360 



GEORGIA. 



branch of the Democratic party. He was a 

 delegate to the Democratic National Conven- 

 tions of 1864, 1872, 1876, and 1880. On April 

 30, 1888, he was nominated by President 

 Cleveland to be Chief-Justice of the United 

 States, and on July 20 he was confirmed by 

 the Senate. On October 8 he took the oath 

 of office and entered upon his duties. Judge 

 Fuller is, with one exception, the youngest 



member of the Supreme Court. He has at- 

 tained reputation as a public speaker. Among 

 his addresses are one welcoming Stephen A. 

 Douglas to Chicago in 1860, and one on Sid- 

 ney Breese, which is prefixed to Judge Breese's 

 "Early History of Illinois" (1884). The de- 

 gree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the 

 Northwestern University and by Bowdoin Col- 

 lege in 1888. 



G- 



GEORGIA. State Government The following 

 were the State officers during the year : Gov- 

 ernor, John B. Gordon, Democrat ; Secretary 

 of State, Nathan C. Barnett ; Treasurer, R. U. 

 Hardeman; Comptroller-General, William A. 

 Wright ; Attorney-General, Clifford Anderson; 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, J. T. Henderson ; 

 State School Commissioner, James S. Hook ; 

 Railroad Commissioners, Alexander S. Irwin, 

 C. Wallace, L. N. Trammell ; Chief-Justice of 

 the Supreme Court, L. E. Bleckley; Associate 

 Justices, M. II. Blandford and T. J. Simmons. 



Finances. For the two years ending on Sep- 

 tember 30 the report of the State Tmisurer 

 is as follows : Balance in the treasury on Sept. 

 30, 1886, $250,927.96 ; receipts during the sub- 

 sequent year, $1,682,652.89 ; disbursements 

 during the same time, $1,583,818.47 ; balance 

 on Sept. 30, 1887, $349,762.38; receipts dur- 

 ing the subsequent year, $1,900,692.21 ; dis- 

 bursements in the same time, $2,019,103.07; 

 balance on Sept. 30, 1888, $231,351.52. The 

 State receives $300,000 each year for rental of 

 the Western and Atlantic Railroad, and $-">,- 

 000 from hire of convicts, in addition to the 

 amounts raised by State taxation. 



The bonded debt of the State bearing inter- 

 est on Sept. 30, 1887, was as follows: Bonds 

 of 1884, interest 4| per cent., $3,392,000; 

 bonds of 1877, interest 6 per cent., $2,141,000; 

 bonds of 1870, interest 7 per cent., $2,098,000; 

 bonds of 1872, interest 7 per cent., $307,500; 

 bonds of 1876, interest 7 per cent., $542,000 ; 

 obligations to the State University, $255,000 : 

 total, $8,735,500. To this should be added 

 $91,040 of non-interest-bearing bonds not can- 

 celed, but of which $74,235 were canceled 

 during the present year, leaving the total debt 

 on September 30, $8,752,305. The issue of 

 1877 will become due on Jan. 1, 1889, and for 

 the purpose of meeting this obligation the 

 Legislature of 1887 authorized the issuance of 

 $1,900,000 of new bonds at a rate to be fixed 

 by the Governor. During the present year a 

 sale of these at 4^ per cent, interest was ne- 

 gotiated at a premium of 4^ per cent. This is 

 the highest price ever paid for bonds issued by 

 the State, and indicates an increased confi- 

 dence in its credit. On October, 1890, 'the 

 bonds of 1870 will mature, and it will devolve 

 upon the Legislature chosen this year to pro- 

 vide for their payment. 



Provision was made by the Legislature of 

 1887 for gradually reducing the debt by creat- 

 ing a sinking-fund for the years 1887 and 1888 

 and for the years 1897 to 1915, inclusive, thus 

 carrying into effect the clause of the State Con- 

 stitution requiring that $100,000 should be 

 raised each year by taxation, and held as a 

 sinking-fund, for the payment of State bonds. 



Assessments. The total assessed valuation of 

 property for 1888 was $357,167,458, of which 

 $29,304,127 was the valuation of railroad 

 property. The valuation for 1887 was $341,- 

 504,921, of which $24,899,592 was railroad 

 property. The following table gives some de- 

 tails of the assessment of 1888 compared with 

 that of 1879 : 



The valuation of property held by colored 

 persons has risen from $5,182,398 in 1879 to 

 $9,631,271 in 1888. 



Education. The following statistics of the 

 public schools for the school-year 1887 were 

 compiled and published during 1888: Schools 

 for white pupils, 5,083; schools for colored 

 pupils, 2,512; schools established under local 

 laws. 201 ; enrollment of white pupils, 208,865; 

 enrollment of colored pupils, 133,429; total, 

 342,394; average attendance, 226,290. 



During 1888 a census of persons within 

 school-age was taken, showing 292,624 white 

 and 267,657 colored children, or a total of 

 560,281. Of the total, 61 per cent, were en- 

 rolled as school-attendants during 1887, but 

 only 41 per cent, were in regular attendance. 

 The average length of the school-year is not 

 over three months. During 1887 the sum of 

 $493,509.52 was raised by the State for the 

 schools, and $302,477.74 by city and county 

 taxation. 



An act to establish a technological school, as 

 a branch of the State University, and forming 

 one of its departments for the education and 



