Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-01-03

the coming nine months, the scrip not De-
Ing delivered until the payments shall be
completed In each case. M
BY your action in regard to the same
subject, a Board was appointed to receil e
proposals for the location of a College to
be endowed from said fund. This Board
issued circulars into all the counties in the
State, and to all the existing institutions or
individuals likely to take action in regard to
the same, and the press of the State gave
very general publicity to their notices.
up to this time but two propositions have
been made. One was by the county Off
GERS and number of citizens OF Licking
county. proposing that the General Assem-
bly, shall authorize tax of 100000, to be
levied upon the property of that county for
the purpose Of purchasing land and erect
ing buildings for the proposed institution,
but not indicating any particular Site
The other proposition was from the Trus-
tees OF the Worthington College" and
"Worthington Female College "in Frank
lin county, offering to transfer to the State
for that purpose the lands and buildings
connected with those institutions. A fund
raised by the citizens of the vicinity, to
repair the buildings or purchase lands in
additionto the college tract OF about one
hundred acres, was also offered, but the
subscription has not yet been definitely re-
ported as closed, and II, with the other
papers pertaining to the proposal, will,
when completed, be laid before you.
Inasmuch as your honorable body, at
your last session, visited both the localities
from which proposals have come, and no
power of decision as to the site was given
to the Board, they have not felt that they
could give any information as to the value
or eligibility of these proposals which the
General Assembly does not already pos
cess, and have requested me, as their e1
o6icio chairman, to communicate the facts
above detailed without specific recommen-
dati0n. A@Q tl0 ~ tHkt-
The subject of the disposal of this fund,
and of the organization of the college or
colleges to be endowed by it, has been
quite FULLY discussed in the last as well as
10 the present Legislature, and by my pre-
decessors in the Executive office. The in
dications at the last session that your own
opinions have generally been formed in
reference to the question of the true policy
for the State in the use of the fund were
sufficient to make me regard 1t unneces-
sary to enlarge upon it. and / will only
recommend early and final action, as the
completion of the sales of scrip has made
the fund available for the purposes for
which it was granted.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
] regret that the failure of officers of
many of the counties to forward the reports
required by law, has prevented the School
Commissioner from completing his own
report at this time. Other officers of State
have also called attention to the discrepan-
cies in the various laws requiring the re-
port of facts and statistics by township and
county officers, and to the difficulties,
amounting practically to an impossibility,
OF. enforcing the existing requirements IN
the manner now provided. The great need
of a thorough revision in this respect is
urgently presented by the Auditor and
Secretary of State; and am Informed by
the School Commissioner that, without it,
it is entirely out of the question for him to
lay before the Assembly at the beginning
of the session the facts which are necessary,
as a basis of legislation upon the great
educational interests of the community.
4 L believe that great majority OF the
most active and intelligent friends of our
common school system have become con-
vinced that the administration of school
affairs should be separated from the ordl-
nary township and county offices, and that
county superintendents of schools are nee
essary to give the greatest vitality to the
system, not only by guiding the general
instruction and discipline of the several
schools, but in personally attending to the
collection OF those reports of facts upon
which action is based. have endeavored,
during the past season, to obtain informa-
tion on the subject both from competent
persons in our State, and from those States
in which the system of county superin-
tendency exists. L have no hesitation IN
saying that / believe its Introduction would
I. oil
recommendit 1t.
ATTORNEY GENERALS REPORT.
Besides the usual statement of his action
in the civil and criminal causes under his
charge in which the State is interested, the
Attorney General makes recommendations
in regard to the simplification of the GRIM
inal code, the inefiiciency in some respects
of the laws concerning the sale of intoxi-
eating liquors, the propriety OF making in
temperance a disqualification for the exer-
else of judicial office, the justice of in
creasing the salary of Judges of the courts
of common pleas, and some other subjects,
suggested by facts which are within his
official knowledge, and which make legis-
lative action appear necessary.
PUBLIC WORKS.
Great damage has been done the Canals
and other Public Works OF the State by
the freshets of September and October; but
the Board OF Commissioners are able to re-
port that such energy and activity In
making the necessary repairs have been
shown by the Lessees, Contractors and Of
ficers in charge, that the interruption of
travel and transportation upon them has
not been serious, in most instances.
STOCKS IN PRIVATE CORPORATIONS.
In accordance with the law upon that
subject, the Fund Commissioners have con-
tinued the sale of the interest of the State
in all Railroads, Turnpikes, and other. pri-
vate Corporations, until the same has been
completed. The sales have produced
considerably larger sum than the principal
which would produce at interest the aver
age dividends of some years past, though
the amount reported by them, $l79, ,256.74,
Is OF course very small compared with the
original Investment. Very few, however,
could now be found who would deny that
the cost has been repaid in the development
of the resources of the State, the encour-
agement to settlers, and the enhancement of
all the values of property in which the peo-
pie have common interest.
PUBLIC PRNTING. 81 a M
Although the reports of the Commits
missioner of Public Printing and of the
Secretary Of State cannot be laid before
you for some days, / am able to state that
the contracts for both printing and bind
ing are this year at much lower rates than
at the last letting. Taking the aggregate
prices of unit OF measure Of each class Of
printing and binding, the proportionate
cost Of printing, compared with 1864, is as
459 to 1053, and of binding as 1876 TO 446,
being less than halt Of former prices.