LOUISIANA. 



455 



29,593 colored pupils; average daily attend- 

 ance, 40,828; average length of schools 4*17 

 months. Reports from 55 parishes excluding 

 Orleans, show a balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1881, 

 of $62,283.63; receipts during the following 

 year, $286,767.65, including $98,236.64 from 

 current school fund, $60,603.71 from poll-tax, 

 $38,780.78 from parish tax, and $18,620.44 

 from interest on 16 sections ; expenditures, 

 $222,545.98, including $189,700.36 for teach- 

 ers' wages; balance, Dec. 31, 1882, $64,221.67. 

 In 50 parishes, the balance, Dec. 81, 1882, was 

 $53,199.77; receipts, $249,041.69; disburse- 

 ments, $178,691.89; balance, Dec. 31, 1883, 

 $70,079.80. 



New Basin Canal and Shell Road. From March 

 5, 1881, to Feb. 29, 1884, the departures of ves- 

 sels of all classes through the New Basin Canal 

 numbered 10,250, the tonnage of which amount- 

 ed to 262,827 tons. The receipts of cash for 

 the same period amounted to $55,852 ; of which 

 $25,294 was for tonnage, $19,024 for towage, 

 $5,309 from bridge toll-gate, $169 from city 

 toll-gate, $4,507 from logs, $1,161 from rents, 

 $4,385 from the outer bridge. The fact that 

 nearly 300 vessels arrive by this canal each 

 month, indicates its value to the commerce of 

 Louisiana ; but no improvement can be made 

 otherwise than from receipts for toll on ton- 

 nage, which is limited by the Constitution to' 

 ten cents a ton. 



Charity Hospital. During 1883 a building 

 and sewerage fund of $32,000 was secured 

 from voluntary donations. This, with $25,000 

 of the general fund, was more than enough to 

 pay for improvements. The extension will 

 accommodate about 130 women and children, 

 forming a needed special department for sick 

 children. The admissions in 1883 were 8, 152, 

 being 1,731 more than those of 1882. The 

 number of visiting patients also increased from 

 6,000 in 1882 to 8,769 in 1883. At the close 

 of 1883 there were 620 patients in the hospi- 

 tal. The hospital gave relief during the year 

 to 16,921 sick. The institution is out of debt. 

 The Sisters of Charity still contribute their 

 gratuitous services. 



Deaf-Mntes and Blind. The building now oc- 

 cupied by the Louisiana State University and 

 Agricultural and Mechanical College was for- 

 merly the Deaf and Dumb and Blind Institute. 

 Since these people were dispossessed of that 

 building, they have been cared for but inade- 

 quately. It will be necessary to provide addi- 

 tional buildings, as the present ones are totally 

 unfit for the accommodation of any increased 

 number of students. 



The Penitentiary. The convicts are cared for 

 by a lessee, who, during this administration, 

 the Governor says, has provided liberally for 

 them in food, clothing, and medical attention. 

 It will require a large outlay in cash to make 

 the Penitentiary an industrial institution, in 

 the purchase of machinery and materials. Be- 

 sides, objection will be raised to this system 

 by a large class of citizens, who will complain 



that their skilled labor is brought into compe- 

 tition .with convict labor. It is a popular de- 

 mand in the alluvial portions of the State to 

 confine the convicts to levee work, under the 

 immediate authority of the State. 



Political. The Republican State Convention 

 was held in New Orleans on the 5th and 6th 

 of March. Delegates to the National Conven- 

 tion of the party were chosen, and the follow- 

 ing State ticket was nominated : 



Governor, John A. Stevenson ; Lieutenant - Gov- 

 ernor, W. M. Burwell ; Attorney-General, John H. 

 Stone ; Secretary of State, F. W. Logins ; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Education,, B. F. Flanders; Treas- 

 urer, A. Duperrier; Auditor, Claudius Mayo. 



For Attorney-General, Alfred Shaw was af- 

 terward substituted ; and for Treasurer, M. F. 

 Bonzano. Mr. Stevenson died on his sugar- 

 plantation, on the 27th of June. He was born 

 in Kentucky in 1818, and went to New Or- 

 leans in 1830, where he was afterward promi- 

 nent as a business-man. He opposed secession, 

 but went with the State, and was made a cap- 

 tain in the Confederate provisional navy. He 

 was a member of the State Constitutional Con- 

 vention of 1879. At the election on the 22d of 

 April, the Democratic candidates were chosen, 

 to wit : Governor, Samuel D. McEnery ; Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, Charles Knobloch ; Secretary 

 of State, Oscar Arroyo ; Attorney-General, 

 M. J. Cunningham; Auditor, O. B. Steele; 

 Treasurer, E. A.' Burke; Superintendent of 

 Public Education, Warren Easton. The vote 

 for Governor was declared as follows : Demo- 

 cratic, 88,794; Republican, 43,623; Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, Democratic, 92,623 ; Republi- 

 can, 41,537. Constitutional amendments relat- 

 ing to the judiciary were ratified, as was also 

 (5 1,784 against 44,539) one fixing the interest 

 on State bonds at 2 per cent, for five years, 

 from Jan. 1, 1880, and 4 per cent, thereafter, 

 and authorizing a State tax of three mills for 

 that purpose, and limiting the State tax to six 

 mills for all purposes. The Legislature, con- 

 sisting of 31 Democrats and 5 Republicans 

 in the Senate, and 83 Democrats and 15 Re- 

 publicans in the House, convened on the 12th 

 of May, and adjourned on the 10th of July. 

 On the 20th of May, James B. Eustis, Demo- 

 crat, was chosen United States Senator. At 

 the election on the 4th of November, the fol- 

 lowing vote was returned : Republican presi- 

 dential electors, 46,347; Democratic, 62,540; 

 scattering, 458. One Republican (Second Dis- 

 trict) and five Democratic Congressmen were 

 declared elected. The Republican electoral 

 and congressional tickets received much sup- 

 port from the sugar and rice planters, who 

 are interested in a protective tariff, and from 

 other independent citizens, who, however, had 

 little confidence in the party management in 

 the State. Conventions held in New Orleans 

 on the 30th of August expressed their views 

 and organized the movement. A convention 

 of colored men had been held in the same city 

 on the 21st of January, to protest against the 



