GEORGIA. 



345 



A good deal is said and written as to the im- 

 mensely profitable yields of the gold-mines in 

 the northern part of the State. How far these 

 statements are exaggerated, and how far true, 

 can not be ascertained in the absence of dis- 

 interested information. The State is said to 

 contain 3,500,000 acres of gold-bearing land, 

 interspersed with land containing 165 different 

 minerals, among the most valuable and useful 

 of which are gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, 

 iron, coal, mica, asbestos, graphite, marble, 

 limestone, granite, corundum, soapstone, kao- 

 lin, clay, marl, gypsum, as well as every spe- 

 cies of precious stone, from the diamond to the 

 agate. 



The iron industries in Northwestern Georgia 

 have been very prosperous, and their produc- 

 tion much increased. The close proximity to 

 the iron-mines of inexhaustible beds of good 

 coal makes the iron industry as profitable as it 

 is. A large number of the Penitentiary con- 

 victs are leased to the stockholders, and worked 

 by the mining companies. The report of the 

 Comptroller-General estimates the value of the 

 iron-works in the State in 1882 at $569,231, an 

 increase of $219,282, as compared with their 

 value $349,949 in 18S1. His estimate of 

 the amount of capital invested in mining in 

 1882 is $127,622, as compared with $101,675 

 in 1881. 



The lumber interest has grown immensely 

 during the past year. The exports coastwise 

 from the port of Savannah alone up to August 

 31st were 57,368,627 feet, and the foreign ex- 

 ports 14,675,279, making a total of 72,043,906 

 feet. The production of turpentine and naval 

 stores from the immense pine-forests of the 

 southern portion of the State has also increased 

 largely, and is a most profitable industry. The 

 exports from Savannah for the year ending 

 August 31st were : Turpentine, 1,635,250 gal- 

 lons, worth $736,593 ; rosin, 168,408 barrels, 

 worth $408,418. 



STATE ELECTIONS. Elections were held 

 this year throughout the State for Governor, 

 members of the General Assembly, and other 

 State officers, and for members of Congress, 

 including the additional member to which the 

 State is entitled under the late apportionment 

 act of Congress, and who was to be elected by 

 the " State at large," as the General Assembly 

 had not yet defined the limits of the Tenth Dis- 

 trict. 



Unusual popular interest was felt in these 

 elections in consequence of the declared coali- 

 tion of the Republicans and " Independents," 

 with a view to defeat the organized Democratic 

 party, and thus not only obtain control of the 

 State government, but break the "solid South," 

 by electing anti-Democratic representatives in 

 the Lower House of Congress, and possibly a 

 United States Senator. 



The Republicans were not quite harmonious. 

 In their convention, which met in Atlanta, 

 August 2d, one hundred and eighty delegates 

 obeyed the call of W. A. Pledger, colored, the 



" Chairman of the State Central Committee " 

 (since appointed collecter of customs at At- 

 lanta), and one hundred delegates went into an- 

 other and antagonistic convention, headed by 

 the white Republicans, or the so-called " Geor- 

 gia Syndicate," led by General James Long- 

 street, United States Marshal, and H. P. Far- 

 row, former District Attorney. Both conven- 

 tions made nominations, but they subsequently 

 agreed to support the opposition to the Demo- 

 cratic candidate, although the differences be- 

 tween the leaders were not adjusted. At one 

 time the contending factions came to blows, 

 and Pledger was arrested and obliged to give 

 bonds for his appearance on a charge of assault 

 and battery. 



The Democratic Convention, which met in 

 Atlanta, July 19th, for the purpose of nominat- 

 ing candidates for the offices of Governor, Con- 

 gressman-at-large, Secretary of State, Treasurer, 

 Comptroller - General, and Attorney - General, 

 having decided by a vote of 194| to 164 that a 

 " majority only of the entire vote of this conven- 

 tion (instead of two thirds) shall be necessary 

 to nominate," nominated as follows : For Gov- 

 ernor, Hon. A. H. Stephens, of Taliaferro Coun- 

 ty; for Congressman-at -large, Thomas Harde- 

 man, of Bibb County ; Secretary of State, N. 

 C. Barnett, of Baldwin County ; Treasurer, D. 

 N". Speer, of Troup County ; Comptroller-Gen- 

 eral, "W. A. "Wright, of Richmond County ; At- 

 torney-General, Clifford Anderson, of Bibb 

 County. A. O. Bacon, the most prominent as- 

 pirant for the nomination for Governor, having 

 withdrawn before a ballot, the nomination of 

 Mr. Stephens was practically unanimous, receiv- 

 ing 325 out of 364 votes. The other State offi- 

 cers were nominated by acclamation. For 

 Congressmau-at-large, the names of Thomas 

 Hardeman, George Barnes, Henry H. Carlton, 

 and W. H. Dabney were presented. Mr. Har- 

 deman having received 208 votes, his nomina- 

 tion was then made unanimous. 



The Independent candidate for Governor, 

 indorsed by the two factions of the Republi- 

 cans, by the Greenbackers, and by those op- 

 posed to the organized Democracy, as well as 

 those who personally disliked Mr. Stephens, 

 was Lucius J. Gartrell, a prominent lawyer of 

 Atlanta, and prior to the war a member of the 

 Federal Congress. After an energetic canvass, 

 during which both candidates made several 

 speeches, at the election in October the people 

 elected Alexander H. Stephens by a majority 

 of 62,357 out of a total vote of 152,949, elect- 

 ing at the same time all the regular Democrat- 

 ic nominees for subordinate State officers, and 

 members of the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives of the General Assembly. 



The Legislature met on the 1st of November. 

 Hon. James S. Boynton was re-elected President 

 of the Senate, and the Hon. Louis F. Garrard 

 was chosen Speaker of the House of Representa- 

 tives. The outgoing Governor, Alfred H. Col- 

 quitt, in his last message to the Legislature, 

 makes the following cheering statements as 



