FLORIDA. 



371 



of the Skakespeare Society in Philadelphia, and 

 was also a member of ttiu now Slinkcspearo 

 Society of England. In 1844 he received the 

 degree of LL. B. from Harvard, and in 1852 

 the same degree from Pennsylvania College. 

 In 1867 Kenyon College conferred on him the 

 degree of LL. D. During the last fifteen years 

 of his life he tilled the office of Treasurer of 

 the Philadelphia Law Association, of which 

 he was an active and prominent member. 



FLORIDA. The hiennial session of the Le- 

 gislature commenced on January 7th. In the 

 Senate Lieutenant-Goveruor Hull presided; 

 in the House Charles Dougherty was elected 

 Speaker. 



One of the first resolutions adopted in the 

 Senate was the following : 



The people of the State of Florida, represented in 

 Senate and Assembly, do resolve as follows : That the 

 n el-lit employment of Federal officials, especially 

 deputy marshals, appointed in great numbers for the 

 purpose of supervising and influencing elections held 

 under State laws, meets our emphatic condemnation 

 as subversive of the foundation of popular govern- 

 ment, and tending toward dangerous centralization of 



wer, and that trie Senators and Representatives in 



power, and that the [senators and Kepresentati 

 Congress from Florida are hereby requested to 

 all possible legislative safeguards against its 



secure 

 recur- 



In answer to an inquiry of the Senate as to 

 the amount of money received during the pre- 

 vious year by the State from various industrial 

 pursuits for licenses, the following statement 

 was furnished : From merchants selling gen- 

 eral merchandise, $8,200; from liquor-dealers, 

 $22,700; from practicing physicians, $1,010; 

 from druggists, $1,040; from keno and pool 

 tables, $155; from public exhibitions, $380; 

 from land agents, $15 ; from boarding-houses, 

 $400 ; from eating-houses, $435 ; from ped- 

 dlers, $240; from hotels, $1,075; from butch- 

 ers, $410; from billiard -tables, $510; from 

 practicing lawyers, $290 ; from livery stables, 

 $350 ; from insurance agents, $380 ; from ex- 

 press agents, $120; from banks, $400; from 

 photographers, $60; from dent'.sts, $90 ; from 

 undertakers, $20; from bakers, $20; from 

 auctioneers, $60 ; from sewing-machine agents, 

 $30; total, $38,390. To this sum should be 

 added $11,598 unapportioned to the different 

 pursuits. 



On January 21st Wilkinson Call was chosen 

 a United States Senator by the Legislature. 

 The vote in the Senate was 23 for Call, 4 for 

 Senator S. B. Conover, and 3 scattering. In 

 the House it was 46 for Call, 18 for Conovef, 

 and 7 scattering. Senator Call was born in 

 Kentucky, but went to Florida early in life. 

 He is about fifty years of age, a lawyer by pro- 

 fession, of much political experience, and a 

 fluent speaker. In 1867 he and Judge Mar- 

 vin, then Provisional Governor of Florida, 

 were elected to the United States Senate, the 

 former drawing the long and the latter the 

 short term, but were never permitted to take 

 their seats in that body in consequence of the 

 subsequent passage of the act of reconstruction. 



In the Assembly the following resolution 

 relative to the manner of choosing Presiden- 

 tial electors was adopted : 



Whereas, Interference by officers of the United 



States in popular elections is justly regarded by the 

 people of thin SUite as an evil of great magnitude; 

 and whereas, the manifest purpose of nu<-h int< n. r- 

 ence, in part at least, in to influence and control tl.c 

 action of the State in selecting electors for President 

 and V ice-President of the United States lor the year 

 1880 ; therefore, be it 

 Jtesolved, .That the Judiciary Committee be in- 



. _ coming 



election of the year 1880 by the General Assembly, 

 until the acts of Congress authorizing interference by 

 Federal authority are repealed. 



In the Senate a bill was introduced to pro- 

 vide for the appointment of the electors. 



On the death of Mrs. Hugh A. Corley, the 

 wife of the Commissioner of Lands and Immi- 

 gration, who was a member of the Governor's 

 cabinet, both Houses of the Legislature ad- 

 journed for the day as a "tribute of respect to 

 the deceased, and an indication of sympathy 

 with the bereaved husband." 



To secure a revision of the State Constitu- 

 tion, it is necessary, in the first place, that a 

 resolution to that effect should be adopted by 

 a majority of all the members of two succes- 

 sive Legislatures. Such resolution was adopt- 

 ed by the Legislature of 1877, and again by 

 its successor in 1879. The next step is for the 

 Legislature to recommend to the electors, at 

 the next election for members of the Legisla- 

 ture in 1881, to vote for or against a Conven- 

 tion ; and, if it shall appear that a majority of 

 the electors, voting at such election, shall have 

 voted in favor of calling a Convention, the Le- 

 gislature shall, at its next session, provide by 

 law for a Convention, to be holden within six 

 months after the passage of such law, and such 

 Convention shall consist of a number of mem- 

 bers not less than both branches of the Legis- 

 lature. 



In the House a resolution was adopted, which 

 instructed the Finance Committee to inquire 

 into the mode and manner in which the bonds 

 issued in pursuance of the law of 1878 were 

 disposed of; whether the same was in accord- 

 ance with law ; whether the bonds of 1868 

 and 1869, under hypothecation in New York, 

 were properly chargeable with the amount 

 allowed, and whether any portion of said 

 bonds were exchanged for the bonds of 1878; 

 whether, if it shall be found that the said 

 bonds, or any portion thereof, were disposed 

 of in violation of law, the State is legally 

 bound to pay such bonds. The resolution was 

 subsequently modified so as to require a joint 

 committee of both Houses to make the investi- 

 gation. On March 7th they reported that in 

 1868 and 1869 there were issued $600,000 in 

 State bonds bearing interest at 6 per cent., 

 wli ii-li were authorized to be sold at not less 

 than seventy-five cents on the dollar. Seven- 

 ty-nine thousand dollars of these were sold or 



