The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1915-07-31

such maturities and bearing such in
terest as may best suit for the adj
| vantageous disposing of same.
| AS it was the contention, however,
| of the leyee boards that these notes
| for various reasons could not be ne
/ gotiated, Hon. Walter Lemann, mayor
of Donaldsonville, prepared and intro
duced at the 1914 session of the leg
islature bill amending the above act
whereby the levee boards would be
| authorized to issue bonds in such
amounts and with such naaturities as
they deemed advisable. Through the
! influence of the Atchafalaya levee
| board this bill was killed by indefinite
postponement. The measure provid-
ed a feasible way Of raising the neges-
sary money for the construction OF
the lock, and Whsnaeyer the leyee
boards are ready Io keep faith with
| the people and with the federal gov
ernment this bill can be revived and
no legislature will refuse it's passage.
| AS will be seen from the above act,
J, the necessity of closing Bayou La
i fourche with a lock was recognized
and the dam simply permitted to be
placed there as a temporary measure
and only until the lock could be COM
pleted 1T was argued that as more
| than $1,250,000 had been expended
on the levees Of Bayou Lafourche
| in the past ten years according to the
report of the River Commission,
or more than $125,0G0 each year, and
at constantly increasing cost, it was
| the part of wisdom to do away with
this expense by the construction of
a lock. That the construction of the
| lock was made mandatory by the leg
! islature is shown by the wording of
| the act, wherein it is declared that
ltITS SHALL BE THE IMPERATIVE
| DUTY OF THE TREASURER OF
/ THE STATE TO SET ASIDE YEAR
lLY OUT OF THE REVENUES OF
SAID BOARDS AN AMOUNT SUI
iFICIENT TO MEET SAID NOTES
AS THEY SHALL MATURE, AND
SAIL. NOTES SHALL BE a PRE-
/ FERRED CLAIM UPON THE REV
ENUES OF SAID BOARDS NEXT
/ AFTER THE CLAIM OF THE
| BONDS HERETOFORE AUTHOR
lied TO BE ISSUED BY SAID
! BOARDS.
In other words, since the levee
4
/ than S125,000 per year by being re-
lieved of maintaining Bayou La
fourche levees, they were command
/ ed after paying the interest on their
/ bonds to- devote such part OF the re-
4 Amaindar of their venues rs might
be necessary To the construction OF
the lock. Even before the con-
struction or maintenance OF Ievees In
/ other parts of their districts it be-
came their imperative duty to first
make provision for the lock.
Now. instead Of doing what the
t law ordered them to do, what have
i they done2 They have spent on Ba-
yeu Lafourche, including dams, ca
nails, syphons, and the everlasting
dredging, since 1903, the sum OF
! s548, 8,907.16, a sum much more than
sufficient, according to the plans o.
4 Col. Lansing n. Beach of the Y. y.
Engineers, to construct the lock.
Now, are they justified either by
4 the law or the facts to refuse
4 to set aside for paying only half
4 the cost of the construction
sfof the lock tithe Of their
yearly revenues which an act Of the
4 legislature declared should be first
\ used for the purpose OF paying the
Il ENTIRE COST of the lock after TAX
ing care Of the interest on their
4 bonds?
And further, they are spending now
a in the dredging and maintenance soI
4. the channel an average yearly sum
4 Of $4,000. This in itself would be
sufficient to pay the interest on a
4 bond issue large enough to more than
3 nav half the cost Of the lock, which is
\. ali that was called for by the resolu-
ton rejected by the Atchafalaya
Z board. -,
You state in your editorial that lit
i is very doubtful whether the governor
! will order the Atchafalaya board IN
II face Of its declaration that there
are no funds available for this work,
to build the locks<at once with or with
out money.
i To be exact, the resolution in
question does HES contemplate the
immediate building Of the lock, but
q merely seeks to make "early provl,
sion therefor" to the extent Of peti.
tioning congress to, at it's next ses
L sion, make provision for the
J building Of the lock -.-...-.-..-. the
J cost thereof to be borne jointly by
] the United States, the Lafourchs
lElevee district and the Atchafalays
-Ilevee district, in the proportion O
: -lone-half by the United States and one
III fourth by each Of the levee districts
Although the governor might hesi
i tate to order the boards ito build tn,
lock at once" we cannot see how h,
5 can hesitate to decide in favor of sucl
: resolution as the above when ever.
i dictate Of law, duty and expedienc,
y demand some action on their part. Il
d view of the facts we have cited, hoy
can he afford to be a party to furthe
q postponement and to a continuance 0
s the intolerable conditions now exist
q ing in the bayou? How can he affor
t to be party to the further squandel
f ing Of the peoples money IN dredgln
: this polluted pool when it is show
i that the same money is sufficient t
f pay the interest ON bond issue larg
III enough to cover their half Of the cos
Is of the lock How can he afford
III face the consequence of a further d
81 lay which may overtax the long-trie
patience of the federal governmeI
q and result in the ordering Of the r
s-l movaI Of the dam before we begin tf
le construction of the lock?
t. We feel confident the governor WI
a. give such consideration to this matt
o.. as its Importance and gravity denan
10 and that his sense of justice and rig
will lead him to give relief to iol
K suffering section.
y +. >. vlekEKs.