Estimate of Government lands in Nebraska subject to entry at the various land offices in the State January 1, 1881:

   No better indication of the healthy growth of the country, and especially of the Northwest, is afforded than the showing for the fiscal year just closed of the business of the General Land Office. The following table affords a comparative statement of the amount of land taken up during the last nine years:

   It will be seen that the amount of land taken up under the homestead act alone during the year ending June 30, 1880, is far in excess of any previous season. The reasons for this are various, and, among other things, may be traced to increased emigration, the increased price of farm products, and the cessation of Indian hostilities.

   Land is being settled faster than the surveys are made, as the following table will show:

   It must be borne in mind that the amount, 9,657,936 acres, does not represent all disposed of this year, but merely that taken under homestead, timber culture and pre-emption acts.

   The aggregate number of acres of lands owned by the State of Nebraska, on the 1st day of December, 1880, was as follows :

   Statement of the sale and leasing of the common school lands belonging to the State: The number of acres remaining unsold on the 30th of November, 1878, was 1,025,556.78. Number of acres deeded during the years 1879 and 1880, 7,991.60. Number of acres unsold November 29, 1886, 1,017,565.18. Estimated number of acres of school lands belonging to the State in unorganized counties, and in counties organized but not having a complete record of their lands, 889,729.33. Estimated number of acres of school lands in unorganized territory belonging to the State, 627,360. Number of acres sold at public sale from November 30, 1878, to November 30, 1879, 11,741.22. Amount of sales, $88,448.78. Number of acres sold at public sale from November 30, 1879, to November 30, 1880, 2,482,03. Amount of sales, $31,055.33. Number of acres purchased by leases at private sales, from November 30, 1876, to November 30, 1880, 16,881.60. Amount of sales, $122,008.20. Number of acres leased during the year 1879, 134,697.04. Value, $572,078.08. Amount leased during the year 1880, 122,843.28 acres. Value, $439,521.17.

   Taxes became due the 1st day of January in each year, and delinquent on the 1st day of May following. After May 1, interest at 1 per cent per month in advance is added, until November 1, when the land will be offered at public sale if taxes are not paid.

   The so-called first report of the Commissioner of Education under the Territorial laws amounted to nothing, so far as practical information is concerned. It was made by the State Auditor, ex officio Commissioner of Education, and covers but two pages of the legislative journal, with suggestions as to what might and should be done. The second report, dated January 8, 1861, after a hiatus of two or three years, by Commissioner W. E. Harvey, is really the first report ever issued in Nebraska. This statement is made to account for an apparent incompleteness in the records.

   From Mr. Harvey's report we compile the following statement of the condition of educational affairs in 1860:

   The Territorial school laws were, as is natural to expect, very deficient in many respects; and prominent among others was a lack of penalty attached to the failure of subordinate officials to make annual report to the Commissioner. As a result, many of the districts then existing are not represented in the general report, and therefore it is presumable that a better degree of school facilities obtained than we are able to authoritatively set forth. The laws were not generally understood, and one Clerk remarked that "a common clod-hopper cannot understand them, and even the lawyers do not agree on their meaning."

   The county reports for 1860 showed 19 counties returned, in which there were 84 precincts and 139 subdistricts. There were 3,763 males and 3,278 females enumerated, making a total of 7,041 children of school age. These were attendant upon 4 high and 104 primary schools, of the public system, and 23 private institutions, giving a total of 131 schools of all classes. The high schools contained 376 pupils, of whom 227 were males; the primary schools held an enrollment of 2,554, of whom 1,377 were males. This showed an enrollment of 2,930 out of an enumeration of 7,041. There were 2 male and 2 female teachers in the high schools, and 36 males and 74 females in the primaries, besides 8 males and 17 females in the select schools--or 139 teachers all told. The schoolhouses numbered 34, with a total value of all property of $9,748. The aggregate of wages paid was $4,772, and the aggregate of expenditures reached $8,214.

   Under the act of January 13, 1860, an apportionment was made and an enumeration taken of "the unmarried white youth" of the Territory. The result of this for the year 1860, and the apportionment of money for the year 1861, was:

   Commissioner Harvey was empowered, by act of January 13, 1860, to select lands in lieu of those taken by settlers on Sections 16 and 36. The original grant of school lands to this State was a generous one, double in extent that of most Territories; but early settlers chose "claims" prior to the surveys, and in many instances located on what was afterward found to be "school sections." To make good these losses, other lands were allowed. In 1800, there were designated 4,509 acres in the Dakota Land District; 3,884 acres in the South Platte; and 1,440 acres in the Nemaha Districts respectively.

   The report entered into the details of the sub-reports, which we have summarized, and also contained many suggestions as to the improvement of school facilities. But the foregoing gives all that need be here preserved as indicative of the Territorial schools at the date of the first regular report.

   In the following table is shown the growth of the educational work, beginning in 1870, or one decade after the foregoing report was made:

   The State system is now under the charge of a Superintendent of Public Instruction, an office created by act of February 15, 1869. The station has been filled by the Hon. Seth W. Beals, 1869; J. M. McKenzie, January 10, 1871; S. R. Thompson, January 4, 1877; W. W. W. Jones, January 6, 1881.

   The twelfth annual report, for the year ending December 31, 1881, contains many interesting facts. The zeal manifested by the educational fraternity finds exemplification in the numerousness of the county and district normal institutes held in the State. The county institutes are gatherings of teachers for mutual conference over their work; for the study of the various problems that continually arise in school management; and for the discussion of educational questions relating to ways and means of instruction. These meetings usually last from two to five days. To allow time for more formal instruction than an institute of four days can give, normal institutes, as they are commonly called, lasting from two to six weeks, have become quite common in the West. About thirty-five of such meetings were held in Nebraska during 1879 and 1880. The first held in the State was at Lincoln, in 1872, and for several years but two or three a year were found practicable. Nineteen were held in 1880, showing a great change for the better in the popular estimate of utility of such meetings.

   Usually, some well-known and skilled teacher is employed to conduct these institutes; sometimes the conductor is the County Superintendent. As many other teachers as may be necessary are provided. The expenses are paid by a tuition fee charged upon those who attend. The utility of these meetings is beyond question, their popularity is steadily increasing.

   Two conventions of County Superintendents were held in 1880--one at Lincoln, January 27, and the other at Wisner in the following week.

   The convention at Lincoln organized by electing Supt. J. J. Points, of Douglas County, Chairman, Supt. Philip Crother, of Nemaha, Secretary; and Supt. Lucy A. McFadden, of Adams County, Assistant Secretary. The attendance was large, the discussions interesting and able, and the result no doubt highly beneficial to all who took part. A State Teachers' Association is in existence, and annual meetings are held.

   In that portion of this work relating to local or county histories will be found the history of each of the State institutions of learning, described as a special feature. For example, the State University is given in the chapter devoted to Lancaster County; the State Normal School, in that devoted to Nemaha County; the Institute for the Blind, in that devoted to Otoe; and the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, in Douglas County. The city schools are treated fully in the several city histories. We have endeavored to make this a prominent characteristic of this work.

   Denominational and select schools are also given in the localities where they exist.

   The State permanent school fund is rapidly increasing. A close approximation of the amount December 1, 1880, was: