The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-09-26
TIE NEW ORLEANS DEMOCRAT THURSDAY sHprEMBER % 1878

10 40 1000 "
JuRTEs.
The jury system Of the State has been re-
vised and security thrown around the selec-
tion of jurors SO as to purify and facilitate the
administration Of justice.
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR.
This useless office has been abolished i'm the
country parishes, and In the city Of New Or
leans the fees have been materially curtailed
! and all the odious features of the former law
removed.
BONDS.
The laws providing for giving bonds have
been re-enacted. The securities Of parochial
or municipal officers are compelled to reside In
the parish for which the officer is elected or ap-
pointed. The cancellation Of bonds has been
provided for, and giving Of bonds rendered
compulsory by proper legislation. Whilst
thus legslating many odious laws have been
repealed, to numerous to mention, such as
the law providing for the calling out Of the
police force Of New Orleans as militia; for
the division Of land In case Of sale into lots OF
not less than ten nor more than forty acres.
1t 10 true no general reform has been es-
tablished In the purely civil law, but this
subject, as the acts OF the last and this year
show, has not been forgotten. The law Of
privileges, Of provisional seizure, Of divorce, Of
sale Of succession property, Of appeal, Of sale
OF property, of tax on foreign heirs, and Of
transfers OF stock have been re-enacted and
modified SO as to correct existing abuses. In
the criminal law many reforms have been
reached. A comprehensive bribery law, law
furnishing the destruction, mutilation or re-
moval Of public records, o law regulating and
facilitating appeals In criminal cases, and an
other allowing the working Of convicts in cer-
tain cases, have been enacted. Nor have
works of public improvement been over
looked. The statutes OF 1877 and 1878 will
bear witness to the desire Of fostering and en-
couraging works of public improvement and
enterprise. I question, Mr.. President, wheth-
er the statute books of any State for a
similar time contain as many acts Of this
character, and question also whether in
any Of them the interests Of the State and
people have been better guarded than by the
provisions Of the acts on this subject which
have been passed by this General Assembly,
Whilst mentioning public improvements, see
what has been done as to the leyee system of
this State. The Levee Company has been
abolished, the tax done away with, the COM
pany remitted to the courts as to it's claims,
with q proviso that the claims, even Il judi
cially established, should be paid at the rate
of sixty cents on the dollar, mostly from the
proceeds Of the tax already levied. Sir, one
Of the most difficult problems to be dealt
No
Company In possession Of franchise Civ
ing them the right to construct all the
levees in the State, and providing for the
levy Of tax of three mills on all the prop
erty therein. This right to last for twenty
one years from 1871. The work done by
them to be paid for at the rate of fifty
cents cubic yard. The company made
claim against the State for $1,500, 900, or
thereabouts, for work which they alleged to
have been done. They made claim to the
arreared tax, and their claim was evidenced
up to 1874 by vouchers, which had been au-
dited under an act OF 1876, and amounted to
$1,700,000. Under the provisions of the act of
1877 all claims growing out of this auditing
and these vouchers were waived. The en-
tire question was remitted to the courts not
only so as to the States liability for work
done, but also as to whether work had been
done, and whether, II done, the contract with
the company was legal, and If legal, whether
it imposed any other obligation on the State
than that Of paying over to the Levee Com
pany the tax already levied. True, sir, the
tax under the Levee Company act has con-
tinued during this year, but 1t was because
the company had, under its charter, antict-
pated the tax in part. With this year this
tax disappears, and who can calculate the
benefits resulting to the people by the change?
Having abolished the Levee Company by the
compromise already referred to- in its stead
the Board of Engineers was organized, saw
ing in salaries alone over the Levee Company
act the sum shown by the following table.