Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/545

LOUISIANA. invasion or suppressing insurrection. The State property tax is limited to six mills on the dollar of the assessed valuation. A poll tax of one dollar is levied upon male inhabitants between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years. The total receipts of the treasury for the year ending December 31, 1902, were $4,160,067, of which $1,412,805 was a balance on hand at the beginning of the year. The items productive of the greatest revenue are direct taxation and licenses on occupations. The funded debt at the end of the year was $11,108,300, and the unfunded debt, $l,157,002.

. The following figures indicate the growth of the population: 1810, 76,560; 1820, 153,407; 1830, 215,739; 1840, 352,411; 1850, 517,762; 1860, 708,002; 1870, 726,915; 1880, 939,946; 1890, 1,118,587; 1900, 1,381,625. The rank of the State in 1900 was twenty-third. The largest absolute gain was made in the last decade of the nineteenth century, amounting to 23.5 per cent., as compared with 20.7 for the United States. Louisiana is the only one of the States in which the French figured prominently in the early settlements. The descendants of these constitute a large element in the present population. Since the Civil War there has been a large immigration from other parts of the country—particularly from the Northern States. The foreign-born population is not large, having been, in 1900, 52,903. The State ranks sixth in the number of its negro population, which in 1900 amounted to 650,804. The rate of increase for the negroes during the last decade of the nineteenth century was much less than it was for the whites. In 1900 there were 30.4 inhabitants to the square mile.

. The population of the three largest cities in 1900 was as follows: New Orleans, 287,104; Shreveport, 16,013; Baton Rouge, the capital, 11,269.

. Slightly over one-half of the Church communicants are Catholics. The State thus presents a striking contrast to the other Southern States, since it is the only one in which the Catholics have a large representation. The Protestant membership belongs mainly to the two dominant churches of the South—the Baptists and Methodists.

. The Governor and six persons appointed by him constitute a board of charities and corrections, but their duties are strictly visitorial without administrative or executive powers. The Constitution forbids State donations to any private charitable or benevolent agency. The new Constitution put a stop to the old system of leasing convicts. These may now be put to labor upon public works, convict farms, or in manufactories owned or controlled by the State. Persons sentenced to the parish jails may be put to work upon public works within the parish. The State institution for the blind and that for the deaf and dumb are each situated at Baton Rouge. Charitable hospitals are maintained at New Orleans and at Shreveport. The State Insane Asylum is located at Jackson.

. The educational reports of Louisiana for recent years show that the State is in a fair way of redeeming its educational reputation. The enrollment of white pupils in the public schools increased from 38,870 in 1881 to 125,257 in 1901, the enrollment in the latter year amounting to 63 to every 100 persons between the ages of six and eighteen. During the same period the enrollment of colored pupils increased from 23,590 to 73,624, the corresponding percentage being 40. Moreover, the length of term—120 days—as reported for 1901 was greater than that for any other Southern State, and the term of the colored schools was as long as that for the whites. However, the educational status in a number of parishes is deplorable and the enrollment is exceedingly low. The census for 1900 shows that 61.1 per cent. of the negro population ten years of age and over was illiterate—but a little less than the corresponding percentage in 1880. The illiteracy of the native white population was 17.3 per cent. in 1900. The law of 1902 provides that the State appropriation for education shall be distributed among the parishes of the State according to the number of children between the ages of six and eighteen, but the poll tax should be retained in the parish in which it is collected. Local parish taxes may be assessed by the police jurors for school purposes, subject to certain maximum and minimum limitations. Certain other local receipts in the form of fines are used for educational purposes. In 1901 the total receipts for school purposes was $1,393,892, of which the most important sources were the corporation taxes, $403,185; current school fund, $322,413; police jury tax, $208,446. The disbursement amounted to $1,236,647, of which $983,515 went for teachers' salaries. Inducements are made to teachers to extend their academic courses by allowing graduates from the State Normal, State University, and certain other institutions to teach without passing an examination. In 1901 there were 2384 female and 835 male white teachers, and 541 female and 511 male colored teachers. The average salary of the white males is $42 per month, and of the colored males $26.50 per month. According to the law of 1902 there is a State Board of Education consisting of the Governor, Superintendent of Education, Attorney-General, and one person from each of the seven Congressional districts of the State, appointed by the Governor. This board appoints a board of school directors for each parish, the members of which hold office four years. These directors elect the parish superintendents and fix their salaries within certain limits. The State Board selects a uniform series of text-books.

Higher education is provided by the State at the State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, located at Baton Rouge; Tulane University; the Industrial Institution at Ruston; the Southwestern Industrial Institute at Lafayette; and the Southern University—colored—at New Orleans. The State exempts from taxation the valuable real estate of Tulane University. This institution, situated at New Orleans, is one of the foremost educational institutions of the South. There are also a number of denominational colleges, most of which are in New Orleans.

. The present Constitution was adopted in convention May 12, 1898. To amend the Constitution it was necessary to have the approval of two-thirds of all the members elected to each House, and a majority of the electors voting at a popular election. Voters must have resided in the State two years, in the parish one year, and in the precinct six months. The voter must be able to fill out the application blank for