The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-08-20
- For the Crescent
A Grand Schena

GeltJemen-In the Delta of yesterday morning,
| see grand proposition INSIDE for draining the city
and suburbs, recommended editorally " to the pub
lie for their consideration" ] am not much of an
engineer, but have paid some attention to arith-
metic. The favor shown TO this project, by the
learned gentlemen of that paper, set me to working
out some of the figures, which the proposition CON
tains, and present TO you some of the results II
exhibits a very remarkable result, involving an eY
penditure of annual millions of dollars, for the
benefit Of a single individual. Ifthe maximum lax
which this protector asks should be granted 10 him
twill be cheap bargain to ask him to compromise
by taking the lghoe fee simple Of the city, in uart
payment.
He proposes to drain, by lsvees and bitches, a
space OF little more than six miles square, and be
agrees to do this within five years asking the STATE
for no compensation until the work is complateJ /,
but if il succeeds he is then to have legislative
act, or city ordinance, authorizing him to lew from
tDO to s'r cents year on each and every SQUARE
yard enclosed within his levee the tax then to date
count this up little.
The ground enclosed, as / stated before, would
be little more than six miles square, Let rs saw
for round numbers, about $4,000 acres Of land.
Now each mile Of land contains about 1910 square
acres, and the number of square yards, subject TO
the projectors tax, will be accordingly one Hundred
and tlDenty- one millions Of yards At two cents per
yard, the minimum tax asked, the amount would
be 81, 1000 per annum at the maximum price
1t would be seUen millions, DO hundred and sirtv
thousand dollars, per aRHaR. / suppose he wants
the tax graduated according to the value Of the pro-
pertY. Let us take an average of four and half
cents yard on the whole, and the amount Of an
nual tax will average about fUe and a half millions
This is not all. The pay is to commence from
the beginning of the contract and the Delta's fayo-
rite protector is to recover therefor foe years arear
ages, as a snug capital to begin upon. This will
amount to tlDenty-tlU0 and half millions Of dollars
with perpetual annuity of foe millions and half
which, at the present price of money, is worth
about one hundred nal hons 0fdollars. Had we not
better give the gentleman the city ofNew Orleans
to begin with 1t would be a great saving Of
money, am sure. do not know what his work
would cost, but he could afford to be very liberal
in his OUTLAWS.
Only think, Messrs. Editors, of sane editor pro.
posing to levy tax from 3 TO cents a s0liare
yard upon land TO fit it for agricultural purposes -
lhat is from nearly htadred 10 nearly three hun,
dred dollars per annum for drainage.
Why, the present Draining Company under its
BAD management, gets but SO cents per acre per an
mum for draining A million of dollars would
TO elect all that the Delta recommends and that
az D per cent, would be $4,000 per annum. Add
LOT expenses on the three sections, at $1,000 each,
,0OO more, and the whole could be done for
$4,000 per annum which would be less than
three cents per acre
did not mean, however, to present plan OF my
own, but merely to give a little 9 consideration"
to the project as coveted by the editor OF the Delta
What grand ideas that paper has Of the power of
figures Millions are mere trihes--a few cipheEs,
more OF less, in its vast eompulatiqnss