AIRD, THOMAS. 



ALABAMA. 



ATRD, THOMAS, a British poet, born August 

 28, 1802; died April 27, 1876. He received 

 his education at Bowden and Melrose, and sub- 

 sequently at the Edinburgh University. On 

 the death of James Ballantyne, Mr. Aird suc- 

 ceeded to the editorship of the Edinburgh 

 Weekly Journal, a position which he held for 

 about a year. From 1835 until 1863 he was 

 the editor of the Dumfries Herald, a Conserva- 

 tive journal, and when he resigned this post 

 he went into private life. His principal works 

 are " Religious Characteristics " (1827); "The 

 Old Bachelor in the Old Scottish Village," 

 a volume of tales and sketches (1845) ; " Poeti- 

 cal Works," consisting of a collected edition of 

 his poems, new and old (1848). "The Devil's 

 Dream " is regarded as the most popular of his 

 compositions. He was at one time a contribu- 

 tor to Blackwood '* Magazine, and in 1852 he 

 brought out for the family of Dr. Moir the 

 "Delta" of Blackwood, an edition of that 

 author's select poems, with a memoir prefixed. 



ALABAMA. The session of the Alabama 

 Legislature which began on December 28, 1875, 

 came to an adjournment on the 8th of March. 

 A considerable amount of legislation was neces- 

 sitated by the new constitution adopted in 1875. 

 The salaries of public officials were revised and 

 fixed as follows: Governor, $4,000 per annum ; 

 Lieutenant-Governor, $1,500 ; Secretary of 

 State, $1,800 ; Auditor, $2,400 ; Treasurer, 

 $2,100; Attorney-General, $2,000; Judges of 

 the Supreme Court, $5,000; Chancellors, $2,- 

 500; Superintendent of Education, $2,250. 

 Reductions take effect at the end of the terms 

 of the present incumbents. The date for the 

 meeting of the Legislature for its regular bien- 

 nial sessions was fixed for the second Monday 

 of November, beginning in 1876. 



The special joint committee appointed at 

 the preceding session to investigate the facts 

 relating to the alleged election of George 

 E. Spencer to the Senate of the United States 

 submitted their report, together with a sum- 

 mary of the testimony taken. Their conclu- 

 sions are presented with sufficient fullness in a 

 memorial of the Legislature subsequently adopt- 

 ed, commending to the United States . Senate 

 the following considerations, supported by the 

 evidence taken : 



2. That the body by which George E. Spencer 

 claims to have been elected to the Senate of the 

 United States was not in fact or in law the General 

 Assembly of Alabama, at the time of the alleged 

 election of George E. Spencer, and never was. There 

 never was a quorum in the Senate that voted for said 

 Spencer, and the records and journals of the General 

 Assembly show that fact. The body that voted for 

 Spencer was organized as a party necessity, and to 

 elect Spencer. 



3. By unlawful and corrupt practices and by bar- 

 gains made by George E. Spencer, and other persons, 

 with his knowledge and approval, both before and 

 at the time of his alleged election, with members of 

 the body by which he claims to have been elected, he 

 procured the influence and votes of members of said 

 body, for the office of Senator of the United States. 



4. That being a Senator at the time of his alleged 

 reelection to the Senate of the United States, the said 



George E. Spencer corruptly used the influence, 

 power, and patronage, of his said office to procure 

 influence, assistance, and votes, from members of 

 said body, by whicb he claims to have been reflected 

 to the Senate of the United States on the 3d day 

 of December, 1872. 



5. That by like fraudulent and corrupt practices, 

 and to defeat the election of a Senator by the Gen- 

 eral Assembly of Alabama at the time appointed by 

 law, the said George E. Spencer an'd others, by his 

 concurrence or connivance, did prevent the attend- 

 ance of members of the General Assembly at the 

 Capitol, and did so defeat a quorum of the Houses 

 of said body. 



6. That afterward when a plan had been suggested 

 by the Attorney-General of the United States, which 

 was adopted, for the reorganization of the General 

 Assembly, the said G_eorge E. Spencer and others, 

 with his connivance, in order to deprive a Senator of 

 his seat in said body, to which he had been lawfully 

 elected by the people, and thereby obtain confir- 

 mation of his said election to the United States Sen- 

 ate, fraudulently and corruptly conspired to oust 

 said Senator from his seat, and did prevent him 

 from occupying the same during more than one en- 

 tire session of the General Assembly of Alabama. 



7. That said George E. Spencer, while endeavor- 

 ing to secure his reelection to the Senate, and in 

 order to get money to accomplish his said purposes, 

 and while he was a Senator of the United States, 

 procured persons who had been appointed to offices 

 of trust in the United States Government to con- 

 vert the public money in their charge to his use, 

 and to commit peculations for his advantage. 



Early in the session the commissioners ap- 

 pointed under the act of December 17, 1874, 

 "to ascertain, adjust, and liquidate all claims 

 against the State of Alabama arising from bonds 

 issued or indorsed in the name of the State," 

 submitted their report, together with a plan 

 of adjustment. A good deal of difficulty had 

 been encountered in ascertaining the amount 

 and character of the indebtedness of the State, 

 owing to imperfections in the records and ap- 

 parent irregularities in the issue and regis- 

 tration of bonds, and to the unwillingness of 

 some of the creditors to make a statement of 

 their claims. The commissioners stated that 

 the entire debt of the State, direct and contin- 

 gent, as ascertained by them, was $80,037,563, 

 which they separated into four classes of ob- 

 ligations. The first constituted the "recog- 

 nized direct debt," and consisted of various 

 five, six, and eight per cent, bonds, amounting 

 in all to $11,677,470. They proposed to ad- 

 just this portion of the debt by canceling inter- 

 est due and accruing to July 1, 1876, and sub- 

 stituting new bonds for the face of those out- 

 standing, with thirty years to run, at two per 

 cent, interest for the first five years, three 

 per cent, for the second five years, four per 

 cent, for the next ten years, and five per cent, 

 for the remaining ten years, all being renew- 

 able at the pleasure of the State at five per 

 cent. This proposition had been accepted by 

 the holders of about $3,000,000 of the old 

 bonds, and it was thought would be accepted 

 by the rest. The second class of obligations 

 was spoken of as " recognized direct debt aris- 

 ing from aid given to railroad companies," and 

 consisted of seven per cent, bonds to the amount 



