281,100 of the debt had been funded in coupon bonds with tax-paying coupons, and the further sum of $2,957,915.80 had been funded in registered bonds and fractional certificates, which are convertible at the option of the holder into coupon bonds with tax-paying coupons; making $20,239,015.80 in all, funded under the provisions of the original funding act upon which the annual interest is or may become demandable on tax-paying coupons.

The following statement of taxation in Virginia, under State laws, for the fiscal year 1872–73, the latest for which returns of local taxation have been received, has been made by Governor Kemper :

State revenue derived from taxation..
Amount of reported county, township, road,
and local school levies..
Amount of unreported county, township,
road, and local school levies, as estimated
by the Auditor of Public Accounts..
Costs of collection, retained by tax collect-
ors, etc....

Total of taxes paid, under State laws, for
one year...

$2,421,945 41 2,217,538 49

282,461 51 172,318 09

$5,094,263 50

During the same year the United States Government collected in Virginia, in the shape of internal revenue taxes, $7,310,015.56; and assuming, says the same authority, what is far short of the truth, that the money directly and indirectly drawn from the people of Virginia by United States tariff taxation is in the proportion of the population of the State to that of the whole country, it is shown that Virninia pays, by reason of the national customs laws, the further sum of $5,976,401.95, making a total in one year of $18,388,681.01. And yet the total of fairly-assessed taxable values in the State is but $336,686,433.23.

The Legislature of 1874 passed a new tax bill, which promises to yield greater revenues in future. In many particulars it enlarges the subjects and increases the rates of previous taxation. This increased taxation is considered as onerous as the people of the State can endure in their present impoverished condition.

As above stated, it requires $1,528,295.84 annually to pay the ordinary expenses of the government, and the constitutional requisition in favor of the public schools. It is hoped and believed, by the friends of the new tax law, that it will probably yield that amount, and the further sum of $1,200,000 annually. This surplus would pay full interest on two-thirds of the new funded debt, or four per cent. on the whole. And this is supposed to be the utmost that the State can pay to its creditors under existing circumstances.

The committee of bondholders to whom was referred the communication made by the Governor, reported that they were "of the opinion that, notwithstanding the reduced and impoverished condition of Virginia in her taxable valuables, and various industries, taxation sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of the State government, including the proper main

tenance of the public schools, as provided for by the State constitution, and the payment of four per cent. interest on her funded and twothirds of her unfunded debt, can be levied without serious damage or inconvenience to the people of the State; that, to secure this end, your committee are of the opinion that an arrangement may be effected by which large numbers of holders of the bonds can be induced to surrender the tax-receivable coupons as they fall due, and receive the two per cent. payable on the debt semi-annually." This, in the opinion of the committee, can be largely effected by legislation providing for the prompt payment of four per cent. interest, as it falls due, at points accessible and convenient to the bondholder. This legislation, it was believed, would result in retiring seventy-five or eighty per cent. of the tax-receivable coupons on the payment of the four per cent. interest, and that only the coupons from bonds held in Virginia would be used in payment of taxes. The following resolutions recommended by the committee were unanimously adopted by the conference:

Resolved, That the State ought to provide, by appropriate legislation, by permanently setting apart a specific portion of its accruing revenue, for the prompt London, New York, and Baltimore, and the Treaspayment of two per cent. interest semi-annually at ury of the State, and the issue of certificates for the unpaid interest, payable at the pleasure of the State at any time within ten years; and if not paid in ten years then such certificates ought to be fundable in four per cent. bonds.

Resolved, That the State ought to resume payment of full six per cent. interest at the earliest practicable moment.

The State government of Virginia in 1874 was as follows: Governor, James L. Kemper; Lieutenant-Governor, Robert E. Wilbers; Attorney-General, Raleigh T. Daniel; Secretary of the Commonwealth, James McDonald; Treasurer, R. T. M. Hunter; Auditors, William F. Taylor and Asa Rogers; Superintendent of Public Instruction, W. H. Ruffner; Register of the Land-Office, Samuel H. Boykin. All are Conservatives.

The Legislature is composed as follows:

WEST VIRGINIA. The total receipts into the Treasury during the year ending September 30, 1874, amounted to $695,951, and the disbursements to $657,183, leaving a balance in the Treasury at that date of $282,364. This includes balance of the general school-fund, $224,524; balance of school-fund, $22,882; balance of fund for general purposes, $30,904; and balance of building-fund, $4,352. In the balance of $30,604, applicable to general purposes, is included $18,470 borrowed for the use of the State, and not yet paid. Governor Jacob recommends an appropriation for the payment of this sum. "The foregoing statement," says that official, "shows the healthy condition of our finances; all the demands upon the Treasury have been met, and a substantial balance left to carry over to the present fiscal year. The last Legislature failed to impose the five-cents tax, heretofore known as the hospital or building tax, and consequently the

revenue for the present year will be considerably reduced. I estimate this reduction at $60,000 in round numbers, consequently the appropriations for this fiscal year must necessarily be less than heretofore, for, even if it should be your pleasure to restore this tax, it can only avail for the next fiscal year. This is greatly to be regretted, for at least two of the public institutions need liberal appropriations for construction purposes. I recommend that this building tax be renewed for one year."

The question of the removal of the State capital has been prominently agitated during the year, and will doubtless be acted upon by the Legislature of 1875. The present capital, Charleston, is far from the centre of the State, and is difficult of access to a large portion of the people. Early in June a State Convention of delegates to consider this subject was held in Grafton. C. M. Bishop, having been chosen as the president, remarked that "the wheels of

prosperity are now clogged by the lack of a proper and permanent location of the State capital. The seat of government is not where the people want it, and, if a popular vote were had upon the question, an overwhelming majority would pronounce in favor of removal. Charleston is difficult of access to two-thirds if not three-fourths of the people of the State, and it is not uncommon for delegates going to Charleston to be compelled to pass through portions of three States before reaching the capital of their own."

The views of the Convention on this subject are set forth in the following resolutions, which were adopted:

We, the representatives of the people of West Virginia, in convention assembled, recognizing the importance of securing the location of our State people, and believing that its present location is capital at some point that shall be accessible to the detrimental to our best interests on account of its remoteness and inaccessibility, would recommend to the people of the State for their consideration the following resolutions:

capital from Charleston to some more accessible Resolved, That we favor the removal of the State point.

Resolved, That the question of the removal of our State capital has for its object solely the general that it has no political significance, but is demanded convenience and accommodation of the people; by a large majority of the people of this State, without regard to party or political creed; and that we

will oppose with an unrelenting opposition any scheme of political aspirants that shall have for its object the bargain or sale of this question for present or future political preferment.

Resolved, That we recommend to the political parties of the State that this matter be made a subject of consideration in political primary meetings, and that all candidates for the Legislature be requested to pledge themselves unqualifiedly in favor of removal.

Resolved, That in taking this position upon this question, we are animated by no feeling of hostility to the people of Charleston, but are actuated solely by what we conceive to be the true interests and welfare of the whole State.

Resolved, That the following gentlemen be appointed by this convention an Executive Committee, for the purpose of carrying out the sentiments embodied in these resolutions, and their presentation to the people of the State.

In accordance with the last resolution, a large number of prominent citizens were appointed as committee-men.

A new railroad, called the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, is in process of construction between Wheeling and Toledo. A junction with the Atlantic & Southeastern Railway is spoken of, and cooperation of the two roads from the point of junction to the Ohio River. Little support has been derived from the citizens of Wheeling.

An act of the Legislature, passed February 6, 1864, authorizing boards of supervisors to borrow money to pay bounties to soldiers, was decided in the Circuit Court of Wetzel County, by Judge C. S. Lewis, to be in violation of a clause in the constitution to the effect that "no law shall embrace more than one object, which shall be expressed in its title." The title of the act in question runs thus: "To provide for the relief of the families of soldiers," which, the court held, does not imply the provision of bounties for the soldiers themselves.

Several Normal Institutes, supported by the Peabody fund, held in different parts of the State during the summer, were attended by the experienced and progressive educators of West Virginia. The sessions lasted from ten days to two weeks, and the results were helpful and promising.

The present Legislature, composed of 68 Democrats, 16 Republicans, and 5 Independents, will be called upon to decide the question of the removal of the capital, and to choose a Senator. The foremost candidates for the senatorship are Henry S. Walker, the public printer; J. N. Camden, who has been twice candidate for the governorship; and J. C. Faulkner, ex-minister to France, and Confederate officer during the

war.

It is the opinion of many leading citizens that a geological survey of West Virginia is needed, and will have an important influence in promoting the industrial and commercial prosperity of the State. In presenting this subject to the consideration of the Legislature in January, 1875, Governor Jacob said:

Our valuable mineral deposits are becoming widely known; they have attracted the attention of some

of the leading capitalists of other States, and also of England, many of whom have visited the State with a view of investment. But unfortunately, when they come, we have comparatively little authentic information to communicate to them. Our people are, in the main, ignorant of our true resources, and this sometimes leads to an exaggeration of their extent, or, on the other hand, to a depreciation of their value. Some of our more enterprising citizens have had local investigations and examinations made, but these, even when made by men of the highest scientific character, are neither so reliable nor so satisfactory as a general survey. We need a general examination of our geological strata and mineral formations; when this has been done, local investigations can be made intelligently and with advantage. I therefore think it would be highly conducive to the public interests to have a general geological survey made under State authority.

WHELAN, Right Rev. RICHARD VINCENT, D. D., Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling, West Va., born in Baltimore, January 29, 1809; died in that city, July 7, 1874. He entered Mount St. Mary's College, Emmettsburg, Md., when ten or eleven years of age, and remained there eight or nine years, being Prefect of Studies the latter part of the time. He was then sent to the Seminary of St.-Sulpice, Paris, for his theological and philosophical course, and graduated with high honors in 1831, being ordained priest at Versailles the same year. He was employed, on his return to the United States, as professor at St. Mary's College, till 1835, when he was assigned, by the Archbishop of Baltimore, to the missions at Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, etc. His labors were so zealous and successful that, in 1840, he was appointed by the Pope Bishop of Richmond, and consecrated March, 1841. In 1850 the diocese was divided, and he chose the western or Wheeling diocese, and resided thenceforward in that city. He was very active in promoting the educational interests of the Church, and had built up a seminary for young ladies and a convent at Mount de Chantal, near Wheeling, which has attained a very high reputation. He was a lithe, active man, of great energy, and one of the most self-sacrificing, zealous, and hard-working prelates in the country. He opposed, in the Vatican Council, the promulgation of the dogma of papal infallibility, but gave in his adhesion to it promptly when it was promulgated.

WHITEHOUSE, Right Rev. Henry John, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L., Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Illinois, born in New York City, August 19, 1803; died August 10, 1874. He graduated from Columbia College in 1821, and from the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New York, in 1824, receiving deacon's orders the same year, and priest's orders in 1827, and ministered to a parish in Reading, Pa., for about three years. He was then called to the rectorship of St. Luke's, Rochester, and remained there, greatly esteemed by all Christian denominations, till 1844, a period of fifteen years. He was next rector of St. Thomas's Church, New York City, till 1851, when he was elected Assistant

Bishop of Illinois, and, on the death of Bishop Chase, became bishop, September 20, 1852. Here he soon became a rigid constructionist, very conservative and exceedingly High Church in his doctrines, and was drawn into some bitter controversies in his diocese in consequence. Bishop Whitehouse visited England in 1867, and preached the opening sermon before the Pan-Anglican Council held at Lambeth Palace. During his visit he was treated with marked attention, and received degrees from both the Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He was an accomplished scholar, an eloquent preacher, and earnest defender of his Church. He discharged efficiently his episcopal duties, claiming no exemption because of his advanced years. His views were accorded great weight in the Council of Bishops, and generally favored conservatism.

WHITNEY, ASA, an American inventor, engineer, manufacturer, and philanthropist, born in Townsend, Mass., December 1, 1791; died in Philadelphia, June 4, 1874. His early education was scanty, but every opportunity was diligently improved. He learned the blacksmith's trade, then became a machinist, worked for several years in Swanzey, N. H., Brattleboro, Vt., and Brownville, Jefferson County, N. Y., in the production of cottonmill and saw-mill machinery, and at the latter place owned and ran for a time a cotton-mill. In 1831 he became master-machinist, and in 1833 Superintendent of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, and remained in the latter position, except for one year, till the close of 1839, when he resigned, and the next year was elected Canal Commissioner of New York. In 1842 he removed to Philadelphia, and was the partner of the celebrated M. W. Baldwin, in the manufacture of locomotives, until 1846, when he withdrew, to start the manufacture of car-wheels on a new plan of annealing which he had invented. He commenced this in 1847, and carried it on till his death, his sons being associated with him. His works were so extensive that, for many years, he has made 75,000 to 80,000 car-wheels per annum, using 12,000 tons of the best-selected iron, and 4,000 to 5,000 tons of coal, and employing 200 to 250 men. His car-wheels are acknowledged to be the best made. He was, in 1846, President of the Morris Canal Company, and invented a series of inclined planes for their boats to pass elevations, the motive-power of which was derived from turbine wheels driven by the waste-water of the canal. In 1859 he was President of the Reading Railroad, and his management of it was very successful. By his will he bequeathed $50,000 to found a professorship of Dynamical Engineering in the University of Pennsylvania, and $37,500 to other local benevolent objects.

WISCONSIN. The railway companies whose lines traverse this State in every direction have for many years been complained of by her people, who charged them with unjust

discriminations and exorbitantly high rates for the transportation of passengers and merchandise. The charters covering the whole length of these lines within the borders of Wisconsin, except for the road running from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien, which was chartered by acts of her Territorial Government in 1847 and 1848, have been granted to the respective companies by acts of her Legislature under the present constitution, which was adopted by her as a State in 1848, and which contains the following provision:

Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by a special act, except for municipal purposes and in cases where, in the judgment of the Legislature, the objects of the corporations cannot be attained under general laws. All general laws, or special acts, enacted under the provisions of this section, may be altered or repealed by the Legislature at any time after their passage. (Art. XI., Section 1.)

The complaints of the people seem to have remained unheeded by the railway companies concerned, to whose notice they were repeatedly brought. On March 11, 1874, the Legislature enacted a law respecting these roads, entitled "An act relating to railroad, express and telegraph companies in the State of Wisconsin, classifying railroads and freights, limiting and fixing the compensation to be charged for the transportation of freights and passengers, and providing for the appointment of Railroad Commissioners."

The act distributes all the railways operating within the State into three classes-A, B, and C: the first including "all the railroads in Wisconsin now owned, operated, managed, or leased, either by the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, or the Western Union Railway Company;" the second, "all the railroads, or parts of railroads, owned, operated, managed, or leased, by the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, and the Green Bay & Minnesota Railway Company;" the third, "all the other railroads, or parts of railroads, in the State." It then fixes the maximum rates which each of the roads, or their classes, are severally allowed to charge for the transportation of passengers and merchandise. These rates, whose difference is said to have been regulated by taking into consideration the character of the country run upon, and the amount of business transacted by the railroads respectively, are as follows:

With regard to passengers, the compensation per mile for the transportation of any person, with ordinary baggage not exceeding one hundred pounds, is fixed at three cents for class A, three and a half cents for class B, and four cents for class C. For children of the age of twelve years and under, one-half of the said rates, respectively, is allowed. As to freights, the act distributes merchandise into four general classes, and subdivides it into seven special classes, which latter are therein enumerated in a detailed schedule, with their respec

tive rates affixed. According to the quality of the merchandise, the rates of freight are reckoned by weights of one hundred pounds, by barrels, or car-loads, and calculated in a steadily decreasing scale, in proportion as the distance run increases; the distance itself being considered as divided into lengths of twenty-five and thirteen miles. The rates fixed for the transportation of merchandise, included within any of the seven special classes, are applicable only to the railroad companies named above. All the other roads are allowed to charge for it the same rates which were in force on June 1, 1873, and no more. As to

merchandise comprised within the four general classes, all of the railroads in the State, without distinction, are permitted to charge for its transportation the same rates which they did charge for it on June 1, 1873, and

no more.

In order to realize the purpose intended, and secure compliance with its provisions, the act establishes a Board of Railroad Commissioners, to be appointed by the Governor. Every evasion, or violation of the provisions of the act, is declared to be a misdemeanor. The penalty for each offense is a fine not exceeding $200; in addition to which the in

jured party has the right to recover from the offending company three times the amount taken from him in excess of the legal rates, as fixed by the act.

A resolution was adopted by the Legislature on the 12th of March, directing the Secretary of State not to publish the act of the 11th of that month until the 28th day of April next ensuing, when it should immediately go into operation. In the State of Wisconsin no general law is in force till after its publication. On the same day on which this law was published, April 28th, the President of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, in the name and behalf of the corporation which he represented, addressed to the Governor a communication, officially, to inform him of the resolution taken by that body concerning the operations of the road in reference to the provisions of the said act, stating as

follows: "The Board of Directors have caused this act to be carefully examined and considered by our own counsel, and by some of the most eminent jurists in the land, and after such examination they are unanimous in their opinion that it is unconstitutional and void. The Board of Directors are trustees of this property, and are bound faithfully to discharge their trust, and to the best of their ability protect it from spoliation and ruin. They have sought the advice of able counsel, and after mature consideration believe it their duty to disregard so much of said law as attempts arbitrarily to fix rates of compensation for freight and passengers."

Another communication of a like import was sent to the Governor by the President of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. Both of these communications their respective writers caused to be filed in the