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public libraries and reading rooms, and to aid certain free public libraries already established.

House bill No. 23 allows incorporated towns of less than 20,000 inhabitants to levy a tax and make appropriations for the establishment and maintenance of public libraries.

RAILROAD COMMISSION.

House bill No. 242, known as the Thompson bill, creates a Railroad commission composed of three members, one from each grand division of the state, the first commissioners to be appointed by the governor to serve for two years, the term to be reckoned from January 1, 1897, and their successors to be elected by the qualified voters of the state at the regular election to be held in November, 1898, and to hold office for six, four, and two years, respectively. The salaries of the commissioners are fixed at $2,000 per annum, and they are allowed a secretary at $1,500 per annum. Authority is vested in said commission to supervise and fix the rates, charges, and regulations of railroad freight and passenger tariffs and to correct abuses and prevent unjust discriminations and extortions in the rates of freight and passenger tariffs on the different railroads in this state; to make rules governing investigations and hearings of railroad companies and other parties before it, provided that any person desiring to be present at such hearings shall not be denied admission; requires railroad companies to give information demanded by the commission, issue subpoenaes for witnesses and punish witnesses who refuse to testify; exempts employees of railroads who appear and testify before the commission, or in any civil or criminal proceedings instituted by them, from indictments or presentment for any violation of the act about which they testify; requires all persons and corporations operating a railroad to make monthly, quarterly, and annual statements to the commission, and punishes a failure or refusal to do so; prohibits special rates, rebates, etc., to any individual not given to another, and declares same to be extortion; declares it unlawful

to make a greater charge for a short haul than a long one, and imposes a penalty therefor; provides for bringing of suits by individuals and the attorney-general of the state on relation of the commissioners to recover the penalties imposed by the act; requires the commission to investigate all through freight rates on all railroads in Tennessee, and when same are, in the opinion of the commission, excessive, or in violation of the interstate commerce law, to so notify the officials of the railroad and request a change, and, when not so changed, to notify the interstate commerce commission and apply to it for relief; to supervise all tariffs of railroads for freight rates and append a certificate thereto and change same from time to time as occasion demands, and require all railroads to post at its depots such schedules and tariffs for passengers and freights; prohibits rebates, and permits reduced and special rates to immigrants, or for any religious, charitable, or benevolent purpose, or for any industrial exposition, fair, or association of a public nature; confers jurisdiction upon circuit and chancery courts and justices of the peace to enforce the provisions of the act; limits prosecutions or actions for all offenses, or causes of action, under the act, to one year, and confers some other minor duties upon the commissioners.

REDEMPTION OF LANDS.

House bill No. 105 amends section 2136, code of 1858, relating to redemption of land sold for debt, by inserting after the words "to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the land lies," the words "or in case the land is sold by the judgment or decree of a court, then to the clerk of the court from which the same is sold.”

STOCK DIVIDENDS BY CORPORATIONS.

Senate bill No. 75 repeals that portion of section 2, chapter 7, of the acts of first extra session of 1881, requiring a dividend to be declared whenever there is an amount sufficient in the hands

of the treasurer of a corporation to pay four per cent. dividend on the capital stock.

TAX REFERENCE.

House bill No. 224 amends chapter 68, of the acts of 1871, so as to require the clerk, or clerk and master, in making reports of taxes due on real estate decreed to be sold, to require all officials charged with the collection of taxes to file an itemized statement of taxes, etc., which are a lien on said land, and a fee of $1.50 is allowed the clerk, or clerk and master, for all of said services.

IMPORTANT CHANGES MADE BY CONGRESS.

I have not been able to obtain copies of the most recent acts of congress, but from reports given by the Associated Press dispatches, the following is believed to be the most important bills passed by the extra session of congress jusi adjourned, viz.: The Dingley tariff bill, the sundry civil, the agricultural, the Indian, and the general deficiency bills, all of which failed of passage at the last congress. Provisions were made in these bills for $25,000 to take part in the Paris exposition in 1900; $150,000 for a new immigrant station in New York; limiting the cost of armor plate to $300 per ton for three new battle ships, and if not able to make a contract at that price, to take steps to establish a government armor plate factory; allowing the secretary of the interior to make contracts with sectarian schools for the education of Indian pupils during 1898, to a certain extent; and the suspension of the order of President Cleveland setting aside 21,000,000 acres as forest reservations. Fifty thousand dollars was appropriated for the relief of American citizens in Cuba, and $200,000 was appropriated for the relief of the Mississippi flood sufferers. The only extensive piece of general legislation except the tariff bill seems to have been the laws to prevent collisions upon certain harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States, and the bill authorizing the President to suspend discriminating duties on freight, vessels, and

commerce.

HOWELL EDMUNDS JACKSON.

BY H. M. DOAK.

Howell E. Jackson was born at Paris, Tennessee, on April 8, 1832, son of Dr. Alexander Jackson and Mary W., nee Hurt, both natives of Virginia, who married and removed to Paris in 1830. His father was large, tall, and handsome, vigorous in mind, active in body, an intense Whig in politics, and a political leader and debater, a promoter of county stock and agricultural fairs and of scientific farming, and, withal, a capable man of affairs. His mother was a handsome, refined woman, of brilliant intellect, tempered by sound common sense and devotion to domestic duties, moving in the first social circles of West Tennessee.

In personal appearance, Judge Jackson resembled his mother; intellectually, he combined the acuteness and delicacy of his mother with the breadth of grasp and the strong intelligence of his father.

His academic education was completed at Jackson, Tenn., whither his father had removed in his early childhood. As a youth, during his academic course, he was, as he was as a man, serious, studious, and thoughtful. He toiled for what he got, appeared only what he was, and borrowed no results of others' toil. What he got came to him because it belonged to him. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to his fellow students, chiefly by stimulating them to self-help. But one diversion could tempt him from severe and continuous labor. When skating was good he would snatch time for that sport.

Youthful sowers of wild oats do sometimes make a good ending of bad beginnings, although, even then, the crop is likely to be flavored with wild oats. Those who are assiduous in the

sports of boyhood to the neglect of serious study, and those who are tempted by the exuberance of early years into the extravagances and excesses of youth, sometimes grow into strong and useful citizens. Judge Jackson's youth is but another instance of the general rule that the man is as the boy was.

In 1850 he entered the University of Virginia, where he graduated with high honors. After reading law for a year with his kinsman, Hon. A. O. W. Totten, one of the judges of the Tennessee Supreme Court, he entered and graduated in the law. department of the Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tenn., and began the practice of law at Jackson in 1856, removing to Memphis in 1858, where he formed a partnership with D. M. Currin, with the firm name of Currin & Jackson, which continued until the outbreak of the civil war. His thorough business qualifications led to his appointment as receiver for the Western District of Tennessee, under the Confederate Sequestration Act. He discharged so justly the delicate duties of this onerous position that he escaped entirely the censure which usually followed that thankless part. After the war he was associated with Hon. B. M. Estes in the practice of law at Memphis, under the firm name of Estes & Jackson, until about 1872, when Judge H. T. Ellett was admitted, and the firm of Estes, Jackson & Ellett continued until 1874, when he formed a partnership with Gen. Alexander Campbell at Jackson.

Hon. B. M. Estes stands so high as a lawyer and a man that the following extracts from a letter giving his views of Judge Jackson cannot fail to be of interest:

"We were almost overwhelmed with good business. Jackson did his share of the work, and did it accurately and well. He soon developed into a great lawyer and won great distinction. He was even-tempered, patient, and courteous at all times. He studied and was thoroughly grounded in the principles of law and prepared and argued his cases scientifically. He was no 'case' lawyer. During our long and intimate relationship I

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