ALABAMA. 



II 



Brought forward $4,550,062 22 



Should the U. S. agree to accept the 1 



per cent, bonds for the real estate 



tax, amount thereof would be added $529,333 83 



This would mnke the total bonded 

 debt uf tin- State $5,079,305 55 



Tho effect of the stay law passed at the pre- 

 siss'nm had been to stimulate creditors to 

 suits, so aa to secure themselves all 

 .! Ivantagos which the law could afford. 

 >nstitutionality of the act was also tested 

 in i In' Supremo Court, and a decision rendered 

 which placed such a construction on the law as 

 ally diminish the time for -carrying judg- 

 ments into effect. Tho law, therefore, did not 

 accomplish all that was anticipated. 



Only two of the State hanks took advantage 

 of the act to reduce and consolidate their stock. 

 The Bank of Mobile reduced its stock from, a 

 million and a half to seven hundred and fifty 

 thousand dollars, and the Southern Bank of 

 Alabama from a million to two hundred and 

 fifty thousand. The capital stock of the other 

 hanks, it was believed, had been so reduced by 

 the effects of the war, that they would be un- 

 able again to resume business. More than one- 

 half the capital stock of the banks was drawn 

 out by the State during the war. 



The tax of three cents per pound on cotton, 

 ordered to be levied by the Federal Congress, 

 operated in an oppressive manner upon the 

 productive labor of the State. A bale of cot- 

 ton weighing five hundred pounds was taxed 

 fifteen dollars ; to this was added the income- 

 tax of five per cent., which, under the estimates 

 of the year, amounted to an additional five dol- 

 lars on the five hundred pounds. 



The public institutions of the State are re- 

 covering from the effects of the war. The 

 number of insane persons in the State is esti- 

 mated at seven hundred. A hospital for this 

 class of persons, established at an expense of 

 $300,000, is in successful operation. The num- 

 ber of patients, near the close of the year, was 

 about seventy-five, although the institution 

 could accommodate three hundred and fifty. 

 An institution for the deaf and dumb is also in 

 successful operation. The arrears due to it 

 from the State have been paid. The number 

 of convicts in the penitentiary increased during 

 the year from fifty-one to one hundred and 

 fifty-eight, of whom thirty-eight were white, 

 and one hundred and twenty colored persons. 

 A largo proportion of the colored were sent to 

 tho penitentiary from cities and large towns, 

 whither the negroes, on becoming free, flocked 

 in great numbers. Tho reconstruction of a 

 building for the State University has been com- 

 menced, by means of a loan of seventy thou- 

 sand dollars granted by tho State. The com- 

 mon-school system has not yet recovered from 

 the derangement caused by the war. The 

 choob have been suspended for two years, and 

 the public sympathy in them has greatly de- 

 clined. Tho interest due to tho fund for two 

 years from the State has not been paid. Land 



grants were made by the Federal Congress to 

 aid in tho construction of various railroads in 

 the State. The war prevented the companies 

 from taking advantage of these grants, and tho 

 time within which they were to be secured ex- 

 pired in June, I860. All the roads in the State 

 are suffering from the effects of the war. No 

 one has been able to recommence the work of 

 construction which was going on when hostili- 

 ties commenced. 



The Legislature at this session elected John 

 A. Winston a Senator to Congress. He had 

 been elected Governor of tho State in 1855 and 

 1857, and was one of the Douglass presidential 

 electors in 1860. In the House, on December 

 1st, a bill was introduced to extend the privi- 

 lege of suffrage to all male persons, and thereby 

 establishing qualified negro suffrage. It was 

 regarded as a measure calmly and carefully to 

 be considered, although laid upon the table 

 yeas 69, nays 19. 



In February, I860, an act was passed to ap- 

 point a commissioner to revise the code of the 

 State. The appointment of Turner Eeaves was 

 made, and the work of revision commenced, but 

 in December, 1861, it was ordered to be sus- 

 pended until the close of the war. In May, 

 1866, the commissioner resigned, and Chief 

 Justice A. J. Walker was appointed to complete 

 tho revision. His report was sent to the Legis- 

 lature on November 15th. The work of revi- 

 sion embraced the statutes enacted during the 

 previous fifteen years, which were condensed 

 and arranged in their proper places, with some 

 other important features. It was approved by 

 a committee of the Legislature, and adopted. 

 In the Senate a series of resolutions were offered, 

 providing for the reference to the people of the 

 Constitutional Amendment proposed by Con- 

 gress. These were reported upon unfavorably 

 by a committee, and the subject laid over. Tho 

 Governor, in his annual message, opposed the 

 amendment, saying: 



For reasons such as these, I am decidedly of the 

 opinion that this amendment should not be ratified. 

 The first section embodies a principle which I regard 

 as dangerous to the liberties of the people of the whole 

 country. That principle is as applicable to New York 

 and Massachusetts as to Alabama. The second sec- 

 tion proposes a change in a feature of our Govern- 

 ment which has never been complained of before. 

 The question of representation has never been a 

 source of trouble or inconvenience. It contributed 

 in no way to the recent troubles of the country, and 

 a change in it cannot be legitimately claimed as form- 

 ing any part of the results of the war. The third sec- 

 tion would bring no possible good to the represented 

 States, while it would reduce those that are unrepre- 

 sented to utter anarchy and ruin. 



We are sincerely desirous for a complete restora. 

 tion of the Union. We want conciliation, harmony, 

 and national tranquillity. We feel that we have given 

 every evidence which human action can furnish, of 

 an honest purpose to conform in good faith to the 

 condition of things surrounding us. Alabama is to- 

 day as true to the Constitution and laws of the Gen- 

 eral Government as any State in the Union. Under 

 the internal revenue law, and the tax on cotton, the 

 people of this State are now paying revenue to th 

 General Gove^unient at the rate of nearly ten millions 



