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Three dollars and a half per foot, for all classes of vessels, in or out.

NEW ORLEANS LEVEE DUES.

The following ordinance, amendatory of existing ordinances concerning levee dues, in and for the port of New Orleans, was ordained by the General Council, and approved by the mayor, May 26, 1843 :—

1. That from and after the 31st day of August next, the levee or wharfage dues on ships and other decked vessels, and on steam vessels arriving from sea, shall be as follows:

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2. That from and after the 31st day of August next, the levee dues on steam vessels navigating on the river, and which shall moor or land in any part of the incorporated limits of the port, shall be as follows:

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3. That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any pirogue, flatboat, bargeboat, or keelboat, to remain in port longer than twelve days, as fixed by the thirteenth article of an ordinance approved the 21st of October, 1839, under a penalty of twenty-five dollars; and it shall be the duty of the wharfingers of the several municipalities to cause to be removed beyond the limits of the port any pirogue, flatboat, barge, or other craft, found in violation of this ordinance, within the limits of their respective municipalities. The fines arising from any violation hereof shall be recoverable, before any court of competent jurisdiction, of the owner, agent, or consignee of such pirogue, flatboat, or other craft, for the benefit of the municipality within which the offence may be com

mitted.

4. That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any flatboat, keelboat, barge, or old hull, to remain within the limits of the port longer than twenty-four hours after the discharge of its cargo, under a penalty of twenty-five dollars, recoverable as aforesaid; and after the expiration of said twentyfour hours, it shall be the duty of the wharfinger of either of the municipalities to cause to be removed beyond the limits of the beat, or to turn adrift, without delay, any such flatboat, keelboat, or other craft in contravention.

5. That in case any captain, owner, or person in command of any steamboat, flatboat, barge, keelboat, or other craft, shall neglect or refuse to obey the orders of the wharfinger to conform to the ordinances regulating the port, he or they shall be liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars to fifty dollars for each offence, recoverable as aforesaid.

6. That from and after the 31st day of August next, all ships and other decked vessels, and steam vessels, arriving from sea, which shall have landed or moored in front of one municipality, and shall have paid or be liable to pay the levee dues to such municipality, and which shall afterwards remove from such municipality to one of the other municipalities, shall pay to the municipality to which they remove, the following dues :

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Such daily levee dues to be collected for every day such vessel may remain in the port of the municipality to which they may have removed, the days of removal and departure excepted. 7. That so much of all existing ordinances as is inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance is hereby repealed.

Articles of the Ordinance of 1836 still in force.

ARTICLE VI. All steam vessels employed as packets, and plying regularly between this port and the ports in the Gulf of Mexico, including Havannah, shall pay no other or higher rate of wharfage than is imposed by this ordinance on steamboats navigating the Mississippi.

VII. The duties specified in the preceding Article, shall be paid on the mooring and landing of said steamers in port, by their captains or other agents, to the officer intrusted with their collection by the municipality within whose limits said vessels shall have moored and landed.

IX. Steamers employed as towboats, and which shall have received on board any produce, the whole or any part of the cargo of a vessel, and shall discharge the same on the levee, shall pay the same duty as is specified in Article V., according to their tonnage; said duty to be collected by the proper officer of the municipality within whose limits such discharge shall be effected.

X. Towboats shall pay, for each time they may moor to take in wood or other fuel, eight dollars to the municipality within whose limits they may moor and take in said fuel.

XI. The following levee dues shall be exacted on all flatboats, barges, keelboats, pirogues, and all other raft, crafts, &c. ;

dols. cts.

On each flatboat, either fully or in part laden with produce, materials, or merchandise of any kind

10 00

On each barge, measuring seventy feet or more in length..

10 00

On all barges, keelboats, or boats measuring less than seventy feet, and not exceeding fifteen tons burden

On all other boats not described in the present ordinance

On each coasting pirogue.

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The owners or keepers of boats used as places of depôt for any article whatever, shall pay a duty, per day, of..

1 00

The following duties shall also be levied :

4 00 10 00 5 00

On being broken up, if in the incorporated limits of the port, each flatboat

On each steamer, or other vessel than flatboats, being broken up within said limits
On rafts of timber, not containing more than twenty-five logs each raft....

On each raft of timber containing more than twenty-five logs, then in the ratio of

that increase.

On each craft measuring forty tons or under, employed to carry sugar, molasses, wood, or any other description of merchandise, there shall be levied, on each trip, a duty of

On all craft, exceeding forty tons each, employed as above, shall also be levied, on each trip, a duty of...

4 00

6 00

XII. All boats or other vessels arriving within the limits of the port, with fish, meat, vegetables, eggs, or any and every other kind of provisions, expressly for the purpose of supplying the several markets, shall be entirely exempt from paying any levee dues; but the same, and all other description of craft otherwise employed, whether particularly mentioned in this ordinance or not, shall pay duty according to the tariff above ordained.

XIV. It is hereby expressly forbidden to all owners, masters, consignees, or other persons, to sell, or cause to be sold, on board of any of the aforesaid craft, under any pretence whatever, wine, beer, cider, and spirituous liquors, in quantities less than a barrel, under a penalty of fifty dollars for each contravention. It is also expressly forbidden to smoke, or allow to be smoked, meat of any kind on board of said craft, under the penalty, in the manner levied, and on the evidence above-mentioned.

XV. All barges, flatboats, keelboats, or other craft, in which shall be exposed for sale in the part of the port assigned for their accommodation during the said term of twelve days, any produce, goods, or merchandise, brought on board from a distance less than 100 miles above the 3 c

VOL. II.

city of New Orleans, excepting sugar, molasses, and cotton, the staples of Louisiana, shall be fined in a sum of not less than fifty dollars, nor exceeding 100 dollars.

XVI. In case any person should furnish any false reports relative to the cargoes, owners, or consignees, or the date of such crafts entering the port, or in any manner interfere with or impede the officers of the several municipalities in the free exercise of the duties devolving on them, said person or persons so contravening shall, on conviction, pay a fine of not less than twenty dollars, nor exceeding 100 dollars, for each contravention.

XVII. It shall be obligatory on the part of captains of vessels and steamers, and also on masters, owners, and keepers of all crafts, flatboats, rafts, and floats, to pay the aforesaid duties on board of their respective vessels, a receipt for which shall be delivered to them by the proper officer of each municipality, in order to prove payment thereof, in case any of said vessels, craft, &c., be removed from one division of the port to another.

XVIII. All the fines imposed by this ordinance shall be for the benefit of the municipality within which any contravention thereof may have been committed; the same to be levied on the evidence of the wharfinger, and if voluntarily paid, the receipt for the same shall be given by the treasurer; but if they be resisted, then their recovery shall be effected by and before an authority or court of competent jurisdiction.

LAWS OF LOUISIANA RESPECTING THE PACKING OF BEEF AND PORK.

MESS PORK-Must consist of the sides of well-fattened, corn-fed hogs, weighing not less than 200 lbs.; and the flanks, with the flabby pieces cut off, may be admitted.

PRIME PORK-May be composed of three shoulders, three half heads, without the ears, snout, or brains; three tail pieces; some flanks and sides, sufficient to form the first and last layers in the barrel.

M. O. (MESS ORDINARY) PORK-Contains too small or lean pork, flabby pieces, or too much of the shoulder, or bony pieces.

P. O. (PRIME ORDINARY) PORK-Is an inferior quality, rendered so by lean meat, bad handling, or too many bony or bloody pieces.

SOFT PORK-Is such as is made from bogs fattened from mass or still slops, or sometimes by being heated. Each barrel must contain 200 lbs. of pork, be filled with the strongest brine, and and then fifty lbs. of Turk's island salt added.

MESS BEEF-Must be composed of the choicest sides of well-fattened, stall-fed cattle; only one choice sirloin of rump may be admitted.

PRIME BEEF-May consist of the flanks, half a neck, and legs cut above the knee, and the balance good pieces, with sides enough to form the first layer.

Beef requires more salt than pork.

The charges for inspecting pork and beef are seventy-five cents per barrel, and storage eight cents per month, after the first three days. Sometimes, when the pork has been put up by experienced hands, and is of a superior quality, and contains the amount and quantity of salt required by law, the inspectors will brand the lot by inspecting one-tenth; and then their charges are only twenty cents for branding.

All beef and pork sent to New Orleans for sale, in barrels, is liable to be forfeited if sold without inspection. It may be shipped without inspection, if notice to that effect be lodged at the custom house within twenty-four hours after its arrival.

IMPORTATION OF TOBACCO.

By the law of the 25th of March, 1844, it is enacted :

SECTION I.--That there shall be appointed by the governor and senate, from time to time, eight inspectors of tobacco for the city of New Orleans, and two inspectors of tobacco for Lafayette. That no owner, nor agent of owners of tobacco, shall offer the same for sale, until it shall have been inspected, under the penalty of fifty dollars for every such offence, and as to each and every hogshead of tobacco.

II. That the owner, or agent of owners of tobacco, brought into the city of New Orleans, and intended for sale therein, are hereby required to give notice to the said inspectors, at their office, that the same may be inspected; and that at least two of the said inspectors shall be present at every inspection, and, in case of disagreement as to quality, a third inspector shall be called to decide; and no inspector appointed in pursuance of this act shall, either directly or indirectly, buy or sell tobacco on his own account, nor act in the sale of tobacco as broker, agent, or factor, for any other person, under the penalty of 400 dollars for every such offence.

III. It shall be the duty of each and every inspector of tobacco, when a hogshead or cask of

tobacco is opened for inspection, to examine the same carefully, in at least three different places, and to have a true and just sample drawn therefrom (and neatly put up by the inspector), for the use of the vender and purchasers. That in no case shall the brand or other mark be affixed on the hogshead, cask, or sample, until at least two inspectors have agreed on the quality thereof; the brand or mark to be affixed on the hogshead or cask to correspond with that on the sample, and classed as follows:-Admitted or refused. That all tobacco shall be classed

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the same shall consist chiefly of ground leaves, decayed, wet, or damaged tobacco, or in a state too moist to keep. That if any hogshead be partially damaged, to an extent not exceeding ten per cent, said damage shall be cut off, and the samples be marked "Trimmed or cut," and the probable weight cut off, be marked on the label of the sample. That all tobacco shall be classed as Refused," when damaged to an extent exceeding ten per cent on the nett weight of the hogshead, or when the same shall consist chiefly of ground leaves, lugs, wet or damaged tobacco, or tobacco in a state too moist to keep: Provided, That any person or persons requiring tobacco, in hogsheads or casks, inspected by stripping off the casks, to ascertain the actual tare thereof, and more fully to determine whether the tobacco is firmly packed, and free from trash, shall have that right granted to them by notifying the inspector to that effect. The inspector, in that case, shall cause the hogshead or cask to be up-ended by the necessary coopers and labourers supplied by the owner or consignee, so that the space of eighteen square feet shall be allowed by the warehouse-keeper for each hogshead or cask. The inspector shall then cause the hogshead or cask to be uncased or opened, and the empty hogshead or cask taken off and weighed, and the tare thereof inscribed thereon; after which, the empty hogshead or cask shall be returned on the tobacco from which it came, and coopered up in good shipping order, approved by the inspector; for which service the owner or owners, or consignee, shall pay, over and above the charges allowed by law, heretofore provided for, twenty cents per hogshead, additional fee, to the inspector, and forty cents to the coopers, for such extra labour, and it shall be the duty of the inspector to certify the actual tare in his certificate, and that the cask has been actually stripped.

IV. That if any person or persons shall alter or erase any brand or mark of said inspectors, every person so offending shall forfeit and pay the sum of 100 dollars for every cask, hogshead, or sample label, the brands or marks of which shall have been so altered or erased.

V. That nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to tobacco in carrots, or to stripped or stemmed tobacco, or to tobacco stems in hogsheads, nor to leaf tobacco in hogsheads, boxes, or bales, intended for reshipment without sale, unless at the request of the owner of the

same.

VI. That, on the passage of this act, the governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the senate, suitable tobacco inspectors, according to the provisions of this act, to serve until the 1st day of February, 1845, and for every two years thereafter; and, in case of death or resignation of any of said tobacco inspectors during the recess of the legislature, the governor shall make temporary appointments, which shall expire at the end of the next session thereafter.

VII. That the two inspectors appointed for the city of Lafayette shall be subject to the same duties and penalties, and receive the same compensations that are established and provided in this act for the inspectors of the city of New Orleans.

VIII. That from and after the 1st day of October next, all hogsheads or casks of tobacco, which shall be offered for sale in the city and port of New Orleans, shall be made of well-seasoned timber.

We have but very imperfect accounts of the trade of Louisiana before its cession to the United States, in 1803. The French attempts under M. Crozat, and afterwards under the famous Mississippi Company, did little towards de-. veloping the abundant valuable resources of the regions through which the Mississippi river and magnificent tributaries flow. They were, however, its discoverers and explorers. Our statistical accounts of this state begin with its occupation by the citizens of the United States, and in the following tables of imports and exports, which pass nearly all through New Orleans, it must be considered, that the greater part of the foreign trade of the Western States is included.

FOREIGN Trade and Commerce of Louisiana, from 1804 to 1844.

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NUMBER of Vessels arrived during the following Years at the Port of New Orleans.

1834-35 1835-36 1836-37 1837-38 1838-39 1839-40 1840-41 1841-42 1842-43 1843-44

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Up to 1828, the greatest amount of tonnage which entered in one year was 57,000 tons. 1838, ten years afterwards, the amount of tonnage entered at the custom house was-foreign vessels from foreign countries, 45,232 tons; American vessels from foreign parts, 137,242 tons; American coasting vessels, 257,259 tons.-Total, 446,716 tons.

The whole history of navigation does not exhibit so rapid an increase of shipping entering any port in the world. The foreign arrivals were chiefly British.

Speaking of the value of imports into New Orleans, a great authority, Mr. Littlefield, in a letter to Mr. Freeman Hunt, the editor of the "Merchants' Magazine," says: "As regards the value of imports into New Orleans for the year ending September 1, 1843,' I went no farther than the specie, and the value of the most prominent articles received from the interior; which latter, according to a table which you will find in the annual statement, amounted, in round numbers, to about 54,000,000 dollars. Add to this the amount of specie, and you have a total value of 64,500,000 dollars, exclusive of all the imports of merchandise by sea, whether from foreign countries or

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