40 



ARKANSAS. 



Delegates to the National Convention at 

 St. Louis were appointed who were instructed 

 to " cast the vote of the State of Arkansas as a 

 unit upon all questions which might arise in 

 accordance with the will of the majority of all 

 the delegates present." A resolution favoring 



STATE SEAL OF ARKANSAS. 



S. J. Tilden as the candidate for President was 

 defeated by the adoption of a substitute de- 

 claring the choice of the St. Louis Convention 

 to be the choice of this convention. The State 

 election occurred on the 4th of September, and 

 resulted in the choice of the Democratic can- 

 didates. The vote was as follows : 



At the presidential election in November, 

 97,029 votes were cast, of which 58,071 were 

 for the Democratic electors, and 38,669 for the 

 Eepublican ; majority for the former, 19,402. 



The total vote for Governor was 108,007, of 

 which the Democratic candidate, Miller, re- 

 ceived 71,298, and the Republican candidate, 

 Bishop, 37,306 ; Democratic majority, 33,992. 

 The Legislature consists of 29 Democrats and 

 two Republicans in the Senate, and 76 Demo- 

 crats and 17 Republicans in the House. Four 

 Democrats were elected to Congress. 



An act of the Legislature approved Novem- 

 ber 16, 1875, created a Board of Finance, and 

 authorized it to borrow money for State ex- 

 penses, etc. Two loans were contracted by 

 the board, one of $250,000, at ten per cent, 

 interest, which has been repaid. The other 

 was of the same amount, at eight per cent, in- 

 terest, and payable in July, 1877. 



The Board of Finance has caused a state- 

 ment to be made of the State debt, from which 

 it appears that it amounts, with interest to 

 September 30, 1876, to $17,620,362. This in- 

 cludes the whole nominal debt. 



The board has had an extensive correspond 

 ence with persons holding evidences of the 

 State's indebtedness, with a view to ascertain 

 what could be done toward making such a 

 settlement of it as would be fair and just, and 

 within the ability of the State to meet. While 

 in a general way the holders of the paper of 

 the State have expressed a desire to settle the 

 debt on such terms as might be equitable, and 

 within the probable resources of the State, 

 there has not baen, as far as the board has 

 been advised, any^such concert of action among 



the creditors of the State as could result in 

 any definite offer. The creditors have delayed 

 any such step, saying that, on account of the 

 embarrassments growing out of the outstand- 

 ing floating debt of the State, they did not find 

 that the State could at present assume the pay- 

 ment of the interest on any new bonds which 

 might be issued on the basis of such a settle- 

 ment. They therefore express themselves as 

 preferring to let the matter stand until the 

 ability and resources of the State can be more 

 clearly ascertained. 



The present amount of the outstanding Treas- 

 urer's warrants is about $1,400,000. The 

 amount of such warrants paid into the State 

 Treasury from other sources than that of direct 

 taxation is $154,321.47. This sum includes 

 all payments made into the Treasury from the 

 first quarter in 1874 up to the close of the 

 third quarter in 1876. 



Two hundred and forty thousand dollars of 

 Treasurer's warrants have been funded in the 

 six per cent, bonds of the State, 



From the estimates that have been made, it 

 will appear that it will require the taxes of 

 between two and three more years to retire 

 all the outstanding Treasurer's warrants, pro- 

 vided that the present rate of taxation is con- 

 tinued, and that no further issue of said war- 

 rants is made. It is the deliberate opinion of 

 the members of the board that it will be 

 better for the State to continue the policy that 

 has been pursued since its organization, of bor- 

 rowing money to pay current expenses until 

 all the outstanding Treasurer's warrants are 

 taken up and canceled, rather than to renew 

 the system of issuing more warrants, and thus 

 bringing about a further and constantly-in- 

 creasing depreciation of such paper. The re- 

 sult of that depreciation would be, that the 

 public institutions of charity would perish for 

 want of support ; official salaries would be re- 

 duced so low that good men of fair abilities 

 would be compelled to decline the public ser- 

 vice, and the State would have to pay enhanced 

 prices for everything purchased by it. In the 

 end the State would have to adopt, under 

 augmented difficulties, the same policy which 

 is now being successfully acted upon ; or other- 

 wise the State government would become so 

 clogged with irredeemable and uncurrent paper 

 as to render all its operations difficult if not 

 hopelessly impracticable. The board say that 

 they have every reason to believe that the six 

 per cent, bonds of the State could be disposed 

 of at as much as seventy-five cents on the 

 dollar ; but it may easily be shown that such a 

 method of raising money is far less economical 

 to the State than that of yearly loans at a rate 

 of interest even much higher than that paid 

 for the loan negotiated in 1875. There will 

 be no necessity for continuing these loans be- 

 yond the term of the next two years; and at 

 the end of that time it will certainly be a satis- 

 faction to the people of the State to reflect 

 that, amid all the difficulties of the situation 



