Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-11-05

plana Ions or their status. snd II the reasons
or their Continuance. The LeSl anu HullttS
with whi-n all these matters nave been N An-
aged by the Attorney General give assurance
OF hi watchfulness in guarding the puohc
interest.
RAILROAD COMMISSION.
The Railr ,at Commissioners submit re-
( port containing a comprehensive statement
. OF The operatl rs OF the com mission. nelr
! delicate and important duties have been per-
formed IN a manner which has gwen rea-
sona1le degree of satisfaction 10 the puohc
and the railroad companies. Complaints OF
subs an'lal grlev auces are s2lu 10 DE com
/ paratiyely rare. In many cases Satisfactory
! adjustments are made. Where sucn ADJUST
/ ment, appear Improbable, the decisions OF
the comm IssiOn have been cneerfuliy acqul-
( esced In by the parties.
+ The power ami duty of the Commissioners,
I under or statute. TO taae COgnlZance OF qucs-
! tious growing directly or indirectly out OF in
/ ter-State CONNIE &c, as well as the right OF
/ the stale 10 iegIslate on matters Affecting sucn
/ commerce, have been the subject OF much
Z contention
/ \ recent decision Of the Supreme Court OF
/ the United states. to which attention Is
, called Ia she report, determines the question
( adversely. in the opinion OF the Commission
! ers, to he right the state TO legis ate upou
4 that subject. They expire The hope that the
/ tex Of he decision, when published. will set
J lie m4ny difficult and perpleXlng questions
/ now arising on the construction Of State laws
/ on SUCH subjects.
( At ention is called to the various recon-
I utuQhliOn5 IN me report, IOucOlng cOutln-
/ gent expenses, rates OF advertising and salary
( OF Secretary. The usefulness of the commits
/ sion should not be impaired by inadequate
! provision in such matter.
NEW CAPITOL,
| The report OF the Capitol Commissioners
Z shows the progress made in building new
4 state capitol. The work of construc ION was
/ commenced about two gears ago. and mas been
/ continued as rapidly as the Appropriation for
/ that purpose would justify. with no further
3 lQteTFuDflOu a. Al
/ nclemency OF the weather. a foundation of
/ great strength has been laid, upon which the
/ walls OF three Of the four stories have been so
nearly completed that the iron floor beams Of
/ the last story are being put into place. The
! iarge quantity of cut stone already placed in
the walls sufficiently commend the illness or
the stone and he excellence Of the design. 1t
Is only necessary TO examine the walls, even
IN an untin shed state, and the gradual de-
yelOpment OF the design for the interior OF he
building and the character Of c instruction. to
be convinced that the structure. when com
| peted, will meet all the requirements of a
state capitol, in accom- mOdations and security,
I as well as in dignity and grandeur of appear
| ance. Provision was made BY the commission
| 10 letting the contract to re erve a fund from
| which to meet any unforeseen contingency in
the construction. Such an emergency oc-
| CARED when excavations for the foundation
| were maize. ID tfculties such as an old cs-
tie Il, well, large cesspool, and other in
! equalltles OF ground, Md len by former grad
ing, required more and heavier masonry and
| concrete, ana IN some places a change in the
| character of the masonry as well as in the
thlckne-s OF the walls. These dlficultie- have
been overcome by an expenditure ofSll,250 50
/ IN addition to that cOntem plated IN the con-
tract. The great care bestowed upon this
portion of the work mas secured a Foundation
which has yet shown no indication of Unequal
| settling. l he remainder of the surplus In
question VIII be reserved until it shall appear
IN the further progress Of ;he work that no
other contingency Will require extra eX endi-
lures. v hen ii may be used t. make such
4 r.
mauship in any unfinished part Of tne struc-
ture may be deemed ad yisable. The pro-
gress of the work increases the security OF the
ota' That the cOstOi lt,lncludlng all incidenta.
/ expenses properly connected with 1t, VIII not
exceed the limit OF $l,000000.
The contractors have demonstrated their
ability to provide costly aud valuable ma
chinery and appliances to secure the utmost
economy in the work Of cons lructon, and
their ski in the organization and direction
of labor and IN the management of details
The portion # the work already done, at the
cost TO tine state under the estimates placed
| upon 1t by The com M sslOn, has been less
profitable to the contractors than shou d be
the unfinished part OF the building for the re-
malnder OF the contract price. The bond of
| The contractors is for 20 per cent. of the whole
amount 10 be paid TO them; as nearly half the
work has been done the percentage Of security
! in the bond has been nearly d0ub ed. when
the ~ per cent. reserved out Of the price for
work done and material delivered at the
| building Is added, to say nothing of the eX-
pensIve plant In machinery. derricks and
other pllancesfor construction herein before
mentioned.
The Commissioners call attention to the fact
that on account of the delay of nearly one
| year IN the passage OF the bIll for the erection
of the capitol, without corresponding change
in he provisions, which distributed the APP
preparations through six years, and required
| the work TO be completed by Jan. l, 1889, legis-
laLlon is necessary TO make the sum of $40, 900
avalable by Jan. |, 1889, the date fixed in the
contract for the com etlon Of the building or
| G. Extend h. act
| appropriated Sl00, 900 for the wear 1893, and
SlSUO0O for each OF the five succeeding years,
otherwise appropriated. Prior to the
passage of the general appropriation
act approved Dec. p, 1881, the only
money in the Treasury available was the sum
OF sos, 625 paid by the city of Atlanta, which
had been specially appropriated for that pur-
pose
The year 1884 was necessarily treated as the
first of the series, instead OF the year 1885, as
originally contemplated. The -efOre the sum
OF $4,000 only has been available up TO Jan.
l, 1897. IL Is not advisable to extend the time
, for the completion of the building IL can be
completed within the time specified in the
contract, and both economy and the needs of
the ) tate render this DIES rable. An extension
!, of the time Will involve additional outlay for
the salaries of the Commissioners and super
intcndent, besides other expenses, without
better results in the work OF construction,
and postpone the time when the STATE will
have adequate accomm 'datlOns 1Cr tie Gen
eral A ssembly, publ &c Othcla and the Pc ople,
rs wen as protection from the danger of Dire
TO the public records, documents and archives.
The sum reserved out of payments due the
contractors as additional security Will
amount, at the time of completion of the
building. to $S5,275 %, which will not be paya-
) bic until the beginning OF the fiscal year 1883
under the contract. An appropriation OF
$25S. "a SO for the year 1887. and of 1900 900 foI
the year 1858, leaving $Sb 275 81 TO be provided
Tor Jan. |, 1889, after tie building has beer
comp eJed and accepted, viii insure its con.
strurtiOn within the time prescribe by the
/ contract. For these re tsous ] recommend
/ appropriate legislation for that purpose.
PENITENTIARY.
The reports of the chief Officers OF the peni-
tentiary-the Princip kee ler and the Phy-
sictan-herew with transmitted, present full
and Interesting account of matters re atlve &
> our state prisons. Their suggestions deserv,
your careful consd era. ion.
D | IL VIII be seen that the number OF peniten.
r tary cOnylcts ON Oct. 20 1854, was 1905; re.
ceved from jails since, az, making a total oil
; | 2.!45 OF this number 493 have been dis.
, ! charged 81 have escaped and IS died; total
| CTS. leaving on the rolls OF the penitentiary
d oct. l, 1886, l,j25
Z | This macs an increase in the number of
I | Convlcts during the past two years OF l59; but
} ! this increase all occurred previous TO Jul, a.
A Is 3. As the rolls on that date contained 538-
! larger number by sin than we're in the peni.
| ten iary Oct. !. 1855 Ia view Of tuls exhibit
- the Prmctpa Keeper eXprr sses the nope tn II
b, ! the maximum OF criminals has been reached
II appears that nearly tue entire number OF
3 | COnVlcts are now engaged In MINING coal.