Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1897-07-09
DISTRICT COURT.

tendance of litigants and jurors
! The day was cooler than hay,
been the preceding 30 days to th'
great relief of the persons attend
ing Court. Mr.. S. F. Hopkins, f,
prominent citizen of tho first ward
was selected by the Court as thu
Foreman of the Grand Jury. Hi.
Honor Judge Tullis delivered al
able charge to the Grand jury, &
part of which, appertaining to the
care of the levees, we give below
There are a large number of crimi
nal cases, very few Of an import.
ant nature, however, and we may
have two weeks Court. We Civ.
the following extract from the
Judges charge, which will be read
with great interest by ali oar citi-
zens:
"In conclusion, / would call
your special and most earnest at
tention to the various Statutes of
this State, whose purpose is the
preservation of the public levees.
The great peril, both to life and
property, which threatened tine
people of this parish for sixty
anxious days in the recent past.
should certainly impress upon the
attention of every intelligent man
and every good citizen the urgent
necessity of a strict enforcement
OF the statutes above referred to.
The success of the levee system
is no longer theoretical question,
and the vast sums of money al
ready expended by the Federal,
State, Levee District and parish
authorities, all of which have been
contributed by che tax payers of
the country, would be, to some ex-
tent, wasted, if the embankments
erected with these funds are to he
destroyed and deprecated upon by
individuals for their own selfish
purposes.
Act No. 108 of the Acts of
1888, prohibits riding, driving, or
hauling upon any public levee in
this State. This Act refers not
only to the levees built by the
State or local authorities, but also
to the levees built by the Federal
Government. There is, in add
ton to this law, Federal Stat
ute, which, however, is enforceable
only by the Federal Courts, and
which prohibits depredations upon
levees built by the Federal Gov
eminent. The penalties for viO-
lating the State law are not severe,
being limited to a fine not exceed
ing fifty dollars, or Imprisonment
not exceeding thirty days, or both
at the discretion of the Court; but
the penalty for the violation of the
Federal statute is a fine of not
more than two thousand dollars,
or imprisonment at hard labor for
not more than two years.
."Act No. Is of the Acts Of 1892,
provides, that, Whoever shall
place, or cause TO be placed upon
the leyees fronting on the Missis-
sippi River, or upon any levee or
levees fronting on any lake or ca
nal or waterway, subject to the |
control or surveillance of the Dis
trict Board of Levse Commission
sF, or Police Jurors or municipal |
corporations, any lumber, buill- |
ng material, fuel, fences, build
ngs, constructions, brick, sand, |
,lay, or any matter of any kind or
character which Obstructs or in
with the safety thereof, or
8 an obstacle to the construction |,
II repair thereof, shall, upon con-
,iction before any Court of COM
,etent jurisdiction, be imprisoned
or term not exceeding six
or fined not exceeding
me hundred dollars, or both at
he discretion of the Court.
"The enforcement of these Acts
3 of vast importance to the pres
rvation of the levees, and l am
that they have been vio-
ated in many instances in this
arish. The truth is that there
sems to be a disposition on the
art of some people to regard the
ublic levees not as public prop
rty but as susceptible of owner
hip for the purposes of individual
This state of affairs
i'll certainly continue unless the
trong arm of the law takes hold u.
{ all offenders against these laws
nd they are taught by punish
lent to respect the rights of others
nd to appreciate the sacred char |
cter of these great bulwarks, {
hich. the money of the tax payers
as erected as the only defense
yainst the only enemy to our en- .
uring prosperity-the Mississippi !
liver" /
Judge Henry d. Ogden, distin- +"
lished lawyer of New Orleans,