New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-01-30

OF THE
STATE OF LOUISIANA
SENATE.
Nineteenth Days Session.
SENATE CHANBER,i
New Orleans, January %, 1874.
The Senate met pursuant to adjournment
and was called to order by Hon G.. G. An
toine. Lieutenant Governor of the State
and President of the Senate.
On call of the roll the following Senators
answered to their names:
Messrs. Anderson, Alexander, Barber, Bel
den, Blunt, Bovee, Butler Burch, brewster,
Gage, ChadbOurn Crawford, Daige, Greene,
Harris, +. +. Herwig, Harper, Ingrahain,
KeIso, Masicot, Pollard Rey, Swaizie, Sy-
pher. STAMPS, Thomas, Twtchell, Weber,
Wharton, Whitney-30
The President announced quorum
present.
Prayer by the chaplain.
The reading of the journal Of yesterday g
proceedings was dispensed with, and the
journal corrected and adopted.
MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE.
HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVE
New Orleans, January %, 1874
10 the Honorable President and Members OF the
senate:
am directed by the House to ask the
concurrence of your honorable body IN the
following House bill, viz:
House bill No. 49, an act to exempt the
town of Coushatta, parish of Red River,
from parish taxes.
Also, to inform you that the House has
r,It fol lie viz
Senate bill No. 247, entitled an act to fix
the term of the district courts in the Fit
teenth Judicial District Of the State OF Lou
iSiana.
Senate bill No. 24G entitled an act fixing
the time of holding the district court in the
Fourth judicial District of the State OF
Louisiana, comprising the parishes OF st.
Charles, st. John the Baptist, st. James and
Ascension.
Senate bill No. ll3, entitled an act to in
corporate the Bank of Delta.
Also, that the House has indefinitely
postponed Senate bill No. 25i, entitled an
act to amend and re-enact section 9S6 of the
Revised Statutes of Louisiana, 1870.
Very respectfully.
JOHN w. ROXBOROUGH,
Assistant Clerk.
QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGES.
Mr. Burch made personal explanation,
sending the New Orleans Picayune to the
Secretary's desk, and directed the reading
OF "A certain paragraph relative to himself,
therein published. After the reading of
the same, MIR. Burch explained his reasons
for his actions in the Senate.
Mr.. Blunt made personal explanation
relative to the correction of the journal.
IN recording his vote upon the funding bill,
declaring that he voted against laying his
own motion on the table.
The president ordered tbs correction TO
be made.
PETITIONS AMI MEMORIALS.
Petition of the citizens of the parish Of
St. Martin, protesting against the ocnfrma
tion of OnesiphOre Delahoussaye, ST., as
tax collector, and Onesiphore Delahoussaye.
Jr., as sheriff Of said parish.
Referred to the Senator of the district
composed of the aforesaid parish.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.
Mr.. Anderson chairman of the Committee
on Judiciary submitted the following re-
port on Senate bill No. 900, entitled an act
to abolish the Superior District Court for
the parish of Orleans, to provide for the
exercise of the jurisdiction previously held
by it and and for the transfer of the cases
and records of the said court.
Reported by substitute.
Mr.. Crawford submitted the following
minority report from the Committee on Ju-
dietary:
COMMITTEE ON JrDICiARyl
knrrn rla
The undersigned member of the Judiciary
Committee of the Senate, respectfully sub
mits the following miHority report on the
substitute to bill No. 800 OF the Senate to
abolish the Superior District Court:
BY article eighty-three of the constitution
there were created for the parish of Or
leans seven district courts, until otherwise
provided. The First is the criminal court
the Second the probate, and the Third court
OF appeals from justices of the peace, the
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh were
courts of concurrent and general juIisdic- |
ton, each one having the same right to |
grant iDjuncti0ns, mandamuses and writs |
of quo warranto. 1t was soon discovered |
after the courts were organized under
the constitution, that this concurrent u- !
risdiction of the four last named courts |
was calculated to produce. and did pro- |
duce, great confusion among the courts. |
ana operated injuriously; one court would |
grant an injunction, mandamus or quo war
ranto, and another one of those courts would |
grant some writ in conflict with the pre-
viOusly granted writ, and as each court had |
equal and concurrent jurisdiction there was
no power to decide between them, hence
the confusion and acrimonious feeling it en-
gendered between the judges. To obviate
this difficulty, in 1870, the Legislature en-
acted the Eighth District Court which, by
the act of 1873, was abolished, and the Su-
perior District Cont created in its stead,
with power more sufficiently defined to car
ry out the above purposes, which will ap
pear by the following paragraph:
THAT the Superior District Court shall
have exclusive jurisdiction to issue writs of
Injunction, mandamuses, quo warranto,
and entertain all proceedings and to try all
cases or actions in which the right to any
office, State parish or municipal. is in any
way involved. Also, exclusive original
jurisdiction over all cases or proceedings in
which the State of Louisiana, the municipal
corporations of the city of New Orleans,
the Board Of Metropolitan Police, the Board
OF School Directors or any cooperation es-
tablished by the General Assembly, shall
be party or interested"
The objects for which this court was
created have been fully attained by this act,
and there is no longer that conflict of juris
dictlon between the courts SO injurious to
htigants and irritating and troublesome to
the judges, and the same cases are tried in |
this court that would have to be tried in
some other court, subject to revision on ap
peal to the Superior Court; there is no such
a thing now as the plaintiff selecting from
among the courts the one before which he
might think, from friendship of the judges
previous rulings of the court or other causes
he might think he would have the advan-
tage, which was done before the Superior Dis
trict Court was created, in the class of cases
al L.. Il.