UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (Mississippi.) 



751 



Legislative Session. The Legislature con- 

 vened Feb. 4, 1902, in special session, and ad- 

 journed March 11, being in session twenty-nine 

 working days. The principal business before it 

 was the new code of tax laws, prepared by a 

 commission appointed at the preceding session. 

 The new code failed of passage. 



Political. The Republican State Convention 

 \\iis held in St. Paul, July 1. The important 

 planks of the platform were these: 



Approving the administration of President 

 Roosevelt, including the administration of civil 

 government in the Philippine Islands. 



Adhering to the policy of protection. 



Favoring the wider extension of markets for 

 the sale of all American products. 



Favoring reciprocity with Cuba. 



Favoring legislation, national and State, to 

 prevent combinations which stifle competition, 

 limit production, control prices, or unduly in- 



ease profits or values. 



Favoring the most stringent legislation for the 

 suppression of anarchy. 



Our faith in the gold standard has been amply 

 justified by the wonderful strides of American 

 industry and commerce. 



The following ticket was nominated: For Gov- 

 ernor, Samuel R. Van Sant ; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Ray W. Jones; Secretary of State, Peter E. 

 Hanson; Auditor, Samuel G. Iverson; Treasurer, 

 Julius H. Block; Attorney-General, Wallace B. 

 Douglas; Clerk of the Supreme Court, C. A. Pid- 

 geon; Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner, 

 Charles F. Staples. 



The Democratic State Convention was held in 

 Minneapolis, June 25. The principal planks in 

 the platform were: 



Demanding independence for the Philippines. 



For the enforcement of the laws against trusts 

 and the revoking of the tariff benefits they enjoy. 



Favoring the income tax and postal savings- 

 banks. 



Opposing government by injunction. 



Favoring municipal ownership of public-service 

 corporations. 



Favoring the election of Senators by direct 

 vote. 



Favoring the eight-hour work day. 



The following ticket was nominated: For Gov- 

 ernor, Leonard A. Rosing; Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Robert A. Smith; Secretary of State, Spurgeon 

 Odell; Auditor, Albert G. Leick; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Frank D. Larrabee; Treasurer, Joseph L. 

 Meyers (Meyers declined, and the State Central 

 Committee substituted H. L. Shirley) ; Clerk of 

 the Supreme Court, George P. Jones; Railroad 

 and vWarehouse Commissioner, J. M. Bowler. 



The Republican ticket was elected, the vote on 

 Governor being: Van Sant, Republican, 155,849; 

 Rosing, Democrat, 99,362; Scanlon, Prohibition, 

 5,765; Meighen, People's party, 4,821; Van Lear, 

 Socialist Labor, 2,570; Nash, Socialist, 2,521 ; Van 

 Sant's plurality, 56,487. 



MISSISSIPPI, a Southern State, admitted to 

 the Union Dec. 10, 1817; area, 46,810 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 75,448 in 1820; 

 136,621 in 1830; 375,651 in 1840; 606,526 in 1850; 

 791,305 in 1860; 827.922 in 1870; 1,131,597 in 

 1880; 1,289,600 in 1890; and 1,551,270 in 1900. 

 Capital, Jackson. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1902: Governor, A. H. Longino; Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, J. T. Harrison; Secretary of 

 State, Joseph W. Power; Treasurer, George W. 

 Carlisle, who resigned Nov. 1, and was succeeded 

 by Thad. B. Lampton ; Auditor, W. Q. Cole ; Su- 



perintendent of Education, H. L. Whitfield ; Attor- 

 ney-General, Monroe McClurg; Adjutant-General, 

 William Henry; Land Commissioner, E. H. Xall; 

 Revenue Agent, Wirt Adams; Railroad Commis- 

 sion, J. D. Mclnnis, J. C. Kincannon, A. Q. May; 

 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Albert H. 

 Whitfield; Associate Justices, S. H. Terral, S. S. 

 Calhoon; Clerk, Edward W. Brown. All are 

 Democrats. 



The term of the State officers is four years ; they 

 are chosen in November of the years next prece- 

 ding those of the presidential elections. The Legis- 

 lature meets biennially the first Tuesday after the 

 first Monday in January of the even-numbered 

 years. Every second session is a special session, 

 the regular sessions coming quadrennially. The 

 length of a special session is limited to thirty days 

 unless it is extended by the Governor; and only 

 appropriation and revenue bills may be considered 

 unless the Governor introduces other subjects by 

 message. / 



Finances. Following is an unofficial statement 

 of the condition of the funds in December: "In- 

 dications point to the fact that on Jan. 1, 1903, 

 there will be $60,000 in cash in the State treasury, 

 after paying all outstanding warrants and all ex- 

 penses to that date. This will be accomplished, 

 according to Auditor Cole, without any delay any- 

 where, and without issuing a dollar of the mil- 

 lion dollars' worth of bonds authorized for the 

 construction of the new State-House. By Feb. 1 

 $750,000 will be received from State taxes, ample 

 to meet the common-school funds and other ap- 

 propriations to be paid to that date." 



In the year $199,996.50 was paid to 6,680 Con- 

 federate pensioners. 



The present bonded debt of the State is given 

 as $2,887,026. 



Valuations. The assessed value of realty this 

 year is $145,719,108, an increase over 1901 of 

 $14,403,287; the personal property valuation is 

 $64,647,897, an increase of $1,411,421; that of rail- 

 roads, $30,622,121, an increase of $2,326,893. The 

 total, $240,989,126, shows an increase of $18,141,- 

 601. The increase for three years amounts to 

 $52,713,217. The number of polls assessed in 

 1902 was 300,756, an increase of 8,837. " Of the 75 

 counties of the State, 57 show an increase in 

 valuations, while 18 show a decrease. The most 

 notable increases are from the southeastern part 

 of the State, formerly called ' cow counties,' where 

 the railroads have been followed by sawmills, 

 new towns, and other enterprises." 



The Treasurer's Office. The shortage in the 

 treasury (see Annual Cyclopaedia for 1901, p. 

 722) was made the subject of a legislative in- 

 vestigation, and following is a part of the re- 

 port: "We find that $100,000 of the $107,621.44 

 that was missing at the time the Governor made 

 his count, in August, 1901, of the money in the 

 State treasury had been loaned in Memphis at 

 the rate of 3 per cent, per annum ; said interest, 

 when collected, was to be divided equally among 

 Messrs. F. T. Raiford, Phil A. Rush, and John 

 Armistead. This $100,000 so loaned had been 

 brought from Memphis before the counting of the 

 money in the State treasury by the Governor on 

 two occasions, one time by John Armistead and 

 the last by F. T. Raiford. We failed to find any 

 trace as to the whereabouts of the $7,621.44 at the 

 time the Governor and Auditor Cole counted the 

 money in the treasury in August, 1901. We find 

 from the evidence that there were no bonds or se- 

 curity in the State treasury to cover the missing 

 $107,621.44 at the time of the count made by the 

 Governor; nor was there any evidence as to the 

 whereabouts of said money at that time. We find 



