LOUISIANA. 



453 



Reorganization of the land-office of the State, and 

 i- . make provision for the survey of unsurveyed lands 

 eft IK- State. 



An act in needed to restrict the powers of the 

 court* to issue writ* of mandamus against the otti- 

 ocw of the city of New Orleans, for the object of 

 .iig duijiuudrt lor iiiuuvy uguiuet the corpo- 

 ration. 



To provide for the organization of the district 

 courts of the parish of Orleans, and defining the 

 Jurisdiction of the several courts relative especially 

 to injmi. -lions, mandamus, etc. 



Unfinished business relative to the floating in- 

 debtedness, and other matters important to the good 

 government of the corporation of New Orleans. 



And 1 do hereby indicate, as the length of said ses- 

 hi"!i hcivm callrii, the term often days, commencing 

 wit li said Monday, March 7th. 



One of the most important measures passed 

 by the Legislature was the "Education Bill," 

 adopted as a substitute for the "School Law " 

 of 1869, which was found to be ineffective in 

 practice. For the purposes of this bill the 

 State is divided into six divisions, of which 

 New Orleans forms one. The State Superin- 

 tendent is required to nominate to the Gov- 

 ernor, and tho Governor to nominate to the 

 Senate for its approval, a superintendent for 

 each division, who is to hold office for three 

 years, at a salary of $2,500, except in the dis- 

 trict of New Orleans, where the salary is fixed 

 at $4,000. 



The division superintendents, with the 

 State superintendent as president, constitute 

 a Board of Education, having the supervision 

 and control in regard to books, rules, and 

 regulations of the public schools throughout 

 the State. The division superintendents have 

 full control in their respective divisions, and, 

 with the exception of the State Superintend- 

 ent, are the only persons authorized to issue 

 certificates for the employment of teachers. 



The State Board is authorized to appoint a 

 Board of Directors for the schools in New Or- 

 leans, who "shall control the public school 

 library or libraries ; it shall be a penal offence, 

 punishable with a fine of one thousand dollars 

 and imprisonment at the discretion of any com- 

 petent court, for any person or number of per- 

 sons to usurp or control any public free school 

 within said city; and it is hereby declared to 

 be the intention of this statute to repeal all 

 laws or parts of laws granting the control of 

 public education in the city of New Orleans to 

 the municipal authorities of said city ; and it is 

 further declared to be the intention of this 

 law to connect the system of public schools in 

 the city of New Orleans with the State system 

 of education hereby organized and devised." 



The State Board is also to appoint a board 

 for every town, and city, and parish in the 

 State, and each of the local boards is consti- 

 tuted a body "corporate and politic in law, 

 with powers to sue and be sued," and is to 

 have a secretary and treasurer. 



It is also provided "that there shall be no 

 public free schools within the State riot under 

 the control of the Boards of School Directors 

 herein provided for." The general school-tax 



throughout the State i fixed at two mills on 

 tho dollar, in addition to which a tax of two 

 mills on tho dollar is to be collected in each, 

 parish. The con< lii<lin/ sections of this im- 

 portant measure are as follows : 



SECTION 42. He it further enadtd, tie.. That tho 

 Bible shall n<>t ' rvludt-d t'rom the public school*, 

 but no pupil Hhall be required to read it contrary to 

 tho wiHiics of his parent or guardian. 



SEC. 49. Jk it fvrthtr tnacttd, tta., That any offi- 

 cer, school, municipal, parish, or State, or any teacher 

 of any public school, who Khull refuse to receive into 

 any school any child between tho ages of six and 

 twenty-one years, who shall be lawfully entitled to 

 admission into the same, and shall comply with euch 

 rules and regulations as may be presented by the 

 Board of School Directors and the State Board of 

 .Education, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 

 and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a 

 fine or not less than one hundred nor more than five 

 hundred dollars, and by imprisonment in the parish 

 jail for. not less than one month nor more than six 

 months ; and all such causes shall have preference 

 before other criminal cases upon the docket of the 

 court before which they shall be brought ; and such 

 person so offending shall also be liable to an action 

 tor damages by the parent or guardian of the child 

 so refused. 



A measure which had occupied a large share 

 of the attention of the Legislature throughout 

 the session of 1869, and which was postponed 

 without decisive action, was. a new charter for 

 the city of New Orleans. This measure was 

 again taken up at this session of the Legis- 

 lature, and a bill finally passed, which unites 

 Jefferson City and Algiers with New Orleans 

 under one charter, and provides for a govern- 

 ment by a mayor and seven administrators, 

 presiding over as many bureaus or depart- 

 ments. Provision was made that vacancies in 

 these offices should be filled by appointment 

 by the Governor prior to January 1, 1871, and 

 subsequently by popular election. 



The existing election laws being deemed in- 

 adequate to the protection of voters, and a 

 general charge of intimidation and violence 

 toward colored citizens at the election in No- 

 vember, 1868, having been made, it was deemed 

 necessary to pass a new law on the subject, 

 which was done under the title " An act to 

 regulate the conduct and to maintain the free- 

 dom and purity of elections." In the bill, ns 

 introduced, the entire revisory power was 

 given to the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, 

 Secretary of State, and two parish judges to 

 be selected by them. These appoint super- 

 visors of registration, who in turn select com- 

 missioners of election. Parish and district 

 judges are forbidden to issue writs of man- 

 damus or injunction, or other order, to compel 

 a commissioner of election to do his duty ; the 

 latter is responsible only to the supervisor of 

 registration, and he to the Governor. A stren- 

 uous opposition to the passage of this bill was 

 made by the minority, the grounds of which 

 were set forth in the report of the minority 

 of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. In 

 this report it was claimed that autocratic 

 power was given to the Governor, by trans- 

 ferring to him the authority of mayors, sher- 



