GEORGIA. 



347 



when there was a strong tendency to abandon the fed- 

 erative feature in the Government, and to merge the 

 State governments into consolidation or centralism, 

 the inevitable end of which would have been empire 

 and despotism. 



The object of the founders of the old Eepublican- 

 Dcmocratic party, at the head of which stood Mr. 

 Jefferson, was to check this tendency of the govern- 

 ment, and to preserve that system from which alone 

 springs all hope for the perpetuation of the entire 

 fabric. These principles look as well to the preserva- 

 tion of the Federal Union in its proper sphere as to 

 the maintenance and preservation of the reserved 

 rights of the several States, in their proper spheres, 

 under the Constitution of the United States. This is 

 the true doctrine of home rule on the part of the States 

 under our novel and wonderful system of Federal 

 Union. 



There is evidently now, my countrymen, a tend- 

 ency to centralism as in 1798 and 1799, by the party 

 now in power in the administration of the General 

 Government, bearing the name of Kepublican. 



As Burke upon a memorable occasion appealed 

 " from the new Whig party of England to the old 

 Whigs of his earlier days," so we appeal from modern 

 Kepublicanism to the ancient creed of our fathers. 



Those who have departed, or are departing, from 

 that path under apprehension of danger, we and all 

 friends of the Constitution, organized from one ex- 

 tent of the Union to the other, should awake to " re- 

 trace their steps, and to regain the road which alone 

 leads to liberty and safety.'' 



I am now prepared to take the oath of office. 



Among the earliest and most important duties 

 devolved upon the Legislature was the election 

 of a Judge of the Supreme Court, vice A. M. 

 Speer, whose term had expired, Judges of the 

 Superior or Circuit Courts, and a Senator in 

 the Federal Congress to fill the unexpired 

 term of, and after March 4, 1883, succeed the 

 late Benjamin H. Hill. 



To the first-named office, Hon. Samuel Hall, 

 of Macon, a lawyer of high character and great 

 learning, was elected. John D. Stewart was 

 elected Judge of the Flint Circuit ; T. J. Sim- 

 mons re-elected Judge of the Macon Circuit ; 

 Allen Fort, Judge of the Southwestern Circuit; 

 B. B. Bower, Judge of the Albany Circuit ; A. 

 P. Adams, Judge of the Eastern Circuit ; John 

 B. Estes, Judge of the Northeastern Circuit, 

 and W. R. Hammond, Judge of the Atlanta 

 Circuit. The contest for the senatorship was 

 active and heated. The candidates for the un- 

 expired term (December, 1882-March 4, 1833) 

 were B. H. Hill, Jr., eldest son of the deceased 

 Senator, and Pope Barrow, a former member 

 of the Legislature from Clarke County. The 

 candidates for the term of six years from 

 March, 1883, were ex-Governor Alfred H. Col- 

 quitt, Chief- Justice James Jackson, Hon. Clif- 

 ford Anderson, and Hon. J. 0. C. Black. The 

 result was the election, on the first joint ballot, 

 of Pope Barrow for the short term, by a vote 

 of 116, to 95 for Hill. For the long term ex- 

 Governor A. H. Colquitt was elected on the 

 second ballot, receiving 123 votes; necessary to 

 a choice, 109. After a session of five weeks, 

 the Legislature adjourned until the first Wednes- 

 day in July, 1883. The election of judges and 

 Senators, the passage of the appropriation and 

 tax bills, the refusal to accept Senator Brown's 



donation to the University of Georgia, and the 

 passage of a few bills of local interest, consti- 

 tuted the legislation of the session. The redis- 

 tricting of the State in conformity with the 

 last apportionment act of Congress, the usury 

 bill, and the question of building a new Capitol, 

 have been postponed till next July. Resolu- 

 tions were adopted asking Congress to repeal 

 the tax of 10 per cent on the circulation of the 

 State banks; the repeal or modification of the 

 internal revenue laws; the repeal of the statute 

 of limitation barring cotton claims ; the erec- 

 tion of public buildings at Brunswick; the 

 establishment of a local postal route; and aid 

 to education in the State out of the proceeds 

 of sales of the public lands. It is gravely 

 questioned whether, under the Constitution of 

 the State, the General Assembly has the right 

 to adjourn for seven months, so as to defeat 

 practically the provision of the organic law 

 against annual sessions. The Constitution di- 

 rects that the General Assembly shall meet " on 

 the first Wednesday in November, 1878, and 

 biennially thereafter, on the same day, until 

 the day shall be changed by law. 1 ' This seems 

 to settle the time of meeting, and to limit the 

 number of sessions to one, every two years. 

 The Constitution further declares that " no ses- 

 sion of the General Assembly shall continue 

 longer than forty days, unless by a two-thirds 

 vote of the whole number of each House." 

 This provision, it is argued, is intended to sup- 

 plement the provision already quoted, and pro- 

 vide for cases in which forty days would not 

 be sufficient time to transact the necessary 

 business; but that it applies to a continuous 

 session. The framers of the Constitution cer- 

 tainly intended that the sessions of the Legisla- 

 ture should be held only once in two years, 

 and that they should be limited to forty days 

 except in cases of emergency. The estimated 

 expense of a legislative session of forty days is 

 $42,613. The summer session will cost as 

 much or more, making the whole expense not 

 less than $85,226. With a view to obviate 

 any necessity for the " adjourned sessions," a 

 proposition has been made, and is now pend- 

 ing, to amend the Constitution so as to take 

 the election of judges and solicitors-general 

 out of the hands of the Legislature and delegate 

 their appointment to the Governor, by and with 

 the advice and consent of the Senate. Every 

 Legislature, since the adoption of the Consti- 

 tution, has held annual, or adjourned sessions, 

 alleging, as excuse for the apparent violation 

 of the law, that the election of judicial officers 

 had consumed the regular fall session. The 

 appointment of these officers by the Executive 

 would involve no expense. The charge of 

 mileage by the members of the General Assem- 

 bly, amounting in the aggregate to $6,572, 

 when most of them are known to hold and to 

 use free passes over all the railroads, is the 

 subject of much comment. 



The election of members of Congress to 

 serve in the Forty-eighth Congress took place 



