GEORGIA. 



307 



imber was 820, and the whole number 1,058. 



lere was a building for colored patients con- 

 lining 164 new rooms added to the asylum 

 aring the year, and an additional building is 

 jmanded, as the present accommodations are 

 insufficient. The cost of maintaining the in- 

 sane was 35*64 cents per capita per diem in 

 1880, and 32*9 cents in 1879, against 34*35 cents 

 in 1878, and 36'33 cents in 1877. There was 

 a greater number of patients restored to health 

 in 1880 than in any previous year. 



In the Deaf and Dumb Institute there were 

 67 pupils in 1879, and 64 in 1880. The ex- 

 penses were $15,641 in 1879, and $14,61'6 in 

 1880. The buildings are too small for the 

 number of pupils, and have no accommoda- 

 tions for the reception of colored deaf-mutes, 

 of whom 15 have applied for admission. The 

 appropriations made by Georgia for the sup- 

 port and instruction of the deaf and dumb are 

 lower than in any other State. In the Acad- 

 emy for the Blind, which has been established 

 twenty-eight years, 66 pupils were in attend- 

 ance in 1879, the average attendance having 

 been 58. The expenses were $9,624; the cost 

 per capita $166. 



The first semi-annual report of the Railroad 

 Commissioners was made to the Governor on 

 the 1st of May. The commission is empow- 

 ered by the act to fix just and reasonable rates 

 for freight and passenger transportation, which 

 shall be published, and must not be avoided by 

 secret rates or rebates. The rates on freight 

 which is carried from or to places beyond the 

 boundaries of the State are not subject to 

 the regulation of the Commissioners, except 

 that they must not exceed the uniform tariffs 

 established by the commission. A standard 

 tariff for freight was adopted, which went into 

 operation on the 1st of May. It is a maximum 

 rate which can not be exceeded by any road, 

 but which was lowered for different roads with 

 the acquiescence of the commission. The max- 

 imum rate for passengers was placed at four 

 cents a mile, but license is given to any rail- 

 road to charge as much less as it wishes, to spe- 

 cial classes of people, or to issue thousand-mile 

 or excursion tickets at reduced rates. In De- 

 cember a further reduction was made in pas- 

 senger rates, which were fixed for the princi- 

 pal railroad at three cents per mile, while some 

 were permitted to charge four, and a few five 

 cents. The law empowers the commission to 

 revise its action at any time. The commission 

 was organized November 10, 1879, and is 

 composed of ex-Governor J. M. Smith, Major 

 Campbell Wallace, and Colonel Samuel Bar- 

 nett. Concerning the latitude of their powers 

 the Commissioners in their report remark as 

 follows : 



The regulations established by the commission un- 

 der the law are enforced by ample penalties to the State 

 and damages to individuals so stringent that the 

 board feels a deep sense of responsibility and anxiety 

 for the just exercise of powers so lar^e and enforced 

 by such penalties. In the report of the Wisconsin 

 Commissioner we observe that his powers are felt to 



be inadequate to his duties ; he is to make brick with- 

 out straw ; Quite the reverse in many particulars in 

 our case. There is no sense of weakness, but rather 

 of anxiety in the use of large powers positive, not 

 merely negative ; which, like thumbscrews, take a 

 powerful hold, so that even litigation to test them is 

 dangerous. For this reason our sense of responsi- 

 bility has often been oppressive. 



The Commissioner of Agriculture remarks a 

 gratifying advance in the agricultural prosper- 

 ity of the State, improvements in home com- 

 forts, on the farms, the general introduction of 

 improved implements and machinery, and im- 

 proved methods of culture. Steam-power has 

 been largely utilized on the farms, especially 

 in running cotton-gins. An increased demand 

 has been made for improved seeds. Thorough- 

 bred cattle and sheep have been bought. The 

 dairying interest has received a decided im- 

 petus. Local agricultural organizations have 

 been instituted in greater numbers, and there 

 seems to be a general and practical interest 

 taken by the farmers in the department of ag- 

 riculture. The department has issued 148,000 

 copies of crop reports and circulars, and is pub- 

 lishing a manual on cattle. From the inspec- 

 tion of fertilizers, of which 119,583 tons, chief- 

 ly ammoniated superphosphates, of 1S2 differ- 

 ent brands, were inspected in the season of 

 1879-'80, there have been $59,791 received in 

 fees, $10,353 of which were consumed in the cost 

 of inspection. The present statute concerning 

 the analysis and inspection of artificial manures 

 needs revision. The Commissioner proposes 

 that the revenue derived from this source be 

 applied to founding an agricultural college. 

 The Superintendent of Fisheries stocked the 

 Oconee, Ocmulgee, and Chattahoochee Rivers 

 with shad in June, and has distributed Ger- 

 man carp in small numbers for the stocking of 

 ponds. 



No appropriation was made by the last Gen- 

 eral Assembly for the payment of the State 

 Geologist, and the field-work was suspended. 

 The Geologist continued to some extent his of- 

 fice labors, however. He reports that the min- 

 eral districts are attracting a greater degree of 

 attention than before. During the five years 

 of the survey fifty gold-mills with nearly 500 

 stamps, representing nearly $500,000 of capital, 

 attracted from outside, were set in operation. 

 New mining industries which have sprung up 

 during the year are the working of manganese- 

 mines in Bartow County, of brown hematite 

 iron deposits in Dade County, and copper min- 

 ing in Haralson County. Other mineral inter- 

 ests of recent development are the manufacture 

 of fertilizers from the potash deposits of Hous- 

 ton and Twiggs Counties, the shipping of soap- 

 stone from Murray and Fannin Counties, and 

 of asbestus, barite, mica, and rutile from other 

 parts of the State. Iron has been found in 71 

 counties in the State, granite in 45, and gold 

 in 61, as shown in the collections of specimens 

 made by the geological survey. There are 

 specimens also of valuable limestone from 48 

 counties, of quartz from 46, of soapstone from 



