Transportation.—The total railway mileage in the State in 1919 was 4,227.39. The lines having the longest mileage are the Illinois Central, Louisville and Nash ville, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis, the Southern Railway, and the Tennessee Central.
Edueation.—School attendance is com pulsory throughout the State and the employment of children under 14 years of age in workshops, factories, or mines is prohibited. Separate schools are main tained for white and colored children. There are about 7,500 public and ele mentary schools, with about 600,000 pupils enrolled, with about 10,000 teach ers. There are about 125 public high schools, with about 500 teachers. The annual expenditure for education is about $7,000,000. There are 4 public normal schools, and 26 universities and colleges, the most important of which are the University of Chattanooga, the Univer sity of Tennessee at Knoxville, Fisk Uni versity (colored) at Nashville, Vander bilt University at Nashville, Cumberland University at Nashville, and University of the South at Sewanee. There are seven colleges for women, eight commer cial schools, a manual training school, and three universities for colored stu dents.
Finance.—The receipts for the fiscal year 1918 amounted to $7,954,650, and the disbursements to $7,481,786. There was a balance in the treasury at the be ginning of the year of $368,818, and at the end of the year of $841,682. The bonded debt of the State amounts to about $15,000,000, and the assessed valu ation to about $575,000,000.
Charities and Correction.—The chari table and correctional institutions are under the State board of control. The most important institutions are the State Penitentiary at Nashville, training and agricultural school for boys, industrial school and school for the blind, all at Nashville, school for deaf and dumb at Knoxville, and a vocational reformatory for girls at Tullahoma. There are three
hospitals for the insane.
Churches.—The strongest denomina tions in the State are the Methodist Epis copal South; African Methodist; Regu lar Baptist, colored; Cumberland Pres byterian; Methodist Episcopal; Disciples of Christ; Roman Catholic; Presbyterian, South; Primitive Baptist; Protestant Episcopal; and Presbyterian, North.
State Government.—The governor is elected for a term of two years. Legis lative sessions are held biennially and are limited in length to 75 days each. The Legislature has 33 members in the Senate and 99 in the House. There are 10 Representatives in Congress.
1756 a settlement was formed near Knoxville, then a part of North Carolina; Nashville was settled near the close of the Revolution; in 1790 Tennessee was organized as a territory with Kentucky; and admitted in 1796 to the Union as a separate State. In Jan uary, 1861, a proposition to secede from the Union was defeated; but in June, carried by a majority of 57,567. In 10 months the State raised 50 regiments for the Southern Confederacy; while 5 or 6 were also recruited for the Union. The State was the scene, at Knoxville and Chattanooga, of some of the most impor tant operations of the war. For years after the general pacification of the country, local disorders continued in Ten nessee to disturb the tranquillity of the community, and it was only in 1870 that, after the adoption of the 15th amend ment to the Constitution of the United States, and of a new State constitution, Tennessee was readmitted to representa tion in Congress.