3 



ALABAMA. 



ALABAMA. Comparatively little progress 

 lias been made in developing the rich natural 



iroea <>f Alabama during the past year, 

 <>-.vin-_ p , in part, to the unsettled political con- 

 dition of the State, and to the confusion and 



rtainty of her financial affairs. The State 

 debt on the 21st of November amounted to 

 $8,743,000, consisting of $2,376,000 in general 

 8 per cent, bonds, $770,500 in 6 per cent. 

 bonds, and $3,296,800 in 5 per cent, bonds, be- 

 sides $2,000,000 in 8 per cent, bonds loaned to 



Al:il>araa & Chattanooga Kailroad, and 

 $300,000 in 8 per cent, bonds loaned to the 

 Montgomery & Eufaula Railroad. These bonds 

 are held chiefly in foreign countries, or by 

 residents of other States. Redeemable certifi- 

 cates of the State, to the amount of $400,000, 

 are circulating as currency, but are generally 

 held at a discount. Of these, $300,000 were 

 authorized in 1867, and the remainder by an 

 act of the last Legislature. The indorsement 

 of the State has also been given to the bonds 

 of various unfinished railroads to a large 

 amount. The indorsement system of the 



. which \vas inaugurated by the Legisla- 

 ture of 1867, has given a strong impulse to the 

 construction of important railroads in various 

 parts of the State, but has been the source of 

 some embarrassment to the government. The 

 various la\vs have authorized an indorsement 

 of bonds to the amount of $16,000 to every 

 mile of road completed. According to the re- 

 port of the committee appointed by the Legis- 

 lature of 1871 to investigate the matter, which 

 was rendered toward the end of January, 1872, 

 the total amount of bonds indorsed lor various 

 roads, up to that time, was as follows : 



Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad Co $5,300,000 00 



\labama & Cincinnati 400,000 00 



' >:m-rv & Eufiiula 1,200.000 00 



Molil(! & Montgomery 2,500.000 00 



i & Gulf. 640,000 03 



>ii & Memphis 7-20 000 00 



South & North 2,200,000 00 



Mobile & Alabama Grand Trunk 320.000 00 



Savannah & Memphis 320,000 00 



Total indorsed bonds $13,600,000 00 



The same report states that bonds of the 



were loaned directly to the New Orleans 



-.ma road, to the amount of $320,000, in 



addition to those mentioned above as loaned to 



the Alabama & Chattanooga and the Mont- 



ry & Kiifmila. It also states that, if the 



railroads which claimed the indorsement of the 



curried to completion, the liability 



on this account would be increased as follows : 



North, 88 miles ferther ........... 



: v A l.ibama Grand Trunk, about 230 



mi! ................... 



Vlcksburg ,t Brunswick, about. -JO mil.-*.. 



iphia, about 80 miles. 



I'TVA: Eufaula, about 5 miles ____ 



Ivist Al:ib.-i!iu & Cincinnati, about 180 



$1,826,000 00 



Savannah <fc Mcmphi*. about 240 miles.... 

 Solma & Galf, about 50 miles .............. 



Total ................................ $17,822,000 00 



The length of railroads built in the State in 

 tho last five years amounts to nearly 1,000 



miles. The Montgomery & Eufaula line has 

 been completed, and connects the capital with 

 one of the most populous and productive por- 

 tions of the State. Progress on the North & 

 South Alabama road has been slow, owing to 

 the necessity of cutting through the Cumber- 

 land Range, which has hitherto been a prac- 

 tically insurmountable barrier between the 

 northern and southern districts. The Alabama 

 & Chattanooga crosses diagonally from Geor- 

 gia to Mississippi, and was designed as a great 

 thoroughfare for travel from the Atlantic 

 coast to the mouth of the Mississippi River. 

 Among the uncompleted lines are the Grand 

 Trunk, extending from Mobile to the north 

 part of the State, which has reached the War- 

 rior River, 55 miles from Mobile ; the Savan- 

 nah & Memphis, which is in operation for a dis- 

 tance of 40 miles in a northwest direction 

 from Opelika ; the Selma, Marion & Memphis, 

 which will traverse the agricultural districts 

 of Middle and Western Alabama, and connect 

 with the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. The Selma 

 & Gulf Railroad, after being completed for a 

 distance of 40 miles, has been sold to an Eng- 

 lish company ; and the East Alabama & Cin- 

 cinnati has not proceeded beyond its twentieth 

 mile from Opelika, a point reached more than 

 a year ago. 



The financial affairs of the State and her 

 liability, on account of the indorsement of 

 railroad bonds, formed the subject of a large 

 share of the deliberations of the last Legisla- 

 ture. The constitutionality of some of the ex- 

 isting laws was questioned by individuals, but 

 no serious disposition was shown to repudiate 

 any of the obligations of the State. Various 

 measures of relief were proposed and dis- 

 cussed, but none of importance adopted. An 

 act was passed providing for the funding of 

 the regular State debt, and another authorizing 

 a renewal for twenty years of the bonds which 

 fell due in May, 1872. The most important of the 

 defeated measures provided for a substitution 

 of 8 per cent. State bonds, to the amount of 

 $4,000 to the mile, for the indorsement of the 

 State upon railroad bonds authorized by previ- 

 ous laws. An act supplemental to that of De- 

 cember, 1871, which provides for the sale of 

 the State bonds by financial agents in New 

 York, was vetoed because it provided for the 

 payment of the proceeds directly to the State 

 Treasurer, thus necessitating the sending of 

 large sums from New York to Montgomery. 



The trouble occasioned by the failure of the 

 Alabama & Chattanooga road to pay the inter- 

 est on bonds indorsed by the State, an account 

 of which was given in the last volume of this 

 work, is hardly over even now. The Gov- 

 ernor paid the interest which fell due in Jan- 

 uary, in accordance with the authority given 

 him by the Legislature. An act was passed at 

 the last session giving him power to purchase 

 and dispose of the road in the interest of the 

 State. The bankruptcy proceedings which 

 were begun in 1871 resulted in the sale of tho 





