The fifth and sixth sections provide
for the assistance to be given said
board by the state engineers. Sec
tion 7, in addition to the powers al
ready conferred, constitutes said
board into a political corporation in
vested with the power inherent in
said corpo tions, with autirity to
sue and sued, directs th\ pro
cesses b served upon the piX iident
or secr ry, and contains the t her
provis 'The beard shall, its
firs lar meeting, elect a
iciJi ar the purpose of being
gIeeping its office and archivii,
1oa"The board at its first meeting
neld under section 3 on the fourth
i of August, 1893, at Donaldsonville,
elected Donaldsonville, in the parish
of Ascension, as its domicile under
the authority delegated to it in sec
tion 7. On the 8th of July, 1897, the
board, by resolution, changed its
domicile from Donaldsonville to Gret
na, the change to take effect from
August 1, 1897,
'The question presented is whether
the board had the authority under
the act creating it to make this
change, I do not believe that the
act conferred that authority, It is
apparent to me that the power to
select a domicile, when once exer
cised, was exhausted, and that it
was never intended to be a continu
ing right to be exercised by the
commissioners at will. But the coon
sel for the Lafourche basin board
says the act also directs that at the
first meeting of the commissioners,
they shall elect a president and a
secretary, fix the latter's salary, etc.,
and that it might with equal force
be held that the election of these
officers and all the other acts of the
board at its first meeting were to
be permanent and never subject to
change. A mere reading of this law,
the order and arrangement of the
subjects treated In the different sec
tions, will expose the fallacy of
this conclusion. Section 3 provides
for the organization of the board
and sets out in detail every act
which the commissioners shall per
form at their first meeting, and each
one of these acts is inherent in
every board which manages or di
rects the affairs of a corporation,
such as the election of officers and
fixing the time and place (the build
ing or office), for holding meetings.
