New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-04-28

dred ~ I -; ii1a,lil q - = ~ T..
ont ontai1s Sf Il. 49,, s.s 4
Ths Mayor, We ass taking absat II
cost q tho eanals, not the cost u ~ lsw
yere. &. IL !. s. sl s. Szy.s4s
Mr. Shaw: Now Jon sask Whist beeome
Of IL this money : It comes into the ct.
treasury, and when tho company have dom
$4,000 cubic yards Of levee Ne win pa
them for it. sssis,s i.
The Mayor: In money! I
Mr.. Shaw: We viii pay it IN these assets
The Mayor asks me if win b prepared I.
draw my warrant for q hundred thousani
dollars . month"; The ordinance provide,
for this matter. It does not require tina
We should pay the money ont Of the treas
ury. You can not help acknowledging tina
these things have to be done; you can NO
help acknowledging that if this money ca,
not be found the city must incsr debt fol
it. The Mayer says here in his messag.
that the cost of the whole work win only b.
two millions Of dollars. =
The Mayor A. fixed; but the company
are also to construct all canals above ter
feet wide. SO
Mr.. Shaw: It is my opinion that to gel
proper control of these drainage funds, we
must do our duty under the law. call 70,
vote.
Mr.. Walton: This whole matter is mar
rowed down to q very small point. These
gentlemen como here armed with bill Of
the Legislature requesting Us to pay dol
lar yard. Another company, and . highly
responsible company, notwithstanding Ill
that has been said, offer to do this work,
whatever it may be, at twenty per cent
less, and then to take the bonds Of the city
of New Orleans ct par in payment, which
makes forty per cent difference. This
proposition avoids all necessity Of calcula
ions about money; it avoids the necessity
of issuing certificates which are to be dis
counted on, the streets of the city,
To my mind the simple question
comes up whether We shah give
this r work to company which
demands, under an act of the Legislature, a
dollar . yard, payable in money, or whether
we shall give it to company, 1 win not Gay
of equal responsibility, but Of responsibility,
who say they will do this work immediately
at eighty per cent less, and are willing to
take bonds Of the city ct par in payment.
This proposition relieves IA from all embar.
easements. 1 can.vote only one way in re-
gard to the matter Of taxation. This petition
was handed to me Is came in, signed by
hundreds of names, among them some Of
our most respectable citizens. ~
CThe Administrators here read the sub
stance Of q remonstrance against any drain
age tax not contemplated by the law Of
1851 r41erf 1s7ig'ea
This is remembrance which, from the
number of signatures and the character
of them, is entitled to our respect. All the
talk on the broad question of drainage
amopnts to nothing. Nobody doubts its
1t ought to have been done
twenty years ago, but I don't see any neces-
sity for going Immediately to work and
thus imposing . tax which the people can
not bear. It is no use talking about this
bill of the Legislature; we can not carry it
out. As the Administrator of Accounts
says, ''it demands Of us impossibilities. !"
If the Legislature chooses to impose upon
us, session after session, things we can not
do, we must get along the best way we can,
and if the city is swamped we must sink
with it-those who belong here, at least.
Mr.. Shaw asked if this petition was not
circulated by officers Of the Ship Island
Canal Company. M ,l6 ~
Mr.. Walton replied, that he had no infor-
nation on that point. It was handed to
him just as he came into the Council; he did
not know by whom. ~
Mr.. Shaw remarked that these things
came in very Electrically, like that PROPOSE
ton which the Mayor brought in just before
the vote last week.
Mr.. Walton said he only introduced the
petition because it was entitled to respect.
All this did not alter the question as to what
the Council ought to do. If we could get
possession Of these drainage funds, SO much
the better, but no business man in this city
would give dollar for what he could have
done for sixty cents. -. ~ .s
Mr.. Lewis said he was with the Admins
traitors when they went out to inspect the
location of the levees and canals,
and he was present when several gentle
men were called upon to make an estimate
for this work. He himself asked Mr.. Ken
ner what the work would cost inside of the
ridge. He replied that inside of the ridge
the work could be done for thirty cents.
Mr.. Pile, in the Mayors parlor, said the
work could be done for twenty-five cents in
side the ridge. If this work. The continued)
can be done for twenty-five or thirty cents
inside of the ridge, do not see why we
should give it to this company for fifty cents,
because there would be no 1evees required
there As to the immediate neces-
,ity for building this protection levee
1t this time we know there was q bill
passed at the last Legislature creating a
levee company, yet l see the papers full of
of crevasses and q communication
from the State Engineer asking for appro-
priations to protect the plantations from
overflow. Still they are overfowed, though
there is company formed to protect them.
In conclusion Mr.. Lewis said he would
vote for the ordinance if the company
would build the protection levee inside the
Metairie Ridge at thirty cents yard, or, if
outside the ridge, at one dollar; then allow
other companies to dig the smaller canals
and employ the thousands Of idle people Of
this city. He had stated his reasons for
voting against this measure last Tuesday
night, and he had seen nothing to change