STATES AND TERRITORIES. —OHIO.    119

is composed of 72 members, elected for one year. All these elections are by the people.
The state secretary, treasurer, and auditor are chosen by the legislature, in joint ballot, for
three years. The sessions of the General Assembly commence annually on the first Monday
in December, at Columbus, the capital of the state. White males, 21 years of age, residents
for one year in the state, and tax-payers, are entitled to the right of suffrage. The constitu-
tion has been recently revised and modified ; but its new features do not seem to be essential
improvements in principle upon its former provisions.¹

Judiciary. — The judges of the Supreme Court, of the Common Pleas Courts, and of the city
courts, are appointed, by concurrent vote of the two houses of the legislature, for seven years.
The oldest Supreme Court judge in commission officiates as chief justice. There are four of
these judges, two of whom hold a court in each county once a year. The Common Pleas
Courts are held in some counties three times in each year, in others only twice, by a president
judge and three associates. There are Superior Courts established in Cincinnati and in Cleve-
land ; also a commercial court in the former city.

Education. — On the admission of this state into the Union, it was stipulated, for certain
considerations, that one thirty-sixth part of all the territory should be set apart for the main-
tenance of common schools. This liberal reservation makes ample provision for securing to
coming generations the advantages of early instruction; and, thus far, the compact, on the
part of the state, has been faithfully carried out. Good schools are diffused all over the
land ; and all needful attention and aid are given by the people to their support and improve-
ment. There are many thousands of public grammar and primary schools in the state, some
hundreds of academies or similar seminaries, and about twenty universities, colleges, and
other institutions of a high order. The amount of the school fund owned by the state is
above $1,700,000; and nearly $300,000 is annually apportioned to the several counties for
school purposes. The number of persons over 20 years of age, who can neither read
nor write, is about 35,000.

Finances. — The state revenues are chiefly derived from taxes of various descriptions, viz.,.
on real and personal property, professions, pedlers, foreign insurance agencies, auctioneers,
brokers, banks, joint stock companies, &c, also from land sales, canal tolls, dividends on
state property, interest on surplus revenue and other investments, &c. The expenditures
include appropriations for state government purposes, interest on foreign debt, common schools,
repairs on public works, &c. The total amount of the state debt, at the close of the fiscal
year of 1849, including nearly $17,000,000 foreign debt, was somewhat over $19,000,000.
The difference between the receipts and disbursements for the same year showed a balance
in the treasury of $554,000. Upwards of $3,000,000 worth of stock in various public works
is owned by the state, which yields liberal dividends. The gross income of these works, in
1849, was over $740,000. The total value of taxable property was about $430,000,000, and
the revenue from taxes on real and personal estates amounted to $1,260,000.

Surface, Soil, &fc. — Near the borders of Lake Erie, and for some distance in the interior
of the northern part of the state, the surface is generally level, and occasionally somewhat
marshy. The section of country in the vicinity of the Ohio River, in the eastern and south-
eastern quarters, is elevated and broken, although there are no lofty mountains in the state.
But the entire region is a table land, reaching to a height of 600 to 1000 feet above the ocean
level. The most level and fertile lands are situated in the interior, through which flows the
River Scioto. Vast prairies lie near the head waters of that river, of the Muskingum, and

A Gazetteer of the United States of America by John Hayward.

Hartford, CT: Case, Tiffany and Company. 1853. Public domain image

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Among the amendments introduced are the following: The House of Representatives to consist
of 100 members — both branches to be chosen for two years; the legislature to hold its sessions once
in two years ; the lieutenant governor to be acting president of the Senate, with only a casting vote ; on
the passage of every bill, the yeas and nays to be required, and a majority of all the members elected,
of each house, to be necessary to the passage of any law; all judicial officers to be elected by the
people — the judges of the Supreme and Common Pleas Courts for five years; no state debts to be
contracted to an amount of over $750,000, except in certain emergencies, nor the state credit to be
loaned, nor the state, nor any county, city, or town to hold stock in corporations.