“ The system of local government has undergone radical changes in recent years. A law of 1899, aimed to separate the legislative and executive functions, provided for the election of legislative bodies in every township and county. These bodies have control of the local expenditures and tax levies, and without their consent the local administrative officers cannot contract debts. In 1905 a new municipal code, probably the most elaborate and complete local government act in the United States, providing for a uniform system of government in all cities and towns, went into effect. ”

“ According to the census of 1800 there were 175 slaves in the Territory. The population of settlers from slave states was considerably larger than in Illinois, the proportion being 20% as late as 1850. It was but natural, therefore, that efforts should at once have been made to establish the institution of slavery on Indiana soil, and as early as 1802 a convention called to consider the expediency of slavery asked Congress to suspend the prohibitory clause of the Ordinance for ten years, but a committee of which John Randolph of Virginia was chairman reported against such action. ”

“ The farms are commonly cultivated on the three-crop rotation system. The proximity of such good markets as Chicago, Cincinnati, St Louis and Louisville, in addition to the local markets, and the unusual opportunities afforded by the railways that traverse every portion of the state, have been important factors in the rapid agricultural advance which has enabled Indiana to keep pace with the newly developed states farther west. ”

“ Since that date those who may vote have been all male citizens twenty-one years old and upward who have lived in Indiana six months immediately preceding the election, and every foreign-born male of the requisite age who has lived in the United States one year and in Indiana six months immediately preceding the election, and who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States; but the General Assembly has the power to deprive of the suffrage any person convicted of an infamous crime. ”

“ Indiana has an habitual-criminal law, and a law providing for the sterilization of mental degenerates, confirmed criminals, and rapists. There are also an adult probation law and a juvenile court law, the latter applying to every county in the state. Each of the state institutions mentioned above is under the control of a separate bi-partisan board of four members. The whole system of public charities is under the supervision of a bi-partisan Board of State Charities (1889) , which is appointed by the governor, and to which the excellent condition of state institutions is largely due. ”

“ Indiana is unusually well served with railways, which form a veritable network of track in every part of the state. It is traversed by nearly all the great transcontinental trunk line systems, and also by important north and south lines. ”

“ In the counties there are unsalaried boards of county charities and correction and county boards of children’s guardians, appointed by the circuit judges. The township trustees, 1016 in number, are ex-officio overseers of the poor. They dispense official outdoor relief. Nowhere else have the principles of organized charities in the administration of public outdoor relief been applied to an entire state. Each county provides for the indoor care of the poor in poor asylums and children’s homes, and for local prisoners in county jails. ”

“ The decade following the close of the war was one of ceaseless Indian warfare. The disastrous defeats of General Josiah Harmar (1753–1813) in October 1790 on the Miami river in Ohio, and of Governor Arthur St Clair on the 4th of November 1791 near Fort Recovery, Ohio, were followed in 1792 by the appointment of General Anthony Wayne to the command of the frontier. By him the Indians were signally defeated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers (or Maumee Rapids) on the 20th of August 1794, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, was erected on the Maumee river. ”

“ In the Ohio and White Water river valleys a sandstone and limestone formation predominates. The north and north central portions of the state, formerly rather swampy, have become since the clearing of the forests as productive as the south central. The most fertile part of the state is the Wabash valley; the least fertile the sandy region, of small extent, immediately south of Lake Michigan.
Industry and Manufactures.—Agriculture has always been and still is the chief industry of the state of Indiana. ”

“ There is a city court with elected judge or judges, and an elected common council, which may authorize the municipal ownership of public utilities by ordinance, and can pass legislation over the mayor’s veto by a two-thirds vote. ”

“ In the value, extent and producing power of her manufacturing industries Indiana has made remarkable advance since 1880. This increase, which more than kept pace with that of the country as a whole, was due largely to local causes, among which may be mentioned the unusual shipping facilities afforded by the network of railways, the discovery and development of natural gas, and the proximity of coal fields, the gas and the coal together furnishing an ample supply of cheap fuel. ”

“ In 1908, when the Republican party had declared in favour of county option and the Democratic party favoured township and ward option, a special session of the legislature, called by the Republican governor, passed the Cox Bill for county options.
Education.—Indiana has a well-organized free public school system. Provision was made for such a system in the first state constitution, to utilize the school lands set aside in all the North-West Territory by the Ordinance of 1787, but the existing system is of late growth. ”

“ Population.—The population of Indiana, according to the Federal Census of 1910, was 2,700,876, and the rank of the state in the Union as regards population was ninth. In 1810, the year following the erection of the western part of Indiana into Illinois Territory, the population was 24,520, in 1820 it had increased to 147,178, in 1850 to 988,416, in 1870 to 1,680,637, in 1890 to 2,192,404, and in 1900 to 2,516,462. ”

“ Cultivated fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes and berries, are raised in large quantities for the market. The economic value of the forests was originally great, but there has been reckless cutting, and the timber-bearing forests are rapidly disappearing. As late as 1880 Indiana was an important timber-producing state, but in 1900 less than 30% of the total acreage of the state—only about 10,800 sq. ”

“ Provision is made for truant, dependent, neglected and delinquent children. No child can be made a public ward except upon order of the juvenile court, and all such children may be placed in family homes by agents of the Board of State Charities. ”

“ The value of the orchard products is large, and is steadily increasing: in the decade 1890–1900 the number of pear trees increased from 204,579 to 868,184, and between 1889 and 1899 the crop increased from 157,707 to 231,713 bushels. Of apple trees, which surpass all other orchard trees in number, there were more than 8,600,000 in 1900. The total value of the state’s orchard products in 1899 was $3,166,338, and the value of small fruits was $1,113,527. The canning industry both for fruits and small vegetables has become one of much importance since 1890. ”

“ There are no well-defined crop belts, the production of the various crops being general throughout the state, except in the case of potatoes, most of which are raised in the sandy regions of the north. ”

“ The first trolley sleeping cars were those used on the Ohio and Indiana interurban railways. The deepening of the channel of the Wabash river was begun in 1872. Below Vincennes before 1885 boats of 3-ft. draft could navigate the river, but after work was concentrated in 1885 on the lock at Grand Rapids, near Mt Carmel, Ill., the channel was soon clogged again, and in 1909 it was impossible for boats with a greater draft than 20 in. to go from Mt Carmel to Vincennes, although up to June 1909 about $810,000 had been spent by the Federal government on improving this river. ”

“ Indiana Territory was erected, with General William Henry Harrison—who had been secretary of the North-West Territory since 1798—as its first governor, and with Vincennes as the seat of government. Harrison made many treaties with the Indians, the most important being that signed at Fort Wayne on the 7th of June 1803, defining the Vincennes tract transferred to the United States by the Treaty of Greenville; those signed at Vincennes on the 18th and the 27th of August 1804, transferring to the United States a strip north of the Ohio river and south of the Vincennes tract ”

“ For this purpose all cities are divided into five classes according to population, the powers being concentrated and simplified by degrees in the case of the smaller cities, and reaching a maximum of separation and completeness in class 1, i.e. cities of 100,000 and over, which includes only Indianapolis. In all classes the executive officer is a mayor elected for four years and ineligible to succeed himself. ”

“ The bald cypress, a southern tree, seems to be an anomalous growth. Blue grass is valuable for grazing and hay-making. The principal crops include Indian corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, rye and clover. ”

“ For resources, industries, &c., consult the Reports of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Indiana (biennial, Indianapolis, 1886 to date) , Annual Report of the Department of Geology and Natural Resources (Indianapolis, 1869 to date) , and Reports of the State Agricultural Society. See also the Reports of the Twelfth Federal Census for detailed statistical matter as to production, industries and population.
↑ No man can serve as governor for more than four years in any period of eight years. ”

“ The most important manufacturing centres are Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Anderson, Hammond, Richmond, Muncie, Michigan City and Elwood, each having a gross annual product of more than $6,000,000. ”