Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/677

 TENNESSEE 64Y of suffrage is given to every male person of the age of 21 years who is a citizen of the United States and a resident of Tennessee for one year, and of the county where he offers to vote for six months. There is no other quali- fication except the payment of a poll tax of not less than 50 cents nor more than $1 a year. In 1867 the state gave to negroes the right to vote. Elections for governor and members of the general assembly are held biennially in even years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November ; for judicial and other civil officers, on the first Thursday in August. Ministers of the gospel and priests are ineligi- ble as members of the legislature. No person who denies the being of God or a future state of rewards and punishments can hold any civil office. Any person who has engaged in a duel or preparations for a duel, either as principal or second, is disqualified from holding any office of honor or profit, besides being subject to punishment by law. Amendments to the constitution may be proposed in either branch of the general assembly ; before taking effect they must be approved by a majority of the members elected to each house of the general assembly when first proposed, by two thirds of the next legislature, and subsequently by a popular vote. The grounds of divorce are: impotence, adultery, desertion for two years, conviction of an infamous crime or of felony, malicious attempt upon the life of the wife, pregnancy by another man at the time of mar- riage without the husband's knowledge, cruelty, indignities by the husband forcing the wife to separation, abandonment of the wife or turn- ing her out of doors, and refusal to provide for her. The legal rate of interest is 6 per cent., but any rate not exceeding 10 per cent, may be contracted for in writing; if more than 10 per cent, is agreed upon, only 6 per cent, can be collected. Usury is punishable by a fine of not less than $100. Tennessee is represented in congress by 10 representatives and 2 sena- tors, and has therefore 12 votes in the electoral college. On Dec. 19, 1874, the bonded debt of the state was $22,908,400, which was large- ly contracted by the indorsement of railroad bonds. The assets of the state on bond account amounted to $3,817,896. The state revenue du- ring 1873 and 1874, not including bonds or cou- pons paid by railroad companies, amounted to $3,618,703, and the disbursements to $3,290,- 158. According to the federal census, the true value of property was $201,246,686 in 1850, $493,903,892 in 1860, and $498,237,724 in 1870. The assessed value of all taxable prop- erty, as reported by the state authorities, was $308,089,738 in 1873 and $289,533,656 in 1874. The amount of state tax levied in 1873 was: East Tennessee, $254,200 ; Middle, $542,686 ; West, $435,472; total, $1,232,358. In 1874 it was: East Tennessee, $192,913; Middle, $401,563; West, $410,190; total, $1,005,066. The total valuation of taxable property in 1872 was $265,874,258 ; taxation, $1,090,694. The constitution provides that all property shall be taxed according to its value, so that the. taxes shall be equal and uniform throughout the state, and that no species of property shall be taxed higher than any other of the same value. But the legislature is empowered to except from taxation property held by the state, counties, cities, or towns, and used ex- clusively for public or corporation purposes, and such as may be held and used for purposes purely religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational. In 1875 the comptroller re- ported that no railroad company had ever paid any taxes to the state ; and that no corpora- tions, excepting insurance companies and a few banks, had paid the taxes levied by law. The' state prison is in Nashville, and there are also several temporary prisons in various parts of the state, where convicts are employed upon railroads, mines, &c. The total number in confinement during the two years ending Dec. 1, 1874, was 1,625, of whom 744 were held on Dec. 1, 1872 ; 881 were received during that period, and 963 were in confinement at the end. Of the last number, 380 were white and 583 colored ; 925 were males and 38 females ; 13 had a good and 97 a fair education, 199 could read and write, and 654 had no educa- tion; 34 were under 16 years of age, and 275 under 21 ; 21 were sentenced for life, and 69 for 20 years or longer. The prisoners are em- ployed under lease on public works, buildings, railroads, &c. The revenue thus received is reported to be greater than the cost of sup- porting the prison. There is preaching and Sunday school instruction. The state hospital for the insane, near Nashville, was opened in 1852. The average daily number of patients during the two years ending with 1874 was 379 ; the whole number under treatment du- ring that period was 561, of whom 374 re- mained on Jan. 1, 1875. Of the latter, all but 37 were maintained free of charge. The cost of maintaining the institution during the two years named was $157,987. The accommodations of the hospital are inadequate, the number of insane in the state being estimated at not less than 1,200. The Tennessee school for the blind, in Nashville, opened in 1844, had 55 pupils in 1874. Its cost during that year was $33,890. It is estimated that there are not fewer than 1,200 blind in the state. This school has recently been very much enlarged. The Tennessee deaf and dumb school is in Knoxville, and was opened in 1845. The num- ber of pupils in' attendance during the two years ending with 1874 was 155, of whom 121 remained on Jan. 1, 1875. There were seven instructors. The ordinary expenditures during this period amounted to $53,356. There was no satisfactory system of common schools in Tennessee prior to 1873, when the present law providing for a general state system was en- acted. The school fund, which had been lost or diverted to other purposes, was restored, together with the suspended interest. A per-