New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-11-12

petent men who would be glad to perform
al the duties Of clerk of the police jury at q
very moderate COMPENSATION. We pay that
officer in our parish four hundred dollars
too. The office of clerk Of the district court
Of that parish ID worth i've Thousand dolldxo
per annum, and think the present incum-
bent receives quite enough compensation,
although he is q particular friend OF mine.
1t is also part Of the duties Of the clerk Of
the police jury to issue the commissions for
! all the road overseers and the other officers
4 chial affairs. hope, ~ said before. that
this section will be stricken from the bill.
4 offer, as . substitute for it, that the police
| juries elect their own clerks.
Mr.. Ray: have listened with great at
tentioD to the remarks of the Senator from
St. Landry (Mr. Anderson]. and l have
failed to hear him give single good reason
the bill. would not insist upon its reten-
tion. however, if did not see the necessity
Of such q provision in my section Of the
State. 1t is true that in the parish of St.
Landry, which is the most populous parish
in the State, outside of New Orleans, the
same difficulties may not exist. The simple
fact, however, that the clerk Of the court in
the gentleman's parish does large amount
OF business and, in consequence, receives
large amount. of fees, is no argument at all
against the adoption Of the section in
| question. The gentlemen says that it is
the duty Of the clerk of the court to
issue warrants for jurymen on the parish
treasurer, and if he also performs the duties
Of clerk Of the police jury, there is no check
| necessary besides the treasurer himself!
There can certainly be no reasonable Oh
lection to the clause ON that score. As /
said before. the police jury will doubtless
reduce the pay Of the clerk down to the
lowest possible figure on account Of the fact
that he has another Office, from which he
collects tees. 1t is also matter Of great
importance to persons having any business
to transact with the clerk Of the police jury
that they should know where he can be
found at all times, and where his papers
and archives are kept. Under the present
system, as l said before. in majority of the
parishes Of the State, he can no: be found
0ne-half Of the time, because his official
duties are not heavy enough to keep him
or farmer, or something else, and when
you do find him, he is engaged in other pur-
suits, and can not attend to his official bust
ness as clerk Of the police jury. The incon-
venience is very great indeed, and is more
40, perhaps, in the northern parishes of
the State than in st. Landry. hope the
section will be retained
WI. AaCAudu' UcHcVc tudt tHt passage
of this bill is entirely unnecessary. Under
the system now in force the police jurors
are elected from the warriors wards; they
come directly from the people; they know
what is necessary to he done for the benefit
of the wards they represent; they know
every road that needs reparation and every
bridge that requires renewal, aud their
meeting together is exactly like tha1of the
General Assembly of the State. You might
az well pass law providing that the mem
bers Of the Legislature shall he elected on
general State ticket, instead of from the
different senatorial and representative dis
tricts, as to provide that the police jurors of
each parish shall be chosen on q general
ticket instead of from the different wards.
The police jury stands to the people of each
parish in exactly the same relation that the
Legislature stands to the people of the State.
at large. Nine times out Of ten, under the
system now proposed, the three jurors will
be elected FROM one section OF the parish.
Mr.. Lynch remarked that that difficulty
had been provided for in the bill.
Mr.. Blackman: What difference will this
new system make in the capacity or eff
cheney OF the police jurors can not con-
ceive how it can change them in that re-
spect. 1t the people are not capable OF &C.
lecting good police jurors under the present
system, this will certainly not make any
difference in them. / insist that the present
arrangement is q good one. and should cot
be changrl. 1t existed long before the
State was admitted into the Union, and has
always given universal satisfaction to the
people. can not see the object in passing
such bill as this, unless it is for the pur-
pose Of legislating out Of office those who
are now occupying seats as police jurors. l |
now move to postpone indefinitely the fur
Their consideration of this bill.
Mr.. O'Hara: 1t has been the custom for
many years to elect members of the police |
juries Of the parishes of the State from the |
there are fourteen wards, and in others |
from six to twelve each In many cases |
the majority Of the jurors elected under the !
law now in force know nothing about the |
desires and needs Of the people. know Of !
one instance where gentleman. who had |
been living in my parish for thirty years,
was elected to the police jury, who did not,
CINE is has never seen a railroad track,
and would not know what steamboat was
If he saw it.
Mr.. Ingraham: He must be a carpet
Dagger.
Mr.. O'Hara: No, he was born and raised
there in the parish, and voted the Demo-
cratic ticket all his life. If he had been a
carpet Dagger he would have known better.
l am in favor Of this bill, because it provides
for a better system than that in force now,
and makes it uniform throughout the State.
Five gentlemen are sufficient to control the
parochial affairs Of any and every parish in
the State. would like to have them elected
at large. We would then have candidates
for the police jury who are acquainted with
and are capable of providing for the wants
of the people, and they would be selected
then, perhaps, on account of their ability
and capacity, and not because they happen
to live in a certain locality of the parish.
Mr.. Hunsaker: It does seem to me as if
the gentleman from Claiborne (Mr Black.
mani is filed with the spirit of AUD Lang
Syne.' l never saw anybody in my life
that adhered with so much tenacity to old
institutions and old ideas as he does. l
have never seen any proposition come be-
fore the Senate that had for its object the
uprooting Of the old landmarks Of the past
fps Seo Of sa 1sst
he las been found in opposition
to it, l had hoped that we had
advanced go far in that direction that the
gentleman would, Othellolike, find Ibis &C.
cupation gone" must say, in all serious
ness, that if there be law on the statute
books that should be repealed or remodeled,
it is this police jury law. 1t is one of the
most bungling pieces Of machinery
that know of.
Mr.. Blackman: It is not equal to the
legislature in that respect.
Mr.. Hunsacker: 1t is not equal to one
part of the Legislature, l am satisfied. We
have advanced beyond the period for
which that law was enacted. and it is no
Onger in accord with the genius of our
government. Everything now has tend
,ncy to progress, and the police jury system
lOps NOT keen afan tn fha .vnusic Of tho