The Donaldsonville chief. [volume], January 13, 1872, Image 1

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THE DONALDSONVILLE CHIEF.
OFFICIAL JOUCRAL OF THE PARISH OF ASCENSION AND TOWN OF DONALDSO\VILLE.
VOLUME I DONALDSONVILLE, LA., SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1872. NUMBER 18.
lrniatsnthilic ( idf.
Offie in Crescent Plae
-Published Every Saturday Morning
-AT- 4
Donaldgonville, La.,
-BY
LINDED E. BEUTLEV,
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
TERMS OF SLJBSC'RIPTION:
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Transient advertisements. $1 per square first S
insertion; 75 ets. each subsequent insertion. 4
All official advertisements $1 per square each dl
insertion. it
Communications may be addressed simplal it
CaauEF, D0onaldsonville La.," or to the edi ti
tor and proprietor personally. st
A large lire in Monroe, La., han Rc
destroyed the greater portion of theli1
business part of the town. Total los- th
.$589,300; insurance, $203,500. th
II_________10
st4
The Hon. J. Henri Burch has a' .1
last earned a just and indisputed ti of
tle to the initials R. C. M.-that is, T
if they stand for Renegade Colored as
Man. pr
is
News from Mexico is not at all re- by
assuring to those who wish well to rei
that distracted Republic. The levo- do
lution is last spreading, and the peo
ple are paralyzed. President Juarez, sli
in a speech to Congress, correctly ro1
states the case when he says that the an
country is consuming itself in a fruit- anl
less struggle of military against legal of
power. The fact is, there are too wc
many military chieftains in Mexico, ha
and the natural business of these idle tha
men-who are just above the level of if
bandits-is to plot conspiracies and tin
lead revolutions. The tone of the
President's speech is less confident ha,
than we might have expected from and
him under circumstances not specially str
perilous. ret
, , thr
NEWSPAPER LAws.-The following I
synopsis of the newspaper laws, will Ill
be found interesting by those who re- tiol
ceive papers by mail: 051
1. A Postmaster is required to give 7
notice by letter (returning a paper mi
does not answer the law) when a sub- of I
scriber does tot take his paper out of dos
the office, and state the reasons for its pr'
not being taken; and a neglect to do cut
so makes the Postmaster responsible hot
to the publishers for the payment.
2. Any person who takes a paper Cot
from the Post-office, whether directed ty I
to his name or another, or whether he to
has subscribed or not, is responsible abli
for the pay. abl
3. If a person orders his paper dii- flo
continued, he must pay all arrearages not
or the publisher may continue to sedl ing.
it until the payment is made. dee
4. If the subscriber orders his paper be
to be stopped at a certain time, and dole
the publisher continues to send it, the era
subscriber is bound to pay for it if he era
takes it from the post-office. The law ly 1
proceeds upon the ground that a man -
must pay for what he uses. i
5. The courts have decided that re- al i
al
fusin 'to take newspapers and periodi- 403
cals krom the postotlice, or removing t
and leaving them uncalled for, is are
prima facie evidence of intentional trey
fraud. reds
r.. $18
ExcITINO SCENEs.-St. Stephens
(Roman Catholic) church in New
York, which is bo fatmous for its superb
music, was the scene of a disagreeable
disturbance on Sunday last. Just as
the congregation were engaged in the
most solemn portion of the mass, in
unearthly, yell was heard, and the
congregation turning round saw a
man, respectably dressed, writhing in
apparent agony in the central aisle.
,He was a howling maniac. From his
lips came the most dreadful cries and
oaths. He danced and swung his arms
around his head and tore his hair.
The services were of course suspendud,
and the man was forced from the
church. He was sent to the hospital
as a lunatic.
A still more serious disturbance took
place at the Roman Catholic church,
sear the corner of Thompson and Can al
streets, on Chrisinas morning. Jest
as the priest was about pronouncing
the benediction a drunken maniac
named Ellis staggered up the aisle,
and in a loud and abusive way de
nounced the priest and congregation,
and when ordered out by the sext)n
dared ans one to try and put him out.
Xn an insta nt twenty men sprang from
their seats and made for Ells, Coo
fusion and consternation segne id,
Some of the women screamed, while
others fainted. Ellis backed tip
a inst a pew, and drawing a knife
dared them to come on. A man
named Knapp then advanced upon
Fllis, and he plunged his knife into
Knapp's shoulder. Ellis was then
knocked down and stabbed by somme
unknown persons, and Jeln taken to
fia station-Douse.
ANN UAL 13IESAGE t
OF I
Goverlor H. C. Warmoth,
igq TO TIE t
General Assembly of Louisiana,
SESSION OF 1872.
I STTATE OF LOUIIAINA,) ii
Executive Department, t
New Orleans, January 1, 1872.
Geutlemne of the Senate and House of Rep
a resent tives of the State of Louisiana:
5" In compliance with my duty, under r
1 the constitution, I have the honor to
lay before you the following informa- t
tion res ecting the general condition e
of atlis n the State, with the recom- e
mendati d of such measures as I have a
deemed if sufficient importance to a
merit yo)r especial consideration:
0') PUBLIC DEBT. ti
0 The State Auditor pdrsists in pub
no lishing to the world that our debt is t4
W) $41,194,473 91, which he makes up C
b? y add 'g to the actual debt of the ri
-St State, rich is $*2,295,790 58, an G
u. amount hich he calls a " contingent d,
rh debt" o 18,898,683 33. This last is la
indeed 0 ungent. It is contingent "
1- in that i" b oming actual debt is en- tl
ti tirely de 4ndent-tirst, upon the con- a
struction! of certain railroads, for se
! which the State has agreed to indorse ram
to second ortgage bonds for $12,500 et
p per mil the companies having the aI
right to tne first mortgage boiids for to
' the smne, amount; and, second, upon bi
the foolish presumption that these Pm
roads, with all their franchises, rolling Px
stock, fitures, trade, etc., will not be al
'" worth * ,000 per mile, the aggregate tri
of the #1 and second mortgage bonds. tit
This is l more a debt, to be employed di
as suct tthe expense of our State sit
credit, t5ian is the ihdorsement of a by
promissory note by an individual who or
is secumed for the liability he assumes, on
- by a pl ge of five-twenty bonds or po
a real eat , in the proportion of four te
dollars one. the
In thif first place, there is not the pe
I, slightest;probability that any of these to
s roads, except the New Orleans, Mobile pr
and Texiis railroad will beconstructed; Stb
- and, in the aecopd place, if every one po
I of themi should be built, the State ter
a would l amply secured from ever m(
having to pay the indorsement, for the
the reason that the roads chartered, da
f if constructed, would be . worth four un
tfnmes the amount guaranteed. no'
This unwise course of the Auditor tw
has tended to depreciate our securities, I
a and has given the enemies of recon- Le
struction capital from which to mis- ap]
represem- our government and to evi
throw redit upon us abroad. the
In 1 our debt was *10,157, 882 12. the
In 1868 when the present administra- dec
tion came into power, it was $14,347,- wo
051 02, a-nd it is now about $23,045,- its
790 58. 'This increase consists in three by
million dollars employed for the repair or
of levee- three million to take up the car
floatin ebt which had been incurred Sta
prior tolle inauguration of the pres- 185
cut go mnent; two and a half mil
lions an seribed for stock to the New cisi
Orleans. Mobile & Texas Railroad Au
Company, and seven hundred and fif- wa
ty thoutand dollars subsidy granted oth
to the sanie company. The present the
administration is not properly charge- thma
able with the three million dollars for is s
floating debt because it was mostly, if be
not entirely, created before its incom- qui
ing. So that the real increase of the goi
debt by tae present government has 7
been only about six and a half million s5i
dollars and the wisdom of the sev- a s
eral ac involving the increase is gen- Tl$
erally needed and almost universal- prig
ly app ved. mei
The bonded debt on which interest rea
is being paid is $19,858,300, the annu- Sta
al interest on which amounts to $1,- and
403,820. Of this debt, $1,357,000 ill cial
State lends have been purchased, and wan
are he by certain trust funds in the rest
treasu ", which, if cancelled, would den
reduce our interest paying debt to crei
$18,5 300, and the annual interest the
to $1, ,400. alm
FINANCES.
The eandition of our State finances
deinan your most serious attention.
The reot of the State Auditor will
show deficit for the past year of
nearly rwo millions of dollars. This
has been caused by the inefficiency of
tax collectors and the enormous ap
propriations made at the last session
of the General Assembly in excess of
the revenue. To meet this deficiency
two things are necessary : First, a re
dtictio to the minimum of all the ex
penses f the government; and sec
ond, a igorous and/efficient collec
tion o he revenue. This is practica
ble, anj the best solution to the prob
lem I ve been able to devise.
The ount necessary to pay sala
ries of iuffers need not exceed $320,
000; that for mileage and per diem of
members and the contingent expenses
of the General Assembly need not ex
ceed $J25,000; while all other expen'
sea, p able from the general fund,
includ those necessary for the sup
port o ie militia, of public institu
tiont a charitable character, such as
institu ons for the deaf, dumb and
blind, the Insane Asylum and the
Charity Hospital of New Orleans, and
for the rent of public buildings, etc.,
need not exceed $420,650.
The interest on our State debt
amounts to $1,403,820 per annum. It
requires $400,000 to maintain our
public hool system.
The ur mills assessed for the gen
eral fu is believed to be sufficient
to pay e salaries of officers and the
curren expenses of the machinery of
tw goc runnent. It is doubtless enough
i to do so with economy, but it should
not be expected to bear the draft of'
four millions of dollars in appropria
tions, as was assumed by the legisla
tion of the last session.
I would, therefore, recommend that i
during the present session of your i
honorable body an act be passed inak
ing a general appropriation for pay- a
"?) mnent of salaries of officers, interest on
the public debt, expenses of public i
education and the public charities, a
9 which act shall be a general law and 1
remain in operation until flhodified or I
ler repealed by the General Assembly. a
t Should this be done, we shall avoid<
"u- the evil which has heretofore prevail- t
oil ed, of crowding into this bill a large
11- number of olnoxious appropriations 1
ve and coercing unwilling members to i
to vote for its passage under the threat t
of defeating the necessary appropria- t
tions for the year.
b- I desire to call your particular at- c
is tention to the decision of the Supreme t
up Court in the case of "The State ex d
be rel Solomon and Simpson vs. James
tn Graham, State Auditor," in which the c
nt doctrine relative to appropriations is e
is laid down in the following language: S
at " But it is contended by the relators
n- that the appropriation does not create g
i- a debt ' because the money is pre- n
or sumed to be in the treasury.' This ii
se raises the very serious question,wheth- a
xj er or not the Legislature can make C
ie appropriations unless there be money S
r to meet the warrants authorized there- p
,n by, either actually in the treasury or
3e provided for by the revenue bill. The S
ig power of appropriation is the right to
,e apply to public purposes money in the *
te treasury. Article 104 of the constitu
s. tion declares, 'No money shall be o1
d drawn from the treasury but in pur- If
e suance of specific appropriations made ir
a by law.' An appropriation is an auth
Lo orization to the Auditor to check up- aº
on the treasury for moneys there de- m
ir posited. If, therefore, the revenues at
nr be inadequate to meet the interest of i
the phhlic debt and the current ex- am
e penses of the necessary State agencies il
e to-preserve the government, an appro- of
c printion (whereby the liabilities of the
State are increased) for any other pur- at
e pose than for the support and main- bi
e tenance of the machinery of govern
r ment, is a debt within the meaning of tl
r the constitutional amendment, which b<
I, declares ' that prior to the first ofJan- v,
r unary, 1890, the debt of the State shall L4
not be increased so as to exceed
r twenty-five millions of dollars.'" tl
,, From this it will be seen that the fy
- Legislature has no power to make any es
- appropriation for any purpose what- ai
> ever, ' unless there be money to meet ca
the warrants authorized thereby, ei
ther actually in the treasury or provi
- ded for by the revenue bill." In other
- words, when an appropriation is made
- its payment must also be provided for th
by the assessment of anadditional tax Ri
r or the act will be obnoxious to the 1 1
constitutional amendment limiting the sta
I State debt to $25,000,000 prior to at
- 1890. ha
1- Nor do I believe that under this de
w cision of the Supreme Court the State
d Auditor has authority to issue any
F- warrant upon the general fund for
d other than the necessary expenses of
t the government, until it is ascertained
that the portion of the revenue which
r is set apart for the general fund will
if be in excess of the total amount re
- quired for such legitimate expenses of
e government.
s The credit of our State abroad has
n stptaiined, without great loss however,
- a severe shock during the past year.
- T11 reckless manner in which appro
- priations were made for the improve
ment of real and imaginary bayous,
,t real and fictitious claims against the
- State, private charitable associations
- and enormous compensation to offi
i cials, the manner in which $750,000
d was squandered by the House of Rep
e resentatives, together with other inci
1 dents, have told heavily upon our
a credit both at home and abroad. While
t the government has been extravagant,
almost criminally so, in its expendi
tures, productive in itself of the most
mischievous effects on our credit, an
s other interest, thinking to combat ex
tremes by others quite as insane and
I disreputable, took upon itself, at the
f suggestion of some ambitious politi
c cian or server of some opposition rail- I
f road interest, to commit a number of I
- gentlemen to the silly attempt to fore
I stall the action of the Supreme Court;
f to pass judgment on questions then
before it-to declare the unconstitu
- tionality of laws subsequently decided
- constitutional by our Supreme Court,
- and to affirm that such debts as were I
- contracted in excess of a certain amount
- in aid of railroads, etc., were uncon- ]
stitutionaland would not be paid.
The gentlemen who were deceived 1
- into signing this circular now see that 1
- while they have only teo porarily af- 1
F fected the credit of the State and de- 4
3 layed the negotiation of our bonds I
abroad, they, in their private inter- I
" eats, have not escaped, but are already
experiencing the evil effects of their <
carelessness. They delayed, and came I
near defeating entirely, the construc
ction of a railroad the importance of l
I which to the city of New Orleans and
to the State can not now be fully esti- I
I mated. Many of these gentlemen in
form me that they were misled, and
that it was farthest from their wish to
cause the embarrassments which the 1
originator of the paper intended, and
which it did actually produce.
A COLLEGE IN THE INTEREST OF AGRI
CULTURE AND THE MECIIANIC ARTS.
By act of Congress, approved July
2, 1862, and the amendments thereto, i
the United States donated to the State ,i
Id of Louisiana land scrip amounting to i
of 30,000 acres, for each member the
1- State had then in Congress.
I- The grant was conditioned on its
formal acceptance by the State, and
it in compliance with the terms on which
ir it was nade. I
1- The State accepted the donation by I
- act of the Legislature, approved March
in 5, 1869. This act designated the Gov- t
[c ernor, Chief Justice and a commission- I
s, er, to be appointed by them, to act in I
d behalf of the State. Senator John z
ºr Lynch was appointed commissioner, C
T. and the commission thus formed re- s
d ceived from the Secretary of the In- E
f- tenor scrip for 209,920 acres. The State a
v should have received 210.000 acres, d
s but there is a provision in the act Ii
o making the grant which provides that e
.t the scrip shall be issued in denomina- t
tions of one hundred and sixty acres. I'
The commissioner of the general land h
- office in Washington therefore refused
e to issue scrip for the eighty odd acres >
s due Louisiana. a
s The scrip was sold at eighty-seven 81
e cents per acre, as high, if not the high- 0
s est price, I believe, received by any P
State at that time for scrip thus issued. P
s The 209,920 acres sold at this rate a
gave net, after deducting $317 37 com- h
- mission paid in New York for deliver- ci
ing the scrip there, $182,313 03. This e:
- amount, in compliance with the act of n
Congress, was invested in Louisiana cu
State bonds, as follows: cl
S$250,000 Louisiana State six per s
cent. bonds at 64 cents.........$160.000 00 ni
$36,000 Louisiana State six per ha
cent. bonds at 61 cents......... 21,960 00 b,
$286,000 bonds for................$181,960 00
This leaves a balance to the credit P'
of the commission in bank of $353 03.
It is hoped that this amount will be ti
increased by interest falling due next T
month, on bonds already bought, to an ol
amount sufficient to enable the corn- ti
mission to buy $14,000 more bonds,
and thus swell the fund to.$300,000 in
six per cent. bonds. This will give an a
annual income of $18,000 to be used am
in sustaining a college-in the interest
of agriculture and the mechanic arts. in
The commission will make a full m
and detailed report to your honorable cc
body at an early day. o
The State Is to be congratulated on o
the manner in which the scrip has
been disposed of and the proceeds in
vested. It is to be hoped that the n
Legislature will be equally wise in de- wi
veloping a plan for the establishing of hi
the college. As this subject is one 'I
fraught with such interest to the State,
especially as it furnishes an important o
aid in giving completeness to the edu
cational system, I bespeak for it your of
most careful consideration.
, RAILROADS.
e I am encouraged that your faith in
or the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas
x Railroad Company is about to be most
e 1 berally rewarded, and that, notwith
e standing the most violent opposition
o at home and abroad, we are to
have speedily constructed a railroad
from New Orleans to Houston,
e in Texas, and another to Shreve
y port, in our own State. At the
r time it was feared the enterprise would
f prove a failure, and thiit we should
I lose the large sunms already advanced
It in aid of the company. In Europe
1 and in all the money centres of our
- own country, the appearance of a cir
f cular, numerously signed by the friends
and partisans of opposition railroad
s interests, having for its object the de- 1
, preciation of our credit in order to
defeat the negotiation of the bonds
- given by the State in aid of the coin
- pany, caused a temporary embarrass
ment, and came near defeating the I
e enterprise. 1
s The company for this reason, was 1
- forced, for a time, to suspend work, i
and, indeed, the payment of its em- 1
- ploycs. The stockholders have, how- t
- ever, recently met and subscribed for
r the bonds among themselves, the en- i
tire amount being readily taken. In I
addition to this, Mr. Charles Morgan,
- owning and controlling the rival rail- I
road interest, has been induced to 1
- compromise his oppoiition and to t
- unite with the company by subscrib
ing for a large part of its stock and i
its securities. t
By this combination we shall secure c
more speedily than was anticipated, I
f not only the road to Houston, Texas, c
- via Donaldsonville and Vermilion- i
ville, but also a royd from Berwick's <
L Bay, via Vermilionville and Alexan- t
dria, to Shreveport. t
I I deem this the most important I
epoch in the history of our State, and I
if we can, as I believe we shall, at the t
close of our administration, be able to t1
- point to the achievments of these two t
great enterprises, I shall feel that we I
I have done more for the material in- I
terests of the people than could have
been expected at the commencement, a
even under the most favorable aus- 1
pices. The wisdom of your legisla- i:
tion on the subject will he fully vindi- r
cated, and the aid, at one time believ- f
ed to be extravagant, will be ap
proved by our whole population. t
The New Orleans and Northeastern c
Railroad Company, the N\ w Orleans, c
Metairie and Lake Railroad Company, li
the Right Bank Railroad and Freight ti
Transferring Company, the Louisiana ,
and Arkansas Railroad Company, the t
New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Vicks- t
burg Railroad Company, the Alexan- v
dria, Homer and Fulton Railroad a
Company and the Arkansas and Delta
Railroad Company have all failed so p
far to do anything. I, therefore, re- ii
commend the passage of an act pro- r
viding -that unless work on these v
roads is begun within six months and n
regularly prosecuted the charters be y
to repealed. They stand in the way of
he capitalists who can and would do the
work, and should be removed.
its
ad THE LEVEES.
chl On this importanit subject I have I
much to say. Upon these works de- 1
by pends the prosperity of our State in 1
chl Ier agriculural and railroad in- t
v- terests. Possibly New, Orleans
n- might exist upon the commerce
in passing between the great North
in west and the outer world, be
qr, cause of her position on the Missis- t
e- sippi river ; but the wealth of the 1
n- State depepds upon the completeness t
te and safety of our levee system, and it a
;s, deserves and should have, as it has c
et heretofore, your most earnest consid- c
at eration. For the first time in the his
a- tory of Louisiana, one comprehensive 1
ss. plan has been adopted, and let us a
id hope it will be effective. ii
Ad The various laws passed since the z
es settlement of Louisiana to 1871 have I
all proved ineffectual to stop crevas- 1
n ses, andl occasionally vast destruction a
r- of property; and if it were even then a
~v proper to trust to the old riparian ii
j. proprietor plan, all such ideas are a
to now obsolete, from the change of the c
- labor system ; and the only way to a
r- compass the object was decided to be t
is either by a constitutional amendment r
)f making the levee tax perpetual, or by a
,a contract with a private company or c
corporation for a term of years, that d
some plan could be developed for per- p
)o manent security, instead of the vacil
lating policy which has heretofore
) been followed.
The first contract proposed and tl
it passed by the Legislature of 1870 was
. subject to many constitutional objec- d
tions, and I was compelled to veto it. tl
aThe next act, No. 4 of 1871, for the tl
n same purpose, had and has several u
objectionable features, and the addi- d
tional act or contract, known as act e:
No. 27; approved February 28, was eE
n required to obviate these objections, c<
and still the two bills do not properly y'
harmonize. You may, therefore, dur- ci
ing this session, be asked for supple- PT
mental legislation to make the system
complete and effective. Act No. 4
e provided for the issue of one million ni
I of dollars in State bonds, but as the s}
constitutional limit of indebtedness e,
has been reached, this assistance could tl
not be given to the company. They at
were also authorized to issue five hun- N
dred thousand dollars of their own at
bonds, on the anticipated estimates. re
This was not permitted to be done, ei
and the company were either unable m
or indisposed to commence the work
of building the levees uutil since Oc- di
tober 1. While probably without my cl
sphere of duty, strictly construed, yet
I felt con1ktrained to take an interest inl
the management of the affairs of the li
Louisiana Levee Company, andfhope ti
t my interference has insured to the pt
- enefit of the State, as well as the th
r company, for their interests are now tit
º identical, and it is to be hoped that yc
I under the present management our n,
alluvial lands will be protected, our wi
railroad communications preserved, la
and our State resources developed, sh
according to the prophecies of the su
I most sanguine friends of the present it
I levee system. The "outlet" and "thes ms
cut-off" advocates are the most bitter Su
opponents of the present system, and a
I have directed the State Engineer o th
prepare papets on these subjects, th
v which will be embodied in his annual ca
report. of
o In Act No. 7, approved February
s 24, 18715 creating the Board of State
- Engineers and abolishing the Board
- of 'ublic Works, you allowed one
e h Bldred thousand cubic yards to com
plete the existing contracts of the
s Board of Public Works. This was
not sufficient, as appears from the re
- port of the State engineers, and you
- are asked foi tin appropriation of
r $53,584 76 to pay the certificates of
- indebtedness issued by the Auditor
i for the one hundred thousand cubic
yards, and $57,853 79 in payment of
- the certificates of-indebtedness issued
. by the State engineers to complete
j the works.
During the high water last spring a
1 nm tmber of crevasses occurred, and as
the Levee company had not taken
3 charge of the works, and there had
been no legal provisions for such a
contingency, I was compelled t* pro
- vide means to. close, or attempt to
s close the breaks. For this purpose
the Citizens' Bank advanced sixty
thousand dollars, and the Louisiana
t National Bank twenty thousand (0ol
l lars, which money was expended by
the State engineers, assisted by Sen
ator Lynch as disbursing agent, -%ith
º the result you will read in the State
Engineer's report, and the special re
- port of Mr. Lynch on this subject.
That promlptitmide of action and the
assistance given by these banks pre
vented a vast destruction of property,
is evident, and I would ask you to
make the proper appropriation to re
fund the money as early as practicable.
No special appropriation was made at
the last session to defray the expenses
t of the engineer corps, and much in
convenience was the result. It is
h hoped that this important matter will
not be overlooked at this session, for
upon the activity and efficiency of
this department depends the protec
tion of the State in levee matters, as
well as all other internal improve
ments.
You will find a condensed and com
prehensive view of the magnitude and
importance of the levee system in the
report of the Board of Engineers. Yo:i
will see that Engineer Van Pelt esti
mates that over four millions of cubic
yards are required to repair the levees
f from Red River to Fort Jackson. You
c will find that Generals Humphrey and
Abbott estimate that over six millions
of yards will be required to raiae the
levees to their old grade, and over
thirty-five millions of cubic yards to
- the new grade. You will find that
º there bas been built under the Board
- of Public Works 6,380,000 cubic yards.
You will find that over eight millions
of cubic yards have been built in the
parishes of Madison, Carroll, Tensas,
- Concordia and Pointe Coupee since
- the war, and that over fourteen rail
lions of cubic yards have been built in
the State during this time. You will
also find the cause of this vast in
crease in quantity over the estimate,
of foimer years.
The Louisiana Levee Contpany has
lately reorganized, with some of the
strongest financial men iv the State"e
directors. Mr. Gaines, of the Citi
zens' Bank, is its president, while Mr.
Duncan F. Kenner, one of the oldest
planters on the Mississippi river, and
a man of great practical experience
and knowledge of the levee subject, is
its vice-president and active business
manager. The company has now a
cash capital of $500,000, and has as
samed the payment of all work con
tracted for or authorized by me du
ring the late season of uncertainty
and delay of the company to prose
cute the work. I have great confi
dence now that the work wiU be done
promptly.
MILITIA.
I have again to speak in terms of
the highest praise of the State militia.
The valuable service they have ren
dered in preserving the peace, and
the spirit and enterprise which
they have manifested in keeping
up their organizations under many
difficulties and at great individual
expense, entitle them to the high
est commendation and to the en
couragement of the State. I hope that
you will make an appropriation suffi
cient to enable them to make an ap
pearance creditable to the State.
PUBLIC EDUCATION.
At the commencement of this ad
I ministration the State posssessed no
B system of public education. What
R ever facilities were afforded prior to
I the war had been well nigh obliter
ated, leaving, outside of the city of
- New Orleans, only here and there a
I solitary school. The Freedthen's Bu
reau under the direction of the gen
eral government, had established a
number of schools, which were inde
pendent of State conatrol, and were
designed for the benefit of a single
class of citizens.
The Legislature of 1869 enacted a
general school law, which, it was be
lieved, would meet the necessities of
the people. It differed in many
points from the recommendation of
the Superintendent of Public Educa
tion, which had been transmitted to
your. honorable body with my endorse
ment, and experience proved how un
wise was that divergence. The law
lacked the elements of directness and
simplicity which were needed to in
sure its efficiency, and although under
it a successful commencement was
made in public education, the State
Superintendent found it necessary to
apply to the succeeding Legislature
that of 1870-for such modifications of
the law as would give the State edu
cational authorities an actual in place
of a merely nominal control of the
school work in the State. Too timor
ous to grant all that was asked, that
Legislature, through itas committees,
rejected the simple yet complete sys
tem proposed by the State Board of
Education, and left the cumbrons ina
chinery demanded by the former law
almost intact. Still much was accoum
plished during the following year
notwithstanding these disadvantages.
The foundation of subsequent success
was laid, but through an expenditure
of labor and at an expense which
would have been avoided had not a
fear of centralizing power, where alone
power could be efficiently employed,
deterred the Legislature from passing
the bill proposed by the Superintend
ent of Education.
At this junctuie the present mem
bers of your honorable body were
elected, and during the seas]j of
1871 the school act was so amended as
to give the directness aind simplicity
which had been vainly sought from
the action of the previous Legislature,
and it is gratifying to know that the
success attained under it has equaled
the expectations of the advocates of
those amendments. Information fur
nished by the Superintendent of Pub
lic Education enables me to state the
towns and rural districts of the State,
where, at the commencement of this
administration, only here and there a
solitary school existed, now six hun
dred and forty may be found filly or
ganized, equipped with teachers and
moderately supplied with the appli
ances of education. . So successful
has been the workings of the present
law that no hand should be allowed to
disturb it. Its simplicity and effec
tiveness are sufficient arguments in it*
behalf; and a law which is sustained
in every feature by the approval of
the Board of Education, should not
be changed at the demand of any the
orist unacquainted with the practical
difficulties that are to be overceme.
Obstacles, a few years since deemed
absolutely insurmountable, have un
der this law, been overcome, and a
general good will has been secured
for the educational system of the
State. Kindly feelings have supplan t-.
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