ALABAMA. 



11 



cultural colleges in the several States. The 

 land, amounting to 240,000 acres, has been 

 sold at 90 cents an acre, yielding the sum of 

 $216,000. It is thought that the Agricultural 

 College will be established in connection with 

 the university. There is an institution for the 

 instruction of the deaf, dumb, and blind, at 

 Talladega, in which there were 55 pupils at 

 the date of the last report. 



The industrial resources of Alabama are still 

 but imperfectly developed. Her natural capaci- 

 ties for the production of wealth and the 

 maintenance of commerce are very great, and, 

 since the close of the war, much has been done 

 to prepare the way for their development. 

 With the aid of the State funds, railroads have 

 been constructed in all directions, about two 

 hundred miles on different lines having been 

 ompleted during the past year. Among those 

 finished since 1870 are the Alabama & Chatta- 

 nooga, and the Montgomery & Eufaula, which 

 connects the capital with the eastern districts 

 of the State. The South and North road has 

 been opened to Elyton, thereby connecting 

 the mineral region with the southern ports. 

 When the railroads now in course of con- 

 struction are completed, the aggregate num- 

 ber of miles within the State will be nearly 

 three thousand. 



The 1,496 miles of railroad now completed, 

 including main and side tracks, have an aggre- 

 gate assessed value of $25,943,052.59. The fol- 

 lowing are the different lines : 



The extent of the liabilities of the State on 

 account of indorsement of bonds for various 

 railroad lines is as follows : 



NAME OF ROAD. 



255 



Amount. 

 $4,720,000 



580,000 

 3->0,000 

 320,000 



2,500,000 

 960,000 

 480,000 

 720,000 



2,200.000 

 320,000 



2,000.000 

 300,000 



Total.. $15,420,000 



Alabama & Chattanooga 



Alabama & Chattanooga (alleged excess 



issued) f 



East Alabama & Cincinnati !!!".." 



Mobile & Alabama Grand Trunk 



Mobile & Montgomery 



Montgomery & Eufaula 



Selma & Gulf 



Selma, Marion & Memphis 



South & North 



Savannah & Memphis 



State bonds for railroad purposes: 



Alabama & Chattanooga 



Montgomery & Eufaula 



60 

 30 

 4> 



100 

 20 



The mineral region of Alabama, which oc- 

 cupies the northeastern portion of the State, 

 is very rich, but little has been done as yet 

 to utilize its treasures. There are three coal- 

 fields : the Warrior, having an extent of about 

 three thousand square miles; the Cahaw- 

 ba, seven hundred square miles; and the 

 Tennessee, about three hundred square miles. 

 The coal is mostly of a bituminous character. 

 Near the coal-fields are rich deposits of iron-ore. 

 Several iron-works are in operation, among 

 them the following: the Briarfield works, 50 

 miles north of Selma; Shelby works, near 

 Columbiana; Salt Creek Furnace, 15 miles 

 from Talladega ; Oxford Furnace, near Oxford : 

 Choccolocca Furnace ; Koups Valley Furnaces, 

 32 miles northeast of Tuscaloosa; Irondale 

 works, on the railroad from Montgomery to 

 Decatur, about eight miles from Elyton ; and 

 Eed Mountain works, at Grace's Gap. 



The manufacturing interests of the State are 

 progressing slowly. Several cotton-factories 

 have been built in the region just north of the 

 cotton-growing belt, which crosses the State 

 with an average breadth of about 75 miles, 

 and lies to the north of the timber districts. 

 These are said to be in a flourishing condition, 

 and rapidly extending their capacity. Agri- 

 culture is still, however, the leading depart- 

 ment of industry in the State. The second 

 annual fair of the Alabama Agricultural and 

 Mechanical Association was held at Pickett's 

 Springs, commencing on the 31st of October. 

 There was a very liberal premium-list, and the 

 display of the productions of the farm and 

 workshop was very promising for the future 

 welfare of the State. 



There was no general election in the State in 

 1871. The election for county and local offi- 

 cers occurred in November, and indicated a very 

 nearly equal division between the two parties. 

 The county of Mobile, the most populous, 

 chose the Democratic candidates by over 2,000 

 majority ; white that of Montgomery, the next 

 in importance, was carried by the Eepublicans, 

 almost without opposition. 



The Republican State Committee held a 

 meeting at Montgomery, on the 26th of No- 

 vember, for the purpose of uniting the party 

 on a common platform, and securing harmony 

 in its ranks, in order that its influence might 

 be unimpaired in the campaign of 1872. The 

 meeting was attended by many leading Ee- 

 publicans, besides the members of the com- 

 mittee, and the following resolutions were 

 adopted as a basis of action for the party: 



fiesolved, That the administration of President 

 Grant meets with our hearty approval^ and we point 

 with just pride to its grand results m the faithful 

 collection and disbursement of the public revenue, 

 the immense reduction of the public debt, the wise 

 and humane settlement of our differences with Great 

 Britain, and the vigorous and successful enforcement 

 of the Ku-klux act of Congress. 



Resolved, That we rejoice in the glorious and over- 

 whelming triumph of Kepublican principles, as shown 

 in the recent elections, which we recognize as clearly 

 indicating the fixed determination of the American 



