The herald., 1922-06-01
Ferry Committees
Last Resort For Pub
liCIy owned Ferries

S~ sSsssSS
The following letter which is sent
TO all of our papers will form the
basis of the last fight to be made by
! Service.
New Orleans. La. May %, 1922.
Editor. The Herald.
New Orleans. La.
Dear Sir:
! The Executive Committee of the AL
/ giers Better Ferry Service Associa-
tion," would earnestly request your
/ generous support of a bill to be pre-
sented to the present Legislature, ex-
/ tending to this city. through a pro-
posed constitutional amendment to be
voted upon at the November election.
/ the operation of paragraph NJ. of Sec
/ ton II of Article II of our present
Constitution, which paragraph reads
as follows, viz:
For the purpose of constructing,
acquiring, extending or improving any
revenue-prOducing public utility, the
Legislature may authorize Municipal
Corporations to issue bonds secured
exclusively, principal and interest, by
mortgage on the lands, buildings,
machinery and equipment, and by
pledge of the income and revenues of
such public utility. Such bonds shall
not be a charge upon the other in
.ome and revenues of the Municipality,
and shall not be included in comput-
ing the Indebtedness of the Munic-
ipality for the purpose of any linn
itation herein"
Our reasons for asking your assist
ance in this matter, are these:
The people of the Fifth Municipal
District, owing to their situation, are
compelled to pay, in addition to the
city and State taxes paid by the
other Districts Of the City, a ferry
tax of over s2OO,OOO year.
This ferry tax can be cut in two,
if the Legislature will permit New
Orleans to enjoy the advantages of
the law cited, which may be en-
| joyed by the rest of the state. The
local Canal Street Ferry is rev
, enue producing public utility" of the
, first rank, as is shown by a report
, made by City Engineer Klorer. for
the month of June last, which report
, gives practically $500, as the average
= daily receipts of this principal ferry
E which service could easily be given
/ under public ownership, for $500 g
:. day-perhaps for much less.
t The fifteen year lease under which
+ this Canal Street Ferry has beef
e operating, expired on December 81
d last, and since it is generally recog
nized that something like a million
dollars is now necessary in anticipa
ton of the Districts needs for large
and heavier boats and pontoons, NOR
negotiable approaches and more moo
d ern ferry houses, something shoul
10 be done without further delay, t
20 ameliorate this ferry situation.
al In it's year-and-a-halffight agains
n the continuance Of the perniciou
> contract system which has so, sorel
;, tried the patience Of the peopl
;. obliged to use these ferries, this CON
mittee has encountered many oil
stacles, resulting in a delay unde
: which many are now becoming restiv
in view of the utter inactivity of tn
Commission Council as a body, il
~ backing up our efforts to substitute
said system.
- AS a matter of fact, many citizens
VI are already beginning to cry out
"Give us service, service, and neve
IL mind about the ownership" with thu
g result that little more pressure il
this direction will find the justly ex
). asperated people ready to sign an!
sort of a contract which maybe vouch
safed by a benevolent lessee to ;
seemingly helpless Commission Coun
Gil.
We will therefore appeal to tn
sense of justice and fairness of tn
members of our Legislature, to plac
New Orleans upon parity, in thi
respect, with the other cities an
towns of our State, and We will ais
appeal to the good people Of tn
other Districts of this city. to assis
themselves by assisting their siste
District, in thus bringing about thi
important economic change.
Yours very truly,
Algiers Better Ferry Service Assc
oiafinn