New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-02-11


traeted of week d thereabouts. Large
numbers Of Senators and Representatives perhaps
a full quorum Of eite. House--haye been III the city
several and appeared to enj themselves u the
best advantage The Legislative turnout last satur
day, in honor Of the Inauguration Of the jackson
statue, was large and creditable. *%
As it is prestrnable the travelling committees have
about peted theduties assigned them, is to be
hoped the fourth week Of the session will be com
meneed with determination on the part of all the
members to attend the general business Of legsla
ton with industry, fidelity and inpartiality
There II much To do, provided it well done. And
if the work be not well done the State would be the
gamer oulnlrerlt; just assoon
rs the financial and revenue arrangements
could be completed.
Among tile many matters reqnirir judicous legis
latiye which the spirit Of politics
has neither#lot nor partWe will enumerate q rev.
And first to tho interests Of the section with which we
are most intimately connected. The charter Of New Or
leans needs wise revision and amendment There are
many good things in it and many bad. The good
should be retained and the bad ignored. We shall
only allude To few necessary alterations First and
foremost the cunbroas and bunging thing termed by
courtesy, d Police Board, should be abolished. We
it remains in existence Then, the powers Of the
Mayor should lie enlarged. He should be constituted
the head Of the Police Department, with ap-
point subjectto the confirmation Of the Board Of Al
delaen and with power to remove subject to appeal
to the same body His authority in case Of an out
break, should heas unlimited as the necessity which
required its nned and he should be
vested with such prerogatives that his orders to his
Lake
By carrying out such suggestions as these astwo-
fold good will be achieved, Firstly, d larger amount
Of power would enable the Mayor to enforce the laws
and ordinances and preserve the publicpeace. Sec
ondly the people would know ito hold response
bic ;and an ineficien Mayor got lin, he would be
assufedly turned out at the expiration Of his term of
office. Now, the powers SO divided that individual
responsibility il out Of the question
Then the laws regulating the Assessment and Col
lection Of taxes sadly need alteration and improve
ment. The existing system is very defective. Thous-
ands Of dollars annually lost to the city and State
owing to II. There should be some rule adopted
which would not only cause every piece Of property
in the city to be correctly assessed, but which would
put stop to the g swearing down. practice. This
practice asenabled men of india rubber consciences
to get off with light inposts, while their honest
were sauuEGu tlie
There should be, also, some mode devised which
would ensure speed election Of the taxes assessed
The late difficulties this city produced serious
baITassnnent,a las all will remember Here q radca
remedy isneeded.
The quarantin laws require thorough overhaul
ing. As. yet the system has been productive q
nothing but Inconvenience, Yeyation and expense
We do not propose it8slall be abandoned for it has
not yet had a fair trial. But many amendments art
urgently demanded.
The railroads Of the State should be favorably con
sdered BY the egislature and if it is impossible tc
do anything more for the great lines in progress
the projet for building a branch road from Batol
Rouge to connect with the New Orleans and jackson
road should be duly encouraged Regarding Thu
enterprise, we shall have more to say hereafter
Then the Swamp Land system needsa radical re
vision, The swamp lands Of Louisiana, if manage
as shreWd man manages his estate, would be
source of almost exllallstess wealth.
Our public school system (out Of New 0rleans) II
quires much amendment. 1t is clear, from the II
port Of the perintendent Of Public Education, tia
vast amounts Of money are annually expended witt
out bringing in any adequate return.
Here are a few matters we have llulriedly mel
TONED that require legislative action and which
with kindred subjects, if properly delibelated an
acted upon will consume the greatest portion of tt
remainder Of The session.
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