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UNITED STATES : — LOUISIANA

LOUISIANA

Government. — Louisiana was admitted into the Union on April 8, 1812. The Legislature consists of a Senate of 41 members and a House of Repre- sentatives of 115 members, Senators and Representatives being chosen for four years. Sessions are biennial.

Qualified electors are (with the usual exceptions) all registered male citizens resident in the State for two years and in the parish one year next before the election. For registration, however, the citizen must show his ability to read and write, or must own property worth 300 dollars, or must prove that his lather or grandfather was entitled to a vote on January 1, 1867, but in this case the applicant must have resided in the State for five years next before the election. The "father or grandfather" clause is intended to secure white supremacy.

The State is represented in Congress by two Senators and seven Represen- tatives.

Governor.— John M. Parker, 1920-1924 (7,500 dollars).

Secretary. — James J. Bailey.

Louisiana is divided into 60 parishes (corresponding with the counties of other States). The State Capital is Baton Rouge.

Area, Population, Instruction.— Area, 48,506 square miles (3,097

square miles being water). Census population on January 1, 1920, 1,798,509.

Years

White i

Negro

Total

Per sq. mile

1860 1900 1910

357,629 730,821 942,514

350,373 650,804 713,874

708,002 1,381,625 1,656,388

15-6 30-4 36-5

1 Including Asiatics and Indians. In 1900, 650,804 were coloured. The population in 1910 by sex and race was : —

-

White

Negro

Asiatic

Indian

Total

Male. Female.

480,460 460,626

353,824 360,050

991 437

835,275 821,113

Total.

941,086

713,874

648 780

1,656,388

Most of the white population are descended from the early French settlers. In 1910 the foreign-born numbered 51,782, of whom 20,233 were Italian (391 per cent.), 8,918 German, 5,302 French, 3,753 Irish, and 2,056 English. The largest city in the State is New Orleans with a census population of 387,219 in 1920. Other cities are Shreveport, 43,874 ; Baton Rouge (Capital), 21,782. Of the total population iu 1910, 80*0 per cent, was urban.

Most of the Southern States are strenuously Protestant, but over 61 per cent, of the population of Louisiana are Roman Catholic. Of Protestants in the State, Baptists and Methodists are the most numerous, then Protestant Episcopalians and Presbyterians.