The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-10-16
HON. E. d. ESTILETTE.

OFuVCIdLs1 Oh LlS 6OLu Oh SSpUGuUS
will prove %eminently satisfactory to
very large majority of the voters of ouI
parish. In 1872 Mr.. Estilette was nom
mated by the Democrats of the parish
and elected to the Legislature by d very
large vote, which we predict will be
largely increased at this election. HI
served his constituents we'll and faith
fully, was always at his post attending
to their interests, and could all the va.
rious bills introduced and advocated by
him, have become laws, many of the illF
We now endure would have been swept
away, and many of the changes we now
80 earnestly desire and hope for in the
closely coming future, would long since
have been realized, as will be evident to
our readers, by a review of the follow
ing bills, introduced by him:
1st. He introduced q bill, which sub.
%sequently became u law, making it
sufficient to publish all advertisements
judicial or otherwise, notices and pub
cations in the English language only
Every ono of our readers, who. has had
occasion to make application to be ap-
pointed administrator of o succession
to file a tableau, to give notice of meet
ings of creditors, to issue wTits of feri
faeias, or to do any act whatever, that
requires a legal notice or advertisement,
has saved fifty per cent. of the charges
made before the passage of this act; be-
cause previous to that time, in this par
ish, all such publications and advertise
ments were made both in English and
French, thereby entailing double ex-
pense. This act alone has saved the
people of st. Landry thousands of dol
lars. Subsequently he introduced the
following bills, which he succeeded in
passing through the House and which
failed to become laws, through no fault
Of his. If reelected he will spare no
effort to have them enacted. They
would all be highly salutary, and would
meet with the undivided appreciation of
the people. First in.Order amongst these
WIS an act to prohibit the Police Juries
of the various parishes of the State from
levying a parish tax exceeding seventy
five per cent. of the State taxi No law
would awaken such a hearty response
from the taxpayers of st. Landry as this.
II would strike at tho very root Of the
enormous taxation, of which we all COM
Villain afTanfy-n1tz aud VolSoaJfwr Iy ~
actual legislative prohibition by detin-
ing and fixing the limits, beyond which,
taxation could not possibly go, to-wit ::
three-fourths of the amount of the State
tax. .'t". "F".
sd. IAN act directing the Police Jury
of ST. Landry to divide the parish into
FIVE wards; determining the number of
Justices of the Peace and ConstahIes ;
fixing their salary.in criminal matters,
and for other purposes" One of the
principal drains on the pockets of the
taxpayers of our parish, as will appear
to any of our readers who will examine
the proceedings of our Police Jury, pub
lished monthly in u paper, is the pay
ment of criminal expenses before jus
tees of the Peace. This act would have
lesseDed the number of these courts, re-
duced the fees oftheir officers, and saved
the parish thousands of dollars annually.
Sd. "An act authorizing the Police
Jury of st. Landry to employ on the
public roads Of the parish all persons
convicted and sentenced to the parish
jail.n Such a law as this is badly needed
for the more perfect administration of
justice in criminal cases. AS the law
now ia, a party convicted and confined
in Jail, costs the parishfrom se~venty-five
cents to one dollar per day every day of
his incarceration. Were such a law on
our statute books, instead of being an
expense to the parish, all this class of
conFicts could be advantageously en-
in working our roads, and thus
be made q source of absolute profit to
the parish. AS the law now stands, ii is
far better not to prosecute parties for
trivial offenses than to burthen the par
ish with the expense of keeping and
maintaining them in Jail during their
sentence, aE u.
4th. eAn act to prohibit members of
Juries and members of the Town
Council Of incorporated towns from con-
tracting, directly or indirectly, with
themselves, or with any committee ap-
pointed by them, forbuilding any bridge
any other public work ordered to be
done by them in their official capacity"
No law is more imperatively demanded
Louisiana than this. It would at once
put it out of the power of the officers
mentioned to fill their pockets at the ex-
Dense of the taxpayers whom they rep
resent. It would at once insure all such
contracts to the lowestbidder, and would
all temptations to the formation
,f rings and getters-up Of jobs, and
would save, III the State of Louisiana,
hundreds Of thousands Of dollars an
He also introduced the following bills
nto the House, none Of which passed
hat body, although ~strenuously adyO-
,ated by him, viz:
House bill No. 15s, "entitled an Act to
IL salaries of State tax collectors in all
he parishesof the State, except the par
sh Of Orleans, providing that In no case
their compensation be less than
1880 or more than $4,000. This. it strikes
ID, would be an ample remuneration for