Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama Part 34

Their agents visited the plantations and forced the laborers to join them by showing orders purporting to be from General Swayne, giving them the authority to kill all who resisted them. Swayne sent out detachments of troops and arrested fifteen of the ringleaders, and the Perote government collapsed.[1569]

When first organized in the Black Belt, and before native whites were excluded from members.h.i.+p, numbers of whites joined the League upon invitation in order to ascertain its objects, to see if mischief were intended toward the whites, and to control, if possible, the negroes in the organization. Most of these became disgusted and withdrew, or were expelled on account of their politics. In Marengo County several white Democrats joined the League at McKinley in order to keep down the excitement aroused by other councils, to counteract the evil influences of alien emissaries, and to protect the women of the community, in which but few men were left after the war. These men succeeded in controlling the negroes and in preventing the discussion of politics in the meetings. The League was made simply a club where the negroes met to receive advice, which was to the effect that they should attend strictly to their own affairs and vote without reference to any secret organization. Finally, they were advised to withdraw from the order.[1570]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FACSIMILE OF PAGE FROM UNION LEAGUE CONSt.i.tUTION.]

For two years, 1867-1869, the League was the machine in the Radical party, and its leaders formed the "ring" that controlled party action.

Nominations for office were regularly made by the local and state councils. It is said that there were stormy times in the councils when there were more carpet-baggers than offices to be filled. The defeated candidate was apt to run as an independent, and in order to be elected would sell himself to the whites. This practice resulted in a weakening of the influence of the machine, as the members were sworn to support the regular nominee, and the negroes believed that the terrible penalties would be inflicted upon the political traitor. The officers would go among the negroes and show their commissions, which they pretended were orders from General Swayne or General Grant for the negroes to vote for them.[1571] A political catechism of questions and answers meant to teach loyalty to the Radical party was prepared in Was.h.i.+ngton and sent out among the councils, to be used in the instruction of negro voters.[1572]

After it was seen that existing political inst.i.tutions were to be overturned, the white councils and, to a certain extent, the negro councils became simply a.s.sociations for those training for leaders.h.i.+p in the new party soon to be formed in the state by act of Congress. The few whites who were in control did not care to admit more white members, as there might be too many to share in the division of the spoils. Hence we find that terms of admission were made more stringent, and, especially after the pa.s.sage of the Reconstruction Acts, in March, 1867, many applicants were rejected. The alien element was in control of the League.

The result was that where the blacks were numerous the largest plums fell to the carpet-baggers. The negro leaders,--politicians, preachers, and teachers,--trained in the League, acted as subordinates to the white leaders in controlling the black population, and they were sent out to drum up the country negroes when elections drew near. They were also given minor positions when offices were more plentiful than carpet-baggers. All together they received but few offices, which fact was later a cause of serious complaint.

The largest white members.h.i.+p of the League was in 1865-1866, and after that date it constantly decreased. The largest negro members.h.i.+p was in 1867 and 1868. Only the councils in the towns remained active after the election of 1868, for after the discipline of 1867 and 1868 it was not necessary to look so closely after the plantation negro, and he became a kind of visiting member of the council in the town.[1573] The League as an organization gradually died out by 1869, except in the largest towns. Many of them were transformed into political clubs, loosely organized under local political leaders. The Ku Klux Klan undoubtedly had much to do with breaking up the League as an organization. The League as the ally and successor of the Freedmen's Bureau was one of the causes of the Ku Klux movement, because it helped to create the conditions which made such a movement inevitable.[1574] In 1870 the Radical leaders missed the support formerly given by the League, and an urgent appeal was sent out all over the State from headquarters in New York by John Keffer and others advocating the reestablishment of the Union Leagues to a.s.sist in carrying the elections of 1870.[1575]

However, before its dissolution, the League had served its purpose. It made it possible for a few outsiders to control the negro by alienating the races politically, as the Bureau had done socially. It enabled the negroes to vote as Radicals for several years, when without it they either would not have voted at all or they would have voted as Democrats along with their former masters. The order was necessary to the existence of the Radical party in Alabama. No ordinary political organization could have welded the blacks into a solid party. The Freedmen's Bureau, which had much influence over the negroes for demoralization, was too weak in numbers to control the negroes in politics. The League finally absorbed the personnel of the Bureau and inherited its prestige.[1576]

PART VI

CARPET-BAG AND NEGRO RULE

CHAPTER XVII

TAXATION AND THE PUBLIC DEBT

Taxation during Reconstruction

After the war it was certain that taxation would be higher and expenditure greater, both on account of the ruin caused by the war that now had to be repaired, and because several hundred thousand negroes had been added to the civic population. Before the war the negro was no expense to the state and county treasuries; his misdemeanors were punished by his master. Yet neither the ruined court-houses, jails, bridges, roads, etc., nor the criminal negroes can account for the taxation and expenditure under the carpet-bag regime. During the three and a half years after the war, under the provisional governments, most of the burned bridges, court-houses, and other public buildings had been replaced; and there were relatively few negroes who were an expense to the carpet-bag government.

After the overthrow of Reconstruction, Governor Houston stated that the total value of all property in Alabama in 1860 was $725,000,000, and that in 1875 it was $160,000,000.[1577] In 1866 the a.s.sessed valuation was $123,946,475;[1578] in 1870 it was $156,770,385,[1579] and in 1876, after ten years of Reconstruction, it was $135,535,792.[1580] Before the war the taxes were paid on real estate and slaves. In 1860 the taxes were paid upon slave property a.s.sessed at $152,278,000, and upon real estate a.s.sessed at $155,034,000.[1581]

Although there was some property left in 1865, the owners could barely pay taxes on it. The bank capital was gone, and no one had money that was receivable for taxes. Consequently, it was impossible to collect general taxes, and the state government was obliged to place temporary loans and levy license taxes. No regular taxes were collected during 1865 and 1866.

The first regular tax was levied in 1866, and was collected in time to be spent by the Reconstruction convention.[1582] For four years after the surrender the crops were bad, and when called good they were hardly more than half of the crops of 1860.[1583] However, if no state taxes were paid by the impoverished farmers, there still remained the heavy Federal tax of $12.50 to $15 per bale on all cotton produced.

The rate of taxation before the war on real estate and on slaves was one-fifth of one per cent. After the war the taxes were raised by the provisional government to one-fourth of one per cent, and license taxes were added. The reconstructed government at once raised the rate to three-fourths of one per cent on property of all descriptions,[1584] and added new license taxes, more than quadrupling the former rate. Under Lindsay, the Democratic governor in 1871-1872, the rate was lowered to one-half of one per cent. The a.s.sessment of property under Reconstruction was much more stringent than before. There were only five other states that paid a tax rate as high as three-fourths of one per cent, and four of these were southern states.[1585]

Before the war the county tax was usually 60 per cent of the state tax, never more. The city and town tax was insignificant. After the war the town and city taxes were greatly increased, the county tax was invariably as much as the state tax, and many laws were pa.s.sed authorizing the counties to levy additional taxes and to issue bonds. The heaviest burdens were from local taxation, not from state taxes.[1586] In Montgomery County, the county taxes before the war had never been more than $30,000, and had been paid by slaveholders and owners of real estate. During Reconstruction the taxes were never less than $90,000, and every one except the negroes had to pay on everything that was property. In fact, the taxes in this county were about quadrupled.[1587] In Marengo County the taxes before the war were $12,000; after 1868 they were $25,000 to $30,000, notwithstanding the fact that property had depreciated two-thirds in value since the war. Land worth formerly $50 to $60 an acre now sold for $3 to $15.[1588] In Madison County, the state taxes in 1858 were $23,417.63 (gross); in 1870, $66,745.53 (net). The state land tax in 1858 in the same county was $7,213.10; in 1870, $51,445.30. Madison County taxes were:--

====================================================== STATE TAX COUNTY TAX TOTAL ----------- -------------- -------------- ------------ In 1859 $26,633.71 $13,316.85 $39,950.56 In 1869 65,410.85 65,410.85 130,821.70 ======================================================

The general testimony was that the exemption laws relieved from taxation nearly all the negroes, except those who paid taxes before the war.[1589]

The following table will show the taxation for 1860 and 1870:--

============================================================ CENSUS VALUATION STATE TAX COUNTY TAX TOWN TAX ----- ------------------- ----------- ------------ --------- 1860 $432,198,762[1590] $530,107 $309,474 $11,590 1870 156,770,387 1,477,414 1,122,471 403,937 ============================================================

Administrative Expenses

TABLE OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT

============================================ YEAR RECEIPTS EXPENDITURES ---- ------------------- ------------------- 1860 ---- $530,107.00 1865 $1,626,782.93[1591] 2,282,355.97[1591]

1866 62,967.80[1592] 606,494.39[1593]

1867 691,048.86 819,434.85[1594]

1868 724,760.56[1595] 1,066,860.24[1595]

1868 1,788,982.43[1595] 2,233,781.97[1595]

1869 686,451.02[1596] 1,394,960.30 1870 1,283,586.52 1,336,398.85 1871 1,422,494.67[1597] 1,640,116.99[1598]

1872 ---- ---- 1873 2,081,649.39 2,237,822.06[1599]

1874 ---- ---- 1875 725,000.00 500,000.00[1600]

1876 781,800.64 682,591.49 1886 888,724.33 818,366.70 ============================================

The average yearly cost of state, county, and town administration from 1858 to 1860 was $800,000; from 1868 to 1870, the average cost of the state administration alone was $1,107,080, the cost of state, county, and town government being at least $3,000,000.[1601] The provisional state government disbursed in the year 1866-1867, $676,476.54, of which only $262,627.47 was spent for state expenses; the remainder was used for schools.[1602]

The greater expenditure of the Reconstruction government can, in small part, be explained by the greater number of officials and by the higher salaries paid.[1603]

SALARIES

====================================================================== BEFORE THE DURING WAR RECONSTRUCTION ----------------------- ----------------- ---------------------------- Governor $2,000.00 $4,000.00 Governor's clerk 500.00 5,400.00, two Secretary of State 1,200.00 2,400.00, fees and charges Treasurer 1,800.00 2,800.00 Departmental clerks 1,000.00 each 1,500.00 Supreme Court judge 3,000.00 4,000.00 Circuit judges 13,500.00 36,000.00 Chancellors 4,500.00 three 15,000.00 Member of Legislature, _per diem_ 4.00 6.00 Stationery executive departments 1,200.00 12,708.77[1604]

The administration of Lindsay to a great extent had to pay the debts of the former administration. Expenses were curtailed when possible, and notwithstanding the fact that the indorsed railroads defaulted in 1871, the business of the state was conducted much more economically, and there were fewer and smaller issues of bonds and obligations.[1605] The Senate, however, had but one Democrat in it, and the House was only doubtfully Democratic, as the Democratic members were young and inexperienced men or else discontented scalawags.[1606] Consequently, the tide of corruption and extravagance was merely checked, not stopped. The capitol expenses of Smith and of Lindsay for a year make an instructive comparison:--

========================================================== GOVERNOR SMITH GOVERNOR LINDSAY 1869-1870 1871-1872 ----------------------- ---------------- ----------------- Contingent expenses $47,197.28 $20,531.84 Stationery, fuel, etc. 24,310.07 8,847.23 Clerical services 27,883.77 21,883.03 Public printing 80,279.18 49,716.43 ==========================================================

Other expenses, in so far as they were under the control of Lindsay, formed a like contrast.[1607] The cost of holding sessions of the legislature under the provisional government was $83,856.60 in 1865-1866, and $83,852 in 1866-1867. Under Smith it was about $90,000 per session, and there were three regular sessions the first year. One session (1870-1871) under Lindsay cost $95,442.30, and two under Lewis, 1873-1874, cost $175,661.50 and $166,602.65 respectively.[1608] The cost of keeping state prisoners for trial was about $50,000 a year. The Reconstruction legislature cut down expenses by pa.s.sing a law to liberate criminals of a grade below that of felon, upon their own recognizance.[1609]

The Democrats complained of the way the reconstructionists spent the contingent fund of the state. This abuse was never so bad as in other southern states at the time, but still there was continual stealing on a small scale. Some examples[1610] may be given: Governor Lewis spent $800 on a short visit to New York and Florida;[1611] the governor's private secretary received $21,000 for services rendered in distributing the "political" bacon in 1874;[1612] the treasurer drew $1200 to pay his expenses to Mobile and New York, though he had no business to attend to in either place, and travelled on roads over which he had pa.s.ses; ex-Governor W. H. Smith, when attorney for the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, was paid $500 by the state for services rendered in connection with his own road, and the committee was unable to discover the nature of these services; the secretary of state charged $952 for signing his name to bonds, though it was his const.i.tutional duty to do so without charge; a bill of stationery from Benedict of New York cost $7761.58, when the bid of Joel White of Montgomery on the same order was $4336.54; $50 was allowed to John A. Bingham (presumably a relative of the treasurer) for signing enough bonds to purchase a farm for the penitentiary. Such purchases as these were common: one refrigerator, $65; one looking-gla.s.s, $5; one clothes-brush, $1.50. Very few of the small accounts against the contingent fund were itemized. In no case were any of them accounted for by proper vouchers. The private secretary of the governor was in the habit of approving and allowing accounts against the contingent fund, even going so far as to approve the governor's own accounts. The Investigating Committee said that the private secretary seemed to be the acting governor.[1613]

The Florida commissioners, J. L. Pennington, C. A. Miller, and A. J.

Walker, who were appointed to negotiate for the cession to Alabama of West Florida, spent $10,500, of which Walker, the Democratic member, spent $516, and Miller and Pennington spent the remainder, "according to the best judgment and discretion" of themselves. They claimed that part of it was used to entertain the Florida commissioners, and part to influence the elections in West Florida.[1614]

The governor was accused of transferring appropriations. In one case, he drew out of the treasury $484,346.76, ostensibly to pay the interest on the public debt, and used it for other purposes. A committee appointed to investigate was able to trace all of it except $75,196.56, which sum could not be accounted for. The accounts were carelessly kept. The auditor, treasurer, and governor never seemed to know within a million or two of dollars what the public debt was. The reports for the period from 1868 to 1875 do not show the actual condition of the finances, and the Debt Commission in 1875 was unable to get accurate information from the state records, but had to advertise for information from the creditors and debtors of the state.[1615]

Effect on Property Values

The misrule of the Radicals in Alabama resulted in a general shrinkage in values after 1867, especially in the Black Belt, where financial and economic chaos reigned supreme, and where the carpet-bagger flourished supported by the negro votes. Recuperation was impossible until the rule of the alien was overthrown. This was done in some of the white counties in 1870. At that date land values were still 60 per cent below those of 1860, and the numbers of live stock 40 per cent below. This was due largely to the condition of the Black Belt counties under the control of the Radicals.[1616]

Thousands of landowners were unable to pay the taxes a.s.sessed, and their farms were sold by the state. The _Independent Monitor_, on March 8, 1870, advertised the sale of 1284 different lots of land (none less than forty acres) in Tuscaloosa County, and the next week 2548 more were advertised for sale, all to pay taxes. Often, it was complained, the tax a.s.sessor failed to notify the people to "give in" their taxes, and thus caused them trouble. In some cases, where costs and fines were added to the original taxes, it amounted to confiscation. In 1871, F. S. Lyon exhibited before the Ku Klux Committee a copy of the _Southern Republican_ containing twenty-one and a half columns of advertised sales of land lying in the rich counties of Marengo, Greene, Perry, and Choctaw.[1617] One Radical declared that he wanted the taxes raised so high that the large landholders would be compelled to sell their lands, so that he, and others like him, could buy.[1618] Property sold for taxes could be redeemed only by paying double the amount of the taxes plus the costs. A tax sale deed was conclusive evidence of legal sale, and was not a subject for the decision of a court.[1619]

There were hundreds of mortgage sales in every county of the state during the Reconstruction period. At these sales everything from land to household furniture was sold. The court-house squares on sale days were favorite gathering places for the negroes, who came to look on, and a traveller, in 1874, states that in the immense crowds of negroes at the sales there were some who had come a distance of sixty miles.[1620] Each winter, from 1869 to 1875, there was an exodus of people to Texas and to South America, driven from their homes by mortgages, taxes, the condition of labor, and corrupt government. Landowners sold their lands for what they would bring and went to the West, where there were no negroes, no scalawags, and no carpet-baggers.[1621]

Most of the farmers and tenants of that period were unable to send their children to school and pay tuition. The reconstructed school system failed almost at the beginning. Consequently, tens of thousands of children grew up ignorant of schools, most of them the children of parents who had had some education. Hence the special provision for them in the const.i.tution of 1901. The first Democratic legislature restricted taxation to three-fifths of one per cent and local taxation to one-half of one per cent. The rates were lowered gradually, until in the early nineties the rate was only two-fifths of one per cent. Since that time, the rate has again increased until in 1899 the state tax was again three-fourths of one per cent, the increase being used for Confederate pensions and for schools.