USA > Louisiana > A history of Louisiana, revised edition > Part 28
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Art. 270. The General Assembly shall have power to enaet general laws anthorizing the parochial, ward and municipal authorities of the State, by a vote of the majority of the property taxpayers in number entitled to vote under the provisions of this Constitution and in valne, to levy special taxes in aid of publie improvements or railway enterprises; provided, that such tax shall not exceed the rate of five mills per annin, nor extend for a longer period than ten years; and provided further, that no taxpayer shall be permitted to vote at such election unless he shall have been assessed in the parish, ward or municipality to be affected for property the year previous.
Art. 271. Any railroad .corporation or association organized for the purpose shall have the right to construct and operate a railroad between any points within this State, and connect at the State line with railroads of other States. Every railroad company shall have the right with its road to intersect, connect with or cross any other railroad, and shall receive and transport each other's passengers, tonnage and cars, loaded or empty, without delay or discrimination.
Art. 272. Railways heretofore constructed, or that may hereafter be constructed in this State, are hereby declared public highways, and railroad companies common carriers.
Art. 273. Every railroad or corporation, organized or doing busi- ness in this State, under the laws or anthority thereof, shall have and maintain a public office or place in this State for the transac- tion of its business, where transfers of stock shall be made, and where shall be kept for public inspection books in which shall be recorded the amount of capital stock subscribed, the names of owners of stock, the amounts owned by them respectively, the amount of stock paid, and by whom, the transfers of said stock, with the date of transfer, the amount of its assets and liabilities, and the names and places of residence of its officers.
Art. 274. If any railroad company, organized under the laws of this State, shall consolidate, by sale or otherwise, with any railroad company organized under the laws of any other State or of the United States, the same shall not thereby become a foreign corpora- tion, but the courts of this State shall retain jurisdiction in all mat- ters which may arise, as if said consolidation had not taken place. In no case shall any one consolidation take place except npon public
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notice of at least sixty days to all stockholders, in such manner as may be provided by law.
Art. 275. General laws shall be enacted providing for the crea- tion of private corporations, and shall therein provide fully for the adequate protection of the public and of the individual stockholder.
Art. 276. The police juries of the several parishes and the con- stituted authorities of all incorporated municipalities of the State shall alone have the power of regulating the slaughtering of cattle and other live stock within their respective limits; provided, no monopoly or exclusive privilege shall exist in this State, nor such business be restricted to the land or houses of any individual or cor- poration; provided, the ordinances designating the places for slaughtering shall obtain the concurrent approval of the Board of Health or other sanitary organization.
Parochial and Municipal Corporations.
Art. 277. The General Assembly may establish and organize new parishes, which shall be bodies corporate, with such powers as may be prescribed by law, but no new parish shall contain less than six hundred and twenty-five square miles, nor less than seven thousand inhabitants; nor shall any parish be reduced below that area, or number of inhabitants.
Art. 278. All laws changing parish lines, or removing parish seats, shall, before taking effect, be submitted to the eleetors of the parish or parishes to be affected thereby, at a special election held for that purpose, and the lines, or the parish seat, shall remain iti- changed unless two-thirds of the qualified electors of the parish or parishes affected thereby vote in favor thereof at such election.
Art. 279. Any parish may be dissolved and merged by the Gen- eral Assembly into a contiguous parish or parishes, two-thirds of the qualified eleetors of the parish proposed to be dissolved voting in favor thereof at an election held for that purpose; provided, that the parish or parishes into which the dissolved parish proposes to become incorporated consents thereto by a majority of its qualified electors voting therefor.
Art. 280. Whenever a parish shall be enlarged or created from territory contiguous thereto, it shall be entitled to a just proportion of the property and assets, and be liable for a just proportion of the existing debts or liabilities of the parish or parishes from which such territory shall have been taken.
Art. 281. Municipal corporations, parishes, and drainage distriets, the city of New Orleans excepted, when authorized to do so, by a vote of the majority in number and amount of the property tax- payers. qualified as electors under the Constitution and laws of this State, voting at an election held for that purpose, after due notice of said election has been published for thirty days in the official journal of the municipality or parish, and where there is no official journal, in a newspaper published therein, may ineur debt, and issne nego- tiable bonds therefor, to the extent of one-tenth of the assessed vahi- ation of the property within said municipal corporation, parish, or
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drainage district, as shown by the last assessment made prior to the submission of the proposition to the property taxpayers, as above provided, and may be authorized by the property taxpayers voting at said election, to levy and assess special taxes upon the property subject to taxation in the parish, drainage district or corporation; provided, said taxes so imposed do not exceed five mills on the dollar of the assessed valnation in any one year, nor run for a greater number of years than the number named in the proposition sub- mitted to the taxpayers. No bonds shall be issued for any other purpose than stated in the submission of the proposition to the tax- payers, and published for thirty days, as aforesaid, nor for a greater amount than therein mentioned; nor shall such bonds be issued for any other purpose than for paving and improving streets, roads and alleys, purchasing or constructing a system of water-works, sewer- age, drainage, lights, publie parks and buildings, bridges and other works of publie improvement, the title to which shall vest in the municipal corporation, parish or drainage district, as the ease may be; nor shall such bonds run for a longer period than forty years from their date, or bear a greater rate of interest than five per cent. per annum, or be sold by the municipal corporation, parish or drain- age district issuing same for less than par.
The municipal corporation, parish or drainage district issuing such bonds shall provide for the payment of the interest annually, or semi-annually, and the principal thereof at maturity; provided, that the total issue of bonds by any municipality, parish or drainage distriet, for all purposes shall never exceed ten per cent. of the assessed value of the property in such municipality, parish or drainage distriet. Provided, that drainage districts availing themselves of the provisions of this ordinance shall be limited to the rate of taxa- tion herein fixed; and such districts shall be prohibited from levy- ing contributions under the provisions of existing laws, and pro- vided, further, that nothing herein contained shall prevent drainage distriets from being established under the provisions of existing laws.
Art. 282. One-half of the net amount of all parish taxes and licenses, levied and collected within the corporate limits of the city of Baton Rouge, shall be paid over for the use of said eity, by the officer collecting the same, to the officer charged with the custody of the funds of said city.
Railroad, Express, Telephone, Telegraph, Steamboat and Sleeping Car Company Commission.
Art. 283. A Railroad, Express, Telephone, Telegraph, Steamboat and other Water Craft, and Sleeping Car Commission, is hereby created; to be composed of three members, to be elected from the districts hereinafter named, at the time fixed for the Congressional election in 1898. Of the three commissioners elected in the year 1898, one shall serve two years, one shall serve four years, and one shall serve six years, the period each is to serve to be determined by lot; thereafter the commissioners from each district shall be elected
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for a term of six years. They shall be known as the Railroad Com- mission of Louisiana. The Commission shall meet and open an office and have its domicile at Baton Rouge, and shall elect one of their number chairman, and may appoint a secretary at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and may meet and hold reg- ular or special hearings at such other places as they may find, necessary. No member of this Convention shall be eligible to elec- tion or appointment as a member of said Commission, prior to the year 1908.
Art. 284. The power and authority is hereby vested in the Com- mission, and it is hereby made its duty, to adopt, change or make reasonable and just rates, charges and regulations, to govern and regulate railroad, steamboat and other water craft, and sleeping ear, freight and passenger tariffs and service, express rates, and tele- phone and telegraph charges, to correct abuses, and prevent unjust discrimination and extortion in the rates for the same, on the dif- ferent railroads, steamboats and other water craft, sleeping car, ex- press, telephone and telegraph lines of this State, and to prevent such companies from charging any greater compensation in the ag- gregate for the like kind of property or passengers, or messages, for a shorter than a longer distance over the same line, unless authorized by the Commission to do so in special cases; to require all railroads to build and maintain suitable depots, switches and appurtenances, wherever the same are reasonably necessary at stations, and to in- spect railroads and to require them to keep their tracks and bridges in a safe condition, and to fix and adjust rates between branch or short lines and the great trunk lines with which they connect, and to enforce the same by having the penalties hereby prescribed in- flicted through the proper courts having jurisdiction.
The Commission shall have power to adopt and enforce such reasonable rules, regulations, and modes of procedure, as it may deem proper for the discharge of its duties, and to hear and deter- mnine complaints that may be made against the classification or rates it may establish, and to regulate the mode and manner of all investi- gations and hearings of railroad companies and other parties before it. in the establishment ( f rates, orders, charges, and other acts, re- ' quired or authorized by these provisions. They shall have power to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses, to swear witnesses, and to compel the production of books and papers, to take testimony under commission, and to punish for contempt, as fully as is provid- ed by law for the district courts.
Art. 285. If any railroad, express, telephone. telegraph, steamboat and other water craft, or sleeping ear company, or other party in interest, be dissatisfied with the decision or fixing of any rate, clas- sification, rules, charge, order, act or regulation, adopted by the Commission, such party may file a petition setting forth the cause of objection to such decision, act, rule, rate, charge, classifica- tion or order, or to either or to all of them, in a court of competent jurisdiction, at the domicile of the Commission, against said Com- mission as defendant, and either party to said action may appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the State. without regard to the
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amount involved, and all such cases, both in the trial and appellate courts, shall be tried summarily, and by preference over all other cases. Such cases may be tried in the court of the first instance either in chambers, or at term time; provided, all such appeals shall be returned to the Supreme Court within ten days after the decision of the lower court; and where the Commission appeals, no bond shall be required. No bond shall be required of said Commission in any case, nor shall advance costs, or security for costs be required of the Commission.
Art. 286. If any railroad, express, telephone, telegraph, steam- boat, or other water craft, or sleeping car company, subject hereto, directly or indirectly, or by any special rate, rebate, or other device, shall intentionally charge, demand, collect or receive, from any per- son, firm or corporation, a greater or less compensation for any service rendered by it, than it charges, demands or receives from any other person, firm or corporation, for doing a like and contemporan- eous service, or shall violate any of the rates, charges, orders, or de- cisions of said Commission, such railroad, steamboat or other water craft, express, telegraph, telephone or other company, shall forfeit and pay to the State not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five thousand dollars, to be recovered before any court of com- petent jurisdiction, at the suit of said Commission, at the domicile of the Commission or of the company, or at the place where the com- plaint arises, at the option of the Commission. Provided, that whenever any rate, order, charge, rule or regulation of the Commis- sion is contested in court, as provided for in Article 285 of this Con- stitution, no fine or penalty for disobedience thereto, or disregard thereof, shall be incurred until after said contestation shall have been finally decided by the courts, and then only for acts subse- quently committed.
The power of the Commission shall affect only the transporta- tion of passengers, freight, express matter and telegraph and tele- phone messages between points within this State, and the use of such instruments within this State.
Art. 287 Until otherwise provided by law, the members of the Commission shall each receive a salary of three thousand dollars per annum, payable monthly on his own warrant, and their actual traveling expenses, and those of their secretary ; which expenses. and the salary of the latter, shall be paid on the warrant of the Chairman of the Commission on a sworn statement of their cor- rectness.
Nothing herein shall prevent the railroad, express, telegraph. tel- ephone and steamboat or other water craft, or other companies, from serving free of cost, or at reduced rates, the State or any city, par- ish, or town government, or any charitable purpose, or any fair or . exposition, or any destitute or indigent person, or the issuance of mileage or excursion tickets; nor to prevent railroads, steamboats, or other water craft from giving free transportation to ministers of religion, or to inmates of hospitals, or to railroad officers, agents, employes, attorneys. stockholders or directors, unless otherwise pro- vided by this Constitution.
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Art. 288. Upon the recommendation of the Commission the Legislature may add to or enlarge the powers and duties of said Commission, or confer other powers and duties on them. They may also provide additional clerical, or other assistance, that may be deemed necessary for the discharge of the duties of said Commis- sion, and may add other penalties to make the work of said Com- mission effective.
It shall be the duty of the Attorney General, and the varions dis- trict attorneys, to aid said Commission in all legal matters, for which they shall receive not exceeding 25 per cent. of all fines and forfeitures collected by them; provided, the Commission may employ other attorneys in lien of these officers on like terms.
No person in the service of, or attorney for, any railway, express, telephone, telegraph, steamboat or other water craft, sleeping car company or corporation, or peenniarily interested in such company or corporation, shall hold the office of Commissioner.
The fines collected, after paying the attorney's fees and the costs in snits in which the Commission may be cast for costs, shall be paid into the State Treasury.
Art. 289. The State is hereby divided into three Railway Com- mission Districts, and one Commissioner shall be elected from each of said districts by a plurality of the voters of the respective dis- tricts. The First District shall comprise the parishes of Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Bap- tist and St. James. The Second District shall comprise the par- ishes of Iberville, Ascension. Assumption, Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Mary, Iberia, St. Martin, Lafayette, Vermillion, Cameron, Cal - casieu, Avoyelles, St. Landry, Pointe Conpee, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, West Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge, St, Helena, Living- ston, Tangiphoa, Washington, St. Tammany and Acadia. The Third District shall comprise the parishes of Rapides, Vernon, Sabine, Grant, Natchitoches, Winn, Red River, DeSoto, Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, Concordia, Caldwell, Franklin, Tensas, Madison, Rich - land, Onachita, Jackson, Lincoln, Union, Morchouse, East Carroll, West Carroll, Claiborne and Catahoula.
RIPARIAN RIGHTS.
Art. 290. Riparian owners of property on navigable rivers, lakes, and streams, within any city or town in this State having a population in excess of five thousand shall have the right to erect and maintain on the batture or banks owned by them, such wharves, buildings and improvements as may be required for the purpose of commerce and navigation, subject to the following conditions, and not otherwise, to-wit: Such owners shall first ob . tain the consent of the Council, or other governing authority, and of the Board of Levee Commissioners, within whose municipal or levec district jurisdiction such wharves, buildings, and improve- ments are to be erected, and such consent having been obtained, shall oreet the same in conformity to plans and specifications which shall have been first submitted to, and approved by, the engineer of
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of such Council, or other governing authority ; and when so erected such wharves, buildings, and improvements shall be, and remain, subject to the administration and control of such Council, or other governing authority; with respect to their maintenance and to the fees and charges to be exacted for their use by the public, whenever any fee or charge is authorized to be and is made; and shall be and remain subject to the control of such Board of Levee Commissioners, in so far as may be necessary for the maintenance and administration of the levees in its jurisdiction. The Council, or other governing authority, shall have the right to expropriate such wharves, buildings and improvements, whenever necessary for public purposes, upon reimbursing the owner the cost of construction, less such depreciation as may have resulted from time and decay; such reimbursement, however, in no case to exceed the actual market value of the property. Provided, that nothing in this article shall be construed as affecting the right of the State, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of the several Boards of Levee Commissioners to appropriate without compensation such wharves, buildings, and improvements, when necessary for levee purposes.
The grants made by the city of New Orleans under the terms of Ordinance 11,765, Conneil Series, adopted Jannary 14, 1896, anthor- izing the construction, use, and maintenance of wharves, structures, and improvements upon certain riparian property in the Sixth Municipal District, and other grants of the same nature made by the city of New Orleans to riparian owners with reference to their property, are recognized as necessary aids to the commerce of this State, and are hereby ratitied, and declared to be lawful, but shall in no event be construed as conferring greater privileges or rights than might be conferred under this article, or as releasing the riparian owners from the obligations herein imposed or which may have been imposed upon or assumed by such riparian owner by con- tract, municipal ordinance or otherwise.
Public Roads.
Art. 291. The Police Juries of this State may form their respective parishes into road districts; and in order to raise funds for the pur- pose of constrneting, maintaining and repairing the public roads and bridges of their parishes, they are authorized to set aside at least one mill per annum of the taxes levied by them, and to impose a per capita tax of not more than one dollar per annum npon each able- bodied male inhabitant of the parish between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five years, and to levy an annual license of not less than twenty-five cents, nor more than one dollar per annum upon each vehicle, including bicycles kept and used for locomotion over public roads, in their respective parishes; which license may be graduated. The provisions of this article relative to the per capita tax shall not be operative in incorporated towns and cities that maintain their own streets.
To carry into effect the provisions of this article the Police Juries
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may enact such ordinances of a civil nature as may be necessary to enforce the property and license tax, and of a criminal nature to en- force the per capita tax. Other taxes may be levied by the Police Juries for road and bridge purposes, not to exceed tive mills for live years on the property of the parish, or any ward thereof, where the rate of taxation and the purpose thereof shall have been submitted to the property taxpayers of said ward or parish entitled to vote under the election laws of the State, and a majority in numbers and value of those voting at said election shall have voted in favor thereof.
Art. 202. When any parish shall avail itself of the provisions of this article, the judge, in passing sentence on persons convicted of any offense, when the punishment imposed by law is imprisonment in the parish jail in the first instance, or in default of payment of fine, inay sentence such persons to work on the public roads and bridges and any other public works of the parish; and when the punishment prescribed by law is imprisonment in the penitentiary, he may sentence the persons so convicted to work on the publie roads and bridges and other public works of the parish where the crime was committed, if the sentence actually imposed does not ex- ceed six months. All fines and penalties imposed on persons for in- fringement of the any ordinance relative to roads and bridges, shall go, when collected, into the road and bridge fund of the parish.
Art. 293. The Police Jury shall relieve from compulsory road duty all persons who have paid the road and bridge tax and license levied against them.
Art. 204. The State Board of Engineers, whenever called on so to do, shall furnish the different road districts with plans and specitica- tions for public roads, and such assistance and advice as will tend to create a uniform system of public roads throughout the State.
Board of Charities and Corrections.
Art. 295. The Legislature shall provide for a State Board of Chari- ties and Corrections, which shall consist of six members, and of which the Governor shall be chairman ex-officio. Upon the organi- zation of said Board, the Governor shall appoint one member for six years, one for five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years, and thereafter shall make appointments for six years, except in case of vacancy in office, when the appointment shall be made for the unexpired term. The members of the Board shall serve without compensation, but they shall be authorized to elect a secretary, who shall receive such salary as may be fixed by the Legislature. The State shall provide an office for said Board, and shall make provision from time to time for the payment of its expenses.
The duties of the Board shall be strictly visitorial, without admin- istrative or executive powers. It shall visit and inspeet all State, parish or municipal institutions which are of a charitable, electro- synary, correctional, or reformatory character, and all private insti- tutions of like character utilized or uided by parochial or municipal
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authority, and all private insane asylmms, whether so utilized or aided or not.
The Board shall report annually to the Governor, and to the Legislature at each session thereof, the actual condition of all of the above institutions. They shall make such suggestions to the Gover- nor and Legislature as may be necessary and pertinent; provided. said suggestions are concurred in by a majority of the members of the Boards in control of each of said institutions. The officers in charge of said institutions shall furnish the Board such information and statistics as it may require.
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