TENNESSEE. 



757 



provide for the infliction of the death-penalty in pri- 

 vate ; to prevent the owners of billiard, bagatelle, or 

 pool tables permitting minors to play thereon ; to reg- 

 ulate pool-selling, book-making, and combinations 

 upon turf, trotting, and pacing races ; to punish crimi- 

 nal abortions ; to provide for the erection of an insane 

 hospital in the eastern division of Tennessee ; to em- 

 power municipal corporations and taxing districts to 

 compromise and fund their indebtedness ; to provide 

 for the lease and management of the State Peniten- 

 tiary ; to define the measure of damages recoverable in 

 case of the death of a person caused by the wrongful 

 act, fault, or omission of another ; to provide for the 

 regulation of railroad companies and persons operating 

 railroads ; to prevent discrimination upon railroads, to 

 provide for the punishment of the same, and to ap- 

 point a railroad commission ; to protect contractors and 

 laborers for work performed and materials furnished 

 for railroads ; to provide for the redemption of the 

 notes of the Bank of Tennessee, and to protect the 

 State therein. 



Debt Question. The act of 1882 providing for 

 compromising and funding the bonded indebt- 

 edness of the State was repealed, and a new act 

 was passed, based in its terms upon the Demo- 

 cratic platform of 1882. The most important 

 portions of this law, which its friends hope will 

 prove a final settlement of the much-vexed debt 

 question, are the following : 



Such part of the State debt proper as now bears in- 

 terest at the rate of six per cent, per annum shall be 

 funded by adding to the sum of the face of the exist- 

 ing bond the matured interest thereon, evidenced by 

 the coupons thereto attached, including the coupons 

 maturing the 1st day of July, 1883, and from the total 

 sum of the face of the bonds and matured interest there - 

 on, evidenced by the coupons attached, twenty-four 

 per cent, will be deducted and the remainder funded 

 in coupon bonds, bearing interest at the rate of six per 

 cent, per annum. Such part of the State debt proper 

 as now bears interest at the rate of five and one fourth 

 per cent, per annum shall be funded by adding to the 

 sum of the face of the existing bonds the matured in- 

 terest thereon, including the coupons maturing the first 

 day of July, 1883, evidenced by the coupons thereto 

 attached ; and, from the total sum of the face of the 

 bonds and the accrued interest, twenty-one per cent, 

 will be deducted and the remainder funded with cou- 

 pon bonds bearing interest at the rate of five and one 

 fourth per cent, per annnm. Such part of said State 

 debt proper as now bears interest at tne rate of five per 

 cent, per annum shall be funded by adding to the sum 

 of the face of the existing bond the matured interest 

 thereon, including the coupons matured first day of 

 July, 1883, evidenced by the coupons thereto attached, 

 and from the total sum of the face of the bond and 

 the accrued interest twenty per cent, will be deducted, 

 and the remainder funded into coupon bonds bearing 

 interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum : 



Provided, however, That none of the bonds or parts 

 of bonds heretofore issued under the previous funding 

 acts for matured coupons shall be funded under this 

 section as State debt proper bonds, but the same shall 

 be funded at fifty cents on the dollar. 



Re itfurtTier enacted, That such part of the before- 

 recited public debt of the State as may have been 

 funded under the act of 1882, shall be funded under 

 this act upon the following basis : To the sum of the 

 face of each of said bonds shall be added the coupons, 

 now matured, thereto attached, including the coupons 

 maturing the 1st day of July, 1883, and five sixths of 

 such total amount of said bonds to be funded into cou- 

 pon bonds, and said bonds to bear interest at the rate 

 of three per cent, per annum, except such State debt 

 proper bonds as are designated in section one of this 

 act, and funded under the act of 1882, which shall be 

 funded by adding to the face of each of said bonds 

 the matured coupons thereto attached, including the 



coupons maturing the 1st day of July, 1883 ; to which 

 shall be added 261 per cent, on bonds which bore 6 

 per cent, when originally issued and funded into new 

 coupon bonds bearing interest at the rate of 6 per 

 cent, per annum, and to such part of said State debt 

 proper bonds as bore interest at the rate of 5^ per cent, 

 when originally issued shall be added 31| per cent., 

 and they shall be funded into new coupon bonds bear- 

 ing interest at the rate of 5i per cent, per annum, and 

 to such part of said State de Dt proper bonds as bore 

 interest at the rate of 5 per cent, when originally is- 

 sued shall be added 33i per cent., and they shall be 

 funded into new coupon bonds bearing interest at the 

 rate of 5 per cent, per annum. 



Education. The scholastic population of the 

 year was 418,822 white and 142,624 colored ; 

 number of schools, 4,727 white, 1,384 colored ; 

 total 6,111, sixty-nine of which were under 

 the control of city boards. White pupils en- 

 rolled, 261,297; colored, 65,934; total, 327,- 

 231 ; average daily attendance, white, 144,306; 

 colored, 31,498 total, 175,804. Number of 

 white male teachers employed, 3,762 ; female, 

 1,518 ; colored male, 1,031 ; colored female, 

 422 total, 6,733. The receipts of the year 

 were $1 ,206,392. Expenditures (of which $795,- 

 483 was for teachers, and $57,804 for school- 

 sites), $918,863; balance, $287,529. 



The present school law, which was passed 

 March 6, 1873, created a school fund, of $2,512,- 

 500, with interest at 6 per cent, per annum. 



Finances. The cash received by the Treasurer 

 from Dec. 19, 1880, to Dec. 19, 1882, was $1,- 

 870,224.02, which, with $222,424.39 cash in 

 the treasury, made a total cash account of 

 $2,092.648.41. The disbursements from Dec. 

 19, 1880, to Dec. 19, 1882, were only $1,584,- 

 633.33, which left in the treasury a cash bal- 

 ance of $508,015.08. The total amount due 

 by delinquents, Dec. 18. 1880, was $375,804.- 

 70; Dec. 18, 1882, $345,626.56, being a reduc- 

 tion of $30,178.14 in the two years. The total 

 State tax for 1882 on taxable property assessed 

 at 20 cents on the dollar was $443,849.42 ; in 



1881, at 30 cents, it was $675,869.58, making 

 a deficit in tax of $232,010.16. 



The valuation of property in 1882 was as 

 follows : 



Value of land in acres $146,657,833 



Value of town lots 48,725,735 



Value of other taxables 26,546,245 



Total value of taxable property in the State. $221,929,818 



Early in January the State Treasurer, M. T. 

 Polk, fled from the State, and upon investiga- 

 tion it was found that he was a defaulter to 

 the amount of $374,364.50. 



Railroads. The total length of railroads in 

 the State is 2,035 miles; and their total tax- 

 able value, $31,197,200. 



Congressional Districts. The following are the 

 congressional districts formed under a law of 



1882, as amended in 1883 : 



1. Johnson, Carter, Sullivan, Washington, Unicoi, 

 Hawkins, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Claiborne, 

 Cocke, and Grainger counties. 



2. Jefferson, Union, Sevier, Blount, Knox, Loudon, 

 Koane, Anderson, Morgan, Campbell, and Scott. 



3. Monroe, Polk, Bradley, Hamilton, Meigs, Ehea, 

 Cumberland, James, McMinn, Bledsoc, Sequatchie, 

 Marion, Grundy, Van Buren, White; and Warren. 



