Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/626

608 MINNESOTA elected for two years, and an auditor ($2,500), elected for three years. The judiciary com- prises a supreme court consisting of a chief and two associate justices (salary $3,000), nine district courts, and a probate court in each county, besides justices of the peace, who have jurisdiction where the amount in dispute does not exceed $100, and where the title to real estate is not involved. All judges are elected by the people, those of the supreme and district courts for seven years and the others for two years. The supreme court has power to issue all remedial writs, and appel- late jurisdiction of judgments and orders of the district courts. The latter have original jurisdiction of all civil actions within their respective districts when the sum in contro- versy exceeds $100, all civil actions not within the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and in equity ; also appellate jurisdiction from courts of probate and justices of the peace. Besides the above named state officers, there is a commissioner of railroads and a commis- sioner of insurance. In 1872 a state board of health was established, consisting of seven physicians appointed by the governor from different sections of the state, who are re- quired to make sanitary investigations, and collect and disseminate information concerning the causes of disease and the effects of locali- ties, occupations, &c., on the general health. The public institutions are also made subject to their sanitary inspection, and they are re- quired to report annually to the legislature. The state commissioner of statistics makes an annual report to the legislature, embodying the vital statistics of the state, agriculture, property, taxation, &c. The constitution pro- vides for the taking of a state census in 1865 and every ten years thereafter. The property, real or personal, owned by a married woman at the time of her marriage, continues to be her separate property. During marriage she may use and enjoy property and the earnings of her industry free from the husband's con- trol and from liability for his debts. She may contract, and sue and be sued, as if she were single, the husband not being liable for her debts or contracts either before or during cov- erture, except for necessaries furnished to the wife after marriage. In sales of real estate by a married woman, however, the husband must loin in the conveyance, unless he has deserted her for one year or she has cause of divorce against him. The causes of divorce are adul- tery, impotence, cruel and inhuman treatment, sentence to imprisonment in the state prison, wilful desertion for three years, habitual drunk- enness for a year, and cruelty. A married woman may make a will without the consent of her husband. A homestead comprising not more than 80 acres of land in the country with the buildings, or one lot with the build- ing thereon in any town, city, or village, is exempt from execution. The legal rate of in- terest is 7 per cent, in the absence of agree- ment ; but any rate not exceeding 12 per cent., if agreed upon, will be valid. Registry of births and deaths is required to be made by the clerk of every city and town. Minnesota is represented in congress by three represen- tatives and two senators, and lias therefore five votes in the electoral college. The ac- knowledged bonded debt of the state on Jan. 1, 1875, amounted to $480,000, which has been contracted since 1867 for the erection of build- ings for state institutions. (For an account of the disputed indebtedness of the state see p. 611.) During the year ending Dec. 1, 1874, the entire revenue of the state amounted to $1,112,812, and the expenditures to $1,148,150. The chief items of the receipts and disburse- ments are represented in the following state- ment: RECEIPTS. State taxes collected $575,164 Tax on gross receipts of railroad companies 129,907 " " " of insurance companies 25,505 Fees of insurance companies 4,345 Taxes of telegraph companies 673 State prison labor 9,634 Board of United States convicts 6.772 Sale of state bonds 20,000 " of school lands 63,196 " of timber on school lands 23,428 " of university lands and timber 11,070 Interest on permanent school fund 138,031 " " " university fund 10,555 " state deposits 9,270 " " bonus railroad bonds 10,925 Internal improvement fund 17,413 DISBURSEMENTS. Legislative $69,310 Executive 48,564 Judicial 45,694 Public printing 49,366 Support of state prison 34,857 " of reform school 80,000 " of soldiers 1 orphans 20,017 " of deaf, dumb, and blind 26,000 " of hospital for insane 84,500 " of normal schools 26,250 " of state university 80,000 Erection of public buildings 188,099 Interest on state bonds 81,255 School fund apportioned 194,654 Purchase of bonds for invested funds 168,757 Appropriations from internal improvement fund. . . 14,513 Frontier relief 81,970 Interest coupons, bonus railroad bonds 10,562 Support of agricultural societies 8,000 Geological survey 2,000 Teachers' institutes and training schools 2,710 State historical society 2,980 The total equalized valuation of taxable prop- erty was $39,264,740 in 1861, $45,184,063 in 1865, $87,133,673 in 1870, $112,035,561 in 1873, and $217,427,211 in 1874. The great increase of the last year is due largely to a new tax law requiring property to be assessed at its cash value. The total for 1874 includes 13,- 741,404 acres of land, exclusive of town and city lots, valued with buildings at $113,410,- 620; town and city real estate, $58,994,793; personal property, $45,021,798. Besides this, 90,533 persons had each $100 of property ex- empt, or $9,053,300. The total taxes levied on this equalized valuation amounted to $4,102,- 835, including $507,369 for state purposes, $1,331,772 for common schools (a two-mill tax yielding $433,193 and a special tax of $898,-