The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-05-21

Army.
The following Is an extract from letter
by MIR. Charles Nordhon, in the New Work
herald
A moe thoroughly centralized Govern
ment France did not have undsr either
empire Nor have these great powers
been hesitatingly used. Offices have been
multiplied 10 an extraordinary degree.
and al every new creation the Governor
had disappointment Of "A favorite. New
parishes tcounties) Were formed 10y the d.
vision OF old ones, and in every case the
Governor appointed all the officers. .lsdi-
cial districts have been rearnnged and
new ones formed. and lhe Governor made
his friends and allies judges. A trick be-
came common by whiGh Officers elected
refused 10 qualify, and therefore the tiov-
ernE filled the artificial vacancies with
mea who colad not have been elected.
Finally. so careful have the leaders in this
conspiracy been TO maintain their in
/ fluence and their creatures In the pettiest
oiaces that the members OF the kegisla-
tRre are usually members of the local
school boarls, and degrade the schools by
making the teachers their political tools;
while have been ina some petty villages
of fifteen hundred or two thousand inhaSi-
tants which have not for four OF 1--WE years
I
officers they elected, bui after each cleo
lion the result was disalowed. and the
vacancies thus created were filled by the
Governor.
CARrxT-BAG AND HoAIG RULE coNTRAsTED.
As an example of the way such matters
were managed, Shreveport will answer
the better because il lies in re- ion where
the whites have been accused of discon-
! fenf with ba Rannhliaan ruia lar.
port, before reconstruction, had !. simple
and economical city government. The
Mayor received modef ate salary. the
Common Council We're unsalaried. In
ISL the Legislature imposed upon the
place anew charter. which put il in charge
of a Mayor and four Administrators, all
salared, all provided with clerks. and
with office contingents. The Governor
was authorized 10 appoint these officers
ana 10 fill all vacancies until 1873, and
they were authorized TO issue bonds and
dispose of them " for the best interests of
the city, They seem To have issued not
only bonds but scrip. and this fell TO forty
cents on the dollar at last. In the spring
OF 1874 the Administrators proposed TO is
sue bonds TO the amount of 100000 to
improve the streets. A taxpayers aSso-
citation had been formed, and. having de-
feated this project. they Offered the Mayor
TO undertake the same work which had
been proposed. and do il TO his sati-fac-
( ton. ii they were allowed TO raise money
on tax receipts from citizens. Permission
being given. they did the who.e work for
1000. The police was demoraliZed by
being paid in deprecated scrip; tine tax
payers asked the Mayor 10 discharge the
police, and authorize an unsalariei citi-
zens' patrol, and this, too. was done, and
the city became at once orderly. In the
fall of 1874 a conservative city government
was chosen, aid the scrip stands to-day al
30.
But this is not all. The new charter
was passed in ISL. In 1873 the Legsla-
/ ture incorporated the Shreveport savings
Bank and Trust Company, and gave ii for
! fifty years the sole and exclusive right
TO erect works. supply the city with water
and gas, and TO run ferry across the
river. Now. at that very time Shreveport
| had already well-established gas COM
I pany satisfactory ferry had long been
! in existence. and was a source of revenue
10 the city; and for water works there
was no need. The company wss TO pay
for all its privileges the petty sum of 500
a year. Now, then, among the incorpora-
tors named in the statute which gives
these exclusive rights | find e.. c. An
toiit. Autb anu SUN
William Harper, State Senator; :. A.
Hamilton. Tax Collector: Frank r.
Hatch, Supervisor of Registration VI. A.
Walsh. the appointed Mayor; and George
l.. Smith. member of Congress. The story
is completed when | add that the incor-
porators were not merely endowed with
exclusive rights. but also allowed to
transfer them to otherpersons un'mpaired.
rnppr-ryr orrtrf.Tg
IN the parish of Natchitoches. in 1872,
the Grand Jury indicted "A parish officer
for ENLIGHTENMENT. The Parish Judge, his
personal friend, protected him by neglect
ing to draw Jury. However. the case
went before the District Judge and ne
gro jury, who gave verdict for $4,000.
Thereupon nj the next session the Legis-
lature broke up the Judicial District, and
the Governor appointed to be- Judge OF the
new district. which included NatchitOches
parish, that Parish Judge who had cor
ruptly protected the embeZzler of public
funds. The Judge (Myer) has been driven
out of the country-so he tells me: repu-
table citizens of the parish accuse him OF
being concerned i'm embezZling the school
fund. The Tax Collector Boulr. also driv-
en- from the parish. stands published as a
defauler in he last Auditors report. and
acknowledged To me that he had, while
Tax Collector. been engaged in partner
ship with the Democratic member elect OF
Congress in buying up deprecated county
warrants. which the county must redeem
at par. Both Myers and Boult continue
to hold office, and the condition of affairs
in the parish may be- gathered from the
foil wing details, which were confirmed
TO me by several citizens as existing i'm
1874: District Judge Myers was also
treasurer of the school fund. and continues
to be, though he has not been in the coun-
~ since last JAY. Or. Boult was Tax Col
lector and member OF the School Board.