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


isS| - ? 's' se g - - g
evse. n N = ~ ~ J
for it ,sbelishes IL dfainaee Oommissioners
and rs aotainate find ftkout any advant:
aga thsFsaifpen Is &p Spany, q the city.
not oven 81 10 Couzsif 6unfrm the contract,
= 3 iill Is ahova1 ieesently. .ss
Il Having tAusI aseotted it, independence
"a md its High iteely and Voluntarily to con.
tract With any party it pleases, upon the
best terms ard ct tho lowest price it can
obtain, tho Council proceeds, - If the rest
of tho ordinance were clearly and solely
matter Of choice, to Get tho company to
work upon the terms and at the price,
T. wit one dollar per cubic yard, % speci-
hed il the act; and thus, in the words OF the
Administrators Of Public Accounts, ITO con
cede the liability of the city for enormous
and unknown amounts" It commits the
city to works "far beyond present exi-
Rencies;" and "far beyond our present re-
sources for payment" much Of which work
would be Of doubtful expediency at any
time or under any circumstances. 1t pro
yides for tho payment Of the work at a
price four times as high as tho same kind of
work cost the drainage commissioners;
three times az high as the estimate Of the
City Surveyor, and nearly twice the price
at which parties Of the highest credit and
responsibility have voluntarily proposed to
do tho work.
Permit me to urge the Council carefully
to reconsider the ordinance and reverse
their action thereon. By persisting in this
measure you will voluntarily give away
moro thin Q million of dollsrs to COM
psny which, although it has nominal CAPT
tai of four million dollars, has not dime
Of stock paid in, and whose financial and
mechanical ability to do the work las been
derived exclusively from q previous grant
from the State. For myself. having but a
few days ago publicly and with alacrity
given notice, by order Of the Council, to
that company that we did not consider the
city obliged to give them one dollar . yard
for tho work if we could get it done for less,
/ feel extreme reluctance to say to them
now, publicly and officially: I'VE
concedo tho work to you at q dollar
q yard in preference to other parties more
responsible than yourselves. who offer to do
it for sixty cents yard" Tho logical
inference to be drawn from such course
would be, either that our first proceeding
was an attempt to blackman the company,
in which tho public would naturally con-
clude we had been successful, or that our
second action had been taken, not freely
and voluntarily, but under some kind of
.r
!, Now, as to the drainage fund. That part
of the act which abolishes the boards of
drainage commissioners and processes to
turn over the drainage funds to the city
and the company to pay for the work, is q
delusion and snare, as q glance at the
origin and history of this drainage fund
will conclusively show. By the ninth Sec
ton of tho ''act to provide for the drainage
Of New Orleans" now under discussion,
the Board Of Administrators of the city Of
New Orleans is subrogated to all the rights,
powers and privileges Of the commissioners
Of tho several drainage districts, and is
directed to collect from the owners of prop
erty within said districts the balance due
on the assessments made under the act of
tho eighteenth of March, 1858, and tho
seventeenth of March, 1859; and all the
money thus collected, as well as that which
may be received from the different boards
of drainage commissioners, it is enacted,
shall be placed to the credit of the Missis-
sippi and Mexican Gulf Ship Canal Com
pany, and held as fund to be applied to
the drainage Of New Orleans and Carrollten.
The question consequently presents itself,
what is the character Of the fund and claim
which is thus to be put to the credit of this
By reference to the act of 1858
we find that the whole city Of New Orleans
and the lower portion of the parish of JEFF
serson on the left bank Of the Mississippi
river, were divided into three distinct drain
age districts, for the purpose Of draining the
city and retaining the waste lands within
their respective limits. The system of
drainage established by this law was to be
carried ON by three boards of draining com
missioners, to be appointed by the Mayor Of
the city Of New Orleans, by the Council Of
tho City of jefferson, by the Police Jury Of
the parish of Jefferson, and by the Council
of the town of Carrollton. To provide for the
payment of the work to be done, the COM
missioners are directed to prepare plan Of
the land within their respective districts
and to ascertain the probable cost OF
said work. This plan and estimate are to
be fled in the district courts, and after due
notice to the parties interested the courts
are directed to enter q decree or judgment
subjecting the land to first mortgage, lien
and privilege in favor of the commissioners
tor such amount as may be assessed upon
such property for its proportion Of the costs
Of draining each section.
All this has been done. A solemn
Judgment has been entered against
the property and its owners for the
amount required to pay for the drainage
and improvement according to the plan and
estimates on which the Judgment is based
under the act of 1858 1t becomes. there
fore, almost too clear to admit of contro.
versy that the funds thus assessed and
levied cannot be diverted from the
destination given to them by the law
a. we'll a. by tho judgment Of the
court. The money is assessed for the
sole purpose Of defrsying the expense
to be incurred for the benefit of the prop
erty Of those by whom it has been paid.
Nothing isleft uncertain. The nature and