18 



ALABAMA. 



that the Governor shall take steps to give pub- 

 licity and circulation to the instrument " in as 

 economical a manner as possible ; that all laws 

 requiring an enumeration of the inhabitants 

 of the State in 1875 are annulled ; that the 

 Board of Education is abolished ; and that the 

 salaries of executive and judicial officers already 

 in office and of members of the existing Legis- 

 lature shall not be affected by the provisions 

 of the constitution." 



Soon after the convention had completed its 

 work, an address to the people was issued Jby 

 a committee chosen for the purpose, in which 

 the new constitution was commended to the 

 approval of the citizens. 



There was a warm canvass in behalf of the 

 new constitution, and very little opposition to 

 it was developed. It was submitted to a vote 

 of the people on the 2d of November, and 

 was ratified by a very large majority. The 

 total vote was 114,879, of which 85,662 were 

 in favor of ratification and 29,217 against it, 

 making the majority for the constitution 56,445. 

 On the 2d of December the Governor issued 

 his proclamation making known the result, and 

 declaring that the constitution should go into 

 effect on the 6th day of December, and be 

 henceforth binding on the people of the State. 



The public debt of Alabama has been stated 

 in connection with the report on the finances 

 of the State to the Constitutional Convention. 

 The report of the Treasurer, for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30th, shows the receipts of the 

 Treasury for that period to be $1,123,569.80, 

 including a balance of $395,199.58 on hand 

 September 30, 1874. The disbursements for the 

 year amounted to $1,058,988.30, including $54,- 

 203.23 "interest on obligations," $2,763.33 

 " expenses in providing interest on obligations," 

 and $1,590 "interest on temporary loan." Be- 

 sides this $13,007.36 was in part on old war- 

 rants of 1873 and 1874, leaving a balance in 

 the Treasury, September 30th, of $51,574.14. 



According to the Auditor's Report for 1871, 

 there were in Alabama that year 1,496 miles 

 of railroad, valued at $25,943,052.59; in 1872 

 there were 1,629 miles, valued at $29,580,- 

 737.64; in 1873 there were 1,793 miles, valued 

 at $25,408,110.76 ; in 1874 the value was $22,- 

 745,444. The statement for 1875 is as follows : 



Alabama Central $550,280 11 



Alabama & Chattanooga 1,488,900 00 



East Alabama & Cincinnati 106,535 00 



Montgomery & Eufaula 442,384 09 



Memphis & Charleston 1,440,230 00 



Mobile & Girard 470,700 00 



Mobile & Montgomery 1,534,625 00 



Mobile & Ohio 748,592 50 



Mobile & Alabama Grand Trunk 237,362 50 



Nashville & Chattanooga 253.170 36 



Nashville & Decatur 256,815 00 



New Orleans & Selma 84,450 00 



Savannah & Memphis 255,612 50 



Selma, Marion & Memphis 187,017 50 



Selma & Gulf 172,770 00 



Selma, Rome & Dalton 1,216,192 91 



South & North 1,222,964 67 



Southwestern of Georgia 5,225 00 



Western 1,228,036 25 



.Tuskegee 33,300 00 



Vicksburg & Brunswick 98,600 00 



Total $12,033J63~39 



This shows the value put upon the roads by 

 the Board of Equalization. The aggregate 

 value, according to the returns made by the 

 officers of the companies, is $9,654,084.99. 



The fifteenth annual report of the Alabama 

 Insane Asylum shows the number admitted 

 and discharged since 1861 as follows: 



The expenses of the institution, for the year 

 ending September 30th, were $62,773.42, of 

 which $11,125 was covered by receipts from 

 paying patients. 



A case was decided in the Supreme Court 

 in February involving the validity of the de- 

 crees of the courts of the State made during 

 the civil war. After a thorough discussion of 

 the question, the judges reached the conclusion 

 announced as follows : 



Our conclusion then is, that tlie courts of Alaba- 

 ma, during the war, were a portion of the rightful 

 de jure government of the State ; and that their 

 judgments, decrees, and proceedings, not in viola- 

 tion of the Constitution and laws of the United 

 States, or of any right or obligation arising under 

 them, and not in violation of the constitution of 

 Alabama, are valid, and must have operation and 

 effect accordingly. 



One consequence of this holding is, that no act 

 of the Legislature or ordinance of a convention is 

 necessary to give validity to the judgments, decrees, 

 and proceedings of those courts. 



Another consequence is, that the records and pa- 

 pers of those courts during the war are to be pre- 

 served with the same care, and certified in the same 

 manner, as those of courts held since ; arid like pun- 

 ishments are to be inflicted for the destruction, mu- 

 tilation, abstraction, or falsification of the records and 

 papers of the one, as of the other. 



In a case in the United States Circuit Court, 

 decided by Mr. Justice Bradley, in Juno, in- 

 volving the validity of bonds issued by the 

 city of Montgomery in 1850 and 1852 to aid 

 in the construction of the Montgomery South 

 Plank Road and the Montgomery & Wetumpka 

 Plank Road, the conclusion was laid down that 

 the city had no authority to issue these bonds, 

 and that the holders had no remedy. No au- 

 thority to issue bonds or to subscribe to the 

 stock of private corporations was contained in 

 the charter of the city, and no special power 

 to issue these particular bonds had been grant- 

 ed by the Legislature, and in the absence of 

 these* specific provisions the court decides that 

 the authority and power did not exist. 



The Alabama Centennial Commissioners ap- 

 pointed under authority of the act of the last 

 Legislature, alluded to above, and consisting of 

 John T. Milner, chairman, Peter Hamilton, 

 R. O. Pickett, A. Cunningham, and John S. 

 Kennedy, held a meeting at Montgomery on 

 the 10th of September, and appointed Colonel 

 Hiram Haines secretary and agent, to take 



