St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1894-07-14

may receive from the 1eyee system, and
! Whereas, There are many thousands
of acres of land within said district III
| this parish above overflow, and there
/ fore not liable to taxation by said LeVee
| Board; and,
| Whereas, There are over one hundred
thousand acres of swamp land in this
parish, within said district, utterly ire
claimable by any 1eyee system, valuable
only for the timber thereon and not at
tached to or a part of the alluvial tracts
on the Bayou and River fronts, but To-
Gated in separate tracts in the deeI
! swamp, and
| Whereas, said Board of Commission.
ers insists that all said lands shall be
! listed and assessed with the five cents
acreage tax and ten mills additional in
contravention of the 1st sec. of art. 70 OF
1890, creating said Levee District, for the
| purpose of raising a revenue to protect
the land therein from inundation; and
Whereas, The levy and assessment OF
said special leyee taxes indiscrlmately
on lands without regard to any benefit
| conferred on them is not only in viola
t1on of the true purposes and intent OF
said act, and is contiscation of the prop
erty of our citizens and,
Whereas, Under the operation of the
enormous tax imposed by the Leyee
Board, many tracts of land in this par
lSh comprising thousands of acres, have
already been adjudicated to the State
for the benefit of said Levee Board, and
at least one hundred thousand acres
more in the irreclaimabIe Atchafaleya
swamp will be adjudicated to the State,
if this power of confiscation be not at
once arrested, because of the five cents
acreage tax and ten mill tax on these
swamp lands assessed at so cents per
acre, exceeds annually ten per cent of
their assessed value; and
Whereas, In accordance with sec. %
of the act creating said Levee Board, the
President of this body has made appli-
cation twice to the said Levee Board,
because an examination to be made by
engineer OF the Atchafalaya and Cour-
tableau swamp land to ascertain wheth-
er on account of natural difficulties it
would be impolitic to attempt to protect
the portion of said parish SO examined I;
and
Whereas, Said Levee Board has taken
no action as requested by the President
of this body, and is required by said sec
tlOn OF the law; and,
Whereas, AS to the high lands which
the assessor has omitted from the as
sessInent because not subject to over
flow, there was no failure to agree be-
tween him and the taxpayers, as to
whether said lands are subject to be lis
ted and assessed under the provisions of
said act, and no report of any disagree
ment was ever made to the Board of
Leyee Commissioners, nor did the Board
of State engineers make any examina-
tions or take levels of said lands to as
certain if they be subject to overflow, as
by sec. of the said act of the legisla-
ture, and therefore under the express
and explicit provision of the said sec.
the action of the assessor in the prem
ises is final, and such lands in the Ian
guage of section shall be exempted from
taxation for district levee purposes for
the year for which the assessment is
made; and,
Whereas, The said district 1evee board
is itself acting in direct violation of the
letter and spirit of the law; and,
Whereas, The taxpayers within said
district in this parish have appealed to
the courts to protect them against this
wholesale confscation Of their property,
and will press their suit with all the
power, influence and resources they
possess; therefore,
Be it resolved, That this police jury
disapprove of the action of the Commits
sioners of said Sub-Levee District, and
endorse and approve the course of M.
l.. Swords, Assessor; and furthermore
peal to His Excellency, Gov. Foster, to
use his influence and executive prero-
gative to protect the taxpayers of this
parish against the wholesale confisca-
ton of their property, which the said
Board seems determined to lnf1ict upon
them.
Resolved further, That the clerk of
this body be instructed to transmit at
once copy of this preamble and resol-
ution to the Governor.
Mr.. Laf1eur in the chair.
On motion of Mr.. Butler, the report of
the committee appointed to sell contract
to build bridge on Coulee de Suelle was
received, committee discharged, and
Joseph Lachapelle credited with the
sum of $4,000 out of Internal Improve
ment funds, Sth ward.
On motion of Mr.. Fontenot, the Police
Jury went in committee of the whole,
for the purpose of settling with the
Treasurer.
Mr.. Fontenot in the chair.
The committee of the whole having
arisen reported through their chair
man, Mr.. Fontenot, that they had ex-
amined vouchers in the hands of the
treasurer, and found them correct, and
have cancelled same, amounting to
$7,026.22, and the Treasurer ordered Gre
dited for said amount.
Mr.. Lafleur in the chair.
On motion of Mr.. Fontenot, the report
of the committee appointed to let out
contract to build fence around the Par
ish Jail and also woprivies on the court
house square was received, committee dis
charged and Mr.. B. F. Anderson credited
with the sum of $461 co.
On motion of Mr.. Fontenot, the Police
Jury adjourned till o'clock, p. m.
EVENING SESSION.
The Police Jury met at 3p.m Present,
Mr.. Robert Lafieur, president pro. tenn.
Messrs. Evans, Fontenot, Clopton, Bull
Ter, Courtney, Quebedeau and Guidry.
DR.. Elopton in the chair.
IN motion of Mr.. Courtney. the Police
Jury went in committee of the whole
for the purpose of passing on claims.
Mr.. Courtney in the chair.
The committee of the whole having
arisen reported through their chairman,
Mr.. Courtney, that they had examined
the following claims and found them
correct:
B. f. Anderson, work for Assessr's
ONCE. .......-....-.......S 4 UU
T. S. Fontenot, sheriff, sunds. for
jails, etc. tc..................... 10 60
t. S. Fontenot, feeding prisoners
from June 13, 1894, to July 10,
inclusive ................... 1853 30
L. S. Fontenot, committing Is
prisoners NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Is 90
Valsin Dupre, burrying pauper. 90
Albert Guidry, & spades, I'd ward. so
Lud Ferguson, lumber and nails,
R. E. Burleigh, spades and scrap
eEs3 flH NtIu -....-.... II ~
A. Hackl, l rim lock rs
J. l.. Stewart, / plow broken on
road, 9th ward !. ............... 90
Alexis Moreau, Juror on inquest. 90
F. E. Stokes, lumber, I'd ward..... 90
L. M. G. Hyman, cost in suit State
of La. VS.. Henry Jackson Ut. 2 45
Levy Bros. d Simon, l convey
ance book and 3 record books. 81 90
J. T. Stewart, lumber, 1st ward 43 0s
DIR. w, Nj. THOMPSON. sealing WAX 50