The Donaldsonville chief., 1873-06-21
THE PARISH WARRANT IN
JUNCTION SUIT.


der Of the Judge Of the Fourth Judicial
District Court, Relative Thereto.
AS promised last week, we publish
herewith the full text of a petition of
A. j. 'Braud, Jr., to the Judge OF the
District Court, annexing the order OF
Court issued upon the representations
made in said petition. Lack Of time
has prevented us from preparing
comments upon the matter, but in
future issues we shall treat of the
subject exhaustively if necessary, Civ
ing the views of large property hold
ers concerning the same.
The petition is as follows:
To the Honorable 0. j. Flagg, Judge Of the
Fourth Judicial District Court, i'll and
for the parish Of Ascension:
The petition Of Adelard Brand, q resident
of said parish of Ascension, respectfully
represents,
That petitioner owns real and other taxa
BILE property in said parish of Ascension and
as taxpayer, he is interested in the proper
administration of its affairs. That your
petitioner has always paid his parish taxes
as soon as they became exigible, and that he
is ready and willing to pay whatever taxes
may be levied upon his property by the
constituted authorities If said parish for the
purpose of detraying all legitimate expenses
incurred for the support and maintenance
of its government, and for other lawful
purposes. But your petitioner AYERS that
us such taxpayer, for some time past he, i'll
common with other property owners i'll this
parish, has observed, with considerable ap-
prehension, the increasing reckless extray-
:lgance and criminal waste in the administra-
ton OF the finances of said parish, in every
department thereof. That during the past
three years, the parish tax each year has
amounted to from twenty-five thousand to
thirty-fve thousand dollars, and, notwith-
standing those extraordinary aud enormous
levies, parish warrants to the amount OF
more than thirty thousand dollars, as your
petitioner is informed and believes, arc now
outstanding and unpaid. Petitioner further
represents that said % warrants" purpOrt to
be obligations of the parish and are drawn
by the Secretary Ut the Police jury on the
Treasurer of the parish and are made pay
able when i'll ftlnds,' to the order OF the
payee thereof.
| That said warrants are endorsed as fol-
| lows, " Receivable i'll payment Of dues.
l lSI
| (Signed) "--....., Parish Treasurer" :"
| That said warrants or obligations are in
the form of negotiable instruments and are
assisnablc IA ordinary negotiable bills OF
| notes, by the blank endorsement OF the
| payee thereof That all of said warrants
have been issued at different times by Ro-
dolph Brand, former Secretary, and Fred.
| Fobb, the present Secretary OF the Police
Jury OF this parish. Now your petitioner
further represents that said warrants have
| been issued and procured to be issued, in
the most careless, reckless and corrupt man.
| her, and that q very large number OF them,
representing many thousands of dollars,
We're issued and obtained without any coll-
sideration whatever to this parish, but that
the same were procured for the corrupt and
unlawful purposes OF private gain at the
expense OF the Taxpayers OF said parish.
Your petitioner further represents that
the administration of the late Police Jury
during whose career i'll office warrants We're
issued unllwfully to the amount of many
thousand dollars, became 50 hagrantly cor
runt aud criminal, that the Grand jury o.
this parish, empanellcd ut the May term o
this Honorable Court, addressed thenselve;
earnestly and diligently to tue task o
remcdyin the evil, to the extent of thei
limited powers, and found true bills of in
lietment against three of the members o
the said Police Jury for the crime OF extor
| tun i'll office, one OF whom was convlcte,
and the other two resigned their offices
through fear Of being likewise convicted
Your petitioner further represent that il
the report Of the said Grand Jury to thi
Honorable Court the following statement
are made which have created just alarm il
the mind Of petitioner for the safety OF hi
property i'll said parish of Ascension, viz
The liberal manner i'll which parish wal
rants were ordered to be issued and TIL
reckless manner OF their disposal is not il
keeping with the Impoverished condition Q
its treasury The task of enllmcrating til
many unwise and injudicious acts which le'
E to the bankrupt condition Of this parish, j
one that the short term allotted to lis vii
not permit us to undertake. However. W
, ! will endeaVor to mention Il few OF TIL
fragrant grievances which our Taxpayer
suffer.
First-The certificates of Indebtedness G
/ this parish are receivable for the taxes an
licenses, they are collected by the Collecto
and turned into the Treasury and no prov
sion is made to cancel or to so destroy thel
as to prevent them from coming on til
l market the second and third time; we kno'
, of no instance where such has been the cast
but there is nothing to prevent it, and
order that it might be detected, it woul
take an investigation OF months.
, SecOnd-The several amounts appropriate
and set forth in the tableau of approXimat
expenses, as published. are not adhered
and warrants are issued and registered 9
standing indebtedness against the paris
where no provision has been made, an
:. thus /. vast debt accumulates. The markt
becomes overstocked with them, they al
consequently sold for 6Octs. discount, an
any one supplying the parish charges thrt
prices; thus it will be seen that, to ever
!; one dollar coming in three are going on
and thus it will ever be, unless some wis
j means are adopted, the parish will nev'
U recover. Thousands of dollars have bee
squ;ndered as will more fully appear una,
the heading of Parish Finances" That sal
:. report of the Grand Jury also exposes Il
fact that the Justices Of the Peace, Co
0 stables, and other officers Of said paris
taking advantage Of the careless, reckles
!. and corrupt administration of the paris
. finances, obtain warrants for sums
, which they are not cntitltd in law, to an II
h limited extent; that the issue OF said wa
rants being thus subject to no check or co
troll whatever, the market becomes fioode
: with parish warrants and the parish is owe
whclmcd with an illegal floating indebte
ness of many thousand of dollars, and th
n the said parish warrants now outstandll
Ii exceed the enormous sum of thirty tho
s.,,I I,ll,rc All of which will annar mo