underlaid with beds of coal. In 1890 the State was fourth in the Union in the manufacture of rolled iron and steel and tenth in the output of pig iron. In the production of coal it is only excelled by Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, and in natural gas its production is rapidly increasing. Its great variety of hardwood forests makes it one of the leading States in the production of this valuable lumber. The situation of the State, a mountain rampart between the East and Central West, in connection with its marvelous resources and rapid development in various forms of industry, combined with the educational history of the past forty years, justifies the most enthusiastic expectations for its eminent rank in the Union at a not far distant future.

MARYLAND.

During the four years of the continuance of the civil war, owing to the proximity to the city of Washington the political affairs of Maryland were largely dominated by the National Government. During the year 1864 the first serious attempt was made in Maryland toward the establishment of the American system of common schools for "all sorts and conditions of people.' A convention representing the loyal element of the population placed in a new constitution, October 12-13, 1864, the following provision for education:

ART. 43. That the legislature ought to encourage the diffusion of knowledge and virtue, the extension of a judicious system of general education, the promotien of literature, the arts, sciences, agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, and the general melioration of the condition of the people.

ARTICLE VIII.-Education.

SEC. 1. The governor shall, within thirty days after the ratification by the people of this constitution, appoint, subject to the confirmation of the senate, at its first session thereafter, a State superintendent of public instruction, who shall hold his office for four years and until his successor shall have been appointed and shall have been qualified. He shall receive an annual salary of $2,500 and such additional sum for traveling and incidental expenses as the general assembly may by law allow; shall report to the general assembly, within thirty days after the commencement of its first session under this constitution, a uniform system of free public schools, and shall perform such other duties pertaining to his office as may from time to time be prescribed by law.

SEC. 2. There shall be a State board of education, consisting of the governor, the lieutenant-governor, and speaker of the house of delegates, and the State superintendent of public instruction, which board shall perform such duties as the general assembly may direct.

SEC. 3. There shall be in each county such number of school commissioners as the State superintendent of public instruction shall deem necessary, who shall be appointed by the State board of education, shall hold office for four years, and shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as the general assembly or State superintendent may direct. The school commissioners of Baltimore City shall remain as at present constituted, and shall be appointed, as at present, by the mayor and city council, subject to such alterations and amendments as may be made from time to time by the general assembly or the said mayor and city council.

SEC. 4. The general assembly, at its first session after the adoption of this constitution, shall provide a uniform system of free public schools, by which a school shall be kept open and supported, free of expense for tuition, in each school district for at least six months in each year; and in case of failure on the part of the general assembly so to provide, the system reported to it by the State superintendent of public instruction shall become the system of free public schools of the State: Provided, That the report of the State superintendent shall be in conformity with the provisions of this constitution, and such system shall be subject to such alterations, conformable to this article, as the general assembly may from time to time enact.

SEC. 5. The general assembly shall levy, at each regular session after the adoption of this constitution, an annual tax of not less than 10 cents on each hundred dollars of taxable property throughout the State, for the support of the free public schools, which tax shall be collected at the same time and by the same agents as the general State levy, and shall be paid into the treasury of the State, and shall be distributed, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, among the counties and the city of Baltimore, in proportion to their respective population between the ages of 5 and 20 years: Provided, That the general assembly shall not levy any additional school tax upon particular counties unless such county express by popular vote its desire for such tax. The city of Baltimore shall provide for its additional school tax as at present, or as may hereafter be provided by the general assembly, or by the mayor and city council of Baltimore. SEC. 6. The general assembly shall further provide by law at its first session after the adoption of this constitution a fund for the support of free public schools of the State by the imposition of an annual tax of not less than 5 cents on each $100 of taxable property throughout the State, the proceeds of which tax shall be known as the public school fund, and shall be invested by the treasurer, together with its annual interest, until such time as said fund shall by its own increase and any addition which may be made to it from time to time, together with the present school fund, amount to $6,000,000, when the tax of 10 cents on the $100 authorized by the preceding section may be discontinued in whole or in part, as the general assembly may direct. The principal fund of $6.000.000 hereby provided shall remain forever inviolate as the free public school fund of the State, and the annual interest of said school fund shall be disbursed for educational purpose only, as may be prescribed by law.

On November 12, 1865, Governor Bradford appointed Rev. L. Van Bokkelen superintendent of public schools, with orders to report within thirty days a complete system of education for the State. The new superintendent proceeded at once to acquire such information as was possible concerning the actual condition of educational affairs in the 24 counties of Maryland. These counties contained an area ranging from 250 to 630 square miles and a population varying from 91,860 to 434.439 in Baltimore City. The total physical area was 9,660 square miles and its population 1,042,000, with great diversity of surface, from the mountains of the Allegheny on the north to the broad plain on the eastern shore. Seventeen of the 24 counties were virtually a seacoast district and 7 had the Patapsco River for their western boundary.

The new superintendent soon learned that whatever may have been the condition of educational affairs in 1869, the State had greatly suffered in this respect by the continuance of the four years of civil war. In addition to the burdens which this great conflict imposed on all the loyal States, there was the additional pressure from a considerable portion of the population of Maryland who favored the cause of the Southern Confederacy. The State had lived in constant apprehension of being made the battle ground of the contending parties, more than one important engagement having taken place on or adjacent to its northern boundary. While awaiting returns from his letters of inquiry addressed to the county authorities, the superintendent visited several of the Northern States to study their systems of public education and obtain copies of their State school laws. The reports from the counties were far from satisfactory. With few exceptions the school authorities were unable to reply to the larger number of the queries, because they had no system of reports from teachers or conmissioners. The conclusion reached from what was received was that, in his words, the information collected presents clear and unimpeachable evidence that we have to begin about at the foundation and recast anew the educational edifice."

In his preliminary address to the general assembly of the State the superintendent boldly faces the situation and proposes nothing less than a complete system of public instruction for the entire white school population, with an earnest plea that the colored children and youth, one-fourth the entire number in the State, should be included in its benefits. The fundamental principles of the system, according to him, should be: “(1) Education ought to be universal; (2) the education ought

to be free, and, therefore, (3) the property of the whole State is responsible for such education of every child in the State as will prepare him to perform the duties of a man and a citizen in obedience to the laws of God and the laws of the Commonwealth." The enthusiastic superintendent proceeded at once to put on paper "A bill to establish a uniform system of public instruction for the State of Maryland." It was elaborate, ideal, and in its way "a model system," covering 50 pages of legislative printed matter, with a “commentary" containing suggestions for the future as extended. It contained not only all the provisions of the common school system of the most advanced educational States in 1864, but additional features not even yet incorporated in the school laws of several of these Commonwealths. In its general idea of organization and administration it adopted the plan six years later followed by the State of Virginia. The supervisors for the counties and the city of Baltimore were to be appointed by a State board of education composed of the governor, lieutenant-governor, speaker of the house of delegates, and State superintendent of public education, the latter appointed by the governor with confirmation by the senate.

The schools of Baltimore and each county were to be under a school director. To this State board of education was given a power little short of absolute in the supervision of the entire educational affairs of the State, including academies receiving State aid or incorporated by the legislature. This school board was empowered to issue a uniform code of by-laws for the government of all schools under its charge. It appointed the officers of the State normal school and for cause could dismiss any school director. It supervised all the benevolent, reformatory, and remedial institutions receiving State aid and could act as investor and treasurer of any funds, State or local, in trust for education. The State superintendent, in addition to a larger sphere of duty than was then conferred on any official of his sort in the Union, was made principal ex officio of the State normal school, supervised the establishment of school district libraries, contracted for and issued all school text-books, and granted certificates for teachers, all on a salary of $1,500 per annum, with no additional compensation for his clerk save personal expenses. The one school director for Baltimore and each county, appointed for a term of four years, was practically required to carry out whatever plan the State board might conceive, and could be suspended or dismissed for cause. This one official was burdened with duties practically impossible of fulfillment; his salary was determined by the city government of Baltimore or by the State board of education. Under this same direction a board of school commissioners for each county should be appointed by the State board, a body corporate elected for four years, each member to be supervisor of at least 15 schools. He was authorized to district the county, to distribute school funds, and generally to supervise education..

The New Testament was to be read by every teacher at the opening of his school. Every school district should have the power of imposing a local tax for the schools, not to exceed $500. Schoolhouses should be built at the expense of the county. The schools should be in session at least six months of the year and free to all from the age of 6 to 19. Teachers were appointed by the district commissioners after certification of qualification. Children under 14 years of age should not be employed in any business without attending school six months in the same year. Text-books should be uniform and distributed at an advance of 5 per cent on their cost. Each county might establish a high school for both sexes, the State fund for subsidizing academies being available for their support. A group of colleges should be subsidized under the name of the State university and free scholarships be granted for their students. Strict provisions were made for the examination of teachers, and a teachers' institute should be held for ten days in every county containing 50 teachers. A State normal school should be at

once established, of which the State superintendent should be the principal, coeducational, at the extreme admitting 250 pupils. This elaborate system was to be supported by a State tax of 15 cents on each $100, distributed per capita of the school population. This fund might be increased by local funds, county taxes, and a special tax for school buildings. The University of Maryland was composed of St. Johns, Washington, the agricultural college, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, of Baltimore, governed by a board of regents and a university council. Free scholarships of $50 were established for State aid to college students. Schools for the children of colored citizens should be established by the city of Baltimore and each county, the taxes paid by the colored people to be added to the support by private funds until other arrangements could be made. All private and denominational schools should report statistics to the State board of education. It is unnecessary to remark that no State in the Union in 1864 was supporting a system of public schools so elaborate as that enacted by the legislature at the suggestion of its enthusiastic and devoted public servant. It will not be necessary to give in detail the results of the effort, continued during the following three years of what is known as the reconstruction period," by the legislature to put this school law in force, with the inevitable failure to accomplish the great reform anticipated. The movement did undoubtedly wake up the educational public of the State to the importance of popular education as never before, while at the same time exciting to unusual activity the considerable body of influential citizens opposed to any serious change in the former educational policy of the Commonwealth.

One important act of the State board during this period was the appointment of Dr. McFadden Alexander Newell as principal of the proposed State normal school. In September, 1865, the attempt was made for the opening of the State normal school. Meanwhile Professor Newell, the principal-elect, visited the principal normal schools of the Northeastern States and labored intelligently to draft a plan suitable for Maryland. It was determined to furnish tuition and text-books to the students free of charge, and plans were considered for student aid. The State board proceeded to rent rooms and began the work. Doctor Newell's introductory report fully sets forth the situation in respect to the importance of a competent teaching force in the State. The State superintendent calls attention to the fact that despite all efforts at a solution "the schools of Baltimore city are conducted in direct opposition to the act of the general assembly. In almost every particular the school system of Baltimore was as thoroughly disconnected from the State board of education as from that of Virginia." The city authorities on education, with but one dissenting vote, had resolved that no change be made in the public schools of the city. The superintendent advised that the term of office of the Baltimore school commissioners be extended to four years and that they be appointed by the State board of education. He also recommended the appointment of a city superintendent of schools. He urged that the existing agricultural college of the State, which was deeply involved in debt, should be reorganized and the offer of public lands by the National Government for the establishment of agricultural and manufacturing colleges be accepted. He presented the claims of the colored children and youth, one-fourth the entire school population of the State, to participation in the benefits of the present system of public instruction. The great prevalence of the colored population of the Eastern Shore and southern counties of the State, for whom no provision was made, wrought a manifest injustice, by the appropriation of large sums of school money to these counties used only for a minority of white pupils.

The total assessment of 21 counties and the county of Baltimore in Maryland for 1865 was $278,512,186, of which the city of Baltimore reported $129,199,817.

The levy of the State school tax was $417,798.45. The school population between 5 and 20 years was 182,205 white and 60.014 colored; total, 248,219. In several counties, mostly in the northern part of the State, the success of the schools was already assured, and in even the less hopeful districts their advocates reported progress and declared: “A good school in any district for a year is generally a decisive agency of universal education, and not unfrequently the most violent enemies are won over to the warm advocacy of the system." Outside the city of Baltimore 44,328 pupils were enrolled in all the counties, with no statement of the average daily attendance.

The State normal school was opened in Baltimore on July 15, 1866. A school building was rented and a house for the model and practice school. Eleven students appeared at the opening, all but one from Baltimore. At the commencement 48 had entered, one-third from the counties. Sixteen graduated at the commencement in June, 40 teachers of grammar and 12 of primary schools. In September, 1866, 48 appeared, and by December 20, 71 were on the rolls and 65 in constant attendance.

The five collegiate institutes, included under the general term "The University of Maryland," received a sum of $14,200 for the free tuition of 120 young men and 22 young women. St. John's College, at Annapolis, had been revised and Dr. Henry Barnard, of Connecticut, invited to its presidency. The Baltimore Female College was established in 1849, with a building accommodating 100 boarders and 100 day pupils, and a course of study equivalent to that of a college for young men. The central high school for boys, of Baltimore, had extended its curriculum to include a full college course under the title “The Free College of Baltimore City.” The Maryland Institute supplied a variety of schools for instruction in penmanship, drawing, and music, and had a library of 19,000 volumes, supplied courses of lectures for its several hundred active members, and especially was known for its department of design. It was considered worthy to be classed among the universities and colleges and received a yearly subsidy of $3,000.

In 1867 the public schools showed an increase from 1866 in average attendance, 6.138; in number of teachers, 132; in teachers' salaries, $48,577.12; in total cost of schools. $47,197.98. Forty-five new schoolhouses had been built, 75 repaired, and 31 furnished with desks, besides a large number under contract. The entire school revenue for the year ending June 30, 1867, was $530,460.66. The schools of Baltimore report 19,955 pupils enrolled, with 15,785 in attendance, 460 teachers, total expenditures $195,829.16, at a cost of $17.64 per capita. From 1861 to 1867 the expenditures for public education in the State had risen from $192,978 to $460.856. The number of women teachers was increasing, in 1867 there being only 276 more men than women. There were 122 students at the Baltimore Female College. In 1867 the normal school for teachers of colored schools had been established at Baltimore, housed in a large building. The colored public schools of the city were adopted by the city council in 1867 and were placed under the supervision of the city school commissioners. High scho ls had been established in three counties and free schools of an intermediate grade in one.

In 1867, by the adoption of a new State constitution, the public school system was declared at an end with the close of the coming legislative session, and it depended on this body to reestablish “a thorough and efficient system" in its place.

So far the first serious attempt to establish a complete system of public schooling even for the white children of Maryland had been carried forward under prodigious difficulties. By a change in the political attitude of the Commonwealth a new constitution was formed in September, 1867, which contained the following brief provisions for general education, under which the free schools of