The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-31

| Superintendent Of Public Education was pre-
scented In tho Senate Tuesday by the chairman
of the committee Judge II. d. Ogden. The
report shows thai of the appropriation OF 1871
the sum Of $4,000 Is ,lnaCcounted for, TINT by
an act of tho Legislature of 1872, st.f23,5o0
| were aliennted from the free school fund, CON
ssting Of bonds Of various descriptions; that
| tho sum of 5000, O6B % In the hands OF sehO
| treasurtrs under the late administration
unaccounted for, and that diversions from tn
school fund of $1,000 were made by the
Legislature of 1876 9 to pay interest. Thus
The school fund il short the enormous
sum Of s2,137 800 %. OF the $909, 1863 o. re-
ported unaccounted for in the hands of school
treasurers, $4Ol ,65i 45 seem to be total GER
tain loss, rs full reports have been received
from parishes showing this deficit. Reports
from the parishes Of Ascension. Claiborne.
East Baton Rouge, Grant, Iberville, La
| fourche, Morehouse, Natchtoehes, Red River,
Sabine, st. Charles, st. Helena. st. Martin,
| Union and Winn have not yet been received, but
we very much doubt If the remaining $685.,
at 81 will be satisfactorily accounted for in
those quarters. Indeed we think 1t safe to
calculate that very nearly the whole sum Of
| $g0g. 1863 % Ia absolutely lost to the State, and
gone into the pockets Of tho educational en-
| issares of the Radical party who went fortl,
| into the parishes to educate our young ourang-
| outangs.
| by act No 81 of 1879 the free school fund
was abolished. This was q sacred fund, con-
| slsting Of bonds and securities derived from
| the salo Of school lands and declared by the
| act Of the Legislature creating 1t to be- "a
| tn-sn
sI.123 800. The plunderers who then held
sway over the State abolished IL, as we
have said, by act No. 81 and made
way with the securities This act, by which
the State was robbed Of this large sum. the
present Supreme Court has declared to be
unconstitutional, and an act of spoliaton,
designed to deplete the treasury of every
available asset or fund In IT," Continuing,
the Court said "These school bonds were
supposed to be more saleable than Auditors
warrants and certificates of Indebtedness,
with which the State had been deluged
hence, some device to get hold of them had to
be concooted, and act No. 81 was tho result"
And agan. eve regard act No. 81 as violat-
ing tho faith and solemn pledges of the State"
And still again: 1--WE therefore regard tho
null and void, and that he acquired no title TO
them by virtue Of tho pretended sale under
section of said act No. 81
Here we have the highest court in the State
affirming In q formal and solemn Judgment
that act No. ST. by which tho school fund
was abolished and 81 ,t23.500 of bonds made
way with. was unconstitutional, null and void.
and that the so-oaled purchasers Of those
bonds acquired no title to them under that act.
The court went still further, and declared
that the act was one Of spoliation "a meas
ure Of robbery coolly and adroitly planned
The suggestion then occurs, may not the At
torney General seize these bonds as the prop
erty Of the State In the hands of present
holders, and should not the public officials
who were parties to this gigantic and SUCCESS
full robbery be indicted by tho Grand Jury and
prosecuted to the full extent of tho law It
may be difficult or impossible to trace up and
recover the bonds. About that we do not know |
But we are very certain that tho Grand Jury
will have little difficulty In learning who the |
parties are who perpetrnted this crime Let |
tho public, and particularly the Grand Jury |
take especial note that this is not an intern |
perate newspaper charge The Supreme |
Court Of Louisiana. composed Of able pure |
and considerable men, has solemnly, In a |
formal Judgment, declared that the act was |
one Of "spoliation intended and designed to |
depicte the treasury Of every available asset or |
fund" That, in plain English, 1t was do |
liberate and unmitigated act of robbery.
Ex-Gov. Warmoth, we Judge from his speech |
In tho House few days ago, is as familiar |
with the measures of the session Of 1879 as any |
other man in the State and the Grand Jury, |
or, II that body has adjourned, the Attorney |
General or District Attorney, might interro- |
gate him as to the history Of the passage of
this act. by which tho State was robbed Of |
81, l23,5oo, and as to the disposal of tho |
bonds which constituted the pundered fund |
We press this matter upon the law officers OF
the government and the Grand Jury because |
we think its prosecution may lead to impor
tant and interesting developments.
But whether it be possible or not to obtain |
redress for the State for this wrong the report |
Of the COMMITTEES to investigate the affairs of |
the Office of the Superintendent of Public Edu- |
cation gives some insight into the corrupt |
practices that prevailed during tho last two |
State administrations. We find that the |
enormous sum of 81. 1877, 800 of the school fund |
was made away with In u very few years. If a |
fund 50 sacred as this, and for which the Radi- |
calls claimed to have the highest regard, has |
been thus robbed, how much has been stolen |
from the other funds which the people were so
taxed to replete.
II all the reforms we desire in our govern
ment have not yet been accomplished: If direct |
taxation has not yet been reduced, 1t is some
TO know that the revenues of the |
State are no longer plundered, and that the
taxes are honestly appropriated to the pur-
poses for which they are exaeted
Tho honest disposal of the public revenues
and a large reduction of indirect taxation as |
shown by Gen. Young in the House a few |
days ago. are the first fruits of Democratic |
The people now look to their |
to proceed with the work of |
reform until the present enormous rate of |
direct Taxation is restricted within reasonable