The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1898-01-29
THE BOLIVAR DEMOCRAT AND THE
BOARD.

The Bolivar Democrat continue.
to be scathingly severe in its crit.
cisms of the Leyee Board and all
connected Herewith. The follow.
ing are extracts fdG@l lin(issl; OF
Jan. %:
"Wantedf f-10O0 barrows and q
little common sense to close tie
breaks at Stokes and Stop Land
ing"
"Will the, sewing society ever
get down to any real work! q
"The Levee Board should ask
themselves what are we here for I
apparently, to meet every day in
in the week, draw their salaries,
and let the people drown"
'If the Levee Board can be in
duced to act, even at this late date.
with decision and pronptitude, we
hope and believe there is yet time
to avert disaster. But the people
will never forgive the mistakes and
incapacity that have brought them
to the verge of aprecipice.
Upper Bolivar now know,
what it is to be without a strong
and influential man on the Levee
Board to look out for its interests.
Money to burn, and the breaks
all open. Great Heavens, what
Stupidity
We hope the eminent United
States engineer in charge OF this
district wiIl'go where glory waits
him before another high water.
If he wants a guard of honor, lei
him take the Levee Board IN
Heavens name. They are men
after his own heart, slow as
snails. And then, too, think OF
the seasoned warriors at his com
mand-'a member of the McGhee
Rifles; 'the captain of the Bolivar
troop; ana Liza Tor ms Y1yandlere.
But these squibs are merely
chance shots and sharpshooter
practice. The Democrat turns
loose its heavy ordnance in an
editorial entitled "Culpable, if not
Criminal, and bombards the
enemy as follows;
''The reckless mismanagement
of our levee interests since last
Spring, is culpabIe, if not crimi
nal.
With money to throw at the
birds the breaks have been left
wide open and the water is invited
to enter at its own sweet will.
The district feels outraged at
the unnecessary crisis precipitated |
by the mismanagement of its in |
terests.
When it became obvious to every
man at all familiar with levee .
work, as far back as the middle of .
November last, that prompt
and extraordinary measures were
necessary, the board should have
then adopted them, to guard the
District against possible danger
from the Enclosed crevasses. Not
that it was certain that the river
would overtop0its banks in Janu-
airy, by any means, But there
was chance of it, and WE COULD
NOT AFFORD TO TAKE THE CHANCE.
This being the case, vigorous
measures were indicated; but the
utmost Indifference and apathy pre-
vailed.
1t is now attempted we learn,
by some of ''the Liza James" to
throw all the blame on Mai. Star
ling, the Chief Engineer, I'm
touhtedly he comes IN for his full
share Of it, but after all, he is only
m employee of the Board and sub
ect to its orders. The president,
however, is an autocrat; and the
Board, itself, is supposed to have
some sense and to use it. 1t Is
manifested then, that THEY are the
1nes chiefly to blame for failing to
'ct long ago when it became
generally recognized that the
United States Engineer in charge
vas not the man to meet the re-
Iuirements of the situation.
The danger, while great, and in
'olving enormous expenses, has,
We hope, been averted. In fact,
he public will be pleased to know {
hat the efficient engineers i'm
in command, Messrs. Van
Meter, Eggleston and Gordon, as
ure us that the work will be suf-
advanced to keep out the !
resent rise, A narrow escape is I
ietter than a disaster, but none
be less, the mistakes that brought
n the crisis deserve caustic
riticism and unstinted condemna- |
ion" {