306 



GEORGIA. 



The census returns make the total popula- 

 tion of Georgia 1,538,983, a gain during the 

 decade of 351,014, or 29 per cent. The pop- 

 ulation is divided into 761,152 males and 777,- 

 831 females; the white population numbers 

 814,218, the colored 724,765; the native-born 

 1,528,673, the foreign-born 10,310. In the re- 

 turns of the colored population are included 

 93 Indians and half-breeds, one albino, and 17 

 Chinese. The census of the African race has 

 increased since 1870 from 545,142 to 724,654, or 

 over 33 per cent. The increase of the colored 

 population between 1840 and 1850 was 25 per 

 cent. ; between 1850 and 1860 19 per cent. It 

 is suspected that the large increase of 33 per 

 cent, in the last decade is an excessive esti- 

 mate, as the returns of the census of 1870, 

 which showed an increase of only 5J- per cent, 

 between 1860 and 1870, must have been defec- 

 tive. The same ratios of increase are reported 

 in the other Southern States, and it seems prob- 

 able that the true rate of increase in the colored 

 population is not greater than that of the whites, 

 or about 28 per cent, in all the States largely 

 peopled by the black race. The population of 

 Atlanta is 32,825, against 21,789 in 1870 ; of 

 Savannah, 30,747, against 28,235 ; of Macon, 

 12,695, against 10,810; of Columbus, 10,132, 

 against 7,401. 



The attendance in the State free schools in 

 1879 was about 224,000, an increase of 14,000 

 over the attendance of 1878. The total num- 

 ber of children of school age was 433,444. 

 The growth of the free schools since the in- 

 auguration of the system in 1871 has been 

 steady and rapid, as shown in the following 

 table giving the attendance in the white and 

 colored schools in each year : 



The average attendance in 1879 was 132,- 

 000. The net amount appropriated for the 

 support of the free schools in 1879 was $155,- 

 264; in 1880, $185,789. The increase in 1880 

 was due to the receipt of about $35,000, the 

 yield of the new liquor-tax for a half-year. 

 The poll-tax for the support of schools assessed 

 in the counties is separate from this sum. The 

 poll-tax collected in 1879 amounted to $160,- 

 484. About $150,000 additional is raised in 

 certain cities and counties under local laws. 

 The estimated revenue available for the pub- 

 lic schools in 1880 is $376,273 from the State, 

 or, with the local levies, $526,000 altogeth- 

 er. The schools have been maintained with 

 $300,000 for from a month and a half to three 

 months in the year; but a more liberal sup- 

 port is demanded in view of the growth and 

 increasing popularity of the free schools. The 





appropriation from the State in 1879, includ- 

 ing the poll-tax, rental of the State road, and 

 other sources of revenue, amounted to $315,- 

 748, being 73 cents per capita of the total school 

 population, $1.39 per capita of the enrollment, 

 and $2.39 per head of the average attendance. 

 The State University at Athens was attended 

 in 1879 by 149 students, and in 1880 by 152. 

 Of these, 82 were in the Literary College, 63 in 

 the College of Agriculture and the Mechanical 

 Arts, and seven in the Law School. The avail- 

 able fund in 1880 was $40,035, including a 

 balance from the preceding year of $7,276. 

 The amount derived from tuition fees was $2,- 

 227. The expenditures were $32,138. In the 

 branch college at Dahlonega were instructed 

 245 males and 80 females together 325 stu- 

 dents; in that at Thomasville 180 students, all 

 males; and in the one at Milledgeville 165 

 males and 186 females together 351. In these 

 three colleges and the one at Cuthbert the total 

 number instructed was 1,024; adding the 112 

 students in the medical department at Augusta, 

 the total number of pupils instructed in the 

 State high-schools was 1,288. The branch col- 

 leges which perform so conspicuous a part in 

 the educational work are all of them of very 

 recent establishment. The North Georgia Col- 

 lege commissioned 79 teachers at the end of 

 the school year in 1879, and from these in the 

 following autumn 105,000 received instruction. 

 The college at Thomasville, employing four in- 

 structors, was first organized in September, 

 1879. It occupies a school-building which was 

 already standing, and which was presented by 

 the Methodist Church and improved with a 

 sum subscribed by the citizens. The Milledge- 

 ville College occupies the old State Capitol. 

 It was organized in January, 1880, and em- 

 ploys ten teachers. The Cuthbert College com- 

 menced operations in September, 1879, and has 

 four teachers. 



The number of convicts in the penitentiary 

 at the close of the fiscal year 1878 was 1,234. 

 In 1879 and 1880 the number received was 

 444; discharged, 332; deceased, 80; escaped, 

 32; pardoned, 42; leaving 1,187 in the peni- 

 tentiary on October 1, 1880. The number re- 

 ceived during the two years was 105 less than 

 during the two years preceding. The death- 

 rate among the convicts has been lessened from 

 4, 5|-, and 4^- per cent, in the three years pre- 

 ceding 1877 to 3i, 1, and 2 per cent, in the 

 three succeeding years. The present convict- 

 lease system was inaugurated under the admin- 

 istration of Governor Smith. Several reforms 

 in the management of the system have been in- 

 stituted. The leases which were entered into 

 with contractors are for a term of twenty years. 

 The grand juries in the counties where the con- 

 vict-camps are keep a watch over the manner 

 in which the men are treated and cared for. 



The State Lunatic Asylum contained in the 

 year 1879 the average number of 748 patients, 

 the whole number in the asylum during the 

 year having been 951. In 1880 the average 



