ALABAMA. 



11 



to the policy of railroad management, whereby 

 there was an unjust discrimination between 

 the through and local freight tariffs, operating 

 to the prejudice of Alabama merchants, a con- 

 vention of the officers of the various railroad 

 companies in the State was held at Mont- 

 gomery on the 6th of November, and a com- 

 mittee appointed to confer with a joint com- 

 mittee of the Legislature for the adoption of a 

 plan securing the best interests of the State. 



In accordance with the law requiring the 

 indorsement of railroad bonds by the State to 

 the amount of $16,000 per mile, indorsements 

 from September, 1868, to the meeting of the 

 Legislature, November 15, 1869, were made as 

 follows : 



For the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad $1,800,000 

 For the Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad 480,000 

 For the Selma, and Marion, and Memphis 

 Railroad.... 320,000 



$2,600,000 



The aggregate number of convicts in the 

 penitentiary on the 15th of November was three 

 hundred and seventy-four, of whom less than 

 forty were mechanics, over two hundred were 

 common laborers, and the balance farmers, 

 cooks, barbers, waiters, etc. Under the lease 

 made in 1866 with Messrs. Smith and McMillan, 

 for the period of six years, they are authorized 

 to employ the convicts anywhere in the State, 

 in coal-fields, iron-mines, and in the building 

 of railroads. The policy of employing the con- 

 victs in this way seems to have been adopted 

 mainly as a means of avoiding the expense that 

 would have been entailed upon the State if 

 they had remained within the prison. 



The finances of the State are in a sound con- 

 dition. For the fiscal year ending September 

 30th, the expenditures amounted to $1,412,- 

 857.81, of which the sum of $380,453.39 was 

 for expenses incurred during the previous 

 year. The receipts from all sources during 

 the year amounted to $686,451.02, which, with 

 the balance in the treasury at the beginning 

 of the year, made a total of $902,238. The 

 surplus remaining in the treasury at the end 

 of the fiscal year was $127,138.15. The pres- 

 ent bonded indebtedness of the State amounts 

 to $5,370,400, on which the annual interest 

 amounts to $307,354. 



The school-lands in Nebraska given to Ala- 

 bama, in exchange for the sixteenth sections 

 embraced in the twelve miles square reserva- 

 tion in this State, realized by sale $20,480. 



The eighth annual fair of the Alabama State 

 Agricultural Society was held at Montgomery 

 on the 23d to the 26th of November. The 

 amount of the premiums exceeded $5,000, 

 and the contributions in the various depart- 

 ments were indicative of the general industrial 

 prosperity of the State. 



The Legislature assembled at Montgomery 

 on the 15th of November; Governor Smith 

 submitted the usual message. After con- 

 gratulating the Legislature on the favorable 



auspices under which it had assembled, he 

 stated that the removal of political disabilities 

 was a wise measure, and hoped that Congress 

 would pass a general law for the removal of 

 all those which were imposed by the four- 

 teenth amendment; he spoke favorably of 

 the freedmen in their exercise of the elective 

 franchise, argued in favor of immigration as 

 a means of developing the material resources 

 of the State and advancing its prosperity, 

 and recommended a repeal of the law requir- 

 ing the indorsement by the State of railroad 

 bonds to the amount of $16,000 per mile. 

 He regarded the registration law as too com- 

 plicated and too easily manipulated by de- 

 signing men, and recommended a simplifica- 

 tion of the system so as to provide against 

 the abuses to which it was liable. A reduc- 

 tion of the rate of taxation was recom- 

 mended to one-half, or at most six-tenths of 

 one per cent., instead of three-fourths of one 

 per cent. He transmitted also, with his ap- 

 proval, the fifteenth amendment to the Consti- 

 tution of the United States. 



The Legislature at once proceeded to the 

 consideration of this important measure, which 

 was ratified by both Senate and House without 

 delay. The vote in the Senate was yeas 24, 

 nays none ; in the House it was yeas 69, nays 

 16. A bill was presented for the reorgan- 

 ization of the municipal government of Mobile. 

 This bill provided for vacating the municipal 

 offices of the city, and constituted the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, the Speaker of the House, 

 and the Attorney-General, a board of commis- 

 sioners, whose duty it should be to appoint a 

 mayor, twenty-four aldermen, and eight mem- 

 bers of the Common Council. It was made the 

 duty of the Executive immediately to commis- 

 sion such appointees, who should continue in 

 office until the election and qualification of 

 their successors. It was further provided, that 

 an election should be held in Mobile on the 

 Tuesday after the first Monday in December, 

 1870, and every year thereafter, for the election 

 of municipal officers, who should hold office 

 for one year, from the first of January next 

 following their election. 



In consequence of the movements in the 

 State during this year, in favor of immigration, 

 considerable attention has been attracted to 

 the material resources of Alabama. With ref- 

 erence to its physical and industrial features, 

 the State may be divided into five great divis- 

 ions, viz. : The timber region, containing 11,000 

 square miles; the cotton region, 11,500; the 

 agricultural and manufacturing region, 8,700 ; 

 the mineral region, 15,200 ; the stock and ag- 

 ricultural region, 4,322. Total, 50,722 sq. miles. 



The timber region, bordering on the Gulf 

 of Mexico and the State of Florida, extends 

 across the southern portion of the State, and 

 northwardly one hundred and thirty-two miles 

 from the Gulf, and forty miles from the Florida 

 line. This section, covered with forests of long- 

 leaf yellow pine, yields excellent timber, tar, 



