The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-03-09
THE ACTION OF CUR SENATOR'S.

We subjoin the following article from on
esteemed contemporary, the Bee, in referenc
to the action of the Conservative Senator
after they had taken their seats in the Antoin
Senate. We agree with the Bee in the main
though we are aware that the Senators defend
their action in the assessment matter on the
ground that it was saving to the State, ant
they could get nothing better Many o
them believe, with us, thai
the city assessment should be
left to our city officers, and that it is dan
gerous and unwise to invest the State Board
| with power to make assessments for the city.
They declare they We're confronted by the
question:: viii you leave the assessment m IT.
ter as il is, or will you vote for measure that
Will save large amount to the tax payers
annually? and they voted accordingly We
believe that if this measure should be
enforced there will be no real sayi.o, for
the cormorants must be fed and what thew
can not get in salaries they will wiring out of
over assessed tax payers:
We have heretofore kept back our opinion
eight Conserv4t Senator'S and not being.
any more than the public at large, enlight
.ned as to the motives which have guided
them, we must still abstain from speaking of
the decision which has led them to 90 and
take Their seats III a Senate presided over by
Antoine, after nearly two months waiting.
But we may speak of their acts and votes
since they came into the Senate.
Our Senator'S have protested against the
legality OF the Kellogg government. To this,
OF course. we have nothing to object, but it
seems to Us that they have forgotten no less
essential thing which was to protest also
against the legal status Of the House presided |
over by Hahn as Speaker. That House never |
had quorum; that is evident, and everything
1t has done Is, ipso. facto, null and void
The duty OF our Senators was, therefore, to
enter formal protest as to this point and
#. erwards, as logical sequence, to object to
Ill the bills emanating from that House and
70 make use Of every parliamentary device to
ieteat them. Failing to do so, tbey have
compromised the rights OF the Conservative
majority, and they have gone further than
hose who signed the Wheeler compromise
That IS not all. In voting for certain
measures, they have run the risk of voting
'9alnst the interests of the Conservative
'arty Thus two of them have contributed
y their votes to pass the Levee Companys
I'LL over the Governors veto, bill acknowI- I
dying an enormous debt to company which.
avlng Jailed to carry out its obligation to the t
tate, should on the contrary be called upon |
} indemnity it for that failure. /
Finally, our eight Senator's have voted for t
bill which they certainly thought was re- d
'rm blll, but abou. whose real purport and t
'sult they must have been, in our humble il
oinlon, strangely mistaken. We allude to
ouse bill No. 1863, abolishing the City Assess
ent Department, and tranterring the power a
State and city assessments TO a board an "
'lnted by Kellogg, with enormous salaries a
Id perquisltes. 81
The principle which should be the corner 6
one OF reform is, on the contrary, to abolish
State assessors and collectors, leaving the :.
'rk TO be done by the local authorities We !.
We invariably advocated thi, proposition, a.
the ground that 1t is the only rational and y;
one. u
Thus. in the meetings that took place pre- Al
'us to the Fourth OF January, Oh the sub
t OF reform of city a1faifs, it was shown that
g cost OF ;he City As-e smt n Department IL, re-
been reduced to S27, 500 for the present Of
r. and that an additional appropriation of q
)OU would enable that office to furnish Re
pHcate assessment returns to the Stat. q
e operations OF that bureau were De ,fectly
lsiactory to every one, the employees thereof
nS well and fivorably known 10 the tax
1ers, whose burdens were to be lirhtened
the coming assessment.
th+ retore seems that our Senators shonId Is
e defended it, because in SO doing thew pe,
9 defending the interests of the entire M,
lmunity.
Veil! it was upon the proposition of one of -
N, ana with the concurrence of all, that
new bill was adopted through a suspen-
OF the rules The Board which would
le the city and State assessments 10 ac- a.,
lance with the provisions of this bill
I'd be appointed by Kellogg and would be
'lded over by one Of the Herwigs, and ac- U
ing to calculations based thereupon. the
RES and commissions resulting therefrom
Id not fall below one hundred or
hundred and twenty thousand dollars,
cad OF the present estimate of about thirty
dollars.
Is very evident that our Senators have
ied INTO error IN this matter but this II
axe might become very serious one
Id certain circums ances occur over Emit
h we have no control
ouid the compromise be carried out and
ID an ezra session be called every effcrt
Id be made by the Conservative members
re House and of the Senate to brand. 50
uiely null and void all the pretended NH
lat'on depending on the Hahn House of
esentatlves, i'll which there never was
NJ Ihls conclusion IS such a logical 4.
.nce OF the Reconstruction of that -.
9 OF Representatives which is now cor PREF
by the radical party, that they cannot o' M
itly otter any opposition to it. But We inc II
nave something more to say upon the not D
ct. Dola
- journ
DE MURSKA. Go