LOUISIANA. 



445 



failed to give its full vote to that party, came 

 near making a very serious break in the political 

 relations of those interested. They regarded the 

 bounty on sugar as one of the terms of a contract 

 entered into by the Government with them, to run 

 for fifteen years, on the faith of which they had 

 improved the plants for extracting sugar from 

 the cane, spending large sums for machinery, 

 which otherwise would not have been justified 

 by the value of the product. 



' The sugar planters held a convention in May, 

 and sent a copy of the resolutions adopted to 

 the Senators and Representatives in Congress, 

 with a memorial, in which they set forth the 

 arguments in favor of the continuance of pro- 

 tection to the sugar interest. Following is an 

 extract : 



If this governmental policy be now suddenly re- 

 versed and the sugar planters of Louisiana be aban- 

 doned to hopeless competition with the superior natu- 

 ral advantages of tropical countries and with the 

 government-aided sugar industry of European coun- 

 tries, the sugar industry of Louisiana will be instantly 

 annihilated, all these extensive improvements will 

 become mere useless incumbrances on the soil and 

 utterly valueless, our plantations will pass under the 

 sheriffs hammer in foreclosure of mortgages which 

 they will not satisfy, half the people of the State will 

 be thrown helpless on tbe world without employ- 

 ment, and Louisiana will present a picture of deso- 

 lation comparable only to the Palatinate after its dev- 

 astation by the armies of its invaders. 



Another convention of sugar planters was held 

 Sept. 17, in which they came out openly for the 

 Republican party. The resolutions, which were 

 adopted withouta dissenting voice, after reciting 

 the injury that would result from the discon- 

 tinuance of the bounty, continued : 



We enter our solemn protest against the continu- 

 ance of the treaty with Hawaii by which, under the 

 recently enacted tariff, the producers of sugar of those 

 islands', with the coolie labor, will receive a bounty 

 from the sugar consumers of the United States of over 

 $6,000,000 per annum. 



We earnestly recommend and urge the people of 

 Louisiana to organize themselves into clubs, commit- 

 tees, and conventions with the view of electing mem- 

 bers from eac,h district to the Congress of the United 

 States pledged to stand by tbe national Republican 

 party in tbe organization of the House or Kepre- 

 sentatives and the protection of American industries. 



We hereby declare the causes which lead to the in- 

 auguration of this movement are of a financial and 

 industrial nature, and that the character and stand- 

 ing of its leaders are a sufficient guarantee that they 

 will ever advocate good government to tbe whole 

 people of this State. We therefore demand a fair 

 election and an honest count and return of the votes 

 as east, and we expect at the bands of the chief ex- 

 ecutive of this State to see to it that we have a fair 

 representation on all boards of registration and elec- 

 tion. 



The president of this convention shall appoint a 

 State committee of thirty-five members, who shall 

 have the full power of this convention and be known 

 as the State committee of the national Republican 

 party. 



Candidates were put in the field, but at the 

 election in November the Democratic candidates 

 were declared elected in all the districts, though 

 it was charged by the Republicans that the elec- 

 tions in the First, Second, and Third Districts 

 were carried by intimidation, fraud, and vio- 

 lence. 



The first attempt to test the bounty question 

 in the courts was made in September "by an ap- 

 plication of the Miles Planting Company of 

 Louisiana to the Supreme Court of the District 

 of Columbia for a mandamus to compel Secre- 

 tary Carlisle to direct the Commissioner of In- 

 ternal Revenue to appoint the necessary inspec- 

 tors at the sugar houses of the company to in- 

 spect the sugar manufactured under licenses 

 issued by the United States. The petition to 

 the court declares that inspectors have been re- 

 fused by the Treasury Department on the ground 

 that the passage of the tariff law stopped all 

 further payment of bounty, which the petitioners 

 deny. The judge of the court at once issued an 

 order directing Secretary Carlisle to show cause 

 on Oct. 4 why the demand of the petitioners 

 should not be" granted. The court refused the 

 mandamus, Oct. 12, and the counsel for the com- 

 pany gave notice that he would move for an ap- 

 peal to the appellate court of the district. 



The grounds on which the adverse decision 

 rested were : First, that the act conferring 

 bounty had been repealed ; second, that if that 

 act were regarded as a contract, still " no pro- 

 vision of the Constitution prohibits Congress 

 from interfering with the validity of contracts 

 as it does the States " ; third, that even if there 

 were any doubt of the repeal of the provision, 

 the writ should be denied, because the duty re- 

 quired of the Secretary and commissioner is not 

 ministerial, but executive, being a procedure in- 

 volving discretion and judgment in expounding 

 the revenue laws. 



The case came before the Court of Appeals in 

 November, and the court decided, in January, 

 1895, against the sugar planters, holding that 

 the bounty was unconstitutional. 



The State Board of Agriculture undertook the 

 supervision of the crop, on the application of the 

 planters, in order that an official record might 

 be kept and certificates obtained by the planters 

 in case the bounty should be paid on the crop 

 for this year. 



A meeting was held in New Orleans, Nov. 27, 

 for the purpose of taking measures for securing 

 the bounty on this crop, and a memorial to Con- 

 gress was adopted setting forth that everything 

 needed for the production of the crop, except har- 

 vesting, was done before the repeal of the law ; that 

 while the bill was pending the planters, who had 

 been withholding contracts for sugar-house ma- 

 chinery, being assured that the bounties for 1894 

 would be paid, entered into engagements with 

 bankers and merchants to borrow money to im- 

 prove their machinery in view of the necessity 

 for reduced cost in manufacturing sugar ; that 

 in the early part of 1894 the iron industries con- 

 nected with sugar were everywhere idle, and not 

 until assurance had been given that the bounty 

 would be paid was there any change. After the 

 action of the Senate caucus the sugar-house work 

 required of the various foundries was more than 

 they could handle, and to-day the contracts en- 

 gaged to be paid out of the crop will bankrupt 

 the sugar producer and still leave such amounts 

 unpaid as will swamp the furnishers of supplies 

 and machinery; that the whole costs incurred 

 in producing the cane crop and converting it 

 into sugar will reach $28,000.000, while not 

 more than $20,000,000 will be realized from it ; 



