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A University, with collegiate, law, and medical departments, is established at New Orleans, and supported in part by the State.

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.

The State has but a few charitable institutions of its own, depending mainly on similar establishments in the city of New Orleans, to the support of which it contributes.

The Penitentiary is located at Baton Rouge, the old capital. It was destroyed during the war, but has since been restored. There were 342 males and 12 females confined there in 1870. The institution is supported to a great extent by the labor of the convicts, who are engaged in the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods. Two hundred looms, with the necessary machinery, are in operation.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

In 1860 there were 572 churches in Louisiana, and the value of church property was $3,160,360. The greater part of this amount was owned in New Orleans. In the rest of the State the loss was heavy during the war.

FINANCES.

The finances of Louisiana are in a very unfortunate condition. The amount of the public debt is disputed, but the State Auditor estimates it at $40,021,734, inclusive of an obligation to issue about $15,000,000 worth of bonds. The receipts of the Treasury for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1870, were $6,537,959; while the total expenditures for the same period amounted to $7,050,636.

GOVERNMENT.

The present Constitution of Louisiana was adopted by the people April 23d, 1868. Every male person, 21 years old, born in the United States, or naturalized, without respect to race, color, or previous condition, who has resided in the State one year, and in the parish ten days, is entitled to vote at the elections. Criminals, and certain persons concerned in the Rebellion, are excluded from the franchise.

The Government is vested in a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney-General, and a General Assembly, consisting of a Senate (36 members, elected for four

years, one-half retiring biennially) and a House of Representatives (101 members, elected for two years), all chosen by the people. The Governor and other State officers are elected for four years.

The judicial power is vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, Parish Courts, and in Justices of the Peace. The Supreme Court. consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices, appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a period of eight years. Except in specified cases, this court has appellate jurisdiction only. The judges of the other courts are chosen by the popular vote.

The seat of Government is located at New Orleans. Previous to the war Baton Rouge was the capital.

The State is divided into 48 parishes.

HISTORY.

In 1691 La Salle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River, and took possession of the country in the name of the King of France. In 1699 Iberville attempted to form a settlement along the lower Mississippi, but his attempt ended in the establishment of the Colony of Biloxi, in the present State of Mississippi. In 1712 Louis XIV., of France, named the region in honor of himself, and granted it to M. Crozat, a wealthy capitalist, who, in 1717, surrendered his charter to the Government, complaining that he had not been properly supported by the authorities, and that he had suffered such losses in attempting to settle the province as almost to ruin him. In 1717 the famous John Law, living in Paris, obtained a charter for a bank, and for a Mississippi company, to whom the king granted the province. A remarkable financial scheme was conceived by Law in connection. with these grants, and for a while carried out so successfully that the stock of the bank went up to six hundred times its par value. It finally exploded, however, and ruined every one concerned in it, having accomplished nothing but the settlement of New Orleans, in 1717. In 1732 Law's company surrendered their charter to the king, who declared the commerce of Louisiana free to all nations.

In 1760 war was begun between Great Britain and France, and Canada was conquered by the former power. Large numbers of Canadians now emigrated to Louisiana, and settled in the country west of the Mississippi, founding the settlements of Attakapas, Opelousas, and Avoyelles. In 1762 France ceded her possessions in

Louisiana west of the Mississippi to Spain, and the country east of that river to England. The Spanish authorities soon took possession of New Orleans, and inaugurated a series of cruel and oppressive measures, which filled the French settlers with dismay. They held the province during the American Revolution, and towards the close. of the war the Spanish Governor of New Orleans captured the British garrison at Baton Rouge. The treaty of 1783 opened the navigation. of the Mississippi River to all nations, but the Spaniards at New Orleans effectually neutralized this concession by seizing all merchandize brought to that city in any but Spanish ships. This gave rise to a long and vexatious dispute between the United States and Spain, which was terminated only by the acquisition of Louisiana by the former power. The manner in which this territory passed into our hands, is thus related by Bonner, in his "History of Louisiana :"

"In 1763 Louisiana was ceded to Spain, and by a secret article in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, that power ceded it back to France. Napoleon, however, wished to keep this cession secret until he should have-as he hoped to do-reduced St. Domingo to submission. Failing in this, he was rendered indifferent to his new acquisition. In January, 1803, he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, which was the first intimation that the inhabitants had of the transfer, which gave them great joy.

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'On being informed of this retrocession, President Jefferson had dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister at Paris, to represent to the First Consul that the occupation of New Orleans by France would endanger the friendly relations between the two nations, and, perhaps, even oblige the United States to make common cause with England; as the possession of this city by the former, by giving her the command of the Mississippi, the only outlet to the produce of the Western States, and also of the Gulf of Mexico, so important to American commerce, would render it almost certain that the conflicting interests of the two nations would lead to an open rupture. Mr. Livingston was therefore instructed not only to insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the acquisition of New Orleans itself, and the surrounding territory; and Mr. Monroe was appointed with full powers to assist him in the negotiation.

"Bonaparte, who always acted promptly, soon came to the conclusion that what he could not defend, he had better dispose of on the best terms; but before deciding, he summoned two of his ministers in council, on the 10th of April, 1803, and thus addressed them:

"I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it, than to those to whom I yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the south. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse, since the death of Le Clerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I am not sure but that they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits; and in their place. I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet possess it; and if I wait but a short time, my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to conciliate. They only ask for one city of Louisiana, but I consider the whole colony as lost; and I believe that, in the hands of this rising power, it will be more useful to the political, and even the commercial interests of France, than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject.'

"One of the ministers, Barbe Marbois, fully approved of the cession, but the other opposed it. They debated the matter for a long time, and Bonaparte concluded the conference without making his determination known. The next day, however, he sent for Marbois, and said to him:

"The season for deliberation is over; I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But, though I regret parting with it, I am convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the

United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never returned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have 50,000,000 francs, and I will not consent to take less. I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country.'

"The negotiations commenced that very day. Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private conference, announced that they were ready to treat for the cession of the entire territory, which at first Mr. Livingston had hesitated to do, believing the proposal of the First Consul to be only a device to gain time.

"On the 30th of April, 1803, the treaty was signed. The United States were to pay $15,000,000 for their new acquisition, and be indemnified for some illegal captures; while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports of Louisiana, free of duty, for 12 years.

"Bonaparte stipulated in favor of Louisiana that it should, as soon as possible, be incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as other citizens of the United States; and the third article of the treaty, securing to them these benefits, was drawn up by the First Consul himself, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words:

"Make it known to the people of Louisiana that we regret to part with them; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could desire; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European government as they will when they become independent. But, while they enjoy the privileges of liberty, let them ever remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother-country that affection which a common origin inspires.'

"The completion of this important transaction gave equal satisfaction to both parties. 'I consider,' said Livingston, 'that from this

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