The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1874-04-10
Municipal Affairs.

Our neighbor 1abors very hard to
reply successfully to our arraignmcut
of the City Council. He fails, from be-
ginning to end, to make even plausi-
BILE defense.
That he holds the whip in the Coun-
Gil is matter attested by at least one
member and our own observation.
That the salaries of the Mayor and
City Attorney have been raised, is not
denied.
That $500 was expended on DeSiard
street is not denied; nor that $1,000
was expended to extend Walnut street,
is not denied. But this last expendi-
tnre is defended, because the street on
the river front might be lost by the
caving of the river bank. We would
ask if the general laws do not require
riparian owners to keep Il certain num-
Der Of feet of land unobstructed on the
banks of navigable streams: If so,
why expend the $1,000 to continue a
street in the rear,not required?
That contracts have been let by the
Council to its own members, without
advertisement, is not disputed.
That the City has paid one hundred
per cent more for collecting the taxes
than the same service could have been
had for, is not denied. We have the
name of the gentleman who proposed
to do what Jas. S. Ray has done, for
exactly one-half allowed him.
1t is denied that the City could have
hired carts for So per day, when it paid
s. per day. We have the name of a
gentleman who would gladly have
taken So per day at the time for cart,
mule and driver. Who received the
extra pay:
Our contemporary says that of the
ss291 persons whose names are on the
tax rolls, 40 are Democrats, 1l9 Re-
and 80 are doubtful" In
another column we notice that 1888
voters are registered-a discrepancy of
~. But, passing that, are these 291
who arc on the tax-rolI, property-hold-
ers? or, are large number Of them
dead-heads: A man who pays only
a poll-tax is taken up on the tax-rol1.
Our contemporary says that the recent
meeting of the Republicans did not
propose to adopt resolutions merely to
suit us. We presume that that meeting,
in the main, was like one of its members,
who, when asked on oath, as Il tales
man, whether he had voted for those
said he did not know what
he had voted for. But we attach no
particular odium 70 this man, because
the meeting itself elected a president
"a. Harvey whose property was adj
vertised for sale for taxes, even while
it protested to favor the strict collection
of taxes. What we have ever done to
induce such meeting to consult our
views, is something of which we are
ignorant.
It is useless for our neighbor to at
tempt to disguise his modification at
the mismanagement of our municipal
affairs. He is expected, of course, to
help those who help him and to plaster
over the foolish and absurd doings of
his party friends but there are too
many Well-infOrmed men in Monroe,
who know how money ought to be
expended and how the city government
ought to be carried on, for any one to
attempt, with the hope Of success, to
palm off the present city administra-
ton upon the people as meritorious
administration. All in all, it has been
we will not say corrupt, but miscr-
able failure. The same set of tricksters
will, no doubt, give us the Same kind
of governmental permitted.
The latest papers received at this
office We're issued ON Monday at Vicks-
burg. The mails are terribly out of