The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-06-07
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY OF
ASCENSION PARISH.
Submitted to the Judge of the District
Court on Friday, May Both, 1873.


Tho Grand Jurors having finished their
la,ors, respectfully tender this their final
report. Considering the arduous duties i'm
posed and the short time allotted to them i'll
which to perform their labors, it is impossi-
BILE 10 give report in detail upon the many
important questions that it has been our de
sire to investigate; although we have striyen
to give the most important ones Il thorough
investigation. While we have met with va
rlou> obstacles which retarded our progress,
yet we trust that our lahors may not prove
fruitful of good results.
PUBLIC OFFICES AND BUILDINGS.
Here is u subject quite important. which
owing 10 its direct bearing on ii part of our
duties We can notdisnliss so abruptly. We
refer TO the financial condition of the parish
Until Il total reform shall have been made in
this direction, wr fear that any rcrommcn-
datiun III regard to Improvements will be
useless.
III this dilemma there is little left for us
to do except to proceed and briefly report
our observations.
THE PARISH JAIL.
This institution is kept clean and the pris-
oners well fed. and we've it not for the rowing
disposition Of the lailor. who is too frequently
absent from his post, OF which variou,
paints have been made, this institution can
be pronounced in good ORDER except the
flooring which needs repair.
sHERIFF'S OFFICE.
This office is we'll kept; the papers and
records are in good order. The arduous tlu
ties imposed upon this officer, that of scrv-
ing and executing criminal process, and of
maintaining the prisoners without funds to
meet the current expenses, should at once
be rrMcdinl.
RECORDERS OFFICE.
The records are in good condition with but
few exceptions, lSt. the new Index made by
the former Recorder at an enormous expense
to the parish is unreliable. and the Recorder
refuses to furnish certificates of mortgage
A vast deal of the property of citizens de-
pend on this and no time should be lost in
correcting this defect. All the original acts
in this office should he bound and copies of
| the Tax Roll should be furnished.
CLERKS OFFICE.
This Office Is sorcy in need of a little furni-
turc, and canvass envelopes for filing away
OF papers. a thorough cleansing and ar
run.cln,nt of all the books and records in
systematic order would be desirable i'm
provcmcnt. The furniture is somewhat
iilapi'latcd and should be either repaired or
replaced.
TIE PARISH PAIPERS.
The list Of these, comparatively speaking,
! * SMALL and We're it not that distinctions
are n;i,i, by tn" Police Jury as to the several
amount, paid them this laudablc action OF
theirs would indeed be pr;lise~ orthy.
PARISH EXTRAvAGAscE.
The liberal manner i'll which parish, war
rants we're ordered to b" issued ami the
| reckless manner of their disposal is not i'll
keeping with the Impoverished condition ut
its Treasury. The task of enumcrating the
many nnwiSc ami inudicio,,s acts which led
to the bankrupt condition of this parish. is
one that the short time allotted to lis will
not permit Us To undertake. However, we
will cndcaNor to mention Il few of the
iagra,lt grievances which our tax payers
/ suffer. First. the certificates of indebted
ness of the parish are receivable for parish
| taxes and licenses. They are collected by
the collector turned INTO the Treasury and
no provision made for cancclling or destroy
ing thnm--tn prevent them from being used
on pushed into market Il second time. We
know ot 10 instance when such has been the
ease. but there is nothing to prevent its
being done. and in order that it might be
detected it would require AN investigation
OF months.
The several amounts appropriated and set
forth i'll the tablcal1 Of approximate OK
| penscs, rs published. are not adhered to.
and warrants are issued and registered us
| standing Indebtedness against the parisl,
| vi h. u no provision has been made. Thus :,
| vast debt accunntcs, the market becomes
| overstocked ;uld they are consequently sold
/ for sixty per cent. discount. And any person
| supplying the parish charges three prices.
| thus it will he seen that to every dollar
coming in, three are going out. and it will
! ever he so unless some wise measures are
| adopted to prevent it, and the parish Will
I dc ,,f IL al
| been Slnann"rcd us will be seen under the
| heading Of parish finances. We call the at
! tcn;ion Of Nour homer to the fact that the
sum OF one thousand dollars was appropriat-
cd to Mr.. Ciias. +. Smith for furnishing Il
| copy of the Tax Roll Of 1871, for the Re
| corderS otfcc-no such roll is deposited
| there We would also call Your attention
I, to the fact that some two Years ago TIL.
| Police Jury appropriated two thousand tiv
| hundred dollars for the repair OF the New
| River road. the warrants were accordln~i y
! issued and placed III the hands of I, commit
| tee with full powers to act. They contracted.
! with one Michael Welsh who failed to com
! ply with SAID contract, and the committed
retained the sum OF one thousand dollars
Strange rs 1t may appear We find by the
! books of the Treasurer, that the said one
| thousand dollars WAS never returned still
/, i'll the settlement with the collector, We find
that he had received them for taxes the
same other warrants. Who turned them
III. are unable to say. We now come tC
| the sequel. some time during the month OF
january 1873 Mr.. Michael Welsh, still claim
| ing to be entitled to the amount, gave to Mr.
| Christian Kiln. his power of Attorney To act
for him. and who proceeded forthwith tc
/ bring the matter before the Committee ol
! Claims. HI" committee without knowing
anything about the matter. approved the
/ claim and warrants were issued for one thou
sand dollars. We trust that the Parish At
| torney will investigate this matter and bring
/ an action to annul the warrants. There ART
many similar acts but lack OF time did not
| permit us To investigate.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
! This branch of the judiciary. we arc sorry
/ 10 -..v. has become troublesome. and III some
. mart ocular eAs.s q Nu!suuCc. They Nave