USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. III > Part 9
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Resolved, That we approve the tone, temper and reasoning of the President's proclamation, and we trust that it will be the means of recalling the majority of the people of South Carolina from their misguided purposes and prevent the effusion of blood in domestic strife."
The speakers were Samuel Livermore, Bernard Maligny and John R. Grymes. A similar meeting was held at Opelousas, and was presided over by Judge Lewis. Another presided over by Dempsey Kemp was held at Montpelier. A legislative committee also reported against nullification.
In 1832 the legislature authorized the construction of a peni- tentiary and incorporated the towns of Covington and Jackson. The following year they passed an act incorporating the Agri- cultural Society of Louisiana, with thirteen directors and with
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authority to raise five hundred thousand dollars by subscription. In this connection it was designed to conduct a model plantation, where experiments in agriculture, horticulture, etc., could be . turned to the benefit of the husbandman. This movement was really an anticipation of the more recent agricultural colleges and experiment stations, and speaks well for the early enterprise and sagacity of the Louisiana legislators; but it was too early for such an enterprise to succeed. Such movements have their periods of growth, just as agricultural products do. Another very important act of this legislature was the incorporation of a Board of Public Works and the creation of a fund for internal improvement "to be applied exclusively to the purposes of render- ing navigable and uniting by canals the principal water-courses and of more intimately connecting by public highways the dif- ferent parts of this state," the fund to be annually the sum of twenty thousand dollars, to be drawn from various state revenues. They also passed acts incorporating the New Orleans Commercial Library ; prohibiting lotteries not sanctioned by the state; grant- ing the government house in Donaldsonville to the police jury to be by them converted into a seminary of learning ; authorizing the governor to subscribe for ten thousand dollars of stock in the . West Feliciana Railroad Company ; incorporating the New Or- leans & Carrollton Railroad Company, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars; incorporating the Clinton & Port Hudson Railroad Company, with a capital of one hundred thou- sand dollars, and with authority to build a line from Port Hudson to Clinton in Fast Feliciana parish; incorporating two railroad companies in Rapides parish: One, called the Alexandria & Chenyville Railroad Company, to extend a line from Red river in Alexandria to Chenyville on bayou Boeuf; and the other, called the Rapides Railroad Company, to extend a line from the south side of Red river at the mouth of bayou Rapides to the bend in the same near the center of Franklinport and Land; founding a state library, and constituting the secretary of state the superintendent of public instruction. At this date the Board of Public Works was very active, inspecting all the water-courses of the state, clearing them of their rafts and other obstructions, getting all levees under control and all built according to approved dimensions, and destroying the vast accumulations of decaying organic matter thrown up by the floods for centuries. It was a memorable period of enterprise and progress in a successful pursuit for better conditions.
The administration of Governor Roman expired in February, 1835. It was succeeded by that of Edward D. White. In his
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first message Governor White regretted the act of congress in lowering the duty on sugar. He admitted that such step was a conciliatory measure that had shaken the Union to its foun- dations, but that the storm had finally been quieted by the "Com- promise Bill" of Henry Clay. While realizing that Louisiana would be one of the sufferers under the new law, he expressed the hope that the Louisianians would by their industry overcome any serious results. He noted that congress had lately taken action in regard to the unsettled land claims in the state.
In 1836 he stated that not since the invasion of the state by the British had Louisiana been so profoundly shaken as over the trouble between Texas and Mexico. The clash of arms on the western border had plunged the state into tumult. So great was the interest of the Louisianians that many of them had rushed without regard to the consequences across the border to the assistance of the Texans. He had been compelled to issue a proc- lamation forbidding such hostile proceedings, but still the citizens continued to pour into Texas. The legislature, upon the recom- mendation of the governor, sent a considerable force to fight the Seminoles in Florida. The governor warned the legislature against the designs of the abolitionists in the North and West, and dwelt in detail upon the results likely to follow. He denounced the continued neglect of congress to grant lands to the state for the benefit of education and for public improvement.
In 1834 there were several candidates for governor. Judge J. B. Dawson was the Jackson candidate; Roman was the Whig candidate. Messrs. White and Prieur were also brought forward for the same position, the latter being a Jacksonian and the mayor of New Orleans. At the polls E. D. White was successful defeat- ing the then present governor, Roman. At the election of United States senator in December, 1833, to succeed Josiah S. Johnson, deceased, the first ballot was as follows: Alexander Porter 31, Gen. Joseph Walker 30, Colonel Nicholas I ; second ballot, Porter 32, Walker 30. In 1835 Mr. Waggaman, then in the United States senate from Louisiana, wrote a strong letter to the legis- lature, entreating them to nominate and support Daniel Webster as the Whig candidate for the presidency.
The same old vexations distinctions between the inhabitants continued to be made. The Bee of April 6, 1835, said, "Yet in Louisiana, scarcely emerging from infancy, an invidious distinc- tion is attempted to be made between naturalized and native citi- zens, not indeed fortunately so much by native Lonisianians as by native Americans or citizens of other States, whose fatuity points not only the finger of scorn against themselves, but affords an
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opportunity for considering their claims and making them impar- tially be excluded from the very offices for which they are so ardently desirous. Those who are really Louisianians, or as they are commonly termed Creoles, must look on the contest as being urged by those whose claims for themselves are exceptionable and can as effectively use the species of arguments against Americans of other States enjoying the official advantages of Louisiana as those same Americans can against the natives of other countries. Those Americans migrate to Louisiana for the same purpose as foreign- ers, and they are entitled to the privileges of this State only by the same laws which entitle foreigners equally. If, then, these Amer- icans pursue the system of exclusion toward foreigners it can equally be turned against themselves. May not a naturalized for- eigner be as competent and eligible a citizen of Louisiana as a citizen of another state? If so, should a difference be made? If a preference should be made between candidates for an office, it should be undoubtedly given to natives of the state cetaeris pari- bus when their qualifications are equal ; but that native citizens of other States should be preferred to naturalized citizens of this State is what cannot be conceded in justice, propriety or policy. It is indeed advantageous for Louisiana to be populated with intelligent persons, but it is perfectly immaterial to her whether those persons have been born in other States or in other countries. They became her citizens without distinction and are now equally entitled to her privileges. When she denies those privileges to foreigners, she must in self-defense or reciprocal justice deny them also to American citizens not born in the State." A little later the same paper said, "Since Governor White has come into office he has made ninety nominations and of these he has ap- pointed only eight or ten naturalized citizens to offices of profit. All the other appointments have been of native citizens. Does not this evince a want of patriotism and fully justify the outrage done to the hall of assembly?" The state senate confirmed the appointments of the governor, but the house endeavored to cen- sure him and failed.
The debt of Louisiana in 1828 amounted to one hundred forty- five thousand five hundred and ninety-six dollars; by 1834 it had increased to two hundred sixty-six thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars. It was noticed by the newspapers at this time that the revenue had doubled in ten years. Although New Orleans had easily been carried by the Jacksonians, it was swept by the Whigs in 1834. The Democrats had carried it by about 500, but in 1834 White for governor and Johnson for congress . carried it by about 415. The Whigs also elected a majority of the
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legislature. During the campaign it was shown that White had saved the land owners of the state from speculators, and had secured many valuable appropriations from congress. But it was noted against him that he had voted for a gradual reduction of the duty on sugar. Dawson, the Democratic candidate, opposed rechartering the United States Bank, but the Whigs favored such procedure. The Citizens Bank bill was before the assembly at this time. It asked for a capital of twelve million dollars. The Whigs asked, if this demand should be granted, why refuse to recharter the United States Bank for thirty-five million dollars, the sum desired? In this campaign the Americans and "I'an- cienne populacion" were again as usual arrayed against each other in spite of many efforts to the contrary. The legislature in December, 1833, considered the proposition of Mr. McDonoughi "praying to be allowed to educate and to emancipate afterward forty of his slaves with the intention of sending them to Liberia." The subject was discussed and finally laid on the table.
Several important acts were passed by the legislature in 1834. The most notable were those to incorporate the Montpelier Acad- emy ; to create and incorporte the New Orleans Chamber of Com- merce ; to incorporate a society for the relief of destitute widows and indigent females ; to authorize the governor to purchase a set of the work of J. J. Audubon, "The Birds of America;" to empower the Board of Public Works to buy for the use of the state any number of slaves not exceeding one hundred and fifty; to incorporate the St. Bernard Railroad, with a capital of fifty thon- sand dollars, and with permission to construct a line from the Mississippi to some point on bayou Terre aux Boeufs, and to urge congress to remove the large raft in Red river. What was called the "grand levee" had been built by the inhabitants at great expense, many years before, above Pointe Coupee; but in 1834 it was found necessary to construct a new one at the point known as the "cut-off" in order to prevent a vast area of country from being inundated. The legislature authorized the police juries of the parishes interested to examine the situation and report whether such a "cut-off" should be built.
In 1835 the Atchafalaya Railroad & Banking Company was incorporated with a capital of two million dollars and with author- ity to construct a line from the Mississippi river in Pointe Coupce parish to a point near the courthouse in St. Landry parish. At the same session the legislature appropriated sixty-two thousand one hundred and fifteen dollars with which to buy slaves for the Board of Public Works. Immense improvements were to be
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made on West Pearl, Bogue-Chitto, Bogue-Falia, Tanchi-Pahoa, Natalbany, Tiekfaw and Amite water courses, the work to be carried on steadily for a period of five years. Montpelier Acad- emy in St. Helena parish was incorporated. The New Orleans Drainage Company with a capital of one million dollars was incor- porated at this time, the purpose of which was to drain the marshy ground and cypress swamps in the vicinity of New Orleans. Of the stock of this company the state took conditionally fifty thou- sand dollars, and the city took three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Among other acts were the following: Incorporating the Firemen's Charitable Association of New Orleans and the Medical Society of the same city ; placing in the hands of the police juries the power to locate the various parish boundaries ; authoriz- ing the governor to fix and mark the western boundary from the thirty-second parallel in the Sabine, north to the thirty-third par- allel; incorporating the New Orleans & Nashville Railroad Company with a capital of six million dollars, of which a large amount was reserved for the state and the city of New Orleans, the directors being authorized to begin selling stock as soon as Mississippi should pass a similar act ; making a large appropria- tion for the relief of Jefferson College; appropriating a large amount annually for the support of several colleges ; incorporat- ing the Red River Railroad Company, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars and with authority to build a line from Alexandria to Chenyville and on to bayou Huffpower and further if desired ; authorizing the governor to purchase for the Board of Public Works as many as two hundred able-bodied slaves, the price of each not to exceed one thousand dollars, and the cost to be charged to the internal improvement fund, which fund was to be increased by the issuance of bonds to the amount of five hundred thousand dollars ; incorporating the Plaquemine Rail- road Company with a capital of twenty thousand dollars ; incorpo- rating the Medical College of Louisiana and the Medical College of New Orleans; incorporating the West Felicana Asylum and appropriating five hundred dollars annually for four years for its support, and urging upon congress the importance of removing certain large obstructions in the Red and Atchafalaya rivers.
In 1836 the Lonisianians did not like the Harrison and Grainger ticket, because of Harrison's avowed hostility to slavery. The citizens were not unmindful of the course of the new abolition movement in the North, a movement which they saw had grown to powerful proportions by 1836. The movement boded interfer- vnice with their private institution ; rumors to the effect that the 11-7
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slaves were to be bought and colonized were current. In this extremity many of the Whigs voted with the Democrats and many of the others voted for the brilliant Kentuckian, Hugh L. White. The result was that the Van Buren electors received 3,653 votes and the Whig electors 3,383. In December, 1836, Alexander Porter, United States senator, resigned, and was sharply criticised by the Whig and other papers for leaving at a critical time. It was .in this year that a corps of Louisiana volunteers under the command of Col. P. F. Smith served in Florida against the Semi- noles ; they were finally paid by the government. It was at this time also that General Gaines asked for a brigade of Louisiana militia to serve along the Sabine, but this was refused, as it would have been a hostile act against Mexico. The Texas question became important at this time ; of course, the Louisianians favored the annexation of that Mexican province to the United States. In 1837, the governor laid before the legislature the resolutions of abolition societies in many of the Northern states. He said, "In this posture of things it devolves on us, in common with those whose interests are identified with our own, to protect ourselves and ours against these pseudo-philanthropists. Let us carefully examine our statutes on this head with the view to give them all requisite efficiency. Beyond the measures of legal precaution, for the present, whatever alternatives the progress of events may offer, will form a proper subject of reflection when the necessity for the consideration shall present itself. In the meantime we should not deceive ourselves as to the possibility of a crisis. The agitators emboldened by impunity boast of increasing consequence and numbers."
Alexander Mouton and John Slidell were the opposing candi- . dates for the United States senate vice Porter resigned, both being Van Buren men. John R. Grymes, also a strong Democrat, was a candidate for the same office. A. B. Roman was the Whig candidate for this place. Mouton won for the unexpired term and for the following term of six years. For the unexpired term the vote in the legislature was as follows: First ballot-Mouton 31, Slidell 28, blank 6; second ballot-Mouton 31, Slidell 28, blank 6; third ballot-Mouton 32, Slidell 28, blank 6; fourth ballot-Mouton 33, Slidell 26, blank 6. The Whigs made no con- test on the unexpired term, but for the full term, Mr. Brashear nominated A. B. Roman. Mr. Slidell nominated Mr. Monton, in a very graceful speech. The result was as follows: Mouton 40, Roman 21, blank 4.
In 1836 the following measures became law: Investing the
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governor with power to appeal to the citizens of Louisiana for the purpose of raising a corps of volunteers to march as soon as practicable to the assistance of the inhabitants of Florida against the Seminoles, and placing seventy-five thousand dollars at his disposal to pay the necessary expenses, of which sun five thou- sand dollars was immediately appropriated for the use of those then ready to go; raising the annual appropriation for the Male Orphan Asylum from two thousand five hundred dollars estab . lished in 1828, to seven thousand dollars; authorizing the gov- ernor to expend fifty thousand dollars for the purchase of guns, pistols and other arms for the use of the militia of the state; removing the seat of justice from Russellville to the new town of Overton ; incorporating the Springfield & Liberty Railroad Com- pany with a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; incorporating the Livingston Railroad Company with a capital of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars; incorporating the Lake Providence & Red River Railroad Company with a capital of two million dollars; incorporating the Baton Rouge & Clinton Railroad Company with a capital of six hundred thousand dollars ; incorporating the Claiborne Academy ; incorporating the Iberville Railroad Company with a capital of one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars ; appropriating ten thousand dollars for the comple- tion of the penitentiary ; incorporating the New Orleans Catholic Association for the relief of male orphans ; incorporating the West Feliciana Agricultural Society ; asking congress to give United States titles to land in Florida, Feliciana county, La., the prefer- once over Spanish grants, permitting claimants under the latter titles to select tracts elsewhere; authorizing the Board of Public Works to examine many water-courses with the view to their improvement, and incorporating two theatre companies in New Qrleans.
Among the important laws enacted in 1837 were the following : To incorporate the Mandeville & Pearl River Railroad Company, the Madisonville & Covington Railroad Company, the Mexican Gulf Railroad Company, the Louisiana & Mississippi Railroad Company, the Natchez & Sabine Railroad Company, and the Vidalia, Harrisonburg & Alexandria Railroad Company; to appropriate annually but not exceeding in any one year, forty thousand dollars, certain revenues, such as forfeited bonds, fines, etc., for the support of Charity Hospital; to expedite the con- struction of the New Orleans & Nashville Railroad by the state's lending the company five hundred thousand dollars and taking a first mortgage on the property of the corporation; incorporating
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the West Baton Rouge Academy, the Ouachita Female Academy at Monroe, the Louisiana Institute in Ascension parish, the Cov- ington Female Seminary, the Fellenburg Institute and other educa- tional organizations. At this time immense improvements were being made by the Board of Public Works. This legislature passed a resolution approving the recently expressed views of the governor concerning the proceedings of certain abolition societies and the views of the Kentucky and South Carolina legis- latures on the same subject, embraced in late resolutions, propos- ing a convention of the slave-holding states "to inquire into and determine on the best possible means to obtain 'peaceably if they can, forcibly if they must' that respect for their institutions to which they are entitled by the positive enactments of the Federal compact and by the stronger law of self preservation."
In the contest for governor in 1838, the Bee said editorially, "There are several Richmonds now in the field, and before the election we should not be greatly surprised if there was one for cach parish in the State. The strongest candidate and in our opin- ion the most preferable yet named is Mr. A. B. Roman. Should party spirit not prevail in the contest, he will receive an almost unanimous vote. His clear head and profound acquaintance with the interests of Louisiana, as well as his amiable and engaging manners have made him universally popular." Whether this suggestion had anything to do with his selection, he was chosen by the Whigs as their standard bearer and was elected by a major- ity of about 900 over many other candidates representing vari- ous factions of the Whigs and the Democrats. During his cam- paign the question of the annexation of Texas was discussed. On the slavery question, or rather the abolition question, the Dem- ocrats and the Whigs were a unit. The congressional bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia was denounced. All of the papers commented stringently on the acts of Northern men in assisting runaway slaves to escape. The many resolutions of abolition societies were vigorously opposed and disunion was openly threatened with the hope that it would put a stop to the violent course of the abolitionists. The speeches of Birney, Tappan, Garrison, Gerrit Smith and others in favor of abolition received unstinted condemnation.
The panic of 1837 obliged all the banks of Louisiana to suspend specie payments, nor did they resume again for several years nor without the assistance of the legislature. All business in the state suffered in common with that of other states. In February, 1830, Andre B. Roman was inaugurated the second time as gov-
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ernor. He called the attention of the legislature to the outrage imposed upon Louisiana by a detachment of armed men from Texas, who invaded the state as far as Shreveport. He consid- ered in detail the acts of the abolitionists of the North, and inti- mated that they were trying to dissolve the Union unless they conkl effect their detestable object. He stated that the state was then enjoying a fair degree of prosperity, and made several wise recommendations regarding industries and improvements.
In 1838 Louisiana received under the act of congress approved June 23, 1836, the sum of three hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars, and employed the same to discharge her obligations to the various banking institutions of the state, in which she had taken stock, and to the various educational institutions for the support of which she had made large appropriations. In this ycar, there were incorporated the Pontchartrain Railroad company, the Bath Railroad Company, the Poydras Academy in Point Coupce parish, the Caddo Academy, the College of Baton Rouge, the Johnson Female Academy in Donaldsonville, the Greensburg Female Academy, the towns of Plaqnemine, Thibodeaux, Spring- feld, Port Hudson and others, the Franklinton Academy, and the Pine Grove Academy. The legislature passed a resolution approving the course of the Southern delegation in congress "in manifesting their determination manfully and with energy to resist by all constitutional means any attempt which may be made to abolish slavery in any portion of the Union by the action of Congress." In the preamble to this resolution, the legislature noted the attitude of the Northern congressmen on the slavery question, declared that congress had no constitutional power to interfere with slavery, announced that such an interference would operate to the dissolution of the Union, and rejoiced that recently the Southern delegation left their seats in congress in a body rather than "listen to charges false in their nature and insulting and dangerous in their tendency to the common welfare." An act establishing a state library and appropriating one thousand dollars annually therefor, was passed at this session.
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