496 



LOUISIANA. 



sentiments expressed by the Governor in reference to 

 the Mississippi Eiver Commission. The committee 

 heartily recommends the suggestion of the Governor 

 in reference to the appointment of an executive com- 

 mittee of ten so organized as to be readily assembled, 

 the duty of the committee to be to act in concert with 

 other bodies of a like character and to be ready with 

 all necessary information to go before Congress at its 

 next and ensuing sessions in behalf of the interests of 

 the people of this State. 



Among the resolutions were the following : 



That we earnestly appeal to his Excellency the Gov- 

 ernor of Louisiana to immediately adopt such means 

 and measures^as may be necessary to place the entire 

 convict force at work on the levees of the State. 



That the chairman of this convention appoint a 

 committee of ten delegates to confer with tiie repre- 

 sentatives of the Mississippi Valley, Texas and Pacific 

 and Morgan railroads, to receive any proposition tend- 

 ing toward their assisting in the matter of keeping 

 a general system of levees in conjunction with the 

 State. 



That concerning the Red and Atchafalaya rivers, 

 we deem inexpedient and hurtful to the commercial 

 interests of the people of the Red river country and 

 those of the tributaries, any attempt to divert the 

 course of that river away from the Mississippi, and 

 that the waters of the Red should be deflected from 

 the Atchafalaya. 



Democratic Convention. When the question of 

 candidates to be voted for at the election in 

 April, 1884, came to be discussed, much oppo- 

 sition to the renomination of Gov. McEnery, 

 led by the New Orleans "Picayune," mani- 

 fested itself within the Democratic ranks. The 

 primaries were attended with much excite- 

 ment, and in some instances with violence. 

 The convention met in Baton Rouge on the 

 18th of December; a prolonged struggle over 

 contested seats ensued, and an adjournment 

 was not reached till midnight of the 20th. 

 Gov. McEnery was renominated by a vote of 

 220, to 178f for Francis T. Nicholls. An 

 attempt to make the nomination unanimous 

 failed. The ticket was completed as fol- 

 lows: 



Lieutenant-Governor, Clay Knobloch, of Lafourche ; 

 Treasurer, E. A. Burke, of Orleans ; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, M. J. Cunningham, of Natchitoches ; Secretary 

 of State. Oscar Arroyo, of Plaquemines ; Auditor. 0. 

 B. Steele, of Union ; Superintendent of Education, 

 Warren Easton, of Orleans. 



" With the exception of the gentleman nomi- 

 nated for the attorney-generalship," says the 

 " Picayune," " all the nominees are of the Mc- 

 Enery faction, and the ticket as a whole gives 

 no promise of that reform in the management 

 of the party and the administration of the State 

 of which both are so much in need." 



Among the resolutions adopted by the con- 

 vention were the following : 



That we declare our hostility to the entire principle 

 of lottery dealings. The Constitution declares gam- 

 bling to be a vice, yet it encourages that vice in its 

 worst form, not only inciting to breaches of faith and 

 embezzlement in the effort to get rich on the turn of 

 the wheelj but demoralizing society, corrupting poli- 

 tics, and impeding legislation ; and we demand that 

 the Legislature to be chosen at the ensuing election 

 shall enact such legal measures as are necessary for 

 their suppression. 



That the convict-labor of the State should be ap- 

 propriated and assigned to labor on the public levees, 

 under the direction and control of the State authori- 

 ties, by such legislation as may be necessary. 



Sngar and Rice. The year 1882-'83 witnessed 

 the heaviest production of sugar ever made in 

 Louisiana since the war. 



There were 120,555 acres of cane crushed, 

 or 25,523 acres more than the previous year, 

 and the average yield per acre was 2,782 pounds 

 where the vacuum-pan was used, or 2,368 

 pounds where open kettles or the ordinary 

 steam-train were used. The first arrival of su- 

 gar comprised 20 barrels white clarified from 

 the Forlorn Hope Plantation, parish of Iber- 

 ville, and came in October 7th. 



The crop amounted to 303,066,258 pounds of 

 sugar, equivalent to 241,220 hogsheads. The 

 production of open-kettle or old-process sugars 

 amounted to 184,860,390 pounds, or 150,292 

 hogsheads. The production of clarified or cen- 

 trifugal sugars amounted to 118,205,868 pounds, 

 or 90,927 hogsheads. 



The total product of molasses for the sea- 

 son amounted to 15,716,755 gallons, of which 

 4,255,411 gallons represented centrifugals and 

 11,461,344 gallons were open-kettle or old-pro- 

 cess molasses. During the year 1881-'82 the 

 production amounted to 9,691.104 gallons, of 

 which 2,926,186 gallons were centrifugals and 

 6,764,918 gallons were open-kettle molasses. 



The production of rice in Louisiana for the 

 season of 1882 amounted to 187,217 barrels of 

 clean rice. The crop the previous year amount- 

 ed to 55,422,180 pounds, or 240,966 barrels of 

 clean rice. The 'crop for the season of 1880 

 amounted to 61,331,340 pounds, or 266,658 bar- 

 rels of clean rice. 



New Orleans. The domestic exports from the 

 port of New Orleans to foreign countries dur- 

 ing the fiscal year (Sept. 1st to Aug. 31st) 

 1882-'83, compared with former years, were: 



Total exports, 1 882-'S3 ... ... $95.230,968 



1881- 1 82 68,190.431 



1880-'S1 104,150.450 



1879-'80 93,385,880 



1878-'79 63,624,797 



1877-'78 . 84,831.724 



1876-'77 70,197,732 



1875-'76.... 83,894,190 



" 1S74- 1 75 71,462,267 



Of the exports in 1882-'83, $79,665,176 rep- 

 resented cotton, $7,455,961 wheat, and $4,366,- 

 675 corn. 



The imports of foreign products and manu- 

 factures into the port of New Orleans during 

 the fiscal year 1882-'83, compared with former 

 years, were: 



Total imports, 1882-' I 83 $9,414,015 



!SS1-'82 11 .993,852 



1880-'81 12,413.270 



187-'30 10,915.042 



187S-'79 7,141.089 



1877-'78 11,483,142 



1876-77 9,522,559 



1875-'76 11.602,873 



1874-'75 12,356,469 



The custom-house figures for the years 1882 

 -'83 and 1881-'82 exhibit the following: 



