The true Democrat., 1856-11-04

embraces much valuable information collected together by great labor and research Besides the abstracts which will be printed with the re- port, and laid before you early as the printers can perform the work, the accountants have prepared many other abstracts of accounts, but as these are to be used in the chancery suit now pending, it has not been deemed proper to have them printed.
 The General Assembly, at the last session, passed an act entitled "An Act to establish separate court of chancery at the seat of go. vernment, so that the causes of the State, in- cludng that against the trustees and officers of the Real Estate Bank and those of individuals, may be determined as early as practicable" ap- proved 18th January, 1855. It is recommend ed that suitable law be enacted, vesting in the chancery court established by this act at the seat of government, all necessary jursdic- tion and authority, after two years, to adudi cate and determine all matters in chancerv. connected with forclosing the stock mortgages given by stockholders of the Real Estate Bank of the State of Arkansas upon such of the lands as may then be held by that bank, un- der purchases made by the trustees who ad- ministered the affairs of the bank before the appointment of the Receiver in chancery, and that all sales of such lands be made at the seat of government, and the funds arising from them be paid directly to the State Treasurer, unless the lands should bring more than the Xubiob mortgaged as indemnity to the State and hold CTS of the bonds for the payment of the bonds of the State and interest.
 When any of the lands owned by the bank subject to these stock mortgages shall be sold for more than the amount for which they were mortgaged, the excess should be paid to the bank.
 The lands of this class now held by the bank, when mortgaged 50 secure the State and bond holders against loss, were valued bv com- missioners under oath at the aggregate sum of nine Hundred and si1ty. -four Mousand Seven hu,s- drei and ytJty-,euen dollars; and it is considered tha! 1t would not be good policy to force the sale of all of them at once, but that they should be gradually and in limited quantities. from time to time thrown into market. Other. wise, for the want of bidders who would nav fair prices, most of the lands might be sold at great sacrifice.
 You will lind in the report of the account ants, to which 1 have before referred. descrin- tons of all these lands by the proper numbers. The lands by this publication, will be brouobt into notice, and persons, who may wish to SC. cure valuable plantations will find in the re- port of the accountants sufficient information to enable them to examine the lands and ore. pare to purchase them when sold at public sale; or to buy them from the bank at private sale before the stock ck-mortgages are foreclosed. subject to the liabilities under these mortgages. and deposit State bonds with the State Treas urer, to protect the lands from being sold at all, should this policy of depositing bonds be adopted by law.
 It Is gratifying to know that the State of Arkansas is rapidly increasing in population and wealth. The whole value of taxable pro- perty in the State, for the year 1852, was S42,- 9UlOoO, as shown by table "J,' in the audi tors report of 1st October, 1854 The official returns from fifty counties for the year 1856. and like information from the remaining four counties for the year 1855, (without allowing any thing for the increase in these four coun- ties since the 25th March, 1855,) show that the taxable property in the whole State, for the year 1856, amounted in value to S7O. 758, ,Of5-demonstrating that the taxable pro- pertv of the State has increased, during the last four years, S27,957, ,965
 Although the State has succeeded in estab- fishing and acting upon the sound and con- mendabe policy of receiving for revenue and paying out for expenditures nothing but the constitutional currency of gold and silver, she Is still encumbered with a large part of the debt brought upon her by the bad management of the banks. But with prudence, skill, and economy in protecting the interests and in ad- mlnisterlng the affairs of the State, aided bv increasing population and wealth, we shall be fully able, by the time our State bonds fall due. to pay every dollar of the debt without oppres- sing the people by taxation.
 Although by constitutional amendment. the establishment of banks in this State is pro- hlbited, and we have succeeded in driving out of our circulation depreciated paper, and have now sound currency composed principally of gold and silver, 1t is deemed necessary for the public good that stringent laws, imposing heavy penalties, should be enacted to effectively pre- vent any company or companies incorporated by this State from issuing their paper of whatever kind, name, form or description, intended to be used and circulated instead of money. The Lit tie Rock and Cincinnati slate company, incorpo- rated by this State for the purpose of quarryng slate, established, in Little Rock, what they call led bank, and undertook to supply paper cur. rency to our citizens The Executive of this State had proceedings instituted againstthe com pany as an intimaton that they were infringing our laws, and that the people of this State great ly preferred money coined at the United States mint to such paper pretexts for money as the Little Rock and Cincinnati slate company could manufacture and attempt to get into circulation. But before the suit, in this State, against the company, was decided, some of the chief mana gers of this bank were so unfortunate as, to be arraigned before courtin Memphis, Tennessee, where they resided; and. by the published tes- timony of witnesses, much valuable informa- ton, for the public, was divulged, by which the reputation and bright prospects of the bank were, at an early period in its career wholly blasted Although this bank seems to have passed out of existence, yet without more strin- gent laws than we now have, similar efforts might hereafter, be made to establish such in- stitutons in this State and greatly prejudice the interests of our citizens by driving from the State the gold and silver circulation and plac-