were 277,170 Baptists, 241,396 Methodists, 79,337 Presbyterians, 56,315 Disciples of Christ, 17,252 Roman Catholics, 7874 Protestant Episcopalians, 3225 Lutherans, 2875 United Brethren and 2426 Congregationalists. From 1890 to 1900 the urban population (i.e. the population of places having 4000 inhabitants or more) increased from 219,792 to 285,886, or 30.1 per cent., the semi-urban population (i.e. the population of incorporated places, or the approximate equivalent, having less than 4000 inhabitants) increased from 87,351 to 114,837, 10.9 per cent. of the total increase in population; while the rural population (i.e. population outside of incorporated places) increased from 1,460,375 to 1,619,893, 63 per cent. of the total. The principal cities of the state, with population for 1910, are Memphis, 131,105; Nashville, 110,364; Chattanooga, 44,604 and Knoxville, 36,346.
Government.—Tennessee has had three constitutions, but the present one, adopted in 1870, is a reproduction of the second (1834) with only a few changes. Amendments may be proposed not oftener than once in six years by a majority of the members elected to each house of the legislature, but before they can be adopted they must be agreed to first by two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the next succeeding legislature, and later by a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for representatives at the next regular election. The legislature may, also, submit to the people the question of calling a convention to amend or revise the constitution, and such a convention must be called whenever, upon the submission of this proposition, a majority of the votes are cast in favour of it. Every attempt to amend or revise the present constitution has, however, been unsuccessful. The right of suffrage is given to every male citizen of the United States who has attained the age of twenty-one years and has been a resident of the state for one year, provided he has paid his poll tax and has not been convicted of bribery, larceny or other infamous crime. The election of the governor, members of the General Assembly and congressmen is held biennially, in even numbered years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but the election of judicial and county officers is held on the first Thursday in August.
The governor is the only state executive officer who is elected by the people. He is elected for a term of two years and is not eligible for more than three consecutive terms. He must be at least thirty years of age and have been a citizen of the state for the last seven years before election. Although commander-in-chief of the state forces, he may call the militia into service only when there is a rebellion or an invasion and the General Assembly declares that the public safety requires it. The officers of the penitentiary and of the reformatory for boys are authorized to advise the governor with respect to an application for the pardon of an inmate of their institution, but he is not bound by their advice and there is no real restriction on his power to pardon except that he is not permitted to pardon in cases of impeachment. Among the more important officers appointed by the governor are the superintendent of public instruction, the commissioner of agriculture, statistics and mines, an assayer, state entomologist, and officers of the penitentiary. The governor may veto bills passed by the General Assembly, but to override his veto the vote of only a bare majority of the members elected to each house is required. The governor’s salary is $4000 a year. There is no lieutenant-governor; in case of a vacancy in the office of governor the speaker of the Senate becomes acting governor. The secretary of state, the comptroller, and the treasurer are elected by a joint ballot of the Senate and the House of Representatives each for a term of two years; the attorney-general is appointed by the judges of the supreme court for a term of eight years.
Both senators and representatives are elected for a term of two years by counties or by districts having approximately the same population. The number of representatives is limited by the constitution to 99, and the number of senators to one-third the number of representatives. The qualifications prescribed for senators and representatives are that they shall have been citizens of the state for three years and residents of the county or district they are to represent for one year immediately preceding the election, and that senators shall be at least thirty years of age. The legislature meets biennially, in odd numbered years, on the first Monday in January, and the length of the session is limited by a provision that the members shall be paid four dollars a day, besides an allowance for travelling expenses, not to exceed 75 days; whenever the governor calls an extra session they are not paid for more than 20 days. Bills of whatever character may originate in either house, but no bill can become a law until it has passed both houses by a majority of all the members to which the house is entitled under the constitution, and if the governor vetoes a bill it cannot become a law until it has again passed both houses by such a majority. Only the more customary restrictions are placed upon the legislature by the constitution; such, for example, as that it shall pass no laws impairing the obligation of contracts, no ex post facto laws, no law authorizing imprisonment for debt, no law restraining the freedom of the press or freedom of speech, and that it shall not lend the credit of the state or make the state “owner in whole or in part of any bank or a stockholder with others in any association, company, corporation or municipality.”
The administration of justice is vested in a supreme court, a court of civil appeals, chancery courts, circuit courts, county courts, justice of the peace courts, and, in certain cities and towns, a recorders court. The supreme court consists of five judges elected by the state at large for a term of eight years, one for each of three grand divisions (eastern, middle and western) and two for the state at large. Each judge must be at least thirty-five years of age and have been a resident of the state for five years before his election. The judges designate one of their number to preside as chief justice. The court has appellate jurisdiction only. For the eastern district it sits at Knoxville; for the middle district at Nashville; and for the western district at Jackson. The concurrence of three judges is necessary to a decision. The court of civil appeals, which in 1907 was substituted for the court of chancery appeals, is also composed of five judges not more than two of whom shall reside in the same grand division. They are elected for a term of eight years, and each of them must be at least thirty years of age and have resided in the state for five years before election. This court has jurisdiction of appeals from equity courts in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $1000, except in cases involving the constitutionality of a Tennessee statute, contested election or state revenue, and ejectment suits; it has jurisdiction also of civil cases tried in the circuit and common law courts in which writs of error or appeals in the nature of writs of error are applied for. It may transfer any case to the supreme court or the supreme court may assume jurisdiction of any of its cases by issuing a writ of certiorari, but otherwise its decrees are final. The state is divided into twelve chancery districts in each of which a chancellor is elected for a term of eight years, and at every county-seat in each district a court of chancery is held. The court has exclusive original jurisdiction in equity cases in which the amount in controversy exceeds fifty dollars, concurrent jurisdiction with the county court in such matters as the administration of estates, the appointment and removal of guardians, and concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts in proceedings for divorce. The state is also divided into nineteen circuits, in each of which a circuit judge is elected for a term of eight years, and at every county-seat in each circuit a circuit court is held. The original jurisdiction of the circuit courts extends to all cases both civil and criminal not exclusively conferred upon some other court, and they have appellate jurisdiction in all suits and actions begun in the lower courts. In several of the counties the county court is composed of a county judge, elected for a term of eight years, together with the justices of the peace in the county, and in the other counties it consists of the justices of the peace alone. Its judicial business is principally the probate of wills and matters relating to the administration of estates. Each county is divided into civil districts varying in number according to population, and each district elects at least two justices of the peace for a term of six years; each county town or incorporated town also elects one justice of the peace. The jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, usually coextensive with the county, extends to the collection of notes of hand not exceeding $1000; to the settlement of accounts not exceeding $500; to suits for the recovery of property or suits demanding payment for damages, except for libel or slander, not exceeding $500; to equity cases in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $50; and to various other small cases. A recorder has concurrent jurisdiction with a justice of the peace.
Local Government.—The government of each county is vested principally in the county court. This body represents and acts for the county as a corporation; has charge of the erection and repair of county buildings; levies the county taxes, which are limited by law, however, to three mills on the dollar exclusive of those for schools, public highways, interest on the county debt, and other special purposes; divides the county into highway districts, and chooses a highway commissioner for each district for a term of two years; and chooses a superintendent of schools, a surveyor, a public administrator and public guardian, a board for the equalization of taxes, a coroner, a ranger, and a jail physician or health officer each for a term of two years, three commissioners of the poor for a term of three years (one each year), and a keeper and sealer of weights and measures to serve during its pleasure. A county trustee, whose duty it is to collect state and county taxes, and a sheriff are elected by the county for a term of two years; a clerk of the count court and a register are also elected by the county for a term of four years; and the county judge or chairman of the county court, the clerk of the county court, and the county health officer constitute a county board of health. In each civil district
