The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-04-27
ASSESSMENTS.
The Louisiana Westerns Asses
ment at $7OOO-Others Re-
duced-lIOw 1t Was Done.

duccd-lIow It Was Done.
very interesting meeting was held at the
courthouse last Mondoy. 1t was composed
of the commissioners appointed by the Police
Juries of the several parishes to fix the as
sessment on the property of railroad, tele-
graph and telephone companies doing bust
ness in the parishes named below.
Capt. ]. &. Buchanan was elected chair
man of the meeting and D. A. Cochrane Sc
cretary. The latter gentleman also acted as
notary and administered the oath to the
members.
The roll was call by parishes follows:
Avoyelles, J. B. Hudson, Calcasieu; J. w.
Bryan; Iberia, J. A. Provost; Lafayette,
J. c. Buchanan; Jefferson, L. II. Marrero;
Rapides; c. J. Barstow; st. Landry, not
presented; St. Charles, J. w. Frelson; St.
Mary, w. P. Brown; ST. Martin, E. A. Du
champ; Terrebonne, A. NJ. Dupont; Acadia,
P. S. Pugh.
Act 90 OF 1883, creating the board and
defining its powers, was ordered read for
the benefit of the members.
The first matter that came for the consi-
deration of the board was the assessment of
the Western Union Telegraph line. Mr..
Fem appeared as the repre- sentative of this
company and made staten ent concerning
the valuation of telephone lines. He stated
that the average cost of building telephone
lines was 1896 per mile. The assessment
on this line as fixed by the board last year
was 500 per mile for the first wire and SIS
for each additional one.
Mr.. Frelson moved that the assessment be
fixed At 500 for the two first wires and
H.
Pont offered as an amendment that the as
sessuent be fixed at the same rate as last
year. After some argument pro and con
Mr.. Dupont changed his amendment so as to
fix the rate at 500 for the first wire and
$1z.5o for each additional one. Dupont's
amendment was defeated and Mr.. Frelson's
motion prevailed.
Mr.. Marrero then stated that inasmuch as
the authorities were meetngs with much diff
fculty in collecting the taxes from this COM
pany and at the instance of the attorney
general, it would ube wise to recommend
that the assessment for last year be reduced
to the figures fixed for the ensuing year.
After an animated discussion the improprie-
ty of such step was made clear, and Mr..
Frelson's motion was withdrawn.
The assessment of the Morgan's Louis
lana and Texas railroad which runs from
Alexandria to New Orleans was then taken
up. Messrs. Randolp Natili and Julius
Kruttschnitt whofePresented this company,
made short statements in which they ask the
board to fix the assessment on their road at
he same figures that had been fixed on the
Texas and uPaci6c and Mississippi Valley
roads; claiming that unless this were done
they would not be in position to compete
with the said roads. These remarks gave
rise to a heated talk, incidentally bringing
out the fact that while the railroad was very
anxious to get reduction of its assessment
it was not prepared to carry out Blaines'
loctrine-recprocity- a reduction of
freight charges.
Mr.. Hudson moved that the assessment
on this road be fixed at $4,000 per mile, and
Mr.. Dupont offered amendment that
it, remain at last years figures $1,000 per
mile. The question being put to vote it was
carried by the following vote:
For $o5oo-Provost, Bryant, Marrero,
Hudson, Frelson.
For $7ooo-Duchamp, Dupont, Buchanan.
BY motion of Mr. Marrero the branches
on this road were assessed at $500 per
mile. Mr.. Dupont here entered protest
against ther action of the board in fixing the
assessment Of the Houma branch, clanaing
that only the representative from the parish
through which this branch runs entitled
to vote on this question. The chairman had
decided this point in favor of Mr.. Dupont
but his decision was not sustained. Mr..
Dupont insisted upon the right to fix the as
sessment on this branch, and he fixed it at
the rate of $4,000 per mile.
At this stage of the proceedings, Mr.. P.
S. Pugh Of Acadia arrived and was sworn
in. Judging from the way Mr.. Pugh than
died the question of the assessment of the
Louisiana Western, it is safe to say that had
he been present at the beginning of the ses-
sion he would have infused more life in the
deliberations of the board.
The next thing in order was the assess
ment of the Great Southern Telephone COM
pany which was fixed at $50 per mile. Mr..
J. J. Fowler represented this company.
The assessment of Mr.. IIogsett's Teche
and Vermillion Telephone line was reduced
from $50 to SIS per mile.
The Louisiana Western Railroad now &C.
cupied attention of the board. On this
Calcasieu and Acadia were entitled to vote,
these being the parishes through which this
road runs. At time it seemed as
though the three members would fail to ar
rive at any conclusion, each entertaining
different opinion. Mr.. Pugh presented an