St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1913-11-15
Answer to Eunice Star.

iAiGCI SldIIOLIs
Will you please give me spacl
in your columns for the follow
ing editorial which appeared il
The Eunice Star of Oct. 25th
and my answer to same an.
oblige. Yours truly,
P. FOSTER, M. D.
"By Mr.. Gournay-
"AN ORDINANCE
ITO subdivide the Sixth Police Jur,
Ward of the Parish of ST. Landry int
two Road Districts; to create salt
Districts; TO fix the limits and bound
aries of each district and to desig
nate the name by which such districts
shall be known.
"Sec. l. Be it ordained by the Police
jury of the Parish of St. Landry, inreg
ular se~ ion convened: That pursuan.
to the authority vested in this body By
law, the Sixth Police Jury Ward of the
Parish OF St. Landry be and the same
is hereby subdivided into two Roae
Districts to be known and designated
as Road District No. / and Road Dis
trict No. 2, of the Sixth Police Jury
Ward of the Parish of st. Landry.
Sec. 2. Be itfurther ordained, ETC.,
that Road District No. l of the Sixth
Police Jury Ward of the Parish of St.
Landry be and the same is hereby Gre
ated and its boundaries hereby fixed as
follows, to-Wit: All of that portion oil
the Sixth Police Jury Ward lying west
of the centre of the Mallet woods, and
being all of that portion of said ward
constituting the 18th Magistrate Ward
"Sec. 3. Be it further ordained, etc.,
that Road District No. 2 of the Sixth
Police Jury Ward of the Parish of St
Landry is hereby created and its bound.
aries are hereby fixed as follows, to,
wit: All of that portion of the Sixth Pc.
lice Jury ward lying east of the centre
OF Mallet woods and being all that por.
ton of said ward constituting the 18th
Magistrate Ward.
SEC. A. Be it further ordained, ETC.,
that all ordinances in conflict with the
provisions of this ordinance, be and the
same are hereby repealed, aud that this
ordinance take effect from and after its
PRONUNCIATION.
"Mr. Gournay called for the yeas and
nays:
"Messrs. Dimmick and Gournay vot.
ing yea, 2. Messrs. St. Cyr, Durio,
Guillory, Daley, Iseringhausen, Pavy,
Fisette, Clopton, Beall, Dunbar, Brown,
McCaffery, Foster, voting nay, IS. Mr..
Gournay's motion lost.
"If there eve was rank and unwar-
ranted discrimination against a subdi-
vision OF any parish in Louisiana, those
who voted against t h e ABOVE ordi-
nance submitted by Police Juror, Mr..
Gournay, of this ward, are guilty.
'Tt is a known fact by all who are
not blinded by selfishness or prejudice,
that the road district proposed by Mr..
Gournay, which is that lying west OF
the center of the Mallet woods and in
cludes the town of Eunice, has been
paying one-half to %tWo-thirds of the
taxes of the ensire sixth ward for sew
eral years, and getting only one dollar
out of three for the maintenance of
roads in this end OF the ward, with the
result that we have no roads at all
! worth mentioning.
THE argument that the eastern end
of the Ward or Road District No. 2, as
proposed in Mr.. Gournav's ordinance,
contains 80 miles Of roads, while this
end contains but 80 miles and is there
fore entitled to tWo-thirds of the money
appropriated for road work, is a very
subterfuge, when one is broad enough
TO take into consideration the differ
ence in the natural conditions of the
two portions of the ward.
"koad District No. 2, or that portion
lying east OF the center of the Mallet
woods, is more elevated than the west
ern portion and consequently better
drained naturally. The western por-
ton being composed mostly of rice
lands, is lower and more difficult to
drain and for road building.
"The western portion of this ward
specified in Mr.. Gournay's ordinance
is assessed at $499, 100 and embraces a
minor portion of the territory of the
whole ward, while the assessment of
the entire ward is about 81, 002, 400 in
1912. 1t will be see that we are pay
ing from one-haf to tWo-thirds of the
road taxes of the ward, and that a di-
vision of the ward so that we could get
JUSTICE, is a most reasonable propo-
sition from every standpoint, and es-
pecially SO, since the proposed division
would give the eastern part of the
ward more territory to assess.
aUnder the past and present system
of disbursing the road funds of ward
six, the west end would get about $1,000
a year out of the $4,000 appropriated.
What can a Police Juror do with $1,000
a YEAR, when this part of the ward is SO
badly in need of roads and bridges,
caused by the unequal disbursement of
the wards monies in the past?
take for instance, the building OF
the Bayou des Cannes bridge, which
took $500 of the $1,000 per year allowed
to this end of the ward, leaving only
5000 for road improvement, and the ur-
gent necessity for three more bridges
as good as the Bayou des Cannes bringe
staring Mr.. Gournay in the face. Ii
may be well to mention that there was
a kick registered ven against allow
ing the bill for the construction OF this
most important bridge, by the buck
ing juror at the other end of the ward.
1.-THE Star understands that Mr.. Gour-
nay is agreeable to an equal division of
the $1,000 road and bridge fund, but
they wouldn't hear to it.
We say, let the people who favor
Mr.. Gournay's ordinan,e get their
heads together, and work increasingly
for the reasonable principles it con-
tains. Let there be q distribution OF
the revenues proportionate to the taxes
collected from property assessed, so
that people who never use a road they
are taxed to keep viii get some OF the
benefits to which they are entitled.
1.-THE people of this ward who want
better roads for the taxes paid out, can
only oet their lust dues by backing Mr..