40 



ARKANSAS. 



elections of the State be changed from the first 

 Monday of September to the Tuesday after the 

 first Monday of November, and that the ses- 

 sions of the Legislature begin on the first or 

 second Monday of January. No action was 

 taken on these points before the end of the 

 year. 



The subject of the Centennial Exhibition at 

 Philadelphia, in 1876, was commended to the 

 attention of the Legislature by Governor Gar- 

 land in February. Dr. George W. Lawrence 

 was appointed as the State Commissioner, with 

 George E. Dodge as alternate. A State ad- 

 visory board was organized, and the commis- 

 sioner issued an appeal to the people of the 

 State, calling for their energetic cooperation 

 to secure a favorable representation of the in- 

 terests, industries, and resources of the State 

 at the Exposition. In November the Governor 

 renewed his suggestions to the Legislature on 

 the subject. He said : 



The State Commissioners, and the different boards 

 appointed by them, have worked, and are now work- 

 ing, with great industry, to have our State properly- 

 represented at the Exposition ; but, for the want of 

 means, they have not accomplished all they desired. 

 I have selected Hon. David Walker as the orator, to 

 speak for and in behalf of Arkansas at that time, 

 and he has kindly accepted the appointment. I 

 think it is due the event that a suitable appropria- 

 tion be made, and all other steps taken by the Legis- 

 lature necessary to place Arkansas creditably in the 

 list of the States and nations to be present at that 

 national celebration. 



The annual meeting of the State Grange of 

 the Patrons of Husbandry was held at Little 

 Kock early in February. Mr. E. D. Boyd was 

 appointed to gather information on the re- 

 sources of Arkansas, to be used in a treatise, 

 under preparation by J. S. Stanley James, of 

 Leamington, England. The subjects of immi- 

 gration, and the methods of agriculture in the 

 cotton-producing States formed the leading 

 topics of discussion. A circular was prepared 

 by the Executive Committee, setting forth a 

 plan for securing loans through the agency of 

 the Grange for those farmers who were in need 

 of funds, and could furnish good security. 



The total acreage under cultivation in Ar- 

 kansas is 822,293. The following table shows 

 the production, average per acre, and aggre- 

 gate value of different crops : 



Corn, bushels 16,208,000 . 



Wheat, " 785,000 . 



Eye, " 89,700. 



Oats, " 786,000. 



Potatoes, " 408,000 . 



Tobacco, pounds . . . 915,000 . 



Hay, tons 12,800 . 



10.0 

 12.8 

 23.4 

 80.0 

 650.0 

 1.18 



$12,966,400 



1,117,500 



59,550 



550,200 



408,000 



143,640 



294,800 



Total value $15,510,090 



The average cash value of all agricultural 

 products, per acre, for Arkansas, is $18.86 or 

 higher than in any other Southern State, and 

 exceeded only by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

 Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Cali- 

 fornia, and Nevada. A beginning has been 

 made in the cultivation of grapes and other 

 fruits, and vineyards of considerable extent 



have been planted. The lands now belonging 

 to the State and subject to disposal amount to 

 1,307,268 acres, 1,034,268 of which have been 

 forfeited for taxes. The question was brought 

 before the Commissioner of State Lands, in 

 July, as to whether a patent issued by the 

 Governor of the State during the war was 

 valid, and it was decided in the affirmative. 

 The Commissioner said, in concluding his opin- 

 ion on the subject : 



In the rulings of this office hereafter, I shall hold 

 every entry of lands of every character, paid in any 

 kind of funds receivable for lands of the State at 

 that time, as valid, and where parties present certifi- 

 cates of purchase and ask patents for the same, I 

 shall give a certificate recommending his Excellency 

 to issue the same. The sixteenth section, seminary, 

 saline, internal improvement, and swamp and over- 

 flowed lands belong to the State. They belonged to 

 her during the war, and she had a perfect right to 

 dispose of any or all of them in any manner she saw 



R roper, so that it was not in furtherance of the rebel- 

 on, and it was her province to take such currency 

 as she pleased. Where she received her pay and 

 gave her certificate of purchase, what right has she 

 to arbitrarily set aside the sale and demand payment 

 again? I can see no equity in such a demand, and 

 shall recognize all sales made during the war, and 

 all patents and certificates issued during that period, 

 as though the transaction occurred prior to or since 

 that time. 



On the 26th of July, B. B. Beavers, Secre- 

 tary of State and ex-officio Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, made an apportionment 

 among the several counties of the State, of the 

 school-fund for the years 1873 and 1874, in 

 accordance with the requirements of an act of 

 the last Legislature. It was based on the num- 

 ber of persons between the ages of five and 

 twenty-one in the several counties on the 1st 

 of October, 1874. The total number of such 

 persons in the whole State was 168,929, and the 

 aggregate sum apportioned from the revenues 

 for 1873 was $65,522.66, for 1874 $40,444.46. 



In a case before the United States Circuit 

 Court in the Eastern District of Arkansas at 

 the April term, it was decided that the part- 

 ners in a bankrupt firm were not entitled to 

 assets out of the bankrupt estate to make up 

 the sum of $2,000 for each, exempt under the 

 constitution of the State from sale on execu- 

 tion or other final process of any court. In 

 this case the separate individual property of 

 one of the partners amounted to about $500, 

 and that of the other to $150, and they claimed 

 from the assets of the firm sufficient to make 

 this up to $2,000 each. The assignee in bank- 

 ruptcy refused to allow this, and the matter 

 was brought before the District Court, where- 

 upon the action of the assignee was disap- 

 proved and set aside, and he was directed to 

 "allow to each of the bankrupts, out of the 

 partnership effects, a sum which a'dded to their 

 respective individual effects will give to each an 

 exemption of personal effects to the value of 

 $2,000." The assignee excepted, and brought 

 the matter before the Circuit Court on a peti- 

 tion for review. Judge Dillon in deciding the 

 case reached the conclusion that, under the 



