Treasurer, W. G. Woodruff, Jr.; Attorney-General, C. B. Moore; Superintendent of Public Instruction, W. E. Thompson; State Land Commissioner, W. P. Campbell. Judiciary, Supreme Court: E. H. English, Chief-Justice; W. W. Smith and John R. Eakin, Associate Justices. Chancellor, D. W. Carroll. Legislative Session.-The Legislature met on the 8th of January, and adjourned on the 28th of March. The State was redistricted for congressional purposes as follows: 1st district, the counties of Randolph, Clay, Green, Lawrence, Sharp, Independence, Jackson, Craighead, Mississippi, Poinsett, Cross, Crittenden, St. Francis, Lee, Phillips, Desha, and Chicot. 2d district, the counties of Dorsey, Lincoln, Grant, Jefferson, Arkansas, Monroe, Prairie, Lonoke, Woodruff, White, Faulkner, Conway, Pope, Van Buren, Stone, and Cleburne. 8d district, the counties of Polk, Howard, Sevier, Little River, Pike, Hempstead, Miller, Lafayette, Columbia, Nevada, Clark, Hot Spring, Dallas, Ouachita, Calhoun, Union Bradley, Drew, and Ashley. 4th district, the counties of Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Sebastian, Logan, Scott, Yell, Perry, Garland, Saline, Pulaski, and Montgomery. 5th district, the counties of Benton, Washington, Madison, Carroll, Boone, Newton, Searcy, Marion, Baxter, Fulton, and Izard. An act was passed to provide for revising and digesting the statutes. Another act provides that "the charters and all the amendments thereto of all municipal corporations within this State, designated as cities of the second class and incorporated towns, may be surrendered, all offices held thereunto abolished, and the territory and inhabitants thereof remanded to the government of this State in the manner hereinafter provided." An act was passed to establish the county of Cleburne from portions of Van Buren, Independence, and White counties. An important enactment was the following: That if any person believing himself to be the owner, either in law or equity, under color of title has peaceably improved, or shall peaceably improve any land, which upon judicial investigation shall be decided to belong to another, the value of the improvement made as aforesaid, and the amount of all taxes which may have been paid on said land by such per son and those under whom he claims, shall be paid by the successful party to such occupant, or the person under whom or from whom he entered and holds, before the court rendering judgment in such proceeding shall cause possession to be delivered to such successful party. The principal law of the session, relating to the liquor-traffic, provides: That any person owning or using or controlling any house or tenement of any kind, who shall sell or give away or cause or allow to be sold or given away any alcohol, ardent or vinous spirits or malt liquors, any compound or tincture commonly called bitters or tonios, whether the same be sold or given away, openly or secretly, by such device as is known as "The Blind Tiger," or by any other name or under any other device, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and if any person shall obtain any such alcohol, ardent or vinous spirits, or malt liquors, or any compound or tincture commonly called bitters or tonics, in any house, room, or tenement so owned, occupied, or controlled by another, by going therein or thereto, and by call, sound, word, or token, it shall be prima facie evidence of the guilt of the person who so owns, occupies, or controls such house, room, or tenement; or, if any persons are allowed to pass through or into any room or place so owned or controlled or occupied by another, and there obtain such alcohol, ardent or vinous spirits, or malt liquors, or any compound or tincture commonly called bitters or tonics, it shall be deemed presumptive evidence of the guilt of the party who owns, controls, or occupies such house or room. Other acts passed were as follow: For the better regulation of the system of letting and subletting of lands, and for the punishment of persons for violations of the provisions of this act. Making the stealing of cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats a felony, and prescribing the punishment. To provide how railroads shall unite, cross, intersect, or join other railroads. To prevent the sale of obscene literature. ful act, neglect, or default. Requiring compensation for causing death by wrong The following article was proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the State, to be voted upon at the next general election: ARTICLE XX. The General Assembly shall have no power to levy any tax, or to make any appropriations to pay either the principal or interest, or any part thereof, of any of the following bonds of the State, or the claims, or pretended claims, upon which they may be based, to wit: Bonds issued under an act of the "An act to provide for the funding of the public debt General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled of the State," approved April 6, A. D. 1869, and numbered from 491 to 1,860, inclusive, being the "funding bonds," delivered to F. W. Caper, and sometimes aid bonds, issued under an act of the General Assemcalled" Holford bonds," or bonds known as railroad bly of the State of Arkansas, entitled "An act to aid in the construction of railroads," approved July 21, A. D. 1868, or bonds called "levee bonds," being bonds issued under an act of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, entitled "An act providing for the building and repairing the public levees of the State and for other purposes," approved March 16, A. D. 1869; and the supplemental act thereto, approved April 12, 1869; and the act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'an Act providing for the building and repairing of the public levees of this State,'" approved March 23, A. D. 1871, and any law providing for any such tax or appropriation shall be null and void. United States Senator Garland was re-elected. Finances.-The total amount of warrants drawn by the Auditor for the two years ending September 30, 1882, was $1,356,392.80, of which sum $498,382.63 was used in paying the current expenses of the State government for the two years. of the State, known as the Baxter war bonds, During the two years the 10 per cent. bonds amounting originally to $280,443.02, were redeemed and canceled. There is now outstanding only about $50,000 in State scrip. On the subject of the State debt, and the condition of the State's finances, Treasurer Woodruff says: "The redemption of the tenyear bonds, and the near absorption of the floating (scrip) debt, place the State in better financial condition than at any time since 1860. Taking as correct the estimate of the bonded debt contained in statement No. 18, the acknowledged debt was, October 1, 1882, $5,078,692. Of this amount, $2,495,500 bears interest at the rate of 6 per cent., and $22,000 at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum; $6,200 bears no interest, and will be redeemed before the Legislature meets. The remaining $2,554,992 is unpaid interest accrued." In his message to the Legislature at the beginning of the year, the Governor says: By reference to the reports of the Treasurer and Commissioner of State Lands, it will be seen that both recommend the repeal of the donation or homestead law, and that the forfeited lands, which now amount to over 3,000,000 acres, be reserved, or sold only for the extinguishment of the State debt. This would seem to be a wise provision, and I most heartily concur in its recommendation. Among the first things, however, to determine is, of what does the just and legal debt consist? The legality and justness of a portion of this debt have been questioned, and much bad feeling has been engendered among the people of the State. Among all classes, however, there is a disposition to act honorably and honestly by the State's creditors. The mass of the people are honest and in favor of honest methods, and the one important point first to determine is, whether common honesty demands payment of any portion of our disputed indebtedness." Repudiation, in any form or in any shape, can be fraught only with evil. No constitutional enactment can do away with the State's legal responsibility for paper issued by her. The history of the issuance of $5,800,000 of bonds The bonds were issued to the roads, taken to New York and other commercial centers, sold, and the proceeds used by the roads to aid in their construction. When this was done, there was a contract between the roads and the State that the latter should be held harmless. These bonds are now in the hands of innocent purchasers. Because the Supreme Court of the State has declared the act under which the bonds were issued illegal, and as the General Assembly, at its extraordinary session in 1874, repealed the act providing for the sequestration of the earnings of the roads, in default of payment of interest, it is contended that the innocent holders of the bonds should receive nothing. So far as the State is concerned she can not be expected, nor is it assumed, by even the bondholders, that she ought to pay any part of this indebtedness. But does she not owe a duty to the innocent purchasers of her bonds, to see that they are protected, and that the roads are compelled to comply with their contract? The State has the power, through the Legislature, undoubted and supreme, to tax the railroads in an amount sufficient to meet the yearly interests and eventually the principal of these bonds; this, irrespective of the unconstitutionality of the law under which they were issued. to aid in the construction of railroads is well known. Since commencing my message, the Circuit Court of the United States, for this State, has rendered a deeision in regard to these railroad aid bonds, sustaining this view of the case, and therefore strengthens this my recommendation. I desire to again emphasize all that has heretofore been said on the subject of the judgment held by citizens against the State, on account of property taken from them during the pending of martial law in several counties in 1869. Provision for the payment of this debt should be made at once. Inaugural Views.-Gov. Berry was inaugurated on the 13th of January, and in his address expressed the following views: The fact that there are outstanding bonds representing some $13,000,000, which are claimed by the holders to be a valid obligation of the State, and which are believed by a large portion of our people to be fraudulent and void, has proved a constant source of annoyance and embarrassment. The best interests of the people demand that the question of the State's constitute a just claim, we ought to provide for their liability for these bonds be definitely settled. If they ultimate payment. If they are not a legitimate charge against the State, and we do not intend to pay them, common fairness requires us to say so, and say it in such a manner that we can not be misunderstood. Two classes of these bonds, those known as the railroad aid and levee bonds, amounting to more than $10,000,000, have been declared by our Supreme Court to have been issued without authority of law, and not binding upon the State. The remaining class, known as the Holford bonds, are based upon a claim which the authorities of the State refused to recognize when first preferred-a claim the people have never admitted to be just, but upon which they have already paid all that, under any view of the circumstances, could be claimed was either legal or equitable. In a matter of this magnitude it seems to me eminently proper that the question should be withdrawn from the General Assembly and placed directly before the people. Under our present system the railroad property practically escapes taxation, the total amount of State taxes upon railroad property upon last year's assessment, excluding lands, being only $2,400. Some of these railroad corporations claim to be exempt from taxation by their charters. This claim should be thoroughly investigated. The Governor proposed a new revenue law, "that will compel assessors to assess all of the property of the State at its true value; that will impose upon railroad property its just portion of taxes, levied for the benefit of all; that will prevent tax-dodging," etc. Railroad Aid Bonds.-The railroad aid bonds were issued by the State under the act of 1868. They were accepted and used by five railroad companies, to which the following issues of bonds were made: Little Rock and Fort Smith.. Total....... $1,000,000 1,200,000 600,000 1,200,000 1,350,000 $5,850,000 To which sum must be added twelve years' interest at 7 per cent. The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad Company owns and holds $938,000 of the $1,200,000 bonds originally issued to that corporation, and the bonds owned and held by the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railway Company amount to $644,000. These bonds were purchased years ago upon advice of counsel, at very low figures, with a view of hedging against a possible decision by the courts, holding the railroads and not the State liable for the bonds issued to those corporations. The remainder are outstanding. Of the railway corporations above named, all but one-the Arkansas Central-are thoroughly responsible, and fully able to liquidate the claims due on these bonds. In the suit of Tompkins vs. the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad Company, in the United States Circuit Court, Judges Caldwell and McCrary held on demurrer that these bonds were a lien on the railroads, but, at the hearing on the merits, Justice Miller held the contrary. Judge Caldwell dissented, and the case went to the Supreme Court of the United States. These issues of railroad aid bonds form a portion of the alleged public debt of the State, to repudiate which amendment No. 1 was submitted to the electors in 1880, lost by not receiving a constitutional majority, and will be resubmitted at the general election in 1884. The significance of Justice Miller's decision is in holding the railroads harmless, and throwing the bonds back on the State, which issued them under an act in whose passage the State Supreme Court has decided the necessary forms were not complied with. Miscellaneous.-The Insane Asylum has been completed, and a State Board of Health organized. The building for a branch normal college for the education of colored teachers, near Pine Bluff, has been completed. In March a joint legislative committee reported the net deficit of Gov. Churchill's accounts, as State Treasurer during three terms, to be $233,616.89, differing widely from the previous report of a Senate committee, which made the deficit about $114,000. ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PROGRESS. Solar Activity. The year 1883 has been characterized by considerable disturbance of the sun's surface. The "Comptes Rendus," vol. xcvii, No. 4, describes in detail the phenomena observed from the 16th to the 23d of July-a period of very marked activity. At 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the 16th, M. Thollon saw, on the sun's eastern limb, a most brilliant prominence, in which the spectroscope indicated a violent displacement of the C line. At 5h 20m this displacement was so pronounced that M. Thollon inferred an approach of solar matter at the rate of 186 miles a second-ten times the velocity of the earth in its orbit. Somewhat earlier in the afternoon a smaller displacement was observed in the opposite direction. On the 21st and 22d, a considerable part of the sun's southern hemisphere gave signs of great agitation. A large group, consisting of spots too numerous to be counted, was seen near the eastern margin, and a long chain of spots, at almost regular intervals, stretched across the disk, from limb to limb. On the morning of the 22d a brilliant prominence attracted attention, and a number of metallic lines were strongly reversed. M. Thollon says he had never, in so short a time, seen so many large displacements of the spectral lines. Total Eclipse of May 6, 1883.-This eclipse was observed at Caroline Island, in the South Pacific Ocean, by parties from the United States, Paris, and Vienna. The expedition sent by the United States Government was under the direction of Prof. Edward S. Holden, of the Washburn Observatory, at Madison, Wis. Other members of the party were Lieut. Brown, of the Navy; Prof. Hastings, of the Johns Hopkins University; Prof. C. S. Peirce, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; and Mr. C. H. Rockwell, of Tarrytown, N. Y. It had been hoped by astronomers that the question of the existence of an intra-Mercurial planet would be definitely settled, as a special search had been arranged for by two parties of observers. The state of the atmosphere was favorable, the duration of totality was unusually long, and Prof. Holden himself swept the region about the sun with all possible attention. His search, however, was entirely unsuccessful. The facts of the case are thus exceedingly perplexing. That fixed stars, whose positions were well known, should have been mistaken for planets by two experienced observers, such as Watson and Swift, seems almost incredible. On the other hand, it is at least equally improbable that Professors Holden and Palisa, with more time for the search, should have failed to detect a planet, if any were visible. During totality, M. Trouvelot noticed a reddish star of the fifth magnitude-not far from the sunwhich he has not since been able to identify. Markings and Spots on Mercury.—"The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society' for March, 1883, contains the results of the recent observations of Mercury by Mr. W. F. Denning, of Bristol, Eng., and Sig. Schiaparelli, of Milan, Italy. The former saw several dark, irregular spots on the mornings of Nov. 6, 7, 9, and 10, 1882; also a small bright spot and a large white area. The south horn of the planet was also seen on several mornings to be very much blunted. Both Denning and Schiaparelli find the markings on Mercury much more distinct than those on Venus. They find, moreover, that the former bears a more striking resemblance, in its physical aspect, to Mars than to Venus. Without undertaking to give an exact determination of Mercury's rotationperiod, Mr. Denning expresses the opinion, concurred in by Schiaparelli, that Schroeter's period of 24h 5m 30 is too short. The observations of these astronomers give promise that this element, hitherto somewhat doubtful, may soon be accurately found. The Transit of Venus on Dec. 6, 1882.-The various expeditions sent to different parts of the world to observe the transit of Venus in 1882 were generally successful. At the Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C., Prof. E. Frisby, with the 26-inch equatorial telescope, observed the four contacts as follows: Prof. Young and Mr. McNeill showed unmistakably the presence of water-vapor in the atmosphere of Venus. "Between the first and second contacts the atmosphere of the planet was conspicuous as a delicate halo around its disk." The transit was observed at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., by Prof. Maria Mitchell; at Harvard College Observatory, by Prof. Pickering and others; at Dearborn Observatory, Chicago, by Professors G. W. Hough and S. W. Barnham: at Allegheny Observatory, Pa., by Prof. S. P. Langley; at Tarrytown, N. Y., by Mr. Charles H. Rockwell; at Columbus, O., by Prof. R. W. McFarland and Mr. F. H. Eldredge; at Phelps, N. Y., by Mr. W. R. Brooks; at Nashville, Tenn., by Prof. E. E. Barnard; at New Windsor, Ill., by Prof. E. L. Larkin; and by many others in various parts of the country. The observations of foreign astronomers were also generally successful. "How long it will be before the observations, especially the photograph and heliometer measures, are fully reduced and published, it is impossible to say. It must be years at least. After this is done, it will be extremely probable that some high authority, perhaps an international commission, should collect and discuss all the various observations, both of this transit and that of 1874, and, from the enormous mass of material thus obtained, deduce the best final result which it can furnish-a result which can not fail to be of the highest value in settling the dimensions of our universe."* Mr. A. Stanley Williams, who observed the transit at Brighton, Eng, while examining the border of light around Venus, noticed this fringe to be very conspicuous on the southern portion of the planet's limb, but very faint and narrow elsewhere. During the transit, however, some change was manifest in the relative brightness at different parts of the ring. The phenomenon was ascribed by Mr. Williams to the presence of clouds on the limb of Venus. The Moon. In "The Observatory" for March and April, 1883, Mr. A. Stanley Williams, of West Brighton, Eng., gives an interesting account of his observations on the lunar crater Plato during the past five years. The condition of our satellite has long been regarded as dead and changeless; but the observations of Mr. Williams, in connection with a most careful examination of the floor of Plato by several astronomers from 1869 to 1871, reveal the fact of undoubted physical changes within the past twelve years. The evidence of variation does not rest on the testimony of a single observer. Observations of Plato were simultaneously conducted by the Rev. J. B. Allison, of Chesterfield; W. F. Denning, of Bristol; T. P. Gray, of Bedford; and H. Pratt, of Brighton. Some of the changes discovered by a comparison of the late observations with those of 1869-'71 are as follow: 1. Of the thirty-seven spots observed and Sidereal Messenger," February, 1888. mapped about 1870, six have entirely disappeared. Seven new ones have been found, however, during the recent observations. 2. A very large increase in visibility is found in the spots numbered 12 and 13 on the chart of the floor of Plato. The latter also exhibits some remarkable changes in form. 3. No. 16 has to a considerable extent decreased in brightness. 4. Several streaks in the floor of the crater have sensibly increased in breadth; three new streaks have appeared within the past ten years, and several that were distinctly visible about 1870 can not now be found. 5. Very obvious changes in the state of the floor of the crater have taken place since the observations of 1869-'71. Diameter of the Moon.-Prof. H. M. Paul, of the United States Navy, has lately redetermined the semi-diameter of the moon from two occultations of the Pleiades, observed on July 6, 1877, and September 6, 1879. His value of the mean apparent semi-diameter is 15′ 31.78"; corresponding to a diameter of 2158.3 miles. Minor Planets.-The 232d minor planet was detected on the 21st of January, 1883, by Herr Palisa, of the Vienna Observatory. It is of the twelfth magnitude, and is the thirty-ninth discovered by this observer. The right to select a name was delegated to Dr. Engelhardt, of Dresden, who called it Russia. Its elements, computed by Dr. Herz, from Vienna observations of January 31st, Rome, March 8th, and Dresden, April 13th, are as follow: Epoch, April 15.5, Berlin mean time. Longitude of perihelion.... Longitude of ascending node.. Mean daily motion.. Period.. Inclination.. Mean distance.. Eccentricity.. ... 200° 24' 87' 152 80 28 6 8 84 870-2296" 1489.26 days. 2.5522 0.1754 The mean distance falls in the cluster imme diately exterior to the well-known hiatus where the period of an asteroid would be one third that of Jupiter. Another asteroid was discovered at Mar seilles, on the 11th of May, by M. Borelly. Its light is about equal to that of a star of the eleventh magnitude. The third minor planet of the year was detected, August 12th, by Dr. Peters, of Clinton, N. Y. This is the 234th of the group, and the 42d discovered by him. It is of the ninth magnitude, and its approximate elements are as follows: Epoch, 1883, August 30 5, Berlin mean time. Longitude of perihelion... Longitude of ascending node. Inclination... Eccentricity. Mean daily motion.. Period Mean distance.. 882° 6' 85.5" 144 6 44 15 81 19 0.2436 956-674" 1854.7 days. 2.39605 Owing to the great eccentricity of this planet's orbit, its least distance from the sun is only 1.812. Its remarkable brightness when discovered was due to the fact that it was nearly in opposition, as well as near the sun, at the time of its detection. The 235th minor planet was discovered on the morning of Nov. 29, 1883, by Dr. Palisa, of Vienna. Distribution of the Asteroids in Space.-Flammarion's "L'Astronomie" for June, 1883, contains an article of much interest on the distribution of the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. The author, Gen. Parmentier, notices well-defined gaps in those parts of the zone where the periods would be commensurable with that of Jupiter. His discussion of the periods and distances is thus confirmatory of Prof. Kirkwood's theory, published in 1866. Several asteroids lately discovered are still without names; the following have been conferred during the current year: Jupiter. The great red spot on Jupiter, which had been observed for several years, gradually disappeared in 1883. Prof. Ricco, of the Royal Observatory, Palermo, says that, in September, the part of the surface recently occupied by it had become brilliantly white. He infers from his own observations that the neighborhood of the red spot had acquired the same rate of motion as the spot itself. This place is designated by a permanent depression in the great belt in which the red spot was situated. Prof. G. W. Hough, Director of the Dearborn Observatory, Chicago, has for several years made Jupiter a special object of attention. In his last annual report, May 9, 1883, he says: "While the spot has remained nearly stationary in latitude, the south edge of the great Equatorial Belt has gradually drifted south during the present opposition, until it is nearly coincident with the middle of the spot. But what is remarkable, the two do not blend together, but are entirely distinct and separate. A depression has formed in the edge of the belt, corresponding in shape to the oval outline of the spot, the distance between the two objects being about one second of arc. That portion of the belt following the spot first began to drift, forming a bend near the position occupied by a curious offshoot, seen at various times in 1880 and 1881. The nonblending of the two objects would seem to indicate that they are composed of matter having repellent properties, similar to two clouds charged with the same kind of electricity." It is suggested by Prof. Hough that the red spot visible from 1878 to 1883 may have been a return of the great spot observed by Hook and Cassini from 1664 to 1666. It was some distance south of the equator, and its diameter was over 8,000 miles. It reappeared and vanished eight times within forty-four years from the date of its first discovery. If the objects are the same, "we would naturally infer that it was a portion of the solid body of the planet; being sometimes rendered invisible by a covering of clouds." "The Observatory" for April contains a communication by N. E. Green, on the relative heights of markings on Jupiter. The white spots, it is maintained, are at a higher level in the atmosphere of the planet than the dark ones. This theory is derived from a critical examination of several hundred drawings of the planet, taken within the past twenty years. The reasons assigned by Mr. Green for the adoption of his views are as follow: "1. The general form of the light marks, these being round, oval, or compact patches, very unlike openings or rifts in a superficial cloudy envelope. 2. That the oval forms so frequently seen on the equatorial side of the dark southern belt, indent equally both the dark belt and the general surface of the planet. 3. That the continuity of a long, dark streak is occasionally broken by a patch of light broader than the streak, the patch of light hiding, therefore, not only the streak but a portion of the general surface of the planet to the north and south of it. The first reason, that of the general form of the light markings, may seem to be weak, but, taken in connection with their relative position, is by no means inconclusive. In March, 1874, lines of small round patches of light, smaller than the satellites, were frequently seen, looking like strings of pearls; these occurred generally on the dark southern belt, but were occasionally seen in northern and high southern latitudes. Now, if the darker portions are uppermost, these surfaces must have been pierced like the sides of a man-of-war, in order that the light underlying portion might be seen through the openings. Again, in January, 1873, large oval masses of light were so constant on the equatorial side of the southern belt, that the belt itself looked like a long, dark bridge with many arches; but let it be observed that these light forms not only indented the dark belt on one side, but equally indented the general tone of the planet on the other; and if we consider the dark belt as being at a higher level, and the light marks as portions of a continuous light surface seen through its openings, we must admit that some other envelope is also pierced with similar openings, and that the two openings coincide, in order that the oval form may be complete-a supposition which is not recommended by its probability. But the last argument, that of the imposition of a mass of light on a long, dark streak, is the most conclusive; this has occurred several times since the last opposition, the most marked instances being on Feb. 18, at 8 55TM”, G. M. T., and Feb. 24, at 8h. 45m. On the first date a broad and somewhat square patch of light interrupted the continuity of the darkest portion of the southern belt, and, being broader than the belt, extended in the direction of the equator over the general tone of the planet. On Feb. 24th, 8h 45m a square patch of light was nearly on the center of the disk; this lay on a long, bluish streak. The patch of light was consider |