as much more as he pleased, and no questions asked. Not only did the governor hold the power of removal in terrorem over him; not only did they bribe him by large commissions; not only did they swear him not to assess too little, but Sections 53 and 64 made it the duty of the County Clerk to revise the assessor's return and to add as much as he saw fit, but forbade him to reduce "in any case." "

Section 154 gave the clerk a bribe for adding in the shape of fees, the amount depending upon number of words.

Sections 57 and 66 organized a County Board of Equalization, composed of this same assessor, this same clerk, and two other county officials interested in large tax crops. To this board the law said:

you

You may raise any assessment you think proper, or reduce in any case you wish, but shall not "reduce the aggregate value of the property of the county below the aggregate value thereof as returned by the assessor with the additions of the clerk as hereinbefore required."

Or as it was construed and acted upon, "you may take from a Republican as much as you please, but you must put it upon Democrats, so as not to reduce the aggregate."

EXTRAVAGANT RESULTS.

Under Democratic rule the amount expended for state purposes for the two and one-half years, from April 18th, 1864, to October 1st, 1866, was only $162,000, or $64,000 per

annum.

Under Republican rule for two years, ending October 1st, 1870, the amount expended for state purposes, was $1,949,456.72, or upward of $974,000 per annum, being more than fifteen times as much.

For two years ending October 1st, 1872, the amount expended was $1,805,137.98, or upwards of $902,000 per annum, being upward of fourteen times as much.

For the two years ending October 1st, 1874, the amount expended was $2,529,686.91, or upwards of $1,264,000 per annum, being more than nineteen times as much.

In addition to these amounts collected and expended during

these six years under Republican rule, they left outstanding claims amounting to $2,147,950.20, which have been paid by Democrats since, and which increases their annual average expenditures to $1,259,140.03, or nineteen times as much as under Democratic rule.

One item will serve to account for this vast difference.

It seems to have been necessary to import carpet-baggers to do certain work of this illegitimate government from which the old citizens recoiled, and when they came to Little Rock it was necessary to provide for them until they were needed in their respective fields of duty. Accordingly they were put upon the pay roll as clerks of some of the departments. For

instance:

Under the Democrats in 1866, the Auditor's office included that of Land Commissioner. The clerk hire for that year amounted to $4,373.60.

Under Republican rule in 1873, the office has been divided into two. The clerk hire in one half (Auditor's office proper) amounted during that year to $60,461.21. In the other half to $43,673.30, being a total of $104,434.51, or upwards of twenty-three times as much. (See special report of Auditor, January 7th, 1877.)

That there be no quibbling about periods, let us take two others for comparison.

During the six years of Republican rule there were expended for state purposes (not including school expenses) a total of $7,555,840.28, being an average of $1,259,140.03 per annum. Of this vast sum less than $100,000, or one 75th part, were expended for public improvements.

During six years of Democratic rule, from 1880 to 1886, (after most of the floating debt had been paid off) the total cost of state government (not including school expenses) was $2,173,446.66, and of this more than $500,000, or nearly onefourth, was for public buildings.

Deducting amount for public buildings and we have under Democratic rule for six years, a total of $1,673,446.66, or about $278,000 per annum.

Deducting amount for public buildings under Republican rule and we have left a total of $7,454,830.21 or upwards of

$1,242,000 per annum. But it should be remembered that a very large part of the expenses under Democratic rule is for care of state institutions built by Democrats and not in existence during the Republican regime.

It must not be forgotten, if we would rightly appreciate the enormity of their plunder, that I have been speaking of state taxes and state expenses alone. The county, town and school district taxes and expenses were very much more extrayagant and burdensome.

The rate of taxes in the various counties and towns ranged from 2 per cent. to 6 per cent., and school district tax from 2 per cent. to 3 per cent. and upon assessments often more than the property would sell for. These enormous taxes, taken together with the state tax, amounted, in hundreds and thousands of instances, to confiscation. In Union County hundreds of farms were abandoned.

In Arkansas County 2,510 tracts of land were sold for taxes in 1868.

*

In this city, then a village, in 1873 a widow lady, who made a living by sewing, was taxed $60 on a piece of a lot fronting on a back alley and having a house which could be built for from $300 to $400. It was more money than she had ever had at one time in her life. My wife, moved to tears at her deep distress at the prospective and inevitable loss of her home, persuaded me to pay her taxes as an act of charity.

The whole state was filled with despondency and gloom. No wonder that the next year there was such an overwhelming demand for the overthrow of the conspiracy.

But the half has not yet been told. In addition to all these vast revenues collected and wantonly expended, they left the state and every county, town and school district in the state overwhelmed with

DEBTS.

If there is a single exception I have not been able to find it out.

I doubt not that the aggregate of these county debts

* Fort Smith.

amounted to more than the entire state debt, including the fraudulent bonds of the state, and yet there was absolutely nothing to show for them.

The school district of Fort Smith, for an example, was left so deeply in debt that for several years a number of us had to support the public schools by private subscriptions, while the entire tax was appropriated to paying off its debts.

This county was left a debt of about $100,000, with not $500 worth of improvements to show for it.

The county of Clark was left a debt of $300,000, of which only $500 was expended in public improvements.

Chicot County has a debt of $400,000, with no quid pro quo handed down from the conspiracy.

Pulaski County had a debt left her of nearly, if not quite, a $1,000,000 (including Little Rock).

The scripts of the various towns, counties and school districts were worth only from 10 cents to 30 cents on the dollar. Even the state script, bearing 5 per cent. interest, was worth only 25 cents on the dollar.

On the other hand, when the Democrats got in power, in 1874, their constitution made the maximum of state taxes 1 per cent. (we levy only one-half of that), that of the county one-half of 1 per cent., that of cities and towns one-half of 1 per cent., that of school districts one-half of 1 per cent. It also forbids the issue of any bonds or other interest-bearing evidences of debt for any purpose except to pay pre-existing debts.

Yet, notwithstanding these low rates, we have taken up upwards of two millions of the floating debt of the state, paid off several hundred thousand dollars of bonded debt, paid off nearly all the county and school debts, have built an hundred times as many school-houses, and twenty times as many other public improvements as did the Republicans with all their millions of revenues, amounting to from ten to nineteen times as much as have been exacted from the people by the Democratic government.

In addition to all these taxes, and county and town and school district debts, they left us a legacy of nearly ten millions of fraudulent State bonds to be dealt with.

1st. Under a law, since declared unconstitutional by our

Supreme Court, bonds of the state were issued, during Reconstruction, to the amount of $5,350,000 to certain railroad companies, all in fraud of the law, even if it had been constitutional. From two to three times as much was issued to each road as the terms of the law allowed.

To the M. & L. R. R. R. Co. was issued $1,200,000, nearly three times as much as was allowed by the terms of the law.

To the L. R., P. B. & N. O. R. R. were issued—

This company built for all this only twelve miles of road, and then took up the iron to put it on other roads to draw bonds anew.

To the M. O. & R. R. R. R. (a member of the Supreme Court being president) were issued both railroad aid bonds and levee bonds and Chicot County bonds-all fraudulent (see page 25, Poland's report and official record).

And thus with all the roads which were corrupt enough to receive bonds. The road which really meant to be built, the I. M. & S. R. R., would not have them. And every road that received them was so much crippled that its completion was delayed for years. The state not only did not receive any benefits, but injury instead.

2d. Under two acts of the Legislature of 1869, when a few people desired to have their farms ditched or drained, they applied to the Commissioner of Public Works at the Capital, who, if he saw fit, had the ditches or drains made (see acts March 16th, 1869, and Sept. 12th, 1869). To pav for them, all the neighbors who were supposed to be benefitte by them were taxed. Sometimes farms in the mountains, fifteen miles away, were taxed. These payments were made, in the first place, in "swamp-land warrants."

These acts were so clearly unconstitutional, and there was so much corruption connected with the issue of warrants, that they became entirely worthless; indeed, had no market value at all.