New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-03-14
!. r111. .MrXDEp EIEcrIoN BILL.

H
posed to take every occasion to insult outrage and
Cypress.
There are not many important alterations in sew
eral of the first sections Section provides for the
creation Of q Central Board Of Commissioners" to
be composed Of the Mayor, Register of votes, Ator-
new General and two citizens Of New Orleans, to be
Amounted by.the Governor Said Central Board I"
il empowered to appoint precinct commissioners to
preside at all elections The next section consumes
The Attorney General president of the Board and goes
into some minor details Section makes it the " ex-
elusive duty Of the Board of Commissioners to ap-
point three Election Commissioners for each precinct
I've DAYS previous to any election Section enacts
that the city of New Orleans and the Police Jury of
the right bank shall pay the "two citizens Of New
Orleans appointed by the Governor yearly salary of
$500 The sections which follow up to section l6 re-
late to details Of no startling moment. only that some
arbitrary powers are invested and the tax payers of
New Orleans made to pay the expenses!
Section 16 creates Superintendent of Elections
to be appointed by the Governor who is to receive
salary Of $1,000 per annum, half of which is to be
paid by the city and half by the State. As the city
now pays more than onethird Of the taxes of the
entire commonwealth, such a concession should be
marked down as astonishingly liberal. Our coun-
try cousins may get so generous by-and-by, per
haps that they will permit us to pay all the expense
Of enforcing laws that are as abhorent as they are
uncalled-for and iniqutous The next section de-
nounces tremendous penalties against volators of the
law but does not do away with the right Of trial by
jury. As the laws now in force are ample for the
punishment of offenders, nothing would have been
lost if this section had been omitted
The 18th section prescribes that the " Superin-
tendent " shall keep his Office in New Orleans that
he shall be entitled to four Chief Deputies who shall
receive 81 900 per annum salary payable half by the
city and half by the State, etc. The 10th section
sets forth that it shall be the duty Of the Superin
tendent' to take charge Of, under control of the
Central Board to the exclusion of all other per-
sons, all elections hereafter held in this city, and
arms him with many sorts of powers to do many
things, all Of which we view as unnecessary, and,
therefore, wrong. The Goth section opens rich. The
!. Superintendent" is authorized to "employ any
number of persons the Governor may think neces-
sary, as his deputies for such time previous to any
election as the Governor may direct, the said depu
ties to be e organized EARNED and equipped y as the
Superintendent may deem proper, and to be under
his direction during their term of service.
The 2lst and ed sections relate to the oaths to be
taken the rules to be adopted, ETC., and possess
especial interest The sd section empowers the Su
perintendent y to appoint " any number of eXtraord
nary deputies Chow Extraordinarily to "protect
the approaches to the polls Care all the streets to be
guarded ?--every street is an approach y keep
der thereat and secure free to and egress from
said polls All citizens between the ages of twenty
one and fifty years. refusing to obey the summons of
the Superintendent are to be fined not less than
800 more than $780, and if they too poor to
pay are to be sent to prison for term not exceeding
sixty days. Here, the atrocious principle of mprs-
onment for debt is again reenacteda principle that
has been universally condemned detestabe and re-
voting by all free and enlightened States.
+ The Gath section bestows upon the "Superintend-
ent I'VE always quote that word-so large liscre-
ton that if he should choose to exercise it wrong
fully, he could arrest and imprison any citizen by
merely assuming that such citizen had perpetrated
breach of the peace, or contemplated so doing. And
for simple breach of the peace whether before or
during election time" such person. upon conviction
is to be sentenced to not less than six months nor
more than three years imprisonment in the Peniten
tiary at hard labor, and forever DISTINGUISHED! Here
is punishment altogether disproportioned to the
ofance, and brings to mind the days of Draco. How
ever, as 1t would be impossible to find jurors that
would convict under such circumstances this Internal
penalty would prove dead letter. There is prouiso
to the section that will make the reader smile as he
reads: I" Proeided, hotcerer That any person so ar
rested if lawful voter, shall be permitted to vote
before being conined.n @
Gracious privilege benign condescension But let
look little further and see if there is nothing sim
lister hidden here. Suppose the Superintendent
or his deputies choose to pick out five hundred per-
to arrest during the day and after aresting them
whisper in their ear that they will be released and no
entered upon, prouided they cote certain
ticket, could not five hundred votes or thereabouts
be made for certain side T? We only put the ques-
tion as there is no provision for the punishment of
the parties who might engage in such nefarious trans
actions
The 25th section carries out the arbtrarness Of the
previous section and makes the persons of the Su-
perintendent and his deputies sacred from any sort
of violation election days. by imposing the severest
kind of penalties. Under it, we are not certain i'm
proper winking would not be deemed misdeneanor.
The next section doesn't suspend the writ of Aabeas
corpus against persons that may be arrested, but
comes as near to it as possible. The 9th and 2sth
sections are Of no particular moment The deputies
are to receive $40 per day. The same thing may be
said of the 10Th and Both sections only that the cor
poration Of New Orleans is required to pay onehalf
of all costs But suppose the corporation of New
Orleans refuses. What then? The corporation has
certain absolute, vested rights the Legislature cannot
touch, among which is the exclusive management OF
her own finances and il this Legislature impose
burthens despite the wish or consent of the municipal
authorities a succeeding Legislature may impose
another tax of one even ten millions of dollars, and
force the city to pay it. There would be just as much
right in the one instance as in the other so far as
principle is concerned. Admit the principle and the
entire property Of the city lies at the absolute mercy
Of partisan Legislature and Governor.
The 3lst section empowers the Superintendent .
to close all bar rooms on the days Of elections and
imposes fine of $500 upon the propretors of such
establishments for refusing This section is clearly
Illegal and will SO be declared by the Supreme Court
in our opinion. The corporation, in pursuance Of
law, has issued licenses to the proprietors of coffee
houses to keep open 1865 days in the year, and re
ceived pay therefor This is contract to all intent
and purposes and cannot be violated until the licenses
expire.
We have now given concise resume of the Who'll,
bill and, although it is less objectionable than tn,
old BILL we think twill only lead to tumults and b.
unproductive of solitary good result and many evi
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