The value of the forest product for 1900 was estimated at $26,000,000. As a natural outgrowth of the vast cotton interests of the State, there have developed such branches of manufacturing as cotton-seed oil and cake pressing, and cotton ginning. Spinning and weaving, however, have made no progress. Flour and grist-mills are important, but not participating in the rapid development of the other industries. The following table shows the progress of the leading industries:
| Industries. | Year. | Number of establishments. |
Average number wage earners. |
Value of products, including custom work and repairing. |
| Total industries | 1900 | 3,067 | 21,717 | $37,006,409 |
| 1890 | 1,250 | 10,384 | 17,275,192 | |
| Increase, 1890 to 1900 | ...... | 1,817 | 11,333 | 19,731,217 |
| Per cent. of increase | ...... | 145.4 | 109.1 | 114.2 |
| Per cent. total industries | 1900 | 64.0 | 81.9 | 82.4 |
| 1890 | 60.3 | 73.4 | 76.2 | |
| Lumber and timber products | 1900 | 1,199 | 15,895 | 23,959,983 |
| 1890 | 539 | 6,563 | 8,943,052 | |
| Planing mill product, sash, | 1900 | 50 | 1,082 | 2,266,522 |
| doors, and blinds, incl. | 1890 | 38 | 640 | 1,761,932 |
| Oil, cottonseed and cake | 1900 | 20 | 667 | 2,874,864 |
| 1890 | 8 | 511 | 1,881,668 | |
| Cotton ginning[1] | 1900 | 1,150 | 1,103 | 1,261,097 |
| 1890 | 137 | 569 | 153,226 | |
| Flouring and grist-mill | 1900 | 410 | 443 | 3,708,709 |
| products | 1890 | 376 | 742 | 2,498,168 |
| Steam-car construction | 1900 | 21 | 1,927 | 2,095,447 |
| and repair shops | 1890 | 8 | 847 | 1,299,558 |
| Printing and publishing | 1900 | 217 | 600 | 839,787 |
| 1890 | 144 | 512 | 737,588 | |
Transportation and Commerce. The Mississippi River gives the State a water outlet to the Atlantic, and a water communication with the other Mississippi Valley States. Besides this, the Arkansas, and a large number of smaller streams traversing the State, afford navigable waterways. The very multiplicity of these, together with the broken mountainous nature of the western and northern portions of the State, have greatly retarded the development of an adequate railroad system. At present, however, railroad construction is making rapid progress. The first railroad in the State was not completed when the Civil War broke out in 1861, and there were but 859 miles in 1880. In 1890 the mileage had increased to 2203; in 1900 to 3167. There are altogether 39 railway lines, of which the principal are the Saint Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern; the Saint Louis Southwestern, and the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf. There are about 6 miles of line to every 100 square miles of territory, and about 24 miles to every 10,000 inhabitants. A State Railroad Commission has been recently created, which examines and revises the rate sheets of the railways, and fixes rates for such roads as may fail to furnish rate sheets. The foreign commerce is carried on largely through the port of New Orleans, and consists chiefly of cotton and lumber.
Banks. In 1900, fourteen national banks had been organized in the State, seven of which were in operation. The capital stock aggregated $1,070,000; the circulation outstanding, $330,000; the deposits, $3,108,000; and the reserve, $1,003,000. In addition to this, there were thirty-nine State banks, having resources amounting to $6,604,000; capital stock, $1,243,000; and deposits, $4,464,000. There were, besides, a few small private banks.
Finances. About 1880 there arose a dispute between the State of Arkansas and the United States. The latter held certain coupon bonds of the State, which the State asserted the right to offset by an unliquidated claim which had arisen through failure of the Government to patent to the State some 273,000 acres of swamp lands. After a prolonged discussion, the matter was settled finally in 1900. Arkansas relinquished claim to the lands, guaranteeing the titles to the settlers, while paying to the Government $160,572. The debt of the State in January, 1901, was $1,271,000, of which sum $1,113,000 was a part of the permanent school fund.
Education. Arkansas, like the other Southern States, has labored in the face of very unfavorable conditions for the establishment of adequate schools. There is a very large and widely scattered rural population, and the experience of every State bears testimony to the difficulty of the solution of the rural educational problem. The average length of the school term (about 70 days) is less than that of any other State, with one or two possible exceptions. Of a school population of 349,000 whites (1900), 230,000 were enrolled and 142,000 were in average attendance; while of 135,000 blacks, 84,000 were enrolled, and 52,000 were in average attendance. Of the total school population 65 per cent. were enrolled, and 62 per cent. of these were in average attendance, the excellence of the schools varies with the community, each being dependent almost wholly upon itself for financial support. The school interests are in the hands of local school directors. The State has a permanent school fund of $1,118,709. The interest on this, together with the amounts arising from the 2 mills State school tax and other sources, aggregates nearly $500,000 annually, and constitutes the common school fund, which is apportioned among the various counties. The district tax in 1900 amounted to $805,000 and the poll tax to $163,000; making a total school revenue of nearly $1,500,000 as against an expenditure of $1,369,000. Of the 6959 teachers employed, 4152 are males, a larger proportion than in any other State. There are twenty-four secondary schools in the State. A State University is situated at Fayetteville. There are no State normal schools, but private enterprise has provided several answering their purpose. Private and sectarian interests also maintain several small colleges, six of which are for the education of the colored race.
Charitable and Penal Institutions. The State maintains a lunatic asylum, but it is inadequate to meet the public needs. There are also a deaf-mute institution and a penitentiary now located in Pulaski County. There is no reform school, and juvenile offenders are confined in the county jails and the State penitentiary.
Religion. As is common in the Southern States, the Baptist and Methodist churches con-
- ↑ Does not include many ginneries operated in connection with saw, grist, and cotton-seed oil mills, or for the use exclusively of plantations on which they are located.
