5 336 445 GOVERNOR JOHN C. BROWN THIRTY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, STATE OF TENNESSEE. DELIVERED THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1873. i, NASHVILLE: JONES, PURVIS & CO., PRINTERS TO THE STATE, 1873. MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR JOHN C. BROWN THIRTY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, OF THB STATE OF TENNESSEE. DELIVERED THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1873. .NASHVILLE: JONES, PURVIS & CO., PRINTERS TO THE STATE. 1873. MESSAGE. Senators and Representatives : Deferring to your wisdom and personal knowledge of the wants of the country, I would most gladly spare myself much of the labor and responsibility incident to a regular message, did not the Consti- tution leave me without a choice. Impressed, as I am, with the conviction that you have left your ordinary avocations, as the chosen representatives of the people of your several Senatorial and Repre- sentative Districts, imbued with an earnest desire to promote the great material and industrial interests of our State, I confidently invoke your careful examination of such recommendations as I may make, in a spirit of fairness and candor, free alike from individual interest and partisan rancor. Weigh them alone by their merits. Look alone, I beseech you, to the honor and well being of Tennes- see, her present standing before the world, and her future prosperity and reputation. Forget, for the time being, in the consideration of all questions relating to education, finance, trade, immigration, commerce, agriculture, mining, etc., that we have had, have now, or expect in the future to have, political parties. Consider these vital subjects as Tennesseeans, actuated alone by a common desire to make our State the proudest and most prosperous of the American sisterhood. The task before us is Herculean. But brave hearts, inspired by the same patriotic emotions that have in the days passed, so sig- nally distinguished Tennesseeans, 'can and will accomplish all we desire. The last twelve months have witnessed a degree of prosperity hitherto unparalleled in our history. Our harvests have been most abundant. The earth has yielded a most satisfactory return to the labor of the agriculturist. Our mining interests have been extend- ed. The problem of cheap fuel has been solved. The advantages presented by Tennessee over Pennsylvania and other great manu- facturing centres, for the production of cheap and superior iron, is attracting the attention of enterprise and capital to her inexhaustible ore fields yet locked in the fastnesses of her mountains, but which must, before another generation, make Tennessee the great iron cen- tre of America. Neither plague, famine, nor pestilence has visited us. Neither civil commotion, nor political despotism has laid hands upon the foundations of our State government. All men, without regard to antecedents, have exercised the rights of freemen, without fear or molestation. In the midst of this state of general prosperity, let us continue to cultivate the spirit of concession, forgiveness and forbearance, that has been for the past three years so sedulously fostered by our peo- ple, and which has resulted in a condition of profound peace throughout the State, and most effectually brought repose and good feeling to society. And let us not, for a moment, forget that we are, for the time being, responsible for the security of our State government, and the happiness and prosperity of its people. Believing that you enter upon the execution of the high trusts confided to you by a patriotic and honest constituency, fully im- pressed with their solemn responsibilities, and nerved with a single purpose to advance the public interests, I beg to present such infor- mation as I have " of the State of the government," and " recom- mend for your consideration such measures as I deem expedient." THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. The reports of the Executive officers, already before you, contain all the information you desire from the several branches of the Ex- ecutive department. I have studiously endeavored to execute the laws and administer public affairs without partiality or prejudice, and in the discharge of the varied and increased duties imposed by the Constitution and laws upon the Executive, I have endeavored by every means compatible with a prompt and just dispatch of busi- ness, to cultivate economy in the expenditures of the revenues. And it affords me pleasure to say that my efforts in this behalf have been seconded by the other officers of the Executive De- partment. Considerable labor has been bestowed upon the archives in the Executive office to place them in condition to be examined by parties interested in them, and to prevent their decay. This work was done under authority of Chapter XVII of the Acts of the special session, passed March 30, 1872. Under my di- rections John S. Wilkes, my Private Secretary, has most efficiently performed the service. FINANCE AND CREDIT. The fruits of the legislation of the last three years, are most ap- parent, in the immense reduction of our bonded debt, and the per- ceptible improvement in the value of our securities in the money markets. Our debt is still large, and the quotations of our bonds are far below that of other States of equal indebtedness, and with inferior resources. Our bonded debt, with the unpaid coupons added, to the 1st of January, 1873, according to the Comptroller's report, is $30,632,- 200.76. But the State lien upon solvent railroads, and the proceeds of the sale of delinquent roads, will reduce the actual debt to $21,362,654. 31, which can be paid alone through the instrumentality of taxa- tion. You will perceive that of this latter sum about $4,000,000 is unpaid past due coupons. And the debt will continue to increase at the rate of about $1,000,000 per annum, until the payment of in- terest is resumed. Many of these bonds are now past due, and many more will soon become due. For more than three years the people have been in power, and yet no interest on the public debt has been paid, nor has any provi- sion been made for it. A sufficient answer heretofore has been that there was a very large floating debt, that could not be disposed of except by payment out of the current revenue. This floating debt, consisting of old issue of the Bank of Tennessee and outstanding Treasury warrants, amounting altogether to near $3,000,000, has, to- gether with the current expenses, been paid or provided for. Now the question, what shall be done with our past due coupons and 6 bonds and the accruing interest, cannot, upon any pretext, justifiable either before the world or before the enlightened public sentiment of Tennessee, be longer postponed. It is a question that cannot be trifled with. If the General Assembly fails to make provision for the debt, two years hence your successors may quail before a debt increased about $2,000,000 by accrued interest. And we may well ask ourselves whether the country will be better prepared to meet the present debt, increased by $2,000,000, than we are now to meet the existing debt ? Nothing gives such a promise. Feeling assured that you are determined to provide for this debt, the practical inquiry is, how shall it be done ? No one, I presume, will insist that the past due, as well as the ac- cruing coupons, shall be paid at once out of the revenues. This would oppress the people, and seriously retard the growth and pros- perity of the State. I respectfully suggest that you fund the entire bonded debt of the State, including, of course, the past due coupons, in a new series of bonds running forty years to maturity, bearing interest at the rate of six per cent, per annum, payable in January and July of each year. The reason for funding the entire bonded debt of the State in a new series of bonds is two-fold : 1. If there be outstanding bonds, issued without authority of law, they can and will be detected, and thrown aside. We ought not to pay the principal or interest of such bonds, and this is the only practicable mode of detecting them. 2. In the issue of a new series of bonds, running forty years, taking up all the old bonds, a system of registration, not heretofore adopted in Tennessee, would always show precisely our bonded debt. The work of funding would be accomplished, under one law, and probably within a year after the passage of the act. The con- fusion always incident to a frequent issue of bonds, under different Acts, to take up obligations constantly maturing, would be altogether avoided, and our financial system would be greatly simplified. It is believed that the expense incident to funding should be borne by the holders of our securities, and under an assurance and provision for an early resumption of the payment of interest, it is believed that the bondholder would cheerfully comply with such a provision. I further recommend that interest be paid only upon the funded debt, and that provision be made for such payment to commence as early as may not be oppressive to the tax-payer. No good reason can be seen, why the payment of interest on this debt, when funded, should not commence as early as July, 1874. This measure, if adopted, should provide, also, for the funding of all well ascertained liabilities of the State, other than what is rec- ognized as the floating debt. I recommend, too, that you declare whether or not the State shall pay interest upon bonds, after their maturity, until funded. There is no legislative recognition of such liabilities by the State, and the authorities on the subject are conflicting. In any event, I advise a repeal of all existing laws, authorizing the funding or novation of bonds and coupons. They are partial, and to some extent difficult of interpretation. The statistics of Tennessee show her taxable property to be $500,000,000. And it is believed that if the recommendation, else- where made, for the improvement in the laws for the assessment and collection of taxes are responded to, the present rate of taxation will yield sufficient revenue, with other sources that can be made availa- ble, to defray the expenses of the State Government, and also pay the interest on the funded debt. ASSESSMENTS. A fair and thorough trial of our present system of revenue law, has demonstrated that it is inadequate to meet the demands upon the Treasury, for the current expenditures of the Government, and the prompt payment of the annual interest upon our indebt- edness. The assessment of property for taxation, and especially of real es- tate, is unequally made ia many instances. In my message to the Thirty-seventh General Assembly I said, upon this subject : " Sec. 28 of Article II of the Constitution, provides, that ' all property shall be taxed according to its value ; that value to be as- certained in such manner as the Legislature may direct, so that taxes shall be equal and uniform throughout the State.' "' No one species of property, from which a tax may be collected, shall be taxed higher than any other species of property of the same value.' "This provision of the Constitution will be violated, if the mode of assessment does not result, as near as possible, in taxing property according to its value, and so that taxes shall be uniform throughout the State. " Any plan of assessing property which does not meet this re- quirement is in palpable violation of the Constitution. " And any system which fails to assess all property subject to tax- ation, will be in conflict with another provision of the same article, requiring 'all property to be taxed/ excepting, etc., etc. " The practical workings of existing laws, for the assessment of taxable property, produce great dissatisfaction, resulting in oppres- sion to a large class, because of the great inequality of assessments of property of the same market value. " There are too many Assessors in each county. Each Assessor has his own peculiar views and plans upon which to base his esti- mates, and the result is, that there is an absence of uniformity in the valuation of property. " It often occurs that tracts of land lying contiguous to each other, of the same quantity, quality and value, differ in their actual as- sessments from fifteen to one hundred per cent., and only because they are separated by an imaginary district line, and assessed by different officers. " It is but justice to all classes, and especially to the honest, prompt tax-payers, that a uniform valuation be made throughout the entire State, so that all may bear equally the burthens. " The officers upon whom this task is imposed in the various civil districts, would, doubtless, foe greatly relieved by such additional legislation as would exempt them from some of the responsibility, and frequently odium, which is cast upon them in the performance of the delicate task of affixing a valuation to their neighbors- prop- erty. " I therefore recommend that, as an amendment to the present system, the county courts be required to appoint, for their respective counties, a Board of Revenue Assessors, consisting of three or five men, who shall .be charged with the duty of assessing all taxable property in their respective counties, and that they shall be required to base their valuation of all lands upon the written evidence, in the form of depositions, of not less than three resident freeholders of the civil district in which the lands are situated, touching the 9 value of each tract of land in their district ; said depositions to be taken in the civil districts where the land lies, before some Justice of the Peace of said district, by whom the depositions shall be re- turned to the Board of Assessors, on or before the day of in each year, and filed by them with their returns to the County Court. " And, inasmuch as there is generally no standard of cash values affixed to lands, the value upon certain credits to be fixed by law, should first be ascertained by the Assessors from the proof, and then they should reduce it to a cash basis by a uniform rule, to be pre- scribed by law. No freeholder who is willing to bear his just pro- portion of the public burthens, in consideration of the protection afforded his life and property by the Government, can complain of this system. The testimony of his neighbors is invoked to do jus- tice between him and the State. The same rule is applied to his neighbor. All landholders are placed upon an equality, and pay taxes in proportion to the actual value of land owned by each." These recommendations were not adopted, and I now renew them. The reports of the Comptroller and Treasurer, now before you, de- monstrate that the measures adopted instead, have failed to remedy the evils suggested, and it is evident that the whole law of assess- ment should be thoroughly remodeled, in order to reach a just and uniform system of assessing the entire taxable property of the State. I still think this end cannot be attained under existing laws. The assessors should, I think, be selected from different parts of the county. They should be thoroughly identified and acquainted with the community, holding no other office, and should be appointed for a term say of four or five years and then be ineligible for a term. To aid them in the discharge of their duties, and at the same time to "unearth" a large amount of personal property, especially about the towns and cities, which now pays no tax, I suggest that every tax-payer render a schedule of all his property, money, bonds, stocks, choses in action, etc., certified by him to be correct, and de- liver it to the tax assessors, on or before a day specified by law under just and proper restrictions and penalties. This would place every tax-payer upon an equal footing. The citizen who desires to do right, will not complain at this mode of rendering his taxable property. He who is not willing to comply 10 with the law, should be compelled to yield his obedience, so as to share equally with his fellow-citizens, the general burden. COLLECTION OF TAXES. While the system of assessments, for the reasons stated, is rad- ically defective, the provisions of the law for the collection of taxes, after they have been assessed, are also inefficient, and, in some re- spects, inoperative. The most important requisite of a perfect collection law is that it is so plain, certain and distinct that it cannot be mistaken, misun- derstood or perverted by either the Collector or the tax payer. This being secured, the Collector should be compelled, by proper provis- ions and penalties, to a prompt execution of the law, and a speedy close of his trust. Under the law, as now administered, too much time is allowed the Collector, within which to make his settlements, and close his ac- count with the Comptroller. This delay only furnishes to the Collector an opportunity for trade and speculation upon the public money, which many are not slow to embrace always resulting in injury, and often in loss to the State. The remedy for this is plain and simply this, to allow only such time to the Collector to make his collections as may be neces- sary for that purpose ; and so soon as that has elapsed, the Comp- troller, and if necessary, the District Attorney, should be re- quired to see that his accounts are closed at once, or take judgment at the first term, after failure, under heavy penalty. Credits are also allowed the Collector without proper guards and restrictions for lands returned for condemnation, and for supposed improper assess- ments and insolvencies. To remedy this evil, I recommend that the Collector be required, upon making his returns (to the courts) to immediately notify the Board of Assessors that such returns have been made. The Board should, thereupon, within five days after the receipt of such notice, examine the returns, and if they discover that the tax assessed against any land so returned, might still be made by a sale of per- sonalty, belonging to owner of the land, they shall direct the Col- lector to make such sale. Whenever the Board shall be of the opinion that the tax, for which a credit is asked, could, by the exercise of proper diligence 11 on the part of the Collector, have been made at any time, after the books were placed in his hands, or if the Collector should fail to make sale of personalty after being directed to do so, as above sug- gested, then the Board of Assessors should be required to resist and prevent the allowance of any credit to the Collector, for such taxes. If, upon examination of such returns, the assessors should find that any taxes are reported as improperly assessed, and they should find them, for that reason, uncollectable, they should rectify such assess- ment and direct its collection ; and in default of collecting of such corrected assessment, the Collector should not be allowed any credit therefor, unless the tax-payer is insolvent. SOURCES OF REVENUE. The financial embarrassment of the State very forcibly suggests the necessity of seeking new sources of revenue. The charters of our railroads exempt perpetually from taxation the capital stock of these corporations. Without arguing the ques- tion whether the attempt at perpetual exemption is in consonance with our organic law, or within the scope of legislation, it is enough to say that such power is denied by many of the ablest American jurists. The Supreme Court of Tennessee, however, leaves no room for doubt, that the exemption of the capital stock of a corporation does not exempt the SHARES OF STOCK in the corporation, in the hands of individual stockholders. That question was directly pre- sented to the Court, in the case of the Union Bank against the State 9th Yerger's Reports, page 490. It is distinctly held in that case, that, although by the charter of the Union Bank, its capital stock is exempt from taxation, until the termination of its corporate existence, jet,that the shares of stock in the hands of individual stock- holders are not thereby exempt, but such shares of stock are the subjects of taxation at their cash value, like other property. This principle applies, of course, to shares of stocks held in all corporations. You need not be reminded that under this ruling you are left without option, in taxing these stocks, under the provision of our Constitution (Article II, Section 28) providing that "all property, real, personal or mixed, shall be taxed." Since the question of taxing suits before Justices of the Peace was considered by your predecessors, and rejected because of doubts of the constitutionality of taxing litigation, the Supreme Court of Tennessee, in the case of Harrison Pepper et al. vs. T. I. Willis, 12 has held that the General Assembly has the constitutional power to impose such a tax. I now submit to you whether under the provisions of our Con- stitution, declaring " that taxes shall be equal and uniform through- out the State/' you can tax litigation in Courts of Records, and ex- empt suits before Justices of the Peace. The former yields consid- erable revenue, and cannot be dispensed with. The latter would produce a much larger amount, and make a most valuable addition to the aggregate of our revenues, and would be a light burden upon litigants. SALES OF LANDS FOR TAXES. The attention of the last General Assembly was directed to the system under which lands have been sold for the collection of unpaid taxes, and I urged the necessity for the adoption of more stringent rules, in order .to make such sales -effective in the production of rev- enue. I repeat to you, what I then said : " Your attention is invited to the fact that for many years lauds sold for taxes, under section 622 of the Code, have been purchased in the name of Treasurer, as Superintendent of Public Instruction, for the use of common schools. In the majority of instances, the only result of these sales has been to charge the State with large bills of cost advanced from the school fund to pay the expenses of sell ing the land. " Such lands are rarely redeemed, and the original owners are never disturbed in the possession or enjoyment of them. It is gen- erally lands held upon speculation, or in large bodies, that are sold This system is an immunity to those delinquents against the payment of taxes, and the honest tax-payer is the sufferer, because the defi- cits thus created, are made up by increased assessments against him. A large amount, perhaps many hundred thousand dollars of the revenue, remains uncollected under this law, an'd legislation is re- quired, under which the lands can be re-sold, if not redeemed. " It is recommended, also, that the section of the Code referred to be repealed, and in its stead stringent laws be enacted, by which the tax on lands, like that on personal property, may be made available to the Treasury of the State." In addition, it is suggested that section 612 of the Code be so amended that the Tax Collector be required, in making return of 13 lands to the Circuit Court for judgment of condemnation, to give such description of the lands returned, stating locality, boundaries and the names of owners, that a judgment of condemnation, passed upon his report, shall be sufficient to vest a valid title in the pur- chaser, and the Court should enforce these requirements before judg- ment of condemnation is pronounced. When the sale has been made, a writ of possession should be issued to the purchaser from the Court ordering the sale, and be executed without delay, and the purchaser should be allowed to hold/use and enjoy the same, free from rent or other liability, for its proper use. The original owner, however, should have the privilege of redeeming, by paying the bid and interest, and the damages now allowed by law. Unless this or some other stringent measure is adopted for the collection of taxes against lands, a large amount of annual assess- ments which should be collected, will, in the future, as in the past, be totally lost to the Treasury; and in addition, year after year, a drain will be made upon the Treasury for the costs of sales which are void. There is no reason why the owner of land should claim or receive any greater immunity from the payment of taxes, than the owner of personal property. Thereisan idea, as false as it is prevalent, that the present loose sys- tem operates as a protection to the poor man. The poor man's land is rarely, if ever sold. It is the real estate held upon speculation, or in the hands of sharp, shrewd men, who have watched the imper- fection of the law, and learned to evade it, that is generally con- demned for sale. An examination of the reports of tax sales, now on file in the office of the Comptroller, will show, that in certain localities of the State, some of the largest landholders have, year after year, permitted their lands to be sold for taxes, and in this way have evaded the contribution of a single dollar to the Treasury. Each sale runs up a heavy bill of cost which must be paid out of the taxes collected from the prompt tax payer, and when paid oat, is rarely, if ever, returned to the State. This is worse than a farce, and is unjust to the good citizen who pro'.nptly meets the demand of his government. Nay, it is more; it is a flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The tax commissioners appointed under an Act of the last General Assembly to sell lands heretofore sold for taxes and purchased by the State, request an amendment to that Act, authorizing them to 14 describe the lands (so as to identify them) in filing their bills, and that this be made to cure the defect in the original description. EDUCATION AND COMMON SCHOOLS. The statistics of 1870 afford the basis of a charge that Tennessee is third in ignorance of the States of the American Union. This is heralded to the world by Tennesseeans, as well as critics beyond the State, as a disgrace to our people. Without controverting the assumed fact, let us review the condi- tion of the State, and ascertain the causes that have retarded the growth of any educational system. When the late civil war was inaugurated, Tennessee, with a popu- lation of 1,109,801, had a taxable list of $389,011,668.00. At the close of the war, the assessments showed 'only $194,849,- 387.00 of taxable property. The war had swept away $115,609,- 554.00 in slaves. And it is universally known that very little of the millions of personal property (aside from slaves), escaped the ravages of war. Meantime, the large debt owing by our people, growing out of their commercial and ordinary transactions, had swelled in volume by four or five years of accrued interest, all of which was unpaid. Tennessee, early in 1862, on account of her geographical position, be- came, and until the declaration of peace, continued the theatre of military operations. The school houses were closed. The country was devastated. And not until several years after hostilities actu- ally ceased, did society attain such repose and security that schools could be re-established. Added to this, when the people were restored to power, there was no educational fund, and the enormous public debt, already against the State, rendered it difficult to provide any permanent school fund. A large majority of the States were free from the actual presence of war. All of them enjoyed seasons of immunity from the scourges that daily inflicted Tennessee throughout her borders. So that, without regard to where the responsibility for the war rests, the fact nevertheless cannot be controverted, that for a period of time, embrac- ing the war and several years afterward, a system of schools in Ten- nessee was impossible. And in 1869, when the people acceded to power, they found a State debt of nearly $43,000,000 hanging like a midnight shadow 15 upon them. We had neither money nor credit. Our revenues were yearly absorbed in the redemption of the notes of the Bank of Ten- nessee and outstanding Treasury warrants. And the appalling question was, not whether we could maintain a system of common schools by the State, but could we preserve the State Government and sustain its faith and credit without bankrupting the people in their private fortunes. That problem is now happily solved. And while it is most unfortunate for the State, and especially for her children, that these untoward circumstances have paralyzed the efforts of the friends of education, yet it cannot be truthfully said that Tennessee is third in ignorance because of the indifference of her people to the subject of education. Every true son of hers, at the same time that he would aid in developing a plan to edu- cate her children, will not fail to relieve his State from the oblo- quy attempted to be cast upon her fair name. The county system, adopted more than two years since, is giving great satisfaction where its merits have been fairly tested. About thirty (30) counties have accepted its provisions. That it has de- fects cannot be denied by its warmest advocates. And the question is one that should not be lightly considered whether it should be abandoned, until the efficacy of amendments has been fairly applied. If the General Assembly should determine to foster this system, I recommend that you appoint a State Superintendent, with an ade- quate salary, who shall devote his time exclusively to the duties im- posed by that office, and if need be, an Educational Board for the State. Through their agency, the people could be awakened to the importance of testing the merits of the law, by levying a tax, and establishing schools within their respective counties. The present law might be amended, making it obligatory upon the county courts of the several counties, if they fail each year to levy a tax, to submit the question to a vote of the people. Other amendments which will readily suggest themselves, upon an examination of the law, would greatly improve the county system. After you have examined the resources of the State for revenue, and shall have matured a plan for making them available in the form of actual revenue, and shall have determined what amount will be necessary to sustain the State Government and at the same 16 time pay the interest on the funded debt, (if you should fund it,) it will be for you then to determine whether the property of the State can sustain such an additional levy as will be adequate to the sup- port of a system of common schools independent of or in conjunc- tion with the county system. The fund already provided and se- cured by the Constitution and laws, if properly utilized, forms the foundation upon which, with the growing prosperity of the State? a system of common schools may be built up commensurate with all the wants of the State. The permanent fund is a perpetual charge upon the State, by the terms of the Constitution, and by Acts of the General Assembly annual interest is chargeable thereon, against the Treasury. In funding the debt of the State, this might be included and the payment of the interest thereon could be provided for out of the general revenue. The poll-tax secured by the Constitution, added to the annual interest on the permanent fund, would be the available sum to be expended each year. I recommend that you memorialize the Congress of the United States to grant to Tennessee her proportionate part of the large public domain, which is being diminished every year by donations to rail- roads and to other corporations and to other States. If obtained, this land should be consecrated as a fund for education and common schools, under such rules and regulations as the General Assembly may prescribe, consistent with the Constitution. Whatever our preconceived ideas may be of the proper disposition to be made of the public lands, y,et if we can obtain them for this purpose, it would prove a blessing to the State that no other disposition of them could accomplish. Before leaving the subject, I beg of you to give it that attention demanded by its important influence upon the destiny of the State. The time has come when it must be met and disposed of. In govern- ments like ours, where officers are elective by the people, too much im- portance cannot be attached to the education of the voter. The degree of his intelligence will be reflected in all the departments of th e Government. It will manifest itself in the wisdom of our laws. Its influence will be felt in the administration of justice. It places its stamp upon society. Indeed, the prosperity and the permanency of the Government depend upon the intelligence of the people. I only commend to you the importance of the subject, leaving to your discretion and judgment the peculiar system that should be 17 adopted, or the improvements necessary to be made upon existing laws. Without I could anticipate your action in marshalling the resources of the State and making them available for revenue, as well as your disposition of the public debt, I cannot say more than I have already done. THE STATE PRISON. The reports of the Superintendent and Warden of this institution herewith transmitted, present the information necessary for you to estimate its condition. It is a gratifying fact that the prison has at last become self-sustaining. And when compared with the prisons of many of the States, the result we have attained is most grati- fying- In Illinois, for a period of fifteen months, the State prison was a charge on the Treasury of $130,196.52. Pennsylvania, in 1871, ex- pended, above her receipts, $58,811.61, for her State prison. Ark- ansas expended in twelve months, $21,530.65, and Mississippi $23,- 674.35. Missiouri, since 1836, has averaged $34,000.00 per annum in the deficits of the State prison. In Virginia the expenses have exceede 1 the income $40,000.00 per annum. In other States simi- lar results are shown. Some of them have adopted the general leasing system, while some others farm out the prison shops, or hire the labor at a per capita rate. The result in no State is so satisfactory as ours. The lessees have promptly met their obligations to the State. They have diversified the labor of the convicts, and reduced the mechanical products fifty per cent, in one year. It is to be regretted that, until the. branch prisons were thoroughly organized, escapes were frequent at. some of them. Bat it is believed that their recurrence is now effectually provided against. The applications for pardon have been about five hundred in the past fifteen months. Each case has been carefully examined and pardous granted only where there appeared to be sufficient merit, and in a large majority of cases, where the greater part of the term had expired. The subjects of pardon have generally been cases of convictions for larceny, committed at a time when society was in a state of disorganization resulting from the recent state of war. I have found it necessary, with the increasing number of inmates, to establish and adhere to more rigid rules on this subject. The Ex- 2 18 ecutive is often imposed upon by these ex parte applications, and I have, on this account, felt constrained to protect the State, by refus- ing all pardons for alledged merit or hardship, until the Attorney General who prosecuted the party, and where practicable, the Judge and prosecutor, have been consulted, and afforded an opportunity to present the claims of society. It has occurred to me that some spe- cial provision should be made for juvenile offenders. It is cruel to confine a boy of tender years, say twelve or fifteen, in a felon's cell, surrounded daily by the demoralizing influences of confirmed vil- lians, and, perhaps, for his first offense, committed, it oftens happens, under the influence of wretches who evade the law. If separate apartments, or a distinct reformatory institution could be provided for these juvenile offenders, it would be benficial to society, and more in consonance with an enlightened sentiment of humanity. CHAEITABLE INSTITUTIONS. You will be furnished, in due time, with reports from these insti- tutions, and at a future day of the session, I will make them the subject of special communication. You are aware that the " Tennessee School for the Blind "having no house, has occupied, for some years past, a large building in the city at a heavy rental, and not constructed for nor well adapted to the purpose. Very recently a prominent and most worthy citizen of Nashville, in a spirit of most commendable liberality, purchased a large lot with elegant improvements, very eligibly situated in the city, and donated it, by deed, to this institution. The grounds are ample for all the purposes intended, but the building is entirely in- adequate both in spape and construction for the present wants of the school. The number of inmates is thirty-eight, and the demand for admission constantly increasing. The census for 1870 shows 800 as the number totally blind in the State. I submit the follow- ing extracts from one of the recent reports of the present efficient Superintendent : " A considerable sum is now paid annually for rent. A house built for a private family always needs alteration when it is to be used for both an academy and a work-shop. All alterations and improvements in a rental building must be temporary ; they are paid for by^he school; they may not fully serve the purpose for which they were intended ; they cannot be made without the consent of 19 the owner ; they finally benefit him, or if the material with which they are rmde is worth the labar of removal, it cannot be sold at cost. Moving from house to house is expansive and troublesome. All the money expended for temporary improvements is taken from funds that were intended to directly benefit the educational in- terests of the school, not a dollar of which can be well spared for indirect uses. These are minor considerations when compared with danger from fire and danger to life through disease. " The blind frequently inherit scrofulous constitutions ; they are generally less robust, and possess less vital energy than seeing children. In nine cases out often, the very causes that operated to produce blindness, prevented perfect physical development. Per- sons who are strong and healthy may grow stronger by exposure and fatigue ; they may resist energetically the evil effects of un- wholesome air, sedentary habits and continued study, but the blind are apt to sink under exposure; they soon show the injurious effects of breathing vitiated air, lack of active exercise, and close application to study; the health fails, the constitution is un- dermined, and death ensues. The young blind need, and ought to have, the invigorating sports of childhood more than other children, in the open air when practicable, within doors when the weather is inclement. When sleeping apartments and other rooms are crowded, ventilation is deficient ; if to remedy this windows and doors are opened, chills, rheumatism, coughs, and perhaps consumption fol- low. The best efforts to properly regulate the supply of fresh ai y are often ineffectual. In 1857 the number of our pupils was al most as large as at present ; we then had a commodious building, gymna- sium and playground. The aid of a physician was required but twice during that year. For the past four years we had neither gym- nasium nor playgrounds ; our rented house (built for a single family) has been crowded, and therefore imperfectly ventilated; nearly every day a boy or girl was sick in bed, sometimes two or three at once. There was more than one severe and protracted case of ill- ness, threatening a fatal termination. The sickness prevalent du- ring the past four years must be, in a great measure, attributed to defective ventilation, crowded rooms and deficient exercise ; for the school, in all other respects, was situated and managed as in 1857. These causes of sickness and debility might have been wholly or partially removed in a properly constructed building, surrounded with adequate grounds." 20 It will become necessary for you to ascertain what amount of money is requisite to utilize this munificent donation to this charity that appeals so touchingly for support. That you will generously respond I have no doubt. CRIMINAL LAW. It is a question well worthy of your consideration, whether a thorough revision of the Criminal Law, and especially the Criminal Practice, might not result in a very perceptible dimunition of the costs attending the prosecution of criminals. If a plan could be devised by which criminals could be brought to a more speedy trial, the saving would be immense in the way of jail fees and costs of State witnesses. It may well be doubted whether the provision of Section 5208 of the Co^e, permitting a prisoner one continuance, upon his own affidavit alone, that there is " too great excitement to his prejudice, to come to trial at the first term at which the case is regularly triable," is not productive of more evil than good. Unscrupulous prisoners universally avail themselves of this pro- vision of the section referred to, merely to gain a term, when in fact no such excitement exist. While the prisoner should be allowed to continue, when there is too much prejudice for him to safely go to trial, yet the privilege could be guarded by requiring the affidavit of disinterested parties to the fact, and thus put it beyond the power of such unscrupulous persons to postpone their trial upon a mere personal affidavit, in. cases where, in fact, no sufficient excitement exists. It is believed that such modification of the section referred to, would protect the rights of the prisoner, and at the same time prevent a large amount of cost against the State. And, appropos to this general subject, I desire to call your atten- tion to the question of THE PLEA OF INSANITY IN CRIMINAL CASES. It is a subject of extreme delicacy, but of great and increasing importance to society. It shocks every sentiment of justice to pun- ish a human being for an act which is the result of mental derange- ment rather than of moral depravity. And yet, it may well be doubted whether this very sentiment is not rapidly leading to another extreme in the administration of the criminal law in American 21 > * courts. Society, as well as the individual, is vitally interested, and should, by all means consistent with justice to the accused, be pro teeted by the Legislative Department. In the absence of any special legislation in Tennessee, the Su- preme Court has held, under its opinion of the weight of American authorities on this subject, that in felony cases the existence of a reasonable doubt of the sanity of the accused, when the act with which he is charged was committed, entitles him to acquittal and discharge, notwithstanding the proof otherwise may be full and complete against him. It is not my purpose to discuss the sound- ness of this ruling, but only to call your attention to the subject and suggest the question, whether this rule, founded in extreme ten- derness, for the life and liberty of the citizen, should be extended farther than cases of capital felonies ; and whether in all inferior grades of offenses the plea of insanity should not be sustained by satisfactory evidence, like all other pleas. But however you may dispose of this question, I most earnestly recommend that you require that in cases of acquittal, upon the plea of insanity, the jury shall so return in their verdict, and that it shall then be made the duty of the Court to send the accused to the In- sane Asylum, only to be discharged when, in the opinion of the proper officers, all danger of a return of the malady is removed. Society demands at least this protection. CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS. The great expense attending the execution of our criminal law has been often referred to by State officials, and yet the evil is not abated, but instead, the cost of criminal prosecutions is, year after year, increasing, until in some localities the amount actually paid out of the Treasury for this purpose, exceeds the entire revenue de- rived by the State from that locality, and we have the strange ano- maly presented to us, of the crime of a community, proving a source of revenue to that community. The Comptroller's report will show an alarming increase in the cost of criminal prosecutions. It is be- lieved that more stringent provisions for the examination of bills of cost by the officers of the Criminal Courts should be made and en- forced. In other States, the system of requiring the several coun- ties to pay the costs of their criminal prosecutions, has had a most beneficial effect, and I would urge upon the General Assembly the 22 adoption of that system, inasmuch as it brings home to the immedi- ate notice of the tax payers, the expense of such prosecutions, and the irregularities and impositions practiced in making up these bills of cost. The conveyance of prisoners after conviction to the peni- tentiary, is also attended with more cost than is necessary, and,might, perhaps, be to some extent avoided by adapting the pay of officers and guards, and the rates of mileage to the cheapened mode of travel. REWARDS FOR FUGITIVES. It is too much the case, that officers of the State neglect to use the proper efforts to arrest parties charged with crime, and unfortunately it too often appears, that it is only after a reward has been offered that an arrest can be effected. In order to prevent the escape of criminals, I have been forced to draw largely upon the Treasury in the shape of rewards, but I have attempted to limit them to such cases only as could not be reached by ordinary process. When other means have failed to arrest fugitives from justice, I have had re- course to the plan of offering rewards without publication, and giv- ing information of the fact to such persons only as were reliable and ready to undertake the duty ot arresting the fugitive. The adver- tisement of a reward often defeats its object, in notifying the crim- inals that this additional inducement was offered for h's capture, and he is thus put on his guard. Complaints are frequently made to this office of the want of dispatch and efficiency in the execution of capiases and other process for criminals. It is my duty to state the iact and leave it to y our judgment to devise a remedy. COUNTY WORK HOUSES. The last General Assembly very favorably considered the recom- mendations t f 'of this system, as a means of preventing crime and economising the cost of administering the criminal law. But the measure was not adopted. More deeply impressed now than ever of the salutary effect of a carefully prepared and well ex- ecuted law, providing for the establishment by the counties of work- houses, for the punishment of misdemeanors and petit larceny, I re- new the recommendation on that subject made to the 37th General Assembly. By the establishment of a proper system of work-houses in each 23 couuty the State might be relieved of the greater part of this burden. More than one-third of the 740 inmates now in the State Prison are undergoing punishment for the crime of petit larceny. I would respectfully recommend that the criminal laws be so amended as to provide for the punishment of this offense as well as others of the same grade, as well as all cases of misdemeanor, by confinement and labor in the several counties where the law may have been violated. By labor upon the public roads, bridges and buildings, the prisoners may be made to reimburse the county for the expense of their confinement, and the cost of conviction, which ought, in the first instance, to be paid out of the county revenue. PUBLIC ROADS. It would scarcely be possible to devise a worse system than we now have for the laying out and improvement of our country roads. Bad as the law is, it is not executed. Next to a preservation of the peace of society, there is nc question in which the people of the State are more vitally interested. Many localities are dependent alone upon the common " dirt road " for their channels of trade and com- merce. They can reach their schools and school houses, and their churches and markets alone, over this class of thoroughfares. In winter they are often impassable, and the farmer is denied a market for his produce when most in demand and commanding the best prices. Labor fails in this way to meet its just reward, and, in the midst of discouragement, is paralyzed. The result is produce rots on the spot where it grew, and lands are not improved and cultiva- ted to the measure of their capacity. The remedy lies in not only improving the law, but in affording ample facilities for its execution, and providing adequate penalties, without discretion in their visitation, against those who fail to meet its requirements. Some of the evils might be remedied by the appointment of a Road Commissioner or Commissioners for each county, charged with the duty of having the road law enforced, and reporting its violation. If authorized by law to do so, many of the counties would, doubtless, assess a tax to sustain their roads. TURNPJKE ROADS. By resolution of the last General Assembly, the Act of March 12, 24 I860, requiring the Governor, Secretary of State and Comptroller, to sell the " State's stock" in the Turnpike roads of the State, was directed to be executed. In accordance therewith, and in the absence of any specific instructions, contained in the Act referred to, the aforesaid officers advertised for proposals to purchase. Bids were made for some of the roads. For many of them we had no propositions to purchase. In the exercise of the discretion implied by the power conferred, we rejected all the proposals and withdrew the roads from sale, chiefly because of the inadequacy of the prices offered. And in this action, we were influenced by the consideration, that the Act conferred upon us no power to require from purchasers a guarantee, that the roads should be maintained for the use and benefit of the people of the State in accordance with the terms of the charter. We deemed it of greater importance to the State, and her people, that the roads should be preserved and improved, than that the Treasury should receive the small sums of- fered with the risk of losing the road. The fact should not be over- looked, that the destruction of some of the roads would promote the interests of other thoroughfares. And while there is no evidence of any sinister designs against them, the contingency should be guarded by proper legislation. It would be far better to donate the State's interest in the turn- pikes, to the several counties through which they run, with a guar- antee that they may be maintained according to the provisions of the charters, than to accept the prices offered without such guar- antee. I therefore recommend that the disposition of roads be pro- vided for in such manner, as that they shall be secured and preserved as thoroughfares of travel to the public, and with a view to their ultimate improvement. The report of the Secretary of State will inform you how far rev- enue from any of these roads may be expected. In accordance with chapter CIX of the Acts of 1871, the officers therein named, compromised the State's debt against the Carthage and Hartsville Turnpike Company, with the other creditors of that corporation at $4,000 in the bonds of the State, with the coupons of July 1, 1869, and subsequent coupons attached, besides paying the counsel fees of the State. The minimun of compromise prescribed by the Act was $3,000. 25 *** - ' . BONDS OF PTJBMC OFFICERS. The Supreme Court of Tennessee held last winter, in the- case of the State for the use of Terry, Walsh and others vs. Blakemore and others, that when the sureties upon an official bond had paid for the principal, an amount equal -io the penalty of the bond, that they Avere exonerated from further liabilities, regardless of the amount of the principal's defalcation. Under this ruling, we are about losing a large amount of revenue from defaulting clerks and other revenue collectors. To re- medy this evil, in the future, I recommend that all officers, who are charged with the collection of public revenue, be required to ex- ecute bond in such penalty as will certainly cover the whole amount of revenue which may come into their hands ; or, if thought best, that no amount be named in the bond as penalty, but instead, that the law specially provide that the sureties shall be responsible, like their principals, for all his delinquences, no matter to what extent or amount. And I suggest that the public interest would be greatly enhanced and subserved if this feature should be made to apply to the bonds of guardians, trustees, etc., as well as collecting and other public officers. Before leaving this subject, I beg to suggest that when bonds of public officers are executed, and accepted by the court charged with the duty of approving them, that they become " eo instanti" a lien upon all the lands, tenements and hereditaments of: the bondsmen of the same dignity, force and effect as regularly executed and registered mortgages, to continue until the liability created by the bond is discharged. INSURANCE AND INSURANCE COMPANIES. Complaints are made by our Home Insurance Companies that our laws, requiring deposits to be made by companies from other States, are oppressive. The objection urged is that, while the amount of bonds required to be deposited afiords but little security to policy holders, the retaliatory laws of other States impose a great hardship upon our companies, when they propose to do business beyond the limits of Tennessee. It is urged too that the tax now imposed upon Insurance Companies operates as a prohibition to many companies to enter the State, w'nile others are evading- the law. I .have not 26 had an opportunity to give the subject sufficient investigation to make any recommendations further than to state that the deposits- should either be increased or altogether abolished. It now affords but little protection* THE CAPITOL BUILDING AND GROUNDS. Some appropriation will be necessary to preserve the Capitol. The sashes are decaying and must soon be renewed. The furn- aces in the basement are useless, and it believed that good furnaces would not only make the building more comfortable and healthy, but would tend to preserve it from the effects of moisture. Some of the stones in the body of the building.,-;;s well as the flagging and steps, are in a state of decay, and unless means can be devised to arrest this decay, much expense may be required to repair the damage. The improvements on the Capitol grounds have progressed very satisfactorily, and should be pushed to completion as-rapidly as pos- sible. Specific authority should be conferred upon the Superintend- ent of the Prison, or upon some other officer, to give direction to and control the work. The Superintendent of the Capitol has faithfully labored in the discharge of his duties, and accomplished much in preserving the public property at a reduced rate of expenditure. AGRICULTURAL BUREAU. This department of industry, upon which all other interests are dependent, is, at last, receiving the attention its importance de- mands. The Bureau, organized under the Act of the 14th of De- cember, 1871, has entered upon its duties with a degree of zeal and energy that promises the most valuable results, not only for the im- mediate benefit of the agriculturalist, but in the interest of immigra- tion and mining. They have been for some time, and are now, compiling statistics of soil, climate, population, prices of land and labor, mineral resources, etc., together with maps, which, when com- pleted and published, it is believed will attract attention, more di- rectly to Tennessee, than any other means yet devised for that pur- pose. They are affording facilities, too, for the analysis of soils and commercial fertilizers, which must result in incalculable benefit to the farmer. Their report will be laid before you during your ses-. 2* sion. Such, appropriations should be made as will enable the Bar reru to prosecute its labors successfully. LABOR AND CAPITAL. The surest means. of securing au influx o* -labor and capital, is to adjust our finances, so that the rate of taxation may become fixed and uniform, and our credit restored, to provide good schools, to make the laws and their administration effective for the protection of life, liberty and property, and then give this information to the world in an impressive and convincing form. Capital is timid and will not seek investment in a State or Government whose credit is impaired, or whose finances are unsettled. Labor must be fostered by capital^.and protected by law. Cheap land is not the only in- ducement to immigration. The tide of immigration will always flow to localities offering the greatest advantages of soil, climate, wages, cheap living and free education. We have the great North- wes f to compete with. And although we o.Se; higher inducements in climate, and perhaps in the price of labor, yet, in everything else, we are under disadvantages that we must surmount. I have no report yet from from the Emigration Bureau, and when it is re- ceived, I may make of this subject a special communication. THE COTTON TAX. The 37th General Assembly adopted a series of resolutions in- structing our Senators and requesting our Representatives in Con- gress to introduce and support such measures during their next ses sion as would cause to be refunded, without delay, to the people of the cotton growing States, the tax imposed and collected upon cot- ton for the years 1865, 1866 and 1867. A bill for that purpose has passed two readings in the House of Representatives and is now before the Committee on Ways and Means. The second, section of the bill provides, among other things, "That the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, when said bonds shall have been authenticated as aforesaid, shall be authorized, and he is hereby required and directed to turn over and deliver to the several Gov- ernors, or other authorized agents of the several States and Territo- ries herein mentioued,bonds equaling in amount the amounts claimed by the United States from tax on cotton in tue several States, tor * * ' * * * # 28 ToTennessee, $873,460.71, * * * * to be held by said States to be refunded and distributed to the par- ties who actually paid said tax, either 'in full or in part 'pro rata ' as circumstances may require or otherwise to be disposed of as the several Legislatures may direct by law, if it shall be lound impracti- cable to refund or distribute said several amounts as aforesaid, among the parties who actually paid said tax, with authority to the Secretary^ of the Treasury to use currency to pay fractions of one hundred dollars in all settlements with said States." It is well known that the farmer seldom paid the tax directly to the Government agent. He generally -scl! ^ 5)J SECTION 57. jBe i7 further enacted, That the Governor be, and he is hereby, authorized to execute a bond (for the purchase of rail- road machinery, cars, and all other material purchased for the use and benefit of the Memphis, OlarkJsville and Louisville Railroad, from the United States military railroad Department at Nashville) to the United States. SECTION 62. Be it further enacted, That this Act shall take ef- fect from and after its passage. Passed May 24, 1866. WM. HEISKELL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speaker of the Senate, I, Andrew J. Fletcher, Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee, do certify that th foregoing is a copy of so much of an Act of the General Assembly of Tennessee, passed May 24, 1866, as re- lates to the execution of a bond by the Governor to the United States for railroad material, the original of which is now on file in the Clerk of the Senate's office, not signed by the Speaker of the Senate, but is now the law. In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my official sig- nature, and by order of the Governor affixed the great seal of the State of Tennessee, at the Department, in the city of Nashville, this 5th day of June, A. D. 1866. A. J. FLETCHER, [SEAL.] Secretary of State. True copy. M. LUDINGTON, Brevet Lieutenant- Colonel and Quartermaster United States Army. XII. BON I*. Know all Men by these Presents : That the State of Tennessee, by the act of the Legislature of the State hereto attached, and made part hereof by Wm. G. Brownlow, Governor of the State, for and in behalf of the said State of Ten- nessee, does hereby acknowledge itself held land firmly bound unto the United Sfates of America, in the full and just sum of $94,142.85, with interest thereon, at the rate of 7.3 percent, per annum, from November 30, 1865, lawful money of the United States, for which payment, well and truly to be made to the Disbursing Quartermas- ter of the United States Mil Italy Railroads at his office in Nash- ville, or to such other Disbursing;Quartermaster as may be designa- ted by the War Department, within two years from the 30th day of November, A. D. 1865, the said State of Tennessee, by its Gover- nor, hereby binds itself and its successors firmly by these presents. Sealed witK its great seal, attested by the signature of its Gov- ernor, and affixed jfoy the express authority of the Legislature, this 1st day of June, in the year of our Lord 1866. The nature*)f the above obligation is such that-whereas the above bounden State of Tennessee, has purchased and received from the War Departmenbof the United States, (for the use of the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad) rolling-stock, iron rails, cross ties, chairs, spikes, timber, and ither material for repairing and operating said road in quantities? at prices, and to an amount and value which shall be evidenced by the receipts given for the same by R. B. Cheatham, Receiver on the .part of the State of Tennessee, to the proper officer of the War;:. Department, upon a credit of two years from the 30th day of November, A. D. 1865, payable. in equal monthly install- ments, with interest, aA.the rate of 7.3 per cent, per annum, within the said two years^either in cash to the Disbursing Quartermaster of the United States Military Railroads at his office in Nashville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated by the War Department for this purpose, or in transportation of the troops or military supplies of the United States, under the orders of xm; the proper military authorities, at the rates of fare and tolls allowed 1 for such service to northern railroads ; and whereas the said State of Tennessee desires, and by these presents intends to'secure to the Uni- ted States, the complete and punctual payment, as aforesaid, of the- arnounts- which may be chre-for the said materials received by it from tne United States ; and whereas no payments have been made, up- to the date of these presents, although large sums are due, in ac- cordance with the terms of purchase of the materials aforesaid r Now, therefore, if the said State of Tennessee shall well and truly pay to the United States of America as aforesaid, within thirty days from the date of these presents > all arrears of interest and install- ments due the United States upon the date hereof, to wit, the sum- of twenty-six thousand nine hundred and sixty-two dollars and fifty- four cents, and shall thereafter pay in equal monthly installments/ either in cash or in transportation as aforesaid, to the United States, within two years from November 30th, A. D. one- thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, then this obligation shall be void and of" no effects But if the said State of Tennessee shall fail to pay to the. United States all or any portion of what may be due to the United States on account of the said materials received from the United States, within two years from November 'thirtieth, A. D.. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, either in cash as afore- said, or in transportation as aforesaid, or shall fail to pay any of the monthly installments aforesaid punctually when due, then this obli- gation shall remain in full force and effect to the extent that may be necessa^ to fully repay to the United States for the full amount which maybe due on' account of the said materials so received as aforesaid, and all loss or damage which may have been- incurred by the United States, by reason of the failure of the said State of Ten- nessee to pay for the same what shall be due therefor, when the same shall be due. And, as a further security for such payment and in- demnity to the United States, the United States shall have a lien upon the property sold to said State of Tennessee, and in default of such complete and punctual payment of all moneys which may be due on account of the aforesaid purchase of materials, be fully au- thorized to take possession of and sell said property, and also to place in charge and control of the said Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad an Agent of the said United States, who shall be fully em- powered, and by these presents is fully empowered, in case of such XIV, default as aforesaid, to collect all the revenues of the said railroad, and apply the same to the payment to the United States of all the moneys which shall be due at the times of such application of such revenues to the United States for any such material which shall have been delivered by the United States to the said State of Ten- nessee for the use of said railroad, or by reason of any loss or injury to the United States, resulting from such default in the payment of the ame. ' And the said State of Tennessee shall have no authority to sell or convey out of its possession without the consent of the United States, first in writing obtained, any of the property refer- red to in this agreement, but shall hold and retain the same to the exclusive use of said Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, in carrying on the business of transportation of persons and property over its line of road, until the whole is fully paid for as aforesaid. In witness whereof the great seal of said State of Tennessee is affixed hereto by authority of its Legislature, and attested by its Governor. WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW, Governor State of Tennessee* Witness : [SEAL.] A. S. FLETCHER, Secretary of State. Know aU Men by these Presents: That the State of Tennessee, by the Act of the Legislature of the State hereto attached and made part hereof by W. G. Browulow, Governor of the State, ior and in behalf of said State of Tennessee, does hereby acknowledge itself indebted and firmly bound with the United States of America, in the full and just sum of three hundred and thirty-seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-three dollars and seventy-two cents, with interest thereon at the rate of 7 3-10 percent, per annum, from November thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty- five, lawful money of the United States, for which payment, well and truly I fee made to the Disbursing Quarter master of the United States Military Railroads, at his office in Nashville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated by the War Department, within two years from the thirtieth day of No- vember, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-five, the said State of XV. Tennessee, by its Governor, hereby binds itself and its successors firmly by these presents, sealed with its great seal,. attested by the signature of the Governor, and- affixed by the express authority of the legislature, this first day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six. Thenatm-e of the above obligation is such that, whereas the above bounden State of Tennessee, has purchased and received from the War Department of the United States, for the use of the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad r rolling-stock, iron rails> cross- ties, chairs, spikes, timbers, and other material for repairing and operating said railroad, in quantity at prices, and to an amount and value which shall be evidenced by the receipts given for the same by George T. Lewis, Receiver on the part of the State of Tennessee, to the proper officer of the War Department, upon a credit of two years from the thirtieth (30) day of November, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-five, payable in .equal monthly installments with interest, at the rate of 7 3-10 per cent, per annum within the said two years, either in cash to the Disbursing Officer or Quartermaster of the United States Military Railroads^ at his office in Nashville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated by the War Department for this purpose, or in transportation of the troops or military supplies of the United States, under the orders of the proper military authorities, at the rates of fere and tolls allowed for such service to Northern railroads; and, WHEREAS, The said State of Tennessee desires and by these pre- sents intends to secure to the United States, the complete and punc- tual payment as aforesaid of the amounts which may be due for the said material received by it from the United States ; and whereas no payments have been made np to the date of these presents, although large sums are due in accordance with the terms of purchase of the materials aforesaid : Now, therefore, if the State of Tennessee shall well and truly pay to the United States of America as aforesaid, either in cash or in transportation asaforesaid,within thirty (30) days from the date of these presents, all arrears of interest and installments due the Uni- ted States upon the date hereof, to-wit, the sum of ninety-six thou- sand eight hundred and one dollars and forty-four cents, (896,801.44,) and shall thereafter, pay in equal monthly installments, either in cash or in transportation, as aforesaid, to the United XVI. States, within two years from November thirtieth, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-five, then this obligation to be void and of no effect. But if the said State of Tennessee shall fail to pay to the United States, all or any portion-of what may fee due to the United States on account of the said materials received from the United States within two years from November thirtieth, (30,) A. D. eighteen hun- dred and sixtyr>five, either in cash as aforesaid or in transportation as aforesaid, or shall fail to pay any of the monthly installments aforesaid punctually when due, then this obligation shall remain in full force and effect to the extent that may be necessary, to fully re- pay to the United States, for the-ifull amount which may be due on account of the - said materials so received as aforesaid ; and all loss or damage which may have been incurred by the United States, by reason of the failure of the State of Tennessee, to pay for the same what shall be due therefor, when the same shall be due, and as a further security for such payment and indemnity to the United States, the United States shall have a lien upon the property sold to said State of Tennessee, and in default of such complete and punc- tual payment of all moneys whiofe may be due on account of the aforesaid purchase of materials, be fully authorized to take posses- sion of and sell said property, and also to place in charge and con- trol of the said Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad, an Agent of the said United States, who shall be fully empowered, and by these presents is fully empowered, in case of such default as aforesaid, to collect all the revenues of the said railroad, and apply the same to the payment to the United States of all the moneys which shall be due at the times of such application of such reve- nues to the United States for any such materials which shall have been delivered by the United States to the said State of Tennessee for the use of said railroad, or by reason of any loss or injury to the United States, resulting from such default in the payment of the same. And the said State of Tennessee shall have no authority to sell or convey out of its possession, without the consent of the Uni- ted States first in writing obtained, any of the property referred to in this agreement, but shall hold and retain the same to the exclu- sive use of said Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad in carrying on the business of transportation of persons and property over its line of road until the whole is fully paid as aforesaid. XVIL In witness whereof the great seal of said State of Tennessee is affixed hereto by authority of its Legislature, and attested by its Governor. WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW, ^Governor State of Tennessee, Witness : A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State. Know all Men by these Presents : That the State of Tennessee by the act of the Legislature of the State hereto attached, and made part hereof, by W. G. Brownlow, Governor of said State, for and in behalf of said State of Tennessee, does hereby acknowledge itself indebted and firmly bound with the United States of America, in the ftill and just sum of $21,661.73, with interest thereon, at the rate of 7 3-10 per cent, per annum, from February 28, 1866, lawful money of the United States, for which payment, well and truly to be made to the Disbursing Quartermas- ter of the United States MSJitary Railroads, at his office in Nash- ville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designa- ted by the War Department, within^ two years from the 28th day of February, A. D. 1866, the said State of Tscnessee, by its Gover- nor, hereby binds itself and its successors firmly by these presents. Sealed with its great seal, and attested by the signature of its Gov- ernor, affixed by the express authority of the Legislature, this the 1st day of June, 1866. The nature of the above obligation is such, that whereas the above-bounden State of Tennessee, has purchased and received from the War Department of the United States, for the use of the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, rolling-stock, iron rails, c r oss-ties, chairs, spikes, timber, and other materials, for re- pairing and operating said railroad, in quantities, at prices, and to an amount and value which shall be evidenced by the receipts given for the same by R. B. Cheatham, Receiver on the part of the State of Tennessee, to the proper officer of the War Department, upon a credit of two years, from the 28th day of February, A. D. 1866, payable in equal monthly installments, with interest, at the rate of 7 3-10 per cent, per annum, within the said two years, either in cash to the Disbursing officer, Quartermaster of the United States Mill- XVIII. tary Railroads, at his office in Nashville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated by the War Department for this purpose, or in transportation of the troops or military supplies of the United States, under the orders of the proper military author- ities, at the rates of fare and tolls allowed forsueh service to North- ern railroads; and whereas the said State of Tennessee desires, and by these presents, intends to secure to the United'S&tes, the com- plete and punctual payment as aforesaid, of the amounts which may be due for the said materials, received by it from the United States ; and whereas no payments havea been macM up to the date of these presents, although large sums are due in accordance -with the terms of purchase of the materials aforesaid : Now, therefore, if the State of Tennessee shall well and truly pay to the United States of Amer- ica, as aforesaid, either in cash or in transportation, as aforesaid, within thirty days from the date of these presents, all arrears of in- terest and installments due the United States upon the date hereof, to-wit, the sum of $3,106.31, and shall thereafter pay, in equal monthly installments, either in c:sh or in-transportation, a.s afore- said, to the United States, within two years from February 28, A. D. 1866, then this obligation shall be void and of no effect. But if the said State of Tennessee shall fail to pay to the United States all or any portion of what may be due to the United States on account of the said materials received from the United States, within two years from February 28, A. D. 1866, either in cash or in transportation, as aforesaid, or shall fail to pay any of the month- ly installments aforesaid, punctually when due, then this obligation shall remain in full force and effect, to the extent that may be neces- sary to fully repay to the United States for the full amount which may be due on account of the said materials so received as aforesaid, and all loss or damage which may have been incurred by the Uni- ted States, by reason of the failure of the State of Tennessee, to pay for the same what shall be due thereon and therefor when the same shall be due ; and as a further security for such payment and indem- nity to the United States, the United States shall have a lien upon the property sold to said State of Tennessee, and in default of such complete and punctual payment of all moneys, which may be due on account of the aforesaid purchase of materials be fully authorized to take possession of and sell such property, and also to place in charge and control of the said Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad an XIX. Agent of the said United States, who shall be fully empowered, and by these presents is fully empowered, in case of such default as aforesaid, to collect a]l the revenues of the said railroad, and apply the same to the payment to the United States, of all the moneys which shall be due at the time of such application of such revenues to the Uuited States, for any such materials which shall have been delivered by the United States to the said State of Tennessee, for the use of said railroad, or by reason of any loss or injury to the United States, resulting from such default in payment of the same ; and the said State of Tennessee shall have no authority to sell or convey out of its possession, without the consent of the United States first in writing obtained, any of the property referred to in this agreement, but shall hold and retain the same to the exclusive use of said Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad, in carrying on the business of transportation of persons and property over its lines of road, until the whole is fully paid for as aforesaid. In witness whereof the great seal of said State of Tennessee is affixed hereto by authority of its Legislature, and attested by its Governor. WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW, Governor State of Tennessee. Witness : [SEAL.] A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State. QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C v 28th Sept., 1865. GENERAL ORDERS,) No. 56. / The following order, by the President of the United States, in re- lation to the relinquishment of the Government's control over all railroads in the State of Tennessee, .and their continuations in ad- joining States, now occupied by the United States military authori- 4 XX. ties, and no longer needed for military purposes, is published for the information of all Officers and Agents of the Quartermaster's De- partment. M. C. MEIGS, Brevet Major-General, U. S. A., Quartermaster- General. WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, August 8th, 1865. MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS, Commanding Military Division of Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee. GENERAL : It having been determined by the Government to relinquish con- trol over all railroads in the State of Tennessee, and their continua- tions in adjoining States, that have been in charge of, and are now occupied by, the United States military authorities, and no longer needed for military purposes, you are hereby authorized and di- rected to turn over the same to the respective owners thereof, at as early a date as practicable, causing, in all cases of transfer as afore- said, the following regulations to be observed and carried out : 1. Each and every Company will be required to reorganize and elect a Board of Directors, whose loyalty shall be established to your satisfaction. 2. You will cause to be made out in triplicate, by such person or persons as you may indicate, a complete inventory of the rolling- stock, tools, and other materials and property on each road. 3. Separate inventories will be, in the same manner, made of the rolling-stock and other property originally belonging to each of said roads, and that furnished by and belonging to the Govern- ment. 4. Each Company will be required to give bonds satisfactory to the Government that they will, in twelve months from the date of transfer as aforesaid, or such other reasonable time as maybe agreed upon, pay a fair valuation for the Government property turned over XXI. to said companies, the same being first appraised by competent and disinterested parties at a fair valuation, the United States reserving all Government dues for carrying mails, and other services perform- ed by each Company, until said obligations are paid; and if, at the maturity of said debt, the amount of Government dues, retained as aforesaid, does not liquidate the same, the balance is to be paid by the Company in money, 5. Tabular statements will be made of all expenditures by the Government for repairing each road, with a full statement of receipts from private freights, passage, and other sources.; also a full state- ment of all transportation performed on Government account, giving the number of persons transported, and amount of treight, and the distance carried in each case all of said reports or tabular state- ments to be made in triplicate, one each for the Secretary of War the Military Headquarters of the Department, and the Railroad Company. 6. All railroads in Tennessee will be required to pay all arrearages of interest due on the bonds issued by that State, prior to the date of its pretended secession from the Union, to aid in the construction of said roads, before any dividends are declared or paid to the stock- holders thereof. 7. Buildings erected for Government purposes on the line of rail- roads, and not valuable or useful for the business of said Companies, should not form a legitimate charge against such Companies ; nor should they be charged for rebuilding houses, bridges, or other structures which were destroyed by the Federal army. 8. You are authorized to give any orders to Quartermasters within your Division, which you may deem necessary to carry into execution this order. BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT : EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. XXII. QUARTERMASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 23d, 1865. GENERAL ORDERS, 1 NO. 62. / The following Order, by the President of the United States, in relation to Executive order of 8th August, 1865, extending the pro- visions and benefits of the same to all railroads within the limits of the Military Division of the Tennessee desiring to purchase railroad rolling stock and material from the United States, for the purpose of repairing the losses of the war, is published for the information of all officers and agents of the Quartermaster's Department. M. C. MEIGS, Brevet Major General, U. S. A., Quartermaster General. WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., 14th October, 1865. MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS, Commanding Military Division of the Tennessee, Headquarters, Nashville, Tennessee. GENERAL : The provisions and benefits of the Executive Order of 8th of August, are hereby extended to all railroads, within the limits of your command, desiring to purchase railroad rolling stock and mate- rial from the United States, for the purpose of repairing the losses of the war. You are also authorized to direct the sale to any such railroads, of rolling stock, now within the limits of your command, and not needed by the United States for actual use, upon the following con- ditions, if they are preferred to the terms of the Order of 8th XXIII. of August, and the individual security required by you under that Order : You will take care that this property is distributed among the several' roads according to their actual needs, and that none is sold to any railroad in excess of the reasonable requirements of its business, or to be used for purposes of speculation, sale, or hire to other roads. You will require from all such railroad companies satisfactory bonds, in the form herewith enclosed, binding them to the payment to the United States, of the full appraised value of the property sold to them, in equal monthly instalments, with interest, at the rate of seven and three tenths per cent, per annum, within two years, credit being allowed to them, on the first of each month, for any service of military transportation rendered by them during the preceding month, at the established rates now allowed to Northern railroads for such service. Full reports of all sales under this order will be made to the'War Department from time to time, as required by existing orders. The serviceable railroad iron in possession of the Quartermaster's Department at Chattanooga and Nashville is excepted. It will be sold only tor cash at the prices fixed by the War Department. BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT : EDWIN M. ST ANTON, Secretary of War. BOND. Know all Men by these Presents : That the. Railroad Company, duly incorporated by the Act of the , of the State of. by its President acting for and in behalf of said Railroad Company, do hereby ac- knowledge itself and its successors held and firmly bound unto the XXIV. United States of America, in the full and just sum of. ...Dollars, lawful money of the United States ; for which payment, well and truly be made, to the Disbursing Quartermaster of the United States Military Railroads, at his office in Nashville, or to such other Disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated by the War De- partment, within two years from the date of these presents, the said railroad company, by its President, hereby binds itself and its suc- cessors, firmly by these presents : Sealed with its corporate seal, attested by the signature of its President, and affixed by the express authority of its Directors, this , day of. '. in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty (186 .) The nature of the above Obligation is such, that, Whereas, The above bounden Railroad Company has purchased and received, or shall receive, from the War Department of the United States, roll- ing-stock, iron rails, cross-ties, chairs, spikes, timber, and other ma- terials for repairing and operating its railroad, in quantities, at prices, and to an amount and value which shall be evidenced by the receipts given for the same by the said railroad company to the proper offi- cer of the said War Department, upon a credit of two years from the date of these presents, payable in equal monthly instalments, with interest, at the rate of 7 3-10 per cent, per annum, within the said two years, either in cash to the Disbursing Quartermaster of the United States Military Railroads, at his office in Nashville, or to such other disbursing Quartermaster as may be designated for this purpose by the War Department, or in transportation of the troops or military supplies of the United States, under the orders of the proper military authorities, at the rates of fare and tolls allowed for such service to Northern railroads ; and, WHEREAS, The said railroad company desires, and by these pre- sents intends, to secure to the United States the complete and punc- tual payment as aforesaid, of the amounts which may be due for the said materials, received or to be received by it from the Uni- ted States : Now, therefore, If the said railroad company shall well and truly pay as aforesaid, either in cash, in equal monthly instalments, or in transportation as aforesaid, to the United States, within two years XXV. from the date of these presents, all that shall be due as aforesaid to the United States on account and in payment for all the materials received as aforesaid, from the United States; then this obligation shall be void and of no effect. But if the said railroad company shall fail to pay to the United States, all or any portion of what may be due to the United States, on account of the said materials received from the United States within two years from the date of these presents, either in cash as aforesaid, or in transportation as aforesaid, or shall fail to pay any of the monthly instalments aforesaid, punctually when due; then this obligation shall remain in full force and effect to the extent that may be necessary to fully repay to the United States for the full amount which may be due on account of the said materials so received as aforesaid, and all loss or damage which may have been incurred by the United States, by reason of the said railroad company's failure to pay for the same, what shall be due therefor, when the same shall be due; and, As a further security for such payment and indemnity to the United States, the United States shall have a lien upon the property sold to said company, and in default of such complete and punctual payment of all moneys which may be due on account of the aforesaid purchase of materials, be fully authorized to take possession of and sell said property, and also to place in charge and control of the said Company's Railroad, an Agent of the said United States, who shall be fully empowered, and by these presents is fully empowered, in case of such default aforesaid, to collect all the revenues of the said Company, and apply the same to the payment to the United States of all the moneys which shall be due at the times of such ap- plication of such revenues to the United States for any such materials, which shall have been delivered by the United States to the said Railroad Company, or by reason of any loss or injury to the United States resulting from such default in payment of the same. And the said Company shall have no authority to sell or convey out of its possession without the consent of the United States, first in writing obtained, any of the property referred to in this agreement ; but shall hold and retain the same to the exclusive use of said Company, in carrying on the business of transportation of persons and property over its line of road, until the whole is fully paid for as aforesaid. XXVI. In witness whereof, the corporate seal of said railroad company is affixed hereto, by authority oi its Directors, and attested by its President. WITNESS : NOTE. The amount of this bond to be double the valuation of the property^ sold and delivered. Internal Revenue Stamps should be affixed, to^the amount of fifty cents for every thousand dollars. 42 CONGRESS, \ H. R. 3,000. . f Mis.Doc. 3D SESSION. / I No. 4. IN THE HOUSE" OF REPRESENTATIVES; DECEMBER 3,. 1872. Read-.* twice, referred to 'the Committee on the* Judiciary, and ordered to be printed: . Mr. MAYNARD, on leave, introduced the following Bill: A BILL For the relief of the State of Tennessee. WHEREAS, the Government of the United States holds three bonds, signed by the Governor of the State of Tennessee, dated the first day of June, eighteen.hundred and sixty-six, one for three hundred and thirty-seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-three dollars and seventy-three cents; another for ninety-four thousand one: hundred and forty-two dollars and eighty-five cents ; and the other for twenty-one thousand six hundred and sixty-one dollar* and. . seventy^three cents, all bearing interest at the rate of < seven and three- tenths per centum per annum, and payable to the United States of America, for property and railway material purchased by the Edgefield and Kentucky, antta the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railreads, and all of them entitled to credits for certain mail^service which is not in dispute ; and WHEREAS, the State of Tennessee claims an abatement in the amount of said bonds, and alleges as a reason therefor that the property was purchased by receivers in charge of said roads for the use and benefit of the Companies then owning. them y and at XXVIII. -extravagant prices, and said State, after the property was placed vin the possession of the Companies, executed the bonds aforesaid, *to prevent the stopping of said roads, by a seizure and removal of the rolling-stock from said roads by the officers and agents of the United States Government, and that, inasmuch as said Com- * panics are utterly insolvent, and unable to pay any ,part of said bonds, that the State should only be charged with the actual value of the property at the date of the Sale ; and said State also claims credit by the value of bridges and other property of said roads destroyed while run by the." United States Government ; and, "WHEKEAS, the said State of Tennessee claims other credits by railroad iron, spikes, cars, ties, and other property taken from the Win- chester and Alabama Railroad in eighteen hundred and sixty- - three, used and appropriated by the United States -Government : Therefore, <>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That the Quartermaster- General of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized and di- rected, and required to settle with the State of Tennessee Albwny, June 15th, 1871. j T6 His EXCELLENCY, The Governor of Tennessee. SIR : .1 transmit herewith, a copy of an Act passed at the last session of the Legislature of this- State, entitled " An Act to make a contribution toward the completion of thei. Washington National Monument," and request that you will communicate the same to the Legislature of your State. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN T. HOFFMAN. STATE OF NEW JERSEY, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT Trenton, March 5,- 1872. 72. > His EXCELLENCY, JOHN C.' BROWS'/A Governor of the State of Tennessee: Sm : Herewith I transmit copy of a law passed by the Legisla- ture of the State of New Jersey, approved by me on the 28th day of February, A. D. 1872. . I request that you will communicate the same to the Legis- lature of your State. Respectfully, your obedient servant, ..<.. JNO. PARKER. XXXI. STATE OF NEW JERSEY. AN ACT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TOWARD THE COMPLETI O ^ OF THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL, MONUMENT. WHEREAS, there is now standing in the City of Washington an uncompleted obelisk or shaft intended as a National Monu- ment to the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON ; therefore, with the intent and for the purpose of completing the said Monu- ment befor^ the Centennial Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That the sum of three thousand dollars is hereby appropriated out of any money not otherwise appropriated in the Treasury of this State, as a contribution of the State of New Jersey, to be paid by the Treasurer, on the warrant of the Comptroller, to the Treasurer of the National Washington Monu- ment Society, whenever' the Governor of this State shall certify that he is satisfied that a sufficient sum has been subscribed from other sources to enable said Society to resume work with a reasonable prospect of completing the obelisk or shaft. 2. And be it enacted, That a copy of this law shall be trans- mitted by the Governor to the Governors of other States of the Union, with a request that they communicate the same to the Legislatures of their respective States. A 000 067 262 6 I