342 



GEORGIA. 



of spirituous liquors in special localities, modi- 

 fying the boundary-lines of counties, affecting 

 the powers and jurisdiction of certain county 

 courts and officials, incorporating various com- 

 panies and associations, etc. A bill was in- 

 troduced early in the session, providing for the 

 submission to the people of the question of 

 holding a convention to revise and amend the 

 constitution of the State, and making provision 

 for the holding of such convention in case of 

 a favorable vote, but after a good deal of dis- 

 cussion it was defeated. Acts were passed for 

 the amendment of the constitution in several 

 particulars. One of these extended the period 

 of residence necessary to qualify citizens to 

 vote from six months to one year in the State, 

 and from one month to six months in the 

 county; another prohibited payment of cer- 

 tain bonds of the State, decided to be fraudu- 

 lent. Acts were also passed "to protect the 

 people against the payments of past -due 

 bonds;" "to declare void the State indorse- 

 ment on the bonds of the Alabama & Chatta- 

 nooga Railroad ; " and " to provide for the pro- 

 tection of the State in the indorsement of 

 railroad bonds." Considerable attention was 

 given to the question of fixing the rate of in- 

 terest and preventing usury. Finally, an act 

 was passed making seven per cent, the legal 

 rate where no other is stipulated, and placing 

 at twelve per cent, the limit for any charge for 

 the use of money by special agreement or con- 

 tract. In case of violation of this provision, 

 all interest is forfeited. Among the other acts 

 of the session was one " to prevent the sale 

 of spirituous liquors to minors ; " and one 

 "to create a State Board of Health for the 

 protection of life and health, and to prevent 

 the spread of disease in the State." A joint 

 resolution was adopted requesting the Gov- 

 ernor to take the proper steps to secure an ex- 

 hibition of the products of the State at the 

 Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. Reso- 

 lutions were adopted in both branches con- 

 demning the interference by Federal authority 

 in the organization of the Legislature of Lou- 

 isiana on the 4th of January. The following 

 resolution seems to have led to no practical 

 action, but is given as declaratory of the sen- 

 timent of the people of the State : 



> Whereas^ It is apprehended Congress will pass the 

 civil rights and other bills, the effects of which will 

 be_to deprive the people of Georgia of the rights and 

 privileges guaranteed under the Constitution of the 

 United btates ; and, whereas, the people of Georgia 

 are devoted to the Constitution and to the laws not 

 m conflict with the same ; and, whereas, we desire 

 th peace, tranquillity, and prosperity of all races in 

 tne American Union and, whereas, the hope of the 

 perpetuation of our liberties lies in devotion to the 

 Constitution and the purity and impartiality of the 

 courts created under its provisions ; and, whereas, 

 the Constitution of the United States, and all laws 

 not in conflict with the same, should be strictly and 

 impartially administered in all the States of the 

 Union ; and, Whereas, no laws in conflict with the 

 Constitution should be enforced against the people 

 of any portion of the Union ; and, whereas, the en- 

 forcement of such laws would bear hardly upon the 



people of Georgia, who are unable to test their con- 

 stitutionality ; and, whereas, in the event of the 

 passage of such laws by Congress it is the duty of 

 Georgia to protect her citizens in the courts of the 

 United States in the full enjoyment of the rights 

 and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution : 

 ''esolved, Tl 



'hat the Joint Finance Committee take 

 the matter into consideration and report to the Gen- 

 eral Assembly. 



The discovery of a discrepancy, or supposed 

 discrepancy, between the amount of cash in 

 the Treasury at the beginning of the year and 

 the amount stated by the Treasurer in his an- 

 nual report, led to an investigation of the af- 

 fairs of the Treasurer's office by the Finance 

 Committee of the two Houses, aided by an 

 agent specially appointed for the purpose. 

 While the investigation was going on there 

 were wild reports of deficiency and defalca- 

 tion, which created considerable public excite- 

 ment. The committee made its report near 

 the end of the session. They stated that they 

 found with the Treasurer, February 9th, the 

 sum of $167,685.10. They found State bonds 

 paid prior to January 1st, $1,007,500, of which 

 $152,250 matured prior to 1872, $440,000 ma- 

 tured in 1872, $165,750 matured in 1873, and 

 $249,500 matured in 1874. The amount of 

 bonds past due and not paid was stated on an 

 estimate of the Treasurer at $325,000. They 

 then made a statement of the debt from the 

 Treasurer's reports at the beginning of each 

 year from January 1, 1870, showing that in 

 1870 it was $6,014,500; in 1871, $6,544,500; 

 in 1872, $5,618,750; in 1873, $5,688,500; in 

 1874, $8,343,000 ; in 1875, $8,430,000, includ- 

 ing $325,000 over due. Following this was a 

 summary of bonds issued as follows : 



Bonds signed Jenkins, Governor, and mortgage on 

 Western & Atlantic Railroad $8,900,000 



Bonds issued to Atlantic & Gulf Railroad Com- 

 pany 900,000 



Bonds issued in 1870, signed Bullock, Governor, 

 and Bell, Controller, principal and interest in 

 gold quarterly coupons, issued 8,000,000 



Returned to Treasurer and destroyed 800,000 



Ordered from Fourth National Bank, New York, 

 by Financial Committee, this February, 1875 500,000 



Outlawed by act of Legislature $102,000, $902,000. 2,098,000 



Bonds issued in 1873, and signed by Smith, Gov- 

 ernor, and Angler, Treasurer 807,500 



Old, or past-due bonds outstanding, supposed to 

 be about 825,000 



Issued in 1878, and signed Smith, Governor, and 

 Jones, Treasurer 1,200,000 



$12,530,600 



Thus a discrepancy of $299,500 appeared 

 between the statement of the Treasurer and 

 the summary of bonds footed up by the com- 

 mittee. On examining the cash accounts of 

 the Treasurer on the 9th of February, the 

 committee found debits amounting to $1,182,- 

 260.78, and credits to the amount of $1,113,- 

 343.25, leaving an apparent balance against 

 the Treasurer of $68,917.93. Various credits 

 claimed by the Treasurer as existing against 

 this were allowed and others were not al- 

 lowed, as it was impossible to verify or satisfac- 

 torily account for them. The committee fur- 

 ther alleged that an examination of the report 

 would show that $152,250 of the bonds of the 



