ALABAMA. 



13 



tions before tlio adjournment, and the same 

 was the case with a set of resolutions propos- 

 ing to call a convention to revise and amend 

 the constitution of the State. 



A bill to prevent illegal voting, which pro- 

 vides for the trial and punishment of all per- 

 sons voting more than once at the same elec- 

 tion, or perpetrating any other fraud on the 

 ballot-box, was referred to a special joint com- 

 mittee of the two Houses, and had not been 

 reported on at the time of adjournment. A 

 bill to secure the free exercise of the elective 

 franchise by all qualified voters in the State, 

 providing that " it shall be unlawful to be- 

 come a member of any secret organization, 

 having for its object the undue influencing of 

 any election held under the laws of this State, 

 and that any person having membership with 

 or participation in the unlawful designs of 

 such secret organization shall be deemed guilty 

 of a misdemeanor, and, if convicted thereof, 

 shall be fined not less than $100 nor more 

 than $1,000," was indefinitely postponed in 

 the House, by a vote of 42 to 40. 



The subject of the Alabama & Chatta- 

 nooga Kailroad was taken up, and measures 

 were pending over the recess looking to a 

 complete investigation of the affairs of the 

 road and the interests of the State therein. 

 Meantime an act was passed, empowering the 

 Governor " to provide for the future payment 

 of the interest due on the bonds" indorsed or 

 issued by the State for the benefit of the road 

 under the conditions mentioned in the act of 

 March 8th, " whenever the same may become 

 due, and a claim upon the State, by reason of 

 the failure of the Alabama & Chattanooga 

 Kailroad Company to meet the same, or until 

 otherwise provided for by law." 



An act was passed to " relieve and regu- 

 late the finances of the State." This author- 

 izes the issue of bonds for one million dollars, 

 " or such amount thereof as may be necessary 

 to meet any deficiency in the Treasury," the 

 interest not to exceed eight per cent., payable 

 semi- annually, and the bonds to be payable in 

 twenty years, and renewable at the pleasure 

 of the State. The Governor may place these 

 bonds in the market from time to time, and 

 sell such " an amount thereof as shall be re- 

 quired to meet outstanding warrants on the 

 Treasury such appropriations as may be made 

 by the General Assembly ; the interest on our 

 foreign bonded debt, not incurred on account 

 of any railroad company, and the temporary 

 loan (one due on December 1, 1871, and the 

 other falling due February 1, 1872), heretofore 

 negotiated by the Governor for the purpose 

 of paying interest on bonds of the Alabama 

 & Chattanooga Railroad Company, and bonds 

 loaned by the State to said company. Such 

 bonds to be sold through the fiscal agents of 

 the State." The same act authorizes the issue of 

 the " remaining certificates or receipts by the 

 State" authorized by a law of 1867, the whole 

 amount, however, not to exceed $400.000. The 



fiscal agents are required to give bonds " for the 

 faithful performance of their duties, and to ac- 

 count for all moneys and securities of the State 

 which may come into their possession or con- 

 trol." 



An act was also passed, providing for the 

 establishment of a normal school for the edu- 

 cation of white female teachers, to be located 

 by commissioners named in the act; and an- 

 other, providing for normal schools for the edu- 

 cation of colored male and female teachers at 

 Montgomery, Huntsville, Marion, and Sparta. 



Other important measures awaited the re- 

 assembling of the Legislature in January, 1872. 



According to official authority, there are 

 4,982,340 acres of improved land in the State, 

 8,034,700 of woodland, and 1,456,570 of other 

 unimproved land. The cash value of farms is 

 $67,502,433 ; of farming implements and ma- 

 chinery, $3,256,101 ; of all live-stock, $26,077,- 

 267; of home manufactures, $1,083,720; of 

 slaughtered animals, $4,556,467; estimated 

 value of all farm products, including better- 

 ments and additions to stock, $66,532,810; 

 true valuation of real and personal estate, 

 $201,855,841. The total amount of wages paid 

 to agricultural laborers, during the year, in- 

 cluding value of board, was $11,791,191. The 

 number of horses is 78,962 ; of mules and asses, 

 75,644; of milch-cows, 165,663; of working- 

 oxen, 57,237; of other cattle, 248,943; of 

 sheep, 234,607; of swine, 701,346. The pro- 

 ductions for the year were 1,049,960 bushels 

 of wheat, 18,594 of rye, 16,660,488 of corn, 

 767,732 of oats, 152,456 of peas and beans, 

 157,446 of Irish, and 1,806,264 of sweet po- 

 tatoes; 222,943 pounds of rice, 151,557 of 

 tobacco, 370,773 of wool, 3,178,638 of butter, 

 21,068 of wax, 307,706 of honey ; 10,553 tons 

 of hay, 166,009 gallons of cane and 261,986 

 of sorghum molasses; and 423,312 bales of 

 cotton. 



The number of manufacturing establish- 

 ments in the State is 2,231 ; capital, $5,713,607; 

 steam-engines, 291, with 7,640 horse-power; 

 water-wheels, 736, with 11,098 horse-power; 

 employing 7,294 males above 16 years, 665 fe- 

 males above 16, and 390 youth; wages paid 

 during the year, $2,211,638; value of materials 

 used, $7,643,784; of products, $13,220,655. 

 Of the manufactories, the most important are, 

 613 flour and meal mills, with a capital of 

 $1,191,856; 33 establishments for ginning 

 cotton, capital $14,575; 10 for the manufac- 

 ture of cotton goods, capital $900,000; 3 of 

 cotton thread and yarn, capital $31,000; 20 

 for the manufacture and working of iron in 

 various forms, capital $555,100; 143 for the 

 manufacture of leather, capital $207,769; 13 

 of machinery, capital $393,870; 284 saw-mills, 

 capital $744^,005. 



The deaths during the year were 10,771, of 

 which 3,373 were from general diseases; 1,180 

 from affections of the nervous, 2,055 of the 

 respiratory, and 1,399 of the digestive system. 



The whole number of children attending 



