352 



GEOEGIA. 



of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to the 

 presiding officers of each of the Houses of Congress, 

 with a request that the same be laid before that 

 body. 



An amendment was made in the Senate and 

 concurred in by the House, to the effect that 

 the civil-rights bill would destroy the school- 

 system of Georgia. Mr. De Vaux, of the Sen- 

 ate, made the following protest, which was 

 spread upon the records with no signature but 

 his own : 

 To the Honordile the Senate of the State of Georgia ; 



We, the undersigned Senators, members of your 

 honorable body, beg leave to dissent from the views 

 and propositions expressed in the House resolution, 

 protesting against the passage by the national Con- 



fress of the United States of the bill commonly 

 nown as the civil-rights bill, and therefore desire 

 to enter this our solemn protest against the same, for 

 the following reasons, to wit : 



1. Because, so long as Georgia discriminates be- 

 tween her citizens in any of the rights mentioned in 

 said civil-rights bill, she does not afford "the 

 amplest protection and security" to all, without re- 

 gard to race, color, or previous condition of servi- 

 tude. 



2. Because we hold that the laws of Congress of 

 the United States are the supreme law of the land, 

 and that States have no reserved rights by which 

 such States can abridge the privileges and immuni- 

 ties of citizens of the United States ; but Congress 

 has full power under the Constitution to pass all 

 necessary laws for the protection of its citizens, 

 without regard to race, color, or previous condition 

 of servitude. 



3. That we deny the statement made in said reso- 

 lution, to the effect that it is contrary to the wishes 

 of the white and colored people of this State that 

 they do not wish the civil-rights bill enacted into 

 law. 



In April the labor of the convicts in the 

 Penitentiary, to the number of 630, was leased, 

 out by the Governor to various parties and at 

 different prices, ranging from $10 to $20 a 

 year per capita, under authority of an act of 

 the Legislature. This syste"m does not seem 

 to be very satisfactory in its working. The 

 escapes of convicts have been at the rate of 10 

 per cent, per annum of the whole number, and 

 the deaths at the rate of 6 per cent. 



A Commissioner of Agriculture was appoint- 

 ed under the law of February 20th, on the 26th 

 of August, and has organized his department 

 and gone actively to work. . A State geologist 

 has also been appointed, and began his work 

 late in the fall. Dr. George Little, formerly a 

 professor in the University of Mississippi, is the 

 appointee. 



The State University is reported to be in a 

 prosperous and growing condition. The sum 

 of $8,000 annually was appropriated to the 

 Atlanta University by an act approved March 

 6th, on condition that as many colored pupils 

 should be admitted from each county of the 

 State as there may be members of the House 

 of Representatives in' such county, the pupils 

 to be nominated by the representatives, so long 

 as such appropriation lasts. The conditions 

 were complied with, and the amount paid over 

 this year. A common-school organization has 

 been effected in every county of the State, and 



schools are in actual operation in 125 counties. 

 The net amount of the school-fund collected 

 from all sources from the adoption of the 

 present constitution to December 1, 1873, was 

 $489,722.42. The amount collected since that 

 date is $186,183.90, and the amount disbursed 

 $169,071.84. The amount of poll-tax assessed 

 in 1874, which, by an act approved February 

 28th, is retained in the counties for school pur- 

 poses, is $199,550, of which $133,000 has been 

 collected. There are $350,000 of school bonds 

 in the hands of the Secretary of State, and the 

 interest thereon from October 1, 1870, to Oc- 

 tober 1, 1874, is claimed by the School Com- 

 missioner to be due to his department. 



There was a balance in the State Treasury 

 on the 1st of January of $922,556.25, and the 

 amount received during the year was $1,895,- 

 116.86, making the total resources $2,817,723. 

 11. The total disbursements of the year were 

 $1,814,494.23, leaving a balance on hand on 

 the 1st of January, 1875, of $1,003,128.88. 

 The estimated receipts for 1875, including this 

 surplus, amount to $2,585,628.88 ; expendi- 

 tures, $1,499,483 which will leave a balance 

 at the end of the year of $1,086,045.88. The 

 reported value of taxable property for the year 

 shows an increase of $30,000,000, a large part 

 of which is due to the repeal of the law exempt- 

 ing a certain amount of property from taxation. 

 Making due allowance for this, the actual in- 

 crease is nearly $14,000,000. The funded debt 

 of the State not yet matured on the 1st of 

 January, 1875, was $8,105,500. The amount 

 due thereon, principal and interest, in 1875, is 

 $670,385. There is, besides, $269,500 of past- 

 due bonds outstanding, which, with the un- 

 paid interest, amounts to $323,400. 



Considerable confusion still exists regarding 

 bonds of the State claimed to be illegal, and 

 bonds indorsed by the State, as is alleged, with- 

 out due authority of law. An unsuccessful at- 

 tempt has been made to obtain a settlement 

 with Henry Clews & Co., of New York, former- 

 ly the financial agents of the State, who are ac- 

 cused of converting State bonds to their own 

 use. The firm refused to furnish the Attor- 

 ney-General with information regarding bonds 

 which they had received, but not returned, 

 unless their account against the State was first 

 settled. This was, refused, on the ground that 

 many of the items were not accompanied by 

 proper vouchers, and an examination of the 

 books of the firm was not permitted. The ac- 

 cusation is, that some of the bonds declared in- 

 valid by the Legislature have been used by the 

 firm for their own profit. The matter remains 

 unsettled. The indorsement of the. State upon 

 bonds of the Macon & Brunswick Eailroad was 

 declared valid and binding by the Legislature 

 of 1872, but the Governor claims to have dis- 

 covered that a largo portion of these were in- 

 dorsed in violation of law, and it is probable 

 that further legislative action will be taken. 

 It was provided by the law of 1866 that the 

 bonds to be indorsed by the State should not 



