The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-13
THE REFORM OF THE STATE GOVERN.
MINT.

WENT,
To the Editor Of the Democrat:
cheap, simple and responsible govern
ment is what the people want, In place Of The
u 60 mt expensive complicated and rrespon
sibie one which they have under the eonstitu
ton of 1868.
The cardinal defect of tho present system
is that it is the result of development from
without, not development from within. The
theory must be reversed, and we must re-
build from below. Reconstruction must be
reconstructed SO far as 1t yet remains In the
power Of the coming convention to remodel
the edifice of government. In the essentials
of government this power remains. Indeed,
after the last vestige of Federal interference
shall have been removed by the repeal of the
enforcement acts of Congress In regard to the
conduct Of elections, which will surely be
done, It will soon be forgotten that the rude
hand Of military power was ever laid on the
State.
The present State government Is faulty as
a whole. and defective In each of its parts.
The autonomy Is all wrong To get a
healthy and prosperous State-one that will
grow and endure for all time-we must dag
cessful remedies, however caustic they may
be.
i hear it said by gentlemen, for whose In
teiligence have the highest respect that the
situation in Louisiana Is SO different from
that Of the other States of the Union, il will
be impossible to introduce the reforms which
have worked so well In States where the
common law prevails II Is argued. with
plausible force, that the civil law having
always prevailed in this State, any attempt
to engraft the reforms Of other States would
cause o violent disturbance of our iurispru-
dence and lead to disastrous consequences.
at most this argument only applies to
changes In the laws and In the system Of
jurisprudence (which / will hereafter attempt
to show is fallacious and can have no weight
as an objection TO notifications of the politi-
cal structure. Louisiana had the civil law
under the monarchy of Spain and under the
empire of Napoleon; she retained it under
the Republic of the United States, but she
found no difficulty in making the political
changes necessary to adapt her to the new
situation. Customs are strong habit is said
TO be second nature but history Is full Of
illustrations that 1t is quite easy for o peo
ple when good reasons require It, to cast
aside the forms to which they have been ac |
customed and adopt new ones. 1t Is not
necessary to make Louisiana o common law |
State In order to get rid of abuses either in |
the Legislative, judicial, or executive de-
partments. In the States where the com mon
law has always prevailed changes have been
made from time to time dictated by ex-
perieDce and common sense until the fictions,
the absurdites, the injustice and the circum-
iocution Of the old common law have been
swept away. So in Louisiana the distinguish
under new forms of administration. ~ |
But let us settle first upon plan for this
new edlfice. The foundation stills must be laid
at the hearthstones of the people.
1t was not Story, Webster, or Calhoun even,
strong as he was for local self-government,
who gave the best definition of our system
1t was a foreigner, but nevertheless thorough
Democrat. He said we were Republic of
Republics" The American people will never
get their affairs Strengthened until they I'M
ravel the skein of Capitalization and get |
back to the simplicity Of our system as de
signed by the founders. Beginning at the
primary source Of power in the first political
sub divisions, we must ascend through the
gradations OF little republics until we arrive ,
at the aggregations of power In grand con- /
Federate union instead of descending from {
The centre whence power and patronage are l
now exerted with crushing weight of {
tyranny and corruption. 6
The first little republic is the ward OF the
parish, of the town, and Of the city. This po- I
itical division In the parishes should be mag
1iied In Importance and increased In use '
'ulness. Two important interests in society ]
md government should be committed to It's {
care. mean education local improvements !
md the conduct of elections. Let there be !
Jhree commissioners or trustees provided for, 6
ID be elected annually by the people Of the
ward whose duty IL shall be to manage the {
limitations Of general laws OF the State. Each 9
ward should constitute single school dis '
.riGt and q single road district, and when {
arge and populous it should be divided into
districts as may be Unnecessary to ac- {
eommodate ali the educable youth, white and {
black in separate schools to suit the case, and I
into sub-road districts as may be necessary S
to insure the accomplishment OF their pur- {
poses. Three school directors should be
Elected for each school district to appoint
teachers and superintend the affairs OF edu L
cation In their respective districts and q
under the direction of general I
avs. One supervisor of roads should be y
slected by the people of each ward and of each +
sub-road district, whose duty it shall be TO t
iirect the work on local roads and highways ]
n pursuance of general laws which the s
Legislature OF the State might deem 1t wise t
% adopt. The ward commissioners should be t
Judges of all elections held, with power to C
designate the polling tplaces, and TO direct 8
md control the registration, II any, and T
% transmit returns as may be prescribed s
" general laws of the State. There should 4
Liso be clerk for the ward, either elected by I
he people or appointed by the board of COM t
TO keep record OF the proceed q
ngs OF the board and to perform such other b
luties as may be prescribed by law. There s
hould be justice of the peace provided for a
ach ward in the country parishes, and where I
he territory is large and the population great, D
he number should be increased to suit the a
constable should be his p
Executive officer and both should be elected by 7
he people, with IA three years term of office. ?
| he justice should be his own clerk and keep {
lis own docket. The justice and constable =
should be paid by fees, which should III all 7
asses be prescribed by law. IL