St. Landry democrat., 1878-03-30
Editor of the ST. LANDRY DEMOCRAT ::

opposition to the old Board, most &
whom, it Is understood, will be candi
dates at the town election to be held O
Monday, April list. Owing to the legel
hemaln Of certain parties, we have ha
no election for town cOnncil for full
years; and trust that all citizpnS, bot
white and colortd. who love Justice an,
) fair dealing, and ahhor Injustice an.
favolitisn, will heartily support the ney
ticket, which is composed of honest i'm,
upright men who have the interests o
the whole community ut heart
A COLoRED VOTER.
4 casual inspection of "coIoret
voters" " communication shows it t.
have been written in utter diSregar,
OF the truth and must inevitably hav.
forced upon the mind of every r-ade
the fact that he either was actuated h,
IL desire to falsify facts, or that he is ;
Rip Van Winkle, who has been qui+tl,
asleep these many years and totally
oblivious of what has been going o,
around him. On the 4th of April, 1874
a public meeting was held ut the Court
house and nominated the followin.
| ticket for town council: Geo. w. Hud-
| Speth, G. Mayo, DR.. James Ray, P. }
Lefebvre, A. B. Chachere, C. Mornhin
veg, Sr., Chas. N. Ealer There was
another ticket in the field. On the 9Th
of April, the election took place and
| the gentlemen above named We're elected.
! The town was then in debt over $4,000
the streets almost impossible and the
bridges in decay. The new board be-
| gan by inaugurating he most thorough
| reforms. Salaries of town officers alone.
were cut down over one thousand dol
lars at the first meeting. B. ol,Servanc.
"f a rigid economy the finances of th
town were soon put in a healthy cOnhi-
tion, and by the time of the eXpraton
Of their term of office in 1875 many OF
the repairs and improvements since
completed were commenced.
On the 10Th of March, 1875, DR.. James
Ray, President of the town board of
police, addressed the clerk of the 9Th
district Court, communication, (wlic,a
WAS published in the Openusas Jour
nal of April 9th and which "cnlored
voter" can SEE at the DEMOCRAT
office if he desires to do 500 request
ing him in accordance with the pro
visions of the charter of the town, a.
amended in 1866, to "publiSh the eltc-
ton of members of the Board of Pulic,
of the town to be held on the 1st Mon
lay of April for the ensuing year"
This the clerk declined to do for the
reason that under sections 26 and ~ ot
the election law of 1872, he had no power
to do SD, the authority having been b,
said act expressly delegated to the par
ish Supervisor of Registration. His
letter may be seen in the same numbe,
of the Journal at the DEMOCRAT office.
This was the legerdelnaiu resortel
to i'll 1875. Had the clerk possessed TIN,
to order it an election would
have been held, and the board elected
in 1874, would have been reelected. |
This power, though by subsequent leg
had been conferred on the Su-
peryisor of Registration. He did not
order an election none was held; the |
offices were vacant and filled by the |
Governor, under the general laws OF |
he State, by recOnmissioning all the |
elected in 1874. except Messrs. |
Hudspeth and Mornhinveg, in Who's, |
stead We're commissioned Messrs. Yictol |
cf,n "A n..l q
arnor could have done nothing more
to the tax payers and citizens
af the town than to have re-appointed
he old board Under their administra-
ion tue town debt had been greatly |
town certificates of indebted |
ness were rapidly approximating par
with currency; the streets were thorongh-
y repaired and put in order and the town
better policei than for years previously.
)n the 81 of April, 1876, notwithstand- |
ny the broad assertion of "colored
:oter to the contrary, an election for
members of the Board of Police was
,eld in OpeloEsas. There was some stir
,ver it, and a very large vote polled.
The result was the election of the pres
mt town council, four of whom were
'lected in 1874, over the ticket brought
,ut in oppo: igion to it by an average
of to lin ii vote of over 200.
In 1877 there was no election held, for
he reasons tlatby an act of the Legis-
ature in 1876, amending the town
llarter, elections for members of the
he town council are held only every
w0 years, and the present MEM
,efs having been elected in April,
SIG, subsequent to this amendment of
he charter their term does not expire
Until April, 1873. These are the facts of
he case, and before "colored voter
uslied into print he should have prop
rly informed himself and not been
.uilty of making such extravagantly
alse assertions, about II matter within
he knowledge of every voter in the
own.
"A WHITE VoTER AND TAXPAYER.
COOP ADyICE.--lt is better tn tread
he path of life clleerfully, skipping
ghtly over the thorns and briars that
bstruct your way, than Il, sit down un-
er every hedge lanenting your hard :.
ate. The thread of a cheerful mans
fe spins out much longer than that of &;
4 man who is continually sad and des-
OF ding. Prudent conduct in the con I
rrns of life is highly ntcessary--but if
istress succeed, detection and despair I
ill not affaul relief. The best thing
, be done when evil comes upon us is
ct lamentati0n, but action; not to sit {
uea suffer. bIlt tfl rise and seek the {