The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1912-07-09
THE EIGHTH DISTRICT.
The Reapportionment by no Means
ideal but Involves no Injustice.

New orleans states july 5: IDt
| General Assembly is to be cOngratIl.
! lated on the fact that it has been
able to reach an agreement on new
j congressional district. Even though
/ 1t has not worked out an ideal rpl,-
portlOnment, it is to its credit that it
has refused to evade for two years
plain duty and thus made a con
8resSman-at-large unnecessary.
Politics has played a conspicuous
part in the delay in arriving at an
agreement: but in a spirit Of give
| and-take a concrete result has been
reached in time to put the bill in the
| hands of the Governor before ad
journmenI.
II so much valuable time had not
been wasted "a more evenly balanced
2nportionment could perhaps have
been made: but from the fact that
| only one voice has been raised in
protest it is fair deduction that
The distribution inIlictS no grievOus
wrong on any individual section or
interest.
The bill disturbs none of the sit
ling congressman and it makes each
of the eight districts about as no
mogenons as the seven Of the past
ten years. Indeed, it is chiefly note
worthy from the fact that it has
been made with so little change in
the existing districts.
Four of the districts, the First and
second, the two city districts, the
third, Mr.. BrOussard'S sugar district.
and the Sixth remain absolutely I'M
changed. These four districts lie en-
tirely south of the Red river. The
new district, being properly located
in North Louisiana, the changes
have been confined chiefly to the dis
tricts in that section.
Vernon, Rapides, AvOyelles and
Grant are now in the Seventh. All
four are north Of the Red. Linked
with Calcasieu, Cameron, st. Landry
and Evangeline, they can not be said
now to constitute a district in which
the interests of all the parishes are
similar. The bill, therefore. wisely
segregates these two groups. con
tlnuing those south of the Red in
the Seventh and putting those north
in the new Eighth.
The net result is that we are toll
have four districts in South Louis
lana and four in North. and North
Louisiana, whence the first opposi-
ton came, has prudently decided ii
could not have asked more.
Besides Vernon; Rapides, Avoyelles
and Grant, the Eighth will have Nat |
ehitoches, VIM and Sabine, de
tached from the Fourth. and La
Sale, detached from the Fifth, MAX
ing eight parishes, all lying closely |
together, with interests much in |
common, and with population Of |
1857. 1t will be one of the best |
districts in the State.
To make up for its losses the
Fourth District gets from the Fifth |
Claiborne parish, and with this e1-
ception and the transfer of LaSaIle |
to the Eighth, the Fifth remains as
now constituted.
The Sixth Distract will be the
largest in point of population, with
a total of 234 ,3s2, while the Seventh
will be the smallest, with a total of
I65, 500.
These figures show a rather wide
between the Sixth and the
Seventh, some $4,000, but to strike a
more even balance a radical redis-
tribution Of parishes would have be
come necessary and the final result
a great deal more disap-
pointing than can possibly be the
outcome OF the joint committees eff
forts.
As we have said, the reapportion-
nent is no by means ideal, but it. in
wolves no injustices, maintains the
that parishes of like inter
asts should be grouped together and
n.the end will probably prove as ac-
'epfable a solution of difficult
as could possibly have been
ound, when it is considered that
he matter was postponed until the
closing weeks of the session.
The Check of the Roosevelt Party.
The great independent Republican