impartial manner in which he had presided over its deliberations, but
presented him with a fine gold watch and chain,--purchased with money
that had been contributed by members of both parties and by a few
outside friends,--as a token of their esteem and appreciation of him as
a presiding officer. On the outside case of the watch these words were
engraved: "Presented to Hon. J.R. Lynch, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, by the Members of the Legislature, April 19, 1873."
That watch the writer still has and will keep as a sacred family
heirloom.

A good deal of work was to be done by this Legislature. The seats of a
number of Democrats were contested. But the decision in many cases was
in favor of the sitting members. The changes, however, were sufficient
to materially increase the Republican majority.

Among the important bills to be passed was one to divide the State into
six Congressional Districts. The apportionment of Representatives in
Congress, under the Apportionment Act which had recently passed
Congress, increased the number of Representatives from Mississippi,
which had formerly been five, to six. Republican leaders in both
branches of the Legislature decided that the duty of drawing up a bill
apportioning the State into Congressional Districts should devolve upon
the Speaker of the House, with the understanding that the party
organization would support the bill drawn by him.

I accepted the responsibility, and immediately proceeded with the work
of drafting a bill for that purpose. Two plans had been discussed, each
of which had strong supporters and advocates. One plan was so to
apportion the State as to make all of the districts Republican; but in
doing so the majority in at least two of the districts would be quite