The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1913-02-01
Grant Parish Discredited Abroad.

Grant Parish DiscreGited Abroad.
We think our police jury made
a mistake in cutting out the par
ism appropriation for the main
tainance OF u. S. Demonstration
work in Grant parish. This par
ISL has enjoyed an excellent
reputation for progressiveness,
it having been spread abroad
that we have built more model
reads than any other parish in
the State, have fine schools, a
big school fund, excellent public
buildings, an up to date and wide
awake parish fair association,
m-Ny fine steel bridges, and that
OR people are generally alive
and interested in progress and
improvements for the public
good.
Of course it takes money to
keep up with the procession, and
our new police jurors on coming
into Office found that the appro-
priations heretofore made fol
these things about consumed ali
the money they could reasonably
expect to receive from the taxes
to be collected for this year. In
their desire to make sure that ap-
preparations shall not exceed ex-
pected revenues, the police jury
inaugurated the policy of cutting
out a number of items heretofore
carried in the budget of ex-
perses, among them being the
$500 heretofore paid for demon
stration work. This action has
been the cause of Grant parish
receiving an undue amount of
discredit abroad, as is shown by
the following paragraph, which
has been going the rounds:
Shreveport, Jan. 11.-By declining to
make appropriations to carry on farm.
demonstration work in their parishes
several police juries, at their sessions
during the week, greatly disappointed
the agents of the Farm Demonstration
Bureau in this State. State Agent
Mason Snowden, prior to his departure
Saturday to attend the meetings of two
police Juries was confident that the
work OF his department would be given
further encouragement, but such was
not the case. Only Avoyelles anc
Natchitoches parishes made appropria-
tons, the former setting aside 1887. SO
and the latter $500. Reports from all
the latter parishes appealed to have
not been received, however, and he is
hoping, that when all reports are in
that the returns viii show more pro-
gressiveness. In Grant parish a num-
Der OF the most prominent business
men and $50 farmers appealed to the
jury to make the appropriation. several
personal appeals being made, but the
jury voted against an appropriation.
This item has been printed in
a score or more of the newspa-
pers in Louisiana, besides being
repeated with more or less prom
inence in the dispatches to hum
dreds of newspapers outside of
the State. 1t does Grant parish
a great deal of harm, and is an
especial injustice, because Grant
was one of the first parishes to
make an appropriation for this
work, and kept it up for three or
four years.
We think the appropriation
should be renewed, and that will
go a long ways towards counter
acting the unfavorable comment
that has been occasioned. We
recognize the fact that our police
jury has to be guarded and care
full to keep within reasonable
limits in its appropriations, but
this certainly is not one to be in
cluded in its first list of retrench-
ments. To the contrary, it is one
OF the last items that should be
cut out. Our people evidently
want it continued. Besides, it'll
seems to be a money-making
n.I = 11