The History of Georgia

Federal Army in Control.

After the devastating experience of the last year of the war, with three-fourths of its wealth destroyed, its slaves made free, one-fourth of its railroads torn up and a debt of twenty million dollars pressing upon its impoverished and almost ruined people, the State of Georgia entered in 1865 upon the dark and distressing era of reconstruction.

Governor Brown had been arrested, although he had been given his parole, and had been taken to Washington City and put in prison. Complaining to the President of this treatment, he was set at liberty within a week. When he returned to Georgia he found the state under the control of the Federal army, with a Federal officer in charge of every city. Thereupon Governor Brown resigned his office, advising the people to make the best of the situation, to agree to the Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution abolishing slavery, and to support the general government in their plans to reconstruct the Southern states.

The Federal army was in undisputed control of the state for about two months, during which there was no governor or any semblance of executive authority. The generals in charge were exemplary officers, however, and did many acts of kindness. Soldiers returning to their homes and destitute people generally were fed from their commissaries. Horses and mules that had been surrendered by the Confederate authorities, and even stock that had been left in the state by the Federal army under General Sherman, were turned over to the farmers, who were in sore need of help for the plowing. The officers and soldiers of the Federal army were as considerate and generous as could be expected.

Provisional Government Convention.

In January, 1865, James Johnson, of Columbus, was appointed by President Andrew Johnson provisional governor of Georgia. It was the purpose of this provisional appointment to secure at once the necessary steps to reorganize the state on the terms demanded by Congress for the reentry of the state into the Union. Accordingly, in July, Governor Johnson went to Milledgeville and assumed the duties of his office. He at once issued a proclamation calling for a state convention to meet in October. Every man who had been a Confederate soldier, or who had served in the war in any capacity, was required to take the oath of allegiance to the government before he could vote. Those who had held office before the war and afterwards served as Confederate soldiers were not allowed to vote. All who took no part in the war were allowed to vote. Many leading men were thus disqualified, but the great body of citizens voted.

The convention met in Milledgeville in October. The first thing done was to repeal the ordinance of secession. Then slavery was declared abolished in the state of Georgia, a new constitution of the state was adopted and the war debt was repudiated. It is to the credit of this convention, bare as it was of the leaders of the state, that it was very unwilling to refuse the payment of the war debt. Upon that issue there was grave dispute and a long hesitance, though it had been made a condition of reconstruction. Governor Johnson telegraphed the situation to the President of the United States. The answer came back that without the repudiation of the war debt Georgia would not be admitted to the Union. This settled the matter.

Before the convention adjourned it ordered an election for Governor and for members of the legislature and of Congress, to be held in November, 1865. At this election Charles J. Jenkins, of Richmond county was chosen governor without opposition. He was one of the remarkable men of that day. Born in South Carolina in 1805, he had moved to Georgia with his parents when he was eleven years old. He had graduated at the State University, was attorney-general of the state in 1831, and had been repeatedly in the legislature. He was the author of the famous "Georgia Platform" adopted by the Convention of 1850. He had declined to become a member of the cabinet of Millard Fillmore, and just before the war was appointed to the Supreme Court of the state. He was now called to the high duty of governor at a most trying epoch in the history of Georgia.

State Government Organized - Not Recognized by Congress.

In December, 1865, the legislature met according to law, and on the 14th Jenkins was inaugurated governor, President Johnson having telegraphed his consent to this action. The Thirteenth amendment to the constitution was ratified. Alexander H. Stephens and Herschel V. Johnson were elected United States senators.

It now appeared that the troubles of Georgia were at an end and that the storm-tossed and distressed state would find an anchor within the Union. Those hopes were dispelled by the unhappy dissensions between President Johnson and Congress. The President had followed the milder measures of Lincoln, and was pursuing the course of reconstruction outlined by his great predecessor. To him, as to Lincoln, the states had never been out of the Union, therefore they could not become territories. They were merely rebellious members. When the war closed the Union was still undivided, in his opinion, and the states constituting it were intact, therefore there was little to be done except to repeal the Ordinances of Secession and the country would go on as usual. Not so with Congress. The Southern states had rebelled, and they should be made to feel bitterness and humiliation for their conduct. Hence the conflict of the President and Congress, out of which grew the measures of reconstruction and the impeachment and trial of the President.

The state organization was recognized by the President, but Congress refused to seat the senators and representatives chosen, and the Federal army still held control of the state. This was the period when the "carpet baggers" made their appearance. They followed the Northern army into the South bent on deluding the negro, swindling him out of what little he had and, if possible, foisting themselves into office. They were mere adventurers who were repudiated in their own communities and came South seeking new fields for the display of their cunning.

The Freedman's Bureau, a good thing in itself and authorized by Congress for the protection of the freed slaves, was the occasion of the carpet bagger invasion. The poor, deluded and bewildered negroes, wild in the ecstacy of their freedom and ignorant of the wiles of designing enemies in the guise of friends, fell an easy prey to their seductions. It was not hard to deceive them with the cry of "forty acres and a mule." They readily believed that they deserved a recompense, substantial and immediate, for the unpaid years of their slavery, and whatever they could find they had a right to appropriate.

Out of this condition grew the Ku Klux Klan, which was an organization demanded by the rude times to preserve order, intimidate the negroes and prevent the dissolution of the labor system upon which the regeneration of the South depended. Much has been written of the atrocities of this organization, but one need only consider the menace of several millions of negroes no longer compelled to labor, long unused to self-control, inflamed by ruthless men against their former masters, and muttering unheard of threats against those they once held in reverence, to realize that some preventive measures were imperative to protect a defenseless society against the incursions of that part of the negro population that had abandoned itself to its primitive barbarity. Happily the condition lasted but a few years. Error was committed on both sides, but out of a semi-lawless condition there soon arose an adjustment of relations that made for the peace and good will of both races.

When the Fourteenth amendment was proposed, the legislature of Georgia refused to ratify it. The argument was that if the state was a territory it had no right to vote on it. If it was a state it was entitled to have its senators and representatives in Congress, to discuss a measure proposed for general adoption. This provoked another crisis with Congress. Ex-Governor Brown advised the people to accept the demands of Congress since, in the end, they would be compelled to do so. This advice cast him in the shadow of a great unpopularity, from which it took years for him to emerge. Governor Jenkins and Benjamin H. Hill threw their great weight against the measures of Congress, and advised the state to stand firm in its refusal.

Military Rule - Second Convention.

In March, 1867, the tide of events brought Georgia again under military control, with Alabama and Florida in the Third Military District, Gen. John Pope in command. An election for another constitutional convention took place in July. There were as many negroes as whites allowed in the registration lists, there being 95,973 negroes out of 192,235 registered voters. In the election for delegates, the best men of the state were passed by. Out of 166 delegates, thirty-three were negroes. In December, 1867, the convention met in Milledgeville, and remained in session over three months. A constitution was framed and ordered submitted to the people in April, and members of Congress were to be chosen.

At the same election the question of removal of the state capital was submitted. The growing city of Atlanta, that was rising rapidly from the ashes of war, clamored for the honor. It was the note of progress sounding in the state. Atlanta offered an executive mansion, a building for the legislature and a site for a new capitol.

When the convention adjourned it needed money to pay its expenses. A demand was made upon the treasurer for forty thousand dollars, which he refused to pay except upon a warrant from the governor. General Meade, the military officer in control of the state, wrote to Governor Jenkins and asked him for the warrant. This Jenkins refused to issue, whereupon he was removed from office by General Meade, and Gen. Thomas. H. Ruger, of the United States Army, was "detailed for duty" as governor of Georgia, and Capt. Chas. F. Rockwell as treasurer.

Governor Jenkins at once left the state, taking with him four hundred thousand dollars of money from the treasury and the great seal of the state. The money he deposited in a bank in New York City to the credit of the State of Georgia. The seal he carried with him to Nova Scotia, where he went with his family to reside. When he returned to Georgia, several years later, he returned the money and the seal, saying: "I derive great satisfaction from the reflection that it has never been desecrated by the grasp of a military usurper's hand." The legislature ordered a gold facsimile of the seal made and presented to him with the motto: "In arduis fidelis."

State Government Again Reorganized.

Rufus B. Bullock, the Republican candidate, was elected governor, in 1868, over Gen. John B. Gordon. The constitution was ratified and Atlanta was selected as the state capital. Twenty-eight negroes were elected to the legislature, which met in July. This legislature, having ratified the Fourteenth amendment to the constitution and done everything else required by Congress, was allowed to inaugurate Bullock as governor of the state, and the military authorities withdrew in his favor.

Trouble With Congress - Georgia Finally Readmitted into the Union.

In September, however, the legislature expelled the negro members on the ground that they had no right to hold office under the existing constitution. Congress, in retaliation of this act and considering it a violation of their own reconstruction measures, promptly refused to seat the members from Georgia in that body. The Supreme Court held that negroes were entitled to hold office. Governor Bullock was directed to reconvene the legislature, including the expelled negroes, and require that body to ratify the Fifteenth amendment to the constitution, or else Georgia should not be represented in the national councils.

The legislature therefore met in January, 1870, and amid great excitement attempted to organize. Much noise and tumult prevailed and many efforts at adjournment were made. Finally both houses were organized, the negroes were allowed to keep their seats, and the Fifteenth amendment was ratified.

This turbulence attracted the attention of Congress, which passed an order directing the judiciary committee to look into the situation in Georgia, in order peaceably and promptly to reconstruct that state. Wise counsels prevailed at last. The committee reported the conduct of the convention and the legislature to be "improper, illegal and arbitrary proceedings." Congress ordered a new and fair election. Shortly afterward a bill was passed admitting Georgia to the Union. It was signed by President U. S. Grant in July, 1870. In January, 1871, the senators and members of Congress from Georgia were admitted to their seats in Congress. The work of reconstruction of the seceding states was at length complete. The union of states was again established. Georgia was the last to be readmitted, and with her accession ended the trying era of reconstruction, that was so full of prejudice against the Southern states and of unhappiness for the people.

The era of peace begins with the resignation of Governor Bullock in October, 1871, and the assumption of his duties by Benjamin Conley, the president of the Senate. An election for governor was held in December, at which James M. Smith was elected without opposition.

The sudden and unexplained retirement of Governor Bullock led to an examination of his office by a committee of the legislature, who soon reported that bonds to the extent of several million dollars had been fraudulently issued during his administration. Those bonds were promptly declared void and have never been paid by the state. Charges were preferred against Governor Bullock and a warrant issued for his arrest. An officer sought for him in New York in vain. After a few years he submitted to arrest, was tried and acquitted on account of insufficient proof to convict.

Education.

The constitution of 1868 had directed the legislature to provide for a system of common schools for the state. An act for this purpose had been passed in 1872, and Governor Bullock had appointed Gen. J. R. Lewis as State School Commissioner. A new law was passed in 1872 perfecting the system, one-half the rental of the Western and Atlantic Railroad was added to the school fund, and Governor Smith appointed Gustavus J. Orr as State School Commissioner. From this beginning has grown, in successive years, a great school system, the bulwark and pride of the state.

In addition to this educational movement, the North Georgia Agricultural College at Dahlonega was opened in January, 1873, as one of the branch colleges of the University. The old mint of the United States Government and ten acres of land had been donated for this educational purpose. This college is still one of several branch colleges that are located in different parts of the state, the purpose of which is to supply an elementary collegiate instruction leading up to higher courses in the greater parent institution.

Furthermore, about the same time, the donation of certain public lands by Congress to the state and territories for the promotion of agricultural and mechanic arts, was engaging the attention of Georgia. The share allotted to this state was accepted by the legislature, and the interest arising from the sale of the lands was turned over to the trustees of the University to carry out the purposes of the act. This was the beginning in Georgia of the School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, as a part of the University, and one of the many departments of that great system of higher education.

Thus it is clear that the thought of the state at the beginning of the new era was wisely placed in the education of its sons and daughters in schools of all degrees and kinds.

New Constitution.

Alfred H. Colquitt was elected governor in 1876 over Jonathan Norcross, the Republican candidate, by a majority of eighty thousand votes, the largest ever known in the state. In the same year the vote of Georgia was given overwhelmingly for Tilden and Hendricks, the Democratic candidates in the national election. Benjamin H. Hill, the great orator and statesman, was chosen United States senator for a term of six years.

A new constitution now engaged the thought of the people. The constitution of 1868 was considered a Republican measure and was not satisfactory. A convention to revise it was called by the legislature, which convention met in Atlanta in July, 1877. Several important changes were made in the constitution. The term of office of the governor was reduced from four years to two years. The system of appointing judges and solicitors of the superior court was changed from appointment by the governor to election by the legislature. This has subsequently been changed to election by the people. The sessions of the legislature were made biennial instead of annual, though this also was subsequently restored by amendment to an annual session limited to fifty days. The regulation of freight and passenger rates was put under control of the legislature. The payment of the fraudulent bonds was prohibited. A complete system of common schools was established, and other wise and important provisions were made for the public good.

This instrument is still known as the "Constitution of 1877," and with the amendments that have been made since its adoption by the people in December of that year, is the constitution under which the state affairs are now administered. So thoroughly were the finances of the state guarded by the constitution that Robert Toombs, one of the leading spirits of the convention, declared they "had locked the doors of the treasury and thrown away the key."

Legislative Investigations.

The spirit of investigation and reform which had seized upon the people manifested itself in the legislature of 1878. A demand was made for a sweeping inquiry into all the departments of the state government. Committees were appointed to examine the offices of the secretary of state, comptroller-general, state school commissioner, public printer, and into the affairs of the penitentiary. All the committees reported favorably regarding their investigation, except those who investigated the comptroller-general and the treasurer. Here certain abuses were discovered which soon brought those two officers before the Senate on articles of impeachment presented by the House. The comptroller was charged with receiving and using money illegally, making false returns and altering the records of his office. He was convicted, removed from office, and disqualified from holding any public office during his life. The treasurer was acquitted of the charges brought against him.

Political Contests.

The most exciting political contest that had occurred up to this time was the memorable ColquittNorwood campaign of 1880. The nominating convention had sat in Atlanta for six hot and strenuous weeks, unable, by the rule requiring two-thirds majority, to agree upon a candidate. Ballot after ballot was taken, appeal after appeal was made for harmony. Alfred H. Colquitt had a majority, but not two-thirds of the delegates. His adherents remained steadfast. The minority was unshaken. After thirty ballots were taken and a nomination appeared hopeless, the convention appealed to the people and adjourned. The bare majority put Colquitt in the field. The minority put Thomas M. Norwood, of Savannah, in the field.

The contest that followed was memorable. Every act of Governor Colquitt's official life was discussed. He was assailed for appointing Joseph E. Brown to the United States Senate, which had been done upon the resignation of General Gordon in May. Brown was still unpopular for the attitude he had assumed after the war, and for his prosecution of certain citizens of Columbus for the killing of a Republican. In the election in October, Governor Colquitt won by a large majority, and Brown was returned by the legislature as a member of the senate.

Growth and Progress.

The census of that year showed the population of the state to be 1,542,180, being an increase in ten years of over 350,000. Under this census Georgia was entitled to ten representatives in Congress. The governor's message showed the industries of the state to be in a satisfactory condition, the credit good, the public debt reduced, the tax on railroad property collected and several thousand dollars added to the state revenue.

To show the progress of the state, the year 1881 signalized the first of several great expositions that have been held in Georgia. The International Cotton Exposition opened its doors in Atlanta in October, and the world was invited in to see what the cotton states had done in the fifteen years since the ,war closed. All the states were represented in exhibits that covered twenty acres in beautiful houses designed for the purpose. It was a notable gathering of people from all parts of the country, to vie in the arts of peace and to exhibit the fraternal goodwill as well as the products of field and factory.

Benjamin H. Hill, the senior senator from Georgia whose eloquent voice had so long charmed and convinced his hearers, passed off the stage of life in August, 1882. He was buried with distinguished honors and mourned by the people as one of their most distinguished statesmen. In October, 1882, Alexander H. Stephens, now past seventy years of age, was called to the position of governor. His life had been active in the discharge of high political duties. He was one of the great men in the crucial era of war. He had long battled against bodily infirmity, and finally succumbed to advancing years and enfeebled strength. He died in office March 4, 1883. At his death James S. Boynton, president of the Senate, became governor until the election was held, which resulted in the choice of Henry D. McDaniel.

The state now rises to the question of a new capitol building. In 1883 a million dollars was appropriated for the purpose, and a site was chosen upon an elevated place in the capital city. The material of the building was limestone, with Georgia granite for the foundation and marble for the interior. It was not completed until 1889, but when turned over to the state there were a few dollars of the original appropriation still unexpended. It is said to be one of the few capitol buildings in the world whose cost did not exceed the original amount set aside for its construction.

In 1885 the legislature passed an act establishing the Georgia School of Technology as a branch of the University. The sum of $65,000 was appropriated for building and equipping the school. This splendid institution, which is located in Atlanta, has steadily grown under increased appropriations and an energetic administration, until it has acquired a national reputation for excellence. Many hundreds of the young men of the state acquire technical knowledge of the industries, and, fully prepared for great things, enter upon the noble task of building up a wealthy and prosperous state.

General Gordon's Administration.

In October, 1886, the beloved soldier, Gen. John B. Gordon, was chosen to be governor of the state. His military record in the war which was so splendid that few soldiers surpassed him, his statesmanlike conduct in the Senate of the United States, his gallantry and high character, endeared him to the people. As long as he lived he was the idol of the old soldiers and the beloved hero of the war. After his death a bronze monument upon the capitol grounds in Atlanta attested the affectionate regard of the people he had served in war and in peace.

At the same election an amendment to the constitution was ratified by the people, giving the legislature power to levy a tax for supplying artificial limbs to disabled Confederate soldiers, and in other ways provide for the destitute heroes who had served their state in the war. From time to time pensions have been allowed, homes for the old and infirm soldiers have been provided until the state is properly caring for the aged servants who hazarded all and lost much in her service.

Among the young men who had arisen to high esteem in the regard of the state was Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution. He was a brilliant writer and orator, and had made several notable speeches of great eloquence and power. His famous speech at the banquet of the New England Club in New York in 1886 had raised him to national prominence as an earnest, eloquent and brilliant advocate of progress and peace. His sad death in 1889 was the occasion of universal grief. Memorial meetings were held in many places, a statue was erected to his honor, and a hospital in Atlanta bears his name.

Governor Northen's Administration.

In 1890 William J. Northen, the president of the State Agricultural Society, was nominated for governor, and being endorsed by the Farmers' Alliance was elected without opposition. Governor Northen was in no sense the candidate of the Alliance, but his deep interest in things agricultural, and especially his interest in the educational affairs of the state, endeared him to the great and powerful population of the rural districts. The Alliance had become a great organization, whose purpose was to secure better laws for the protection of the farming interests. It had its day, served its time of usefulness, and has given way to other organizations.

The disposition of the Western and Atlantic Railroad was among the first cares of Governor Northen. This splendid property had been built by the state from Atlanta to Chattanooga, and was a source of considerable revenue to the state. It had already been leased for a term of twenty years, which lease expired in 1890. The legislature decided to renew the lease, and in June of that year the bid of the Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was accepted for a lease of the road for twenty-nine years for $35,000 a month.

The question of education constantly recurred to the attention of the legislature. As the public school system grew it became necessary to establish schools for the training of teachers. The thought of the people drew more and more toward the training of the youth. In 1889 the legislature had passed an act providing for the establishment of a Normal and Industrial College for Girls, to be located at Milledgeville. Its course of instruction included not only a normal training for teachers, but also stenography, bookkeeping, telegraphy, dressmaking, cooking, music and art. In 1891 the legislature decided to establish a school in Athens exclusively designed for teachers. It is located in the building known as Rock College, and on the site of the once experimental station in agriculture. These two great schools annually enroll five hundred students each, and neither can keep pace with the great demand for attendance made upon it. Both have added strength and dignity to the industries and to the profession of teaching, and are a power for good in the welfare of the state.

The rise of the People's party, or the Populist party, in Georgia is one of the political facts of great significance. The leaders of the Farmers' Alliance organized this new party in Georgia, though the party had assumed proportions outside of the state and at one time grew into national significance. The great leader of the party in Georgia was, and still is, Thomas E. Watson, of Thomson, an able lawyer, an orator of rare persuasiveness and a man of great earnestness and personal attraction. He had been a member of the legislature, a Congressman, and in 1896 became the candidate for vice-president of the United States on the People's Party ticket. In 1908 he was candidate for President on the same ticket.

For a number of years the People's party grew in strength. Watson made a memorable race for Congress in the Tenth Congressional District in 1895, but was defeated by J. C. C. Black. Candidates for governor were put out, but in no instance was the party signally successful. Of late years this party and the Democratic party have been more in accord and much of the sharpness of strife and division has been abandoned in the state elections.

The state has been Democratic in its electoral vote for the high offices of the general government. In 1892 Grover Cleveland was the choice of Georgia, and in making up his cabinet chose Hoke Smith, of Atlanta, a prominent lawyer and statesman of rare ability, to be the Secretary of the Interior. This position was held by Smith for a number of years, when, failing in agreement with the financial policies of his chief, he resigned to resume the practice of law.

Governor Atkinson's Administration.

In 1894 an exciting contest for the Democratic nomination for governor occurred. There were two candidates in the field : W. Y. Atkinson and Gen. Clement A. Evans. A series of joint debates and a vigorous campaign of a few months followed, when it became evident that a majority of the delegates elected were for Atkinson. General Evans wrote a card withdrawing in the interest of party harmony, and Atkinson was nominated without opposition.

It was during his term of office that the International and Cotton States Exposition was held in Atlanta, where all the industries and resources of the South were represented. It was one of the greatest fairs our country has ever had. Every state in the Union sent its exhibits, and even foreign countries were represented. The visitors numbered thousands daily, who came to rejoice that the war-wasted lands of Georgia and the South were again blooming with prosperity.

The war with Spain in 1898 was the occasion of a prompt and patriotic response on the part of Georgia to the demands of the general government that peace be established on the island of Cuba. The sympathy of the entire country was on the side of the distressed and abused citizens of that unhappy island. There was bitter feeling against the Spaniards, and the safety of American citizens in Cuba was endangered.

The wreck of the Maine, the excitement created by the uncertainty of the cause of the event, the demands of Congress that Cuba should be freed from Spanish rule and the call of the President for volunteers to enforce this demand, found Georgia liberally disposed to act with all other states in this crisis in the West Indies. The call for three thousand soldiers made upon Georgia was promptly met. Three regiments were organized and placed at the disposal of the general government.

Among the major-generals appointed by President McKinley was Joseph Wheeler, a Georgian by birth, who had served with distinction as a cavalry leader in the Confederate army. Among the brigadier-generals was W. AV. Gordon, of Savannah, who, after the war, was on the commission to arrange for the evacuation of the island of Porto Rico. Thomas M. Brumby, of Georgia, served on the Olympia, as lieutenant, under Admiral Dewey in the Philippines. Brumby was sent to raise the American flag over the city of Manila upon the occasion of the surrender of that city.

During the war a number of camps were located in Georgia, being in easy distance for transportation in case of need. There were camps at Chickamauga Park, Macon, Athens, Augusta and Columbus. President McKinley visited these camps, and was enthusiastically received by the people. His noble character, pure life and patriotic feelings made him admired and beloved by the whole nation. When his life was ended by an assassin shortly after the Spanish war, there were no people that mourned more sincerely for his untimely and unfortunate death than the people of Georgia.

The disposition of penal convicts has always been a perplexing problem with any state. In 1897 the legislature passed an excellent law, creating a Prison Commission, who should have charge of all convicts. Provision was made whereby male and female convicts should be kept apart. Children under fifteen years should be given the education of a reformatory school, men disabled should not be hired out and white and colored convicts should not work together. A state farm was located near Milledgeville, on which many convicts were employed as laborers. The Prison Commission is also a Board of Pardons, before which come all applications for executive clemency. The board patiently hears all cases and makes proper recommendations to the governor, who alone has the power to pardon.

This disposition of convicts was reenacted with some change in 1900. Under the improved system the labor of felony convicts not sent to the farm is disposed of by contract to do work that does not compete with skilled labor. [By act of the legislature of 1908 the hiring of convicts was abolished. Work on country roads was substituted for the lease system.] The state keeps a close supervision of all convicts and hires out only their labor. It retains all guards, wardens, physicians, chaplains, in its employ. It regulates the kind of work, the hours of labor and rest, the kind, quantity and quality of food, and the character of the shelter that is supplied to convicts. The male felony convicts who are sentenced to five years or less service are subject to the demand of the counties for work to be done upon the public roads.

By those regulations it is believed that the unnecessary hardship of a convict's life is avoided, that his health and morals are protected and that his servitude, while severe as it should be to become a punishment for and deterrent to crime, is not attended with cruelty and mistreatment.

Governor Candler's Administration.

Allen D. Candler became governor in 1898. His administration was signalized by the jubilee in Atlanta over the victory of the American armies in the war with Spain. President McKinley was present, paying a tender tribute to the valor of Southern leaders and soldiers both in the war between the states and the war with Spain.

Under this administration the University at Athens received new buildings, the capacity of the schools for the deaf, dumb and blind, and the state institution for the insane was enlarged, and the fund for the support of the common schools was increased.

It is indeed notable that all the state institutions had become firmly fixed in the affections of the people by this time. The University of Georgia, an ancient and honorable school of a hundred years' history, was beginning to receive the attention it deserved. New buildings were being added, an enlarged campus with great possibilities for the future was laid out and new departments added. With the election of Walter B. Hill as chancellor, the University took on new life and vigor. After his death David C. Barrow took up the work of his beloved predecessor, until at the present day the prospects of this great institution, under the help of its many generous friends and alumni, are bright with glorious promises for the good of the young men of the state.

The other institutions allied to the University are receiving the popular support as well. The School of Technology in Atlanta, offering many courses in industry, has no superior in the Southern states. The Girls' Industrial College at Milledgeville, the State Normal School at Athens, the Industrial School for Negro children in Savannah, the many branch colleges and the Agricultural colleges, one for each Congressional district, betoken the interest taken by the people in higher classical, as well as in industrial, education.

The common school system, though young in years, shows an amazing growth. From the simplest be
ginning, it has reached the proportions of about ten thousand teachers and over a half million of children. The expenditures for common school education are considerably over two million dollars a year, and while this is by far an insufficient sum, yet it maintains in the rural districts a five months' school annually for every child who will attend. In 1903 the legislature passed an act requiring uniform textbooks to be used in all the public schools of the state. This is the practice in one-half of the states of the Union, and when wisely and honestly selected by skilled educators, is a means of securing the latest and best school books at a considerably reduced price.

Governor Terrell's Administration.

In 1902 Joseph M. Terrell succeeded Governor Candler. The four years of his administration were times of peace and general prosperity. At the close of his second term of office, a spirited contest for the Democratic nomination for governor occurred between Hoke Smith and Clark Howell. They were both of Atlanta, of rival daily papers, of influence and prominence in the politics of the state. The campaign resulted in the choice of Hoke Smith, who was duly inaugurated in June, 1907.

Governor Smith's Administration.

The administration of Governor Smith was for two years only. During the first part of his administration he removed Joseph M. Brown from office as member of the Railroad Commission, which was the occasion of much comment and division of opinion. The legislature of 1907 passed a prohibition law excluding, by severe legislation, the sale or manufacture of any kind of alcoholic liquors in the boundary of the state. At the same time a panic of unparalleled extent swept over the country, making money scarce, lowering the price of stocks and bonds, and affecting the operations of many banks. The year was filled with alarm and apprehension. Railroad legislation was proposed that threatened the revenues of the great corporations.

When the time for nominating a successor to Governor Smith arrived, Joseph M. Brown was in the field. He was. the son of the war governor of Georgia, Joseph E. Brown, but up to this time had taken no active part in the politics of the state. The campaign was a sharp one, and the people were divided on the state issues. At the primary election in June, 1908, Governor Smith was defeated for nomination and the race for governor left inn the hands of Joseph M. Brown, who was elected October 7.

Conclusion.

This brings the history of the great state of Georgia down to the present day. The little colony planted at Yamacraw in 1733 has grown in a century and three-quarters to be the Empire State of the South, with over two million inhabitants living happily and prosperously on farms, in villages, towns and cities. The area of the state is 59,000 square miles, or 37,760,000 acres. It was the largest of the original thirteen states, at that time including the present states of Alabama and Mississippi. It now ranks ninth in size.
The surface of the state is divided into three zones. North Georgia is mountainous, with a few peaks nearly 5,000 feet high, Middle Georgia is hilly in places with much level land, South Georgia is a level area covered with great pine forests and rich alluvial soil, the congenial home of the Georgia peach which has grown into an industry threatening to rival cotton in its value. The state is well drained by over fifty streams large enough to be classed as rivers, and affording enough water power, in Middle Georgia particularly, to grind all the grain and manufacture all the cotton goods in the world. The state is thus blessed with a diversity of soil, a variety of climate, an abundance of water power and an enterprising population that guarantees great growth and progress in the future.

There is nothing grown in any state, Florida excepted, which cannot be raised in Georgia. Cotton is still the great agricultural product. Before the war the state produced one-sixth of the cotton crop of the country. At the present day the state raises about one million bales of cotton valued at nearly $50,000,000. The special variety known as sea island ,or long staple cotton grows along the coast, and on account of its fine quality commands a special price.

Fruits of all kinds known in the temperate zone are grown in Georgia. The Georgia watermelon has become famous for its kind and quality. The Elberta peach grows to greatest perfection upon Georgia soil. The Le Conte pear had its origin in South Georgia. In vegetables, berries, and indeed all_ sorts of farm and garden products, the state offers a most alluring prospect to the home-seeker, where land is cheap, soil is fertile and climate is inviting.

The state is rich in wood, of which two hundred and thirty varieties are recognized in its forests. The vast pine forests on the southern area make the finest ship timber in the world, besides affording a great turpentine industry. Georgia pine is recognized as among the most beautiful and artistic of finishing woods for interior decoration. The swamps afford cypress for shingles, the uplands yield hickory, oak, maple and other valuable woods.

The gold producing area is in North Georgia, where, before the days of California mining, the placers were worked with great profit. Along the Tennessee border there are beds of iron ore that are worked with profit to the owners. Stone mountain in DeKalb county is the largest single mass of rock in the world. The marble quarries of North Georgia are delivering a quality of marble that already has passed into national favor. Georgia stands next to Vermont as a marble state.

The manufacture of cotton goods has increased enormously of late. There are many factories in many places, utilizing about one-fifth of the cotton yield of the state. Commerce has kept pace with industry, favored by the extensive railroad system and the many navigable streams. There are over forty railroad companies with 5.000 miles of road, with a value of over $60,000,000. The vast traffic of the west comes through the state on its way to the harbors, where hundreds of vessels are engaged in the coast and foreign trade.

Along with other Southern states, Georgia has recovered from the devastation of war. Her people have laid aside all bitterness of the struggle and are engaged in the friendly rivalry for industrial and commercial supremacy. Her towns are increasing in number and growing in size, new avenues are opened annually for an enlarged and diversified agricultural product, factories, foundries, canneries and other forms of industry are springing up, and the people are steadily determined to build again anew condition of prosperity, greater and nobler than that cherished in the ancient traditions of their fathers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.- I. W. Avery: History of Georgia (New York, 1881); L. B. Evans: History of Georgia (New York, 1906); Messages of the Governors. Reports of the Georgia State Departments. Appleton's Annual Encyclopedia. Files of the Atlanta Constitution. Files of the Augusta Chronicle.

LAWTON B. EVANS,
Superintendent of Schools, Augusta, Ga.