Le MeschaceÌbeÌ. [volume] ([Lucy] La.) 1853-1942, 1915-11-06
! WHAT THE EDITOR
SAYS.


| tor having SelocCeQ Sucu d 1ll4e'
upright, dignified and progress
sive set of men TO run on the
lot-Pleasant ticket. Mr..
Berthelot is a true and tried can
didate for sheriff. We say true
and tried because he has always
collected the revenues of the pa
rish and has always honestly
accounted for same. He has en-
forced all the laws that the ma
! jority of the people Of this pa
rish wanted to have enforced. He
has helped and voluntarily cut
his own salary in order to bene-
fit our public schools. He has at
all times worked for the reduction
of taxation, notably last March
when he appeared before the Po-
lice Jury and urged that body
that it would be a folly to in
crease taxation one mill as the
Police Jury had been pursuaded
to do. Mr.. Berthelot pointed out
that altho the failure to thus in
crease taxation would cut the
revenues of his office, yet he
honestly believed that public
officers should make sacri-
fices and alleviate as much as
> possible the burden on the shoul-
| ders of the taxpayers. There is
no doubt that had not Mr.. Ber-
! thelot made this plea before the
F, Police Jury, we tax payers
would be paying one mill more
of taxes this year.
When Mr.. Berthelot became a
factor in politics in this parish,
there were no schools to speak of,
public roads were a curse to ouI
parish, the rate of taxation was
much higher than it is now, and
the parish was head over heels in
debt. His conservative and busi-
ness administration cured these
evils to a great extent, and to.
day St. John stands foremost in
the march of Louisiana parishes.
] tits also with pride that we
| can saw that during his incum-
bency as sheriff of st. John, Mr..
Rerthelot never has received a
cent of graft, and no one car
truthfulsy state that he has ever
received a cent more than what
!, the law allows him.
And yet the great newspaper
L'Obsergateur, was born for the
sole purpose of attempting t
attack and destroy our sheriff
! who has always done his duty
honestly and fearlessly.
Itappears that L'Observateur'
i, grievances and illusions ar
based on the idea that our sheriff
was instrumental in causing hi
father, the lamenIed Charlie
: Lasseigne, to sell out the Mes
chacebe to Mr.. DumeZ instead o
! TO himself, Mr.. Wallace Las
: : seigne. Such idea or opinion i
- false and has absolutely no Ioun
n dation in fact.
L'Observateur viciously attack
!, ed the sheriff aboSt the non-ot
sarvance of the Gay-Shattuc
a d law. The sheriff, however, pal
u no attention to these journalist
70 outbursts because he knew the
d the people of St. John did nj
= want this law observed, an
., moreover the observance of tn:
i law would greatly cut the revo
)" nues of the parish and thereb
N make it necessary to either lev
lg and additional tax or to shorte
lie the term of our public schools.
If our memory serves US rigl
= our distinguished contemporal
:, at that time even went SO far
Ut TO advocate as a solution, a ST
lg 600 or $40, 900 parish license fl
ct the sale of liquor. Such a boor
90 arang is ridiculous and could n
- be seriously considered by al
fair-minded man.
10 In the beginning of LObserv
of teur's existence. when the Bert
en- lot Faction was the only factla
"A our celebre editor waged q Cue
" la Warfare against all officers
! the parish, many OF whom q
40 now lined up with the Hart Fs
d. ton. Now, those belonging
III the Hart Faction are pure a
u spotless in the eyes of L'Obser
1t- teur, simply because our gr'
,ty and only editor has seen tic.
mr. reasons obvious to place his sta
no of approval upon these m
az whom he SO bitterly attacked a
nj denounced sometime ago.
led The position of Sheriff is
nc important for any experimer
,ly We know Mr.. Berthelot' $ reco
his business ability and rellael