of dollars a year. In the enactment of these laws we had no voice. This amendment was proposed when nearly one-third of the States were unrepresented, and all of its harsh features are aimed directly at the States thus excluded. The ratification of such an amendment, proposed under such circumstances, cannot, in any possible view, accomplish any good to the country, and might bring upon it irretrievable disaster.

At a later day the views of the Governor relative to this amendment were changed, and on December 6th he addressed a message to both Houses in its favor. He expresses apprehension of the future, saying:

There is an unmistakable purpose on the part of those who control the National Legislature to enforce at all hazards their own terms of restoration. The measures they propose threaten to at once reverse our progress toward the establishment of that permanent tranquillity which is so much desired by all. To do so is to immediately augment the distress which now exists, and inaugurate confusion, the end of which no human prescience can foresee.

To-day the cardinal principle of restoration seems to be favorable action upon the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which I transmitted to you in my annual message.

Upon the merits of the amendment my views are already known. They are founded upon principle, and are unchanged. The necessity of the case, I am now constrained to think, is different. We should look our true condition full in the face.

The amendment was finally rejected by an overwhelming majority in both Houses. The amount of the Federal tax of 1861, assigned to Alabama, was $529,313. Nothing had been collected at the close of the year.

The amount of destitution in the State exceeded that of any other Southern State, and continued through the year. Supplies were furnished liberally by the Federal Government; charitable associations and private individuals made large contributions, and the State granted all the assistance practicable, notwithstanding which the supply fell short. During the eleven months ending September 13, 1866, the Federal Government issued 3,789,788 rations, which was an average of 11,500 rations per day. The number of persons receiving supplies averaged monthly 21,700. The whites exceeded the blacks two to one. On February 23, 1866, the Legislature authorized the Governor to dispose of six per cent. bonds to the amount of $500,000, for the benefit of indigent families. Sufficient provision had not been made for the payment of the bonds, and they were unsalable. The Governor says:

"In consequence of the inability to use these bonds, it was not in the power of the State to extend that amount of relief to our suffering people which was desired. In some counties the destitution was so extreme, that I authorized the judges of probate, in conjunction with two other reliable citizens, to purchase corn on the State's credit, pledging payment on the 1st of January next. The amount authorized for each of such counties was one thousand bushels. In addition to this, I found it necessary to draw funds from the treasury to pay for the transportation, and other incidental expenses.

In

"In the month of June last I made a visit to the Northwest, with a view, if possible, of purchasing supplies on the State account. I there learned, as before observed, that the six per cent. bonds authorized were unavailable. It was ascertained, however, that the eight per cent. bonds could be used for the purpose. view, therefore, of the necessity of the case, I deemed it a duty to appropriate a portion of them to the purchase of supplies. Accordingly, a lot of corn was purchased, brought to the State, and distributed. The corn was bought at a low rate, and the banks of St. Louis purchased readily, and at par, a sufficient amount of bonds to pay therefor. The amount of bonds used in this way, including payment for transportation, was $48,500. The corn thus obtained was distributed in such localities, and in such quantities, as were deemed most suitable, and afforded much relief, which would not otherwise have been found."

The hope was indulged that the crop of 1866 would save the people from any further destitution. But this unfortunately was not the case. The season was exceedingly unfavorable, and the crop short. In the opinion of the Commissioner for the Destitute, not half enough grain was raised to subsist the inhabitants. The opinion was confirmed by the reports of probate judges. The War Department, therefore, authorized General Swayne, the Federal commander, to distribute, during the winter months of 1866-'67, supplies to the value of $120,000. This money was applied to the purchase of corn and bacon, as likely to be much more useful than the regular rations heretofore issued.

A census of the State was take in 1866, the returns of which were nearly completed during the year. The results, as compared with the census of 1860, are shown in the following table.

It will be seen by an examination of these returns, that the effect of the war has been to neutralize the increase from all sources which, for the ten years previous, have been about 25 per cent. White and black fare apparently alike, although perhaps a disproportionate decrease among the blacks has been compensated by importations from time to time in order to avoid the converging theatre of the war. The census of white males in Alabama, which in 1860 gave an aggregate of 270,271, in 1866 presents a decrease of 9,267. The total of black males, in 1860, was returned at 217,766, and has diminished in the interval 3,523; about one-half the ratio of the former. The movement of freed people to the towns is shown by a marked percentage of increase in the counties of Mobile (25), Montgomery (23), and Dallas (Selma) (13), with a proportionate decrease in other counties. A northward movement of the freedmen into Tennessee is shown in the returns from Northern Alabama. The citizens of Randolph claim that their county sent 3,000 men to help the armies of the Union.

The legislation of the State relative to freedmen has steadily improved since the close of the war. When the Legislature assembled in November, 1865, there was developed a strong party in favor of securing the unpaid labor of slavery, but without admitting the obligations of maintenance which that system imposed. The measures taken for this object failed through the vigilance of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the coöperation of the Governor with his veto. But at the close of the session, in the spring of 1866, a vagrant law was in force, which provided chain-gangs and the county jail for whoever should loiter at work, or desert a labor-contract. At the same time the stay law was so framed as to postpone for a long period the collection of wages. At the subse

quent session in November, 1866, the Governor in his message called attention to the subject, saying:

In reference to contracts with freedmen, there which are strongly suggestive of the necessity of have been some exceptional instances of bad faith, legal remedy. These exceptions are where employers of freedmen have, by captious unreasonableness, sought and even created pretexts for finding fault with their employés, and discharging them without pay, freedmen. The only remedy left the freedman is a alleging a violation of contract on the part of the suit for his wages, and this is so tardy as to be scarcely worth pursuing. For such injustice as this, a remedy should be provided. It could be found effective mode of enforcing payment for labor of in a law which would authorize a summary and an the character under consideration. I respectfully invite your attention to this subject.

The right to testify in courts, in certain cases, was extended to the freedmen at the session of 1865-'66, and experience has demonstrated that the law was productive of good results. Colored persons were permitted to testify in cases where they were interested and where there was every inducement for false swearing which may be reasonably supposed to influence witnesses. But even with these strong temptations to commit perjury, the testimony of freedmen has been found valuable in the ascer-. tainment of truth, and the Governor recommended that all restrictions should be removed. A steadfast cooperation has existed between the Bureau for the Freedmen and the Governor, and the results have been a growing kindliness between the white and black races, an increased fairness in the application of the laws, with prospective changes of a most useful tendency. He also recommended that a portion of the taxes derived from freedmen should be applied to the education of their children and the support of the indigent, aged, and infirm of that population.

A case, involving the validity of the acts of the Legislature after secession came before the Supreme Court of the State, and was decided on January 23, 1867. An act, passed on November 9, 1861, authorized executors to invest in bonds of the Confederate States or of Alabama. The court unanimously sustained the validity of the government of Alabama as a de facto government during the war, and the authority of the Legislature to pass such an act.

In the Circuit Court of Butler County a motion was made to dismiss a suit on the ground that the original writ, when issued, was not stamped as required by the U. S. Revenue Law. In opposition to the motion, it was urged that the act did not apply to this case, for the reason that, when the writ was issued, the State of Alabama was under the exclusive control, possession, and dominion of, and owed allegiance to the then existing Confederate States Government.

Judge J. K. Henry decided that for the time being the sovereignty of the United States was suspended, and the laws of the United States could no longer be enforced in Alabama, or be obligatory upon the inhabitants who remained and submitted to the existing power. These inhabitants passed under a temporary allegiance to the then existing government, and were bound by such laws and such only as for the time being it chose to recognize and impose. The ordinance of 1865, annulling the ordinance of secession of 1861, clearly refers to the present and not to the past, in the declaration that "the same" (i. e. the ordinance of secession) "be and is hereby declared null and void." Not that it was null and void from the beginning, but that it be now declared null and void. Analogous cases often arise in the ordinary legislation of the country. When an act is repealed, the language commonly used is, "That the same be and is repealed; " yet no

one understands this language as declaring that the act repealed was void or repealed from the beginning.

The subsequent surrender and destruction of the Confederate States authority, and the complete restoration of the United States authority, could not change the character of the previous state of things, so far as this question is concerned. The writ having been issued before the authority of the United States was reestablished, he was of opinion that the plaintiff could not be required to place a stamp upon the process.

ALLEN, HENRY WATKINS, ex-Governor of Louisiana, a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, born in Prince Edward County, Va., April 29, 1820; died in the city of Mexico, April 22, 1866. He was the fourth son of Dr. Thomas Allen, a medical practitioner of some distinction, and when quite young removed with his father to Lexington, Mo. After spending some time in school. he was induced to enter a store in the position of. under clerk, but having an unconquerable dislike for mercantile life, his father consented to his enrolment among the students of Marion College, Mo. Remaining here two years, some dissatisfaction with the parental authority induced him to leave and enter at once upon a more independent career. He ran away from college, and making his way to the little village of Grand Gulf, Miss., obtained the position of teacher in the family of a wealthy planter, and afterward opened a large school. Subsequently he devoted his whole attention to the study of law, was licensed to practise, and had already become quite successful as a lawyer, when in 1842 President Houston called for volunteers to aid Texas against Mexico. Having inherited a military taste, young Allen was not long in deciding to offer his services; he raised a company, and proceeded to the scene of conflict, where he acquitted himself well, and upon the termination of his engagement his command was ordered to rendezvous at Egypt, on the Colorado, where they were honorably discharged. Returning to Grand Gulf, he resumed the practice of his profession, married, and in 1846 was elected to the Legislature of Mississippi. A few years later, upon the death of his wife, he removed to Tensas Parish, La., and afterward to his estate in West Baton Rouge, where, in 1853, he was elected to the Legislature. The following year he quitted his estate, and entered the Cambridge University as a student of law, and spent some time in reviewing his studies. In 1859, attracted by the Italian war, he went to Europe, but arrived too late for a personal share in the struggle He spent some time in travel, the incidents of which tour were gathered up in a volume, entitled the "Travels of a Sugar-Planter." During his absence he was reelected to the Legislature. He took a prominent position in that body, was an earnest, eloquent speaker, and well qualified for leadership. In his politics he was a Whig until the election of Mr. Buchanan when he became a

Democrat. Upon the outbreak of the war, Mr. Allen joined the Delta Rifles as a volunteer, and upon his promotion as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Louisiana was stationed for sone months at Ship Island. Subsequently he was made colonel, and appointed military governor of Jackson. His first actual engagement was in the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded his favorite regiment, and fought gallantly, even after receiving a severe wound in the face. He was afterward ordered to Vicksburg, where he did efficient service in preparing the fortifications, sometimes directly under the fire of the Union army. At the battle of Baton Rouge, Colonel Allen commanded a brigade, and, while making a fearful charge, his horse was struck by a shell, killing him instantly, and the scattering shot passing through both legs of his rider, stretched him helpless upon the field, from which he was borne in an almost dying state. The amputation of one leg was advised, but owing to his . entreaties it was, after a long period of suffering, finally spared. While lingering with his painful wounds he received the appointment of president of the military court at Jackson, Miss., also that of major-general of the militia of Louisiana, both of which he declined. In September, 1864, he was appointed brigadier-general, and ordered to report to the Trans-Mississippi Department, and had hardly entered upon his duties when he was almost unanimously elected Governor of Louisiana. He accepted the office, and at once gave himself up warmly and passionately to its duties. He was eminently fitted for the position, and was cheered and sustained by the devotion of the people. One of his first efforts was for the improvement of the State finances. For this purpose he arranged with General E. Kirby Smith, then commanding the Trans-Mississippi Department, to have the cotton tax due the Confederate Government paid in kind, and established, without cost to the State, the export of the cotton, which the State received for taxes, through Texas to the Mexican frontier, and the return by the same route of such articles of medicine, clothing, and necessity as could not otherwise be obtained, which were sold to the people at moderate prices, and distributed gratuitously to the very poor. He also instituted and encouraged manufactures for the production of articles of prime necessity in the State. He most carefully enforced all the laws, especially those forbidding the distillation of alcoholic liquors from grain and sugar-cane, and did all in his power for the suppression of drunkenness and other vices, and by his frugal management was enabled to devote large sums to public charities. His devotion to the interests of all classes speedily won the confidence and affection of the people, and the results of his wise, efficient, and beneficent administration were felt throughout the whole Trans-Mississippi Department, and gave him almost arbitrary power. At the close of the war, Governor Allen was strongly urged by his friends to leave the country, and feeling that by

remaining he could be of no further use to the State, he took up his residence in Mexico. Here he established an English paper, "The Mexican Times," laboring faithfully and zealously as the sole editor for eight months. But his career was drawing to a close. Upon the advice of his physician, he was making arrangements to go to Paris, and submit to a surgical operation, when his general health indicated immediate danger, and ere he could mature his plans, the end had come. A volume, entitled Recollections of Henry W. Allen," prepared by Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey, was published in New York City early in 1867.

66

AMALGAMATION. The art of extracting precious metals from their ores by amalgamation, has made considerable progress within the last few years, especially since the discovery of rich gold and silver mines in the Territories of Nevada, Montana, Idaho, and others. The amalgamation of free gold from quartz is a simple process, and has become of great importance in the gold mines (now systematically conducted) in California. The auriferous quartz, after being extracted from the mine, undergoes the process of milling, which consists in the reduction of the same to an impalpable powder, that is generally performed by a stamp-mill, and a subsequent treatment with mercury in various ways. It is really in the details where many improvements have been proposed, several of which are actually worth mentioning, and have contributed much to reduce considerably the expenses of "milling." To give an idea of the cost of treating quartz by milling, it may be stated that it ranges from $0.67 to $8.31 per ton, with a product of gold varying between $5 and $80 per ton. The profits resulting from this process in these California mines range from $0.97 to $56.40 per ton.

Many complaints have been made with regard to the great loss of gold by the amalgamation, since the practical results obtained have been so variable and unsatisfactory, amounting in many cases to less than half the gold in the ore. One of the most important discoveries, effecting a better and more thorough amalgamation, has been made by Prof. Henry Wurtz, of New York, and patented by him in this and other countries, in 1864. In order to explain the merits of this invention, we refer here to the remarks made by Prof. B. Silliman at the session of the National Academy of Science, held in Washington during January, 1866, of which the following is an extract:

It is well known to metallurgists that the amalgamation of gold is often attended with peculiar difficul ties, and that in the best-conducted operations on the large scale there is always a considerable, often a large loss, of the precious metal. Samples of waste or "tailings" collected by myself at various anialgamation works in Grass Valley, California, a place noted above most others for the great success which has attended amalgamation of gold, proved on assay to contain in the quartz waste over thirty dollars to the ton-showing a loss nearly equal to the average the ton, and in the sulphides over fifty dollars to amount saved in that district. One of the most cau

tious and experienced metallurgists of California, at one time connected with the Geological Commission of that State, informed me that by his own determinations the saving in a large number of cases was barely 30 per cent. of the gross contents of the ore, as shown by careful assays, both of the ore and the waste.

The causes of this large loss are various, among which may be mentioned imperfect processes, insufficient comminution of the ore, and the difficulty of bringing the gold into contact with the mercury. In an ore containing one ounce of gold to the ton of quartz or waste, the ratio is as one to thirty-two thousand (1 to 32,000), or less than onefourth of one grain in one pound of stuff.

It is, however, well known to all who are conversant with gold amalgamation, that the mercury often appears perfectly indifferent to the gold even when brought in contact with it, failing to amalgamate it. This indifference may be sometimes traced to a minute portion of grease, which effectually checks amalgamation, but it is quite as often due to some other and less obvious cause, baffling often the skill of the best amalgamators, and resulting in a ruinous loss of the precious metal.

Numerous inventions have been devised to save

this loss, and avoid the causes which involve it, but until lately with very indifferent success. One of the most promising, viz., the use of mercurial vapor, has proved itself on trial in the large way a failure, and the problem has remained, in a great measure,

unsolved.

Early in 1864 Prof. Henry Wurtz communicated to me in conversation his conviction, as the result of preliminary experiments, that the use of a minute portion of the metal sodium would impart to mercury the power of amalgamating with gold readily under any of the adverse conditions which had thus far proved a serious drawback to the practice of this art. Leaving soon afterward for California, I have had no opportunity, until within a few months past, of acquainting myself with Mr. Wurtz's plans.

Prof. Silliman also explained some experiments made to illustrate the remarkable properties imparted to mercury by sodium, and discovered by Prof. Wurtz. He says:

1. Shake up in a test-tube a small quantity of mercury (say half an ounce) with a moderately strong solution of sulphate of iron. The mercury is presently reduced to the condition of a thick mud, being so completely granulated (floured) as to resist all efforts to restore it to its proper condition, and retain ing this condition almost indefinitely. Drop now a minute particle of sodium amalgam into it, when instantly the whole is restored to its fluid state, and subsequent efforts to reproduce the granular condition are futile if the least trace of sodium remains.

2. Bring a particle of placer gold or gold from quartz into contact with a little clean mercury in its ordinary condition. It will be seen to push the gold before it as it rolls about, and refuse to amalgamate with the gold, even when beneath its surface. In fact, there appears to be a sort of active repulsion between the two metals.

3. Bring the same particle of gold in contact with mercury having a minute portion of the sodium amalgam dissolved in it, when immediately the gold is completely enfilmed by the mercury and disappears

under its surface.

The description of the discovery, as given by the inventor, shows, that it consists in imparting to quicksilver greatly enhanced adhesion, attraction, or affinity for other metals and for its own substance, by adding to it a minute quantity of one of the highly electro-positive metals, such as sodium, potassium, etc. A minute quantity of these metals, dissolved in

quicksilver, communicates to it a greatly enhanced power of adhering to metals, and particularly to those which, like gold and silver, lie toward the negative end of the electrochemical scale. This power of adhesion, in the case of these two metals, is so great, that the resistance, which I have found their surfaces, when in the native state, usually oppose to amalgamation (a resistance which is much greater and more general than has hitherto been recognized, and which is due to causes as yet undiscovered, or at least uninvestigated), is instantly overcome, whether their particles be coarse, fine, or even impalpable. Even an artificial coating of oil or grease (which is such an enemy to amalgamation that the smoke of the miner's lamp is pronounced highly detrimental in gold and silver mines) forms no obstacle to immediate amalgamation by this magnetic quicksilver. The atoms of the mercury are, as it would seem, put into a polaric condition by a minute particle of one of those metals which range themselves toward the electro-positive end of the scale; so that its affinity for the more electro-negative metals is so greatly exalted that it seizes upon, and is absorbed by their surfaces instantaneously.

The practical results obtained by using sodium amalgam, are highly satisfactory and surpass any other method. Although comparatively new, this process is now introduced into almost every gold district, according to the reports in many scientific or mining journals.

The amalgamation of auriferous iron pyrites, such as are found especially in Colorado and Montana, is much more difficult and requires a very careful preparation of the ore, previous to its contact with mercury. The first question to consider, is the state in which the gold occurs in the pyrites-whether as metal or as a sulphuret. Most writers on the subject accept the first, and if this be correct, the gold must be in exceedingly fine particles, which have to be disclosed and freed, before mercury can act upon them. The ore, therefore, must be very finely pulverized, and to do this, several new machines were invented and tried with more or less success. But, notwithstanding this theory, the amalgamation of raw pyrites, however finely powdered, is so incomplete, that in many cases not over 20 per cent. of the metal is obtained. It was found, that the ore needed to be desulphurized previous to its amalgamation, to gain a reasonable percentage of the precious metal. This process has been and still is of immense importance for Colorado, where fuel is rather scarce, and the attention of metallurgists has been especially directed to find a method which requires little fuel. One much in practise, is the apparatus of Keith, in which the ore is blown as a fine dust through a tubular vessel, being heated by the flame of some fuel, brought in contact with the ore. It is reported, that this method has given excellent results. Compared with the amalgamation of the raw ore, it undoubtedly has, but it is not