The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1906-09-01

Letter from MIR. Foster.
To the Voters q: the Third Railroad
Com mission District:

Letter from MIR. Foster.
To the Voters o. the Third Railroad
Commission District:
In regard to my candidacy for |
reelection to the office of Railroad
Commissioner for theThird District,
/ desire to say that the one plank
upon which / stand is the fair and
impartial discharge of my duty.
In the past my every official act
has been directed by a conscien-
tious effort to accomplish this pur-
pose; no man can truthfully charge
that have not, at all times, hon.
cstly and fairly employed all my
energy and ability in laboring with
the many problems submitted to
the Commission. I have endeav-
ored to assist in placing the Com
mission on that plane of usefulness
which the trainers of the Constitu-
ton intended that it should occupy
and in accomplishing the purpose
for which the people demanded it
should be established.
One campaign argument (given
the widest circulation by an Oppo-
nent of mine) is to the effect that
the three Commissioners should
reside in Baton Rouge. Anyone
reading the articles of the Consti-
tuition, with an un)aundiced eye,
cannot fairly arrive ut such q con-
clusiou. The law fixes the domi-
Gil of the commission at Baton
Rouge, just as every board or COM
mission created by law has its dom
Gil at some designated point; but
if the law contemplated that the
three commissioners should go to
Baton Rouge and sit and wait for
complaints or requests of the citi-
zens, why was it so careful to pro-
vide that they should he selected
from certain districts of the State,
defined by geographical bounda-
ries? On the contrary, the plain
intendment Of the Constitution is
that the Commissioner from each
district shall be in touch with the
needs of the district, and in such
position that he may be easily
reached by his constituents.
The present Commissioners have
lived within their respective dis
tricts. Four sessions of the Leg
islature have passed since the cre-
alton of the Commission and yet
we have no law upon the statute
books to the effect that the men,
bers of the Commission should re-
side in Baton Rouge. During the
session of 1904, the question of re-
curing the members of the Com
mission to reside in Baton Rouge
mt least fifteen days in each month,
was ngitated; yet no such bill be-
came law.
In addition to the fact, that the
residence of the different members
If the Commission in their re-
spective districts, places them
nearer the people of the district,
there is another point which is of
interest to the Taxpayer. The APP
preparation act provides for the
payment of the expenses of a men,
Der, on trips from and returning to
Baton Rouge, when attending to
business of the commission. If the
commissioner is domiciled in Ba-
ton Rouge, and Is called to look in
to a matter in his district, and soon
after his return to his domicil at
Baton Rouge. he is recalled to the
same or n neighboring place, the
expenses of each of, these trips
would be chargeable as from Baton
Rouge. However, living in his
own district, he could adjust doz-
en- matters, between sessions, at an
expense which would be infinitesi-
NAL as compared to what it would
cost from Baton Rouge.
To the thoughtful mind the ar,
gument that the commissioners
should remove themselves from
the very territory to which they
will be called from time to time, j.
nothing more than clap-trap t.
catch the unthiuking voter.
In conclusion ] will say that thu
years of my manhood have beer
spent in that industry which con
stitutes the foundation of the In
dustral development of our section
of the State, viz: Agriculture.
The welfare of the people of thi'
district is my welfare; then Is i
not logical to conclude that N.
best efforts and energies will b.
devoted to their interest?
Yours truly,
w, l.. FOSTER.