338 



GEORGIA. 



in the House of Representatives is Hiram P. convention was to assemble on the second 

 Bell, elected at a special election on the 13th of Wednesday in July, and to consist of 194 del- 



egates, apportioned by the act among the sev- 

 eral senatorial districts. In voting for dele- 

 gates the people were at the same time to vote 



March. 



One of the earliest subjects to engage the 

 attention of the Legislature was a bill provid- 

 ing for a convention to revise the Constitution on the question of having the convention held, 

 of the State. It was passed after a prolonged The Constitution prepared, in case of an af- 

 debate, and provided for an election of dele- firmative vote, was to be submitted to the 

 gates on the second Tuesday in June. The people for ratification. The sum of $25,000 



Obverse. 



Reverse. 



STATE SEAT, OF GEORGIA. 



was appropriated for the expenses of the con- 

 vention. The session of the Legislature came 

 to a close on the 22d of February. On the 

 last day the following preamble and resolu- 

 tions were unanimously adopted : 



We, the representatives of the people of Georgia 

 in General Assembly met, deem it a duty which we 

 owe to ourselvesj our common country, and poster- 

 ity, to utter a voice of condemnation as well as of 

 warning, in view of the state of the Republic. The 

 disregard which for years has been shown for the 

 strict letter of the law, has naturally degenerated 

 into a disregard and defiance of its spirit, and we 

 now stand confronted with tremendous peril to lib- 

 erty itself. Our servants have been our masters, 

 and neither the laws nor the Constitution can pro- 

 tect us. Could reason be left free to combat error, 

 and the people to effect reforms where they are 

 needed, we should be hopeful of the future. But 

 the facts of our present political history declare that 

 the very safeguards of the ballot have been taken 

 away from us by the wicked instrumentalities which 

 have been devised for the purpose of robbing the 

 people of power and free suffrage, and we are power- 

 less to redress our wrongs. The patriotic of all par- 

 ties can but feel how earnest the effort was in our 

 recent presidential election to redress the evils 

 which were affecting the country, by a peaceful and 

 honest use of the ballot, and the whole world proves 

 how a wicked oligarchy has defeated the purpose. 

 If fraud no longer vitiates the actions of men or 

 States, then, indeed, are we hopeless of the corrupt 

 and lawless who now hold power and may hold it 

 forever. If the highest tribunal in our land, which 

 we have fondly looked to as the last stronghold of 

 freedom, has declared that fnnKbKm liberty and law 

 must stand unreversed and irreversible, then, in- 

 deed, we are a doomed people. With the law tram- 

 pled upon, the name of State sovereignty a byword 

 of reproach, governments, in the South, at least, set 



up and pulled down at will, and the foundation of 

 justice itself polluted, it does seem that the over- 

 throw of our common government is imminent. In 

 the present state of the Republic the voice of every 

 patriot is needed ; apathy is a crime, and silent ac- 

 quiescence in the conspiracy against our liberties is 

 ruin. 



_ Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives in General Assembly met, That we hereby 

 declare it to be the sense of this Assembly, as well as 

 the firm belief of the people of Georgia, that Samuel 

 J. Tilden was fairly elected President of the United 

 States for the ensuing four years, and that Thomas 

 A. Hendricks was elected for the same term Vice- 

 President, and if they shall fail of a peaceful inau- 

 guration, then will the people of the United States 

 have been defrauded of their choice, and a fatal 

 blow be given to public honor, and to the stability 

 and integrity of the Government. 



Resolved, by the authority aforesaid, That the 

 General Assembly views with alarm and most de- 

 cided condemnation, and hereby enters into a solemn 

 protest against, the interference of the authorities of 

 the General Government with the full exercise of 

 the ballot in the several States, whether that inter- 

 ference is manifested in the control of returning 

 boards, or in the presence of United States troops 

 at the polls, or in the arbitrary elevation of its fa- 

 vorites to supreme power in place of those chosen 

 by the people. 



There were 409 acts and 17 resolutions 

 passed during the session, bnt nearly all of 

 them were of purely local concern. Many 

 county lines were changed, and a large num- 

 ber of acts related to county courts, the sale 

 of liquor in certain localities, municipal affairs, 

 special corporations, and other matters of local 

 administration. Among the few general laws 

 was one "To prevent joint stock companies, 



