Arkansas true Democrat., 1858-06-15
Chic0t County, May 28, 1858. EDITOR TRUE DEMOCRATS:

pedantlc, bombastlc piece on the subject of the levecs of Chicot in which Gropho desires 10 give to the people in general, and particularly those of Chcot the benefit of his p,actieui h"o1o'edge ol the working of the lovee system, county.
 It will be seen that his remarks apply only to the county law which passed at the last seS- sion of the legislature an,! approved 7th of January, 1857. his shows that the county has had the benefit of it 1ui ore year Every one Knows but little can be done towards leveeing county ii one year, yet this practical man wouid have the mtnitated believe that our county Was in most deporable condition, and all rom the defects ot our emjrtoaic county system, together with the uniaitniiii and neg iSent execution oI the same by those placed in authority under the law. lie speaks quite Nleerin9iy and coHtelnptuonSiy of he condition and Character oi the Ievees, indirectly chafg- hs the Inspectors oi having them constructed 'l heteroseIiouS mass ol stamps, logs and mud, me'e potat"e ridges whose base was not @ldcr than the face of the originator and as narrow "h top as his nose. All of which k mere hctlon, so notorlously y uutrue that 1t needs no contra,lictl0n in Jh.s commuiilev
 Now, althoug gh our levecS are not what they should be, according to the .amouul of mcal.s expended ln theIr construction, yet they ar. much better than Gfoplo" would have the 'th'"'t'ate4 believe they were. But whose fault Is 1t would ask? "Grophor has charged it ait to the eDa5rjonjc couo;y system and is neg- Eeht, "Pracl&c@ inspectors. deay it, and charge It back nn the State officers
 u was T knowledge of this that made Chicot rountr seek q c)unIy system ot self protection. It l' we'll FnoWn 10 Gropho," if he is citi- Zen ol lhe connty that at the time the county system Was .lauaura:ed, that there was string "l a icEee on all oF the front of the country. (rNctpo a small part, that wa, thought not to feqare ID and onethat answered the purpose of Pr"tecl"n a5alst orfliHary high water Bul t vas Known to be insutfcent for an extreme digh water, such as experience had taught Us To cNtecl every 6 h or 7th year. The county 'I>tem Is not responsible for the original con auuft'ph and character of the ievees One of
 he hist daties of the evee inspector was to eNanlhc the condition of the levees in their re- Hpecuve districts and report to the board of ievee inspectors, at their May meeting. show ..5 the condition of the levees and what work was necessary to be done. This examination and report Was made according to the reluire- ments of the law, the most important WAS tdercd to be put un"er contract. which was done t2 the Iuil extent of the means they had l n9h5 10 expect would be collected for leyee purposes for the year lo57
 A part of the work ordered by the board of inspectors, ~as the construction of new levees where the old ones had caved off or were about to do so. l his work stands to answer for itself and wll show that II was done fully up to the requirements of the law There was no puidn m repairs, but the judgment of the inspectors. Inc repalrs wlIl also show for thems dyes They were made with judgment and efficiency beyond the means collected for that purpose !: dropho' and the world is challenged to show inlSapphcatlon of any of the evee funds of Chlcot county, for the year 1857. "Gronho ; admits the law has done as much good, and that our 'evees are much better than our neigh bors h Mississippi, still he is rmined to find iauit with somebody if 1t is just to show his leunlng and acumen. He admit. the benefit of the ievee, but thinks that 1t falls far short oi the power and stringency that should be bought to bare upon those who are the recip- tents oi the funds collected for levee purposes and expended with due discrimination as to the requirements of the law" Now, sir "Gro- pho" what do you mean by these remarks? ? Do you dare to say, or insnuate that the in- sPectofs (whO have alone directed the work and applied the tunds) have acted in bad faith, by misapplying the funds or that the work ordered was not m conformity with the law If so il is wholly untrue and Gropho" Is challenged to show to the contrary.
 It would be tedious and profitless to follow Giopho" through all his long article of wishes. a1molltlons, complaints compliments. etc., etc. There are lew other things will notice as to what he says of the law In one place. he says have said that the law is inadear ate to the eXigebcles of the case. that it is defective h pont oi mi0uteness ot specifications, so far as regards taxation, for 1t Is a notorious fact that lands confirmed as swamp, and taken up by scr as such, and exempt from taxation, be- cause ol their high elevations" Hear the law for itself, 1t Is That there shall be levied and collected in the county O. Chcot, an annual evee tax on all alluvial lauds in said county, that would be benefited by levees"
 IL must be dullness stupefied that cant nn derstand this. think Gropho" understands 1t, but he is In fault finding mood. his object was faults The aim and object of the law seems to my mind to be to tax lands benefited by levees aud none other. It is not well known by all who know any thing about the swamp and overiiowed lands as so designated or de. scribed that there IS among them many lands not overflowed by river water, and consequently not to be benefited by levees. Would it be right to tax them to make ,levees? The law don't contemplate any such thing. There hap pens to be few acres in this county, of this description, which the inspectors have decided not taxable under the law. This l, the ground Of this complaint.
 Notice his remarks on the 14th section of said act and see if you don't agree with me that he was hard run for objections And what is worse for him, is that all he says is gross mis- take. It Is too glarlng to be any thing but a mistake.
 He says Again, section IA of the original act, and section IA of the supplementary act, (which is intended to be substituted in lieu of the l4th section of the first, and which, being word for word the same as the first, is therefore superhous.)r ~
 E" Gropho ? is simply mistaken in his reading. he must have had drop in his eye. Let him