There has been collected during the past year from this levy, and delinquent taxes of former years, the sum of $968,873.09, as follows: The levy for the year 1876 was the same as that of 1875, and the aggregate revenue to be derived is $540,305.11, divided among As shown by the auditor's books, the total amount of delinquent taxes due the State on November 30th, 1876, was $765,815.25. The total resources, exclusive of the unsold lots and lands belonging to the State, are $1,089,868.95, as follows: Cash in the treasury November 30, 1876............ Delinquent taxes........................ Total........... $ 324,053.68 765,815.27 .$1,089,868.95 The amount given as delinquent taxes is not reliable as a It is fair to presume that not more than thirty-three per cent. of the amount delinquent will be collected. resource. The total liabilities of the State at the close of the last fiscal year, were $531,524.26, as follows: Certificates of indebtedness issued to the permanent school fund for general fund warrants paid by Outstanding general fund warrants...... Interest on outstanding general fund warrants..... Total...... .$ 342,957.34 2,430.74 652.23 74,756.08 5,865.83 34,059.22 20,463.41 339.41 50,000.00 .$ 531,524.26 Assuming that at least one-third of the delinquent taxes will be collected in a reasonable time, the treasury will receive $255,271.76 from this source. Of the $324,053.68 in the treasury on the 30th of November, 1876, but $49,659.63 belongs to the general fund, and this will be exhausted in defraying the expenses of the present session. The balance is credited to specific funds, and cannot be transferred or used for the liquidation of the State debt. The indebtedness to be funded in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, is that amount for which certificates of indebtedness have been issued to the permanent school fund, being $342,957.34. Legislative action will be necessary to accomplish this purpose. COMMON SCHOOLS. The report of the superintendent of public instruction shows that our common schools are keeping pace with the growth of the State in wealth and population. I doubt if any State in the Union can exhibit more gratifying results in this respect. There are sixty organized counties in the State, divided into two thousand five hundred and ten school districts. The total number of children of school age, is eighty-six thousand one hundred and ninety-one, being an increase of thirteen thousand and two hundred over 1874. Of this number fifty-nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-six attend the public schools. There are three thousand three hundred and sixty-one teachers employed, receiving an average salary of thirtyfour dollars and twenty-four cents per month. We have nineteen hundred and eighty-four school houses, valued at $1,585,736.60. The total receipts of the last fiscal year from all sources for common school purposes were $1,093,275.39. The total expenditures for the same period were $1,098,974.75. The aggregate bonded and floating school debt is $1,063,058.60. There have been placed to the credit of the temporary school fund in the State treasury, amounts as follows: There are still outstanding mortgages of the permanent school fund investment to the amount of $69,600. Many of these are delinquent in the payment of interest, and in some cases tax titles have accrued against the property to such an extent as to greatly impair the security. Such legislative action should be taken as will enable and require the proper authorities to proceed to the collection and adjustment of these loans in the speediest manner possible, and to reinvest the funds in safer and more permanent securities. STATE UNIVERSITY. It affords me much pleasure to call your attention to this institution of learning; and I refer with satisfaction to its economical and wise administration, its prosperous condition and growing reputation. The recommendations specified in the regents' report herewith transmitted, are entitled to your favorable consideration. I refer particularly to the recommendation therein, asking for legislation in reference to the realization of an income from the land endowment, that the present moderate tax required for its support may be still further lessened. As appears from the regents' report, the cost of educating a single student in the State University of Nebraska, as compared with that in universities and colleges of this character in other states, is almost unparalleled in economy. The attendance has increased from one hundred and thirty-two, in 1874, to two hundred and eighty-two, in 1876; so that the legitimate expense of conducting the institution must have increased. The amount asked for now for its support is less than that expended during the first years of its existence. It is to be hoped that such provisions will be made as to enable the university to continue in its work, and yet to leave no citizen on account thereof just cause for complaint of grievous taxation. If not already arrived, the time is not far distant when this educational institution, under its present able management, will become the pride of the whole state. NORMAL SCHOOL. This important branch of our educational system seems to be in excellent condition. The benefits of the school are already felt in the state, and the results that may be safely anticipated in the future, fully justify its maintenance. The total enrollment of students for the year 1876 was two hundred and sixty-eight, and the average attendance per term was one hundred and forty-two. For the last term of the year the enrollment was one hundred and ninety-six. The average cost of the school per term, as shown by the report of the principal, is $3,686.66. The board of education of the normal school at their last session recommended to your honorable body that a levy of a tax of one-sixth of one mill be made annually upon the taxable property of the state for the support of this institution. INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND. The legislature, at its last regular session, appropriated ten thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting an institution for the blind, to be located at Nebraska City, with the proviso that the citizens of Nebraska City should donate the sum of three thousand dollars for the same purpose. This amount has been raised and paid over to the trustees of the institute, as provided by law. The building was contracted for the sum of $9,795.00, and was formally opened January 13th, 1876, and is calculated to accommodate fifty pupils. The report of the trustees shows that they have received for the institution during the past two years $19,457.32, and have expended $19,237.05, leaving a balance on hand of $220.27. In addition to these expenditures there is a balance due the contractor for extra work on the building of $842.62. The principal of the institute, Prof. Samuel Bacon, has also advanced for furniture and improvements $1,209.38, making a total deficit of $2,052.43, for which amount the trustees ask an appro |