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As historian Bill Reeves described the complicated process, the election
to approve of the necessary tax increase was only an initial step. If the city's citizens approved such a tax,
the next step was to get the state legislature to construct a constitutional amendment that dealt with the sewerage
and drainage plan. Then the entire state had to vote on the amendment, an election where, for the first time in
Louisiana, women (as property-holders), would be allowed to vote. FJD was instrumental in articulating the arguments
for the system. His words expressed the basic Progressive philosophy which informed all of his public service:
Anything which benefits the masses should prevail over every other selfish
consideration. If by any act of ours the prosperity of our city is fostered and the happiness of its people secured
we should not hesitate to perform it, for, although we may not perceive the actual benefit for ourselves, still
indirectly we share in the general welfare."
FJD particularly savored the victory when the sewerage and water system
was finally approved since he had been working on that basic environmental improvement for over a decade. This
victory crowned his achievements as a City Councilman, even though he also was active as the Chairman of Committee
on Public Order and Law, a position that befit the "father of the New Orleans police department."
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