St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1909-06-05
Let the Mayor Act ais Street
Commissioner.

Mr.. Editor:
In the Courier Of May 18th, | pub
lished the following communication.
Editor Courier:
when Mayer Halphen, several
months ago, offered TO perform the
duties of street commissioner with
out extra pay, it will be remembered,
the Board lodged the question.
When he renewed the offer and re-
newed it again, it. was finally an
nounced that no such change could
be lawfully made until the 1st of
June. That date is now near at
hand, but as far as the public
knows, no action has been taken TO-
carry out The implied pledge and
thereby ave the city $1,000 d year.
IF this promise and implied pledge
was not a mere vulgar dodge con-
temptible attempt to throw dust in
the eyes Of the people-it is time for
the Board to show it.
Mayor Halphen has acted like a
conscientious, heightened gentleman
ii this matter, has given the Board 4
bright and shining example, well
worthy of their emulation. With the
city in debt, the treasury empty, the
Light plant out of repair, no water to
sprinkle the streets, he has made and
is still making an honest-aye, a
herioc-efort TO abate every unne-
cessary expense IN order to some
what relieve the situation. Strange
to say, his efforts have not met a
proper response from the Board thus
far. The Mayor, whose duties as
such require very little Of his time,
has recently voluntarily assumed the
duties of sanitary inspector and has
announced that be still stands ready
to perform the duties of street COM
missioner without pay. If the Board
is sincerely DESTROYS to legislate for
the benefit of the people who elected
them and not for the benefit Of a few
pets, it would seem that it should
hesitate no longer over such d simple
proposition
In your issue Of the 18th, there APP
pered, over the signature of Civic
Pride" an article almost a column
long in which the writer strenuously
opposes The transfer Of the duties Of
the street commissioner to the Mayor,
even if the Mayor is willing to hold
down the job without pay The
reasons he gives for his opposition
are two-fold. In the first place. he
says, where an officer volunteers to
work for nothing, he is accountable
to no one" Tn the next place. he
adds, "a person with too many
irons in the fire is going to neglect
some" These reasons do not appear
to me to be of much weight. Under
the circumstances, they should not
weigh a feather with the Board il
the determination Of the question.
The two men possess about the same
qualifications for the Office. They
both graduated at the same school
on the farm. Presumably, one could
fl the Office as efficiently as the 9TH
er. Tie Mayor has plainly demon
strated that be is sincerely DESTROYS
Of helping his people in these times
Of their stress and difficulty, and it
may be safely assumed that, instead
Of needing watching, be- will give us
an equally efficient administration
and much more economical one.
For the Board should remember that
we are spending much more Oh our.
streets since the present incumbent
was inducted into Office than ever be-
fore, and that not one cent Of the
amount goes for permanent improve
ments. NE MAYER paid q street COM
missioner one-fonrth of the salary now
paid until the present incumbent was
chosen BY The Board Ii the flush
times Of three years ago, and yet for
forty years or more our streets had
the reputation Of being the best in
the State But they are dirt streets
get. Let us economist In both dirac-
tons and start q fund for paving.
Il the Board desires to perform its
sworn duty with the same watchful
care that each member exercises ii
the conduct of bis private business, ii
will not only turn d deaf ear To your
correspondents strange appeal, bot
it will reduce the police force, who
since prohibition hare Yery little to
do, and il other ways 30 administer
our public affairs 81 to 40 away With
The argument chat the saloon license
Is necessary TO properly unthe town.
n it viii do these things, II viii earn
. large share Of public gratitude, for
the events of the past fYa months
have demonstrated to q largely in
creased number of thoughtful men
the benefits and adYantages-aye, the
the blessing-of prohibition, and have
caused considerable ~accessions 10 the
ranks Of those who believe that sa-
looms never paid for any public irl-
proYemants ii the true and net eco
nomic sense of the term, and never
made business Tor ANYTHING out