The Donaldsonville chief., 1921-04-02
ANNOUNCEMENT.
FOR MAYOR.
SATURDAY. APRIL 2, 1871
DANGEROUS EXPERIMENTS.


Among the many ordlila.ess a
which have been introduced oeIoIe
the Constitutional Conventlon' those
which have for their object the crea-
ton of a commission form OF govern
roent for the parishes and the ap-
nointment of board OF regents 1or
the schools, cannot but be viewed as
fads pure and simple and as dan
perous experiments with polltlcal OF
oapizations of the ommonWealtn.
Some of these ordinances propose the
abolition Of the present system OF
police juries and the substitution IN
their stead of commissions, compos-
ed of from three to five members, 70
be elected at large, and to be ciotheo
with the full power of parochlal gov
ernment, while another has for lts
object the replacing of the present
school boards by board of regents,
with authority to appoint all school
officers and teachers as well as the
parish superintendent. These ofdl-
nances are revolutionary in charac-
ter and if adopted would do away
with systems which have proven satls-
factory in the past. Under the preseht
police jury form, the parish govern
ment is government of the various
wards of the parish as represented py
the police jurors elected from 1ne
said wards. The same can be said OF
the school boards. And in these Two
bodies, every section of the parish
has representation in the admlnlstra-
ton of parochial and school affairs
Under the proposed change, the con-
sensus of opinion is that the people
would lose the control Of their par,
ish and school governments, Whlcf
would become vested in small auto
cratic bodies. " :.
The New Orleans States, which Is
alive to the best interests OF the po'
pie, lin an editorial appearing IN It's
last Wednesdays issue, has the fol
lowing to say on the subject:
stVarious ordinances have been IN
troduced in the Constitutional Con
yention looking to the board OF po
lice iuries, school boards and Other
local bodies and the substitution o1
a commission form of government.
s.We do not believe that the con
vention will do anything to further
this movement. We do not believe
it is going on record in opposition te
democratic government.
ssBut if it should happen to take 9
notion to direct that parish affairs
shall be run by small autocratlt
bodies, we share the sentiments OF
gentlemen in the convention who
are fighting against any reformation
which would put the schools beyont
the reach Of the people.
ttThe present system Of local schoo
boards may be open to objections, bu1
we are sure it cannot be half as bae
as q system which would put loca
education at the mercy Of politlca
parochial oligarchy.
"The commission ought to be de
feated so as it relates to schools, JUS
as DIR. Young's ordinance ought to bt
rejected which looks to the creation
of state board of regents which
would appoint all school officers AMI
teachers from the superintendent
down.
'sThe convention will do well tt
stear clear Of experiments OF doubt
full merit"
We know what we have under th'
present police jury and school boart
systems; we do not know what we viii
get under the proposed fads. It nigh
be well, therefore, to let well enough
alone and to permit the police jurie
and school boards to continue to exis
and to function in the future as the!
have done in the past.