350 



GEOKGIA. 



direct. 1 ' It is further provided, "that nothing 

 contained in this act shall be so construed as 

 to pledge the State of Georgia to the payment 

 of any bonds issued or indorsed by the State 

 since July 4, 1868, by reason of said bonds 

 being registered as prescribed in this act, 

 should it afterward appear that the same have 

 been illegally or fraudulently issued." 



This act was promptly vetoed by the Gov- 

 ernor, on the ground that it would injure the 

 credit of the State. Some of the bonds, he 

 said, were issued to redeem old bonds, and 

 this action would produce distrust in the se- 

 curities of the State. He thought it unrea- 

 sonable to require parties in Europe to send 

 the bonds to Atlanta for registration, and be- 

 lieved the requirement would produce an ap- 

 prehension of repudiation. He furthermore 

 declared that the bill impaired the obligation 

 of contracts, and was, therefore, unconstitu- 

 tional, as the contract of purchase did not re- 

 quire purchasers to send their bonds to the 

 State capital for registration, and, even if there 

 had been fraud, innocent holders should not 

 suffer by it. All that was necessary, in his 

 opinion, was to ascertain what bonds were 

 registered, and, in the case of railroad bonds, 

 to find how many miles of road had been com- 

 pleted. This would furnish the data for deter- 

 mining whether any and what bonds were il- 

 legal. Notwithstanding the veto, the act was 

 speedily reenacted by a vote of 25 to 10 in the 

 Senate, and 117 to 20 in the House. On the 

 12th of December the law was published as 

 required, together with the following notice : 

 To all whom it may concern : 



^ Notice is^ hereby given, that we, the undersigned 

 joint committee, appointed by the President of the 

 Senate and Speaker of the House of liepresentatives, 

 under authority of the foregoing act of the General 

 Assembly of Georgia, will begin our sittings in the 

 city of Atlanta, State of Georgia, United States of 

 America, on the first day of March, 1872, and will 

 remain in session until the first day of May, 1872, 

 for the purpose indicated in said act. 



The attention of persons owning or holding the 

 bonds of the State of Georgia, or the bonds of rail- 

 roads indorsed by the State of Georgia, and who ex- 

 pect to present the same to the committee, is called 

 to the first section of said act, as to the nature of the 

 testimony required. 



Persons desiring to communicate with the com- 

 mittee will address Thomas J. Simmons, chairman, 

 care of N. L. Angier, State Treasurer, Atlanta, Ga. 



Signed at the Capitol, in the city of Atlanta, State 

 of Georgia, United States of America, the 12th 

 day of December, 1871. 



THOMAS J. SIMMONS, 



On the part of the Senate, and chairman of Joint 

 Committee. 



GARNETT McMILLAN, 

 JOHN I. HALL, 



On the part of the House. 



Another subject which occupied a good deal 

 of attention throughout the year, and which 

 the Legislature undertook to clear up, was 

 that of the management of the Western & At- 

 lantic Railroad. This road is the property of 

 the State, and prior to 1871 had been operated 

 by the State, Mr. Foster Blodgett acting as 



the official superintendent. An act, passed In 

 October, 1870, provided for its lease at a 

 monthly rental of not less than $25,000. Sev- 

 eral companies were formed for the purpose 

 of making bids for the lease, and it was award- 

 ed to a company including Benjamin H. Hill, 

 Joseph E. Brown, and others, at the mini- 

 mum rent allowed by the law, although, as 

 was alleged, another company had offered 

 over $34,000 per month. This gave rise to 

 many accusations of bad faith and corruption 

 on the part of Governor Bullock, and produced 

 a violent controversy, which had no practical 

 result, the lease remaining in the hands of 

 what was known as the " Brown " party. No 

 sooner had this excitement died away, than 

 a discussion arose regarding the alleged cor- 

 rupt management of Mr. Blodgett prior to the 

 lease. This was occasioned in part by the 

 constant presentation of claims against the 

 road to the State treasurer for payment. He 

 stated in October that he had been obliged to 

 pay out $450,000 to satisfy these claims, and 

 they had not then been fully met. A com- 

 mittee of citizens that had been designated to 

 look into the affairs of the road under Blod- 

 gett's management, and that of his predeces- 

 sors, made a report to the Legislature in No- 

 vember, containing the following statement: 



Gross earnings under supervision of Major 

 Campbell Wallace from January 1, 1867, 

 to December 31, 1867 ... $1,162,450 63 



Expenses from January 1, 1867, to Decem- 



ber31, 1867 832,248 15 



Netearnings $330,202 48 



Gross earnings under supervision of Colonel 

 Hulbert, from January 1, 1869, to De- 

 cember 31, 1869 $1,288,620 C2 



Expenses from January 1, 1869, to Decem- 

 ber 30, 1869 911,752 77 



Netearnings $376,867 25 



26 



Expenses under supervision of >fr. Blod- 

 gett, from January 1, 1870, to December 

 27, 1870 ................................. $1.566,784 



Amount of expenses not charged cu bookf , 



approximating .......................... 28,000 00 



Total expenses ............................ $1,591,78426 



Gross earnings from January 1, 1870, to De- 



cember 27, 1870 ......................... $410,455 08 



Expenses over earnings .................. $184,329 18 



The committee declared that $1,800,000 was 

 the proximate sum that had been "recklessly 

 and unwarrantably expended, or complicitly 

 and illegally appropriated," and added: "Con- 

 sidering the fact that only the small sum of 

 $45,000 was paid into the Treasury by Mr. 

 Blodgett during his administration of the road, 

 and that $100,131.82 were turned over to him 

 from Colonel E. Hulbert's administration, the 

 increased business of the road for 1870, the 

 careless and irregular manner in which a large 

 number of the vouchers have been taken, 

 which can be readily pointed out to your 

 committee, and the sudden affluence of so 

 many who have been connected with the late 

 administration of the Western & Atlantic Kail- 



