New Orleans Republican., 1871-08-02

pay, but to make present to these gentle
men. The city had no money to do it.
The city had no money to pay her honest
debts. s.-4.r,.zs---- -z-..-s.a---,a-..
Mr.. Bonzano moved that the motion be
tabled. +
Carried.
Mr.. Bonzano called up the vagrant
ordinance introduced by the Administrator
of Commerce some weeks ago, and moved
its adoption. or
The ordinance was read, as follows:
An ordinance to suppress and punish
vagrancy in the city of New Orleans.
SECTION l. Be it ordained by the Council
of the city of New Orleans, That all idle
persons having no visible means wherewith
to support and maintain themselves, and
who live without employment; all persons
wandering abroad or about the streets,
wharves, landings, public squares or places,
and lodging in beer houses, market places,
sheds, barns, uninhabited buildings, or in
the open air. and not able to satisfactorily
account for such acts and conduct; all per
sons who, without any apparent means OF
honestly earning their livelihood and sup
port, or who live in or habitually loiter
about and frequent houses or places known
to the police authorities to be harboring
places for, and the resort of thieves, bur
glars and suspicious characters; all persons
who shall have been officially reported to
the police authorities of the Metropolitan
Police District in which the city of New Or
leans is included, by the police authorities
of any other State or city in the United
States, as a notorious thief or criminal, and
who shall remain in the city of New Orleans
without honest employment, or in some
honest avocation, twenty-four hours after
the said police authorities shall have nOti-
fed to such person that his character Is
known to them; all persons who follow the
occupation of enticing strangers and other
persons to visit gambling g-houses, or to
gamble; all ropers and cappers, and such
persons as are commonly known as pimps;
all persons who follow gambling for
vocation, and depend on gambling games,
OF furnishing rooms, tools or implements
for playing gambling games for means
of subsistence and income !; all per-
sons who are habitual beggars. and who
beg on the streets, or who 60 from house to
house soliciting aims without first having
obtained a permit therefor from the Mayor
of the city; all habitual drunkards who
shall abandon their families, or neglect or
refuse to aid in the support thereof. and
who shall be complained of by any member
of their family, shall be deemed, and are
hereby declared to be vagrants, and 1t shall
be the duty of the members and officers of
the Metropolitan Police TO arrest all such
persons when found within the limits OF the
city of New Orleans, and bring them before
any recorder holding his court within the
city, who shall hear and determine the
charge and accusation made against such
person without unreasonable delay, and if
he shall find the accused TO be guilty, and
vagrant, according TO the provisions OF this
ordinance, such recorder shall impose on
said yagrant fine not exceeding one hun
dred dollars, and in default of the payment
of such fine and all costs. may commit said
vagrant to the Parish Prison for term of
not exceeding one calendar
month; or such recorder may, in his discre.
ton, commit such vagrant TO the Parish
Prison for term OF imprisonment not ex-
ceeding one calendar month without fine,
as in his discretion shall best subserye the
ends OF justice.
SEC. =. Be it further ordained, That all
persons who shall, within the limits of the
city of New Orleans, establish. maintain or
keep any tavern, boarding house, grocery
house, grog shop, as a resortt for thieves, bur
glars or criminals and shall keep, harbor,
board or entertain therein, thieves, burglars
or notorious criminals, knowing such per
sons to be reputed thieves, burglars and
apparent honest vocation, business or means
OF support, and all persons keeping. estab-
fishing, or maintaining any place or places
known to be the resort of thieves, burglars,
or persons by the first section OF
this ordinance declared TO be vagrants, may
be arrested and brought before any re-
corder in the city, and upon conviction shall
be fined the sum of one hundred dollars
and in default of payment of fine and costs
chan bo 70 ha Dopicb D,iSnp
a time not exceeding one calendar month,
and upon a second conviction under this
section, it shall be the duty of the recorder
to commit the offender TO the Parish Prison
for the full term of one calendar month,
which punishment shall be repeated on each
conviction of such offender.
SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That this
ordinance shall be in full force and effect
from and after its adoption. approval by the
Mayor and official publication.
Mr.. Shaw said this ordinance entirely
ignored the fact that there was such
thing as WorkhOuse supported by the
city, and provided that all vagrants should
be sent to the Parish Prison, where the
board was eighteen dollars a month. He
did not know of any legal reason why they
should be sent there. Another thing-there
were a good many words used in this ordi-
nance which pertained more to the rogue's
vocabulary than to the language of legisla-
ton. What were ''cappers" and ''ropers
in 2" He moved that the word "Work-
house" be substituted for Parish Prison"
wherever it occurred in the ordinance.
Mr.. Renick seconded the motion.
The Mayor asked whether there was any
such otfense in law as being loafer.
Mr.. Shaw remarked that if We had to
pay eighteen dollars month for all the
loafers in the city there would be pretty
big bill He was afraid of the sweep of this
ordinance.
The Mayor said he did not mean to object
to the ordinance itself; he thought some
such ordinance indispensably necessary. He
only wanted it considered.
Mr.. Lewis said he had intended to bring
forward some amendments to this ordi-
nance. The cost in the Workhouse for
prisoners was seventeen or eighteen cents a
day; in the Parish Prison it was sixty cents.
If he thought this ordinance would effect
the closing of the gambling houses he GER
tainly would support it, but not in it's pres
ent form. The law passed by the Legisla-
ture gave power to the Police Board to
bring vagrants either before justices of the
peace or recorders. The position he had
always taken at the Police Board was to
designate recorders, so as to save justice
fees. Now, after one or two thousand dol
lars had been spent in justice fees, the Po-
lice Board themselves came in and adopted
The difficulty was with Judge
Cooley, who released all the vagrants com.
mitted under the act of the Legislature