ALABAMA. 



property mortgaged to it by the railroad com- 

 pany to secure the bond loan, and tbis property 

 was conveyed to trustees for tbe benefit of tbe 

 bondbolders. This trust was to continue until 

 May 1, 1886. On that day, 1,883 of the 2,000 

 bonds had been surrendered to the State. 



Public Schools. The report of the State Su- 

 perintendent for the year ending Sept. 30, 

 1885, dated Jan. 11, 1886, shows a total school 

 revenue for tbafc year of $511,540.05, of which 

 $21,500 was paid to the normal schools, and 

 the balance apportioned among the colored 

 schools. There were taught during the year, 

 3,647 schools for white children, and 1,744 

 schools for colored children. Of white teach- 

 ers there were 3,565, and of colored teachers 

 1,827. The total number of teachers employed 

 was 5,392, an increase of 210 over the preced- 

 ing year. The average monthly pay of teach- 

 ers in the white schools was $23.76, and of 

 teachers in the colored schools $22.78. 



On the 23d of April, 1884, Congress granted 

 to the State of Alabama 46,080 acres of land 

 for the benefit of the university, to be applied, 

 so far as necessary, to the erection of build- 

 ings and to the restoration of the library and 

 scientific apparatus destroyed by fire. 



The Agricultural and Mechanical College is 

 in a prosperous condition. Its faculty consists 

 of ten professors and five assistants. During 

 the present session it has 157 students. 



Convicts. Eelative to the treatment of con- 

 victs, the Governor says : " Prior to 1882 little 

 was known of the treatment and condition of 

 convicts to the penitentiary. It was known 

 that from the time of its organization the peni- 

 tentiary had been a source of trouble, solici- 

 tude, and expense. Whether the convicts had 

 been worked by the State under a warden, or 

 controlled by others under lessees, the finan- 

 cial results were always the same, though there 

 had been some improvements in this respect of 

 later years, and since 1878 they had been self- 

 sustaining. Of the convicts there was a uni- 

 form report of kind, considerate, and humane 

 treatment, and uniform tables of an appalling 

 mortality, and nothing more. It was not until 

 four years ago that an official report informed 

 the Governor and public that the convict- 

 camps were unfit for use. The Legislature 

 promptly passed the act of Feb. 22, 1883, 'to 

 regulate the hiring and treatment of State and 

 county convicts,' under which much was ac- 

 complished. The act of Feb. 17, 1885, which 

 made some radical changes in the convict sys- 

 tem and in the manner of the State's superin- 

 tendence of convict-labor, was a well-consid- 

 ered effort in the direction of the humane ends 

 of adequate punishment for crime. This pro- 

 vided for effective inspection, and armed the 

 authorities with power to enforce all needful 

 rules and regulations for the protection of the 

 State and of the convicts." A comparison of 

 the death-rate of a few years last past with 

 that of a few previous years will make plain 

 the progress toward a just and proper treat- 



ment of convicts. In 1867, of each hundred 

 convicts, 18 died ; in 1868, 18J; in 1869, 17; in 

 1870, 41, and in 1871, 14. In 1882, of each 

 hundred convicts, 6 died ; in 1883, 7; in 1884, 

 5; in 1885, 6; and in 1886, 2. In the bien- 

 nial period ending Sept. 30 last, there were 

 sent to hard labor for the counties 3,088 con- 

 victs, of whom during that time 2,017 were 

 discharged, and 100 died, leaving 904 under- 

 going sentence. 



The Deaf and Dnmb and the Blind. During the 

 two years ending Sept. 30 last, 118 pupils 

 were enrolled in the Institution for the Deaf 

 and Dumb and Blind at Talladega, of whom 76 

 were deaf and dumb and 42 were blind, 68 be- 

 ing males and 50 females. At the close of the 

 last year, there were in attendance 51 deaf and 

 dumb and 32 blind pupils, of whom 50 were 

 males and 33 were females. The last Legisla- 

 ture appropriated $2,000 for repairing the 

 buildings of the institution. The annual ap- 

 propriation for the institution is $18,000, which 

 is used for salaries and for current expenses. 



Insane. On Sept. 30, 1884, there were in the 

 Alabama Insane Hospital 630 patients, of whom 

 309 were men and 321 were women. To the 

 30th of September, 1886, there had been received 

 447 additional patients, and 344 had been dis- 

 charged, leaving, at the latter date, 733 under 

 treatment. In 1885 the daily average number 

 of patients was 660, and in 1886 it was 722. 

 Of the 344 patients discharged 189 were re- 

 stored, 37 were sufficiently improved to be 

 kept at home, and 32 were unimproved. Of 

 those in the hospital Sept. 30 last, 350 were 

 men and 383 were women. There were 38 

 paying patients and 695 indigent. Ninety of 

 the patients were negroes. 



Local Legislation. Relative to local legisla- 

 tion, the Governor expresses the following 

 views: "The evils of local legislation have 

 long been recognized and felt ; and the Consti- 

 tutional Convention of 1875 put in the funda- 

 mental law of the State a provision intended 

 to mitigate them. In commending to the ac- 

 ceptance of the people the Constitution of that 

 year, a committee appointed by the convention, 

 and speaking for it, said, 'All power to enact 

 local or special laws for the benefit of individ- 

 uals or corporations is prohibited, and the 

 people are thereby protected against the heavy 

 expense of legislation in which they have in- 

 terest.' This prohibition is so constructed 

 that it does not prohibit, and the evils it was 

 intended to diminish are increasing. In the 

 pamphlet acts of the last session, there are 194 

 pages of general laws and 637 pages of local 

 laws, many of the latter clearly in conflict with 

 the intent of the Constitution." 



Political. The Democratic State Convention 

 met in Montgomery on the 9th of June, and 

 nominated the following ticket : for Governor, 

 Thomas Seay; Secretary of State, Charles C. 

 Langdon; Treasurer, Fred H. Smith; Attor- 

 ney-General, Thomas K McClellan ; Auditor, 

 Malcolm 0. Burke ; Superintendent of Educa- 



