ARKANSAS. 



31 



of those convicts, under tlio present contract- 

 system, costs tlio Stuto $128 a year for each 

 PC: -v.n. It is now recommended that three 

 commissioners bo selected to take charge of 

 tin- penitentiary, who shall reside at the capi- 

 tal, and have authority to appoint the superin- 

 tendent and warden, and that they shall give 

 tin- superintendent authority "to sublet the 

 convicts for any kind of labor which can bo 

 performed within the walls of the building." 

 No provision has thus far been made for the 

 proper care of the insane. Those who are 

 not under the protection of friends or cared 

 lor by private charity are confined in county 

 jails like common malefactors. There is an 

 institute for the blind, for which a new build- 

 ing has been erected, thoroughly adapted for 

 its purposes. A similar building has been pro- 

 vided for the Blind Asylum, which is repre- 

 sented to be in a flourishing condition. 



Considerable impetus has been given to rail- 

 road enterprises in the State by the operation 

 of the act of the Legislature of 1868 grant- 

 ing State aid to different companies. In ac- 

 cordance with its provisions, aid has been 

 awarded as follows : 



To the Cairo and Fulton Railroad Company 

 to the extent of 300 miles of its line, at the rate 

 of $10,000 per mile ; the Memphis and Little 

 Rock Railroad Company to the extent of 120 

 miles of its line, at the rate of $10,000 per 

 mile ; the Little Rock and Helena Railroad 

 Company to the extent of 30 miles of its line, 

 at the rate of $15,000 per mile ; the Missis- 

 sippi, Ouachita, and Red River Railroad Com- 

 pany to the extent of 130 miles of its line, at 

 the rate of $10,000 per mile ; the Little Rock, 

 Pino Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad Com- 

 pany to the extent of 120 miles of its line, at 

 the rate of $15,000 per mile ; the Little Rock 

 and Fort Smith Railroad Company to the ex- 

 tent of 150 miles, at the rate of $10,000 per 

 miles. State bonds have also been loaned to 

 the following extent : To the Little Rock and 

 Fort Smith Railroad Company to the amount 

 of $800,000 ; to the Memphis and Little Rock 

 Railroad Company $1,050,000; to the Little 

 Rock, Pino Bluff, and New Orleans Railroad 

 Company, $600,000 ; to the Mississippi, Oua- 

 chita, and Red River Railroad Comparty, bonds 

 to the amount of $300,000. Partly as the re- 

 sult of this assistance, 20 miles of the Cairo 

 and Fulton road have been completed. The 

 Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad has been 

 opened to Lewisburg, 50 miles,and 50 miles more 

 have been graded and furnished with ties. The 

 whole line, it is expected, will be completed by 

 the 1st of January, 1872. On the Memphis 

 and Little Rock road, 115 miles of track are 

 already laid, and about 16 miles remain to be 

 laid. A substantial bridge is in process of con- 

 struction over White River. The whole lino 

 will be finished early in the year 1871. On 

 the Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and New Orleans 

 road work was begnn in January, and at the 

 close of the year 55 miles had been graded, 



bridged, and furnished with cross-ties, and 10 

 miles of track were laid. Six hundred men 

 are employed on the line, and it waa promised 

 that it would be open for travel from New Or- 

 leans to Pine Bluff in March, 1871. About 

 50 miles of the Mississippi, Ouachita, and Red 

 River Railroad, commencing at the Mississippi, 

 had been graded and bridged at the end of the 

 year, and about 20 miles of track laid. It will 

 probably bo completed to Camden in June, 

 1871. Besides these, there are numerous other 

 schemes on foot, with greater or less probabil- 

 ity of success. The construction of a bridge 

 across the Arkansas River at the city of Little 

 Rock was authorized in July last, and a com- 

 pany has been incorporated to accomplish the 

 work. The whole number of miles of levee 

 work completed upon the rivers of the State 

 is 53, and 1G7 miles are in course of construc- 

 tion, comprising levees, railroad beds answer- 

 ing the same purpose, cut-offs, and other 

 works securing land from overflow. 



Although there was no general election for 

 State officers this year, considerable spirit was 

 displayed in the canvass for the choice of mem- 

 bers of Congress, and of the State Legislature. 

 Strenuous efforts were made by the Democratic 

 party to displace the Republicans from power, 

 who, it was claimed, had never represented a 

 majority of the actual residents of the State. The 

 claims of the two parties in the State are fairly 

 represented in the resolutions given below. 



The following were adopted by the Demo- 

 cratic Convention of the First Congressional 

 District : 



"We, the Democrats and Conservatives of the First 

 Congressional District, in convention assembled, de- 

 clare as our deliberate conviction and settled deter- 

 mination : 



1. That we consign the dead issues of the past to 

 oblivion, and assert our willingness to meet the living 

 issues or the day in a spirit of fairness and justice. 



2. That we recognize the fourteenth and fifteenth 

 amendments to the Constitution of the United States, 

 as the law of the land, and will encourage obedience 

 to them as well as to all other laws and the constituted 

 authorities. 



3. That ours is a government of law and order, and 

 all changes must be peacefully made in accordance 

 with the constitution and laws of the land. That 

 force and violence are unbecoming a free people, and 

 should not be countenanced or encouraged. 



4. That the rights of each citizen under the laws 

 should be enforced by public opinion, and not by 

 bayonets nor private violence. 



5. That for our people as for ourselves we proclaim 

 the first duty of the citizen to be obedience to the 

 laws. 



6. That we encourage to come among us all good 

 men who will assist us in developing the resources 

 of the country. 



7. That we reiterate the time-honored principle that 

 all public officials are accountable to the people for 

 their stewardship, and not the people to their servants. 



The following were adopted in a Republican 

 Convention held in Calhoun County on the 

 30th of July : 



Rt 'solved. 1. That we accept the civil and political 

 equality or all men before the law. 



2. That we are in favor of enforcing the law to tho 

 letter. 



