524 



MISSISSIPPI. 



of persons accused of violence and crime, to a 

 different county from that in which, the crime 

 was committed, when it should appear that, 

 " owing to prejudice or other cause, an impar- 

 tial petit or grand jury cannot be impanelled 

 in such county." In the latter act he was 

 also authorized to offer a reward, not exceed- 

 ing $500, for the apprehension of any person 

 charged with a felony. In one or two cases 

 the change of venue authorized in this act 

 was made, but there was found to be little 

 occasion for the exercise of extraordinary 

 powers on the part of the government. At a 

 meeting of white and colored citizens at Holly 

 Springs, in Marshall County, which was rep- 

 resented to be one of the most disorderly dis- 

 tricts in the State, the following declaration 

 was formally made : 



We, the citizens of Marshall County, Miss., white 

 and colored, in convention assembled this day, in 

 the city of Holly Springs ? do declare: 



That, since the close of the war, as little crime has 

 been committed by the population of this county as 

 for any like period of pur history ; that lawless acts 

 have had but little existence among us ; that no or- 

 ganized bands of whites for any political or unlaw- 

 ful ^purpose exist among us, so far as we know and 

 believe, and we think our opportunities to learn the 

 facts, if they existed, are ample ; that our popula- 

 tion have manifested a love of order and a respect 

 and veneration for law equal to any community of 

 any nation; that for many consecutive weeks in 

 1868 no peace or other officer was found in our 

 county, and that no process whatever, either civil or 

 criminal, could have been issued, and yet during 

 this period not a violation of haw, of even the most 

 petty character, was perpetrated in the county ; and, 

 finally, that we believe no greater amount of crime 

 has been committed in this State than has marked 

 other communities of equal numbers, in any State of 

 the Union. Mississippiaus act openly and boldly, and 

 oifences perpetrated by tiem are known and read 

 by all men. Secret crimes are unusual. 



We deem this declaration justified in view of the 

 many slanders heaped on our State, and, for our 

 county, we denounce them as baseless and criminal. 



Any introduction of military force in the county, to 

 enforce the law, would not only be useless, but an 

 arbitrary, tyrannical act. 



Should any unlawful acts be committed hereafter 

 in the county, our citizens are able and willing to 

 enforce the laws through the civil authorities. 



The regular session of the State Legislature, 

 which began on the 3d of January, continued 

 until about the middle of May. Governor Al- 

 corn was elected to the United States Senate 

 for the full term, beginning on the 4th of 

 March, but did not resign the Executive chair 

 until November following. An important part 

 of the work of the session was the adoption 

 of the revised code of laws which had been 

 previously prepared by a commission ap- 

 pointed by the Governor. This contained 

 a carefully-prepared registration act and an 

 elaborate election law. Any male citizen may 

 be registered as a legal voter on subscribing 

 an oath that he is twenty-one years of age, 

 lias resided six months in the State and one 

 month in the county where he wishes to vote, 

 and that he will support the constitution and 

 laws of the State and of the United States. 



Each registered voter receives a certificate 

 of registration which entitles him to registra- 

 tion in a different county after one month's 

 residence therein, and after registration he 

 can be challenged at the polls only on the 

 question of his identity. Full provision is 

 made for conducting elections, preserving or- 

 der, and making returns to the Secretary of 

 State. The entire code was taken up and con- 

 sidered, chapter by chapter, an attempt to have 

 it referred to a joint committee to be reported 

 on for action as a whole having been defeated. 



Matters of taxation and finance occupied 

 considerable attention. The revenue law of 

 1870 had been defective in its operation, but 

 no material change was made. The collection 

 of taxes levied for 1870 was, however, sus- 

 pended until the 1st of May, and the penalties 

 for non-payment remitted until after that 

 date. An act was also passed authorizing the 

 supervisors of the several counties to correct 

 erroneous assessments. The validity of this 

 act was brought in question, and a majority of 

 the judges of the Supreme Court declared it 

 to be null and void. As assessors and collect- 

 ors were accused of many irregularities and 

 abuses of authority, this decision caused a good 

 deal of dissatisfaction. 



A movement looking to the assumption of 

 the old repudiated debt of the State was 

 started in the Senate and caused considerable 

 discussion, but did not meet with much favor. 

 A resolution denying that "any moral or legal 

 obligation rests upon the people of this State 

 to discharge in any manner or form, in whole 

 or in part, the bonds of the Union and Planters' 

 Bank, commonly known as the 'Repudiated 

 Bonds, or Kepudiated Debt of the State of 

 Mississippi,' " was tabled and a resolution de- 

 claring that it was "inexpedient to agitate 

 the question of the payment of the Planters' 

 and Union Bank bonds, because it is looked 

 upon as a settled question, decided by a vote 

 of the people at the ballot-box, by the Legis- 

 lature, and by the courts of the State, and it 

 is the opinion of the Senate that the question 

 should here rest," was indefinitely postponed. 

 Finally a motion was carried to expunge from 

 the journal all record of the proceedings relat- 

 ing to the matter. 



An attempt to secure the repeal of the sec- 

 tion of the law authorizing the issue of certifi- 

 cates of indebtedness, and their use as cur- 

 rency, was defeated. 



An act was passed to encourage internal 

 improvements, which granted a subsidy of 

 $4,000 per mile to railroads hereafter to be 

 built. There was a strong opposition to the 

 measure, and several members of the House 

 put on record their solemn protest against the 

 adoption as they considered it, " in direct op- 

 position to the wishes of all the tax-payers of 

 the State except those personally interested." 



An act apportioning the legislative repre- 

 sentation among the various counties was 

 passed, and received the" Governor's approval 



