ALABAMA. 



Mini: that n.>t fewer than fifty State or .--.unty 

 tM -hall I"- liiiv-l t. ..ii.' person, or kept ! one 



<t at tin- <-.'al mines, when- imt fewer than 



..in- Inm-liv.l shall I).- kept at ">n<- prison ai.-l work.-il 



;..la>-.-, women l.i-iiii: ill all on ! from 



Kthu'ution. For tin- year ending Sept. 30, 

 the State Superintendent of Education re- 

 port- tin- following public-sell. ml statistic- l-r 

 ten nf tin- tliirt.-.-ii separate school districts in 

 tin- State, ami fr the comities outside of the 

 separate di-lriet- : 



The total receipts of the State school fund 

 during the year were $495,164.84, from which 

 the sum of |455,658.01 was apportioned to the 

 several counties and school districts, the remain- 

 der being devoted to the normal schools and 

 expenses of superintendence. An enumeration 

 of the school population at the beginning of the 

 scln.nl year snowed 295,766 white children and 

 826,925 colored ; total, 522.691. A similar enu- 

 meration in 1891 showed 307,653 white and 239,- 

 sic: colored; total, 547,546. 



The numbers of pupils enrolled at the normal 

 schools during the year 1889-'90 were as follows : 

 State Normal College, Florence normal depart- 

 ment, '-Nil : training school, 105. Livingston 

 Normal School, 120. Troy Normal College, 282. 

 Jacksonville Normal School, 183. Huntsville 

 Normal and Industrial School, 258. Tuskeegee 

 Normal and Industrial Institute normal depart- 

 ment, 447; training school, 110. Montgomery 

 Normal School normal department, 371; pre- 

 paratory department. 4.">7. 



World's Fair Convention. No appropria- 

 tion was made by t he General Assembly of 1890- 

 '91 to secure a representation of the State at the 

 World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The 

 legislators resentfully refused to take any ac- 

 tion upon this subject so long as the Republicans 

 in Congress continued to press the bill for the 

 regulation of congressional elections. After 

 that bill had been defeated in Congress, a meas- 

 ure appropriating $30,000 for the exposition, 

 which was introduced and passed in the Senate, 

 was defeated in the lower house. Under these 

 circumstances a convention was called, under 

 private auspices, to meet in Montgomery in the 

 latter part of May, and to provide means for se- 

 curing a fund fora suitable State exhibit. At 

 this convention it was decided to incorporate a 

 company, known as The Alabama World's Fair 

 at ion, withacapital stock of $25.000. which 

 could be increased to $100,000. and to invite popu- 

 lar subscriptions at the rate of $1 a share. The 

 officers of this company were authorix.ed to ex- 

 pend the money so collected in procuring a 

 proper exhibition of the resources of the State at 



the exposition. A committee of women was 



appointed and authori/ed to call a convention of 

 women not later than I)ec. 1, at which pro\i-i-,n 

 should be made to obtain an exhibit of th-- in- 

 dustries of Alabama women. It was further 



resolved 



That this convention rcimcst tin- < 'ommi.-M'.n.-r of 

 Airri.-iiltiiri' of this State, by and with the approval of 

 the Governor, to expend n'.t e\<-ccdin>r llOjOOOofthe 

 fund in the tr.-ii.-iiry of the State t<. tin- en-ilit of the 

 Pi-part incut of Agriculture not oth.-rwi.-- appropriated 



ill aeeor-laiicc with the cixle, to illustrate tin- r< -source* 

 of this State ut the Columbian Kxjxisition. 



'./,/>! rf/,.r. That not l,~> thun $50,000 shall 

 I..- raised by' private subscription or othcrwir.-- for the 

 same purjxrae. 



Political. Although there was no general 

 election this year, the political history of the 

 State was not without interest. A serious breach 

 had been made in the Democratic ranks as a re- 

 sult of the contest of 1890. On one side were 

 the supporters of Reuben F. Kolb, Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, a leader of the Farmers' Alliance, 

 who had lost the gubernatorial nomination in 

 1890 by only a few votes, and who later was de- 

 feated as a candidate for United States Senator. 

 On the other side were the old Democratic lead- 

 ers, who opposed the efforts of Kolb to obtain 

 control of the party by the aid of the Farmers' 

 Alliance. The Democratic State Committee met 

 early in July and appointed a committee, which 

 later in the month issued an address to the people 

 urging the formation of local Democratic clubs 

 and the necessity of loyal support to the party. 

 Later in the year speakers were sent out to com- 

 bat the Alliance doctrines. The sub-treasury 

 scheme, advocated by the Alliance, was specially 

 denounced. Soon after his inauguration Gov. 

 Jones ordered an investigation into the official 

 conduct of Commissioner Kolb. In April he 

 received a report from the examiner declaring 

 that the accounts of the office were loosely kept, 

 and that evidence had been found to show that 

 the commissioner and his clerks had charged the 

 State for railroad fares when they actually rode 

 on free passes. No action was taken on this re- 

 port, and it seems not to have injured the popu- 

 larity of Kolb with the Alliance. But when, on 

 Sept. 1, his term of office expired, he was not 

 reappointed by the Governor, who named Hec- 

 tor D. Lane as his successor. Kolb then re- 

 fu-cd to vacate the office, claiming that the 

 General Assembly had deprived the Governor of 

 his appointive power over the office by the act of 

 this year making it elective, and providing for 

 the election of an incumbent at the general elec- 

 tion in 1892. A suit against him was at once 

 brought by Lane in the probate court of Mont- 

 gomery County, in which the judge decided that 

 the appointment of Lane was void. An appeal 

 was taken to the State Supreme Court, where ar- 

 guments were made on Sept. 23. On Oct. ."> a 

 majority of the court rendered a decision over- 

 ruling the lower court and declaring the ap- 

 pointment of Lane to be valid, on the ground 

 that the act by its terms did not take effect till 

 the next general election in 1H92, and that. 

 meanwhile, the Governor, acting under the old 

 law, had power to appoint a - - Kolb 



at the end of his term. The minority opin- 

 ion, signed by two judges, held that the act took 

 effect at once" upon its passage, taking away the 



