The judges of the Supreme Court are elected for six years (one every two years) by the General Assembly, and are removable upon address of two thirds of each house. All causes shall be determined at the first term; and in case the plaintiff is not ready for trial, unless he be prevented "by some providential cause," the judgment of the court below shall be affirmed. Judges of the Superior Court are elected for four years, by the people of the district over which they preside, with jurisdiction exclusive in criminal cases, and in land cases, and concurrent in all other civil cases. Justices of the inferior courts are elected by the people, for four years. Justices of the peace are elected by the people in districts. Each county elects an "ordinary," who holds office for four years, and has the ordinary jurisdiction of a judge of probate, and is paid by fees. The State is divided into thirteen circuits, with a judge and solicitor for each. The salaries of the judges are $1,800 each. The Attorney-General is the solicitor for the Middle Circuit. Jno. T. Shewmake, of Waynesboro, Attorney-General, $250 and perquisites. G. T. Howard, of Chatham Co., Judge of Court of Oyer and Ter miner, Savannah, Wm. T. Gould, of Richmond Co., Judge of Court of Oyer and Ter miner, Augusta, FINANCES. $1,000 1,000 The public debt of the State consists of bonds issued for the construction of the Western and Atlantic Railway. Its aggregate amount may be stated at $2,801,972, the greater portion of which, $ 1,756,472, is in federal bonds payable at the treasury, and the rest in sterling bonds. The semiannual dividends of interest, as well as the principal of the sterling bonds, are payable in London. The debt is redeemable from 1863 to 1874. The annual interest on the debt is $168,118. The Sinking Fund amounts to $166,500. The annual receipts into the Treasury for all purposes average nearly $700,000, and the annual expenditures, exclusive of debts and schools, are about $320,000. The chief sources of income are the general tax, $375,000; a special tax on bank and railroad stocks $25,000; and the income from the State road, $300,000. The principal items of expenditure the pay of the Legislature, biennially, about $50,000; of the civil establishment, including the judiciary, annually, $50,000; Deaf and Dumb and Lunatic Asylum, about $30,000; printing, miscellaneous, and contingent, annually, $ 20,000. The items of interest and reduction of, the public debt are additional. The receipts for the year ending Sept. 30, 1853, were $ 922,140.16; the disbursements, $ 900,534.50; balance, $ 21,605.66. are, on, The productive property owned by the State consists of shares in the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which cost the State $5,000,000, and are estimated to be worth that amount. There is besides unproductive property owned by the State to the amount of $250,000. Common Schools. -The amount of the School Fund owned by the State is $23,086. The Poor School Fund is distributed among the several counties, and is paid out to teachers, of schools and academies ratably, regulated by the report of the magistrates of each district. Public Institutions. The State Prison at Milledgeville has 122 convicts. The Lunatic Asylum at Midway, near Milledgeville, has 120 inmates. The State appropriates annually $15,000 to this asylum, and the last Legislature appropriated $25,000 to enlarge and improve the buildings. The State has an institution in Murray County for the education of the deaf and dumb and blind. JAMES E. BROOME, October, 1857), F. L. Villepique, T. W. Brevard, C. H. Austin, David S. Walker, Government for the Year 1855. of Tallahassee, Governor (term expires Salary. $500 annually for expenses of residence, and $1,500 of Madison, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Fees and 600 1,100 800 Register of Public Lands, and Sup't of Schools, $1,200 and travelling expenses. H. V. Snell, D. G. Livingston, of Tallahassee, Private Secretary of Governor, $200 The members of the General Assembly are chosen on the first Monday The Assembly meets biennially on the fourth Mon of October, biennially. day in November. Clerk, Fees. Thomas Douglas, John P. K. Savage, The General Assembly of 1850-51 established a separate Supreme Court, to consist of a chief justice and two associate justices. The Supreme Court holds four sessions annually; one in Tallahassee, on the first Monday in January; one in Jacksonville, on the third Monday in February; one in Tampa, on the first Monday in March; and one in Marianna, on the third Monday in March. When any one or two of the judges of the Supreme Court are disqualified from sitting in any cause, the vacancy is filled by a corresponding number of the Circuit Judges, who, in such case, constitute a part of the Supreme Court. They likewise passed a law providing for a change in the constitution, so as to give the election of justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Circuit Court to the people, which has now become the law. Samuel B. Stephens, of Gladsden, of Alligator, Hardy D. Kendrick, of Tampa, The State is divided into four circuits, Eastern, Middle, Western, and Southern; and the judges of the Circuit Court, in the order in which they are named above, preside in their respective circuits. Finances.-The receipts from all sources are about $60,000 a year, and the annual expenditures amount to nearly that sum. XVII. ALABAMA. Government for the Year 1855. JOHN A. WINSTON, of Mobile, Governor (term of office ex- Salary. pires on the 1st Monday in December, 1855), Joel Riggs, J. J. Mickle, $2,500 Fees and 1,200 of Montgomery, Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2,000 of Lowndes Co., State Treasurer, Vincent M. Benham, of Montgomery, Secretary of State, William Graham, 1,800 of Montgomery, Adj. and Inspector-General, 200 A. P. Pfister, 150 Michael Tuomey, of Tuscaloosa, State Geologist, 2,500 of Montgomery, Comm'r & Trustee to settle Affairs of Montgomery, Quartermaster-General, The Senate consists of 33 members, elected for four years, one half going out every two years. The House of Representatives consists of 100 members, elected for two years. The Legislature meets biennially in the city of Montgomery, on the second Monday of November. The third biennial session commenced in November, 1853. The pay of the members of both houses is $4 a day each. JUDICIARY. William P. Chilton, of Tuskegee, Chief Justice, Geo. Goldthwaite, of Montgomery, Associate Justice, แ Salary. $3,000 3,000 3,000 Marion A. Baldwin, of Montgomery, Attorney-General, Fees and 425 Fees. The judges of the Supreme Court, and the chancellors, are elected by a joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, for six years. The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction only, and holds its sessions at the seat of government, on the first Monday of January and June of each year, for hearing and determining points of law taken by appeal from the Chancery, Circuit, and Probate Courts. The volumes of reported decisions are forty-two in number. The State is divided into three chancery divisions and thirty-nine districts, in each of which one session of the court is held annually, and in some of the larger districts two sessions are held. This court has original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal causes in the State. Two sessions (spring and fall) are held each year in every county. The Solicitors, besides fees, receive a salary of $250, except in the first circuit, where the salary is $350. The Attorney-General acts as Solicitor for the eighth circuit. In Mobile County the criminal jurisdiction has been transferred to a special Alexander McKinstry, City Court for Mobile. of Mobile, Judge, Salary. $2,000 This court holds three terms each year, on the first Monday of February and June, and the second Monday of October, and has concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit Courts except in real actions. Judges of Probate (who are also Clerks of the court and Registers of Deeds, for their respective counties). Counties, Judges. Counties. Judges. Macon-Lewis Alexander, Counties. Judges. In consequence of an amendment of the constitution of the State, ratified in January, 1850, the preceding list of Judges of the Circuit Courts, Judge of the City Court of Mobile, and Judges of Probate were all elected by the people, on the first Monday of May, 1850, and for a term of six years. The State is also liable for $669,088.95, United States surplus revenue. The receipts and expenditures for the years 1852 and 1853 were as follows: Of this balance at least $1,000,000 are in the notes of the State bank and branches. When these notes are in circulation, they constitute a liability of the State; when in the treasury, they are only evidence of debts paid. This reduces considerably the balance in the Treasury. Decisions of Supreme Court, 6,004.65 11,241.70 Principal Items of Expenditure. |