rice. In 1889 there were over 1,000 cars of rice carried. In 1890 there were 2,000 cars; in 1891, 5,000 cars; in 1893, 10,000 cars of rice."

The Levees. The growing efficiency of the levee system is shown by the statistics of crevasses in 1893, compared with those in former years when the river was not so high. The Governor's message says: "The floods of the great river during 1892 and 1893 below the Arkansas at certain points were higher than ever known. During the year 1892 6 crevasses occurred in Arkansas, on the Mississippi river, and 28 in Louisiana, 23 of which were promptly closed. The aggregate length of lines destroyed on the Mississippi, including the levees in Arkansas, was 2 miles. During the flood of 1893 there were 3 crevasses in Arkansas on the Mississippi river, and 7 in Louisiana, 5 of which were closed. The total length of line in this State and Arkansas destroyed during that flood was 1 miles."

In May a convention was held in Shreveport of citizens opposed to the building of levees along the Red river, in Louisiana. They adopted resolutions denouncing levees as the cause of all the floods in the region represented, and demanding that all the outlets closed be reopened. The resolutions petition the Legislature to take measures to carry out the proposed abolition of the embankments. On the other hand, it is affirmed that the levees have afforded all the protection there has been against floods, and failures are due to imperfections and old work which is not up to the modern standard.

Labor Riot. The Screwinen's Benevolent Association having ruled that its members should no longer work with colored screwmen, and declared a boycott against those who employed them, a riot took place on the levee, Oct. 27, where negroes were loading the vessels of a steamship company. They were violently driven from their work, and suffered not only bodily injuries, but also the loss of their tools, which were thrown overboard. The riot operated greatly to the damage of the commerce of the port. An injunction was served against the association to prevent it from interfering with the business of the company.

Con

Water Ways.-A water-ways convention was held in New Orleans, beginning Jan. 9. gress was memorialized for funds to improve the harbor and develop the internal water courses of the State, especially Old and Red rivers, Bayou Plaquemine, Atchafalaya, Ouachita, Teche, Lafourche, Courtableau, Bœuf, and Grand Lake, with its connections. Congress was also urged to "take prompt action to the end that navigation of the Monongahela may be freed from private control and placed where it belongs with the General Government"-in order that consumers of coal and other products going down by way of that river may no longer be subject to the heavy tolls now exacted by the private corporation that is enjoying facilities provided by the extensive improvements made by the General Government at both ends of the Monongahela.

Another memorial to Congress, asking for improvement of the harbor, was prepared by the council and various commercial bodies of New Orleans. An appropriation was made by Congress for improvement of Bayou Lafourche.

Legislative Session. -The General Assembly was in session from May 6 to July 12.

The appointment of Senator E. D. White to the bench of the United States Supreme Court, in February, left a vacancy to be filled by the appointment of the Governor, who named Newton C. Blanchard. Donelson Caffery, who had been appointed to fill the unexpired term of Senator Gibson. was elected in joint session of the Legislature for the following term by a vote of 97 out of 125.

A report was submitted by the constitutional commission appointed by the General Assembly of 1892 to prepare proposed amendments to the Constitution. Amendments relating to the following subjects were recommended:

A radical change in the qualifications of the voter, making the property or educational qualification the alternative; the voter to be able to read the Constitution in his mother tongue, or to be possessed of $200 worth of taxable property, and to have paid his poll tax.

Provision for an increase in the amount of money devoted to public schools, with removal of the restrictions on the appropriation for salaries of State and parish superintendents and support of the office of the former; also provision for local taxation for school purposes; and for payment of the interest of the seminary fund out of the general instead of the public education fund.

Revision of the law that requires six courts of appeals with 12 judges, holding two annual terins in each parish, so that there should be two circuits in the State with 3 judges each these 6 judges to be elected by the people in 1900, and meantime those 6 of the present judges whose terins do not expire till that date to preside over the reorganized courts. The maximum limit of these courts to be $3,000.

Another amendment proposed would vest in the Supreme Court jurisdiction over "all cases arising under the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States, or under the Constitution of the State, or in which the legality of costs, fees, charges, or allowances shall be in dispute,

whatsoever may be the amount thereof," and

also vesting in that court original jurisdiction of proceeding to disbar attorneys for unprofessional conduct. By the present law, attorneys can be disbarred only on conviction of crime or misdemeanor. In the matter of district courts, the amendments would leave the number and terms to be fixed by law, and prohibit more than 1 judge to each district; the General Assembly to fix the qualifications of justices of the peace, and extend their jurisdiction to cases of $200 exclusive of interest.

Amendment to make it mandatory on the General Assembly to provide for the trial of offenses below the grade of felony before a jury of 6 in number, or by the court at any regular or special term, and also to permit the General Assembly to provide in both criminal and civil cases that a verdict be rendered by a less number than the whole. Criminal jurisdiction not being vested in justices of the peace in this State, there were only two alternatives, in order to provide speedy trial for minor offenses creating a special criminal court in every parish for the trial of misdemeanor, and amending the Constitution so as to permit the trial of such cases before the court at any time, with or without a jury

of 6.

Provision for enabling the people of any parish or municipality to tax themselves for public improvements by a majority vote of property taxpayers, and while protecting them against taxa

tion for the profit of private corporations, enabling them to aid such general enterprises as are to promote the general welfare.

Giving the Assembly sixty working days for its session, except in 1896, when ninety days are to be allowed; also enabling the Assembly to enact revisions of general statutes and codes without reading in full in each House.

Empowering the Assembly to provide by law for pensions to Confederate veterans, and including such pensions in the objects for which the taxing power of the State may be exercised.

Providing for suspension of accused public officials pending trial.

Abolishing the penitentiary lease system.

Simplification of articles on homestead and

exemptions.

Striking out the paragraph limiting expenditure of the agricultural bureau.

Allowing city elections to be held on days other than those of State elections.

Removing the restriction allowing contracts for State printing, etc., to be given only to residents of the State.

A bill to call a constitutional convention was voted down, and the proposed amendments, in modified form, were passed as joint resolutions, to be submitted to vote of the people.

There was a general demand for a radical change in the election laws-such change as would secure fair elections and honest counting, and a sentiment in favor of the Australian ballot law or a modification of that. An act was passed to regulate elections, but it was not regarded as radical enough for the emergency, and was generally condemned by the press of the State.

A railroad commission was provided for, and a State board of arbitration.

The formation of a naval reserve battalion was authorized, to form part of the National Guard, and to be organized and equipped according to the general plan outlined by the Navy Department at Washington.

A lien law was passed to secure workmen and furnishers of materials for buildings. It applies only to cities of 50,000 or more, and to contracts for $1.000 and over.

Another act authorizes colleges in the State to confer diplomas on women in the practice of law, medicine, and pharmacy, when they possess the same qualifications and requirements as men do in said professions.

A new law was made for the treatment of leprosy patients. The Governor is to appoint a board of control for the Leper Home. Late in the year a home was secured in Iberville Parish. An old family mansion is to be repaired and taken for the purpose.

Other measures were as follow:

Prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors, except for medicinal purposes, within 3 miles of certain colleges and schools.

Providing for the treatment of indigent inebriates at the expense of parishes and municipalities.

To prevent the spread of infectious diseases of fruit trees.

Creating a bureau of agriculture and immigration, and providing for the appointment of a commissioner. Appropriating $1,200 for expenses of locating positions of State regiments at Chickamauga and Gettysburg.

To suppress lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets, and advertisements of the same.

To prohibit the sale or gift of intoxicating liquors to minors, also prohibiting the employment of women to dispense or distribute liquors.

Requiring equal but separate accommodations for white and colored people in depots, and equal but separate coaches.

To regulate the sale and purity of commercial fer

tilizers.

To provide substantial artificial limbs, and the repairs of same when necessary, for citizens of this State who lost a limb or limbs in the military service of the Confederate States.

Authorizing candidates for State and municipal offices to contest before the courts the election of their opponents.

To prohibit the board of school directors of the several parishes of this State from combining the public schools thereof with any private or parochial schools or other institutions of learning under the control or management of any church, religious order, or association, or any religious sect or denomination, and to prohibit them from employing as professors or teachers in the public schools of this State any preacher, minister of the Gospel, priest, or other minister of religion, member of any monastic or other religious order, who is in the actual service of any church or religious order of any sect or denomination whatever, as a teacher or minister of religion.

Resolutions were adopted declaring it to be the sense of the General Assembly that United States Senators should be elected by direct vote of the people, and that Louisiana Senators and Congressmen should work to that end; and requesting the Representatives of the State in Congress to urge the passage of an act requiring an appropriation of $25,000 to remove the sediment in Bayou Terrebonne and complete the dredging there; and placing the Chalmette monument under the care of the "Daughters of 1776 and 1812."

Politics and the Sugar Interest.-The action of Congress on the Tariff bill and its influence on the sugar interest of Louisiana caused great dissatisfaction in the southern sugar-planting part of the State. The crop for 1894 was estimated at 845,000,000 pounds, on which the bounty would be $16,000,000. The prospect of the loss of this, and what was felt to be the unfriendly attitude of the Democratic party toward the great industry of a State that had seldom failed to give its full vote to that party, came near making a very serious break in the political relations of those interested. They regarded the bounty on sugar as one of the terms of a contract entered into by the Government with them, to run for fifteen years, on the faith of which they had improved the plants for extracting sugar from the cane, spending large sums for machinery, which otherwise would not have been justified by the value of the product.

The sugar planters held a convention in May, and sent a copy of the resolutions adopted to the Senators and Representatives in Congress, with a memorial, in which they set forth the arguments in favor of the continuance of protection to the sugar interest. Following is an

extract:

If this governmental policy be now suddenly reversed and the sugar planters of Louisiana be abandoned to hopeless competition with the superior natural advantages of tropical countries and with the government-aided sugar industry of European countries, the sugar industry of Louisiana will be instantly annihilated, all these extensive improvements will

become mere useless incumbrances on the soil and

utterly valueless, our plantations will pass under the sheriff's hammer in foreclosure of mortgages which they will not satisfy, half the people of the State will be thrown helpless on the world without employment, and Louisiana will present a picture of desolation comparable only to the Palatinate after its devastation by the armies of its invaders.

Another convention of sugar planters was held Sept. 17, in which they came out openly for the Republican party. The resolutions, which were adopted without a dissenting voice, after reciting

the injury that would result from the discontinuance of the bounty, continued:

We enter our solemn protest against the continuance of the treaty with Hawaii by which, under the necently enacted tariff, the producers of sugar of those islands, with the coolie labor, will receive from the sugar consumers of the United States of over $6,000,000 per annum.

a

bounty

We earnestly recommend and urge the people of Louisiana to organize themselves into clubs, committees, and conventions with the view of electing memhers from each district to the Congress of the United States pledged to stand by the national Republican party in the organization of the House of Repre

sentatives and the protection of American industries.

We hereby declare the causes which lead to the inauguration of this movement are of a financial and industrial nature, and that the character and standing of its leaders are a sufficient guarantee that they will ever advocate good government to the whole Teople of this State. We therefore demand a fair

election and an honest count and return of the votes as cast, and we expect at the hands of the chief executive of this State to see to it that we have a fair representation on all boards of registration and elec

tion.

The first attempt to test the bounty question in the courts was made in September by an application of the Miles Planting Company of Louisiana to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia for a mandamus to compel Secretary Carlisle to direct the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to appoint the necessary inspectors at the sugar houses of the company to inspect the sugar manufactured under licenses issued by the United States. The petition to the court declares that inspectors have been refused by the Treasury Department on the ground that the passage of the tariff law stopped all further payment of bounty, which the petitioners deny. The judge of the court at once issued an order directing Secretary Carlisle to show cause on Oct. 4 why the demand of the petitioners should not be granted. The court refused the mandamus, Oct. 12, and the counsel for the company gave notice that he would move for an appeal to the appellate court of the district.

The grounds on which the adverse decision rested were: First, that the act conferring bounty had been repealed; second, that if that act were regarded as a contract, still "no provision of the Constitution prohibits Congress from interfering with the validity of contracts as it does the States"; third, that even if there were any doubt of the repeal of the provision, the writ should be denied, because the duty required of the Secretary and commissioner is not ministerial, but executive, being a procedure involving discretion and judgment in expounding

the revenue laws.

The case came before the Court of Appeals in

November, and the court decided, in January, 1895, against the sugar planters, holding that the bounty was unconstitutional.

The State Board of Agriculture undertook the supervision of the crop, on the application of the planters, in order that an official record might be kept and certificates obtained by the planters in case the bounty should be paid on the crop for this year.

A meeting was held in New Orleans, Nov. 27, for the purpose of taking measures for securing the bounty on this crop, and a memorial to Congress was adopted setting forth that everything needed for the production of the crop. except har

vesting, was done before the repeal of the law; that while the bill was pending the planters, who had been withholding contracts for sugar-house machinery, being assured that the bounties for 1894 would be paid, entered into engagements with bankers and merchants to borrow money to improve their machinery in view of the necessity for reduced cost in manufacturing sugar; that in the early part of 1894 the iron industries connected with sugar were everywhere idle, and not until assurance had been given that the bounty would be paid was there any change. After the action of the Senate caucus the sugar-house work required of the various foundries was more than they could handle, and to-day the contracts engaged to be paid out of the crop will bankrupt the sugar producer and still leave such amounts unpaid as will swamp the furnishers of supplies and machinery; that the whole costs incurred in producing the cane crop and converting it into sugar will reach $28,000,000, while not more than $20,000,000 will be realized from it; that "the expected increase of price for sugar over last year's price, by reason of the 40 per cent. ad valorem tariff, has not been realized, partly owing to the large supply of sugar in foreign markets, but more particularly to the effect of the passage of the tariff bill, which induced in advance the heaviest importations of sugar into the United States that have ever taken place within the same limits of time."

LUTHERANS. The summary of statistics of the Lutheran Church in the United States and Canada for the year 1894 is as follows: Four general bodies, 61 synods, 5,491 ministers, 9,303 congregations. 1,332,932 communicant members, and about 7,000,000 baptized members; 3,401 parochial schools, 2,951 teachers, and 198,787 pupils;

controversy had withdrawn and for a time occupied an independent position. They were heartily welcomed by the president, and 2 delegates were elected to represent the general body at the next convention of the Norwegian Synod.

Much time was devoted to the discussion of a thesis prepared by the Rev. Prof. Adolph Hoenecke, Milwaukee, Wis.. on the subject of Fanaticism." Business sessions were held every afternoon, at which the educational and home and foreign missionary interests were considered and acted on. The educational institutions maintained by the synods in connection with this body number 4 theological seminaries, 11 colleges, 6 academies, and 15 benevolent institutions. Two new colleges were established within the last year

ers, and 457,385 scholars. The benevolent contributions for the year 1893-'94 (10 synods not reporting) amounted to $902,660.43; but if the correct figures could be secured the amount would be more than $1,250,000. These contributions are for home and foreign missions and other benevolent operations of the Church, and do not include the amounts contributed for maintenance of the educational institutions of the Church, nor the amounts contributed by individuals for various interests of the Church, nor the contributions sent to missionary and other societies in Europe. The money thus contributed and not included in the synodical reports amounts, at a low estimate, to another $1,000,000.

There are within the Church, and under its control, 26 theological seminaries, 40 colleges, 37 academies, 13 ladies' seminaries, 35 orphans' homes, and 45 asylums for the aged, deaconess institutions, hospitals, and other institutions of benevolence and mercy. The 116 educational institutions have property valued at $4,507,050, the endowment amounting to $1,332,748; they employ 715 instructors, and have 12,092 students, 2,730 of whom are in preparation for the ministry (only half the institutions reporting the latter item). The 80 benevolent institutions report the value of property at $2,327,992, endowment amounting to $186,050, and 32,554 inmates. The periodical literature of the Church in North America, not counting parish papers, embraces 47 English publications, 49 German, 12 Norwegian, 7 Swedish, 4 Danish, 3 Icelandic, 3 Finnish, 2 Slavonian, and 1 French.

Of the 4 general bodies, only the synodical conference held a convention during the year. The fifteenth biennial convention of this body was held in St. Matthew's Church, Milwaukee, Wis., beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1894. The synodical sermon was delivered by President Bading. The following officers were elected: President, the Rev. John Bading. Milwaukee, Wis.: vice-president, the Rev. P. Brand, Pittsburg, Pa.; secretaries, the Revs. Christian Kuehn, Belleville, Ill., and C. Frank, Evansville, Ind.; treasurer, Mr. H. A. Christiansen, Detroit, Mich. This general body consists chiefly of German Lutherans, and embraces the large synod of Missouri, Ohio, and other States, and the synods of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the English synod of Missouri and other States. At this convention 2 delegates were present from the Norwegian Synod, which had formerly belonged to this body, but on account of the predestinarian

cordia College, at St. Paul, Minn. A work to which a great deal of time was devoted and for which a large amount of money has been expended is that of the mission among the freedmen of the South. Missionaries are supported by the Church, and congregations and schools are established and supported in numerous places in the Southern States. Mission work is also carried on among the Indians. Steps were taken at this convention toward the beginning of a mission in some foreign country. China was selected where the beginning should be made, but owing to the breaking out of war this field has been abandoned, and later India was selected, to which country 2 missionaries were sent during the present year. The next convention of this body will be held at Evansville. Ind., in August, 1896. This body embraces 1,590 ministers, 2.234 congregations, and 456,883 communicant members.

The statistics of the other general bodies are:

While these general bodies held no conventions during the year the interests of the Church were cared for by the various boards. The missions in India, both of the General Council and the General Synod, and the mission of the latter in Africa, are making commendable progress. New missionaries were sent to India by the boards of both general bodies. No accurate statisties of this work can be given, as the boards report only biennially.

Within the General Council the event of the year was the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the theological seminary at Philadelphia, now located at Mount Airy. in that city. This institution is the result of the far-sightedness of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. who had in mind the establishment of a theological school as one of the great objects for which the Ministerium of Pennsylvania was organized. His son-in-law and successor, the Rev. Dr. J. Christian Kunze, cherished the same project, and made preparations for it by establishing a Lutheran academy in Philadelphia. After Dr. Kunze's removal to New York, Drs. Helmuth and Schmidt repeatedly urged the project, and meanwhile had almost constantly some theologieal students under their care. Nearly a hundred years afterward the seminary was establishedin 1864-without buildings and with no endowment. In a short time, however, several chairs were endowed, and the work of the institution prospered. More than 700 students have been educated in the seminary. In the Ministerium of Pennsylvania alone 205 out of 309 pastors on the roll at the last meeting received their training in this institution. In the Ministerium of New York 61 out of 136 are enrolled on the records of the seminary. More than half of the ministers in the Pittsburg Synod are among the seminary alumni. Some of her sons have fallen in India, and others are still laboring there. The alumni of the seminary are scattered over the United States. They are laboring in all the general bodies of the Lutheran Church, a Philadelphía alumnus being president of the General Synod. The president and 3 of the professors of the new theological seminary in Chicago are graduates of this institution: so also is 1 member of the faculty of the seminary itself. She has had among her students natives not only of the United States, but of Canada, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Russia, and Hindustan. When, in 1893, the venerable chairman of the faculty, the Rev. Charles W. Schaeffer, D. D., LL. D., celebrated his eightieth birthday, he was greeted by the students in 6 languages. The seminary has property valued at $130,000, and endowment amounting to nearly as much more.

Among the independent synods, the Joint Synod of Ohio held its thirty-second convention at Columbus, and took an important step in the selection of a president who shall devote his time to the work of the synod. The Rev. C. H. L. Schuette, formerly Professor of Theology in Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, was elected to this office. The Ohio synod is one of the oldest bodies of the Church in this country, and has numerous important institutions and operations under its control. The synod has 389 ministers, 548 congregations, and 71,768 communicants.

The fifth annual convention of the United Norwegian Church was held in St. Paul, Minn., June 13-21, 1894. The meeting was attended by 700 clerical and lay delegates, and by about an equal number of visitors from the congregations. The following are the officers of the synod: The Rev. Gjermund Hoyme, Eau Claire, Wis., president; the Rev. Theodor H. Dahl, Stoughton, Wis., vice-president; the Rev. Jens C. Jensson, Clinton, Wis., secretary; and Hon. Lars Swensson, Minneapolis, Minn., treasurer, The synod was organized in 1890, and has 300 ministers, 1,028 congregations, and 107,830 communicant members, and last year expended rearly $70,000 for missions and works of mercy. The treasurer's report showed that the synod possesses, in property and endowment, $170.(), The report on educational institutions for the last year showed that the theological seminary at Minneapolis had 39 theological and 60 collegiate students, who were cared for in temporary quarters, the institution having no buildings. A committee was, however, appointed at this convention to take steps toward securing land and money for the much needed buildings. Angustana College, at Canton, S. Dak., reported 140 students; St. Olaf College, at Northfield,

Minn., 129 students; Concordia College, at Moorhead, Minn., 216 students; the college at Grand Forks, N. Dak., 254 students; the normal school at Madison, Minn., 98; the institute at St. Ansgar, Iowa, 150; and the Indian mission school at Wittenberg, Wis., 155 students. Pacific University, at Tacoma, Wash., was opened for the reception of students in the fall of the year. The mission superintendent called attention to the fact that the most important points for mission work at present are Chicago and the Pacific coast. The mission treasurer reported an income of $21,000 during the year for missions, and the receipts for educational and benevolent work as amounting to $100,000.

The tercentenary of the birth of Gustavus Adolphus, which occurred on Dec. 9, was very generally observed throughout the Church in America, as well as in Europe, by Lutherans of all nationalities, as also by other Protestants. Gustavus Adolphus was the Lutheran hero of the North, the defender of the faith against Romanisın, and a martyr for Protestantism. He was born, Dec. 9, 1594, at Stockholm, Sweden, and was the son of Charles IX and grandson of Gustavus Vasa. By the latter the Reformation was introduced into the country, and all Scandinavian countries have been Lutheran ever since. King Charles died, Oct. 30, 1611, and his son Gustavus was crowned King. He is particularly known in history as the defender of the faith during the Thirty Years' War, 1618-'48. Gustavus, seeing the wrongs against the Lutheran princes and people, and being urged by the smaller states and many free cities of Germany, came to the help of his fellow-Lutherans, landed in northern Germany at the head of his Swedish and Finnish soldiers in June, 1630. In eight months he had captured 80 fortified towns and cities. He defeated the armies of Tilly and Pappenheim near Leipzig, in September, 1630. From this time he began to be regarded as the liberator of the Protestants, and by the following spring almost all Bavaria was in his possession. During 1632 numerous battles were fought, in one of which, at the river Lech, near Rain, Tilly was mortally wounded. While the army of Gustavus was victorious, that of the Elector of Saxony was defeated by Wallenstein, who now united his forces with the imperialists of Bavaria and marched against Gustavus. They met at Luetzen, near Leipzig. The night of Nov. 5, 1632, was spent in preparation for battle, and in the morning of the 6th, when the fog lifted, the soldiers, with Gustavus, were kneeling in their ranks. They sang Luther's battle hymn, "A mighty fortress is our God," and Gustavus's hymn, "Fear not, O little flock," and then charged the enemy with the prayer, "Lord Jesus, help me to fight for the honor of thy name!" The King was killed while leading his soldiers, but his army defeated Wallenstein and gained the decisive battle of that war.

Another event of more than ordinary importance to Lutherans in this country was the bicentennial celebration of the Francke institutions at Halle, Germany, which was attended by two representatives of the Church in this country. The connection of the Halle institutions with the Lutheran Church in this country was very close during the eighteenth century.