720 



TENNESSEE. 



the State, were following the holding of the Court 

 of Chancery Appeals in the Dunn case as a prece- 

 dent, and were knocking out the taxes in all fore- 

 closure suits where the proceeds of sale did not ex- 

 ceed the amount of the debt, interest, and costs." 



The mortgagor in the case had, however, appealed, 

 and the State engaged counsel, with the result that 

 the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court 

 of Chancery Appeals. 



Legislative Session. The General Assembly 

 met in special session Jan. 17, and adjourned Feb. 5. 

 In the Governor's call 18 subjects for legislation 

 were specified. The first, five related to the city of 

 Memphis, whose citizens desired the passing of acts 

 that would enable them to place their city in better 

 sanitary condition, and so guard against the reap- 

 pearance of yellow fever, and therefore asked for 

 the special session. The measures were : To extend 

 the city limits; authorize issues of bonds for water- 

 works and for sewerage, and for building school- 

 houses in the territory annexed ; to grant power for 

 improving roads and to enlarge the taxing powers 

 of the city. The bills were accordingly passed em- 

 bodying the desired provisions. The bills providing 

 for waterworks within the annexed territory were 

 amended after their introduction, so as to provide 

 that the bonds issued for the purpose should be 

 payable in any legal tender, instead of in gold; and 

 that before the $2,000.000 of bonds were issued the 

 question should be submitted to vote of the people. 

 An amendment to submit the question of annexa- 

 tion to vote of the people of the territory to be an- 

 nexed was defeated. But in June the Supreme 

 Court decided that the act of annexation, which 

 would have added 12 square miles of suburbs to the 

 city and about 25,000 inhabitants, was unconstitu- 

 tional. 



Another subject mentioned in the call was the 

 assessment for taxation of railroad, telegraph, and 

 telephone properties " to provide for back taxing 

 and back assessing railroad, telegraph, and telephone 

 property for State, county, and municipal purposes, 

 and to provide the means and manner," to remedy 

 defects in existing statutes for such taxation; to 

 remedy defects in the assessments for 1897-'98, and 

 validate the assessments for those years; "to enact 

 such laws, prospective or retrospective, as may be 

 needful to prevent taxpayers from enjoining, hinder- 

 ing, and delaying making assessments." The occa- 

 sion for this legislation was the decision by Judge 

 Clark of the Federal Court that the valuations of 

 railroad property made by the Railroad Commission 

 and adopted by the Board of Equalizers were too 

 high, and the granting of an injunction against the 

 collection of taxes assessed on that basis. Bills with 

 the provisions named by the Governor were intro- 

 duced, but only one relative to railroad assessments 

 was passed. It only confirms an act alreajdy passed, 

 ratifying the provision conferring power on the 

 Railroad Commission to levy assessments. 



Other objects mentioned in the call were : To con- 

 sider the imposing of privilege taxes on certain 

 kinds of business; to authorize municipal corpora- 

 tions to provide parks and maintain them, and to 

 authorize an amendment to the charters of street 

 railway companies enabling them to aid in securing 

 and maintaining parks; to appropriate money for 

 paying expenses of the session and carrying its 

 legislation into effect; to amend the charter of Boli- 

 var and to abolish that of Martin and reincorpo- 

 rate that town. 



Acts were passed in accordance with these recom- 

 mendations. Three bills were passed relative to the 

 organization of -park associations and the mainte- 

 nance of parks near cities by the cities. These bills 

 have reference to the plan to make a park of the 

 Centennial site at Nashville. They authorize the 



City Council to appropriate an amount not to exceed 

 $5,000 per year to maintain the park ; authorize the 

 city of Nashville to furnish the park with light and 

 water; and authorize street car companies, whose 

 lines run near such a park, to guarantee the pay- 

 ment of interest on bonds issued by park associa- 

 tions. 



Another act relieves general merchants of the 

 cigar- and fruit-stand tax. and graduates the privi- 

 lege tax on circuses from $200 in the larger counties 

 to less amounts in the smaller counties. 



The election of a United States Senator to fill the 

 unexpired term of the late Isham G. Harris devolved 

 upon the Legislature at this session. The candidates 

 before the Democratic caucus were Thomas B. 

 Turley, who had been appointed by the Governor to 

 fill the vacancy until the Legislature should elect ; 

 Benton McMiilin, member of Congress; and Gov. 

 Robert L. Taylor. After a long deadlock it became 

 evident that Gov. Taylor could not be nominated, 

 and a majority of his supporters went to Mr. Turley, 

 who was nominated on the one hundred and forty- 

 fifth ballot, and was accordingly elected in joint 

 session, receiving 91 votes to 38 for J. W. Baker, the 

 Republican candidate. 



The cost of the session was given as about $20,- 

 000. 



Just before the close a resolution was introduced 

 in the House providing for the appointment of a 

 joint committee to investigate certain alleged at- 

 tempts to bribe members of the Legislature. It 

 was amended so as to include investigation of any 

 attempts at bribery during the regular session, and 

 passed. The alleged attempts at bribery were in 

 connection with the cigarette bill. The decision of 

 the committee was that the charges were not sus- 

 tained by the evidence. 



Judicial. A decision in January against mem- 

 bers of an ice trust and the imposition of a fine of 

 $1,000 serve to show that the law against trusts can 

 be enforced. 



The Supreme Court rendered a decision in De- 

 cember sustaining the anticigarette law passed by 

 the last Legislature, forbidding the importation and 

 sale of cigarettes in Tennessee. The court says that 

 cigarettes are not legitimate articles of commerce, 

 and therefore are not within the provisions of the 

 Federal Constitution regarding trade. 



The United States JSupreme Court declared in 

 December against the validity of the State law of 

 1877, in as far as it gives resident creditors of a 

 foreign corporation doing business in the State a 

 preference in the distribution of assets, in the case 

 of failure, over outside creditors ; but in the case of 

 a corporation which was a creditor in the same case 

 the court held that the second section of the fourth 

 article of the Constitution did not apply to the cor- 

 poration as it did to individuals that corporations 

 were not citizens of States in the sense that they 

 shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of 

 citizens in the several States. 



Political. The only State officers to be elected 

 this year were the Governor and the three Railroad 

 Commissioners. 



At the State convention of Democrats at Clrit- 

 tanooga, June 29-30, resolutions were adopted 

 calling for free coinage of silver, repeal of the liw 

 for 10-per-cent. tax on the issue of State banks, im- 

 position of an income tax, and Federal taxation 

 only for revenue for the support of an economically 

 administered Government. They approved the var 

 with Spain, and on State affairs expressed appro .al 

 of the laws passed in the interest of labor and th >se 

 for the reduction of criminal costs, and the crrat on 

 of the Railroad Commission ; also, of the State .id- 

 ministration and the course of the State's members 

 of Congress; they favored liberality in provid ng 



