Thibodaux minerva., 1855-03-24
o.nort on the Swamp Land Commissioners.


The Joint committee of the two Houses ap.
rieedines of the Board of Swamp Land Com
,n;ssioners. respectfully submit the record OF
.he;r proceedings with few remarks thereon
ss their report to the Legislature of their inves-
.;ration of the subject referred to them
The committee recommend the printing of the
-o.ord Of their proceedings as the best exposi-
ZION they can give of the subjects they were
reouired to investigate.
The perusal of that record cannot fail to
s,gcest MANY inquiries Of the greatest impor-
tance in reference to the past as well as the
fnture management Of the Swamp Land Fund.
The committee cannot, without trespassing
.orbans too much upon the time of the Legis-
i.mre' now contracted to but few days, point
49,, bnt q limited number of those subjects
worthy of comment.
commencing first with the Board of Com
,r;ss;oners as an organized body; from the
1atb 18th and 10Th sections Of the Act Of 1854,
for the reclaiming and draining of the swamp
.nd overfowed lands, the committee are of
or;r;on that it was the intention of the Act, the
ppord If Commissioners should exercise q
General supervisory control over the operations
of zach commissioner. To establish this, a
comnlete record of all the contracts and pro-
cood;nos of each commissioner should be kept
hv the Board. The 9TH section of the Act
nrovides for Secretary of the Board, and
gives him salary.
It appears from the record of the proceedings
of the committee. especially from the evidence
Of Mr.. Miller, which shows that he could not
nroduce his contracts when called on until after
the lapse of several days, that the Board Of
Commissioners have not exercised that super
v;sorv control over the actions of its respective
members that the law contemplated.
1t further appears that the Board have
suffered single commissioners, whose official
bonds we're only five thousand dollars, to draw
out sums which were entrusted to their indi-
yidua responsibility, amounting to many times
the sum of their official bonds. This is ap-
parent from the testimony of Mr.. Townes. 1t
further appears that Mr.. Townes and Mr..
jenkins, commissioners of the Fourth and First
Districts, deposited the funds drawn by them in
Bank to their individual credit, thereby, in the
case Of their death, jeopardizing the interests of
the State. 1t further appears that MIR. Townes
now has in his possession at his own house.
sum considerably exceeding the amount of his
official bond Mr.. Townes explains this by
saying that he considered that sum necessary to
meet any unexpected emergencies that might
arise in his district during the coming season of
high water. Without meaning to attach parti-
cular censure to any one, the committee cannot
refrain from rcmarking, that this mode Of taking
care Of the public funds is attended with very
great risk, and should never bepermitted unless
in cases of extreme peril, or actual disaster.
The Board have sanctioned the expenditure of
a large sum for the building of dredge boat,
to be paid for out of the funds apportioned to
opI ThirJ sfe Tharn iS
express warrant in the law for the use of the
Swamp Land Fund for any such purpose, nor
has any necessity which justified the expendi-
ture neen shown to the committee, especially so
far as the First District was concerned. The
propriety also of confounding the funds appro-
priated to two separate districts for the purpose
of building o boat to be used for an indefinite
period in one Of the districts has not been proved
to the committee. Where the funds are thus
confounded, there should certainly have been
some stipulation that the boat should be used in
the respective districts in proportion to the
amount contributed by each district-which
was not done in this instance. Mr.. jenkins,
the present commissioner, says the project of
the dredge boat was entered into by Mr.. Grant,
his predecessor, before he came into office.
Passing from the board to the individual
taking them up in their numeri-
cal order, Mr.. jenkins, the commissioner Of the
First District states in his annual report that he
has commenced series of works to levee and
reclaim the swamp lands on Cat Island. The
whole area Of Cat Island is 37,1O3 acres, of
which about 15, ,404 accrued to the State under
the donation from Congress Of this Is, ,404
acres, the greater portion was entered at one
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, within a
short time after the design of reclaiming it by
the funds Of the State became known.
To reclaim this tract of country Mr.. Jenkins |
has already made contracts amounting to $78- |
sS9 AZ and contemplates an additional expen-
diture necessary to complete the work, sufficient
to make the aggregate sum $l05, ,26l 68. If
we add to this the expenses of the department, |
which should be done, as this was the only |
work undertaken in his district, the cost of |
Cat Island exceeds $4,000.
So large an expenditure for so small tract |
Of land, struck the committee with surprise, |
especially as it is believed that fraction of |
the sum could have been expended so as to have |
protected the city of New Orleans from innnda-
Eion, and also have reclaimed swamp land in
the vicinity Of that city.
MIR. jenkins urges as reason for this other |
wise unaccountable expenditure, that the works |
had been advised by his predecessor in the |
been injured by the Raccourci cutoff. Neither |
II these reasons are satisfactory to the COM |
nttee. Mr. Jenkins was under no legal obi |
alton to have followed the advice of Mr.. Grant, |
lis predecessor and if his own judgment did
ot approve of the expenditure for the purpose
0 be accomplished, he never should have
anctioned it. In answer, the second or addi-
ioual reason assigned by Mr.. Jenkins, the
committee afs Of opinion that the swamp lands
Fere mot donated to the State by Congress for
he purpose Of indemnifying the people of Cat
ISLAND for the damages they may have sustained
1y the Raccourci cutoff.
Il is apparent from Mr.. jenkins own state
nent that he has devoted but very little per-
sonal attention to the duties Of his Office. All
nat he has done in the official examination of
Ais district was TO visit the works on Cat Island
vice, and to visit once point about twelve
n',es below the city Of Baton Rouge.
In regard to the accounts of Mr.. jenkins and
lis engineer, Mr.. Ritter, reference is made to
me report Of the subcommittee appointed to
4 them. That report exhibits state of ,
'nings unsatisfactory to the committee.
From the annual report Of Mr.. jenkins. and
~ account, 1t appears that he had contracted
Ior making dredge boat and for building .
ssse y. On Cat Island for an expenditure Of $685.
W Y. 90, while the whole sum appropriated TO
I ~ district was only $65, ,625, thus exceeding
aos, ae amount appropriated $22, 452 35. The
~ section Of the act Of 1854, expressly pro-
Sr%c - A. i +