USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 10
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Loreauville, a village in the northern part of Iberia parish, is situated on the Bayou Teche, in a rich sugar district. It has a money order postoffice, and in 1900 reported a population of 167. New Iberia, the parish seat, 7 miles to the southwest, is the nearest railroad town.
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Loring, a little village in the central part of Sabine parish, is located at the junction of the Kansas City Southern and the Loring & Western railroads, about 8 miles northwest of Many, the parish seat. It is one of the new towns that have sprung up along the lines of railway recently constructed, has important lumbering in- terests, a money order postoffice, and is a trading point for a con- siderable portion of the parish.
Losa, a post-hamlet in the northwestern part of St. Tammany parislı, is about 3 miles east of Folsom, the nearest railroad station, and 10 miles north of Covington, the parish seat.
Lotteries .- During the early years of Louisiana's existence as a state, acts were frequently passed by the general assembly authorizing societies, educational institutions, etc., to raise money by lottery, and in some instances individuals were empowered to dispose of their private property by this method. The spect- lative spirit-the hope of some time getting something for nothing -was engendered and as time went on many a dollar that should have gone to the support of some needy family found its way into the coffers of a lottery company. With each loss came a stronger desire to try again, until with many the desire became almost a mania.
The Louisiana state lottery was chartered by the reconstruction legislature in Aug., 1868, "to increase the state revenue." The preamble of the act set forth that many millions of dollars had been withdrawn from and lost to the state by the sale of Havana, Kentucky, Madrid and other lottery tickets, and the act made it unlawful to sell, offer or expose for sale any lottery ticket or fractional part thereof, "except as hereinafter provided," which meant that no tickets could be sold except those issued by the Louisiana lottery company. The incorporators were Robert Bloomer, Jesse R. Irwin. John Considine. Charles H. Murray, F. F. Wilder, C. T. Howard and Philip N. Luckett, who constituted the first board of directors. The company was chartered for 25 years, the capital stock fixed at $1.000,000, and the directors were authorized to begin operations when $100,000 of the stock was subscribed. During the life of the charter the company was to have the exclusive privilege of conducting a lottery within the state, the act providing "that any person or persons selling or offering or exposing for sale. after the 31st day of December, 1868, any lottery, policy or combination tickets, devices or certificates, or fractional parts thereof. in violation of this act * * shall be liable to said corporation in damages not exceeding $5,000 nor less than $1.000 recoverable by suit before any court of competent jurisdiction. In return for this exclusive privilege and the pro- tection of the courts, the company was to pay to the state the sum of $40.000 annually, but was not to be called upon to pay any other taxes. etc.
In March, 1879. the general assembly passed a bill repealing the charter of the company, but the law was held to be a violation of a regular contract and therefore never became effective. By the
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terms of the original act the charter would expire on Jan. 1, 1894, and in 1890 the company took steps to secure a renewal of its privileges. On April 17 John A. Morris, on behalf of the com- pany, offered the state $500,000 a year for a renewal of the lottery license for 25 years. The offer was made in the form of circular letter distributed over the state, but as this brought no favorable response he increased his offer on May 12 to $1,000,000 a year. In his message to the legislature, about the time this second offer was made, Gov. Nicholls urged that no proposition for an extension of the lottery should be entertained for a single moment. He pointed out the inconsitency in the constitution of the state, one article of which declared gambling to be a vice and commanded the legislature to enact laws for its suppression, while another article recognized and perpetuated a lottery company. "I think," said he, "that it was an outrage on other states and a disgrace to ours to make Louisiana the acknowledged headquarters of gambling. and to legalize an institution avowedly based upon certain losses and certain impoverishments to others, and a still greater outrage ·and a still greater disgrace for the commonwealth to be a partner in such a transaction. Nothing better could have been expected of the legislature of 1868."
Notwithstanding this attitude of the governor a proposed con- stitutional amendment was introduced in the house early in June, authorizing Mr. Morris to conduct a lottery for 25 years, in con- sideration of his paying to the state $1.000.000 a year, the money to be used as follows. $350.000 for the construction and mainten- ance of levees ; $350.000 for the support of the public schools ; $150 .- 000 to charitable institutions: $100.000 for a drainage system for the city of New Orleans ; and $50,000 for pensions to Confederate soldiers, While the bill was pending in the house Benjamin New- gass submitted an offer of $1.250.000 a year for the privilege of conducting a lottery for 25 years, under the same conditions as the Louisiana company, but the offer was rejected and on June 25 the house passed the amendment by a vote of 66 to 29. The senate amended the bill by raising the amount of the annual pay- ment to the amount offered by Mr. Newgass, the increase to go to the general fund. on July 1 the house passed the bill as amended. and it was sent to the governor, who promptly returned it with a veto message concluding as follows: "So far as a claim for the necessity of the present measure is sought to be predicated upon the asumed condition of the poverty of Louisiana, I, as governor, pronounce it totally without justification or warrant. Some other motive for this measure must be found than that her people are unable honorably to carry out for themselves the duties of state- hood. Knowing this contemplated measure as I do, as one dis- honoring and degrading Louisiana, it has met, as it will continue to meet, my most determined opposition. At no time, and under no circumstances, will I permit one of my hands to aid in degrading what the other was lost in seeking to uphold-the honor of my native state. Were I to affix my signature to the bill. I would
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indeed be ashamed to let my left hand know what my right hand has done. I place the honor of my state above money, and in expressing that sentiment I sincerely voice that of thousands of brave and true men, of good and devoted women."
On the 8th the house passed the bill over the veto by a vote of 66 to 31, but in the senate the friends of the lottery company could not muster the requisite two-thirds majority. That body passed a resolution denying the right of the executive to veto a bill which proposed an amendment to the constitution, whereupon the house reconsidered its vote and the bill was sent to the secretary of state with instructions to publish it as the law required. This the secretary refused to do, and Morris applied to the district court at Baton Rouge for a writ of mandamus to compel the secretary to obey the order of the general assembly. The case was heard in Jan., 1891, when Judge Buckner rendered a decision sustaining the secretary. An appeal was immediately taken to the supreme court, which on April 27 reversed the decision of Judge Buckner, Chief Justice Bermudez, and Justices Watkins and McEnery hold- ing that the amendment need not be submitted to the governor, and that it was not rendered void by any legislative matter it con- tained. Justices Fenner and Breaux dissented from the views of the majority of the court, but the majority ruled and the amend- ment was ordered published.
In the meantime an anti-lottery league had been organized and it took active part in the fight against the proposition to renew the license of the company. An anti-lottery Democratic conven- tion was called by the league to meet at Baton Rouge on Aug. 7. 1890, when 959 delegates assembled, representing 53 of the 59 parishes of the state. Ringing speeches were made by Edward D. White, Murphy J. Foster. Charles Parlange and others, and an address to the people of the United States was adopted unani- mously. It was presented by Edgar H. Farrar of New Orleans. chairman of the committee : recommended the immediate adoption of an amendment to the Federal constitution prohibiting any state from issuing a charter or license to any lottery company; and urged the adoption of the legislation recommended by the president and postmaster-general to exclude all advertisements, etc., of lot- tery companies from the mails. Resolutions were also adopted by the convention thanking Gov. Nicholls for his firm stand against the proposition to recharter the lottery company, and declaring that the people of the state were able to maintain their institutions without resorting to the questionable method of raising revenue by licensing lottery companies. The agitation thus started resulted in the company being denied the use of the mails, and Mr. Morris finally withdrew his proposition. Through the influence of the league Murphy J. Foster was nominated and elected governor in 1892, and a majority of the legislature chosen at that time were opposed to any renewal of lottery privileges. On June 28, 1892. Gov. Foster approved an act making it unlawful to sell or offer for sale any lottery ticket, certificate, coupon or share in any lottery
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or drawing scheme whatsoever in the state, or to operate or conduct any lottery drawing for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, under a penalty of from $100 to $5,000 fine for each offense.
In Jan., 1893, the Louisiana lottery company received a charter from the republic of Honduras, which granted to the company the island of Cuanaja in the bay of Honduras and a monopoly of the lottery business for a term of 50 years. After becoming estab- lished in its new quarters the company found means to evade the law of 1892, and to sell tickets to the people of Louisiana. This led to the passage of an act on July 12, 1894, which made it illegal to sell, barter or to have in possession any lottery ticket or frac- tional part thereof, under penalty of $100 fine and 60 days in jail, the sale of cach ticket to constitute a separate offense. It was also declared unlawful for any newspaper published within the state to call attention in any way to any lottery in order to promote its business, the publisher of such paper to be fined from $50 to $500, to which might be added imprisonment from 10 to 60 days, each publication of the objectionable matter to constitute a sepa- rate offense. Persons acting as agents for any lottery company were to be fined from $100 to $500, and property holders renting buildings, rooms or space for the sale of tickets or the drawing of any lottery, were made subject to a fine of from $50 to $500 for each offense, to which might be added 6 months in jail. One-half of all fines to go to the informer and the other half to the city or parish in which the offense was committed, and the sheriff was charged with the enforcement of the law. This drastic legislation put a stop to the lottery business in Louisiana.
Lottie, a post-hamlet of Pointe Coupée parish, is a station on the Colorado Southern, New Orleans & Pacific R. R., about 20 miles southwest of New Roads, the parish seat. The population was 45 in 1900.
Lotus, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Natchitoches parish, is situated on a confluent of the Cypress bayon, 9 miles southwest of Old River, the nearest railroad station, and about 20 miles south of Natchitoches, the parish scat.
Louallier, Louis, who came into prominence during the War of 1812, was a native of France, but had become a naturalized citizen of the United States. At the beginning of the war he was a member of the legislature from Opelousas and held the important position of chairman of the ways and means committee. In Nov., 1814. when the loyalty of the Creoles was questioned by some, his committee made a patriotic report, urging the necessity of taxing all the resources of the state for defensive preparations. When Gen. Jackson, about a month later, asked for a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, to enable Commodore Patterson to impress seamen, Louallier was made chairman of a committee to which the matter was referred. and that committee made an adverse report, much to the chagrin of Jackson and Patterson. During the mili- tary operations about New Orleans in the winter of 1814-15 Loual-
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lier was a member of a committee for procuring clothing and other supplies for the soldiers and in affording relief for the sick and wounded, in which capacity he rendered valuable service. On Feb. 28, 1815, Gen. Jackson ordered the French subjects of New Orleans, who held certificates of their nationality, to retire above Baton Rouge. This called forth a remonstrance from Mr. Loual- lier in the form of an article in the Courier de la Louisiane of March 3, in which he said: "If this last general order has no object but to inspire us with a salutary fear; if it is only destined to be read; if it is not to be followed by any act of violence; if it is only to be obeyed by those who may choose to leave the city in order to enjoy the pure air of the country, we shall forget that extraordinary order; but should anything else happen, we are of the opinion that the tribunals will, sooner or later, do justice to the victims of that illegal order. * Let us conclude by saying. that it is high time the laws should resume their empire; that the citizens of this state should return to the full enjoyment of their rights ; that in acknowledging that we are indebted to Gen. Jackson for the preservation of our city and the defeat of the British, we do not feel much inclined, through gratitude, to sacrifice any of our privileges, and, less than any other, that of expressing our opinion about the acts of his administration ; *
* that hav- ing done enough for glory, the moment of moderation has arrived; and finally, that the acts of authority which the invasion of our country and our safety may have rendered necessary, are, since the evacuation of it by the enemy, no longer compatible with our dignity and our oath of making the constitution respected." Jackson was greatly incensed at the publication of this remon- strance and ordered Louallier to be arrested as a spy and tried by a court-martial. He was accordingly arrested on the 5th and immediately engaged the services of P. L. Morel, an attorney. to secure his release on a writ of habeas corpus. Morel first applied to Judge Martin, of the state supreme court, who declined to issue the writ, for the reason that his court was one of appellate juris- diction only. Application was then made to Judge Dominick A. Hall (q. v.) of the U. S. district court. who granted the writ. but Jackson refused to release the prisoner. and he was tried on the 7th by a court-martial. of which Gen. Gaines was president. On the 9th the court rendered a decision of acquittal, which Jackson disapproved, and Louallier was held as a prisoner until the 13th, when the news of the treaty of Ghent reached New Orleans and he was set free. Martin says that "Louallier was indebted for his liberation to the precaution, which Eaton says, the president of the United States had taken. to direct Jackson to issue a proclamation for the pardon of all military offenses." The same authority thinks that Louallier, in the publication of his "communication." gave vent to his indignation "perhaps more honestly than prudently." but many of his fellow-citizens approved the course he had adopted, and after years demonstrated his sincerity, his patriotism, and his love for law and order.
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Louis XIV., king of France, called also Louis le Grand and Louis Quatorze, was born on Sept. 16, 1638, the eldest son of Louis XIII. and Anne of Austria, a daughter of Philip III. of Spain. He be- came king at the age of five years, under the regency of his mother, though during his minority the government was directed by Car- dinal Mazarin, whose administration was very unpopular. In 1659 he married Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of Spain, which marriage resulted in the peace of the Pyrenees and the end of the Thirty Years' war. Mazarin died two years later, when Louis assumed the reins of government. It has been said that "at that time France was without doubt the greatest and most compact power in Europe." The new king displayed political talents of a high order, by means of which he won great personal popularity, his subjects bestowing upon him the surname of "le Grand." Under the direction of Colbert, an able and far-seeing financier, the taxes were reduced and at the same time the royal revenues were increased. Commerce, literature and the useful arts were encour- aged during his reign and the power of France was extended in various directions. Upon the death of his father-in-law in 1665 the French dominion was extended toward the Rhine; Flanders and Franche-Comte were successfully invaded in 1667 and a large part of the territory was annexed to his realm; and in 1682 La Salle, acting under the authority of the crown, claimed all the Mississippi valley in the name of Louis, giving the territory the name of Louisiana. In 1688 Louis became involved in a war with Spain, Austria, England and the Prince of Orange, which lasted until the treaty of Ryswick in 1697. By the will of Charles II. of Spain Philip, Duke of Anjon, a grandson of Louis XIV., was made heir to the Spanish throne, and this brought on the war of the Spanish succession, which lasted until ended by the treaty of Utrecht in April, 1713. These wars prevented the king from giving much attention to his newly acquired American territory, and it was not until during the reign of his successor that much effort was made toward the settlement and development of the resources of Louisiana. He died on Sept. 1, 1715, after a reign of 72 years. Macaulay says of him: "No sovereign has ever represented the majesty of a great state with more dignity and grace. He was not a great general ; he was not a great statesman : but he was, in one sense of the words, a great king. Never was there so consum- mate a master of what our James I. would have called king-craft. Though his internal administration was bad, though his military triumphs of his reign were not achieved by himself, though his later years were crowded with defeats, he suceeded in passing him- self off on his people as being above humanity."
Louis XV, a great-grandson of Louis XIV. was born at Fon- tainebleu, France. Feb. 15, 1710, and succeeded his great-grand- father as king of France on Sept. 1. 1715. He was a son of the Duke of Burgundy and Maria Adelaide of Savoy, and was but five years of age at the time of his accession to the throne, under the regency of Philip, Duke of Orleans. Thomas says: "The minority
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of Lonis was a period of scandalous corruption in morals and politics. Among the ruinous errors of the regent's administration was his adoption of the financial system of the famous projector Law." (See Western Company.) Philip died in 1723 and the Duke of Bourbon became prime minister. At the age of 15 years Louis married Marie Leczinska, daughter of Stanislas, the de- throned king of Poland. In 1726 Cardinal Fleury succeeded the Duke of Bourbon as prime minister. He had been the preceptor of Louis, and by his wisdom and circumspection he restored some degree of order and prosperity. From 1733 to 1748 France was engaged in war, and again in 1755 she became involved in the Seven Years' war as an ally of Maria Theresa. The heavy drains upon the treasury by these wars forced Louis to give up Canada, and in 1762 the province of Louisiana was secretly ceded to Spain, over the earnest appeals and protests of the inhabitants. Louis died in May, 1774, "leaving his kingdom impoverished, oppressed and demoralized."
Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, was born at Paris, Oct. 6, 1773, a descendant of that Duke of Orleans who was regent to Louis XV, and through him of Louis XIII, king of France. He was styled the Duke of Chartres until the execution of his father in 1793, when he inherited the title of the Duke of Orleans. Prior to that time he had served with the French army in the campaign against the Aus- trians, and was the favorite lieutenant of Dumouriez, the general- in-chief. In April, 1793, he was summoned to appear before the comunittee of public safety for trial, but escaped across the Belgian frontier, and in 1796 came for greater safety across the Atlantic. Early in 1798, in company with his two brothers, the Duke of Mont- pensier and the Count of Beaujolais. he arrived in New Orleans. Gayarre says: "They met with a generous and warm-hearted re- ception, both from the Spanish authorities and from the inhabitants of Louisiana. Costly entertainments were given to them, and they spent several weeks in New Orleans and its neighborhood. They appeared to take much interest in the destinies of a colony which was the creation of France. and they examined minutely the sugar plantation which had been lately established by Etienne Boré, near the city." After remaining an exile in various countries until the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the duke then returned to France, and on Aug. 9. 1830, became king-often called the "Citizen King," because he refused to accept the crown except under a remodelled constitution. In 1848 he abdicated in favor of his grandson, the Count of Paris, but the republic proclaimed by Lamartine and others prevailed, and again he became an exile. He escaped in disguise to Great Britain and died at Claremont, England, in Aug., 1850.
Louisa (R. R. name Cypremort), a village in the southwestern part of St. Mary parish, is a station on a branch line of the South- ern Pacific R. R., 16 miles west of Franklin, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, an express office, a good retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 100.
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Louisiana .- The name Louisiana (or Louisiane) was given by La Salle in 1682 to all the territory drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. Margry says this name was first used by La Salle on June 10, 1679, in making a grant of an island to one Francis Daupin, when he made use of the expression "In a year from the day of our return from the voyage we are going to make for the discovery of Louisiane, etc." Hennepin's account, published in. 1683, says: "We have given the name Louisiane to this great dis- covery, being persuaded that your majesty would not disapprove that a part of the earth watered by a river more than 800 leagues in length *
* should henceforth be known under the august name of Louis, etc." (See Fortier's History of Louisiana, Vol. I, p. 21.)
Following, in chronological order, is a list of many of the prin- cipal events that have occurred in Louisiana since it was first vis- ited by white men. A more complete account of each of these * events will be found in this work under the proper title.
1541-De Soto discovered the Mississippi river, and in 1542 passed through what is now the northeastern part of the State of Louisiana.
1673-Marquette and Joliet, starting from Canada, descended the Mississippi river as far as the mouth of the Arkansas.
1682-La Salle descended to the mouth of the Mississippi and on April 9 claimed the country drained by the river in the name of Louis XIV, then king of France.
1684-La Salle sailed from La Rochelle, France, with four ves- sels to found a colony near the mouth of the great river, but missed his settlement was destroyed by the Indians.
his course and landed at Matagorda bay on the coast of Texas, where he established Fort St. Louis. In 1687 he was murdered and
1699-The first settlement in the province founded at Ocean Springs, Miss. (old Biloxi), by Iberville.
1702-Colonial headquarters removed to the west bank of the Mobile river.
1711-The present city of Mobile was founded.
1712-Antoine Crozat granted a monopoly of the Louisiana trade, with a considerable control in the colonial government.
1717-Crozat surrendered his charter and was succeeded by the Western Company, at the head of which was John Law.
1718-New Orleans founded by Bienville.
1722-Seat of government removed to New Orleans.
1727-Arrival of the Ursuline nuns.
1732-The Western Company surrendered its charter and Louis- iana became subject to the French crown.
1751-Sugar-cane introduced in the colony by the Jesuits.
1762-All that portion of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, with the city of New Orleans and the island upon which it stands, was ceded to Spain by the secret treaty of Fontainebleau.
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