dollars; and, finally, a large number of town lots, at
Oswego

, amounting to ninety-one thousand three
hundred and forty-nine dollars, were sold in the
same year, and the proceeds, together with all the
sums obtained from the above-mentioned sources,
swelled the productive capital at the beginning of
1828, to one million six hundred and thirty thousand
eight hundred and ninety-five dollars. The constitu
tion of the state provides, that the proceeds of all
lands which shall be hereafter sold, or disposed of,
shall belong to the fund for the support of common
schools. In 1830, these lands consisted of eight hun-
dred and sixty-nine thousand one hundred and
seventy-eight acres, estimated at half a million of
dollars, which, added to the productive capital,
makes two millions one hundred and thirty thousand
eight hundred and twenty-five dollars. Besides the
general fund of the state, there are likewise several
local funds arising out of certain reserved lands in
the respective counties. More than eighty towns are
stated to participate in the benefit of these funds,
amounting to the sum of about seventeen thousand
dollars annually.

Progress of the System. The first distribution of
public moneys, out of the fund, was made, as we
have said, in 1816, and not till then, can the system
be said to have gone into actual operation. An esti-
mate may be formed of the influence of this system
by comparing the state of things before the funds
became available, with that which has existed since.
In sixteen counties in which the state of schools was
reported in 1798, the number of schools was then one
thousand three hundred and fifty-two, and of scholars
fifty-nine thousand six hundred and sixty. In the
same counties, in 1828, the number of school districts
established was two thousand five hundred and
eighty-six, and of scholars attending them, one hun-
dred and forty-two thousand three hundred and
seventy-two. Even this comparison falls far short