318 



GEORGIA. 



Railroad, a lease of which from the State will 

 expire in 1889. Resolutions advising its sale 

 at the end of the lease were rejected, as also 

 tliose recommending a new lease upon lower 

 terms. The only action taken declares that 

 the State shall not be liable for any better- 

 ments made by the lessees, provides for a com- 

 mission to appraise the road, to ascertain its 

 present condition, to keep it constantly under 

 inspection during the remainder of the lease, 

 and to report promptly to the Governor any 

 attempt of the lessees to depreciate its value, 

 in which case the Governor is authorized to 

 take immediate possession in behalf of the 

 State, and to assume the management of its 

 operations. A bill increasing the number of 

 Supreme Court judges from three to five was 

 among the most meritorious acts of the session. 

 Another bill regulates the business of insur- 

 ance in the State, making the Comptroller- 

 General an Insurance Commissioner, and re- 

 quiring companies to secure a license from him 

 before soliciting business. Other acts of this 

 session were as follow : 



Providing for the levy and sale of personalty when 

 the title is retained in the vendor. 



Authorizing the sale of the Governor's mansion 

 and penitentiary lots in Milledgeville. 



Empowering grand jurors to levy a special tax for 

 school purposes. 



A biu to prevent the running of excursion trains, 

 steamboats, and sailing-vessels on Sunday. 



To rescind and revoke the license of any foreign 

 corporation in this State which shall remove* any case 

 from the courts of this State to the United States courts, 

 except to the Supreme Court of the United States. 



Amending the practice in equity as to granting in- 

 junctions. 



Regulating the catching of oysters. 



Regulating the inspections and sale of naval stores. 



Giving the Methodist Historical Society access to 

 the State records at all times, and directing the Gov- 

 ernor to send the secretary of the society copies of the 

 journals of the General Assembly. 



Providing payment for maimed Confederate sol- 

 diers, so as to conform to the amendments to the 

 Constitution adopted at the last election. The bill 

 includes those who were disabled, though their limbs 

 were not amputated. It makes an annual payment of 

 $30 for an arm or leg above the elbow or knee, and 

 $20 for an arm or leg below elbow or knee. 



Codifying and revising all the present common- 

 school laws, and perfecting the machinery of the com- 

 mon-school system. 



Authorizing the payment of the six months' inter- 

 est on the Atlantic ajid Gulf railroad bonds. 



Education. In 1886 there were enrolled in 

 the public schools 319,724 pupils, 196,852 being 

 white, and 122,872 colored. The per cent, of 

 white youth of school-age enrolled was 74*13, 

 the per cent, of colored youth being 50'52. Of 

 the total number of youths of school-age, white 

 and colored, 62-84 per cent, are enrolled in 

 these schools. The institutions of higher edu- 

 cation supported by the State are reported to 

 be doing good work. An extra appropriation, 

 aggregating $17,000, was made by the Legis- 

 lature of this year for repairs upon the State 

 University buildings at Athens, and at the 

 branch colleges at Dahlonega, Milledgeville, 

 and Thomasville. 



Convicts. Attempts were made this year to 

 improve the condition of the convict camps, 

 and to abolish in part the camp system, but the 

 Legislature took no action except to pass a bill 

 rewarding good behavior by diminishing the 

 length of sentence. It provides that for con- 

 tinuous good conduct on the part of the con- 

 vict two months shall be deducted from his 

 sentence the second year, and three months 

 each succeeding year to ten, inclusive; after 

 ten, four months each year. An investigation 

 was had by the Governor during the summer 

 into the conduct of the lessees at several of the 

 camps, against whom charges of excessive 

 punishment of convicts and of requiring ex- 

 cessive labor were preferred. The Governor 

 found these charges sustained with respect to 

 penitentiary companies numbered two and 

 three, and imposed a fine of $2,500 upon each. 



Railroads and Water-ways. During the year, 

 eight different lines of railroad were in process 

 of construction, and 231 miles were completed. 

 This is a considerable increase over previous 

 years. The Legislature granted incorporation 

 to more than forty new companies, some of 

 which were prepared to begin construction be- 

 fore the end of the year. The city of Atlanta 

 will reap a large share of the benefit from this 

 new impulse in railroad building, three differ- 

 ent lines being already nearly completed to that 

 place, and a fourth and most important one, 

 connecting it with Knoxville, Tenn., and thence 

 with all points in the West, being sure of early 

 construction. At the same time improvements 

 have been made on many of the rivers of the 

 State under the direction of the General Govern- 

 ment. On the Ocmulgee a good navigable chan- 

 nel has been obtained between Eawkinsville and 

 the junction of the Oconee. The Oconee is being 

 dredged to secure a uniform depth of three 

 feet at low water as far up as Milledgeville. 

 The work is more than half completed. Nearly 

 $100,000 has been expended on Flint river, re- 

 sulting in a completed high-water channel from 

 the mouth of the river up to Albany, a com- 

 pleted low-water channel of the projected 

 depth from the mouth to Tea-Cup shoal, and a 

 partially completed high-water channel over 

 the river between Albany and Montezuma. 

 The expenditure on the Chattahoochee has been 

 $188,857, and it has resulted in securing a fair 

 navigable channel between Chattahoochee and 

 Eufaula at all seasons, and between Enfaula and 

 Columbus at all times except during the preva- 

 lence of extreme low water. Improvements on 

 Coosa river have cost $417,896, and have opened 

 a good channel from Rome to Greensport. To 

 develop the Coosa coal-fields in the vicinity of 

 Broken Arrow, is the primary object of this 

 work. The Tallapoosa, Oostenaula, and Coosa- 

 wattee rivers have also been improved. 



Prohibition. As the local-option law permits 

 an election upon this question in any county 

 once in two years, on petition of a sufficient 

 number of voters, contests similar to those of 

 1885 took place in the autumn of this year in 



