reach of the mandamus writ of the Federal courts.

Among other sources of authority to sustain the action of the Legislature in thus repealing the charter of a public corporation that was in debt, was a reference to the following cases: But this whole subject, both as to the power of the State and as to the right of the creditors of public corporations, has lately been so clearly defined and settled by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Barkeley vs. Levee Commissioners et. al., III Otto, p. 258, that there is now no room for doubt upon the subject. We will set out the head notes of this deci

sion:

"2. If, within such limited existence, no provision is made for the continuance or new election of the officers of such corporation, the functions of the existing officers will cease when their respective terms expire, and the corporation will be de facto extinct.

3. In such case, if there be a judgment against the corporation, mandamus will not lie to enforce the assessment of taxes for its payment, there being no officers to whom the writ can be directed.

"4. The Court can not by mandamus compel the new corporations to perform the duties of the extinct corporation in the levy of taxes for the payment of its debts, especially where their territorial jurisdiction is not the same, and the law has not authorized them to make such levy.

5. Nor can the Court order the Marshal to levy

taxes in such a case; nor in any case, except where a specific law authorizes such a proceeding.

6. Under these circumstances, the judgment creditor is, in fact, without remedy, and can only apply to the Legislature for relief." This opinion was delivered in 1876. It speaks in no uncertain terms; it is the deliberate judgment of an undivided Court, and its authority can not be questioned by any power in this land. It decides that a State has the power to abolish a public corporation, even when it owes debts, and that new corporations may be created over the same territory which are not responsible for the debts of the defunct corporation; and further, that the creditor has no remedy in the courts whatever, but can only apply to the Legislature

for relief.

Then, under this decision, the legal right of the ereditor only extends to the assets of which the corporation dies possessed, but the creditor has no lien or charge upon the private property of the individuals who resided within the limits of the defunct corporation. (Heine vs. Levee Commissioners, 19 Wall; Barkeley vs. Levee Commissioners, supra.) These cases overrule and repudiate the extreme doctrines as to the powers of the Federal courts which Judge Dillon attempted to establish in the cases of Ste. Genevieve vs. Welsh, and Lansing vs. County Treasurer. (Dillon C. C. Reports, 1871, pp. 130, 525.)

The misfortunes of Mobile were ascribed to the decline of its prosperity. For proof of its decline, it is stated that on January 7, 1860, there were in Mobile Bay 74 ships and barks. On that day the cotton receipts for the year had been 490,761 bales, and of this number there had been shipped to New Orleans 17,797 bales. On January 7, 1871, there were in the port only 19 ships and barks, and the receipts

of cotton to that date had been 207,699 bales, of which there had been shipped to New Orleans 37,453 bales. On January 4, 1879, there were in port only 13 ships and barks. The receipts of cotton were 215,521 bales, but of this number there had been shipped to New Orleans for sale and export the enormous sum of 91,005 bales. Nearly half of the receipts have gone to New Orleans. At the time of the passage of the acts the Mayor of the city stated that its bonded indebtedness was $2,497,856. He was in favor of a refunding of the debt at the rate of 60 cents on the dollar, bearing 5 per cent. interest for ten years, and then 6 per cent. until maturity-running for a period of thirty years. He thought that if this was done the city could pay the interest promptly; he was satisfied that with judicious inanagement the expenses of the city could be reduced to $160,000 per annum. To meet this there was

Three fourths of 1 per cent. on $15,000,-
000 taxable valuables
Licenses, wharves, etc...

Total city expenses....
Surplus over $160,000...

$112,500 00 70,000 00 $182,500 00

$22,500 00

If the city debt were refunded as suggested, the whole tax of the city would be 14 per cent. on taxable values. In the opinion of its chief officer, by the lengthy period during which a quarantine was kept in force in 1878, heavy would have met all its obligations. The statisexpenses were incurred; but for this the city tics of the trade of the city for 1879 have not yet been made up; but, according to the report of the Board of Trade, the business of Mobile for the year ending September 30, 1878, shows a considerable increase. The receipts of cotton were larger than during the previous year, while the value of exports aggregated over $19,000,000, an increase of more than $6,000,000, and the imports ran up from $648,404 to $1,148,442. The value of the lumber exports increased $50,000, and the importation of all staple articles of merchandise was largely in excess of the previous year. The receipts of cotton advanced from 27,000 bags in 1877 to 51,400 bags in 1878. A second cotton-mill was put in operation in Mobile during the past year. This mill began work with 1,344 spindles, and produced from 900 to 1,000 pounds of yarn, rope, twine, carpet-warp, etc., per day, using from 10 to 12 bales of cotton per week, and employing about 35 operatives. With its present capacity it can use 600 bales annually.

The three commissioners were appointed by the Governor, and they at once proceeded to take the required oath and file their bonds. On February 15th they presented and filed in the Chancery Court their petition to take charge of the city property and assets as provided by the act of the Legislature. This action prevented the appointment of a receiver by a Federal court. The case of Memphis (see

TENNESSEE) was different. A bill was filed in the Federal court and the funds of the city attached under it before the corporation of Memphis was dissolved by act of the Legislature. The corporation of the Port of Mobile was soon organized, and its administration of affairs commenced.

The following resolution relative to the election of Presidential Electors was adopted in the Senate:

Whereas, The interference by officers of the United States in popular elections is justly regarded by the people of this State as an evil of great magnitude; and Whereas, Such interference, in part at least, is to

influence and control the action of this State in the selection of Electors for President and Vice-President of the United States; therefore,

Resolved, That the Committee on Federal Relations be instructed to inquire into the expediency of providing for a law for the selection of Electors for President and Vice-President by the General Assembly until the acts of Congress authorizing interference by Federal authority are repealed.

The sum of $3,000 was appropriated to carry into effect the health laws of the State.

An act was passed which provided for the settlement of delinquent taxes. Under its provisions, where lands or real estate of any kind have been sold for taxes and purchased by the State, between the 1st of January, 1866, and 1st of January, 1878, the owner may now redeem the same by paying 50 per cent. of the amount of taxes for which it was sold, together with 50 per cent. of all taxes which have since accrued. When no assessment of taxes has been made of lands or real estate after the first sale thereof for taxes, and purchase thereof by the State, the Judge of Probate of the county in which such land or real estate may be situated shall assess the same for each subsequent year when proposed to be redeemed.

Another act was passed to secure a better payment of taxes in future. It requires the collector to docket the cases of all delinquencies in a book, and hand the book to the Probate Judge by the first day of March. The Probate Judge is to hold court in April, and thirty days thereafter, say about the 1st of May, is to issue to the owner, or his agent or representative, of each parcel of real estate entered in said book, a notice setting forth the parcels of property on which he is reported a delinquent, and notifying him to appear on a given day and show cause why a decree of sale should not be made for the amount due to the State and county. If no defense is made within ten days thereafter, the Judge enters up a decree ordering a sale of the land. At the end of the term of the court the collector advertises the lands for sale, giving thirty days' notice. The Probate Judge attends the sale and makes a record of the result. An appeal lies from the decree of the Probate Judge to the Circuit Court upon giving bonds in twice the amount of the decree. The land thus sold may be redeemed by the owner, his agent or representative, mortgagee or other person hav

ing a beneficial interest in such land, at any time before the expiration of two years from the date of sale, by depositing with the Probate Judge of the county in which such real property was sold, the amount of purchasemoney, and a penalty of 10 per cent. thereon, damages on the taxes and the costs, and interest on the taxes and costs, at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum from the date of sale, and the costs of the certificates of purchase, all taxes on such land which have accrued subsequently to the sale, unless such taxes have been paid to the collector, as may be shown by his receipt, and also paying the sum of one dollar to the Judge. The tax-collector is compelled by this law to seize any personal property he can find for the collection of taxes; but, before he enters upon his docket any lands of delinquents, he must swear that he has searched diligently for personal property upon which to make the levy, and has not been able to find

any.

The Legislature authorized a new loan for the purpose of taking up a million of interestbearing notes outstanding. The notes were issued at 8 per cent. interest, and were a burden upon the revenue of the State to the amount of $80,000. It was believed that bonds might be sold at par bearing 6 per cent. interest, the proceeds of which could be used to retire the notes. An offer for the whole loan was made to the Governor from Boston at 6 per cent., with a premium of one half of one per cent. This was declined, as another offer had been received, principally from citizens of Alabama, with a premium of 2 per cent. This indication of the healthy condition of the State credit induced the Governor to determine to offer the loan at 5 per cent.

The report of the Auditor in the last of October showed that for the past fiscal year the disbursements of the Treasury were the lowest, all things considered, for any year since the war. The receipts for taxes were $564,722.17; total from licenses and all sources $122,307.58; making a total of $687,029.75. The total disbursements were $685,026.47. The total collections, including school money, amount to $942,998.61; disbursements, including school money, $872,867.48. The receipts are less than last year, but this is mainly due, as the Auditor maintains, to the reduction of the rate of taxation from 74 to 7 mills. The report shows remarkable diminutions in the amount of assessments in nearly all the counties. Of the 62 counties tabulated in the report, 50 show a decrease as compared with last year's assessment. The Auditor puts it down as the general opinion that, so far from there being depreciation in the value of property throughout the State, there has been just the reverse. He, however, helps the situation somewhat by adding, "Supplemental and collectors' assessments may bring up these counties considerably," though he does not believe the assessment will reach the "total of the

present tax year." The State is burdened with real estate, purchased at tax sales, from which it derives no revenue. In one county about 197,000 acres, or nearly one third of the entire county, was bid in by the State for the taxes of 1873.

As the sessions of the Legislature are biennial, the condition of the public institutions is stated for the two years before 1879. In the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute, there were in 1878, mutes 41, blind 13; total, 54. The expense per capita was $224.24. All deaf-mute or blind children residing in the State, whose parents are unable to pay their expenses while at the institute, are entitled to board, tuition, schoolroom expenses, and medicine, free of charge. No provision is made for the payment of traveling expenses, or for clothing. An act of the General Assembly provides that, "in all cases where the parents of pupils sent to the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind are too poor to furnish them with good and sufficient clothing, or where pupils are without parents and unable to furnish themselves with such clothing, the Probate Judge of the county shall certify the same to the principal, who shall procure such necessary clothing and charge the same to said county." The total expenses of the institution for the past year footed up $12,453.90.

The total value of railroad property in Alabama, upon which tax assessment is made, is $10,297,033.35. The assessment for 1877 was $10,627,559.90, showing a difference of $330,526.55 in favor of last year.

The number of railroads in the State is 24, and their total length is 1,819 miles. When all the roads are completed which have been projected, there will be a total length of main line of 2,850 miles. The total estimated value of all the railroads, according to the assessors' books, is $10,528,060.

The number of convicts received in the penitentiary from October 1, 1877, to September 30, 1878, was 218, which, added to the number, 655, remaining in the prison October 1, 1877, amounts to 873. The sex of the prisoners is: males, white, 96; females, white, 6; males, colored, 733; females, colored, 38. Of the number, 555 were natives of Alabama; of the previous occupations, 447 were laborers; of the crimes for which they were imprisoned, there were 262 for burglary and 274 for grand larceny. The earnings of the penitentiary, over and above all expenses, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1878, amounted to $35,649.92. The number of convicts discharged during the past year was 137, and the number pardoned was 30.

The Governor in his efforts to increase the earnings of the penitentiary advertised for proposals to lease the labor. Many bids were inade, but before they had been acted upon, with two or three exceptions, those having convicts hired proposed to rescind their contracts on the 1st of January ensuing, and to enter

into new contracts for five years from that date at $6 per month for all able-bodied convicts, taking all others at rates to be agreed upon between them and the warden, and receiving all at the jails without cost of transportation. This the Governor agreed to, and rejected all the bids for lease. These new contracts embrace all the convicts in the penitentiary on the 1st of January except the so-called Williams hands, until January 1, 1883, and except about one hundred others under old contracts expiring by March 1, 1881, and all that are sentenced thereto for five years. There are about 650 convicts, of whom about 600 are able-bodied; and this average, maintained for two years, will probably be fully maintained for the five years. Four hundred of these, subject to the new contracts at $6 per month each, will in 1880 earn $28,800. About 100 under old contracts not rescinded, at $5 per month each, will next year earn $6,000. The Williams hands will nominally earn, as heretofore, $6,000 a year until 1883. The gross earnings for 1880, to become larger thereafter as the $5 per month contracts expire, will therefore be $34,400, exclusive of the $6,000 for the penitentiary farm. The dead-heads will cost the State nothing heretofore an expense of several thousand dollars a year. The transportation of convicts will cost the State nothing-heretofore ranging from $9,000 to $15,000 a year. The State's disbursements will be limited to the payment of the salaries of the officers and inspectors-say $7,000. The net cash receipts, therefore, should be about $27,000 for the calendar year 1880, and greater for each of the succeeding four years. This institution in former years has been a constant drain on the Treasury.

The number of patients in the Insane Hospital on October 1, 1878, was 403, and the daily average 389. The maintenance of these has cost the State a small amount over $64,000. Upon an analysis of the results of the biennial period ending with September 30, 1878, it will appear that the number of patients discharged cured is 40-50 per cent. upon the admissions, and the deaths 3.87 per cent. of the total number under treatment. The report of the officers of the institution thus answers the question, "What is insanity? ”—

But

The fact should be kept prominently in view that insanity is a disease, and a disease of the brain. Too great prominence, indeed, can not be given to these judgment, memory, imagination, conscience, and, in two important considerations. Perception, thought, fact, all the manifestations, are such mysterious forces or results that the average mind turns away in despair from every endeavor to explore their relations or the laws of their origin and normal action. about, and the precautions necessary to the avoidance the states of a diseased organ-how they are brought of like pathological results under similar conditionsare problems which, in their analogies to those of other organs and functions, invite and encourage investigation. But the definition will be needful in still another aspect. It tends most effectually to controvert, and will ultimately abolish, the absurd notion that insanity is a disgrace. This erroneous view of

The report of the physician (Dr. Bryce), after designating alcohol "as the most active of all the exciting causes of insanity," presents the following statement compiled from facts of the total annual expense of alcoholic stimulants in this country:

There are consumed in this country each year 561,000,000 gallons of alcoholic liquors, which at manufacturers' prices cost the consumers the round sum of $1,841,204,000. It kills 164,062 persons each year, whose days are shortened ten years, making a total of 1,640,620 years of time, which at $50 per year makes $82,031,000. There are 1,523,662 regular or moderate drinkers, who it is estimated lose one third of their time as a consequence of the gratification of this appetite, entailing a pecuniary loss alone of $76,182,100. The total amount of crime costs the Government annually $32,528,437, three fourths of which, or $24,396,828, is attributable to intemperance. Add the cost of pauperism caused by this evil, 821,375,000, and we find the total annual expense of alcoholic stimulants to the people of the United States to be

$2,041,249,428.

Some cases of indictment for election frauds occurred in Dallas County, and were brought up for trial before the United States Court (Judge Bruce), at Montgomery. The counsel for the defense maintained that the jury law in the statute-book was operative and valid, whereas the Court and District Attorney held the reverse, as follows: The counsel for the defense moved to quash the indictments based upon the provisions of section 820 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, Boutwell edition. This section constitutes the pith of the somewhat celebrated ironclad oath. (See CONGRESS, UNITED STATES.) One at least of the members of the recent grand jury of the United States was a Confederate soldier, and consequently could not take this oath. The counsel for the defendants held that so long as the oath was contained in the Revised Statutes it was operative and of full force and effect. Judge Bruce maintained just the reverse. He held that the ironclad oath was effectually repealed prior to the passage of the act adopting the Revised Statutes of the United States by Congress, and that its appearance in the new edition of these statutes did not reenact it. The law which was passed by Congress, accepting the Boutwell edition of the Revised Statutes of the United States, included all laws of a general and permanent character in force on the 1st day of December, 1873. Judge Bruce held that the test-oath act was repealed before December 1, 1873, and consequently, not being one of the acts in force on that date, its appearance in the Revised Statutes did not reenact it. Hence the

Many revenue cases brought before the Court developed the fact that Commissioners were in the habit of issuing blank affidavits to agents and deputy marshals, to be filled up with the names of such parties as the agent or deputy marshal might be able to charge, on his own oath, with violation of the law, as he had reason to believe. On such warrants many innocent persons have been arrested, and subjected to great expense, injustice, and oppression, and the Commissioners, agents, and marshals have reaped a large amount of unlawful fees. opinion, setting forth these facts, and deJudge Woods read an able nounced such proceedings as contrary to the United States Constitution, which declares that "no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." He concluded with an order that no Commissioner shall issue any warrant of search, seizure, or arrest, unless a witness shall first appear before said Commissioner and make the proper affidavit.

The statute of Alabama declares that "all railroad companies in the State . . . may, for the transportation of local freight, demand and receive not exceeding fifty per cent. more than the rate charged for the transportation of the same description of freight over the whole line of the road." The Supreme Court of the State held that, as it is the policy of railroad corporations to so connect their lines as to effect a long continuous connected line of transportation, and under such arrangement the saving of labor and increase of business resulting from such connection enable each road to accept its share of the sum realized from this branch of the business, a sum which would fall much below fair remuneration for receiving, loading, transporting, unloading, and delivering the same quantity and description of freight, whose departure and distribution were each within the limit of the one road, hence the words "over the whole line of its road" mean, and only mean, freight which is taken at one terminus and discharged at the other.

ALASKA. This distant region, belonging by purchase to the United States, has not yet been