334 



GEORGIA. 



con freely cast his ballot on that question without 

 ati'ecting hid allegiance to the political party of his 

 choice. 



The executive coramiltee met and adopted 

 the following resolution and address: 



Resolved, That a committee of three shall bo ap- 

 pointed to unje the necessity of a thorough organiza- 

 tion among the temperance people of the State, that 

 the interest of the temperance cause may bo more ef- 

 fectually promoted. It shall be the duty of said com- 

 mittee to prepare a simple, inexpensive mode of or- 

 ganization suitable to carry out the general idea of the 

 work that will naturally grow out of the action of the 

 State Temperance Convention, for the use of localities 

 that m:iy desire the benefit of such a uniform society. 



ADDRESS. 



In obedience to a call made through the public 

 journals of the State, a convention assembled in this 

 city on the 4th inst. to consider the best way to relievo 

 our State of the evils connected with the use and 

 abuse of intoxicating liquors. The convention was 

 composed of representative men from all parts of the 

 State. In their opinions they were conservative, in 

 their plans they were practical, and in their purposes 

 they were fixed and determined. The body in its 

 deliberations was singularly free from unreasonable 

 enthusiasm and unbridled fanaticism. That body, 

 after a calm, thoughtful, and harmonious session, 

 agreed to go, through its committee, before the Gen- 

 eral Assembly with a bill embodying the features of a 

 local-option law, with the position of parties thereto 

 reversed. It is needless in this address to rehearse 

 the minor details of the bill ; they are such as seem 

 best calculated to secure the enforcement of the law 

 and the suppression of the evils of intemperance. 



We now call upon the citizens of the State to ex- 

 press their approval of the measure, and to indorse 

 the action of the convention. This they can do by 

 resolutions adopted by neighborhoods, districts, cities, 

 and villages, assembled in their court-houses or acad- 

 emies, or other places of meeting, or by petitions cir- 

 culated to which their names may be signed, and then 

 give publicity to their action through communications 

 addressed to the secretary of this committee at At- 

 lanta, and to the papers published in their respective 

 counties. 



Fellow-citizens, we are near to the victory ! The 

 evil in all its magnitude has been apprehended by the 

 men and women hi our State ; the danger of delay is 

 fully appreciated, and the importance of calm, deter- 

 mined action is recognized. The judiciary of the 

 State is right on the question ; the press of Georgia 

 favors repressive and restrictive measures : the min- 

 istry of our churches are supporting the reformation ; 

 the solicitous parents are anxiously watching for a 

 remedy ; the unfortunate victims of the wine-cup are 

 appealing for help ; the good citizens of every race 

 and color, of all creeds and partieSj of all ranks and 

 stations in society, are expecting relief, and the noble 

 women of our grand old commonwealth, with entreaty 

 crystallized in tears and embalmed in prayers, are 

 appealing to the General Assembly to stay the tide, 

 and break and beat back the waves of rum and sor- 

 row that come like a flood in the wake of strong drink ; 

 and God, who enjoins virtue and society upon his in- 

 telligent creatures all all are on our side. 



Be hopeful. Be firm. Be decided; and in the 

 name of peace, and honor, and truth, and manhood, 

 we beseech you make known your requests, and de- 

 mand an everlasting redemption from the thralldom 

 of the terrible monster who is blighting our fair land 

 with drunkenness, rum, and infamy. 



The Legislature, having 1 Republican and 43 

 Democrats in the Senate, and 10 Republicans 

 and 165 Democrats in the House, met in ad- 

 journed session on the 6th of July, and ad- 

 journed on the 27th of September, having 



passed 433 bills'. On the 12th of July the 

 Governor submitted a brief message. He rec- 

 ommended the reduction of the charge on in- 

 spected fertilizers from fifty to twenty-five 

 cents per ton, which he regarded as not only 

 ample for all the needful demands of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, but as sufficient for the 

 founding and equipment of an experimental 

 station. He also commended to the attention 

 of tho Legislature the approaching centennial 

 celebration at Yorktown, and the International 

 Cotton Exposition to be held at Atlanta. 



The committee of the House of Representa- 

 tives appointed at the last session to visit and 

 inspect the various camps of the penitentiary 

 reported at this session. The camps visited 

 contained 1,203 convicts, employed at farm- 

 labor, railroad-building, mining, and manufact- 

 uring. The committee found various abuses, 

 and summarized their conclusions as follows : 



1. That the system needs a central authority em- 

 ployed to exercise a supervisory control over all per- 

 sons, companies, and corporations holding the convicts 

 of this State under lease, or otherwise, as to govern- 

 ment, discipline, and management of the convicts, 

 with full power and authority to frame all suitable 

 rules and regulations for the proper government and 

 control of said convicts. 



2. Humanity and justice to the convicts require 

 that the State appoint an officer at each camp to stand 

 between the convict and the lessee, and to enforce all 

 rules adopted by the central authority for their dis- 

 cipline and government, and to protect the prisoners 

 from cruel and inhuman treatment. 



3. That, as the system exists, in the judgment of 

 the committee, there is nothing in it that tends to the 

 reformation of the criminal. It impinges with a 

 crushing force upon the great work of the moral re- 

 generation of the prisoners. The old felon, who has 

 led a life of sin and degeneracy, continues in the prac- 

 tice of his immoralities. Tne youthful convict is 

 chained by his side day after day and night after 

 night, and is compelled to serve out his sentence 

 under the pale of this evil influence. He naturally 

 contracts the habits and vices of his companion, and, 

 at the end of his time, instead of being a reformed 

 man, he is turned loose on the country and society 

 trained in habits and practices that are destructive to 

 everything which may be called good. 



An act was passed on this subject which 

 provides for the appointment of an assistant 

 keeper of the penitentiary, at a salary of $1,- 

 200 a year and traveling expenses. Either the 

 assistant or the principal keeper shall visit 

 each camp once every month and report to the 

 Governor. If they find that the lease has been 

 violated in any respect, the Governor is di- 

 rected at once to institute proceedings to have 

 the lease of the offending lessee forfeited, and 

 the. Attorney -General is directed to represent 

 the State in these prosecutions. All persons 

 are forbidden whipping any convict, except the 

 regular whipping-boss, who is to be appointed 

 by the lessees of each camp, his appointment 

 to be confirmed by the Governor. Upon the 

 discharge of each person, he is to be furnished 

 with a suit of citizen's clothes, and provided 

 with transportation and expenses back to the 

 county from which he was sentenced. 



Another act makes important changes in the 



