St. Landry democrat., 1886-03-06

1T Is immediately determined that sai.
citizen has some private spite agaius
the Overseer and is too cowasdIy to ri,
sort to other means of revenge. Publ,
opinion has determined that no snor
dastardly act can DO pcrptratec thar
to report Road Ovcrsecr. Our Dis
trict Attorney thought to contract tFli
tecllng by reporting oversecrs on gen
eTal principles. But it. rained or wa
too dry. forgot which! He did not re-
port. by some HOOK or crook the over
seers were uot reported. The Polio.
Jury can only appoint the best avail
aolo maternal for overseers, and appor-
ton to him the hands, and it did seem
that if the matter Of non perfou1a ne,
could be brought i,efore the Grand jury
the difficulty would t,e.ectltied.
| Reporter How did the Police Jury
propose to obviato the difficulty 7
| Ans: We appointed two road com
mlss!oaers III each ward, under q small
salary, whose duty it is to report the
condition of the roads to the Grand Iu-
~. 1t being their duty with 4 salary. If
becomes respectable at anyrate We
hoped that public opiufon would Sus-
tam them, considering = tim urgency. Ac-
cordipg to report OF late Grand Jury
they did report, honestly and fcariessly
i'ubilc opinion does sustain them. and
accotd1n2 10 our opinion the difficulty
has betn met.
Reporter: Then We are to have bet
ter roads!
Ans: No. strange Il, it may seem, lie
t'!and Jury Ignored tEtelr report. owing
To stress OF weather uf course. and re-
! commented the ;tboIlsltlng Of commits
sloncrs.
Reporter: Well, that is remarkable,
what did they think OF the bridge tax ]!
Ans: They seemed to think that a.
the roads are uot. worked at all. the
same ovcrseers who do not work them.
should bt furnished with lumber and
rails, SO a- not to build bridges. They
want neither to have the reads worked,
hsldges built. or report Oh the subject.
Experience has taught lis tn believe
that the ordinary oVerscCr will use ali
the lumber and rails that can bo fur
nisfied, TO h,: wasle' away by the first
fressiot. But it sounds like economy,
and many III jump at the itte;% as new.
The old system has been tried to this
date and the tax is levied for the simple
reason that the plan they advise would
not work. Besides every expounder Of
the law i'll the State will tell the Grand
Jury, that there is absolutely no law in
the State TO compel ;sr ovorseer to build
bridge. During the day ci slayery
the Old planters took u pride in such
matters, s,Iperintended themselves and
thought it peiurious ~ call upon the
parish for aid in such matters. They
could and did control the labor in such
work. Hundreds. and yes thousands Of
counties and parishes, all over the coun-
try long since recognized the change Of
circumstances, and are building bridges
by direct TAX. The Police jury of this
parish reluctantly, after much discus
sion Was forced tn the necessity, bciu.
convinced that niue tenths Of the tax
na,el> approved For Years the mem
ber~ Of rhc Police jury discussed the
question: in their respective wards, and
came to the delihcrate conclusion that
overwhelmingly demand
ed the tax Shall we now repeal it by
advice 1T Grand Jury ! Much fault is
found because of the delay in having
the bridges built, after the tax has been
imposed. can only say that the cause !
is owing to the fact that sllcli work was ,
new to our builders. They know not
what to charge for such work, and the
Police jury was not willing to pay more
than WAS being paid i'll other parishes, !
adjacent to us. But gradually contracts :
IbtTII@ VNtJI UUiiiiS EtII1
given and in due time ii the tax is con
tinued, we can have substantial bridges
all over the parish ut Il cost 81. 80 per
foot. also believe that public opinions .
will force the Grand Jury's to act ac
:orCling to their Oatl,s, and eventually .
he ovel seers will br compelled to work j
The roads after IL fashion provided the
arc retained and make
their report as fearcssly in the future
IS they did at the last meeting.
ReDortcr Then you .ln not think the
cepurt Of tie Grand Jury will cau>e Il
change .
Aus: [ believe that eight intelligent
citizens who give their thoughts to such
matter. for years. are better able tn tell
lie needs of the parish and can better
effect the wishes OF the people, than
INV sixteen persons hastily called to-
.ethui. who undertake ta pass III opln-
on without any thought whatever. In
iiyiluaI!y, eau say that ii would be Z.
previous sElausc TO 20 backward i'll the
work undertaken. Instead
II going bacl1N ard will move that the
Police, Jury propose. tn tie Judge, 10 ap-
point Il Foreman Ut tile Grand Jury,
Who Will act more III accord witt. the
spirit of the age. One who w.it listen
1, the report OF the commissioners, and
.ct upon il after hearing. The people
ire all right. The officers are afraid OF
public opinion and are too apt To Shift
he responsibilities upon other Shout
lers.
The Police Jury has done everything
t can do to have bridges built, and
Dads worked, the people approve it al
r,ast ,1naninanustv Why Il il that the
3rand Jury fails To second our eniea-
'0rs .
For years and years, it has been un-
,optiar to report d road ovelSeer.
,nt hAr thnn facR the resrlnn sihilIfv |