New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-11-13
ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC
BY THE
LOUISIANA LEVEE COMPANY.

4
New Orleans, November 10. 1875. }
To the Public:
The undersigned, president of the Louis
lana Levee Company, in behalf of the di-
rectors and stockholders of said company,
deems it his duty to the public aud the
stockholders TO publish the following state
ments in correction and refutation of the
persistent Measurements and false accuse
tions made regarding us and our motives
and actions through the press of New Or
leans.
The parties, not ourselves, who formed
the Levee Company, and originally CON
tracted with the State of Louisiana Tor the
building and maintenance of ieveeR, in Feb
ruary, 1871, found themselves wholly ua.
able to comply with their contract for want
of capital. The State had previously is
sued more than IS ,000, 900 of bonds for levee
construct on purposes, under boards of
commis ioners. which bonds were much de-
preciated in value in the MARKET and the
State was powerless to raise further means
for continuing the work of levee mainien-
aDce. She had no money, aud could no
longer get the work done on credit. The
levees were broken and gone in very many
places, and unless something were dule,
the whole alluvial portion of The State wao
certain to be inundated during the next
floods of the river
The State could not build the veea. md
lub HcW LeNee SoWIhuy, ~ thfu cunstl-
tuted, was equally powerless TO proceed
with the work it had undertaken. Such
was the situation in November, ISL.
At this iuncture IL few gentlemen. inc,ul-
ing among their number several bank prssi-
dents, large landed proplietors and capital
lists, all resident citizens OF long stan ling,
who thought they would thereby render the
State good service, Joined together in the
emergency, and concluded to invest u por-
tion OF their funds, and undertake to do
what neither the State, the new Levee
| Company. nor the riparian proprletOrs
| could do.
| They acquired, as the only means of opera
| ton and OF having the levees built tfor the
| only possible instrumentality then was the
newly formed Levee Company, the fran.
| chises and contract of said company. They
| then jointly contributed and paid, in up
| ward OF 300 600 in cash, for a capital, in
| December, 1871, and commenced to rebuild
| such levees as the State, through its com
| mission OF engineers. designated as most
| necessary, and ordered for construction.
| They built every levee SO ordered, and com.
| piled with all the requirements of their con-
tract stipulations as designated to them by
the State as the proprietor of the leyees,
! through her officials
| By the use of their whole capital and
straining their credit. they succeeded in
building upward of 100 levees completely
| with many others at the same time under
| process of construction, before receiving
| one dollar OF compensation therefor from
| the State.
To October, 1872, they built ievees amount
| ing in the aggregate to 2,5j7 ,IGl cubic
| yards for which 81. j3i $50 60 was due, ant
on account OF which only 1922, ZOO had beer
paid to them by the State. The Leve,
Company has paid to its sub-coDtractors, OF
an average, from frat to last, nearly thitty
| tiva 20 hin yard an n naSh lo { j
besides deiraying all ut its incidental ant
other necessary expenses. The company
loss, in interest alone on the unpaid bal
ances past due by the State, for work ac
tually performed, say on about Sl,500, $50 q
ten per cent for three and q halt years
amounts to S525000. The balance due tn
Levee Company on the first of November
1875, after deducting all receipts from bot
the construction and repair funds, was owe
| one and half millions of dollars.
| We have built 5,6l7 ,553 cubic yards o
levees in sll, and the amount charged !,
the State tor construction and repairs j
S3,266,3 i7. 1t is said that the Levee Com
pany Is making large profits on its con
tract. If so, how is it that stock, the fac
value of which Is fifteen dollars pc
share-(on which no cash dividends hav
ever been pald)-is now selling at price
varying from only two dollars 10 three do
lars per sharei
& The facts are that the entire amount IT
ceiyed from the State SO far, 81 ,I54, 200, la
been expended in levee construction an,
disbursements connected Herewith. In ad
dition to the amounts received from tn
State we have advanced and expended Gu
of our own means, obtained from othe
sources, $1S0, 600, or about onethlrd of TIN
cost of the levees built up to this time, 70
which we have received little elsa thai
abuse, coming from anonymous writers t
| al NH oh Inns toto a
in some cases, by those whose venaity ha
been disappointed By our refusal 10 submit
| to the exactions OF "black mail and, i
other cases, emanatng from the vindictiv
feelings of discharged employees.
How many business men i'll New Orleans
or anywhere else, would be willing to cor
tract to build levees for the State of Louis
ana at fifty cents per cubic yard, and wal
d year OF more to he reimbursed, withou
interest, after paying an average of thirty
five cents per cubic yard in cash, or it
equivalent, to sub-contractors, interest o
all loans, anu other incidental expenses j
addition! They would find TIE actual cos
) per cubic yard for levees at least fort.
cents, all expenses included.
It's contract obligations Faithfully from tirs
to last, but the State from the very frat ha
been and ia still in default. The absurd in
preston prevails, even with those VIII
should know better. that, for some uneS
, planned reason. the Levee Company shout
! build all the levees needed in Louisiana {
it's own volition without orders and withou
/, compensation. For the amount of the ba
anoe due us we have rendered a full equiv'
lent in work done, and yet we are denOunce
as seeking to rob the State for asking to
paid in deprecated State bonds the amour
due us in cash as per contract.
Large sums, in bonds and warrants, ii
sued for no consideration whatever as ia
as the public are informed, aud even tain
ed with fraud from their first inception
have been funded, but our inst claim
held up for public execration for presumini
to ask to be paid in bonds, instead of casl
| for what is due us. BY act No. of lS1l i
WAS provided that the Estate of Lousian
contracts and agrees with the Louisiana Ia
wee Company in terms as follows: That tn
Auditor OF Public Accounts shall be n
quired to pay the Louisiana Levee Con
pany at the rate of fifty cents per cub
| yard for all levees constructed by said con
| pany after the first day of October, 1873
and for tall levees constructed by said con
PAW before the first day of October, 49,
at the rate of sixty cents per cub
| yard, as the existing contracts and law
| provide" We seek but to obtain from u
State the fulltilment of its,contract stipuli
tions.
1t is said that the Levee Company has nj
the means to maintain the levee system
and, therefore, that its contract should
broken. The truth is that If the State wei
!. in condition TO pay cash for all work don
. our company could build any number
! | millions of yards annually for less than tt
/ | present contract price 1t is the State an
= not our company that is without the meat
to maintain the levee system. Oar comp
| l. hat xho HIT Stnta c