The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-08-31
ORGANIZATION OF THE NEW La
FOURCHE BASIN LEVEE BOARD.

| FUURCHE BASIN LEVEE BOARD.
/ The newly appointed Board Of Com
missioners of the Lafourche Basin
Leyee District held its initial meet
/ ing in this city last Monday with
all the members present, and or
/ ganized by e1ecting E. G. SWartz OF
st. James as president. There are
several candidates for secretary, but
lit was decided to let Secretary Nc
Cune of the former board hold over
for time, because of his familiar
ity with the records and affairs Of
| the district.
A full account of the proceedings
of Mondays session is given in an
other part of today's Chief, and it
is unnecessary to go over the same
ground editorially. We cannot re-
Train, however, from noting the high
| character Of the new boards per-
sonnet and the excellent judgment
shown in selecting a presiding of
ficer and outlining the important
work in prospect.
| Commissioner F. B. Lemann of AS
cension, whom The Chief had of its
own motion suggested for president
Of the board, was not an aspirant
for the place and himself put Com
| missioner Swartz in nomination. 1t
was plain from the start that no mis-
| take had been made in the unan-
| imous choice of this gentleman as
| the official head of the organizations
| His general business capacity was
of course Well-knoWn, but he mani
tested a special aptitude for the
duties of presiding officer and a
grasp Of the functions and work of
| the levee board that quickly stamp
| ed him as the right man in the right
place. The way in which he tackled
the matters awaiting the boards S, con
sideration and mapped out a program
of meetings and levee inspection, IN
dicated a marked degree of executive
| Utility that will be particularly val.
liable to the occupant Of such a po-
sition as he is now called upon to
ill.
The other members of the board
r. e. Perez of Plaquemines, Charles
Viering. of Jefferson, George Lorio
Of st. Charles, A. Champagne of St.
John, Robt. Martin, Jr., Of Assunap-
ion, J. f. Wigginton of Lafourche,
n B. Thaggard of Jefferson, the
last named representing the railroad
interests of the district-are all in
telligent, conscientious and substan-
tial citizens, with no selfish purposes
10 subserVe, but all imbued with a
desire to fulfil their duties in a man
aer insuring the best results to the
levae svstem and the people Of the
Iaafaslrche basin district. #
| It us particularly gratifying to OBJ
, serve the unanimity which prevail
| I'd in recognizing. the status of Dom
Jacksonville as the legal domicile Of
the board, thus undoing a wrong and
correcting an error Of which our
city had been made the victim.
| There was some acrimony developed
in a discussion with the legal adj
wiser of the board as to right of the
organization to maintain an office IN
New Orleans for the more convenient
| transaction of business, but as this
question will doubtless be settled by
an official opinion from the attorney
general. further agitation Of the con-
troversy may well be deferred until
that opinion is rendered.
The commissioners began on We'd
nesday a series OF inspections of the
district levees which will be COM
pIeted before the next meeting of
The board, to be held in New Or
leans. next Thursday. The practical
knowledge of conditions gained by
the members on these inspection
trips will aid them materially III the
performance Of the important duties
upon which they have entered with
such commendable diligence and
earnestness.
4 PRETTY GOOD PLATFORM.
Almost any man in this neck of
woods, whether he calls himself Dem
ocrat, Republican, Progressive or So.
cialist, can approve most of the
planks in the platform upon which
Col. T. sambola Jones stands in the
pending congressional campaign. The
structure is composed of the follow
ing ten planks: