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Today in New Orleans History |
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May 1
 The City of New Orleans and its environs,
with all its interior and exterior defenses, having been surrendered to the combined naval and land forces of the United States,
and having been evacuated by the rebel forces in whose possession they lately were, and being now in occupation of the forces
of the United States, who have come to restore order, maintain public tranquility, enforce peace and quiet under the Laws
and Constitution of the United States, the Major-General commanding the forces of the United States in the Department of the
Gulf, hereby makes known and proclaims the object and purposes of the Government of the United States in thus taking possession
of the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, and the rules and regulations by which the laws of the United States
will be for the present and during a state of war enforced and maintained, for the plain guidance of all good citizens of
the United States, as well as others who may heretofore have been in rebellion against their authority.
Thrice before has the City New Orleans been rescued from the hand of a foreign government, and still more calamitous domestic
insurrection, by the money and arms of the United States. It has of late been under the military control of the rebel forces,
claiming to be the peculiar friends of its citizens, and at each time, in the judgment of the commander of the military forces
holding it, it has been found necessary to preserve order and maintain quiet by the administration of Law Martial. Even during
the interim from its evacuation by the rebel soldiers and its actual possession by the soldiers of the United States, the
civil authorities of the city have found it necessary to call for the intervention of an armed body known as the "European
Legion," to preserve public tranquility. The Commanding General, therefore, will cause the City to be governed until
the restoration of Municipal Authority, and his further orders, by the Law Martial, a measure for which it would seem the
previous recital furnishes sufficient precedents. All persons in arms against the United States are
required to surrender themselves, with their arms, equipments and munitions of war. The body known as the "European
Legion," not being understood to be in arms against the United States, but organized to protect the lives and property
of the citizens, are invited still to co-operate with the forces of the United States to that end, and so acting, will not
be included in the terms of this order, but will report to these Headquarters. All flags, ensigns
and devices, tending to uphold any authority whatever, save the flag of the United States and the flags of foreign Consulates,
must not be exhibited, but suppressed. The American Ensign, the emblem of the United States, must be treated with the utmost
deference and respect by all persons, under pain of severe punishment. All persons well disposed towards
the Government of the United States, who shall renew their oath or allegiance, will receive the safeguard and protection,
in their persons and property, of the armies of the United States, the violation of which, by any person, is punishable with
death. All persons still holding allegiance to the Confederate States will be deemed rebels against
the Government of the United States, and regarded and treated as enemies thereof. All foreigners not
naturalized and claiming allegiance to their respective Governments, and not having made oath of allegiance to the supposed
Government of the Confederate States, will be protected in their persons and property as heretofore under the laws of the
United States. All persons who may heretofore have given their adherence to the supposed Government
of the Confederate States, or have been in their service, who shall lay down and deliver up their arms and return to peaceful
occupations and preserve quiet and order, holding no further corespondence [sic] nor giving aid and comfort to the
enemies of the United States will not be disturbed either in person or property, except so far under the orders of the Commanding
General as the exigencies of the public service may render necessary. The keepers of all public property,
whether State, National or Confederate, such as collections of art, libraries, museums, as well as all public buildings, all
munitions of war, and armed vessels, will at once make full returns thereof to these Headquarters; all manufacturers of arms
and munitions of war will report to these Headquarters their kind and place of business. All rights
of property, of whatever kind, will be held inviolate, subject only to the laws of the United States.
All inhabitants are enjoined to pursue their usual avocations; all shops and places of business are to be kept open in the
accustomed manner, and services to be had in the churches and religious houses as in times of profound peace.
Keepers of all public houses, coffee houses and drinking saloons, are to report their names and numbers to the office of
the Provost Marshal; will there receive license, and be held responsible for all disorders and disturbance of the peace arising
in their respective places. A sufficient force will be kept in the city to preserve order and maintain
the laws. The killing of an American soldier by any disorderly person or mob, is simply assassination
and murder, and not war, and will be so regarded and punished. The owner of any house or building
in or from which such murder shall be committed, will be held responsible therefor [sic], and the house will be liable
to be destroyed by the military authority. All disorders and disturbances of the peace done by combinations
and numbers, and crimes of an aggravated nature, interfering with forces or laws of the United States, will be referred to
a military court for trial and punishment; other misdemeanors will be subject to the municipal authority, if it chooses to
act. Civil causes between party and party will be referred to the ordinary tribunals. The levy and collection of all taxes,
save those imposed by the laws of the United States, are suppressed, except those for keeping in repair and lighting the streets,
and for sanitary purposes. Those are to be collected in the usual manner. The circulation of Confederate
bonds, evidences of debt, except notes in the similitude of bank notes issued by the Confederate States, or scrip, or any
trade in the same, is strictly forbidden. It having been represented to the Commanding General by the city authorities that
these Confederate notes, in the form of bank notes, are, in a great measure, the only substitute for money which the people
have been allowed to have, and that great distress would ensue among the poorer classes if the circulation of such notes were
suppressed, such circulation will be permitted so long as any one may be inconsiderate enough to receive them, till further
orders. No publication, either by newspaper, pamphlet or handbill, giving accounts of the movements
of soldiers of the United States within this Department, reflecting in any way upon the United States or its officers, or
tending in any way to influence the public mind against the Government of the United States, will be permitted; and all articles
of war news, or editorial comments, or correspondence, making comments upon the movements of the armies of the United States,
or the rebels, must be submitted to the examination of an officer who will be detailed for that purpose from these Headquarters. The transmission of all communications by telegraph will be under the charge of an officer from these Headquarters. The armies of the United States came here not to destroy but to make good, to restore order out of chaos,
and the government of laws in place of the passions of men, to this end, therefore, the efforts of all well disposed persons
are invited to have every species of disorder quelled, and if any soldier of the United States should so far forget his duty
or his flag as to commit any outrage on any person or property the Commanding General requests that his name be instantly
reported to the Provost Guard, so that he may be punished and his wrongful act redressed. The municipal
authority so far as the police of the city and crimes are concerned, to the extent before indicated, is hereby suspended. All assemblages of persons in the streets, either by day or by night, tend to disorder, and are forbidden. The various companies composing the Fire Department in New Orleans will be permitted to retain their organizations,
and are to report to the office of the Provost Marshal so that they may be known and not interfered with in their duties.
And, finally, it may be sufficient to add, without further enumeration, that all the requirements of martial law will be
imposed so long as, in the judgment of the United States authorities it may be necessary. And while it is the desire of these
authorities to exercise this government mildly and after the usages of the past, it must not be supposed that it will not
be vigorously and firmly administered as occasion calls.  
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Ernest Nathan Morial (known as Dutch) (October 9, 1929–December 24, 1989) was a U.S. political
figure and a leading civil rights advocate. He was the first black mayor of New Orleans, serving from May 1, 1978
to May 5, 1986. He was the father of Marc Morial, a subsequent New Orleans mayor. Morial, a New Orleans native, grew up in
the Seventh Ward. His father was Walter Etienne Morial, a cigarmaker, and his mother was Leonie V. (Moore) Morial, a seamstress.
He attended Holy Redeemer Elementary School and McDonogh #35 Senior High School. He graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana
in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1951. In 1954, he became the first African American to receive a law degree from Louisiana State
University in Baton Rouge. Morial attended summer school throughout his law school tenure in order to graduate as the first
African American. Had he not done so, another classmate, Robert F. Collins, would have graduated at the same time, thus
entering into the history books as, technically, the first African American graduate of LSU Law, by virtue of his last name:
"C" comes before "M." Collins would later become the first black federal judge in the American South.
In 1991, Collins was convicted of bribery, resigned, and imprisoned.
The commission form of government lasted until 1954 when it was replaced by
a mayor-council form provided for in a home rule charter authorized by constitutional amendment of 1950. This amendment
declared that the city would have "the authority to adopt and enforce local police, sanitary and similar regulations
and to do and perform all of the acts pertaining to its local affairs, property and government, which are necessary or proper
in the legitimate exercise of its corporate powers and municipal functions." This grant of power did not apply, however,
to constitutional agencies, the Board of Liquidation, City Debt, the civil service system and the pension systems of the
Sewerage and Water Board and the fire and police departments. The city was also prohibited from exercising any power which
is inconsistent or in conflict with general law, and, without legislative sanction, from decreasing the salaries or increasing
the hours of employment in the fire and police departments. The state legislature, in turn, was forbidden to amend or repeal
the home rule charter "other than by general law which uniformly applies, both in terms and in effect, to all cities
of the state." The classification of cities for purposes of legislation was permitted only if the classification is
based on total population and is made to apply to no fewer than the five largest cities of the state, including New Orleans.
Such legislation is not to become effective in New Orleans, however, until approved by the voters of the city. The city
can amend or replace its own charter either by ordinance or by petition signed by 10,000 voters, with approval by a majority
of the electorate in both instances. While the home rule amendment was before the legislature, Mayor Morrison issued
a public statement in which he declared that, if the amendment was passed by the legislature and approved by the voters,
the council would create a non-partisan commission of civic leaders to prepare the draft of a new charter. Shortly after
the November election, in which the amendment was approved by a majority of more than two to one, the mayor asked a group
of civic organizations and institutions to name three persons from whom the council could choose one. When several members
of the council objected to this system, the mayor modified his proposed ordinance to authorize the organizations either to
designate one representative on the committee or to nominate two or more persons from whom the council would select one.
The ordinance also provided for two additional representatives to be named by the council itself. In this form it was passed,
with April 1, 1952 as the deadline for submission of the proposed charter to the council for approval.' The committee
hired a small research staff, which was headed by the director of the Bureau of Governmental Research. The staff prepared
a total of 111 brief reports on the boards and commissions located in the city, devoted principally to their historical
and legal background." The committee considered the various forms of city government used in the United States and
held public hearings to permit interested citizens and organizations to present their views. The proposed charter was submitted
to the council by the deadline date and approved by it with some amendments. The voters of the city were given an opportunity
the following November to vote either for the retention of the old form of government or in favor of the new. The new charter
was adopted and went into effect on May 1, 1954. The charter provides for a mayor-council form of government with
a chief administrative officer who is appointed by, and is responsible to, the mayor. The council, which is the legislative
body, is composed of seven members, five of whom are elected from districts and two at large. The term of office is four
years and the salary is $7500 per year. It is the mandatory duty of the council to redistrict the city within six months
after each decennial census, and if this is not done the members receive no further salaries. A redistricting ordinance
may not be vetoed by the mayor. From the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal Dedication Program, Saturday, May 1, 1954:
On Christmas Day, in 1830, a six-horsepower locomotive, "The Best Friend of Charleston", inaugurated the first regular
steam railroad service in the United States, on a six-mile line belonging to the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company
(now a part of the Southern Railway System). The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad Company was chartered in 1870. Its
rail line from Meridian, Mississippi to New Orleans, which was completed in 1883, became part of the Southern Railway System
in 1916-connecting New Orleans via Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, with the vast area South of the Ohio and East of
the Mississippi River. The Southern Railway System Docks are at Chalmette, just below New Orleans. The Louisville
& Nashville Railroad was chartered in 1850. By 1880, its service had been extended to New Orleans, thru Birmingham, Montgomery,
and Mobile, by acquisition of the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroad. At the same time, the L&N also acquired the
oldest railroad west of the Alleghenies-the Pontchartrain Railroad, five miles long, which extended "straight as a string"
on Elysian Fields Avenue, in New Orleans, from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, at Milneburg. This line was abandoned
in 1935, after some 104 years of uninterrupted service. For seventy-four years, the L&N linked New Orleans with the Central-South
and the Mississippi Valley. The Missouri Pacific was the first railroad west of the Mississippi River, having started
at St. Louis in 1851, and reached Kansas City in 1865. The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern (the original line is
today an important part of the Missouri Pacific System) co-operated in establishing rail-freight service between St. Louis
and New Orleans in the early 1870's. And, in 1916, the Iron Mountain established through-passenger service between New Orleans
and St. Louis and Kansas City, via Alexandria, La., and Little Rock, Ark.-using the T&P Tracks between New Orleans and
Alexandria. In 1924, the Missouri Pacific acquired the Gulf Coast Lines, which link New Orleans with Houston and Brownsville,
Texas. When three yoke of oxen furnished the motive power to pull two small box cars and one flat car over
23 miles of track, into East Texas, from Swanson's Landing on Caddo Lake, in Louisiana, in 1858-that was the beginning of
The Texas and Pacific Railway. (The steam locomotive had been ordered but was delayed enroute down the Mississippi by steamboat.)
Then came the Civil War and the Panic of 1873. Construction of the line between Shreveport and El Paso was slowed. In 1876,
the New Orleans Pacific Railway Company built a line between New Orleans and Shreveport. In 1881, The Texas and Pacific acquired
the fanchise, and by the end of 1882 had established rail service between New Orleans and El Paso. The Kansas City Southern
Lines, which connect New Orleans with Dallas, and with Kansas City, via Alexandria and Shreveport, were formed from the merger
of three different railroads: the Kansas City Southern, the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, and the Louisiana &
Arkansas. The LR&N between New Orleans and Shreveport was completed in 1907 by William Edenborn. And, in 1923, the LR&N
acquired a line between Shreveport and Dallas. These two lines, which were merged by the late-Harvey Couch, were acquired
by the Kansas City Southern in 1939-thus providing a thru route from New Orleans to Kansas City. In October 1852, construction
began on the first Railroad serving New Orleans west of the Mississippi. This pioneer line-the New Orleans, Opelousas &
Great Western-built only 80 miles of railroad, but it became a vital part of the 14,000-mile Southern Pacific System, which
now extends from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon. During the past century, the Southern Pacific has made important contributions
to the development of New Orleans, through providing transportation service to and from the Southwest and West. The SP served
as a partner with the State of Louisiana and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, in the construction of the famous Huey
Long Bridge-underwriting a goodly share of the $13,000,000 cost of bridging the Mississippi.
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PROCLAMATION.
