LOUISIANA. 



461 



1875, and that they took no evidence in regard to the 

 election of 1872. 



4. That on its face the Wheeler adjustment ex- 

 pressly withholds any approval of the Kellogg gov- 

 ernment, and it does not and cannot bind the people's 

 lawfully-elected, but excluded, Governor, officers, 

 and Senators, nor the people themselves, who were 

 not parties to the Wheeler resolution, nor prevent 

 their appeal to the General Government for the 

 guarantee of a republican form of government. 



The following declaration is then made : 



And now, speaking for themselves, the people of 

 the State of Louisiana do solemnly affirm that they 

 have not acquiesced, and never will acquiesce, in the 

 Kellogg usurpation ; that it is as repugnant to their 

 wishes, and interests, and sense of justice, as it was 

 on the day of its lawless establishment over them by 

 force ; that they recognize as the only government 

 elected by the people of the State, as the only gov- 

 ernment entitled to their support, respect, or confi- 

 dence, that of which John McEnery and D. B. Penn 

 are the official heads ; and they affirm that they have 

 been patient and silent since tne adjournment of the 

 last Congress, in the hope and belief that the present 

 Congress would listen to their grievances and grant 

 the proper relief. 



This is not only their right, but, under the positive 

 direction of the Constitution, it is the duty of the 

 General Government to guarantee to Louisiana, as a 

 State in the Union, the government of its choice, 

 and thereby a republican form of government. 



And the people of Louisiana do solemnly swear 

 that they will not abandon their struggle for the 

 right of s'elf-government. In urging this right they 

 feel that they discharge a duty not only to their own 

 self-respect, to themselves, and to their children, 

 but also a duty to the Constitution, to the Union, and 

 to every State of the Union, whose rights and liber- 

 ties have been overthrown, violated, and trampled 

 upon, by and through the outrages heaped upon the 

 State of Louisiana. 



The memorial closes with this appeal : 

 To you, the President and Eepresentatives of the 

 States and of the people of the Union, we, the people 

 of the State of Louisiana, do present our grievances, 

 and ask you in the name of pur common country, 

 in the name of our common civilization, in the name 

 of the sacred memories that cluster around this cen- 

 tennial year, in the name of liberty and of justice 

 that you blot from our national history this shameful 

 record of usurpation and of crime committed against 

 our State, and permit it no longer to remain a pre- 

 cedent for the overthrow of other States. 



from the grasp of the lawless usurpation, but that, 

 as a people, we may present to the nations of the 

 earth the spectacle of a republic^ perfect, not only in 

 form, but breathing the spirit of democratic govern- 

 ment through all of its members. 



The convention chose four delegates at large 

 to the National Democratic Convention, and 

 authorized the congressional delegates to select 

 their candidates, the choice being ratified in 

 advance by the convention. 



At the beginning of the year 1873, the 

 bonded and floating debt of Louisiana amounted 

 to $24,093,407.90, and contingent liabilities 

 had been incurred to the amount of $21,090,500. 

 The latter consisted chiefly of bonds authorized 

 in aid of public works and improvements. The 

 bonds were never issued, and the constitutional 

 amendments and funding act of 1874 swept 

 away this whole mass of contingent liabilities, 

 and prohibited their revival "in any form or 



under any pretext." At the beginning of 1874 

 there was a total bonded debt of $22,430,800, 

 and a floating debt of $1,790,753.30. On the 

 1st of January, 1875, the bonded debt amounted 

 to $21,978,954.96, and the floating debt was 

 $1,357,705.86, making a total of $23,336,660.82. 

 During the year $9,804,400 of the old bonds 

 were funded, and $5,882,640 of new consoli- 

 dated bonds issued ; $582,477.75 of old war- 

 rants were funded in $349,486.65 of new bonds, 

 and $104,400.53 of past-due coupons were 

 funded in $65,762.31 of new bonds. This made 

 the total bonded debt January 1. 1876, $18,- 

 472,443.92. There was also a floating debt of 

 $592,201.33, consisting of warrants and cer- 

 tificates of indebtedness, issued prior to 1875. 

 Thus the total indebtedness of the State at the 

 beginning of 1876 was $19,061,645.25. The 

 expenditures of the year, up to December 20tb, 

 were $2,955,645.03. The validity of several 

 series of the State bonds was called in question 

 by the supplemental funding act passed at the 

 extra session of the Legislature, and it was pro- 

 vided that these bonds should not be funded 

 until their validity was affirmed by the Supreme 

 Court. In some cases this has been done, and 

 others are still pending. After all old bonds 

 and outstanding warrants have been funded, 

 the consolidated debt of the State will not ex- 

 ceed $14,015,182.51, and its increase is pro- 

 hibited by the amendments of the constitution. 



The finances of the city of New Orleans are 

 in a very unsatisfactory condition. For several 

 years the annual expenses have exceeded the 

 income, and a debt of $23,288,900.80 has been 

 accumulated. Delinquent taxes are due to the 

 amount of $2,352,175.66 levied during the past 

 six years. The estimated revenues of the city 

 for the current year amount to $2,349,182.72, 

 and the expenses to be provided for are such 

 as to leave a deficiency of $1,398,770 for 1876 

 alone, while including that of 1875 would raise 

 it to $2,693,777. The taxable value of real 

 and personal property in the city is $124,582,- 

 002. The State valuation of property in the 

 city is $135,000,000. The State tax is fourteen 

 and a half mills to the dollar, or nearly one and 

 a half per cent., and the city tax is nearly twice 

 as much. 



Judge Durell, of the United States District 

 Court for the District of Louisiana, having re- 

 signed during the session of Congress, the Presi- 

 dent appointed Don A. Pardie as his successor, 

 but the Senate after considerable discussion 

 refused to confirm, the appointment. No one 

 else was named, and the position was vacant 

 throughout the rest of the year. 



Mr. P. B. S. Pinchback, who was elected to 

 the United States Senate, by the body known 

 as the Kellogg Legislature, in 1873, and again 

 by the "Hahn Legislature," at the "regular 

 session" of 1875, has not yet (February 1, 

 1876) been admitted to a seat. Mr. W. L. 

 McMillen, who had been chosen by the "Mc- 

 Enery Legislature," in 1873, and Lad claimed 

 the seat, withdrew his credentials at the be- 



