The Tennessee Eastern Electric Company furnishes power to Greenville, Jonesboro and Johnson City; it has steam plants at Greenville and Johnson City and it operates the street car system of the last named place. The Aluminum Company of America, operating under the name of the Knoxville Power Company, has constructed a series of water-power plants on the Little Tennessee River whichyield ap proximately 400,000 horse power. Of these plants, only one is located within Tennessee, the rest being situated in North Carolina, but almost all the power is utilized in the com pany's reduction works, located at Maryville, Tenn.
State Finances.— 1. Bonded Indebtedness , of the status of interest-bearing debt of State up to 1 July 1915 and 1 Oct. 1915 was as follows: 4f per cent temporary loan refunding bonds, 1 _July 1915 $9,381,000 6 per cent temporary loan refunding bonds, 1 Oct. 1915 1,400,000 Short term notes, issued in 1915, 3 per cent interest, 1 July 1915 1,000,000 Total $11,781,000 July and October 1915, being matur;ty dates, at which time refunding was due. The above 2. State Tax.— Both personal property and real estate, 35 cents.
3. Aggregate assessed valuation of property in Tennessee for 1913-14 was $560,997,621.
4. Sinking Fund.—Upon the adoption of the serial plan of retirement of bonded indebted ness, which of course provides for the semi annual payment of interest and a portion of the principal, the sinking fund plan was abandoned. The interest payment and proportional pay ment of principal is stipulated in serial plan or contract, which obligation cannot be postponed by legislation and obviates the necessity of a sinking fund.
Assessment of 1913-14, railroad, telegraph, telephone and street railways: Railroads 890,787,256 Telephone and telegraph 6,362,425 Street railways 14,607,388 Increase 1915 combined properties 2.253.000 Total $114,010,069 The estimated value of property owned by the State in 1883 was $1,579,475; estimated value in 1914, $5,316,378.
Sources of Revenue.—Taxes on polls, on property, on incomes, on sales of land, on ex ercise of privileges, on litigations, from fines and forfeitures, from merchants, from peddlers and from collateral inheritance tax. All taxes must be uniform.
Exemptions.— One thousand dollars, per sonal property, each resident taxpayer; United States, State and municipal property not used for rental; religious, charitable, scientific, liter ary and educational property, subject to cer tain minor limitations; agricultural and me chanical associations worth less than $10,000; all public thoroughfares and parks dedicated to public use; all growing crops, direct product of the soil.
Banks and Banking.— The following fig ures largely exhibit the condition of banks in Tennessee in March 1916: National State Number of banks 107 406 Capital paid in $14,570,000 $14,216,359 02 Surplus and undivided profits 8,715,000 5,445,373 85 Actual cash 5,004.000 4,126,099 71 Total reserve 18,569,000 26,684,153 41 Deposits 76,035,000 74,712,165 89 Total resources 129,228,000 102,040,044 78 Tennessee has a modern banking law. The State banks are regarded with exceptional con .
fidence by the public. It is optional with the State banks to assume double liability of stock holders. The State under its constitution can not become the owner in whole or in part of any bank.
Government —The separation of the powers of government into legislative, executive and judicial departments was specifically recognized in 1776, 1834 and 1870; and the 1796 constitu tion, also, without mentioning it so organizes the government. Under the 17/6 constitution the legislature elected the governor, who was given no veto power until 1870. Until 1853 the judges of the principal courts were elected by the legislature. Not until after 1834 were the justices of the peace elected by the people. The North Carolina and early Tennessee courts adopted with little hesitation the doctrine of judicial review of legislation. The power of the legislature has been made subject to gradu ally increasing limitations, both procedural and relating to the variety and scope of its enact ments. In 1870 the reaction against the arbi trary acts of the reconstruction governors re sulted in a decrease of the powers accorded the governor.
The constitution of Tennessee has reflected its economic and social history. The simple agricultural commonwealths of the 18th cen tury, after securing the people against the en croachments upon their 4rightsb which had become so frequent under royal governors, de manded only an outline of the frame of gov ernment and a few other elementary provisions such as the regulation of the suffrage. The power of the land speculators showed itself clearly in the requirement of a specific land tax in 1796. The enthusiasm for internal improve ments was apparent in the constitution of 1834; eaction against its abuse, and against prevalent careless methods of dealing with corporations, in the constitution of 1870. The relative de cline of agriculture and the vast increase of mining and manufacturing. interests, as well as the trend of population city-ward furnish the economic background for a new convention.