The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1873-07-16
Communicated.
BAYOU BGUF, I
July ID, 1873 !

was IN Alexandria some weeks
since, and whilst there, ha d occasion
to listen to much sweet talk in regard
to the new features, new expectations
and reform status of the newly fixed
up, or to use an expression suitable to
the times, the "reconstructedn Police
Jury of our poor and prosecuted Parish
of Rapides. Being a sanguine and
hopeful man, I was, at the time, truly
glad and rejoiced to know and be in.
formed by our present head men, or
who assume to be head men, and of
course having free and willing access
to the perfumed chambers of usurped
powers, could but be glad that our
Parochial good was so near at hand
I went home in this good mood and
hopeful hallucination, and 1 must say /
did not expect 80 soon to be changed
spirit, and was confoundedly astonish-
ed on yesterday evening, in reading
the "Official Journal" to find all my
fond hopes, based on such fair prom
ises, faded, banished in Alexandria
thin air, all the baseless fabric of
dream.
Well, dear Democrat, I have seen
and read the proceedings, and what do
l find in place of reform and retrench-
mentf In the first place the present
officers of our reform Jury, who are
not as competent ones as of old, now
draw an annual salary of two thou
sand four hundred dollars, whilst the
old or former ones only were allowed
and drew nine hundred dollars. This
You SEQ is not retrenchment, but ia
voritism and hard burden on an al
ready over taxed people. In the Sec
ond place they voted an extra fifteen
hundred dollars on the top of an al
ready passed one of one thousand dol
lars to repair, not build, bridge near
Colonel Folks plantation. Now, Dem
ocrat, what do you call thisf Don't it
look like piling it on rather steep for
reformers? / ask again is this the re-
trenchment we were promised7 Do
you not know that twenty-five hun
dred dollars is now a big sum of mon
ey, and that the mechanics of Rapides
will do an immense amount of work
for that immense sum of money, and
that our reformers have made big
leap and screwed the crank of taxation
at least ten turns on our poor people,
and are anything but retrenchers and
reformers
now pass to reform No. 3, which l
consider new stride in advance of
law and custom, and which never was
heard of before or attempted by the
worst Police Jurors we ever had.
have allusioD, Mr.. Editor, and I call
the particular attention of our people
to it: the allowance of $ls2.25 for re-
pairing the levee Sin the district of J.
L. Connella." Do our reformers know
that such allowances never were made
before, and that the levees are strictly
State institutions, for which we are
taxed annually liberal sums9 This is
anew leap in advance, leap entirely
over all presidents, leaving reform far
in the back ground. Let our recon.
structed Jurors pause and stick pin
there. And last, though not least by
long shot, is the modest and snug
extra ten thousand dollars appropria-
ton on the top of the already appro-
priated sum of twenty thousand dol
lars, which will make our present Pa
IRISH tax amount to the enormous and
excessive sum Of thirty thousand
dollars.
Now, dear Democrat, bear in mind
that feel compelled, more in pain aud
anxiety than in fault-fnding mood,
to write you this communication, and
would never have done it, but that 1
sincere1v haliavo fho state of offo;ro