LOUISIANA. 



LUTHERANS. 



451 



tained, and the farther consideration of it by 

 Congress was postponed until after the recess 

 in December. 



On December 25th a board of Examiners 

 appointed by Governor Kellogg to investigate 

 the State debt, reported the following facts : 



Bonds and school fund $24.419.214 14 



Miscellaneous debt of the State 8,283,080 70 



Prior limitation contingent liabilities 13,003,000 00 



Poet limitation contingent liabilities 8,087,500 00 



Loans to Citizens' Bank and Consolidated 

 Association 4,828,780 83 



Grand total $63,681 ,546 67 



The amendment of the constitution pro- 

 mulgated the 15th of December, 1870, limits 

 the debt to $25,000,000. The State obliga- 

 tions and contingent liabilities then amounted 

 to $42,000,000 ; consequently, in the opinion 

 of the board, all liabilities created since then 

 are null and void. 



The following items they consider to be either 

 unconstitutional, or to have lapsed, or that from 

 other causes payment will never be exacted : 



Poet limitation contingent liabilities $8.087,500 



Prior limitation contingent liabilities 13,003.000 



Bondsloaned Citizens' Bank 4,297.383 



Bonds loaned Consolidated Association 531,447 



Bonds subscribed to New Orleans, Mobile & 



Texas Railroad Company 2.500.000 



Dne Free School Fond. 1,611.500 



Bonds Seminary Fund 186,000 



United States deposit 479.914 



Total $30,646,649 



Deducting this amount from the grand total 

 of liabilities, leaves $23,000,000 of indebted- 

 ness, bearing an annual interest of about $1,- 

 500,000. Owing to gross irregularities a large 

 portion of these claims are of doubtful legality, 

 and should be tested in the courts. Even 

 after the above eliminations, the State can 

 neither pay the debt nor meet the annual in- 

 ti T. st. The board recommended partial re- 

 pudiation, reducing the debt to $12,000,000 as 

 a measure which would give relief to the State, 

 satisfy its creditors, and assure a return of 

 prosperity, by removing overgrown taxation. 



The assessment for the year 1874 makes the 

 total taxable property, city of New Orleans 

 assessment, $135,894,850; and the total tax- 

 able property. State of Louisiana assessment, 

 $228,666,653.62. 



The report of the Mayor of New Orleans to 

 the city council, of March 25th, says : " Prop- 

 erty in this city now pays a State tax of $2.15, 

 and a city tax of $2.75, on each one hundred 

 dollars of assessed valuation, besides bearing 

 the weight of nearly a million dollars in licenses, 

 amounting to nearly 6 per cent, on property 

 assessed at $130,000,000, but well known to 

 be over-estimated." 



The commercial and financial condition was 

 much affected by the political troubles. _ The 

 greatest commercial need in this State is the 

 deepening of the bar at the mouth of the 

 Mississippi. Among the various projects for 

 the attainment of this object the plan most 

 favored by the commercial public is that recom- 

 mended by Major Howell, U. 8. Engineers, 



called the Fort St. Philip Canal, which promises 

 to secure a depth of thirty feet, with an esti- 

 mated outlay of $6,000,000. 



The cotton-crop was greater than that of 

 any year since the war, except 1870-'7l. 



The cotton-bales received in New Orleans dur- 

 ing the year ending September 1, 1873, 



amounted to 1.380,058 



These were sold for $116,168.472 



Increase on previous year $11738472 



Sugar-crop of 1872-'78 (108.520 hhds.) 125,346'493 



Decrease on previous year (19.441 hhds.)... 2,459.303 



Sugar-crop Bold for $10,027,717 



Decrease on previous year $2.459 303 



Molasses (gallons) 8.698,640 



Kice-crop (52,206 bbls.) 12,007,360 



LUSHINGTON, Rt. Hon. STEPHEN, D.C.L., 

 an eminent English jurist, born in London, 

 January 14, 1782; died there, January 21, 

 1873. He was the second son of Sir Stephen 

 Lushington, Bart., and was educated at Eton 

 and Oxford, graduating M. A. from All Souls' 

 College in 1806, B. C. L. in 1807, and D. C. L. 

 in 1808. He was called to the bar at the Inner 

 Temple in 1806, was admitted an advocate at 

 Doctors' Commons in 1808, was appointed 

 Judge of the Consistory Court in 1828, and 

 Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in 1838. 

 He represented 'Winchelsea, Yarmouth, the 

 Tower Hamlets, etc., in Parliament from 1820 

 till his retirement from political life in 1841, 

 in consequence of the passage of the act dis- 

 qualifying the Judge of the Admiralty Court 

 from holding a seat in the House of Commons. 

 He retired from his judgeship on account of 

 ill-health in July, 1867, but retained the clear- 

 ness of his intellect and the full possession of 

 his faculties to the close of his life. His rare 

 ability and sound judgment as a counselor 

 were often tested in the early part of his ca- 

 reer. He was consulted by Lady Byron in 

 1816, in reference to her separation from her 

 husband. After a thorough examination of 

 the case, he emphatically advised the separa- 

 tion ; but, in the fifty-seven years that fol- 

 lowed, he could never be prevailed upon to 

 state what were his reasons for the advice, 

 and the secret, though often agitated, died 

 with him. As a judge, Dr. Lushington's de- 

 cisions were held in high esteem. 



LUTHERANS. Owing to the continuing 

 influx of immigration from Germany and the 

 Scandinavian countries, the Lutheran Church 

 in the United States increases with great ra- 

 pidity. The following table shows the number 

 of congregations and communicants at differ- 

 ent periods : 



The following are the statistics of the differ- 

 ent organizations of the Evangelical Lutheran 

 Church, as given in Kurtz's Lutheran Alma- 

 nac for 1874: 



