GEORGIA. 



367 



attention having been given to the counties 

 bordering on the Blue Ridge on account of the 

 immense value of these streams in working the 

 gold mines. There are over 400 stamps in 

 operation in the 40 gold mills in the State. 



The litigation of the State has been large 

 and varied, and of great pecuniary magnitude. 

 The most important portion has been the rail- 

 road-tax cases, which involve over half a mil- 

 lion dollars in money and contain grave legal 

 issues. There are in the penitentiary 1,239 

 convicts. Since October, 1866, the whole num- 

 ber of convicts received in the penitentiary 

 has been 3,293, of whom 265 were pardoned, 

 408 died, 555 escaped, and 828 were discharged. 

 In 1878 there were received 340 and in 1877 

 to October 209 convicts. From 1878 there 

 has been a decrease of one third in the num- 

 ber of deaths, and of two thirds in the number 

 of escapes. Satisfactory arrangements have 

 been made for the disposal by the State of the 

 North and South Memphis Branch Railways. 

 It still holds the Macon and Brunswick, and is 

 an endorser of the bonds of the Northeastern 

 Railroad to the amount of $260,000. 



The report of the Comptroller represents a 

 decrease in the taxable values in the State 

 amounting to $9,437,812. Inequalities of tax- 

 ation have long existed. The evil complained 

 of is of a twofold nature unequal valuation 



and no valuation. Property of the same value 

 is returned at various figures, there being no 

 common basis, no method of equalization, while 

 a considerable amount of property not exempt 

 by law is not returned at any price. The loss 

 on valuations is not attributed to any laxity of 

 effort on the part of local-tax officers, as 859,- 

 382 more acres of improved land, 1,048,613 

 more acres of unimproved land, and more of 

 most other kinds of property, are embraced 

 in this year's tax digests than in those of pre- 

 vious years. Nearly every description of prop- 

 erty was returned at lower figures in 1878 

 than in 1876. The exceptions are " capital in- 

 vested in shipping, cotton manufactories," and 

 produce held for sale. The loss in city and 

 town property was $2,899,323; in improved 

 land, $2,574,296 ; in horses and mules, $1,314,- 

 681 ; in money and solvent debts, $1,025,865 ; 

 in stocks and bonds, $552,288 ; in bank shares, 

 $535,700; and in household and kitchen fur- 

 niture, $495,418. There was a general fall in 

 values, corresponding with the reductions in 

 other parts of the country. In the poll lists 

 there appear the names of 126,985 whites, an 

 increase over the previous year of 3,070 ; and 

 of 87,751 blacks, an increase of 3,851. 



The following table is an exhibit of the ma- 

 terial condition of the State for 1878 as com- 

 pared with the previous year : 



The relative wealth of the five most popu- 

 lous counties in the State is given as follows : 



The session of the Legislature commenced at 

 Atlanta on November 6th. The House was 

 organized by the reelection of O. A. Bacon as 

 Speaker. Rufus E. Lester was elected Presi- 

 dent of the Senate. On the next day Governor 

 Colquitt sent to both Houses the following 



communication, demanding an investigation of 

 his conduct in officially endorsing the bonds of 

 the Northeastern Railroad Company : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. ) 

 ATLANTA, GA., November 6, 1878. j 

 To the General Assembly : 



A grievous necessity has been imposed upon me to 

 demand at your hands a thorough investigation of my 

 motives and conduct, as the Executive of Georgia, 

 in placing the State's endorsement upon the bonds 

 of the Northeastern Railroad. This necessity has 

 been created by widely circulated slanders and in- 

 nuendoes, vile and malignant, and so mendacious 

 and wicked as to make all comment and paraphrase 

 upon them utterly futile. Nothing but a thorough 

 sifting of my every motive and act in reorard to these 

 bonds, as far as human insight and judgment can 

 reach these, can satisfy aggrieved honor, or give such 



