Governor's message [James S. Boynton], May 9, 1883

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.

GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.
ExEounvE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF GEORGIA, } ATLANTA, GA., May 9, 1883.
To the General Assembly : A great calamity befell the State in the death of her il-
lustrious citizen, the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, while filling the exalted office of Chief Magistrate. On the 4th day of March last, after an illness of two weeks, the venerable and distinguished statesman, so dear to every Georgian, passed quietly away, amidst the sorrowing regret of his people. Receiving official notification, as President of the Senate, of the sad event from the venerable Sticretary
of State, I repaired to the Capitol in response to his call,
served in conformity with the statute, and on the morning of the 5th of March, as required by law, took the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution for the Governor, and administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and entered upon the administration of the Executive responsibilities, as prescribed in paragraph 8, section 1, article !5, of the Constitution, which reads as follows:
"In ease of the death, resignation or disability oJ the Governor, the President of the Senate shall exercise the Executive powers of the Government until such disability be removed or a succeasor is elected and qualified."

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The same distre11sing public bereavement imposed upon me the duty of ordering an election to fill the remainder of the term of the deceased statesman and Governor, and of convening the General Assembly to count the votes cast at the said election for Governor, and to install into the Gubernatorial office the duly elected choice of the people. The law did not even allow delay until the beloved dead had been laid ~way in the soil that gave him birth, and that he loved so well; but required that immediate action should be taken, under section 1301 of the Code, which reads as follows:
"Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of Governor by death, resignation or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the President of the Senate; or Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, exercising the Executive powers of the Government as provided by the 8th paragraph of the 1st section of the 5th article of the Constitution of this State, to issue his proclamation immediately upon his assumption of the duties of the Executive, ordering a special election for Governor to fill the vicancy so occasioned for the unexpired term," etc.
And thus before the funeral obsequies, which the citizens of a great Commonwealth delighted to bestow upon her .honored dead, I issued the following proclamation ordering' a specil1.l election and calling an extra session of the General Asseml:>ly:
[PROCLAMATION.] GEORGIA:
By JAMES S. BoYNTON, Governor of said State. WHERE As, The law requires immediate action : I have, therefore, thought proper to issue this my proclamation, ordering that an election be held on Tuesday, the

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24th day of April, 1883, in the State, for Governor of

Georgia, to fill the vacancy in said office occasioned by the

death of the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens.

And I do further order, that the General Assembly of

Georgia convene in extra sesilion on Wednesday, the 9th

day of May, 1883, at the Capitol in Atlanta, to declare the

result of said election, or elect a Governor in case no person

shall receive a majority of votes cast.

Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State, at

the Capitol, in Atlanta, this, the fifth day of March, in the

year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-

three, and of the independence of the United States of

America the one hundred and seventh.

JAMES S. BOYNTON,

By the Governor,

Governor.

N. 0. BARNETT,

Secretary of State.

In conformity with this proclamation, an election was held the 24th day of April last, for a Governor, to fill the unexpired term of Governor A. II. Stephens, and, in further conformity with said proclamation, your honorable body has assembled to <'-eclare the result of such election, and inaugurate the distinguished citizen who has been chosen by the suffrages of our free and enlightened people to become the Ohief Magistrate of the Commonwealth.
I trust it will not be deemed unbecoming in me to express my high estimate of the character and life of the illustrious dead, and my appreciation of the loss to the State and country. Governor Stephens, take him all in all, is one of the brightest and greatest figures in Georgia's history. Other men may have surpassed him in special domains of

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thought or action, but no historic character of the Commonwealth is more rounded and complete, more varied in intellectual attributes, more thoroughly equipped with moral excellence and manly virtue, more noble in heroic fiber, more fitted for exalted trust, mc,re continuously conspicuous by uniform and lofty achievement. He was a good man-a wise man-a great man. He was a great orator, a great thinker, a great writer, a great statesman, a great actor, a great philanthropist, a great practical examplar of Christianity. He had genius, and yet was profoundly practical. To the soaring inspirations of his genius he added the twin powers of a sleepless patience and untiring laboriousness.
Governor Stephens was, and will be, the most national figure we have ever had in the State, as affluent as it has been in brilliant and richly endowed men. He has had, in addition, a more world-wide fame than any public man of the Commonwealth. The magnitude of such a loss cannot
well be measured. The scope and lesson of Mr. Stephens'
life is yet to be written. It is full of profound instruction for our young, and of exalting glory for our State. It is a life that will grow brighter and stronger with the mellowing influences of time, and in the truthful light of philosophical history.
After a long life of service in various and important public trusts, which he filled with such distinguished ability, he was called, by a very large majority, to the office of Chief Magistrate of the State. He entered upon the discharge of his duties with a ripe experience and a varied knowledge of the public wants, and inaugurated a wise and conservative policy in his administration, well calculated to

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advance every interest and industry, protect the rights, and promote the prosperity of its citizens. While Providence, by its interposition, prevented the maturing of the symmetrical a,nd beneficent plans of this conscientious public servant, yet he left sufficient of accomplished work behind him to evoke thj:l plaudits of an appreciative people, and entitle him to the gratitude of the Commonwealth.
The death of Governor Stephens while vested with the executive authority as Chief Magistrate, as well as the illustrious character and services of the deceased, rendered it proper, in my judgment, to adopt every measure to show respect to his memory by the State in his funeral obsequies.
To this end the Capitol was appropriately draped in tasteful and expressive emblems of mourning for the dietin. guished dead. All parts of the State were informed by telegraph of the exercises, and every preparation was made for imposing funeral ceremonies. The expenses of drapery and funeral are regarded. as a proper charge upon the State, and I do not doubt that at a proper time you will provide for the payment of the same.
While your body is under the Constitution confined in your deliberations at this called session to the specific object for which you were convened, and I shall therefore not
present matter for your action, I deem it not inappro-
priate to state for your information several cheering facts that demonstrate the prosperous condition of our State finances and furnish matter for congratulation.
The resolution of the General Assembly. authorizing the sale of the $160,000 of United States registered bonds received by the State from the purchasers of the Macon & Brunswick railroad has been enforced, and a most advau-

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tageous sale was made by the Treasurer in New York. The bonds brought $180,200 or a premium of $20,200 on the bonds for the benefit of the State. The cost of the sale was only $100 brokerage and the Treasurer's expenses, less than $100. This money will be devoted to paying the public debt. In addition to this $114,000 of bonds not yet due, paid by the purchasers of the Macon & Brunswick railroad, have been cancelled and warrant given for the same. This included $74,500 of the 7 per cent bonds issued by Governor Jenkins to rehabilitate the State Road, due in 1886, and $39,500 of 6 per cent State endorsed bonds of the Savannah & Gulf railroad due in 1886, 1887 and 1889.
The reports of the Treasurer ~how, that in addition to these items the sum of $367,971 of the public debt of the State, principal and interest, has been paid in the last few month.., steadily reducing the State's debt, and demonstrating the solid integrity of the State's credit, as well as the advancing value of her securities.
Called to the Executive chair under the shock to the public feeling occasioned by the decease of my lamented predecessor, at the very outset, almost, of his administration, though after he had inaugurated a fixed policy, it has been my earnest aspiration to continue the careful and conservative rule he so successfully commenced. That there has been every evidence of continued and continuing prosperity in all matters of public welfare during my brief period of Executive duty, I am pleased to recognize as testifying to my zealous desire to conserve the best interests of our great Commonwealth.
JAMES S. BOYNTON.