St. Landry democrat., 1883-11-24
Gov. NHcEnery Responsible for
the Failure to Build the
lev
New Orleans Picayune.

4 5E fET
| Mr.. EDIToR-The Times Democrat
and the States attribute the failure of
/ the Opossum Fork Levee contract to
the fact that the opponents OF Gov. Nc
/ Enery1s administration have criticised
| his official conduct in the matter OF the
levees, and have asserted that he yio-
lated the law in regard thereto.
The plan of the administration cla-
/ aueurs, developed early last summer,
was to resuscitate the dead body of this
administration (whose failure to redeem
the pledges given to the people by the
Democratic party has made it offensive
to the nostrils of all honest Democrats),
by the false pretense that Gov. Meme
ny was the one great and only friend OF
| the levee interests OF this State. In
order to make this go as true among the
people of the overt1owed districts, the
Levee Convention was assembled and
made its recommendations. All this
was good but everybody knew that
that body, respectable as it was, could
only advise and could not authorize the
Governor to do anything. We are a
| lawabiding people, governed by laws,
and Gov. McEnery and Major Burke
ought to have known that this Levee
Convention could not pass law nor
authorize the appropriation OF the pub
| lie moneys, and yet when that Conven.
ton adjourned, the Times-DemOcrat
and all its little following raised the
shout: ''The levees are safe,n "the
overlooked districts are redeemed" "let
all the people join hands to Te-elect the
great Levee Governor!!m That Con-
vention was held in the early summer,
and, more, after the lapse of nearly half
year, it turns out that the Governors
levee contracts are not good, because
they are not based upon any law, and
all this great ado, and fuss and feathers
and hurrall about the "Levee Governor"
have ended in smoke.
Why did not Gov. McEnery call an
extra session of the Legislature to carry
out the recommendations of the Levee
Convention Let the States and Times
Democrat answer.
A Governor, who respects the law
would have done this, and il he had
thus acted, the contracts for the levees
would be to-day a success, instead OF
the miserable failure that the papers
announce.
Ii Gov. McEnery had called the Leg
islature, all that would have been right;
as it is, his lawless conduct has borne
its natural fruit, and he must bear the
blame. 5
IT he had needed the law instead of
the Times-Democrat, it would have
been much better for the State.
The eAplanati0n of this high-handed
conduct of the Governor does not readi-
ly appear.
Is it to be found in the fact that if the
Legislature had been called and had
acted, some of the credit of the levee
building might huve been lost to the
Times-Democrat and its ..Levee Cover
nor.n
1t is idle for the It'd. and the States
or other administration papers to try to
fasten the consequences of this failure
on the opponents of the administration.
The Governor and his advisers cannot
thus evade the responsibility for their
unlawful conduct. The Governor could
have saved all this trouble; and averted
the difficulty that has arisen by calling
the Legislature together.
His levee policy is a failure, by his
own fault. In his hallucination, at the
the thought of being the great "Leyee
Governor he mistook the Levee Con-
vention for the General Assembly, "only
this and nothing more"
None are more regretful that there
has been failure to build the levees THAI
those who support Gen. Ogden or other
anti-administratio candidates. We
need the levees and must have them,
but we will never get them until the
people turn out the present Office hold
ers and electa governor who has res
pect for the law. A. DEMOCRAT.
The Tricksters at Work.
Editor DeSOtO -Den,ocrat-I have di-