Section 12F. The governor shall annually in the month of December issue a proclamation setting apart January eighth as New Orleans Day and recommending that it be observed by the people with appropriate exercises in the public schools and otherwise, as he may see fit, to the end that the memory of the services of the soldiers and sailors of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, and the lessons to be learned from the successes and failures of our arms in that war, may be perpetuated.