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Brought forward..

Should the U. S. agree to accept the 7 per cent. bonds for the real estate tax, amount thereof would be added

This would make the total bonded debt of the State....

$529,333 33

$4,550,062 22 grants were made by the Federal Congress to aid in the construction of various railroads in the State. The war prevented the companies from taking advantage of these grants, and the time within which they were to be secured expired in June, 1866. All the roads in the State are suffering from the effects of the war. No one has been able to recommence the work of construction which was going on when hostilities commenced.

$5,079,395 55 The effect of the stay law passed at the previous session had been to stimulate creditors to commence suits, so as to secure themselves all the advantages which the law could afford. The constitutionality of the act was also tested in the Supreme Court, and a decision rendered which placed such a construction on the law as to greatly diminish the time for carrying judgments into effect. The law, therefore, did not accomplish all that was anticipated.

Only two of the State banks took advantage of the act to reduce and consolidate their stock. The Bank of Mobile reduced its stock from a million and a half to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the Southern Bank of Alabama from a million to two hundred and fifty thousand. The capital stock of the other banks, it was believed, had been so reduced by the effects of the war, that they would be unable again to resume business. More than onehalf the capital stock of the banks was drawn out by the State during the war.

The tax of three cents per pound on cotton, ordered to be levied by the Federal Congress, operated in an oppressive manner upon the productive labor of the State. A bale of cotton weighing five hundred pounds was taxed fifteen dollars; to this was added the incometax of five per cent., which, under the estimates of the year, amounted to an additional five dollars on the five hundred pounds.

The public institutions of the State are recovering from the effects of the war. The number of insane persons in the State is estimated at seven hundred. A hospital for this class of persons, established at an expense of $300,000, is in successful operation. The number of patients, near the close of the year, was about seventy-five, although the institution could accommodate three hundred and fifty. An institution for the deaf and dumb is also in successful operation. The arrears due to it from the State have been paid. The number of convicts in the penitentiary increased during the year from fifty-one to one hundred and fifty-eight, of whom thirty-eight were white, and one hundred and twenty colored persons. A large proportion of the colored were sent to the penitentiary from cities and large towns, whither the negroes, on becoming free, flocked in great numbers. The reconstruction of a building for the State University has been commenced, by means of a loan of seventy thousand dollars granted by the State. The common-school system has not yet recovered from the derangement caused by the war. The schools have been suspended for two years, and the public sympathy in them has greatly declined. The interest due to the fund for two years from the State has not been paid. Land

The Legislature at this session elected John A. Winston a Senator to Congress. He had been elected Governor of the State in 1855 and 1857, and was one of the Douglass presidential electors in 1860. In the House, on December 1st, a bill was introduced to extend the privilege of suffrage to all male persons, and thereby establishing qualified negro suffrage. It was regarded as a measure calmly and carefully to be considered, although laid upon the tableyeas 69, nays 19.

In February, 1860, an act was passed to appoint a commissioner to revise the code of the State. The appointment of Turner Reaves was made, and the work of revision commenced, but in December, 1861, it was ordered to be suspended until the close of the war. In May, 1866, the commissioner resigned, and Chief Justice A. J. Walker was appointed to complete the revision. His report was sent to the Legislature on November 15th. The work of revision embraced the statutes enacted during the previous fifteen years, which were condensed and arranged in their proper places, with some other important features. It was approved by a committee of the Legislature, and adopted. In the Senate a series of resolutions were offered, providing for the reference to the people of the Constitutional Amendment proposed by Congress. These were reported upon unfavorably by a committee, and the subject laid over. The Governor, in his annual message, opposed the amendment, saying:

opinion that this amendment should not be ratified. For reasons such as these, I am decidedly of the The first section embodies a principle which I regard as dangerous to the liberties of the people of the whole country. That principle is as applicable to New York and Massachusetts as to Alabama. The second secment which has never been complained of before. tion proposes a change in a feature of our GovernThe question of representation has never been a

source of trouble or inconvenience. It contributed

in no way to the recent troubles of the country, and ing any part of the results of the war. tion would bring no possible good to the represented States, while it would reduce those that are unrepresented to utter anarchy and ruin.

a change in it cannot be legitimately claimed as formThe third sec

We are sincerely desirous for a complete restora. tion of the Union. We want conciliation, harmony, and national tranquillity. We feel that we have given every evidence which human action can furnish, of an honest purpose to conform in good faith to the condition of things surrounding us. Alabama is today as true to the Constitution and laws of the Genthe internal revenue law, and the tax on cotton, the eral Government as any State in the Union. Under people of this State are now paying revenue to the General Government at the rate of nearly ten millions

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At a later day the views of the Governor relative to this amendment were changed, and ou December 6th he addressed a message to both Houses in its favor. He expresses apprehension of the future, saying:

There is an unmistakable purpose on the part of those who control the National Legislature to enforce at all hazards their own terms of restoration. The measures they propose threaten to at once reverse our progress toward the establishment of that permanent tranquillity which is so much desired by all. To do so is to immediately augment the distress which now exists, and inaugurate confusion, the end of which no human prescience can foresee.

To-day the cardinal principle of restoration seems to be favorable action upon the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which I transmitted to you in my annual message.

Upon the merits of the amendment my views are already known. They are founded upon principle, and are unchanged. The necessity of the case, I am now constrained to think, is different. We should look our true condition full in the face.

The amendment was finally rejected by an overwhelming majority in both Houses. The amount of the Federal tax of 1861, assigned to Alabama, was $529,313. Nothing had been collected at the close of the year.

The amount of destitution in the State exceeded that of any other Southern State, and continued through the year. Supplies were furnished liberally by the Federal Government; charitable associations and private individuals made large contributions, and the State granted all the assistance practicable, notwithstanding which the supply fell short. During the eleven months ending September 13, 1866, the Federal Government issued 3,789,788 rations, which was an average of 11,500 rations per day. number of persons receiving supplies averaged monthly 21,700. The whites exceeded the blacks two to one. On February 23, 1866, the Legislature authorized the Governor to dispose of six per cent. bonds to the amount of $500,000, for the benefit of indigent families. Sufficient provision had not been made for the payment of the bonds, and they were unsalable. The Governor says:

The

"In consequence of the inability to use these bonds, it was not in the power of the State to extend that amount of relief to our suffering people which was desired. In some counties the destitution was so extreme, that I authorized the judges of probate, in conjunction with two other reliable citizens, to purchase corn on the State's credit, pledging payment on the 1st of January next. The amount authorized for each of such counties was one thousand bushels. In addition to this, I found it necessary to draw funds from the treasury to pay for the transportation, and other incidental expenses.

"In the month of June last I made a visit to the Northwest, with a view, if possible, of purchasing supplies on the State account. I there learned, as before observed, that the six per cent. bonds authorized were unavailable.. It was ascertained, however, that the eight per cent. bonds could be used for the purpose. In view, therefore, of the necessity of the case, I deemed it a duty to appropriate a portion of them to the purchase of supplies. Accordingly, State, and distributed. The corn was bought a lot of corn was purchased, brought to the at a low rate, and the banks of St. Louis pur. chased readily, and at par, a sufficient amount used in this way, including payment for transof bonds to pay therefor. The amount of bonds portation, was $48,500. The corn thus obtained was distributed in such localities, and in such quantities, as were deemed most suitable, and afforded much relief, which would not otherwise have been found."

The hope was indulged that the crop of 1866 would save the people from any further destitution. But this unfortunately was not the case. the crop short. In the opinion of the ComThe season was exceedingly unfavorable, and missioner for the Destitute, not half enough. grain was raised to subsist the inhabitants. The opinion was confirmed by the reports of probate judges. The War Department, therefore, authorized General Swayne, the Federal commander, to distribute, during the winter months of 1866-'67, supplies to the value of $120,000. This money was applied to the pur chase of corn and bacon, as likely to be much more useful than the regular rations heretofore issued.

A census of the State was take in 1866, the returns of which were nearly completed during the year. The results, as compared with the census of 1860, are shown in the following table.

It will be seen by an examination of these returns, that the effect of the war has been to neutralize the increase from all sources which, for the ten years previous, have been about 25 per cent. White and black fare apparently alike, although perhaps a disproportionate decrease among the blacks has been compensated by importations from time to time in order to avoid the converging theatre of the war. The census of white males in Alabama, which in 1860 gave an aggregate of 270,271, in 1866 presents a decrease of 9,267. The total of black males, in 1860, was returned at 217,766, and has diminished in the interval 3,523; about one-half the ratio of the former. The movement of freed people to the towns is shown by a marked percentage of increase in the counties of Mobile (25), Montgomery (23), and Dallas (Selma) (13), with a proportionate decrease in other counties. A northward movement of the freedmen into Tennessee is shown in the returns from Northern Alabama. The citizens of Randolph claim that their county sent 3,000 men to help the armies of the Union.

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437,770

3,576 964,201

Winston...

Total.......

The legislation of the State relative to freedmen has steadily improved since the close of the war. When the Legislature assembled in November, 1865, there was developed a strong party in favor of securing the unpaid labor of slavery, but without admitting the obligations of maintenance which that system imposed. The measures taken for this object failed through the vigilance of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the coöperation of the Governor with his veto. But at the close of the session, in the spring of 1866, a vagrant law was in force, which provided chain-gangs and the county jail for whoever should loiter at work, or desert a labor-contract. At the same time the stay law was so framed as to postpone for a long period the collection of wages. At the subse

526,431 quent session in November, 1866, the Governor in his message called attention to the subject, saying:

In reference to contracts with freedmen, there which are strongly suggestive of the necessity of have been some exceptional instances of bad faith, legal remedy. These exceptions are where employers of freedmen have, by captious unreasonableness, sought and even created pretexts for finding fault with their employés, and discharging them without pay, alleging a violation of contract on the part of the freedmen. The only remedy left the freedman is a suit for his wages, and this is so tardy as to be scarcely worth pursuing. For such injustice as this, a remedy should be provided. It could be found effective mode of enforcing payment for labor of in a law which would authorize a summary and an the character under consideration. I respectfully invite your attention to this subject.

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The right to testify in courts, in certain cases, was extended to the freedmen at the session of 1865-'66, and experience has demonstrated that the law was productive of good results. Colored persons were permitted to testify in cases where they were interested and where there was every inducement for false swearing which may be reasonably supposed to influence witnesses. But even with these strong temptations to commit perjury, the testimony of freedmen has been found valuable in the ascertainment of truth, and the Governor recommended that all restrictions should be removed. A steadfast coöperation has existed between the Bureau for the Freedmen and the Governor, and the results have been a growing kindliness between the white and black races, an increased fairness in the application of the laws, with prospective changes of a most useful tendency. He also recommended that a portion of the taxes derived from freedmen should be applied to the education of their children and the support of the indigent, aged, and infirm of that population.

A case, involving the validity of the acts of the Legislature after secession came before the Supreme Court of the State, and was decided on January 23, 1867. An act, passed on November 9, 1861, authorized executors to invest in bonds of the Confederate States or of Alabama. The court unanimously sustained the validity of the government of Alabama as a de facto government during the war, and the authority of the Legislature to pass such an act.

In the Circuit Court of Butler County a motion was made to dismiss a suit on the ground that the original writ, when issued, was not stamped as required by the U. S. Revenue Law. In opposition to the motion, it was urged that the act did not apply to this case, for the reason that, when the writ was issued, the State of Alabama was under the exclusive control, possession, and dominion of, and owed allegiance to the then existing Confederate States Government.

Judge J. K. Henry decided that for the time being the sovereignty of the United States was suspended, and the laws of the United States could no longer be enforced in Alabama, or be obligatory upon the inhabitants who remained and submitted to the existing power. These inhabitants passed under a temporary allegiance to the then existing government, and were bound by such laws and such only as for the time being it chose to recognize and impose. The ordinance of 1865, annulling the ordinance of secession of 1861, clearly refers to the present and not to the past, in the declara(i. e. the ordinance of tion that "the same secession) "be and is hereby declared null and void." Not that it was null and void from the beginning, but that it be now declared null and void. Analogous cases often arise in the ordinary legislation of the country. When an act is repealed, the language commonly used is, That the same be and is repealed; " yet no

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one understands this language as declaring that
the act repealed was void or repealed from the
beginning.

The subsequent surrender and destruction of
the Confederate States authority, and the com-
plete restoration of the United States authority,
could not change the character of the previous
state of things, so far as this question is con-
cerned. The writ having been issued before the
authority of the United States was reestablished,
he was of opinion that the plaintiff could not
the process.
be required to place a stamp upon

ALLEN, HENRY WATKINS, ex-Governor of Louisiana, a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, born in Prince Edward County, Va., April 29, 1820; died in the city of Mexico, April 22, 1866. He was the fourth son of Dr. Thomas Allen, a medical practitioner of some distinction, and when quite young removed with his father to Lexington, Mo. After spending some time in school, he was induced to enter a store in the position of under clerk, but having an unconquerable dislike for mercantile life, his father consented to his enrolment among the students of Marion College, Mo. Remaining here two years, some dissatisfaction with the parental authority inHe ran away from college, duced him to leave and enter at once upon a more independent career. and making his way to the little village of Grand Gulf, Miss., obtained the position of teacher in the family of a wealthy planter, and afterward opened a large school. Subsequently he devoted his whole attention to the study of law, was licensed to practise, and had already become quite successful as a lawyer, when in 1842 President Houston called for volunteers to aid Texas against Mexico. Having inherited a military taste, young Allen was not long in deciding to offer his services; he raised a company, and proceeded to the scene of conflict, where he acquitted himself well, and upon the termination of his engagement his command was ordered to rendezvous at Egypt, on the Colorado, where they were honorably discharged. Returning to Grand Gulf, he resumed the practice of his profession, married, and in 1846 was elected to the Legislature of Mississippi. A few years later, upon the death of his wife, he removed to Tensas Parish, La., and afterward to his estate in West Baton Rouge, where, in 1853, he was elected to the Legislature. The following year he quitted his estate, and entered the Cambridge University as a student of law, and spent some time in reviewing his In 1859, attracted by the Italian war, studies. he went to Europe, but arrived too late for a personal share in the struggle He spent some time in travel, the incidents of which tour were gathered up in a volume, entitled the "Travels of a Sugar-Planter." During his absence he was reëlected to the Legislature. He took a prominent position in that body, was an earnest, eloquent speaker, and well qualified for leader. ship. In his politics he was a Whig until the election of Mr. Buchanan wher he became a

Democrat. Upon the outbreak of the war, Mr. Allen joined the Delta Rifles as a volunteer, and upon his promotion as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Louisiana was stationed for some months at Ship Island. Subsequently he was made colonel, and appointed military governor of Jackson. His first actual engagement was in the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded his favorite regiment, and fought gallantly, even after receiving a severe wound in the face. He was afterward ordered to Vicksburg, where he did efficient service in preparing the fortifications, sometimes directly under the fire of the Union army. At the battle of Baton Rouge, Colonel Allen commanded a brigade, and, while making a fearful charge, his horse was struck by a shell, killing him instantly, and the scattering shot passing through both legs of his rider, stretched him helpless upon the field, from which he was borne in an almost dying state. The amputation of one leg was advised, but owing to his entreaties it was, after a long period of suffering, finally spared. While lingering with his painful wounds he received the appointment of president of the military court at Jackson, Miss., also that of major-general of the militia of Louisiana, both of which he declined. In September, 1864, he was appointed brigadier-general, and ordered to report to the Trans-Mississippi Department, and had hardly entered upon his duties when he was almost unanimously elected Governor of Louisiana. He accepted the office, and at once gave himself up warmly and passionately to its duties. He was eminently fitted for the position, and was cheered and sustained by the devotion of the people. One of his first efforts was for the improvement of the State finances. For this purpose he arranged with General E. Kirby Smith, then commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, to have the cotton tax due the Confederate Government paid in kind, and established, without cost to the State, the export of the cotton, which the State received for taxes, through Texas to the Mexican frontier, and the return by the same route of such articles of medicine, clothing, and necessity as could not otherwise be obtained, which were sold to the people at moderate prices, and distributed gratuitously to the very poor. He also instituted and encouraged manufactures for the production of articles of prime necessity in the State. He most carefully enforced all the laws, especially those forbidding the distillation of alcoholic liquors from grain and sugar-cane, and did all in his power for the suppression of drunkenness and other vices, and by his frugal management was enabled to devote large sums to public charities. His devotion to the interests of all classes speedily won the confidence and affection of the people, and the results of his wise, efficient, and beneficent administration were felt throughout the whole Trans-Mississippi Department, and gave bim almost arbitrary power. At the close of the war, Governor Allen was strongly urged by his friends to leave the country, and feeling that by

remaining he could be of no further use to the State, he took up his residence in Mexico. Here he established an English paper, "The Mexican Times," laboring faithfully and zealously as the sole editor for eight months. But his career was drawing to a close. Upon the advice of his physician, he was making arrangements to go to Paris, and submit to a surgical operation, when his general health indicated immediate danger, and ere he could mature his plans, the end had come. A volume, entitled "Recollections of Henry W. Allen," prepared by Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey, was published in New York City early in 1867.

AMALGAMATION. The art of extracting precious metals from their ores by amalgamation, has made considerable progress within the last few years, especially since the discovery of rich gold and silver mines in the Territories of Nevada, Montana, Idaho, and others. The amalgamation of free gold from quartz is a simple process, and has become of great importance in the gold mines (now systematically conducted) in California. The auriferous quartz, after being extracted from the mine, undergoes the process of milling, which consists in the reduction of the same to an impalpable powder, that is generally performed by a stamp-mill, and a subsequent treatment with mercury in various ways. It is really in the details where many improvements have been proposed, several of which are actually worth mentioning, and have contributed much to reduce considerably the expenses of "milling." To give an idea of the cost of treating quartz by milling, it may be stated that it ranges from $0.67 to $8.31 per ton, with a product of gold varying between $5 and $80 per ton. The profits resulting from this process in these California mines range from $0.97 to $56.40 per ton.

Many complaints have been made with regard to the great loss of gold by the amalgamation, since the practical results obtained have been so variable and unsatisfactory, amounting in many cases to less than half the gold in the ore. One of the most important discoveries, effecting a better and more thorough amalgamation, has been made by Prof. Henry Wurtz, of New York, and patented by him in this and other countries, in 1864. In order to explain the merits of this invention, we refer here to the remarks made by Prof. B. Silliman at the session of the National Academy of Science, held in Washington during January, 1866, of which the following is

an extract:

It is well known to metallurgists that the amalgamation of gold is often attended with peculiar difficul ties, and that in the best-conducted operations on the large scale there is always a considerable, often a or tailings" collected by myself at various amalga large loss, of the precious metal. Samples of waste mation works in Grass Valley, California, a place noted above most others for the great success which has attended amalgamation of gold, proved on assay to contain in the quartz waste over thirty dollars to the ton, and in the sulphides over fifty dollars to the ton-showing a loss nearly equal to the average amount saved in that district. One of the most cau

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