increased upon this property, especially at that particular time, was to them a very serious matter,—­a matter which could not have any other effect than to intensify their bitterness and hostility towards the party in control of the State Government.  But since Governor Alcorn, under whose administration, and in accordance with whose recommendation this increase had been made, was a typical representative of this particular class, it was believed and hoped that he would have sufficient influence with the people of his own class to stem the tide of resentment, and to calm their fears and apprehensions.  That the Republicans retained control of the Legislature as a result of the elections of 1871,—­though by only a small majority in the lower house,—­is conclusive evidence that the Governor’s efforts in that direction were not wholly in vain.  The argument made by the taxpayers, however, was plausible and it may be conceded that, upon the whole, they were about right; for no doubt it would have been much easier upon the taxpayers to have increased at that time the interest-bearing debt of the State than to have increased the tax rate.  The latter course, however, had been adopted and could not then be changed.

Governor Alcorn also recommended,—­a recommendation that was favorably considered by the Legislature,—­that there be created and supported by the State a college for the higher education of the colored boys and young men of the State.  This bill was promptly passed by the Legislature, and, in honor of the one by whom its creation was recommended the institution was named “Alcorn College.”  The presidency of this much-needed college was an honorable and dignified position to which a fair and reasonable salary was attached, so the Governor, who had the appointing power, decided to tender the office to Senator H.R.  Revels upon the expiration of his term in the Senate.  I had the honor of being named as one of the first trustees of this important institution.  After the Governor, the trustees and Senator Revels had carefully inspected many different places that had been suggested for the location of the institution, Oakland College near the town of Rodney in Claiborne County, was finally purchased, and Alcorn College was established, with Senator Revels as its first president.

As an evidence of the necessity for such an institution it will not be out of place to call attention to the fact that when the writer was first elected to Congress in 1872, there was not one young colored man in the State that could pass the necessary examination for a clerkship in any of the Departments at Washington.  Four years later the supply was greater than the demand, nearly all of the applicants being graduates of Alcorn College.  At this writing the institution is still being maintained by the State, although on a reduced appropriation and on a plan that is somewhat different from that which was inaugurated at its beginning and while the Republicans were in control of the State