GEORGIA. 



361 



training of students in the industrial and me- 

 chanical arts was approved on Oct. 13, 1885. 

 Pursuant to this act a commission, charged 

 with the duty, selected a site in the city of At- 

 lanta and erected suitable buildings at a cost of 

 $101,062.98. These were transferred to the 

 State by the commission in October, 1888, 

 when the first school-year began. The insti- 

 tution opened under favorable conditions, 113 

 students being enrolled before the close of 1888. 



Charities. The State Lunatic Asylum is the 

 largest and most expensive charity of the State. 

 On Oct. 1, 1887, it contained 910 white and 

 385 colored patients, a total of 1,295. This 

 total had increased on Oct. 1,1888, to 1,386, 

 of whom 980 were white and 406 colored pa- 

 tients. The cost of supporting the institution 

 is about $180,000 per annum. 



The Georgia Academy for the Blind had 91 

 pupils in attendance during the year, 78 white 

 and 13 colored. The expenses of the institu- 

 tion were $17,580.62 for the year. The insti- 

 tution for the Deaf and Dumb has an average 

 attendance of nearly 100 pupils. For 18S7 the 

 disbursements for this charity amounted to 

 $18,226.32; for 1888, $16,315.96. 



Penitentiary. There were on Oct. 1, 1886, in 

 the different convict camps, 1.526 prisoners, of 

 whom 1,377 were colored and 149 white per- 

 sons. At the same date in 1888 there were 

 1,537 prisoners, 1,388 colored and 149 white. 

 During the two years there were 81 deaths, or 

 3J per cent, of the total number on the rolls. 

 This rate of mortality could hardly happen 

 under any other than the convict-lease system. 



The State Capitcl. Up to October 24 of this 

 year the total sum expended~by the Capitol 

 commissioners upon the new Capitol building 

 *851, 064.75. The contract for its con- 

 struction calls for an expenditure of $862,- 

 756.75. The structure was completed, accord- 

 ing to the contract, at the end of the year, and 

 is an imposing work well suited to the needs 

 of the State. Xo debt was incurred in its erec- 

 tion, the requisite funds being obtained by the 

 levy of a special tax. 



Railroad Commission. The Governor says in 

 his message in November : " The Railroad 

 Commission has grown in importance with the 

 enormous development of the railroad system 

 of the State. It has been uniformly conserva- 

 tive in its policy and cautious in its action 

 upon the very delicate questions and sensitive 

 interests with which it has to deal. The re- 

 sult is that the commission has grown in the 

 confidence of the people and in the respect of 

 the corporations. 



" The Supreme Court of the United States, 

 on the 29th of October last, in the case of the 

 Georgia Railroad and Banking Company cs. 

 James M. Smith, et al., affirmed the decision 

 of the court below. This decision is in effect 

 an affirmance of the right of the Railroad Com- 

 mission to fix rates for the Georgia Railroad 

 and Banking Company, as for any person or 

 company or corporation which does business 



as a common carrier in this State, and finally 

 disposes of a litigation which has been pend- 

 ing in the courts for several years." 



The State Railroad. The report of the com- 

 mittee appointed by the Legislature of 1887 

 to appraise the "Western and Atlantic Rail- 

 road, preparatory to making some disposition 

 of it at the end of the present lease in 1890, 

 was completed and published in August. The 

 road is about 137 miles in length, running 

 from Augusta to Chattanooga, Tenu. The 

 committee estimates its present value, including 

 rolling-stock, stations, etc., at $6,064,139.06. 

 During the eighteen years that the present 

 lessees have held it. betterments have been made 

 by them upon it to the value of $750,889.74, as 

 estimated by the committee. For these better- 

 ments the lessees demand compensation. The 

 general condition of the road is pronounced by 

 the committee to be good. At the session of 

 the Legislature in November, several plans, 

 both for the sale and lease of the road, were 

 fully discussed in committee, and two reports 

 made to the House. The sentiment was gener- 

 ally opposed to a sale of the property, but the 

 matter went over to the next session for deter- 

 mination. 



Confederate Soldiers. Under the act of 1879, 

 and acts amendatory thereto, bounties were 

 paid triennially to soldiers who had suffered 

 amputation of a limb or limbs on account of 

 injuries received in the service of the Confed- 

 erate States. The sum thus paid from the 

 treasury of the State amounted in 1879 to 

 $69,870; in 1883 to $61,605; and in 1886 to 

 $57,650. The act approved Oct. 24, 1887, 

 provides small annual bounties for a number of 

 classes of disabled Confederate soldiers who 

 were not included in the benefits of the act of 

 1879. The purpose of this act was to embrace 

 and relieve all who had been permanently dis- 

 abled by wounds or disease in the Confederate 

 service. From the large number of applications 

 filed under this law, nearly eleven hundred were 

 allowed ; the payments made up to and includ- 

 ing Nov. 2, 1888. amounting in the aggregate 

 to $27,525. The beneficiaries under this act 

 will be increased in 1889, without change in 

 the law, by the number of those who have been 

 recognized as entitled under the act of 1879, 

 and may be still living and resident in the State 

 of Georgia; and $65,000 is estimated as the 

 amount that must be paid to them. 



Prohibition. During the year there has been 

 an evident reaction from the prohibition 

 movement of the two years preceding. Under 

 the local-option law all but 38 of the 138 

 counties of the State had declared for prohibi- 

 tion before the last of September, 1887. Be- 

 fore the close of 1888, however, the number 

 of " wet " counties had increased to 64. 



Lejrislative Session. The Legislature elected in 

 October met on November 7, and remained in 

 session till December 22, adjourning on that 

 day to meet on the first Wednesday of July 

 following. It elected T. J. Simmons to be 



