18 



ALABAMA. 



ALASKA. 



at as early a day as practicable, require the presenta- 

 tion of all claims of the character aforesaid to them, 

 with the amount claimed, and may inquire into the 

 consideration alleged to have been paid or given to 

 the State therefor, or that is alleged in support of the 

 liability claimed against the State : Provided, how- 

 ever, that no adjustment of said alleged liabilities, 

 or any part thereof, or an arrangement for the pay- 

 ment of any sum in discharge thereof, shall be bind- 

 ing on the State unless and until approved and rati- 

 fied by the General Assembly thereof. 



The total receipts into the State Treasury 

 during the year ending September 30, 1874, 

 amounted to $1,870,757, and the disbursements 

 to $1,624,363. The aggregate direct indebt- 

 edness of the State is reported by the Treasurer 

 at $10,452,593. This includes the bonds issued 

 for State purposes to the amount of $6,619,- 

 800 due at different times from 1886 to 1894, 

 and on which the annual interest amounts to 

 $411,896. The nature of this indebtedness is 

 indicated in the following exhibit : 

 Total bonded debt, as above stated $6,619,800 00 



EDUCATIONAL FUND INDEBTEDNESS. 



University fund $300,000 00 



Sixteenth section fund 1,740,200 29 



Valueless sixteenth section 



fund 97,091 21 



8 urplus revenue fund 669,086 80 



Total educational fund indebtedness. . 2,806,378 30 

 Outstanding State certificates per Treas- 

 urer's report 81,535 00 



Outstanding obligations 944,880 00 



Aggregate direct indebtedness $10,452,593 30 



(Annual interest on trust funds, $224,510.25.) 



The contingent liabilities of the State, under 

 acts approved in 1867 and 1'870, are reported at 

 $15,051,000, as follows: 



Indorsement of Railroad Bonds, etc., to September 

 30, 1874. 



NAME OF ROAD. 



The present condition of the Alabama & 

 Chattanooga Eailroad is of the greatest impor- 

 tance to the credit of the State, as its liability 

 for the indorsed debt of that corporation is the 

 only obstacle to the resumption of the payment 

 of interest on the State debt. The liability of 

 the State as indorser under the acts of the 

 General Assembly of Alabama for $4,720,000 

 of the bonds of that corporation has never been 

 questioned by any department of the State. 

 On that liability the State paid, during the 



administration of Governor Lewis, in interest, 

 the sum of about $834,000, and there are now 

 in arrears $944,000 as interest, and it is be- 

 lieved that this is short by $110,000. The 

 State also became responsible for $312,000, as 

 purchase-money bid by Governor Lindsay at 

 bankrupt sale, and has paid large sums as fees 

 to attorneys; $140,000 have been paid to the 

 employes of the road, under the receivership 

 of the State when first seized by Governor 

 Lindsay. 



On the 9th of September Governor Houston 

 sent; a special message to the Legislature con- 

 cerning this corporation, in which he said : 



Since entering upon the discharge of the duties 

 of Governor. I find the complications connected 

 with the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad, and its 

 company, so numerous and extensive, that fear may 

 be properly entertained that the important interests 

 of the State, arising out of the indorsement of the 

 bonds of the Company for the construction of that 

 road may be seriously endangered. 1 regard it of 

 the highest importance to the State that it shall not 

 in any sense become a party to any of the suits 

 pending in the Federal courts touching the interest 

 of that road. Nor should the State submit its inter- 

 est, or rights secured by statute, to the jurisdiction 

 of those courts, or do any act tending to defeat or 

 impair its 'statutory lien. "With the view that the 

 true condition of the road and the State's interests 

 therein may be ascertained, and the future policy of 

 the State for the protection of its interests in this 

 regard be determined, I invite your early attention 

 to the subject, assuring you of my purpose to co- 

 operate with you in your efforts to protect the rights 

 of the State. 



The South & North Alabama Eailroad has 

 complied with the act of the General Assem- 

 bly, approved April 21, 1873, and has surren- 

 dered her indorsed bonds to the amount of 

 $3,635,000, and received from the State bonds 

 to the amount of $341,000, under said act of 

 the Legislature. 



The Savannah & Memphis Eailroad has 

 made no default in payment of its interest, and 

 has completed twenty miles of additional road, 

 for the examination of which commissioners 

 have been appointed, but have not yet re- 

 ported. 



The other railroads for which the State has 

 indorsed bonds are in default in the payment 

 of interest on their bonds, and those which are 

 incomplete - are doing nothing in the construc- 

 tion of their roads. 



ALASKA. This Territory of the United 

 States, which was formerly known as Eussian 

 America, comprises all that portion of the 

 North American Continent lying west of the 

 141st parallel of west longitude, together with 

 a narrow strip of land between the Pacific 

 Ocean and the British dominions. The Terri- 

 tory also includes all the islands near the coast 

 and the whole of the Aleutian Archipelago, 

 except Bearing and Copper Islands, on the 

 coast of Kamtchatka. The area of Alaska, in- 

 cluding the islands, is 580,107 square miles. 

 The population in 1870 was 29,097, of whom. 

 26,843 were natives of the Territory, 1,421 

 half-breeds, 483 Eussians, and 350 were natives 



