510 



LOUISIANA. 



in which they were due, making it impossible 

 to collect them. 



The appropriation bills for 1886 aggregated 

 $3,433,640. The following is a memorandum 

 of finances to July 1, 1888: 



Revenues, two years, on assessments, $215,000,000. 

 less 12$ per cent, on $188,1*5,000, at 12 mills. . . . $2.037.500 



Estimated licenses, two years 750, OoO 



Special fund Charity Hospital, two years 112.000 



Eents of Penitentiary and St. Louis Hotel 58,000 



One half back taxes, licenses, etc., for 1886, esti- 

 mated on 1885 report 41,000 



One half back interests on taxes, 1886, estimated 



on 1885 report 5,000 



Cash balance May 1, 1886, with Treas- 

 urer $350,000 



Less appropriated for General Assem- 

 bly, 1886 75,000 



275,000 



General appropriations bill, as reported 

 from the House $3,433.640 



Strike out school surplus of appropria- 

 tion 1 00,000 



$3,278,500 



3,338,640 



Deficit on the face for 18S7-''8S $60, 140 



Estimated sales of sw'mp land8,1837-'88 $12,000 

 Estimated redemption of property sales 1,000 



18,000 



Deficit $47,140 



Levees. The levee-work undertaken and 

 finished since the last session (1884) and the 

 report of the State engineer, amounts to 57 

 miles of new levees and the raising and en- 

 largement of 16 miles of old levees. The 

 earthwork constructed amounts to 2,545,818 

 cubic yards, at a cost of $504,405.59. 



Special taxes have been voted by some of 

 the Mississippi river parishes for the repair 

 and preservation of levees, and above the 

 mouth of Eed river large and important 

 levees have been constructed. Individuals 

 have aided with private subscriptions, and the 

 railroads have also assisted. By these efforts 

 of parishes, citizens, and railroad corporations, 

 140 miles of levees, which were below the 

 level of extreme floods, have been strengthened 

 and raised from one to three feet above the 

 highest water-mark. 



The Opossum Fork levee was completed in 

 March, 1886. This important work extends 

 from the highlands on Amos Bayou to Arkan- 

 sas City, 16 miles in length, located in Desha 

 County, Arkansas. It closes numerous cre- 

 vasses and large outlets from the Arkansas 

 and Mississippi, and diverts from the Tensas 

 Basin Levee District a considerable part of the 

 overflow, which formerly spread over the allu- 

 vial lands of the district. It was constructed 

 by the joint efforts of the State of Louisiana, 

 the Mississippi River Commission, the Tensas 

 Basin Levee District, and subscribers inter- 

 ested in lands in Arkansas protected by the 

 levee. 



The Governor considers that the levees are 

 undoubtedly higher, stronger, and better than 

 they have been at any time within the past 

 twenty-five years. 



The State University. During the past two 

 years this institution has greatly improved. A 



chair of Agriculture has been added to the 

 faculty, with an experiment station attached. 

 The finances are in a healthy condition. The 

 number of matriculates in 1885-'86 was 96. 

 This small number, as compared with the 

 number the previous year, 182, is due to the 

 closing of the preparatory department, to 

 raising the age and qualifications for admis- 

 sion, and also to raising the fees and requiring 

 semi-annual instead of quarterly payments 

 made in advance. Notwithstanding all this, 

 the number of college students proper is about 

 the same as in 1884-'85, while of higher grade. 



Deaf and Dumb Institute. The affairs of this 

 institution have been well managed. The ap- 

 propriation for building and repairing has been 

 used economically. The main building has 

 been repaired and improved in ventilation and 

 sewerage, and a new building has been erected. 

 The faculty is ample for instruction in oral 

 and sign exercises, and in lip-reading and ar- 

 ticulation. The average attendance is 40. 



Institute for the Blind. The report from this 

 institution is very encouraging. The health of 

 the pupils has been good, and this is attribu- 

 table in a great degree to the calisthenic ex- 

 ercises inaugurated by the Board of Trustees. 

 There are 32 inmates, and the cost of main- 

 taining them for the past two years has been 

 $19,165.37.' 



The Southern University. This institution was 

 established by Article 231 of the Constitution, 

 for the purpose of affording opportunity for 

 higher education to the colored race. It has 

 had an annual appropriation of $10,000, and 

 the Board of Trustees has faithfully and intel- 

 ligently administered this fund for the pur- 

 poses for which it was destined. The univer- 

 sity has made rapid and gratifying progress, 

 both in the attendance and the advancement of 

 the students. The faculty is composed of white 

 and colored teachers. The number of matricu- 

 lates has induced the board to provide addi- 

 tional accommodations. They are now erecting 

 on a large square of ground a large building, 

 with all necessary appliances. This board is 

 composed of representatives of both races, 

 who have manifested an earnest desire to 

 make this institution a credit to the State. 



The Charity Hospital. "The management of 

 this institution," says the Governor, u by the 

 present Board of Administrators has been 

 an important one in its history. The hospital 

 had a deservedly high reputation before the 

 present board took charge of its management, 

 and the highest praise to be said of the admin- 

 istrators is that they have inaugurated such 

 reforms and made such improvements that it 

 is scarcely recognizable as the same institu- 

 tion, except by its outward appearance. The 

 improvements have all been paid for." In 

 1885 there were admitted for treatment 6,143 

 patients and 5,212 discharged, leaving 556 

 convalescent inmates on the 31st of Decem- 

 ber, 1885. There were 1,005 deaths, the death- 

 rate being 14 per cent. There were 13,585 



