s 



ALABAMA. 



per cent, interest. Class C are bonds issued to 

 take up the bonds endorsed by the State for the 

 Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad Company, 

 and bear 2 per cent, interest for five years, and 

 thereafter 4 per cent. Of Class A the State has 

 exchanged $6,373,700, leaving of that class yet 

 to be exchanged, as nearly as can at present 

 be ascertained, $536,469.50. Of Class B the 

 State has exchanged $535,000, leaving yet to be 

 exchanged of this class $7,500. Of Class C the 

 State had to issue $1,000,000 of new bonds, and 

 exchange them for the bonds of the Alabama 

 and Chattanooga Railroad Company, which had 

 been endorsed by the State as stated in the law ; 

 and the State has issued and exchanged of the 

 new bonds $600,000, and has taken up of the 

 old endorsed bonds the proper amount for the 

 new bonds thus exchanged. All of the new 

 bonds issued and exchanged, or to be exchanged, 

 are thirty-year bonds, with the right of re- 

 newal by the State if desired. The amount yet 

 to be exchanged, including the $400,000 of the 

 Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad endorsed 

 bonds, is $943,969.50; provided all the en- 

 dorsed bonds of said railroad company shall be 

 presented for exchange. To which must be 

 added $1,000,000 of funding obligations, mak- 

 ing the total amount, exclusive of trust funds, 

 $9,452,669.50. When exchanging is completed, 

 the debt will be, as nearly as can be ascertained 

 at present, as follows: 



Class A $6,910,169 00 2 per cent $138,203 3S 



Class B 512,500 00 @ 5 per cent 27,12500 



Class C 1,000,000 00 @ 2 per cent 20,000 00 



$8,452,669 00 

 Obligations. . 1,000,000 00 @ 8 per cent 



$9,452,669 00 



$265,328 38 



This amount of interest will be decreased 

 somewhat because of the amount of funding 

 obligations canceled and burned, and such as 

 may be lost or destroyed, etc. 



During the year the amount of interest paid 

 on funding obligations was $71,042.86 ; on new 

 State bonds, $165,479.73 ; making the interest 

 payment for 1878 $236,522.59. This includes 

 the necessary expenses which the State had to 

 pay in making the payments of interest. The 

 amount of revenue from general taxes paid 

 into the State Treasury and in the counties 

 for school purposes, for the fiscal year ending 

 30th of September, 1878, was $818,269.59. Of 

 this nmount, only $593,499.34 was paid into 

 the Treasury; the balance, $224,770.25, was 

 paid in the counties to the superintendents for 

 chool purposes. The surplus remaining in the 

 Treasury after these payments was $66,883 27 

 The rate of taxation in 1874, 1875, and 1876 

 was 75 cents on the hundred dollars' worth of 

 property. In 1877 and 1878 it was 70 cents. 



The State Penitentiary yields a revenue to 

 the State. During the past two years $30,000 



nnn i ? VG ^ een paid into the Treasury $12,- 



| m labor, in payment for penitentiary farm, 



and $12,921.20, building a railroad from We- 



tumpka to the 8. and IT. R. B., making a total 



of $54,921.20 over and above all expenses. 

 There were remaining in the Insane Hospital 

 on October 1, 1878, 403 patients. Thirty-three 

 have been discharged as recovered during 

 the past year. The Agricultural and Me- 

 chanical College of the State at Auburn is re- 

 ported as more prosperous than any other sim- 

 ilar institution in the Southern States. The 

 beneficial results of the State Normal School 

 at Florence have been such as to awaken much 

 public gratification with the institution. The 

 revised public-school system went into opera- 

 tion on October 1, 1877, and very favorable 

 results have followed the short period of its ex- 

 istence. 



A convention of the fire-insurance under- 

 writers of the State was held in Montgomery 

 in June, when a State Association was formed 

 and officers were elected. 



The product of the coal mines, especially 

 along the North and South Railroad, is increas- 

 ing rapidly. From 33,130 tons in 1874, it had 

 increased to 139,182 in 1877 ; and that of 1878 

 was expected to be not less than 50 per cent. 

 higher. The quality of the coal appears to be 

 well established as excellent. It is used for 

 steam, gas, and household purposes. 



Gold is found in Randolph, Tallapoosa, Clay, 

 and Cleburne Counties. Some years ago ex- 

 pensive mining operations were commenced, 

 and subsequently suspended. It is anticipated 

 that they will be renewed. The assay gives 

 22 pennyweights to 1,000 pounds of ore, and 

 in some districts it is estimated to be richer. 



A State Convention of the Democratic Con- 

 servative party was held at Montgomery on 

 May 29th, to nominate candidates for the of- 

 fices of Governor, Secretary of State, Attor- 

 ney-General, Auditor, Treasurer, and Super- 

 intendent of Education. The Convention was 

 organized by the appointment of Walter L. 

 Bragg as chairman. The following nomina- 

 tions were made: For Governor, Rufus W. 

 Cobb; for Secretary of State, W. W. Screws ; 

 for Treasurer, Isaac H. Vincent ; for Auditor, 

 Willis Brewer; for Attorney- General, H. C. 

 Tompkins ; for Superintendent of Instruction, 

 Leroy F. Box. The following platform was 

 adopted : 



The Democratic and Conservative people of Ala- 

 bama in Convention assembled, reasserting the prin- 

 ciples adopted in our Convention of 1876, do resolve 

 and declare 



1. That the Democratic and Conservative party of 

 Alabama is a party of law and order and the only 

 party of the Constitution, and to its patriotic and 

 unceasing efforts, under the blessings of God, is due 

 the final defeat of the Eadical leaders in their wicked 

 design, manifested from the. inception of reconstruc- 

 tion, to destroy the peace, happiness, and prosperity 

 of both races in the South by involving them in cease- 

 less turmoil and collision. 



2. That the financial distress, extending in many 

 localities to misery and want, is the necessary out- 

 growth of the profligate expenditures, fraudulent 

 practices, and class legislation which have marked the 

 course of the Republican party. They have created 

 new and useless offices, and endowed those already 

 created with princely perquisites inconsistent with 



