LOUISIANA. 



B71 



PariihofOrU*n 1188,414 BO 



Other D4rtabM 107,41*4 44 



ToUl prMnt aMMod value of property 177,97U,W4 00 



Total present MMMd talu or parish of Or- 



Je*M property 11 1,184,0*4 00 



Total proaunt atioMod value of property of 



country parUhoi ......... M,183,984 00 



ToUl amount of taxoa lerled In parish of Or- 



leant 1,388,47900 



ToUl amount of taxo levied In country par- 



l,h.. ..rV. 727,48700 



Percentage of taxation In Orli.ans 08 



Percentage of taxation In country parishes. ... 87 



In addition to the above taxes for State pur- 

 poses, the parish of Orleans was called upon 

 to expend, on account of city government dur- 

 ing 1878, the sura of $2,818,620, of which $1,- 

 067,018 consisted of tax on real and personal 

 estate. The total direct tax burden, city and 

 State taxes, upon property in New Orleans last 

 year was, therefore, $2,889,497. The average 

 rate of taxation for local purposes in the coun- 

 try, as shown by returns to the Auditor, is less 

 than one per cent. The rural parishes, there- 

 fore, bear a total tax for parish and State 

 purposes of about 20 or 21 mills, aggregating 

 $1,388,839. 



The consolidated 7 per cent, bonds were 

 quoted at 60 to 67 in January, but were 20 

 per cent, lower at the end of the year. 



The Democratic State Convention to make 

 nominations assembled in New Orleans on Oc- 

 tober 6th, and was organized by the election of 

 F. B. Peche as chairman. The nominations 

 were as follows : For Governor, Louis A.Wiltz; 

 for Lieutenant-Governor, S. D. McEnery ; for 

 Attorney-General, J. C. Egan ; for Secretary 

 of State, W. S. Strong; for Auditor, Allen 

 Jumel ; for Superintendent of Schools, E. H. 

 Fay. The platform adopted was as follows : 



Resolved^ as heretofore declared, That our designa- 

 tion of Democratic party of Louisiana is significant of 

 the power of the whole body of the people, and is used 

 to express our determination to secure every citizen of 

 the State the equal rights guaranteed to him by the Con- 

 stitution of the United States and its amendments, and 

 the laws made in pursuance thereof, and to promote 

 reform in every department of the State Government. 



Resolved, That the Democratic party of Louisiana has 

 no other object in view than to preserve for the present 

 generation and for posterity the national Government 

 according to the spirit of the framere ; to protect and 

 guard the rights of the States as determined by the 

 Constitution and the decisions of the courts of justice ; 

 to promote and advance popular education, enforce a 

 proper subordination of the military power to civil au- 

 thority, protect the purity of elections, and encourage 

 and develop the material resources of our people. 



Resolved. That the improvement of the Mississippi 

 River, the building of levees on the bank, so as to af- 

 ford ease and safety for commerce, and a channel for 

 navigation, as well as to protect the valley from inun- 

 dation, and the keeping open of the mouth of the river, 

 is a work of national importance, evidently warranted 

 bv a just construction of article I., section 8, of the 

 Constitution of the United States, which confers upon 

 Congress the power to regulate commerce. 



Resolved, That the union and cooperation of all citi. 

 tens of Louisiana is earnestly invited, hi order to se- 

 cure the adoption of the Constitution now offered for 

 their consideration, and to prove by a great and over- 

 whelming popular vote that the people of the State 

 have exercised their rightful power to ordain and es- 

 tablish for themselves an organic instrument of gov- 

 ernment, and to do away with for ever and consign to 



oblivion the Constitution of 1886 as * rclio of wrong 

 and military oppression. 



Rttolced, That the counting of the electoral vote of 

 Louisiana in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes for Presi- 

 dent of the United States, and William A. Wheeler 

 for Vice-President, was notoriously a fraud on popu- 

 lar rights, effected by evil machination* , the plots and 

 conspiracies of the late odious Radical State admin- 

 istration and their aiders and abettors at home and 

 abroad; and that the Democratic party of Louisiana, 

 appealing to the evidence of the ca*e as now published 

 by authority, arraign the authors of this great crime 

 against liberty ana the Constitution for the just con- 

 demnation of their fellow citizens. 



Resolved, That the Democrat* of the Senate and 

 House of Representatives of the Congress of the Uni- 

 ted States are entitled to the grateful acknowledg- 

 ments of the country, for the zeal and fidelity and 

 courage shown by them hi securing the passage of 

 laws by which the interference of the military ut the 

 polls has been prohibited and the trial by jury hi tho 

 Federal courts made impartial. 



Resolved, That the rights, the liberties, the interests 

 and honor of Louisiana demand that her rightfully 

 chosen Senator in Congress, Henry M. Spofford, be at 

 last recognized and duly seated. 



Resolved, That Francis T. Nicholls, now Governor 

 of Louisiana, is entitled to the grateful acknowledg- 

 ments of his fellow citizens for his patriotism and pub- 

 lic services, his devotion to Louisiana, and his success 

 in effecting tho redemption of her liberties. 



The Republican State Convention assembled 

 in New Orleans on October 21st, and nomina- 

 ted for Governor, Taylor Beattie ; for Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, James M. Gillespie ; for Attor- 

 ney-General, Don A. Pardee ; for Auditor, 

 Clodius Mayo ; for Secretary of State, James 

 D. Kennedy (colored) ; for Superintendent of 

 Schools, M. F. Bonzeno. The following is a 

 synopsis of the resolutions: 



First We hold that our government is national in 

 its character and composed of States free in their sepa- 

 rate spheres, but subordinate to the national Govern- 

 ment. Second It is the privilege, right, and dutv of 

 tho national Government to guarantee a free repumi- 

 can form of government to each State. Third No 

 government of, for, and by the people can exist when 

 the ballot is not free, nor when the result of the ballot 

 is changed by fraudulent and corrupt returns. Fourth 

 We mvor a protective tariff. Fifth That it is tho 

 duty of tho national Government to improve the riv- 

 ers and harbors of the nation, especially the Missis- 

 sippi River and its tributaries. Sixth 1 avors nation- 

 al aid for the southern route to the Pacific coast, and 

 advocates striking from all treaties of clauses therein 

 which place one and all upon the basis of the most fa- 

 vored. Eighth Favors the encouragement of Ameri- 

 can shipping by subsidies. Ninth -Holds it to be the 

 duty of the national Government to secure by all means 

 the construction of a canal or other system of trans- 

 portation across the isthmus of Darien, and insist that 

 no non- American nation or native shall have n pre- 

 dominating influence in the management thereof. 

 Tenth Asserts that the honor of the State and its 

 citizens as well as their national interests arc pledged 

 to an attempt in good faith to pay the State debt repre- 

 sented by consolidated bonds issued under the consti- 

 tutional amendments approved and ratified by tho peo- 

 ple in 1 87-1, that ordinance constituting a valid contract 

 which is guaranteed by the State. Eleventh That if 

 misfortune should prevent a full compliance with the 

 letter and spirit of our bonds, their settlement should 

 be sought after consultation with our creditors as our 

 equal, which shall at the same time be just to them 

 and commensurate with our resources. Twelfth 

 Avers that good faith with the creditors demands 

 that the vote of the party should as a unit be cast 

 against the State debt ordinance of the proposed Con- 



