ITS ADVANTAGES! ITS CONDITIONS! ITS PROSPeCTS 



5.T 



a I5ETTEH OF STATE HEGISTRAR.^fe- 



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STATE OF LOUISIANA, 

 State Laud Otlioe. 

 . Baton Kouge, TSoy. 23. ISiKl. 



Cominissiouer of Immigration. New Or- 

 loans. La.: Dear Sir— Keplyiug to .your 

 letter of the 21st in.st,, I liavo to inform 

 .vou that the witliln copy of act is etili 

 iu force, and is flie '.aw. This does not 

 apply at all to hoinesteaderij, that tlie 

 governing law ai^ to those is act. No. 04. 

 of the session of 1S83, which yon will 

 find on page 70 of the acts of that year. 



Homesteaders are not required to pay 

 any fees or price whatever, except when 

 they require copies of survey and certih- 

 cates, which they seldom do. 



The Inclosed copy of act 85 of IS-SO re- 

 fers entirely to purchasers of state lands 

 The public lands donated liy the acts of 

 congress to the state are all swampy and 

 overflowed, and weie so donated because 

 they were not fit ior erttlement and 

 cultivation; hence Miere are few home- 

 8(wul entries made at this office. 



The United States owns large areas of 

 land in tWs state which is reserved for 

 actual settlers or liomesteaders; of these 

 and all laws bearing on the subject you 

 can obtain from the registrar United 

 States land office in your city. 



Very respectfully, 



JOHN S. LANIER, Registrar. 



HiJl3l3r3ra^it3H ,^jr:;SJJ,:EEEl 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



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State Con.slitution. Art. 2ii8. The gen- 

 eral assembly shall levy an annual poll 

 fds. for the maintenance of public schools, 

 upcu every male inhabitant iu the state 

 over twenty-one years, which shall never 

 be less than one dollar and a half pen- 

 capita, and the general assembly shall 

 pass laws to enforce payment of said tax. 

 Art. 224. There shall be free public 

 schools established by the general asswn- 

 bljr throughout the state for the educa- 

 tion of all the children of the state be- 

 tween the ages of six and eighteen years; 

 and the general assembly shall provide 

 for their establishment, maintenance and 

 support by taxation, or otherwise, and all 

 moneys so raised excepr in proi)ortiou to 

 the number of children between the ages 

 of six and eighteen years. 



Art. 227. The fnntis derived from tho 

 <-ollection of the poll tax shall be api)liod 

 to the maintenance of public schools as 

 organized under this constitution, and 

 shall be applied exclusively to the support 

 of public schools in the parish in whiclr 

 the same shall liave been collected, and 

 sluill be accounted for and paid by tlie 

 collecting officers to the compeient school 

 authorities of each i)arish. 



Art. 229. The school funds of tlie state 

 shall consist of: 1. The proceeds of tax- 

 aiion for school purposes, as provided in 

 the constitution. 2. The interest on the 

 proceeds of all public lands heretofore 

 granted by the United States for the use 

 and support of public schools. 3. Of 

 hinds and ottter property which may 

 hereafter be bequeathed, granted or do- 

 nated to the state or generally for school 

 purposes. 4. All funds or property other 

 than iiuimproved lands, bequeathed or 

 granted to the state, not designated for 

 other purposes. 5. The proceeds of va- 

 cant estates falling under the law to the 

 state of Louisiana. 



The legislature may appropriate to the 

 same fund the proceeds, in whole or in 

 part, of the public lands not designated 

 for any other purpose, and shall provide 

 that every parish may levv a special tax 

 for the pnblie schools therein, which shall 

 not exceed the state tax; provided, that 



with such tax the whole amount shall not 

 ex-ceeri the limits of parish taxation fixed 

 by this constitution. 



Article 230 prov-ides that the Louisiana 

 State University and Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College, located in the citv 

 of Baton Rouge, shall be maintained, anil 

 all the revenue*^ derived from the sale of 

 land donated by the United States to the 

 state, shall be used for the support of the 

 same. 



"Property dedicated to the u«e and be- 

 longing to the public schools, or employed 

 by municipal corporations for that pur- 

 pose, shall be and is hereby exempted 

 from seizure." 



"GENERAL 0I5SERVATI0NS." 



"The public school system is rapid Iv 

 growing in popular favor in this state"- 

 and it may be truthfully said that there 

 are but few communities to be found so 

 callous and benighted as not to fuliv ap- 

 preciate the importance of educating 

 their children, and fitting them for the 

 duties and responsibilities of life. 



"In our cities and throughout the rural 

 districts, very many of our best and 

 ablest men and women are givtng their 

 aid and influence to the advancement of 

 the cause, and the great masses of the 

 people are beginning to realize the pres- 

 sure of a new and higher civilization. 

 Elements of success are combining in 

 this state that must assuredly triumph 

 over all obstacles and di-sadvantages, and 

 soon place the public school svstem of 

 Louisiana in the front rank of the forty- 

 four state systems now prevailing in this 

 country. 



"It is not pretended that our system is 

 perfect, or that its success is commen- 

 surate with our desires, but we do mean 

 that there has been a steady advance 

 an orderly progress, and that however in- 

 adequate our school revenues may still 

 be, they exceeded a million last year, 

 and that we have abundant reason to 

 feel gratified and encouraged with the 

 general outlook. We feel satisfied that 

 the table and diagrams appearing in this 

 report will bear us out in what we gay." 



