New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-01-13
Consolidation of NewOrleans and Lafay
ette-The Delta.


sspolitical and sectional feelings" We have
repeatedly asked what these g feelings" are
but having let its private cats head out of the
bag. it suddenly grew repentant and refused to
answer any questions. Wepresume that to pro-
pitiate those "political and sectional feelings
some portion of the city and one or the other of
the political parties are to be quietly '' taken in
and done for by the peremptory exclusion Of
Lafayette, After a while, some legislator, all
sufficient in his own consciousness of superior
wisdom, will furnish us with some plan agreea-
bic to his fastidiousy private taste, and we
must swallow that, merits and blunders in inse-
parable compound, OF else have no Consolidation,
at all This is very pleasant prospect.
But the Delta comes in with a new idea, and
abandoning or rather lodging its first argument
Of stpolitical and sectional feelings brings up
an array of legal bubbles to defeat the Union
of Lafayette and the entire Consolidation of
our common port Of entry. Itargues that there
cannot excellent virtue of our model Constitu-
5ionn be any legal Union with Lafayette; and
its argument is certain one Of those extrava-
gantly forced things TOO attenuated in web to
hold one living conviction. Let us see the ar
gument
1t says. quoting Art. 128 Of the Constitution {:
SThe city of Neworeans special recognition in the
Constitution of this State
Let us see what is the recognition" Here is
the Articles
Article 12S provides The citizens of the city New
Orleans shnl have the rights of appointing the several
puhc officers necessary for the administration of the
police Of the said city pursuant to the Of elections
which shall be prescribed by the Legislature provided
that the Mayer aud Recorder shall be ineligible to seat
the General Assembly and the Maycr, Recorders
Aldermen shall be commissioned by the Governor
them such criminal jurisdiction may be necessary
the punishment Of minor crimes and offences the
police and good order OF said city may require;
We should call that mere mention. not a
recognition of the city of NewOrleans and even
if it were lin the singular sense of a restriction
Of limits, as assumed seriously by the Deta,) a
Tecognition-what then? Why, in the same
course of argument, Consolidation is Consti-
tutional impossiblity. and we can only have
Consolidation when we have a new Constitution.
To see this, turn to Art. 49, and there providing
for the apportionment of Representatives, we
have as positive and distinct q ''recognition' of
municipalities, eight by the First Municipality,
seven by the Second Municipality, four by the
Third Municipality" &c. if the mention of
the city be lin the Delta's sense Of the term)
recognition in the constitutional fundamental
law, so is the mention Of the Municipalities a
Constitutional recognition and we can have
no Consolidation ut all That is the conclusion
of its argument; and now we ask what on earth
does the Delta seek?
We defy argument on this point. If the Del
has argument be good (Which it plainly is not)
Consolidation is Constitutional impossibility :;
e., 10 NJ
tion.
But let us argue with the Delta according to
its own wisdom. Let us take up the article it
presents That article speaks of 8 the Mayor
and Recorders it mentions no number of Re-
coriers or Aldermen; and so far as the Consol
idation is concerned, we could have three or
fifty of either Now, let us ask the Delta, if the
city of New Orleans might not be so enlarged as
10 embrace the whole parish would there be
any difficulty in the exercise of the constitution
al powers of The Mayor and Aldermen as Justices
of the Pence or in any other capacity Ger
tainly not Well, then again, the Constitution
provides for changing the lines of parishes -
why might we not bring Lafayette into the par
ish of Orleans, if necessary, aud then have it,
even to the Deitas sublimated idea, in an ad-
missable position
But why should the Mayor, Recorder and Al
derman Of Orleans necessarily have or need COM
missions as Justices oil the Peace in Lafayette?
What injury would result from not having
it, If we are not misinformed, the police
hearings of Lafayette are had now, not by the
Mayor or any of the Aldermen, but by regu-
larly commissioned Justice of the Peace Why
might not this not continue? What neces-
sary or useful end is answered by commits
sioning the Mayor or Aldermen as Justices 9th
Peace, when ii is specially and Independently
provided by the Constitution that o. ana
''the Legislature may vest in them such crimi-
nal Jurisprudence as may be necessary for the
punishment of minor crimes and offences, and
as the police and good order of said city may
require" They can do all this by act of the
Legislature, without being commissioned as JUS
1ices of the Peace; and so, Parish lines fade
away into air before practical necessities. and
there is no use of quibbling on technicalties,
which have not even seeming merit As for the
jurisdiction of Justices of Peace being confined to
their Parish we do not think that follows neces-
sarily from The Constitution but this is MS
we have shown, matter of no Importance, I'M
der the language we have just quoted. 1t is
even proper and right that the civil jurisdiction
Of magistrates should, for the convenience OF
the citizen, be restricted to specified limits. 1t
is gross wrong that citizen resident in the
extreme end OF the Third Municipality can be
sued in Judge Byrne's Court, or q citizen resi-
dent on Felicity street in Judge Derbes' Court
II is perfectly right that Justices of the Peace
in or out of Lafayette, should have specified ter
ritorial jurisdiction; and the matter is one
which has no earthly common sense connection
with Consolidation.
''But,' says the Delta with the mere sem
blanee Of speciousness, :" can the Legislature b,
any act, place Lafayette in New orleans-tha
New Orleans which is recognized by the Const
.utioni For political purposes, it is evident
cannot Lafayette is in the parish Of Jefferson
whose representation is fixed by the Constitution
Its citizens must vote in Jefferson; its magi
trates must condne their jurisdiction to Il
other side of Felicity Road
Said with wondrous gravity, and some oil
certainly ought to stand amazed We ha'
opened up the fallacy of sc the magistrates a
gument. And we now tell our neighbor of Il
,t,,tio md fba 7 olo nm,