500 



LOUISIANA. 



is the logical outcome of a former decision for 

 $71,000 which was affirmed by the United 

 Stntes Supreme Court, and this case turned on 

 that decision. 



Levees. During 1886-'88 there were 118 con- 

 tracts for levee work, involving 69 miles of new 

 levee, and the enlargement and raising of 49 

 of old levee, at a cost of from ten to twenty- 

 nine and a half cents a cubic yard, averaging 

 eighteen and a half cents a cubic yard. The 

 total quantity of earth-work under these con- 

 tracts amounts to 3,372.828 cubic yards, at a 

 cost of $618,622. Besides this work the Fifth 

 Levee District has constructed 15^- miles of 

 new levee, and has raised and enlarged 30 

 miles of old levee, amounting to 1,655,000 

 cubic yards, at a cost of $362,590. The Fifth 

 Levee District has also contributed $9,500 for 

 levee work in the lower part of Chicot County, 

 Ark. The Tensas Basin Levee District has 

 also contracted for work in Desha and Chicot 

 Counties, Ark., involving the building of 6 

 miles of new levee, and 8 miles of old levee, 

 amounting to 592,134 cubic yards of earth at 

 a cost of $150,000. The Mississippi River 

 Commission, in consideration of the work 

 done in Arkansas by Louisiana, consented 

 to close all gaps between Amos Bayou and the 

 Louisiana line, that had not been provided for. 

 The work is nearly complete. It involves the 

 raising and enlargement of 20 miles of old 

 levee and the building of 17 miles of new 

 levee, 1,500,000 cubic yards, at an expenditure 

 of $320,000. 



The work thus accomplished and in progress, 

 with that done by the local levee boards, 

 should, before another high-water season, give 

 a continuous line of levees from the highlands 

 south of Arkansas river to the upper limits of 

 this State, and cut off the overflow from this 

 source that has heretofore inundated the par- 

 ishes lying between the Ouachita and the Mis- 

 sissippi rivers, and that was without remedy 

 by any work possible within the boundaries of 

 the State. The creation of the corporations of 

 the Fifth Louisiana and the Tensas Basin Levee 

 Districts by the General Assembly j n 1886, has 

 been the most important levee legislation of 

 recent years. It enabled the districts to do es- 

 sential work outside of the State's boundaries. 

 The Tensas Basin Levee District has entered 

 into agreement with the Louisiana, Arkansas 

 and Missouri Railroad Company to construct an 

 embankment on the west side of Bayou Macon 

 and across the streams and lowlands known as 

 Bceuff Cut-off. The construction of this work, 

 if it has the proper height and strength to con- 

 fine the floods, will cost a large sum. It will 

 give additional security against overflow, and 

 protect a greater portion of the district inde- 

 pendently of levees on the front. The commis- 

 sion has also assisted, within the past two years, 

 in the construction of the Kemp and Deer Park 

 Levees in the Fifth District, and allowed $40,000 

 for the construction of the Morganza in consid- 

 eration of Louisiana contributing the balance 



necessary to the completion of the levee, and 

 has also expended $75,000 in the repair of other 

 levees. The aggregate work undertaken by the 

 State, the Fifth District, the Tensas District, 

 and the levee districts in the State in the past 

 two years, is 90 miles of new levee, and 70 

 miles of old levee raised and enlarged, requir- 

 ing 5.684,126 cubic yards at a cost of about 

 $1,162,696. 



Sngar. Efforts have been made to secure the 

 location of the sugar-experimental station at 

 Audubon Park. If successful, it is intended to 

 devote fifty acres for a model sugar-farm, 

 where a laboratory will be fitted up and all im- 

 provements in sugar-culture and methods in 

 agriculture will be demonstrated. The experi- 

 ments on the diffusion process conducted by 

 the Department of Agriculture created consid- 

 erable interest and were closely watched by 

 the planters. The proposed reduction of 50 per 

 cent, in the tariff of sugar by Congress, led to a 

 delegation being sent to present the claims of 

 sugar before the Finance Committee of the 

 United States Senate, and protest against the 

 proposed reduction, claiming that the sugar- 

 producing and refining interests of the country 

 give employment to several millions of our 

 population, hence they should not ruthlessly be 

 destroyed, particularly as they are rapidly pro- 

 gressing and promise to supply a large portion 

 of the entire needs of the United States. 



Against the claim that the sugar industry 

 was non-progressive, and that, as the sugar- 

 cane had never become thoroughly acclimated 

 in this country, the domestic product could 

 never be raised to a plane of successful compe- 

 tition with that of foreign countries, it was 

 shown that, in spite of the destruction of the 

 sugar industry by war, it was promptly reha- 

 bilitated, and from 5,000 tons at the date of 

 resumption, the production has been increased 

 to nearly 200,000 tons. This great progress 

 has been made in the face of extreme depres- 

 sion in prices, lack of adequate capital, and fre- 

 quent disasters from river floods. That sugar- 

 cane had not become adapted to the climate, 

 was also conclusively denied by the recital of 

 the fact that the sugar-crop has never failed, 

 while nearly every other crop in the country 

 has frequently met with disaster. Besides, the 

 productiveness- of the cane has been steadily 

 increased by careful cultivation, and has been 

 demonstrated to be susceptible of still greater 

 improvement. The progressive spirit of the 

 sugar-planters was proved by the fact that, in 

 spite of scant means, such improvements have 

 been made in extracting machinery as have up 

 to date resulted in almost doubling the output 

 of many sugar-houses. The planters' memorial 

 sets forth the fact that many millions of capital 

 were invested in sugar-culture, and that the an- 

 nual output averaged in value fully $20, 000,000. 

 Of the proceeds of the crop, fully 70 per cent, 

 is consumed by labor, about 500,000 persons, 

 more than half the population of Louisiana, be- 

 ing supported by the industry. 



