New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1856-03-06
i row 1sIss or ,rTHE nrAYors.

According To the provisions OF an act Of the Iegis
lofTre app,pyed on the 2stl of last month"; the char
Ter Of consolidation has been materially altered, and
fo, The better we have no hesitation in saying The
| changes, as we shall proceed to show, enlarge the
jurisdiction Of the Chief Magistrate of the city; fix
an undivided responsibility, far the police de-
pa1tnlent is concerned, upon him; and invest him
with extraordinary powers, which, if we'll and wisely
used, will suffice for the preservation Of law and
order. :ss5.=5
The first section repeats the amendments to the
city charter, approved 18th of April 1858. The prin-
cpal and worst Of these amendments, created that
useless and cumbersome thing styeda Police Board"
consisting of the Mayor and four Recorders. Such
division of authority and division of responsibility,
naturally led to inefciency,ack Of sysen and IN
competence on the part Of the police. There was
no general, supreme head-no central authorty--aho
all experience and history demonstrates that complex
machines, like police departments Of cltes ealo'oe
judicousy and vigorously managed Wtlo'ts tlieie Is
a controlling mower somewhere. Ansarmy OF Vete-
rams with dozen men, equalin command, at Their
head and ALL or majority Of them dlliefs III oil-
ion would make apoor show asalllst a sillsll' put
| skilf1lv commanded force. The ma'e'1el might be
the hest ever Dlarshaed on tented hcld, yet all
would be Of no avail unless there was a leader whose
orders had only to be issued to be obeyed implicitly
However as these propositions not likely to be
controYerted, We need ran the parallel further.
For the past year. Or two the police Of New Or
leans has been about as efficient as the nature
Of the organization would permit. This is our firm
conviction; although we are aware there have been
errorsiof commission and omission which ought not
tohaye occurred, even under the circumstances The
ex.Chief of Police, VIM H. James, was a faithful
present Chief, proved himself to be- But What could
they do when emergencies arose? Literally moth
ing! The men looked to the Captains, the Captains
to the Chief the Chief the Mayor, the Mayor to
the Police Board where he had but Il single vote,
and where he was generally overruled. simple ref
erence to these facts conclusivey proves that the
great fault lies at the doors of those through whose
fundamentally the Police Board was first created
The second section defines the powers, duties and
responsibilities of the person who shall be oh osen to
fill the important office of Mayor The section is Of
SO much consequence that shall give full synopsis
of it. The Mayor elect must he at least thirty years
of age must have been a citizen Of the State ten
years, and five years of the city; must have the
qualifications required of members of@t1e House of
Representatives must keep his Office in the City
Hall shall have seal to be affixed to all the official
ordinances are properly executed shall be exoficio
justice and conservator of the peace shall have full
and absolute power to appoint the police officers and
watchnen of the city, make regulations for their
conduct, and discharge them at pleasure. communi
eating the fact of such discharge to the Common
Council; shall call meetings OF the Council whenever
he deems it necessary upon the written request Of
five members of either branch thereof shall appoint
one inspector Of elections for each precinct SHALL
from time to time lay before the Council full state
ment of the condition Of municipal affairs shall
port all officers who fail in their duty Or commit I'M
peachable acts shall receive salary of not less than
four nor more than five thousand dollars shall al
loved no fees and shall render a monthly account
and pay into the Treasury all sums lie may receive
for fees or dues Of all descriptions. ..
The foregoing synopsis gives n clear view Of the
act to which we have referred. From it the public
may make up their own conclusions. .
For our part, we gratifed the law has passed,
would have been willing to have submitted toa
almost anything to have got rid Of the Police Board
And, as whole we approve the Law. 1t would have
been better perhaps, to have allowed police officers
chance for appeal from the decisions of the Mayor
instead of yestng him with exclusive power. But
this point is of great moment, and clashng opin.
ions prevail among intelligent men.
Hereafter we shall know whom to hold responsible
for the good order Of the city, which advantage
we have not enjoyed for three years; and if the
Legislature will stop tinkerng the charter - will
just leave it as the law alluded to leaves tive have
doubt we shall be able to get along smoothly and
quietly in future.