320 



GEORGIA. 



Legislative Session. The adjourned ses- 

 sion of the State Legislature began early in July 

 and continued through Oct. 15. Although her- 

 alded as a reform Legislature and controlled by 

 the Farmer's Alliance in both Houses, it exceeded 

 all of its predecessors in the amount of its ap- 

 propriations. The total sum appropriated was 

 $2,448,100, distributed as follows : Soldiers' pen- 

 sions, $185,000; widows' pensions, $400,000; 

 Common-school fund, $585,000; settlement of 

 Western and Atlantic Railroad betterments, 

 $120,000; expenses of government, $920,000; 

 Girls' Industrial School, $32,500 ; Technological 

 School, $18,000 ; miscellaneous, $187,500. It be- 

 came necessary, in consequence of these appro- 

 priations, to add li mill to the State tax levy for 

 general purposes for 1891. 



A noteworthy result of the session was the 

 passage of an act requiring steam railroad com- 

 panies to provide separate compartments for the 

 white and colored races in all passenger cars. 

 Efforts were made without success to impose 

 the same requirements upon electric street-rail- 

 way companies. But conductors on street cars 

 were given police powers and authorized to as- 

 sign all passengers to their seats. 



Three important amendments to the State 

 Constitution were proposed for submission to 

 the people at the election of 1892. One of these 

 repeals the section requiring charters of rail- 

 roads, banks, insurance companies, etc., to be 

 granted by the Legislature, and provides that 

 they shall be issued by the Secretary of State, 

 pursuant to general fixed laws to be enacted. 

 This reform will reduce by one half the number of 

 bills to be considered at each legislative session. 

 In the same line of reform an act was passed 

 requiring all towns of fewer than 2,000 inhabit- 

 ants to obtain their charters and amendments 

 thereto from the courts instead of from the Leg- 

 islature. The two other constitutional amend- 

 ments provide for annual sessions of the Legisla- 

 ture, limited to fifty days each. By another act 

 the Supreme Court was required to hear all 

 cases brought to that tribunal upon their sub- 

 stantial merits, and was forbidden to dismiss 

 cases upon mere technical defects. Telegraph 

 and express companies were placed under con- 

 trol of the Railroad Commission. 



A radical change was made in the rules of 

 evidence. Under the old law, if a party did not 

 choose voluntarily to testify in his case, he could 

 not be compelled by the other party unless the 

 latter made him his (the latter's) own witness. 

 The new law allows either party to call the other 

 to the stand and cross-examine him and impeach 

 him if necessary, as if he had testified in his 

 own behalf. Primary elections were brought 

 under the protection of the law by punishing 

 fraud and false swearing therein. The liquor 

 traffic was practically driven within city walls 

 by an act prohibiting the sale of intoxicating 

 liquor within three miles of a church or a school 

 outside of cities. Two bills were passed for the 

 benefit of labor, one to prevent " blacklisting " 

 of employes, the other to prevent railroads from 

 requiring engineers and trainmen to work more 

 than thirteen consecutive hours without rest. 



An act designed to destroy the Southwestern 

 Tariff Association, so called, which was regarded 

 as a combination to control insurance rates, pro- 



vides that it shall be unlawful for insurance 

 companies doing business in the State to form 

 pools or combinations for the purpose of lessen- 

 ing or defeating competition, and that if any 

 insurance company or its agents enter into such 

 a combination or pool, when it shall be made to 

 so appear to the insurance commissioners, the 

 license of such company shall be revoked. 



The law further provides that if any company 

 shall refuse to take a risk, or increase the rate 

 of any risk, or charge an apparently exorbitant 

 rate, the person owning such risk may make 

 complaint to the insurance commissioner. If it 

 is found on investigation that the increased rate 

 or the refusal of a risk or the exorbitant charge 

 is due to any combination to lessen or defeat 

 competition in which the company complained 

 of is a party, then such company's license is to 

 be revolved. 



Provision was made for distributing the sum 

 received by the State from the Federal Govern- 

 ment as a refund of the direct-tax levy to the 

 persons who originally paid the tax, or to their 

 heirs. An offer to transfer Rock College, near 

 Athens, to the State, to be used as a normal 

 college, was accepted, and the college was estab- 

 lished as a branch of the State University. It 

 occupies 10 acres of land and has a yearly in- 

 come of $1,000 from funds left by the founder, 

 ex-Gov. Gilmer. 



As a result of long discussion and a persistent 

 effort to secure a declaration by the Legislature 

 in favor of the Ocala platform of the National 

 Farmers' Alliance, the following resolution was 

 passed : 



That our Senators and Kepresentatives in Congress 

 be, and they are hereby, requested to use their influ- 

 ence and votes to secure legislation which will cor- 

 rect the evils complained ofby the National Fanners' 

 Alliance and Industrial Union in convention at 

 Ocala, Fla., and the evils complained of by the 

 Democratic party, especially those that relate to the 

 present financial condition and taxation of the gov- 

 ernment. 



Other acts of the session were as follow : 



To require common carriers to receive live stock 

 for transportation. 



To provide for honorable retirement of commis- 

 sioned officers. 



To regulate the business of building and loan asso- 

 ciations. 



To prescribe conditions under which long-range 

 fire-arms shall be carried. 



To prescribe how payment of pensions shall be 

 made. 



To require railroad, street railroad, and telegraph 

 companies and other corporations to give their em- 

 ploy 6s reasons in writing for their discharge. 



To make appropriations for State expenses for the 

 fiscal year 1891-'92, and to provide that the revenue 

 derived from the excess of taxable property over 

 $415,000,000 up to $445,000,000 shall be appropriated 

 to the School mnd. 



To create a game law for the State. 



To set apart Labor Day as a legal holiday. 



Coal. In the northwestern counties of Georgia 

 an area of about 200 square miles is underlaid 

 by the eastern edge of the Appalachian coal 

 field near its southern extremity, embracing por- 

 tions of Dade and Walker Counties. The coal is 

 -semi-bituminous, and yields a fair quality of 

 coke. The only important mining operations 

 are at Coal City, in Dade County. In North 



