or compel any person to attend, erect or support any place of religious worship, or to pay tithes, taxes or other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion.

Sec. 40. No money shall be appropriated or drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious sect or society, theological or religious seminary, nor shall property belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purpose.

Sec. 41. The Legislature shall not diminish or enlarge the civil or political rights, privileges and capacities of any person on account of his opinion or belief concerning matters of religion.

It was contended by the Board of Education, in its answer, that the book was not introduced into the schools as a book of religious instruction, but as a reading exercise, valuable for its moral precepts. Its use was defended on this ground, and this was the ground on which the right of the school authorities to place it as a text book in the schools was affirmed.

The case was first brought in the Wayne Circuit Court, and Judge Carpenter, of that Court, in a very elaborate opinion, decided in favor of the relator, Pfeiffer, and against the use of the book in the schools. His decision was reversed by the Supreme Court on writ of error, four of the judges-Montgomery, Grant, Hooker and Long-concurring, Judge Moore filing a dissenting opinion. The spirit of the decision in the case is fairly represented by the following extract from the cpinion handed down by the four judges:

"No interference, by way of instruction, with the views of the scholars, whether derived from parental or sacredotal authority, is shown. The Bible was used merely as a book in which instruction in reading was given. But reading the Bible is no more an interference with religious belief than would reading the mythology of Greece or Rome be regarded as interfering with religious belief or affirming the pagan creeds. A chapter in the Koran might be read, yet it would not be an affirmation

of the truth of Mohammedanism, or an interference with religious faith. The Bible was used merely as a reading book, and for the information contained in it, as the Koran might be, and not for religious instruction. If suitable for that, it was suitable for the purpose for which it was selected."

Virtually, therefore, the opinion would deny the right of the school authorities to prescribe any form of religious teaching for the schools.

In his dissenting opinion Judge Moore quotes the opinion in full of Judge Carpenter, in the lower court, from which the following extract is taken:

"It is no answer to the charge that the contemplated use of 'Readings from the Bible' is teaching religion, to say that the book also teaches morality. What religious book could not be taught in the schools, if the morality of its doctrines were to determine its use? Teaching religion at the expense of the taxpayers is forbidden by the constitution, and teaching morality is not commanded by it. Nor is it possible to take a middle ground, and insist that the religion of the Bible can be taught in the schools, and other religious teachings excluded. It is impossible to frame an argument which, under our constitution, will permit respondent to carry out its proposed action, which will not permit it to teach any religion it may choose to teach. The constitution prohibits all religious teachings in the public schools, or it prohibits none."

Judicial decisions are supposed to be reached upon the law as it is found to exist, independently of popular opinion. But an advancing tendency in popular opinion, running through decades, comes to be recognized by the courts, and assumes the form of law. Had the same issue been tried fifty years ago, as in the case cited, it is a safe assumption that it would have been decided much more promptly and with an added emphasis. The history is of value, as showing the evolution of thought on the special line indicted.

Under the territorial government a number of companies were chartered for building railways and for improving the interior waterways, although but little progress was made in construction. At the time of the organization of the State government immigration was at high tide. Everybody was wealthy in imagination. Visions of a magnificent future filled the public eye. And if a thought verging on the fanciful may be pardoned, it is that our visions are real while they exist. Castles in the air are real castles until they are blown away. So our predecessors in the thirties had visions and built air castles.

When the constitution of 1835 provided that internal improvements should be encouraged, the popular pulse-beat responded to it. Many schemes of internal improvement were undertaken, only to prove failures. But while the castles of those days may have been ethereal as to their then permanence, they were prophetic of what should come after. The improvements of the present day far exceed in extent and surpass in excellence the most fanciful dreams of the enthusiasts of the earlier days. Though these improvements have not been made directly by the State, they have been made by private enterprise fostered by the State. They have been made possible and have been made indispensable by the growth in population and wealth-factors, by the way, which the improvements themselves have been potent agents in developing. Let those who will, strike the balance between cause and effect. In passing, also, it may be noted that while the State entered upon an extended policy of public works in

its infancy, only to abandon it later, there is now a rising demand for public ownership of public works, especially by municipalities, but not stopping short of the general government in its relation to the great transportation agencies.

In 1837 the State, pursuant to authority of the Legislature, entered upon an extended system of internal improvement, including three trunk railway lines-the Southern, the Central, and the Northern, the latter between Port Huron and Grand Rapids—and the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, from Mt. Clemens westward to Lake Michigan. For carrying out these gigantic enterprises, whose cost at this day would exceed the hundred million mark, a loan of $5,000,000 was negotiated on the credit of the State. The full amount of the loan was, however, never realized by the State, a portion of the bonds having been negotiated with the Morris Canal & Banking Company, of New Jersey, and with the United States Bank, both of which became insolvent. The final settlement became a matter of compromise between the State and the holders of the bonds. It was a matter of history at the time also that $20,000 of the money received on account of the loan mysteriously disappeared on its way from New York to Detroit in the custody of the Michigan agents. Of the public improvements projected, Gov. Barry, in his message to the Legislature in 1842 said: "Our whole system of internal improvement, it will be seen, embraced about five hundred and ninety-six miles of railroad, about two hundred and fifty-three miles of canal, and the improvement of five rivers. The estimated cost of these improvements is $10,489,275.76, though probably their real cost, were they completed, would not be less than $15,000,

000." The Governor's estimate of the cost illustrates the want of knowledge at the time as to the cost of works of the character in question, while the nicety with which the probable cost of so comprehensive a system is figured down to centals in the first estimates is not a little amusing. The entire system of internal improvements was placed under a board of seven commissioners.

Some further comments of Gov. Barry in the message already quoted from are worthy of reproduction. Speaking of the scheme as a whole, he says: "The conception of the plan on a scale so magnificent, is to be attributed to the erroneous opinions of the wealth produced by a too redundant paper currency. The system was altogether too extended for our wants, and required expenditures beyond our means. It was projected at a time when things were too often viewed through a magnifying glass. glass. Individuals embarked with confidence in enterprises which they now regard as extravagant and visionary. The spirit of the times unfortunately became the governing policy of the States, and Michigan projected a system of internal improvements which would have been a grand undertaking for the oldest and

Gov. Barry recommended the abandonment of the system as a whole, while husbanding those works already completed, or nearly so. There was a growing sentiment, however, that the State should wash its hands of the whole business, and this sentiment culminated in 1846 in the sale of both the Central and Southern railroads. The former had been completed as far as Kalamazoo and the latter as far as Hillsdale. The purchase price of the Central was $2,000,000, and of the Southern $500,000, but it was paid by retiring so much of the $5,000,000 loan bonds. No work other than some grading and grubbing had been done on the northern route (Port Huron and Grand Rapids). Some work had been done on the Clinton and Kalamazoo canal, extending as far as Rochester in Oakland County, at an expense of $56,754.68, and various small sums had been expended for other improvements up to 1842. But with the sale of the two railroads the State cut loose from all work of the kind.

First Effort at Banking-Chartered Banks-General Banking Law of 1837, or "Wild Cat" Banks-Collapse of the System-Scarcity of Bank Currency -Canadian, Indiana and Illinois Notes-General Banking Law of 1857-State Banks of Issue Superseded by National Currency-Shinplasters and State Scrip-Savings Banks, State Banks and National Banks-Tabular Exhibits.

The first effort at banking in Michigan was under the auspices of Gov. Hull and Judge Woodward, who in 1806 established a bank in Detroit, of whose operations fabulous tales were old. The institution had no legal existence, and closed out at the end of two years. The Bank of Michigan was chartered by the Legislative Council in 1817, and did a prosperous business for twenty-four years, when it went under in the general financial

collapse of the time. The Farmers' and Merchants' Bank (1830), and the Michigan State Bank (1835), both of Detroit, both suffered the fate of their predecessor about the same time and from the same causes. The Michigan Insurance Company (bank) was chartered in 1834 and continued doing business until it was superseded by the national banking system. Aside from the Detroit banks mentioned, a dozen or more had been chartered and were doing business at interior points. In 1837 the speculative fever ran so high that the Legislature was overwhelmed with applications for bank charters, and in lieu of special charters the general banking law was passed, under which the brood of "wild cat" banks, so well remembered by the

few now living who were then residents of the State, came into existence. Within a year and a half from sixty to seventy banks had been organized in the State. The collapse of the system was as sudden as its rise, carrying with it most of the chartered banks also. At the close of the year 1839 four chartered banks and four under the general law remained, and three years later the Michigan Insurance Company was the only association doing a banking business in the State.*

For a period of over twenty years the banking facilities of the State, so far as banks of issue were concerned, were mainly confined to a couple of banks in Detroit. In the early fifties a bank known as the Government Stock Bank was doing business at Ann Arbor, though under what charter right is not recalled. It was of a speculative character, and was not held in favor by the Metropolitan Bank, of New York, by which its notes were gathered up and presented for redemption before they became crumpled. This pressure forced it out of business. Several banks in the interior were revived and transacted business under old charters.

The present constitution, adopted in 1850, forbade special charters, and provided that any general banking law should be submitted to a vote of the people. The Legislature in 1857 passed a general banking act, which was approved by popular vote at the November election in 1858. Its provisions were such, however, that no banks were established under it so far as known. The business interests of the State had increased to an extent that the absence of banks of issue at which accommodation loans might be had was seriously felt, as was the scarcity of currency for ordinary business exchanges. In the eastern part of the State, Canadian bank notes were largely in circulation, and were

*T. H. Hinchman's "Banks and Banking in Michigan." In the report of the State Treasurer for 1853 five banks are mentioned: The Bank of Macomb County, at Mt. Clemens; the Government Stock Bank, at Ann Arbor, and the Michigan State Bank, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank and the Peninsular Bank, at Detroit.

valued for their supposed security and gold equivalent. Indiana bank notes were also in evidence. In western Michigan, Illinois currency was the more plentiful, but it was regarded with suspicion, and was sometimes characterized by the unpoetic term of "stump tail." The embarrassment had become so great and the need for relief so pressing, that the Legislature of 1861 proposed an amendment to the constitution providing that the Legislature, by a two-thirds vote of each house, might establish a single bank, with branches. The amendment was adopted at the ensuing November election, and became part of the constitution. The system contemplated was similar to that on which the Indiana banks were organized. The establishment of the national banking system, however, made action under the amendatory clause impracticable, as all State banks of issue were soon merged into national banks. Private banks or banking offices for the purpose of discount and exchange had sprung up in many places where there was a demand for them during the dearth of other banking facilities.

During the wild cat period there was a suspension of specie payments by the banks, and silver coin for small change was unobtainable. To supply the need, private firms, and in some cases municipalities, issued fractional currency known as "shinplasters," an experience that was practically repeated in the first years of the war of the rebellion, before the issue of the fractional currency by the general government. In 1841 an issue of State scrip was authorized, of which over $200,000 was put in circulation. The notes were paid out for all purposes required by the needs of the State government. No direct provision was made for their redemption, but they were made receivable for taxes. The financial credit of the State was at a low mark, and the notes were looked upon with distrust. They could be converted into coin only at a considerable discount, and were in many cases declined in matters of ordinary traffic except at a discount. Those who had

taxes to pay, paid them in State scrip. If they did not have the notes, they bought them up at a shave from those who had them. The consequence was that in a year or two the scrip had substantially all been returned to the State in the way of taxes, and the State was without available means with which to meet its ordinary obligations.

Savings banks, at least in Michigan, are an essentially modern institution. The first law under which savings banks were organized was passed in 1869. The act was revised in 1889 so as to include discount and deposit banks for commercial purposes, as well as savings deposits. These banks are under the These banks are under the supervision of a bank commissioner, having his office at Lansing, who is required to make an examination of the affairs of every bank organized, at least once each year, similar to the examination of national banks required by the general government. Below is given Below is given some comparative statistics of State and savings banks, beginning with the year 1873, the reports up to that time being meagre and of little value. Up to and including 1888 the reports of "State banks" and "savings banks" are made separately. Beginning with 1889 all are reported as "State banks," but the deposits are classified as "commercial" and "savings." Trust companies are included in the number of banks-two in 1890, four in 1895,

First Railway in New York-Western New York Immigrants and Nomenclateur-First Railway Charter in Michigan-"Success to the Railroad"The Trunk Lines-Sale of the Roads by the State -Wonderful Development of the Railway System -Methods in Early Construction-Land Grants in Aid of Railways-Local Aid to Railways-Railway Statistics.

The history of railroads in Michigan is coeval almost with the history of like enterprises in other parts of the country. The first The first railroad built in the State of New York (the Albany and Schenectady), was put in operation about the beginning of the 1830 decade.

A large influx of population was then just beginning to pour into Michigan, mainly from Western New York. The local nomenclature of Oakland and Macomb Counties tells very clearly where much of the immigration to those sections came from. Rochester, Auburn, Avon, Troy, Utica, etc., at once suggest that the people who bestowed those names upon given localities came from the vicinity of places bearing like names elsewhere. These immigrants came, bearing with them the impulses that acuated the people of the regions from whence they came.