290 



GEORGIA. 



-Von, sir, have endeared yourself to the hearts 

 of all Confederate soldiers on account of the noble 

 sentiments expressed by you in regard to our Con- 

 federate dead. I assure you that these old, maimed, 

 and infirm veterans who have met here to do you 

 honor to-day appreciate such words of love and 

 kindness, anil uttered, too, by the President of this 

 great country and by one who was a member of the 

 I'nion army in the sixties. I hope and pray, Mr. 

 President, that God in his infinite mercy may so 

 direct the future legislation of this country that 

 the living Confederates will be remembered. This 

 country and the Stars and Stripes belong as much 

 to the Confederate veterans as to the Grand Army 

 of the Republic. The South proved its loyalty to 

 this grand old country when war was declared with 

 Spain, and now, henceforth, and forever she will be 

 found ready to take up arms to defend our country 

 and our flag. Mr. President, on behalf of these 

 brave and maimed Confederate soldiers of Bibb 

 County, Georgia, I present to you this parchment, 

 engrossed in letters of gold, the beautiful sentiment 

 expressed by you in our capital city in regard to our 

 honored dead." 



Another Confederate veteran offered the Presi- 

 dent a badge of a Confederate Veterans' Associa- 

 tion, which was accepted and worn by the President 

 during his stay in Macon. 



Legislative Session. This began Oct. 28, and 

 ended in December. 



President McKinley made a speech before the 

 joint session on Dec. 14, and the following passage 

 was received with great enthusiasm : 



"Every soldier's grave made during onr unfortu- 

 nate civil war is a tribute to American valor. And 

 while, when those graves were made, we differed 

 widely about the future of the Government, those 

 differences were long ago settled by the arbitrament 

 of arms, and the time has now come in the evolu- 

 tion of sentiment and feeling, under the providence 

 of God, when in the spirit of fraternity we should 

 share with you in the care of the graves of the Con- 

 federate soldiers." 



The following resolutions were unanimously 

 adopted, Dec. 15 : 



" Resolved, By the House, the Senate concurring, 

 that as the chosen representatives of the people of 

 Georgia we desire to express our high appreciation 

 of the chaste, eloquent, and enthusiastic address 

 delivered in the presence of this General Assembly 

 in the hall of the House of Representatives on yes- 

 terday by his Excellency, William McKinley, Presi- 

 dent of the United States. 



" Resolved, further, That President McKinley by 

 his ready recognition of Southern ability and South- 

 ern worth in military appointments made at the 

 outbreak and during 'the recent Spanish-American 

 War won a warm place in the hearts of all of our 

 people and endeared himself to the country at large. 



" Resolvi'il, further. That we desire especially to 

 << >i!i mend ana applaud the generous ana soldierly 

 suggestion made by his Excellency that the North 

 should share in the care of the graves of the Con- 

 federate soldiers. 



" 7<VWm/, further. That the Secretary of the 

 Senate and the clerk of the House of Representa- 

 tives be instructed immediately after the adoption 

 of these resolutions to have a copy of the same en- 

 rolled and duly attested and tluit they deliver the 

 same to his Excellency, the President, in person, 

 before he leaves the capital of the State." 



Among the important measures before the Legis- 

 lature were several designed to reduce State ex- 

 penditures and lower the rate of taxation. It is 

 estimated that those which were adopted will re- 

 duce the rate from 6.21 mills to 5.36 mills. The 

 most important act in this direction was the re- 



duction of the common-school appropriation from 

 $1,000,000 to $800,000. 



Measures were proposed also for making taxation 

 more equitable and reaching property that escapes 

 paying its just proportion. A set of questions was 

 prepared and embodied in the general tax bill. 

 They call for exact answers as to the quantity and 

 value of the various kinds of property, and every 

 taxpayer is to be required to answer them under 

 oath. Further, a resolution was passed providing 

 for the appointment of a board of tax commission- 

 ers to consider the tax problem in its different 

 phases and to report at the next session of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly in 1899. 



In the House 435 bills and 149 resolutions were 

 introduced, and 157 of them were passed. The 

 number passed of those originating in the Senate 

 was 37. 



Political. A Governor and other State officers 

 were to be elected in October. The candidates of 

 the Democratic party were chosen at the primaries, 

 June 6, and were nominated by the State conven- 

 tion held in Atlanta, June 29. The platform de- 

 clared the war with Spain to be " just and right- 

 eous," and demanded that Spain be driven from the 

 Western Hemisphere. It urged the construction of 

 the Nicaragua Canal, and declared in favor of tho 

 free coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. 

 On State issues it approved the uniform primaries 

 called by the State Executive Committee to ascertain 

 the choice of the people for the nominations to bo " 

 made by the convention, and instructed the com- 

 mittee to make similar provision for choosing future 

 candidates for State offices, and to declare the offi- 

 cial form of a ballot for use at the primaries, con- 

 taining the names of all candidates to be voted for, 

 and allowing no other to be recognized. It favored 

 the nomination of candidates for the Senate by 

 direct vote of the people. It commended the exist- 

 ing State administration and called for liberality to 

 the. public schools ; and said further : 



" We commend the last General Assembly for the 

 improvement inaugurated in the State Penitentiary 

 system, and we urge .upon the prison commissioners 

 to give immediate attention to the establishment of 

 a reformatory for youthful criminals. 



" We refer with pride to the fact that the State 

 of Georgia has been more liberal than any other 

 State in the matter of pensions to Confederate vet- 

 erans, and we believe it is the duty of the General 

 Assembly to make adequate provisions, for the fu- 

 ture, for all Confederate veterans and the widows of 

 Confederate veterans who are in dependent or needy 

 circumstances." 



The candidates were : For Governor, Allen D. 

 Candler ; Secretary of State, Philip Cook ; Attor- 

 ney-General, Joseph M. Terrell; Comptroller Gen- 

 oral, William A. Wright; Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture, 0. B. Stevens ; Commissioner of Schools, 

 G. R. Glenn; Treasurer, W. J. Speer; Prison Com- 

 missioner, J. S. Turner. 



The Populists held a convention in March an I 

 nominated Thomas E. Watson for Governor. lie 

 declined to run and J. R. Hogan was afterward 

 made the candidate. Republicans and Populists 

 fused in many of the districts. 



The total vote for Governor, Oct. 5, was 164,089 

 about 20 per cent, less than that of 1896. The 

 Democrats carried the election by large majorities ; 

 Candler's was given as 67,923 (not official). The 

 Democratic vote in the Legislature is overwhelm- 

 ing. All the eleven Congressmen elected are Demo- 

 crats. A proposition to amend the Constitution to 

 that the judges and solicitors of the Superior Court 

 shall be elected by the people was carried. T) e 

 city of Atlanta decided in favor of municipal own- 

 ership of the electric-light plant. 



