GEORGIA. 



317 



the subjects of study in the national universi- 

 ties. In consequence of their efforts it was 

 decided to establish a readership of geography 

 for five years at Oxford, and Mr. H. J. Mac- 

 kinder, M. A., was appointed. Mr. Mackinder 

 arranged eleven courses, comprising eighty- 

 eight lectures, to be given under the extension 

 scheme from October, 1837, to April, 1888, be- 

 fore about 2,700 students. It is expected that, 

 in view of the growing interest taken in the 

 subject, a similar course will be established at 

 Cambridge. 



By a new ordinance of the German Educa- 

 tional Department, the subject of geography 

 has been raised to the first rank in the higher 

 schools of Germany ; that is, it may be taken 

 as one of a teacher's two specialties in connec- 

 tion with either a scientific, linguistic, or his- 

 torical subject. The subjects of examination 

 for a teacher wishing to take the facultas 

 docendi in geography are laid down. There 

 are three grades, for lower, middle, and higher 

 classes. For the lower the teacher must have 

 an elementary but exact knowledge of mathe- 

 matical, physical, and political geography ; for 

 the middle, not only this, but acquaintance 

 with the history of exploration and important 

 trade-routes. For the higher, the candidate 

 must have in addition to the foregoing a knowl- 

 edge of the important geological conditions of 

 the earth's surface, and of the political geog- 

 raphy of the present, the politico-historical 

 geography of the chief civilized peoples, and 

 the leading facts of ethnography ; also, a readi- 

 ness in the construction of maps. 



It has been decided to found professorships 

 of geography at the Kussian Universities, and 

 a chair was to be established at the St. Peters- 

 burg University in the autumn of 1887. 



GEORGIA. State Government The following 

 were the State officers during the year: Gov- 

 ernor, John B. Gordon, Democrat; Secretary 

 of State, Nathan 0. Barnett; Treasurer, R. U. 

 Hardeman; Comptroller-General, William A. 

 Wright ; Attorney-General, Clifford Anderson ; 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, J. T. Henderson; 

 Railroad Commissioners, Alexander S. Irwin, 

 C. Wallace, L. N. Trammell ; Chief-Justice of 

 Supreme Court, L. E. Bleckley ; Associate- 

 Justices, M. H. Blanford and Samuel Hall, suc- 

 ceeded by T. J. Simmons. 



Legislative Session. The session of this year 

 was an adjournment of the November-Decem- 

 ber session of 1886. It continued from July 6 

 to October 20, a period of 107 days, which, 

 with the 50 days consumed by the first session, 

 makes the longest legislative record in the his- 

 tory of the State. Fully nine tenths of the 

 legislation was local or special. The principal 

 acts of the first meeting were those fixing the 

 tax- rate and making the regular biennial ap- 

 propriation. For 1887 the levy is as follows: 

 For general purposes, 2'6 mills ; for completing 

 the State capital, '85 of a mill ; for the sinking 

 fund, -32 of a mill ; total, 8-77 mills. For 1888 

 the State capitol tax is -2 of a mill less. A 



poll-tax of one dollar per capita is devoted to 

 educational purposes, while a long list of spe- 

 cific taxes upon the professions, traveling 

 agents, peddlers, corporations, and other busi- 

 ness enterprises, go into the general fund of 

 the State. Among the specific appropriations 

 are the following : For interest on the public 

 debt, 1887, $509,943 ; for 1888, $507,575 ; for 

 work upon the capitol building in 1887, $258,- 

 734; in 1888, $200,000 the last two sums 

 forming a part of $1,000,000 to be expended 

 upon the structure; for the Academy of the 

 Blind, $19,000; for the Deaf and Dumb Asy- 

 lum, $15,000 ; for the Lunatic Asylum, $175,- 

 000; for the State universities, $8,000 each 

 the last three amounts being payable annually. 



Other acts passed at this session were as 

 follow : 



Authorizing the probate of foreign wills, if the tes- 

 tator was at me time competent to make a will under 

 the laws of Georgia. 



Defining the powers of commissioners of pilotage 

 for the ports of the State. [This is a general pilotage 

 law, giving the commissioners power to grant, sus- 

 pend, or revoke licenses to pilots ; to make rules gov- 

 erning those engaged in pilotage ; to regulate the fees 

 to be charged ; to inflict penalties ; and in other ways 

 to supervise the business. All vessels to whom a 

 licensed pilot offers his services arc compelled to pay 

 a pilotage fee whether the offer be accepted or not.] 



Authorizing the cityofMacon to issue $20.000 of 

 bonds and to apply the proceeds of their sale in the 

 construction of a public market-house. 



Authorizing the city of Atlanta to issue new bonds 

 at 4i per cent, or at a lesser rate, to retire certain 

 maturing 6-per-cent. bonds. 



At the midsummer session the most notable 

 action was that upon the Glenn bill, so called, 

 prohibiting coeducation of the races. The 

 provisions of this bill, which applied to every 

 public and private educational institution in 

 the State, made it a penal offense for any 

 teacher of a school for colored children to ad- 

 mit white pupils, or for any teacher of white 

 pupils to admit colored children, the penalty 

 being a fine of $1,000, or imprisonment not 

 over six months, or work in the chain-gang 

 not over twelve months. The measure was 

 reported favorably to the lower house by its 

 committee on education, and passed that body 

 almost unanimously, only two votes (those of 

 the only colored members of the body) being 

 recorded against it. The bill was apparently 

 directed against a few white teachers at the 

 Atlanta State University for colored students, 

 who had instructed their own children among 

 the regular pupils of the institution. The 

 Senate yielded in a measure to numerous pro- 

 tests, and amended the bill by restricting its 

 application to schools receiving aid from the 

 State, and by making the only penalty a pro- 

 hibition of the teacher from receiving any 

 public funds of the State, and of the pupils 

 from ever becoming teachers in the public 

 schools. These amendments the House refused 

 to accept, no compromise was reached, and 

 the bill was dropped. A subject of fruitful 

 discussion at this session was the State road, 

 otherwise known as the Western and Atlantic 



