GEORGIA. 



341 



ill of its presiding officer, and have the 

 ;o and control of tho school property and 

 .i the State, which shall be confided 

 e State Treasurer for safe keeping. The 

 !..>ur,l is also authorized to prescribe all tcxt- 

 u and books of reference to be used in 

 tin- common schools, "provided that tho Jiihlo 

 shall not bo excluded from the public schools," 

 and is required to make a report to the Legis- 

 lature, at every annual session, " of all tho 

 doings ot'siiid board, with such observations 

 upon tho condition and efficiency of the sys- 

 tem of popular education, and such sugges- 

 tions as to the most practicable means of ex- 

 tending and improving it, as the experience 

 and reflection of the board may dictate." Tho 

 State School Commissioner is to be appointed 

 by the Governor, and confirmed by the Senate, 

 and is charged with the "administration of 

 the system of public instruction and a general 

 superintendence of the business relating to the 

 common schools of the State, and of the school 

 funds and school revenues set apart and appro- 

 priated for their support." Ho is required " to 

 visit, at least once annually in their respective 

 senatorial districts, the county commissioners 

 in said senatorial districts, and who are hereby 

 required to be present at such time and place 

 as may be designated by the State Commis- 

 sioner t for the purpose of examining into and 

 consulting upon the school interests in said 

 district, superintending and encouraging teach- 

 *ers' institutes, conferring with school officers, 

 and counselling and delivering lectures on 

 topics calculated to subserve the interest of 

 popular education.' 1 He must also make an 

 annual report of his labors and observations, 

 including a statement of the number of schools 

 of various grades, and the number of scholars in 

 attendance, their sex and color, and the stud- 

 ies pursued, together with a full account of all 

 expenditures, and the plans and improvements 

 adopted, and " such other information, relative 

 to the educational interests of the State, as he 

 may think important." Provision is also made 

 for county Boards of Education, and each 

 county and incorporated city or town is to con- 

 stitute one district, " for all purposes connect- 

 ed with tho general interests of education in 

 the county," to be divided into sub-districts 

 by the county boards, in each of which a 

 school is to be established of such a grade as 

 the public good may require. Each county 

 Board of Education is to " consist of one per- 

 son from each militia district, and one person 

 from each ward in any city in the county, and 

 that in cities not laid off in wards, of three 

 commissioners elected by tho legal voters there- 

 of, at the regular election for members of the 

 General Assembly. The first board shall be 

 elected on the eighth day of November, eigh- 

 teen hundred and seventy, and shall hold their 

 office for two years, or until successors are 

 elected/' They are to hold meetings once in 

 three months, and to have "care and custody 

 of all school-houses, sites, school libraries, 



apparatus, or other property belonging to the 

 district as now organized, or which may li.-n - 

 after bo organized, within the limits of their 

 jurisdiction, with all power to control the 

 same in such manner as they may think -will 

 best subserve tho interest of common schools 

 and the cause of education ;" and may " es- 

 tablish in their respective counties such graded 

 schools as they may deem proper, with full 

 power in respect to such school* to employ, 

 pay, and dismiss teachers ; to Imild, repair, and 

 furnish tho necessary school-books, purchase 

 or lease sites therefor, or rent suitable rooms, 

 and make all other necessary provisions rela- 

 tive to such schools as they may deem proper ; 

 and it shall be the duty of said Board of Edu- 

 cation to exercise all the powers conferred on 

 local trustees, in respect to sub-district schools, 

 whenever such local trustees shall neglect to 

 discharge their duties in any sub-district, as re- 

 quired by this act ; and it shall also bo the fur- 

 ther duty of said board to prescribe such rules 

 and regulations for the government of schools 

 within their jurisdiction, consistent with the 

 regulations prescribed by the State Commis- 

 sioners for the management of the same." 



The county boards also examine and license 

 all teachers. " If, from the ratio of correct 

 answers, and other evidences disclosed by the 

 examination, the applicant is found to possess 

 knowledge which is sufficient, in the estima- 

 tion of tho board, to enable said applicant to 

 successfully teach, in a common school of the 

 State, orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, 

 English grammar, and geography, and to gov- 

 ern such a school, said commissioners shall 

 give to said applicant a license of the first, 

 second, or third grade, according to the ratio 

 of correct answers, and other evidences of 

 qualification, given upon said examination 

 tho standard of which grade of license shall 

 be fixed by the State Commissioner ; and said 

 license shall be good for one, two, or three 

 years, according to its grade, and all applicants 

 before being licensed shall produce to the com- 

 mmissioner satisfactory evidence of good mor- 

 al character." 



Among other acts of the Legislature, of minor 

 importance, was one completing the purchase 

 of the Kimball Opera-House at Atlanta, for the 

 uses of a State capitoL The sum paid for 

 this building was $380,000, of which the city 

 of Atlanta contributed $130,000. A bill mak- 

 ing some important changes with regard to the 

 municipal election of the city of Savannah 

 was vetoed by the Governor, and failed to be- 

 come a law. 



The election occurred on the appointed days, 

 and resulted in the choice of five Democrats 

 and two Republicans as members of Congress 

 for the remainder of the Forty-first and for 

 the Forty-second' Congress. Those elected t.> 

 the Forty-first Congress were subsequently 

 admitted to their seats. Tho credentials of the 

 Senators-elect were referred to the Judiciary 

 Committee of the Senate, and three reports 



