ARKANSAS. 



29 



roid from nnd after the adoption of said constitu- 

 tion (>f i -'.!. Ami as conclusive that some meaning 

 1 t.> this proviso, and that the conven- 

 is of preventing a more extended 

 i of this proviso, whereby the Stiito 

 might liucomo bound to individuals, they further 

 .,1, ' that no debt or liability of the State of 

 urrod by the action of said convention 

 Legislature, or any department of the 

 under (he authority of either, shall 

 <>iiized as obligatory/' But to give to 

 1 * the extended meaning of which they 

 would be susceptible in other connections, would 

 i the absurdity contended for by the majority 

 . which the minority are of the opinion would 

 bo contrary to the manifest intent of said conven- 

 tion, as gathered from the whole instrument. 



7. "How legitimate rights can be acquired un- 

 der authority declared to be illegal and void," can 

 be conceived by recurring to the fundamental prin- 

 ciple that the past cannot be recalled by the most 

 absolute powers; that all the acts of the State, rela- 

 tive to her internal municipal laws and police regu- 

 lations, were valid, and were only rendered invalid. 

 saving the exceptions named, from the adoption of 

 said constitution of 1864. Were this not the case, if 

 another civil war should arise, persons entertaining 

 different views might succeed, and again declare that 

 the present constitution and all acts done under it 

 were, and ever had been, null and void. 



In accordance with these views, the minority be- 

 lieve that all sales of lands of the United States 

 and of the lands of persons, on account of their al- 

 lugtance thereto, were at all times, and are now, by 

 the Constitution of the United States and the consti- 

 tution of 1864, null and void. No legislation can pro- 

 tect the supposed interests of persons in the purchase 

 of the same ; but that the State ought to be bound by 

 her action in selling lands, which, prior to, and on 

 the Gth of May, 1861, belonged to her, and that suita- 

 ble legislation could and ought to be made, to pro- 

 tect the interests of persons interested therein. 



In the Senate, the minority report was sub- 

 Btittited for the majority and adopted yeas 16, 

 nays 6. 



The election of a Senator to Congress for the 

 long term, and another for a short term, oc- 

 casioned by the resignation of "William M. Fish- 

 back, commenced in each House under the 

 recent act of Congress on November 20th. 

 Neither House was able to agree upon a Sen- 

 ator, and both met in joint convention on the 

 24-th, when John T. Jones was elected for the 

 short term. No choice was made for the long 

 term. A joint convention was again held on 

 tho 26th, without success; but on the 27th, 

 Andrew Hunter was chosen, who had been for 

 the last twenty-five years an itinerant minister 

 of tho Methodist Church. 



The recommendation of tho Governor relative 

 to public schools was promptly responded to by 

 the Legislature. A bill was introduced provid- 

 ing for the support of these schools by levying 

 a special tax of one-fifth of one per cent, on all 

 taxable property belonging to white citizens, 

 and admitting to the benefit of the schools all 

 white children between the ages of six and eigh- 

 teen years. Special officers were to bo ap- 

 pointed to administer the system. 



The present debt of the State was created 

 entirely on account of the Imnks, and on Jan- 

 uary 1, 1800, amounted to $3,182,908. Of this 

 Bum $2,097,145 ia secured by a mortgage upon 



188,110 acres of the best and most valuable 



liuiils in the State. Tho remaining sum of 

 $1,085,822 is a total loss to the State. The en- 

 tire debt, with interest, on December 31, 1866, 

 was $3,575,121. No measures were adopted 

 during the year for the liquidation of this debt. 

 It was suggested to the Legislature to issue 

 twenty-year bonds, and to provide for their 

 payment by a sinking-fund. This would put 

 an annual burden on the State of $254,000 ; 

 while her present revenue was estimated at 

 $500,000. The internal resources of the State 

 can hardly be exaggerated. Eight rivers, all 

 navigable to a greater or less extent, and with 

 numerous tributaries navigable at certain sea- 

 sons, flow through the State to the Mississippi, 

 and contribute t9 a fertility and diversity of 

 soil unsurpassed. In Northern Arkansas all 

 tho grain?, such as wheat, oats, rye, barley, and 

 corn are grown with great success,. and the ap- 

 ple, the pear, the pe'ach, the quince, and the 

 grape, and all species of the melon thrive most 

 abundantly. South of, and along the Arkansas 

 River, which cuts the State into two nearly 

 equal parts from northwest to southeast, all 

 these fruits are grown equally as well; and 

 others of a more tropical nature, as tho fig and 

 apricot, are easily produced. Cotton is never- 

 theless the great staple of tho State. The up- 

 lands produce from 800 to 1,200 pounds of seed 

 cotton per acre. On the river bottoms the in- 1 

 crease is still larger. Timber on the uplands is 

 abundant and consists of black, white, red, and 

 post oaks, hickory, yellow pine, dogwood, and 

 maple, while on the margins of the little streams 

 are the walnut, beech, elm, and yam. Coal 

 has already been found and surveyed in twelve 

 counties, and in those farthest from the great 

 coal-basin east of the Mississippi. In other 

 minerals the State is very rich. 



The Governor, in, his message to the Legisla- 

 ture, in November, speaks of a prescriptive 

 party spirit, which had shown itself in portions 

 of the State so violent as to threaten an appeal 

 to arms. No facts were stated, and the press 

 urged the Legislature to call upon him for more 

 specific information, declaring an utter igno- 

 rance of the facts upon which his remarks were 

 based. That body, soon after its organization, 

 directed a select committee to consider so 

 much of the message as referred " to the de- 

 velopment of a prescriptive party spirit," and 

 to extend the field of investigation so as to 

 inquire in whit manner the freedraen were 

 treated in the State. The only disturbance 

 known at the time of the elections occurred in 

 "Washington County. There an armed party 

 of about one hundred men interfered and broke 

 up certain of the political appointments of their 

 opponents. Between the friends of the meas- 

 ures of Congress who were desirous of inaugu- 

 rating a Territorial Gorernment in 'the State, 

 and who appear to be few in number, and the 

 more active of their opponents who sustain tho 

 President, a warm political feeling may have 

 existed. The commanding officer at Fort Smith, 





