Washington telegraph., 1854-05-24
Col. sandidge's letter.


the recent Legislature of Louisiana, to incor-
porate company to construct a navigable
pass way around the raft. when the present
obstruction shall have extended above the
outlet into Red Bayou,-a copy of which
we published last week, with such comments
as we deemed necessary.
Although we are willing to believe what
Col Sandidge says in his letter, to be true,
and are willing also to admit, that if no 9TH
er persons but Ex- Gov Conway and himself
were to have entire control of the matter
during the unlimited time for which the
charter is granted, that the work would be
managed upon principles of justice and fair
dealing, and, if no effort should be made
either by the General Government, or indi-
viduals to prevent the happening of the
contingency which would give vitality force
and effect to the bill, we might be induced
to regard the charter obtained by the disin-
terested efforts of Col Sandidge, if properly
guarded, as the best thing that could be
done for the interests of the people Of up
per Red river But, as the unlimited time
for which the charter is granted, would in all
probability, exceed the lifetime both of Ex-
Gov. Conway in whose integrity we have ev-
cry confidence. and Col. Sandidge. the purity
of whose motives we have go reason to
doubt,--it will require a more definite
charter to obtain our appreciation, or to sat
isfy the people Of upper Red river.
We would require that the tariff Of tolls
should be definitely fixed by the act itself,
( and the nature and extent OF the work to be
done more accurately defined, before we
could recommend the charter to the favora-
ble consideration of the people Of upper
Red river, however much at heart its au-
thor had their interests in procuring the
passage Of the bill.
We would have preferred, if the charter
was rot intended to be a monopoly, that the
bill should have so provided, and if the tolls
intended to be charged were to be fifty cents
a bale for cotton and twenty-five cents Il
barrel for up freight, it should have been so
stated in the charter,-not left to the discre-
ton Of the corporators. Exactness of Ian
guage in legal eEactments is at all times de-
sirable, and more especially when the pc
cuniary interests of the many are to be pro-
tected against individual avarice and e1tor-
| ton.
| With this view of the matter there is not
solitary objection urged against this char
ter in our former notice of it, that we would
withdraw. The objections we urged exist,
and the people of upper Fed river had al
most as well be without navigation. as to be
placed in the situation that this indefinite
and unguarded charter might place them.
PINEvILLE. BossIER PARISH, La,
May 9th. 1854.
Dear SIR :-Ezpecting to see you soon,
I neglected to do what | perhaps ought to
have done Immediately after returning from
Baton Rouge: inform you Of the liberty
had taken with your name in connection
with Bill passed, granting the right of
way, &c., to any association of individuals
who might organize corporation under our
general law, for the purposes contemplated
in the BIZ and | should not now have
thought it necessary to write you, but that
| have heard that u sort Of bug-a-boo is made
of it amongst the people who are interested
in the navigation Of Red river
Happening to have the original manu-
script of the bill, from which was taken the
law as it passed send from it copy for
your perusal-remarking that it is possible
some slight change may have been made in
the verbiage of tke original at the time of
copying, to improve It's language, but in
nothing essential. I will send you the law
when it is promulgated. You will observe
that it was passed with the view of provd-
ing for ntinge71cy,-the failure Of the
General Government to do anything about
the Raft,-in which case it would need no
argument to show that in few years-say
four or fve-the Raft would advance up to,
and above, the outlet into Red Bayou, when
all steamboat communication with upper
Red river would be effectually cut off =
What then would become of your crops p
70 haul around would be almost impossi-
bic /; and at such time, unless human ma
ture is different in Arkansas and Texas.
from what [ have found it elsewhere, the
people would take it as a lucky circumstance
that individuals Of sufficient enterprise had
been found to relieve them, even at cost
of % or so cents bale.
The difficulty will be in getting men to
undertake such work, should it unfortn.
nately ever be needed to engage in it would
be at the risk of losing all the time and
| IL