USA > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans > Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, giving a description of the natural advantages, natural history settlement, Indians, Creoles, municipal and military history, mercantile and commercial interests, banking, transportation, etc. > Part 9
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The local authorities were limited to police regulations. Those adopted in 1751 by Governor Vaudreuil and de la Rouvillière, at that time Commissary General and Intendant, were practically the laws governing New Orleans dur- ing the entire French régime.
By these police regulations six taverns or barrooms were allowed in New Orleans. None but these licensed taverns could sell liquor, under a penalty to the seller of one month's imprisonment, a fine of ten crowns in favor of the poor, and a confiscation of all the liquors found in the house violating this regulation, the money derived therefrom to be paid into the King's treasury. The six li- censed taverns, however, were subject to many restrictions in the sale of liquor. They could sell only to travelers, sick people, residents of New Orleans and sea- faring men ; and they must do this "with requisite moderation." To sell liquor to a soldier, a negro or an Indian was to subject the tavern-keeper, thus violat- ing the law, to a fine of ten crowns, sentence to the pillory, confiscation of all wines and liquors found in the house, and for a repetition of the offense, to be sent to the galleys for life. It is doubtful if there was ever a more severe liquor law in America.
All saloons were required to be closed on Sunday and other holidays during divine service, under penalty of having their licenses repealed, and must be closed at 9 at night. The licenses cost 300 livres each, 200 of which amount went "to the ecclesiastical treasury," which, it is naively remarked, "needs very
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
much such relief," while the other hundred livres went to the maintenance of the poor of New Orleans, "who are in a great state of destitution."
The soldiers, however, were not only altogether shut off from drinking, but were required to patronize different establishments from the resident popula- tion and thus prevent trouble between themselves and the civilians. Two mili- tary barrooms were established ; they would be called "canteens" to-day. One of them was under the control and management of the major in command of the troops at New Orleans, and the other under the captain commanding the Swiss company ; for, as always under the Bourbons, a considerable portion of the gar- rison were composed of Swiss. The residents of New Orleans were prohibited from drinking at the canteens, as also were sailors, travelers, negroes and In- dians. The last two races were altogether denied the right of drinking liquor at any saloon or cabane whatever. The police regulations punished those who sold liquor to negroes, declared to be "tramps" those who had deserted their plantations and had come to New Orleans without permission, and ordered their return to the country.
The regulations as negroes were very severe. Parties, dances and assem- blages of all kinds were prohibited. They could go nowhere on the street, whether by day or night, without a pass which they had to show to any white person who claimed the right to look at it. Perhaps the most severe provision was one similar to a custom which prevails in the Transvaal Republic to-day -- that "any negro who shall be met in the streets carrying a cane, a rod or a stick shall be chastised by the first white man who may meet him, with the instru- ment found in the possession of the negro-that is, the cane, stick or rod." Any negro found on horseback who did not stop when ordered to do so by a white man "shall be shot." Any negro who shall offend his master, "in any way what- soever," shall be punished with fifty lashes and branded with "the fleur-de-lys in the back," in order to make known the nature of the crime." These regula- tions were made after a negro insurrection which had greatly alarmed the whites.
The severity of these and other laws passed in the colony was more appa- rent than real. It would seem that Draco was alive again, when the killing of a calf meant death, the sale of liquor to soldiers or Indians imprisonment for life in the galleys, and when a negro could be shot down by any white man who met him stealing a ride on a horse. As a matter of fact, these laws were seldom, if ever, enforced. They were mere dead letters-all sound and fury, and nothing else.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
It canot be said that New Orleans made much progress towards municipal government during the French régime. The severity of its police ordinances was slightly mitigated from time to time, and some improvements were made in its judiciary system, but the government remained autocratic and arbitrary, and the people themselves had little part or share in it.
THE CABILDO.
With the Spanish dominion, a radical change was made from the French to the Spanish system. The Superior Council was abolished and the Cabildo was established. In the redistribution of the powers of administering the laws a much larger share of the power passed into the hands of the military and ec- clesiastical representatives of the crown and church-as is always the case in Spanish countries-while the Cabildo, which may be regarded as representing the civil power, was given far fewer privileges than its predecessor, the Supe- rior Council, had enjoyed.
The Cabildo consisted of ten members, in addition to the governor and a secretary, called the escribando. The governor was, ex-officio, president, presid- ing at all meetings. There were two classes of membership in the Cabildo. One class, consisting of six members, acquired their seats by purchase and held office for life ; the other class, consisting of four, were elected annually on the first of each year, the retiring members participating in this ballot. They were re- quired to be residents of New Orleans and householders. They could not be re- elected to the Cabildo until they had been out of office two years, except by a unanimous vote. All the financial officers of the colony, as well as their bonds- men, were prohibited from election to the Cabildo, as well as those under 26 years of age or who had only recently became converted to the Catholic faith.
From the Cabildo, two members were elected alcaldes ordinarios, or judges, who probably were the most important officers. The alcaldes held court-each a separate court -- daily in the town hall, having jurisdiction over all cases, civil and criminal, where the amount in dispute did not exceed $20, thus correspond- ing to the recorders and justices of the peace of a later day. The alcaldes ordi- narios also held evening court at their residences, at which only oral decisions were rendered. Their judgments were subject to appeal in all civil cases. They had no jurisdiction over any one connected with the military or ecclesias- tical branches of the government, all such matters being given to the ecclesias- tical and military tribunals.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
Another of the four elective members of the Cabildo were called the sindico- procurador general, or attorney general syndic, who acted as the official repre- sentative of the people in the deliberations of the Cabildo. He was the prose- cuting officer against the town; he sued for revenues and other debts due the city; and he was present at all apportionments of lands.
The fourth elective officer was the mayor domo proprios, or municipal treasurer, who paid out money on the warrants of the Cabildo and who gave at the end of the year, when his term of office expired, a full account of the revenues and expenses of the city.
The rest of the memberships in the Cabildo were obtained by purchase, and it is probably the only instance in the history of American cities where the offices were put up for sale-at least openly, although stories have been frequently told of their purchase at private sale by prominent politicians. The seats in the Ca- bildo were sold by auction to the highest bidder. When a citizen who had pur- chased a seat in the Cabildo died, his heirs were allowed to use it, provided half the price of the transfer and one-third of the price of subsequent sales were turned into the royal treasury.
In these six seats sat the six regidors or administrators, the first of whom held the honorary office of Alferez real, or royal standard-bearer. The Alferez real was without official function, except in the case of the death or absence of one of the Alcades, when he filled the vacancy. He also enjoyed the great priv- ilege of carrying the royal standard in parades.
The second regidor was Alcalde mayor provincial, or extra muros, a magis- trate who had jurisdiction over offenses and misdemeanors committed outside the limits of the city, and with power and authority to overtake and capture those seeking to escape to the rural districts-such, for instance, as runaway slaves or fugitives from justice.
The third regidor was Alcuazil mayor, and acted as sheriff, superintendent of police and prisons; but the police did not exist until the last days of Spanish rule.
Two other regidors were deposidores general, or keeper and dispenser of government stores ; and recebidor de penas de camarara-receiver of fines and penalties. The sixth regidor had no special duty or assignment.
The Cabildo met every Friday in the town hall, or Jackson Square, which, from the body sitting there then, has earned for itself the title of Cabildo to this day. It sat both as a council and as a court-in the latter case as a court of appeal from the decisions of the alcaldes ordinarios, through two of the
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
regidors chosen by it, with the Alcaldes who had rendered the judgment appealed from, but only when the judgment was for less than $350. Cases involving larger sums were assigned specially by the king to such tribunal as he selected. The Cabildo had the right to fix the price of provisions, to sell the privilege of pro- viding the city with meat, and many other petty privileges permitted municipal- ities under the Spanish rule.
Appeals from the decisions of the Cabildo were carried to a special court in Cuba, or even to Madrid itself, if the matter was one of importance.
All matters affecting the soldiers and ecclesiasties were carried before a military or ecclesiastical tribunal, and judged by the fueros militares or fueros eclesiasticos. In civil matters the ordinary laws of Spain were in force-the recopilaciones of Castile, the fuero viejo, fuero jurico, partidas and accordados.
The governor exercised a certain control and power over the Cabildo very similar to the power exercised by the mayor of the city in later days; and no appropriation could be made by this municipal council, save for the most trifling and necessary expenses, without a permit from him.
The underlying design of the Spanish government in establishing the Ca- bildo was to so scatter the power in the hands of the royal and government officials as to neutralize its possibility for harm. After the experience of Spain with the old Superior Council, which had rejected the government of the Spanish, that power was determined that it would never again have that trouble to face; and it therefor created a council which had its hands tied and could do little or nothing.
The first Cabildo of New Orleans met December 1st, 1769, Governor O'Reilly acting as President. It included Francisco Maria Reggio, Pedro Fran- cisco Olivier de Vezin, Carlos Juan Bautista Fleurian, Antonio Bienvenu, Jose Ducros and Dyosio Brand. Juan Bautista Garic, who had been secretary of the old Superior Council, bought the office of secretary of the Cabildo.
Reggio was Alferez real, or royal standard-bearer ; Fleurian, Alcuazil may- or, or sheriff ; Ducros was receiver of supplies ; Bienvenu, receiver of fines and penalties ; and de Vezin, principal Alcalde provincial, or extra muros.
It is not stated how much the purchasers of the office of regidor paid for the honor ; but some years afterwards, when Bienvenu, who was one of the regi- dors, died, the position was bought from his heirs by Fagot de la Garinère for $1,400, money being then worth about five times its present value.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
Besides the offices already mentioned, the government included a treasurer, a contador or comptroller, a storekeeper and purveyor, a surveyor-general, three notaries and a cashier.
The Cabildo met January 1, 1770, and elected as Alcaldes ordinarios the principal officers in the city, de la Chaise and St. Denys. They were succeeded as follows :
1771-Chabert and Forstall.
1772-Amelot and Chevalier de Villiers.
1773-Duplessis and Doriocourt.
1774-Forstall and Chabert.
1775-Dufossat and Duplessis.
1776-D'Ernonville and Livandais.
1777-Forstall and Chevalier de Villiers.
1778-Navarro and Dufossat.
1780-Piernas and Duverger.
1783-Le Breton and Morales.
1785-Forstall and Kernion.
1786-Orne and Dufossat.
1787-Chabert and Reggio.
1788-Foucher and Argotte.
1790-Ortega and Almonaster.
1791-Marigny de Mandeville and de la Pena.
1794-Serano and Daunoy.
1795-Loris and Pontalba.
1796-Perez and de la Chaise.
1798-Serano and Argotte.
1800-Perez and Poyfarre.
1802-Forstall and Cassergues.
1803-Forstall and Lanusse.
The clerks of the council were Garic, Rodriguez and Mazange.
In 1790 the number of regidors were increased by six, on the ground of the
large increase in population of the city.
In organizing the Cabildo, Governor O'Reilly prepared the schedules of rules and regulations fixing the powers of the several officers. These rules and regulations were, to all intents and purposes, the charter of the city. They are very full and complete, covering even the minutest details.
Few changes occurred in the government of the city during the Spanish rule. This, as usual with Spain, was of a most conservative character.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
It will be noticed from the names of the members of the Cabildo that the Spaniards were glad to have the French Creoles take part in the city government of New Orleans. The provincial government, which was more important and had greater power, was, however, restricted to Spaniards alone. In the last dec- ade of Spanish rule the two Alcaldes ordinarios were usually divided between the French and Spanish population.
On taking possession of the government in 1786, Miro issued his bando de buen gobierno. This is the proclamation which the governor of a Spanish colony generally issues when taking possession, making known the principles under which he proposes to operate and the public ordinances he proposes to enforce. These ordinances, in brief, were as follows: No labor of any kind on Sunday or other public holidays; all stores and shops to be closed during the hours of divine service; no dance of slaves in the public squares during church time; a warning to "women of the town" not to pay "excessive attention to dress ;" women of color (mulattoes) forbidden to wear jewelry or plumes, and required tc wear handkerchiefs or turbans (tignons) around their head so as to distinguish them from the whites ; gambling and duelling prohibited ; rigorous prohibition of the carrying of dirks, pistols and other weapons (up to that time the better class of the population had been accustomed to wearing their swords, as in France) ; no meetings of negroes allowed at night ; no person allowed to leave or enter the city without passports; those leaving the colony required to give security for the payment of their debts; all persons reaching New Orleans required to present themselves at once at the government house and obtain a permit to remain in the city; all public meetings prohibited without a permit from the governor ; all walking out at night prohibited, except in cases of necessity, and not even then unless the walker carried a lantern (it was not until some years later that the city provided street lamps) ; no houses or apartments to be leased to a slave; saloonkeepers required to close their saloons at regular hours, and pro- hibited from selling wine to soldiers, negroes or Indians ; purchases from soldiers, Indians, convicts or slaves prohibited ; logs prohibited from running at large in the streets of the city, and the number of dogs to be kept by a citizen was limited. Measures were also taken to guard against conflagrations, for draining the streets and keeping the public landing on the levee unobstructed.
These ordinances, which it will be seen, are those of a very primitive com- pany, about illustrate the municipal and police government of New Orleans dur- ing Spanish rule, when the governor did not hesitate to interfere in the most
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
private concerns, even as in Italy during the Middle Ages, in the dress of the people, particularly that of the women.
The bando de buen gobierno issued by Governor Carondelet in 1792 was very similar to that of Miro. He, however, took the slaves more into considera- tion and issued a number of provisions in their favor, fixing the amount of food they were to be furnished with and the clothing to receive. He forbid their being given more than twenty-five lashes at one time, and provided that their Sundays belonged to them when they could not be compelled to work for their masters except in urgent cases, and must then receive pay for their services. It was the most liberal treatment they had ever received-far more liberal than they received afterwards.
The most important changes were made under the administration of Gov- ernor Carondelet in 1792, when the presence of the Americans in the colony be- gan to be felt. He divided the town into four wards, placing an Alcalde de Barrios with a commissary of police over each ward, with official control of fire engines, firemen and axmen. He appointed policemen, provided first for the lighting of the streets with lamps. In 1796 there were thirteen serenos, or night watchmen, in the city, and eighty street lamps. The expense of these improve- ments was borne by a chimney tax of nine reales ($1.12}) on every chimney. This tax being found insufficient, another levy was substituted for it-a tax on wheat bread and meat.
The many important public improvements made in the city under Caron- delet were made on an entirely different basis from those instituted by the early French and Spanish governors. The latter had compelled the inhabitants to fur- nish them negro slaves for the purposes of work. Carondelet tried a different plan of taxing them. In the matter of the fortifications erected around the city, which were then considered necessary, for the situation was growing rather threatening in the Southwest, he regarded the expense as belonging properly to Spain, and the people of New Orleans were required to contribute nothing, but merely to keep up the fortifications. The expenses of light, police, etc., etc., were borne by the inhabitants, being raised by a tax on chimneys and food.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
The resources of the city at the time, that is, for the last year of Spanish rule, 1802, were as follows :
Hire of stalls in the meat market. $ 2,350
Tax on beef, seven-eighths of a dollar. 3,325
Tax on veal, mutton or pork, on each carcass. 1,200
Hire of stalls in the vegetable and fish market. 1,383
Tax on bread, half a dollar a barrel on flour baked in the city* . 2,800
Licenses, $40 on barrooms, $20 on lodging houses, and $40 on billiard tables 3,500
Port charges, $3 on all ships at anchorage except American shippingt .. 500
Tax on Tafia (rum), $2 per pipe. 800
Ground rent on great square 132
Rent of the old market house, then used as a ball room and gaming house 1,800
Ground rents on the square opposite the hospital. 693
Moveable shops and stalls (peddlers) 360
Tax on vessels entering Bayou St. Jean, $1 a vessel. 470
Total revenue $19,278
This table gives the basis upon which the city revenue was raised for many years afterwards. As in France and Spain, the principal dependence was on the tax on food and the revenues from markets and licenses. These indeed pro- duced three-fourths of the total revenue. The direct tax on real estate and personal property, capital, houses and furniture was altogether ignored.
The expenditures are equally interesting, although not given in the accounts of the time as completely and fully. They were:
Commission of five per cent. to treasurers for all sums received by them $ Salaries of regidors, about $5 a month. 350
Salary of clerk of council. 200
Salary of porters (who collected the licenses) 420
Salary of sergeant (head of the street repairing department)
144
Salary of corporal (who superintended street cleaning) 144
City crier 144
City executioner. 180
Lighting the city, including 14 watchmen (serenos), who were also lamp- lighters
.
2,980
No itemized account was kept of the other expenses, such as cleaning and repairing the streets, etc.
* It was recognized that the bakers swindled the municipality in this matter, and did not pay their full dues.
t This money was received to keep the wharves in order.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
The Cabildo and the Spanish system remained in force until the cession of Louisiana to France. When Laussat, the French Intendant of Louisiana, took possession of the colony in 1803, he abolished the Cabildo, or old Spanish council, and established in its place a regular municipal government. Etienne de Boré, the first of the Louisiana sugar-planters, was chosen as mayor, and the council was composed of Villere, Fortier, Jones, Donalson, Faurie Allard, Trideaux and Watkins-five Creoles and three Americans. The secretary of the council was Derbigny, and the treasurer, Labatut. This government was intended merely as a stop-gap until a charter could be obtained for the city from the Territorial leg- islature; but it continued in office more than two years. De Boré, however, re- signed and Pierre Petit succeeded him as mayor pro tem.
CITY CHARTER.
Although the bill for the incorporation of the City of New Orleans had been introduced in the legislature as early as 1803, it was not passed until February 17, 1805. The city included then what are now the first, second and third mu- nicipal districts and some territory on the west bank of the river. Under the charter the government was placed in the hands of a mayor, treasurer, re- corder, and a city council of fourteen aldermen, apportioned among the several wards as follows, until a census of the city could be taken, when the aldermen were to be apportioned according to population, one for each 700 inhabitants :
Ward.
Aldermen.
1-Canal to Conti .. 2
2-Conti to St. Peter 2
3-St. Peter to St. Philip. 2
4-St. Philip to Esplanade. 2
5-Faubourg Marigny (third district) 2
6-Faubourg St. Marie (first district) 2
7-Upper portion of city (now part of first ward of New Orleans) 1
8-Settlements on Bayou St. Jean 1
The election was held in March, and resulted in the choice of James Pitot as mayor, and the following aldermen :
Ward. Aldermen.
1-Felix Arnauld and James Garrick.
2-Francis Duplessis and Joseph Faurie.
3-Col. Bellechasse and Guy Dreux.
4-Antoine Arzotte and La Bertonnière.
5-Thomas L. Harman and P. Lavergne.
7-Perez.
8-Guerin.
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STANDARD HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS.
The city government thus organized was largely on the model of other American municipalities. It was decidedly more American than French, and contained very few of the principles of Spanish municipal government, save in the control of the markets, licenses, fixing the price of bread, meat and other products. On account of the small revenue of the city, it often ran behind in its expenses, and more than once the salaries, from the mayor down, had to be cut in order to meet the deficit.
The mayor exercised the usual powers of a chief magistrate. He presided over the council; he was the head of the police and fire departments. Both of these were largely volunteer. There was a small force of watchmen (the city guard), ill paid ($20 a monthi) ; but the services of policing was done by the militia (the militia patrol), and an attempt was made to organize a force of firemen. It is noticeable, as showing the condition of affairs then prevailing, so different from what it was a few years afterwards, that a large proportion of both the police and firemen were free negroes.
James Pitot had been elected mayor in March, 1804, but served only until July, 1805, when he was succeeded by Dr. John Watkins. On March 9, 1807, James Mather became mayor and served until 1812, when Nicholas Girod was elected by a vote of 859 out of 1,411. Pierre Meissonier was elected re- corder at the time. On September 4, 1815, Augustin Macarty, a creole of Irish descent, was elected to the mayoralty.
The new government went energetically to work to improve the city, taking up the work where Gov. Carondelet, who had been the most progressive of the Spanish governors, had left off. An order was issued by it in 1805, requiring the laying of banquettes, or side-walks, with which, up to that time, very few of the streets, save in the center of the town, were provided. It was required that these banquettes should be at least five feet wide, with curbs of cypress and the pavement of wood, brick or masonry.
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