

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (LOUISIANA.) 



735 



same period were $1,055,717.04, an excess of ex- 

 penditures over receipts of $126,686.22. This was 

 promptly met by the balances to the credit of that 

 fund, amounting to $214,433.80. 



In 1901 the receipts of the general fund were 

 $1,015,499, while the expenses were $878,964.37, 

 showing an excess of $136,534.63. 



Since the organization of the Pension Board in 

 1898 there have been 1,871 beneficiaries, and $175,- 

 000 has been paid out. 



The total of State assessments for 1902 was 

 $315,583,468. For 1901 it was $301,215,222. The 

 official schedule of appraisement of railroads, tele- 

 graph, telephone, express companies, etc., in the 

 State, shows a net increased assessment of approx- 

 imately $2,000,000. This increase is almost wholly 

 made up of new lines and actual increased values. 



Education.- The number of illiterates in the 

 State ten years of age and over was 381,145 in 

 1900. Of these, 284,028 were negroes and 566 In- 

 dians and Chinese. In the percentage of persons 

 from ten to fourteen who were able to read and 

 write, Louisiana stood at the foot of the list of the 

 States, with 67.12 per cent. It is pointed out that 

 there are three facts which explain the proportion 

 of illiteracy in the State: First, the large negro 

 population, densely ignorant; second, the fact 

 that in the southern part of the State a majority 

 of the population speaks a foreign language, and 

 is therefore difficult to reach through the pub- 

 lie schools; third, the large proportion of children 

 compared with adults and wage-earners. 



In 1901 the total enumeration of school-children 

 in the State was 404,757, and the enrolment in 

 the schools 198,896. The receipts for 1901, inclu- 

 ding balance on hand, amounted to $1,396,892, and 

 expenditures $1,236,647.57. For 1902 it was esti- 

 mated that the apportionment of 1| mill for 

 the schools would yield $475,000, to which are to 

 be added the interest on sixteenth sections, 

 amounting to $62,836, which, with the proceeds 

 from the poll-tax and the local taxes for schools, 

 aggregate about $1,500,000. This sum when pro- 

 rated among the 404,727 children of educable age, 

 gives a per capita of $3.70. Prorated among the 

 198,896 children enrolled in the public schools, the 

 per capita would be $7.40. 



The number of pupils in Catholic schools is 

 given as 23,398. 



The Peabody Normal School, at Alexandria, re- 

 ported 445 pupils in June, 1901. 



The roll of the State University shows 420 stu- 

 dents in 1901-'02, against 179 in 1891-'92, with a 

 graduating class of 34, against 8 ten years before. 



The State Normal School at Natchitoches, the 

 State industrial schools at Huston and at Lafay- 

 ette, the Louisiana State University and Agricul- 

 tural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge, the 

 Southern University at New Orleans, the Institute 

 for the Deaf-Mutes and for the Blind at Baton 

 Rouge, are maintained by the State, save the State 

 University, at Baton Rouge, which is maintained 

 by the State and the United States jointly. Tu- 

 lane University, at New Orleans, is liberally aided 

 by the State by means of the exemption of its 

 rent-bearing property from taxation. The Legis- 

 lature of 1902 appropriated the sum of $176,900 for 

 new buildings, repairs, additions, equipments, etc., 

 for the Institute for the Blind, the State Normal 

 School, the industrial schools at Ruston and La- 

 fayette, and the State University, at Baton Rouge. 



Convicts.- The average distribution of the 



anvicts in 1901 was: Within walls, 105; at An- 



ola, 455; at Hope, 184; at levee camps, 320; 



Jtal, 1,064. Of the 1,142 at the end of the period 



158 were white males, 1 a white female, 944 col- 



ed males, and 39 colored females. Only 418 



could read and write. The life convicts numbered 

 240 and those sentenced for ten to twenty years 

 150. By April, 1902, the number was further in- 

 creased to 1,210 and by August to 1,270. The 

 gross product of the work of convicts in 1901, on 

 farms, levees, and work within the walls, was 

 $238,138.20. The net cost of maintenance of pris- 

 oners and farms was $191,354.84. 



The Insane. The number admitted to the 

 State Asylum in 1900-'01 was 486; those dis- 

 charged as cured, 202 ; number of deaths, 170. In 

 1902 there were 1,284. The cost of maintenance 

 is estimated at about $2 a week. 



Building Associations. The number of these 

 this year was 32; the membership, 20,885; the 

 assets, $5,943,208. 



Railroads. In 1901 the new railway-track 

 built amounted to 160 miles; in 1902 to 236. The 

 total mileage in 1901 was 2,662; in 1902 it was 

 2,898. The East Louisiana and the Louisiana 

 Southern were established in 1902. 



Industries and Products. Oil has been found 

 in quantities at Jennings, in Calcasieu Parish, and 

 also at Welsh, in the same parish, and a good flow 

 has been secured near Breaux Bridge, in the par- 

 ish of St. Martin, or at a point more than 100 

 miles east of the Beaumont oil-field, and conse- 

 quently not much more than 100 miles from New 

 Orleans. 



In a report on the Texas-Louisiana oil-field by 

 the United States Geological Survey it is said 

 that the apparent consensus of opinion among 

 chemists who have examined the field is that the 

 Gulf coast petroleum is unsuited for the produc- 

 tion of illuminating oil, and it is doubtful if it 

 can be made to yield a good lubricating oil on a 

 commercial basis. Its value as a source of asphalt 

 and a gas oil are, as yet, undetermined. The ex- 

 periments seem to establish both its availability 

 and its economy as a generator of steam. 



The cotton-crop of the State in 1901-'02 was 

 given in September as 880,000 bales. There were 

 5 cotton-mills, with 1,609 looms and 66,552 spin- 

 dles, consuming 18,017 bales. 



At a meeting of citizens interested in the produc- 

 tion of sugar, at New Orleans, in January, a pro- 

 test was adopted against the proposal to remit the 

 duties on sugar brought in from Cuba. 



The rice-crop of Louisiana and Texas, in 1901, 

 was estimated at 3,250,000 bags, of which Louis- 

 iana probably produced 2,750,000 bags. The esti- 

 mated production of the two States, 1902, was 

 3,100,194 bags. 



The census bulletin gives the number of farms 

 in 1900 as 115,969; in 1890 it was 69,294. The 

 value of farm property was $198,536,906 in 1900 

 and $110,447,005 in 1890. Of the owners of farms 

 in the census year 36,255 were white and 8.460 

 were colored. Of the tenants, 18,531 were whites 

 and 48,703 were colored. In 1900, 21.2 per cent, 

 of the total acreage was operated by colored farm- 

 ers, while less than 10 per cent, was actually 

 owned by them. The average of corn to the acre 

 in 1902, by the preliminary estimate, was 12.5; 

 the average for ten years, 16.4. 

 . The growth in the value of mill-products was 

 from $57,806,713 in 1890 to $121,181,683 in 1900. 



The leading industry of Louisiana is the man- 

 ufacture and refining of sugar and molasses. The 

 384 establishments reported in 1900 gave employ- 

 ment to 6,504 wage-earners, or 15.4 per cent, of 

 the wage-earners employed in the State, and the 

 products were valued at $47,891,691, or 39.5 per 

 cent, of the total value of the products of the 

 State. 



The manufacture of lumber and timber products 

 ranks second in importance, with 432 establish- 



