CHAPTER XVI.

STATE GOVERNMENT.

The government of Georgia, like that of all the other States of the Union, is republican in form, and is divided into three departments, the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial.

The executive, or administrative branch of the government, is placed in the hands of the Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller-General, Treasurer, Attorney-General, Commissioner of Agriculture and State School Commissioner elected by the people, Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary, a Railroad Commission and a Pardon Board appointed by the Governor. The Governor is vested with the veto power.

The legislative department consists of a Senate and House of Rrepresentatives, the members of both houses being elected by a direct vote of the people. The State is divided into forty-four senatorial districts from each of which one senator is elected. The members of the House of Representatives are elected from the counties in proportion to population, the more populous counties having three representatives.

The Judicial department consists of the Supreme Court with three justices, the superior court, the court of ordinary, and the justice courts. In addition to these, city and county courts are created by special act, and vested with limited jurisdiction and powers.

The Supreme Court is the court of last resort and has no original jurisdiction. The superior court may be termed a court of general jurisdiction, though its jurisdiction does not extend to all cases. In certain cases it has also appellate jurisdiction. The court of ordinary is the probate court, with general powers relative to county matters. The justice courts have jurisdiction in civil cases arising out of contract and damage to personal property, provided the amount does not exceed $100. In criminal cases it is a committing court. Under the conservation and safe administration of the State's affairs for many consecutive years, aided by wise enactments of the legislature, Georgia's finances have been brought out of the chaos in which war and reconstruction left them, and now her credit stands as high as that of any State in the Union.

The constitution of the State adopted in 1877 guards well the rights of the people and prevents extravagant appropriations by the legislature.

The laws enacted give proper protection to individual and corporate capital without any injustice to the laborer. There is no interference by the legislature with the right of contract, except where humanity demands it. In upholding and enforcing the law the courts and the governor have the moral support of the community. Never, except in the case of a most heinous, unmentionable crime, has the right of trial by jury been violated, and even then under the most exasperating circumstances no Georgia mob has even been guilty of the excesses perpetrated by the Illinois mobs in the spring of 1900, or the mob at Akron, Ohio, in August of the same year.

Although the power of taxation is vested in the legislature, the abuse of it is wisely guarded against by the State Constitution. No taxes can be levied by the legislature except for the support of the government and public institutions, the payment of principal and interest of the public debt, to suppress insurrections or repel invasion, to pension under certain restrictions Confederate soldiers and the widows of Conferedate soldiers, and to provide a system of elementary education. The Constitution provides that taxation shall be uniform on all classes and ad valorem on property. For educational purposes a poll-tax of one dollar is provided.

Public property, colleges, schools, churches, cemeteries, literary associations and public libraries, paintings and statuary not for sale, are exempted from taxation.

County taxation is limited to public works, court expenses, prisons, the debt existing at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. A twothirds vote is required to increase the debt of any county or municipality, and the amount of the debt must not exceed seven per cent. of the assessed value of property. Counties and municipalities are not allowed to be come stockholders in any corporation, and are forbidden to lend or give except to charities and schools. All taxes must be collected under general laws. The property, real or personal, of citizens of the United States not residing in Georgia cannot be taxed higher than the property of residents.

No foreign corporation is allowed to own more than 5,000 acres of land without first becoming a corporation of the State under her laws.

Conveyances of real estate are made by deed, which must be signed by the maker, attested by at least two witnesses, delivered to the purchaser or some one for him, and founded on a valuable or good consideration. No special form is required. It is sufficient, if it states clearly the transaction between the parties. A deed executed out of the State, in order to be entitled to record, must be attested by a commissioner of deeds for

the State of Georgia, a counsel or vice-counsel of the United States, a judge of a court of record, with the certificate under seal of the clerk of the court to the genuineness of the signature of such judge. If the deed is executed in the State, it cannot be recorded, until attested by a judge of a court of record, or a justice of the peace, or a notary public, or a clerk of the superior court.

In the case of the last named officers, the deed must be attested in the county where they hold office. If not so attested at the time of its execution, it may be acknowledged before any of these officers and the fact certified on the deed. If it has not been so attested or acknowledged, it may become entitled to record upon the affidavit of a subscribing witness before either of the officers testifying to the execution and attestation of the deed. If the witnesses are dead or incapacitated, the affidavit of a third party to the execution or genuineness of the signature of the witness or witnesses will admit it to record. Deeds to evade the usury law, or a part of a usurious contract, are void.

The legal rate of interest in Georgia is seven per cent. though by special contract eight per cent. may be charged. Any rate above that is considered usury, the penalty for which is the forfeiture of the excess of interest.

By law certain liens are established.

1. State, counties, and municipal corporations for taxes.

2. Decrees and judgments of the courts.

3. Laborers' special lien on the products of their labor, and generally on the property of their employer.

4. Special liens of landlord for any necessaries furnished to tenants for the purpose of making a crop or supporting their families, such lien being upon crops made during the year in which such supplies were furnished. They have also a general lien for rent.

5. Lien held by mechanics on property manufactured or repaired, for material furnished or work done.

6. Innkeepers, carriers, stable-keepers, pawnees, and depositaries have liens on special property in their possession.

7. Mechanics, contractors, material men, manufacturers, including corporations, have liens on railroads, factories, houses, etc., for material furnished or for work done.

The general rule is that liens must be enforced by suits within one

year.

The statutes of limitations fix certain limits on the time in which actions must be brought, as follows: instruments under seal, twenty years; statutory rights, twenty years; promissory notes not under seal

and other simple contracts in writing, six years; contracts not in writing ard open accounts, four years; foreign judgments, five years; domestic judgments, seven years without execution issued, with docketed seven Jears from the last entry on the execution. Dormant judments may be revived by scire facias within three years from dormancy; suits against administrators, guardians, executors or trustees, except on their bonds, ten years; suits to recover trust property, three years after the removal of the disability; trespasses or damages to realty or personalty, four years; personal injuries, two years; injuries to reputation, qui tam actions of informers, and claims against a county, one year; against discharged administrator by the heirs or distributees, five years.

The extreme penalty of the law for murder is death or imprisonment for life. For capital offenses other than murder the limit of imprisonment is seven years; for all other felonies, four years; for misdemeanors,

two years.

All promises to answer in any way for the debts of others, in order to be binding, must be in writing, signed by the party to be bound, or his authorized agent.

The homestead laws differ materially from those of most States, being somewhat in the nature of a trust estate in charge of the court for the benefit of dependents, which becomes subject to debts when the conditions and purposes for which it was created cease to exist.

Due precaution is taken to prevent fraud on the part of debtors in disposing of and conceding their property. While statutory proceedings in attachment and garnishment are allowed upon the usual grounds, the wages of daily, weekly and monthly laborers are excepted from garnish

ment.

The rights of creditors are favored by the courts and every facility for the collection of debts has been made.

In the making of a will no particular form is required. All wills, except nuncupative, must be in writing, signed by the maker, or in his presence and by his direction. Every will must be attested by three competent witnesses in the presence of the testator. All wills disposing of real property in the State, in order to be entitled to probate, must be executed with the same formality as if made in the State. Bequests to any kind of institutions must be executed at least ninety days before the death of the testator, and must not so dispose of more than a third of the estate, if the testator has a wife, child, or descendants. If any bequest violates this rule, it is null and void.

The legal age at which marriage may be contracted is seventeen in males and fourteen in females. Under eighteen in females the consent