The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-03-17

the conclusion and so recommend
IN this our report that the police
jury of the parish of St. MARY i'm
medlately take steps looking tow
J ards the erection of a new court
J house, and in this connection ",
wish to impress our views upor
the jury, that when this court nous.
is contracted for, that it be one
which will reflect credit upon tht
parish Of St. Mary. ard on" com
mensuratr with her >tand,ig and
her wealth in the state. 9nd hirh
will endure "a a monument t. thu
enterprise and patri.ti~n II tn
jury and the people ~ the parish
for many years to come
They reassembled in january
1906, and on the 10th of that month
in a report to the court, reit-
Grated their former recommends
tons as to court house, and ex-
pressed the opinion from infurfna-
ton received that the parish was
able financially to undertake it.
construction.
This grand jury was composed
of the following citizens: l.. p.
Bourg. VIM. Kramer, Isaac Bloch
Jos. Brig, J. A. Landen, w. O.
Ditch, T. A. ThorgeSon, VIM. Han
son, David Maloz, VIM. >ger and
w. B. Kemper.
The police jury has at last acted
| believe it has acted upon its own
! judgment as to the ability of the
parish to pay for court house
1t acted upon it's own judgment
and the judgment of seven grand
juries of twelve members each.
numbering eighty-four citizens Of
the parish of st Mary, selected
from every neighborhood, and Sc
| lected for their worth and high
citizenship, and on the unanimous
opinion Of its predecessors that
| the present court house is insult
able or that new court house in the
parish Of ST. Mary is a necessity.
The declarations Of the 81 citizens
constituting seven grand jurics,
and the unanimous resolution Of
the former police jury as to the
condition Of the present court
house and the necessity of a bet
ter one being made in the dis
charge of sworn duty, no doubt
had great weight in determining
the police jury in the present I'M
dertaking.
| believe the recommendation
above referred to voice the senti-
ments of the people of the parish
of st. Mary. The grand jurors
came from every portion of the par
ish; they served for six months;
they had every opportunity to
sound the people and ascertain
their views. We presume they did
so. And if these 81 grand jurors
and the ex-members of the police
jury who served from 1900 to 1904
will give to their friends and neigh
bors the information they Sc
cured as grand jurors and police
jurors, and will declare as citizens
what they did as officers, your
honorable league, in my humble
opinion, in SO far as its object is to
prevent the erection Of a new court
house, would have very little fol-
lowing.
Why do not the citizens of
St. Mary deserve a better court
house? Why should not suitable
accommodations be made for the
comfort and convenience of Jurors
who are forced to leave their homes
and serve their country as petit
jurors, and who are frequently
locked up for days on an important
case, and forced to sleep on the
benches or floor of the present an
cient.. edifice called court house,
there to fight mosquitoes? Why |
should not they be provided with
court house having a dormitory,
with comfortable beds protected |
by bars, and with com Portable |
rooms in which to consult?
These men who serve their coun-
try as jurors are entitled to every
comfort and convenience the pub
lie can bestow on them while in
the discharge of their duty.
You ask: "Whose money is to
be spent upon this new court
The answer is: The mo-
ney of the parish of St. Mary, de-
rived from taxation imposed upon
property, trades and professions,
almost one-half of the funds for
parochial purposes being derived
from the latter source. Therefore,
every license and tax payer in st.
Mary will contribute to this work
OF public Improvement in proper
lion to the property he owns, or
Inc character of trade or profess
sion he follows.
1t is with the people's monav