READJUSTEES. 737 REALGYMNASIA. the public debt from .$31,102,571 to .$19,665,196, and to devote to its payment only that portion of the State revenues for which no other use could be found. The bill jKissed both Houses of the Legislature, but was vetoed by the Governor. In the State election of 1881 the readjusters, with the help of the Republicans, defeated the Conservative Democratic Party, which approved the ilcCulloeh bill. The readjusters now passed three important measures. The first two, popu- larly known as 'Coupon Killers,' were designed to prevent the pa.yment of State taxes by means of coupons from bonds issued in pursuance of the JlcCulloch act and the act of 1871. The third measure was substantially the Riddleberger bill reenacted. The majority of the bondholders re- fused to accept the settlement and tested the constitutionality of the 'Coupon Killer' acts in the courts. In nine decisions, generally known as the 'Virginian Coupon Cases,' the United States Supreme Court declared in substance that the later act forbidding the receipt in payment of taxes of those coupons which were received under the act of 1871 was an impairment of the obli- gation of contracts in contlict with the Constitu- tion of the United States and therefore void. In the legislative session of 1884, before the final decision was made, several acts were passed for the purpose of rendering the coupons worthless, and in the sessions of 188C and 1887 still further attempts of this kind were made. Recently a final settlement in the nature of a compromise between the State and the bondholders has been effected, and the long-continued controversy over the debt question seems to have come to an end. Consult Scott. The Repudiation of State Debt (Boston, 1893). REAGAN, re'gan, John Henninger (1S18- 1!)U.) ) . An American statesman, born in Sevier County, Tennessee. In 1839 he removed to the Republic of Texas and settled east of the Brazos. He began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1846. From 1852 to 1857 he was judge of the Ninth Judicial District. From 1857 to 1861 he was a member of Congress, but resigned to serve as delegate to the Texas Secession Con- vention, by which he was elected a Deputy to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States. On JIarch 6, 1861, he was appointed Postmaster-General of the Confederate States under the Provisional Government, and was re- appointed in February, 1802. after the perma- nent Constitution was adopted. In 1805 he was also acting Secretary of the Treasury. He was captured with President Davis, May 10, 1865, and was confined in Fort Warren until October. While in prison he wrote the celebrated Fort Warren Letter to the people of Texas, advising them to confer civil rights upon the negro and admit the more intelligent to the suffrage, lest worse and more radical measures should follow. This was misconstrued and subjected him to much harsh criticism in the State. From 1875 to 1887 he was a member of Congress, and for ten years he was chairman of the Committee on Commerce. He was the autlior of the Reagan Interstate Commerce Act, which became law in 1887. In 1887 he was elected to the United States Senate, but resigned in 1891 to become chairman of the Texas State Railroad Coramis- REAL ACTION. Under the common-law system of pleading, an action brought for the recovery of the possession of real property. A real action may be based merely on the right of possession, as where a tenant under a lease is ejected and seeks to recover back possessions, in which case it is classed as possessory ; or it may be based on right of title in the proper!}-, as where an heir claims inherited real estate, in which case the action is said to be droitural. A real action was begun by a writ. Thus, a pos- sessory real action was begun by a writ of entry or writ of assize, whereas a droitural real action was commenced by a writ of right, writ of forme- don, or a writ of dower^ according to the nature of the right or title involved. A real action was distinguished from a mi.xed action by the fact that in the latter damages could be recovered. The old forms of real actions have been super- seded in nearly all jurisdictions by the more modern action of ejectment, and in code States by statutory proceedings to recover real property. See Action ; Ejectment ; Forms of Actions. REAL ASSETS. See Assets. REAL ESTATE. Land, together with such growing crops, trees, etc., and improvements thereon as are considered to be a part of and pass with it, or any interest in land greater than a term of years. In general, all movables and interests in land less than a freehold are called personal property to distinguish them from the above. Real estate descends to the heirs of a deceased owner, and is subject to dower and curtesy. Greater formalities are required to convey or incumber real estate than are necessary in dealing with personal property. The terms 'real estate' and 'real property' are used inter- changeably, and for a more complete discussion of the rules of law applicable thereto, see the article under the latter title. Consult : Black- stone, Commentaries ; Leake, Digest of tlie Law of Land; Washburn, Real Property. REALF, ralf, Richard (1834-78). An English- American poet, essayist, and reformer, born in Sussex. He published his first volume of verse in London in 1852 ; it was entitled Guesses at the Beautiful. At the age of twenty he emigrated to the United States, and settled in Kansas, where he became interested in the anti-slavery movement and was an adherent of John Brown. During the Civil War he served in the L'nion army, and at the close worked in behalf of the negroes. In 1870 he was writing for the Pittsburg Commer- cial, and lectured in various parts of the country. He died by his own hand at Oakland, California. An edition of his poems was issued in 1899 by Col. Richard J. Hinton. REALGAR (from Ar. rnhj al-ghar, powder of the mine, mineral powder). A mineral arsenic monosulphide that crystallizes in the monoclinic system, and is of a red or orange-yellow color, with a resinous lustre, and is generally transhi- cent, though sometimes transparent. It occurs with lead and silver ores at various localities in Bohemia, the Harz, Hungary, and Transylvania : also in L'tah and California in the L'nited States. Realgar was formerly somewhat used as a pig- ment ; it is also called 'red orpiment,' or 'ruby sulphur.' REALGYMNASIA. See Gymnasia.
