of a county which contains the count seat there are two constables
and in other civil districts of the county one constable elected for
a term of two years. The general law for the incorporation of
cities and towns vests the government of each municipality accepting
its provisions principally in a mayor and two aldermen from each
ward. All are elected for a term of two years, but one-half of the
aldermen retire annually. The mayor and aldermen may appoint
such officers as they consider necessary. The mayor may veto an
action of the aldermen, and to override his veto a two-thirds
majority is required.
Miscellaneous Laws.—For the protection of the property rights of married women the code of Tennessee provides that the wife's real estate shall be exempt from her husband's debts; that the proceeds of her real or personal property shall not be paid to any other person except by her consent certified upon privy examination of her by the court or a commissioner appointed by the court; and that she may mortgage or convey her real estate without the concurrence of her husband provided she be privately examined regarding the matter by a chancellor, circuit judge, or the clerk of the county court. When a husband dies his widow is entitled to a dower in one-third of his real estate, and, if there be not more than two children, to one-third of his personal estate; if there are more than two children her share of the personal estate is the same as that of each child. If a husband die intestate and leave no other heirs the widow is entitled to all his real estate in fee simple. When a wife dies leaving a husband of whom there has been issue born alive, he has by the courtesy a life interest in all her real estate and all her personal estate; if the wife die intestate and leave no other heirs the husband is entitled to all her real estate in fee simple. The causes for divorce are impotency, bigamy, adultery, desertion for two years, conviction of an infamous crime, the attempt of one of the parties to take the life of the other, the husband's cruel and inhuman treatment of his wife, refusal of the wife to remove with her husband into the state without a reasonable cause, pregnancy of the wife at the time of the marriage by another person without the knowledge of the husband, and habitual drunkenness, provided the habit has been contracted subsequent to the marriage. The plaintiff must be a resident of the state for two years before filing a petition for a divorce. If the husband is the plaintiff his interest in his wife's property is not impaired by the dissolution of the marriage, but the defendant wife forfeits all her interest in his property. Either party may marry again, but a defendant who has been found guilty of adultery is not permitted to marry the co-respondent during the life of the plaintiff. A homestead of a head of a family to the value of $1000 is exempt from forced sale except for the collection of taxes, debts contracted for its purchase or in making improvements upon it, or fines for voting out of the election district, for carrying concealed weapons, or for giving away or selling intoxicating liquors on election days. If the owner is married the homestead cannot be sold without the joint consent of husband and wife, and the wife's consent, as in other conveyances by married women, must be certified before the court or a commissioner appointed by the court. The homestead inures for the benefit of the widow and minor children. Ninety per cent. of the salary, wages or income of each person eighteen years of age or over is also exempt from attachment provided such salary, wages or income does not exceed $40 per month, and in any case $36 per month of the salary, wages or income of a person eighteen years of age or over cannot be attached. The employment of children under 14 years of age in any workshop, factory or mine within the state is forbidden by a law of 1901, and the employment of women or of boys under 16 years of age in any manufacturing establishment is limited to 60 hours a week by a law of 1907. Both the sale and the manufacture of intoxicating drinks are prohibited by law.
Charities, &c.—The charitable and penal institutions of the state consist of the Central Hospital for the Insane near Nashville; the Eastern Hospital for the Insane near Knoxville; the Western Hospital for the Insane near Bolivar; the Tennessee School for the blind at Nashville; the Tennessee Deaf and Dumb School at Knoxville; the Confederate Soldiers' Home near Nashville, on the “Hermitage,” the estate formerly belonging to Andrew Jackson; and the Penitentiary and the Tennessee Industrial School, both at Nashville; and in 1907 the legislature passed an Act for the establishment in Davidson county of the Tennessee Reformatory for boys. Each hospital for the insane is governed by a board of five trustees appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate, for a term of six years, and for the immediate supervision of each the trustees appoint a superintendent for a term of eight years. The Schools for the Blind and the Deaf and Dumb are each managed by a board of trustees, vacancies in which are filled by the remaining trustees with the concurrence of the legislature. The Confederate Soldiers' Home is managed by a board of fifteen trustees, of whom six are women, each serving until death or resignation, when his or her successor is appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the corporation known as the Association of Confederate Soldiers. The Penitentiary is governed by a board of three prison commissioners, a superintendent, a warden, an assistant or deputy warden, a matron, a physician, and a chaplain, all appointed by the governor, the commissioners for a term of four years, the other officers for a term of two years. The prisoners are kept at labour principally in the state coal-mines, in manufacturing coke, on farms, or at contract labour within the prison walls; not more than 199 prisoners are to be leased to any one firm or corporation, or to be employed in any one business within the walls. The income to the state from the prison is greater than the disbursements for its maintenance. By good conduct a convict may shorten his term of service one month the first year, two months the second year, three months each year from the third to the tenth inclusive, and four months each subsequent year. The Industrial School, which is for orphan, helpless, wayward and abandoned children, is governed by a board of directors consisting of the governor, comptroller, secretary of state, and treasurer as ex officio members, and seven other members, a portion retiring every two years, and their successors being appointed by the remaining directors with the concurrence of the senate. The act for establishing the Tennessee Reformatory for Boys provides that the institution shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of the governor and five other members, one retiring each year; that boys under eighteen years of age who are convicted of a penitentiary offence shall be sent to it; that the trustees may transfer incorrigible boys to the penitentiary, put others out in the service of citizens on probation, or recommend them to the governor for pardon. A general control of all public charities and correctional institutions is exercised by an unsalaried Board of State Charities consisting of the governor and six members appointed by him for a term of three years, two retiring every two years. The principal duties of this board are to examine the condition and the management of such institutions and report to the governor; and county and city authorities must submit to it for criticism all plans for new jails, public infirmaries, and hospitals.
Education.—For the administration of the common school system each county having five or more civil districts is divided into five school districts, and in counties having five or less than five civil districts each civil district constitutes a school district. Each school district elects one member of the county board of education, and in counties having less than five school districts one or more members of the county board, the number of which is always five, besides the county superintendent who is ex officio its secretary, are elected by the county at large, and to this county board of education together with district advisory boards is entrusted the management and control of the common schools. By the general education law enacted in 1909, 25 per cent. of the gross state revenue is paid into the general education fund, 61 per cent. of this fund is apportioned among the several counties according to their school population, and 10 per cent. of it constitutes a special fund to be apportioned among eligible counties in proportion to their school population but in inverse ratio to their taxable property; to have the use of any portion of this special fund a county must levy for the maintenance of common schools a tax not less than forty cents on each $100 of taxable property, a tax of $2 on each taxable poll, and such privilege taxes as the state permits it to levy for school purposes. Each county court may provide for one or more county high schools to be maintained in part by additional county taxes and miscellaneous funds, and 8 per cent. of the state school fund is set apart for the encouragement of counties in this matter. In 1908 there was a county high school in each of 23 counties, and in 1910 in each of 50 counties. The high schools are largely under the control of the state board of education, consisting of the governor (president), state superintendent of public instruction (secretary and treasurer), and six other members appointed by the governor. When the general education law was enacted in 1909 Tennessee had no state normal schools, but by the law 13 per cent. of the state educational fund is set apart for the establishment and maintenance of schools solely for the education and professional training of teachers for the elementary schools; one for white teachers in each of three grand divisions of the state, and one agricultural and industrial normal school for the industrial education of negroes and for preparing negro teachers for the common schools, and the management of these schools is vested in the state board of education. At the head of the state educational system is the University of Tennessee, which embraces a college of liberal arts, a graduate department, a college of engineering, a college of agriculture, a school of pharmacy, an industrial department, and a law department at Knoxville, and medical and dental departments at Nashville. The institution is governed by a board of trustees consisting of the governor, the state superintendent of public instruction, the commissioner of agriculture, the president of the university and twelve other members; two from the city of Knoxville and one from each congressional district, two elected each year. Seven per cent. of the general school fund is set apart for its maintenance; it was founded in 1794. For the higher education of teachers Tennessee has the Peabody College for Teachers, at Nashville, founded (1875) and maintained chiefly with proceeds from the George Peabody Fund for the improvement of education in the South. Other institutions of higher learning, not under the control of the state, are: the University of Nashville (non-sect., 1785); Washington and Tusculum College (non-sect., 1794), at Greenville; Maryville College (Presbyterian, 1819), at Maryville; Cumberland University (Presbyterian,
1842), at Lebanon; Burritt College (non-sect., 1848), at Spencer;
