The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1903-10-03

]
lar term of court beginning September IS,
1905, begs to present the following report
of its Investigations and findings:
We have diligently inquired into all actual
/ or alleged violations of the law brought to
our attention., and have gwen careful
consideration TO questions affecting the pub
c welfare coming within the scope of
duties and powers.
AS the result of deliberations we beg
to report the tindnC of 81 .srrue Bills and
10 ..\ot True Bills AMI deem it incum-
bent upon us to make the following sugges-
tons and recommendations in the public in
tcrest, and with a view of diminishing crime
in our parish;
We strongly condemn the form of amuse-
ment among the people known the pub
lie ball, as being a common and very fruit
full source of crime and great dcmoraizer of
| Ia Dor, and we recommend its abOlishm
if pussiblc, or their restraint by a license
sufficiently high TO discourage these kinds of
social gatherings. The presence of a police
officer should he required at such places
der a heavy penalty, as a means of prevent
ing disturbances when possible. Although
present regulations of the Police Jury pro-
vide Tor ponce protection at this class of pub
! lie crtainmcn's, we have ascertained that
there is great negligence and abuse dis
played by the ward constables in the dis
charge of their duties in This regard. \ Ii
CenSc of OF least ten dollars should be
posed by the Police Jury for each ball or
Casion where refreshments of any kind
sold, SO as to remove incentives for making
money out of these affairs, which appears to
be the principal if not the sole motive for
giving public balls IN this parish, The IL
censc in such cases should be paid directly
into The public treasury, and the officer on
duty at a ball should receive compensat ton
for his services by warrant, for in this way
would be removed the bad practice OF issu
ing simple permits for some slight money
consideration, by ward constables, as was
developed in the course of our investigations
of the numerous crimes committed at public
ballE.
We have given thoughtful considerati on
to the veNatious but all important question of
public roads, and at the same time that
| must candldly admit the great general I'M
! provrment of our highways under the earnest
efforts of the Police Jury. we are convinced,
nevertheless, that better results might be
| obtained by more businesslike disburse-
ment of the road funds in certain wards in
| the PARISH.
We recognize the advantages of the pres
| ent system of working the roads as i step
! in the right direction, but this system is
singu arly defective in the fact that it does
not impose the tax expense of building
the roads where it properly belongs-on the
farms and lands in the parish Good roads
of great benefit to the farming interest
and contribute in no small way to the value
of lands, and to raise funds for road pur
poses by levying special road tax on the
assessed valuation in the parish would be a
much more equitable plan than that OF the
vehicle tax. Why? Because then all prop
y
would contribute its just proportion of the
cost in return for the benefit received, and
non residents and railroads and telegra ph
I and telephone lines, which all share these
| benefits in common with the local intcres,
of the country would, in this way, be made
| to bear their fair proportion of the costs OF
! such benefits.
| The amount of money now available fol
the building and maintenance of the public
roads is insufficient to accomplish more than
WI hat is now being done, and the conclusion
is forced on mind that the most reason
able solution of the road problem, lies il
substituting special property or land ia,
for The present vehicle tax, and the retaining
of the present per capita tax OF one dolla,
in the case of the non-property holders VIII.
are also the bcreticiaries of public roads.
We believe the TRIAL of such plan wouil
quickly demonstrate its merits, and W.
present the proposition of a special property
or land ta> for road purposes for the favor
able consideration of the public, in the as
This plan will evoke will be succeeded il
due time by sober second thought following
an Intelligent discussion of the subject
with the result that the common sense phas
of this plan will finally dawn the mind
Of the people and insure the adoption OF ths
property and land tax system at last.
Impressed with the great and GROWN:
Importance of the question of public educa
ton in all its bearings upon the progress
and happiness of thc people and the devel
Opment of the country, we have made parti
Cular inquiry into the condition of the publ
school system of the parish of Lafayette
The report of the superintendent of tn
public schools submitted for the infornatio.
of the grand jury contains so rauch matte
of public interest, we have ordered its pub
LEGATION in full, with our hearty endorse
meat, and we invite the special attention o
the Police Jury, school boald, and Cit
Council of Lafayette, asking these publ
bodies for favorable consideration of tn
recomnle r dations contained in the report
And we specifically urge the Police Jury anc
the City Council to make increasing appro
priations and provisions for the public schools
to meet the evident and continually ncreas
ing demands for educational facilities am On {
our people; and in doing SO these publ
bodies will be subscribing the highest of a
, public interest and will receive the approba
lloE of all patriotic and right thinking Cit
zcnS.
r. In this connection desire. also, t
direct the special attention of our schoO
} authorities and teachers to the wise law:
, OF our State requiring the regular lnstruc
ton of school children of all ages in tn
harmful effects of alcohol and narcotics o.
the human system. Brains and bodies tina
are weakened and diseased and demoralIze'
:; by the use of alcohol or narcotics tent
toward decaying manhood; and the un
, dermning of s.soCiety and good citizenship
l and the State has adopted the most ratona
f and effective means of dealing with thes
! evils and promoting sohriety among the PEG
. pie, by teaching the children the injurious CT
tcc,s Of alcohol and narcotics before they nav
, fallen under the power of these evil lntiu
l enccs so that the children growing up /