humboldt college at Springvale; Cornell college at Mt. Vernon, Methodist; Western college at Western, United Brethren; Oskaloosa college at Oskaloosa, Disciples; Central university of Iowa at Pella, Baptist; Amity college at College Springs; university of Des Moines at Des Moines, Baptist; Iowa college at Grinnell, Congregational; Penn college at Oskaloosa, Friends; Simpson Centenary college at Indianola, Methodist; Norwegian Luther college at Deborah, Lutheran; and Burlington university at Burlington. The whole number of professors and teachers in these institutions in 18,73-74 was 168, of students 3,570. The agricultural college admits :Ancients of both sexes and unites manual labor with study. The number of libraries in the state, according to the census of 1870, was :3,540; of which 2,387 were private; volumes in the public libraries, 377,851; in the private libraries. 295.749. The chief of the public libraries are the state library at Des Moines and the state historical library at Iowa City. According to the state census of 1873, periodicals published in Iowa were 22 daily, t tri-weekly, 6 semi-weekly, 272 weekly, 2 semi-monthly, 19 monthly, and 1 hi-monthly. The number of religious organizations, according to the census of 1870, was 2,763; church edifices, 1446; church property, $5,730,352. The chief denomina tions are the Baptist, Christian, Congregational, Episcopal, Friends, Jews, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Second Advent, United Brethren in Christ, Universalist, and Unitarian.
The general election is held on the 2d Tuesday in Oct., except in the years of the presidential election, when it occurs on the Tuesday next after the first 3Ionday in November. The governor and lieutenant-governor are elected for 2 years by a plurality of the popular vote. The salary of the former is $3,000 per annum. The legislature • consists of a senate of 50 members elected for 4 years, half of them biennially, and a house of 100 members elected biennially. The sessions are biennial, 'occurring in the even years. Senators must be 25 years of age, representatives 21 years, and the governor and lieutenant-governor CO years. The secretary of state, auditor of state, register of state land office, and superintendent of public instruction are elected for 2 years, and , each has a salary of $2,200. The governor appoints the adjutant- and inspector-general and the state librarian for terms of 2 years. The supreme court consists of four judges, elected by the people for 6 years,.one every second year, and the one having the shortest time to serve is chief-justice. Judges of the district court are elected in single districts for 4 years. The judges of the supreme court receive a -salary of $4,000, those of the district court $2,200 per annum. Circuit courts, consisting of a single judge, are held by the district court judges. The constitution prohibits the lending of the credit of t he state for any purl. , or the borrowing of more than $250,CCO at any one time, but permits a larger debt to be contracted to repel invasion or suppress insurrection. No corporation can be created by special law, and stockl.olders in banks are individually liable to double the amount of their stock. The legislature is prohibited from granting divorces or authorizing lotteries. The property rights of husbands and wives are equal, • each upon the death of the other inheriting one-third in value of his or her real estate, while neither is liable for the separate debts of the other. The contracts made by the wife in her own name are enforced by or against her precisely as if she were unmarried. A married woman may sue and be sued without the husband being joined in the action. Women are by law eligible to all offices connected with public schools. The state offers a premium for the planting of forest trees by deducting a certain sum from the taxes of citizens in proportion to the number of trees they may set out. The amount of properly thus exempted from taxation for the years 1879 and 1880 is estimated at nearly $6,000, 000. A new state capitol is nearly completed. Its greatest length is 263 ft., and its greatest width 246 feet. It is estimated to cost not far from $2,000,000. The electoral votes of Iowa for president and vice-president of the United States have been cast as follows: 1848, 4 for Cass and Butler; 1852, 4 for Pierce and King; 1856, 4 for Fremont and Dayton; 1860, 4 for Lincoln and Hamlin; 1864, 8 for Lincoln and Johnson: 18G8, 8 for Grant and Colfax; 1872, 11 for Grant and Wilson; 1876, 11 for Hayes and Wheeler.