The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-02-02
POLICE JuRIEs.

In another column this morning we repro
duce an article from our esteemed contem-
porary, the Rtchland Hrdcon, upon the inter-
ostlnR subject Of police juries.
II appears that the Beacon does not approve
DIR suggestion of making this Office ono 81
appointment. Tho argument la that the peo-
pie arc the best Judges In such matters and
that to take from them the privilege OF sc-
Letting their local officials Will be To intlct
great wrongs upon them, IN fact TO confess
that republican institutions are n failure IT
the people are not capable Of choosing police
| Jurors thcy arc not capable Of choosing their
governor and their representatives In Legis
| laturo etc. etc. @ =..--...r
| There Is nothing 10 aay against thla Argyll
ment from the standpoint Of lofty abstract
theory Carrying tho philosophy Of republic
canism IL Tia last legitimate deductions. we
should elect our judiciary from the Chief
Iusticn W tho Federal Supreme Court
downward our foreign minister's. orr
cabinet officials. customs and revenue
otllccrs. ctc. Theory clearly points thla way.
Fact and experience however,. show Us that
~ certain class 81 offices, purely cxncut!v" ~
| their nature or requiring sproial qualities
| tpps arc In some cases better filled Ivy ap-
poiutmcnt. More substantial heuetl's accrue
to tho people, and the public business is
more ably and faithfully transacted. The
police juror u a very important official. Al
though his jurisdiction Ia narrow and rest1iot-
I'd. IL occupies al extremely intimate and
delicate relation To the welfare Of tho people.
lIa IL to tho people Of tho parish what tho
Legislature the judiciary and tho Executive"
all combined. are to tho people Of the State
1t Ia of the frat Importance that tho police
jurics should hc composed of the beat citizens.
the most responsible men, and potaons whose
interests arc 40 ineXtiiCably involved In tho
welfare Of tho parish as to guarantee their
vigilance ana their effort. We may talk IA
much ~ wr please about the beauties of
republican institutions but tho poltc" jury Is
one OF those awkward to the rule that srlf-
government produces the hiEhrat results Of
public happiness. AZ u matter Of fact. the
most desirable material does not come for
ward and oflcr itself to tho police jury Az u
matter of fact the domestic management In u
majority of tho parishes is conspcuously
corrupt or ilaRrantly imheeile.
Take a case III point-the parish OF Madi- |
son lii thls parish there Ia police jury
composed Of five negroes and two
white men. Tho negroes are the result
OF the elective franchise ~ applied to
tho Institution tho whit" men would. we
presume, have been there just tho same
as u result Of appointment. Tho parish
Of Mndisun Ia IN tho overtl wed helt. and
therefore has To make provision for defense
In emergency. Hence II happens that. some
three weeks age. there was In the parish
treasury some $500. raised upon special
leyee tax and sacrehly set apart for loNer pnr-
poses 1t happening. however that the two
white members were called away from
Madison. the five negro members
seized the opportunity to call
meoting and to pass resolution
turning over the $500 OF special levee fund
to tho general parish fund. and 40 making
away with it altogether. OF course It Ia m
outrage and a robbery. but what are tho poo
ple going to do about it2 These negro jurors
are the fruit Of our institutions,
and they have done this thing
They are utterly irresponsible. and thus the
parish has no recourse What has happened
IN Madison has often happened IN other par
shes, and will always continue to happen un-
der similar conditions. The policy we advo-
cate Will prevent such things In the future.
Our neighbor Of Riehland may not SEQ any
danger In its own case, but cannot 1t sce the
danger In very many cases elsewhere Now
we have only this suggestion to throw out to
the Richland people. and to all others STINT
larly situated: You always have some sort Of
form OF nomination for police Jurors, and Ia
this resides the real exercise OF your elective
franchise Having nominated your choice, 1t
can mnttcr little to you whether that choice
Is realized through the counting OF your
votes at the polls or through tho anticipation
OF your votes by the Governors appointment
So long as you arc allowed to Indicate your
will you can afford to be Indifferent as to the
method by which that will Is expressed. Re
member this. and give your neighbours an
equal chance.