AKKANSAS. 



the middle syllable, the final s is sounded, 

 and the Italian sound of a in the second 

 and third syllables changed to the sound of 

 a in can instead of its sound in car. The 

 committee say : " We are happy to state, how- 

 ever, that we find this vicious habit less uni- 

 versal and less firmly established than the 

 honor given it by lexicographers led us to 

 fear. It has never obtained except among a 

 small class of immigrants from more distant 

 States. It is almost unknown in those States 

 which have furnished the great mass of our 

 population, and entirely so among those born 

 and bred in the State, or who came here at an 

 early period. We are, therefore, unanimous, 

 and without hesitation in declaring it, as the 

 result of our inquiries, that the true pronun- 

 ciation of our State is in three syllables, with 

 the broad Italian sound of a in each, and 

 with the final s silent, with the accent on 

 the first and last. The spelling is correct, and 

 indicates properly its French origin. The po- 

 lite world will doubtless concede to our State 

 the privilege of fixing the pronunciation of its 

 own name. The pronunciation herein indi- 

 cated as proper, is now retained and common- 

 ly used by the Governor, heads of departments, 

 and all the Judges of our Superior Courts. We 

 beg leave to recommend that it continue to be 

 used in all official viva voce proceedings." 



The Hot Springs adjustment was finally se- 

 cured by an act of Congress, passed on June 

 16, 1880. The important features of the act 

 may be briefly stated. It provides that ev- 

 ery person, his heirs or legal representatives, 

 in whose favor the commissioners appointed 

 by Congress, relative to the Hot Springs of 

 Arkansas, have adjudicated, shall have the 

 sole right to enter and pay for the amount of 

 land the commissioners have adjudged him en- 

 titled to purchase. This privilege continues 

 for eighteen months after the expiration of 

 the notice required by the tenth section of 

 the act of Congress of March 3, 1877. The 

 person so entering land must pay to the re- 

 ceiver at Little Rock forty per cent, of the as- 

 sessed value of said land placed thereon by 

 the commissioners. 



A large and unadjusted claim is held by the 

 State against the Government of the United 

 States. Under an act of Congress of 1850, de- 

 signed to aid in the construction of the neces- 

 sary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp 

 and overflowed lands, Congress gave to the 

 State the whole of such overflowed lands not 

 then fit for cultivation. The Interior Depart- 

 ment, by this authority, reported as due 8,652,- 

 432-93 acres, and of this amount 7,627,812-14 

 have been approved to the State, and 7,121,- 

 953 acres actually patented. There still re- 

 main unapproved 1,024,620-79 acres, and of 

 the approved lands no patent has been issued 

 for 505,858-66 acres. The matter is compli- 

 cated from the fact that Arkansas is largely 

 indebted to the Smithsonian Institution, which 

 is under the charge of the Government. This 



Institution holds 500 $1000 bonds of the State 

 of Arkansas issued in 1838, and, as no interest 

 has ever been paid, the indebtedness now 

 stands at something like $2,000,000. and the 

 United States has made this default on the 

 State's part the occasion for withholding pay- 

 ment of the five per cent, fund due the State 

 arising from the sale of public lands. 



Another complication arises from the issue 

 of patents to citizens for this land already 

 granted to Arkansas, and the donation of an- 

 other quarter million of acres to railroads as 

 a subsidy. Efforts are being made to have 

 Congress reduce the price of public lands in 

 this State to 62 cents an acre, except the re- 

 served alternate railroad sections. The State 

 Land Commissioner, in the fifteen months 

 before January 1, 1880, disposed of 146,664 

 acres of the public lands of the State by sale 

 and 317,640 acres by free grant to actual set- 

 tlers, against 127,415 acres sold and 183,743 

 acres donated to settlers in the twenty-four 

 months preceding. 



An amendment was proposed to the State 

 Constitution, which was designed to take from 

 the Legislature all authority to pay certain 

 State bonds. To become valid, it was requi- 

 site that it should have been agreed to by a 

 majority of all the members elected to each 

 House of the Legislature, and adopted by a 

 majority of the electors of the State. The 

 amendment had passed the Legislature and was 

 submitted to the voters at the election in Sep- 

 tember. It was in these words : 



ARTICLE XX. The General Assembly shall have 

 no power to levy any tax or make any appropriations 

 to pay either the principal or interest, or any part 

 thereof, of any of the following bonds of the State, to 

 wit : Bonds issued under an act of the General As- 

 sembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled " An Act to 

 provide for the Funding of the Public Debt of the 

 State," approved April 6,_ A. D. 1869, and numbered 

 from four nundred and ninety-one to eighteen hun- 

 dred and sixty, inclusive, being the " Funding Bonds " 

 delivered to F. W. Caper, and sometimes called " Hoi- 

 ford Bonds," or bonds known as Eailroad Aid Bonds, 

 issued under an act of the General Assembly of the 

 State of Arkansas, entitled " An Act to aid in the 

 Construction of Railroads," approved July 21, A. D. 

 1868, or bonds called " Levee Bonds," being bonds 

 issued under an act of the General Assembly of the 

 State of Arkansas, entitled "An Act providing for 

 the Building and Repairing of the Public Levees of 

 the State, and for other Purposes," approved March 

 16, A. D. 1869, and the supplemental act thereto, ap- 

 proved April 12, 1869, and the act entitled " An Act 

 to amend an Act entitled, 'An Act providing for 

 the Building and Repairing of the Public Levees of 

 this State,' " approved March 23, A. D. 1871, and any 

 law providing for any such tax or appropriation shall 

 be null and void. 



At the election in September, this amend- 

 ment was rejected by the people by a major- 

 ity of nearly four thousand votes. 



A Republican State Convention was held at 

 Little Rock, on May 2d, at which John A. 

 Williams was President. Delegates to the 

 Chicago National Convention were appointed, 

 and instructed to support General U. S. Grant 

 for President. Presidential electors were also 



