The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-04-25

~ sFCs
SWAMP LAND COMMISSIONERS In auethsr
portion Of to days issue will b. found the ra
port Of the committee apponted by the legg
lature to report on the swamp t4na eenaFt,a
soners. We recommend the document 30 EH9
careful perusal of our readers, a1ts II they do
not arrive at the conclusion that eheee IS some
thing rotten in Denmark we viii agree th&s
we are no competent Judge 70 distinguish be-
tween right and wrong. The donation Of con
gress, SO far, has had no othe etfect than TO
put money into the pockets Of few Office hold
ers, such as the commissioners engineers, snG
those under their employ. TIE proprietofs Of
the state paper, also comeln fof pretty round
sum for the part they have aefedoyeT atiy
thousand dollars having beer paid them for
advertising the lands for sale The richest
part Of the whole matter, though, is the ex-
pending 100000 for redeeEiag fraetioh
over $4,000 acres of swamp laads situated on
IaCat Island" -.... = s... ..z
How many poor needy persons might hnyo
been saved almost from the jaws # starvation.
had half Of the above amour been expended
in removing the obstruction IN the bayou
Lafourche! Oh, no! this would have been I'm
constitutional; it is only the faHarad few Of Cat
island who have any just claims as the hands Of
the swamp land commission And what
has been done to protect our commercial cap
ital from inundation?-a city thar paws into
the treasury more than one ..s... III ..u~ aaolo
taxes of the State? Nothingi Never Iag6 pe
perused document wherein fayortisD, fla
grant injustice and incompetenev on the part
of those who have had the management Of the
swamp land fund, is SO cleazfv established
It is to be hoped that the re~ Legislature. sy
convene in January next, WI To something ia
this matter; and the proceotts q our swsmr
lands will be devoted to the purpose for winch
congress donated them. R1ibodauE Miner
The above is another instance Of tie corrupt
and disgraceful manner in p4lph the people
money has been squandered aud taisapplie& by
the present democratic execItiv2 and ottice-d2.'
| ders of Louisiana.
The EBENEzER Soc1ETF.-A society existing
under this name in the vicinity 1f Buffalo, Il. Y.
has attracted the attention Of The state iegiSls-
/ ture, and resolution of inqaTET In regard to II
has been introduced by one Of the members Of
the assembly. Itaprears upon investigation,
that the Legislature in 1916 granted c8Ftala
I privileges to an association of persons, giving
I them power to hold real estate and to hnyD
| charge Of the personal effects Of any who might
join the organization. The name which tda
association has adopted, and by whjeR zhey ara
known, is the "Ebenezer socety, and itnur-
i bers at the present time some I've hundred
persons, all foreigners of tha German S~Ss
order. They have three villages, where they
carry on woolen and cotton manufactures They
also raise their own provisions. holding suth-
cient land for that purpose. The property OF
the community is now estimate to be worth five
to six millions Of dollars, but g&Ees are assessed
upon three hundred thoussn3 dollars only
! They are beginning to mixin politics, and 1hey
vote for their own interests without respect ia
party considerations. .@
The society is governed in religion bya
prophet who claims to be spiritually equal with
Jesus Christ, and who speaks by inspiration
Marriage is respected among them, Rt least so
far as ascertalned. In Temporal matte s, the
government of the society is vested IN fourteen
trustees, who transact all business but who arc
not compelled to labor. All adults ere obIg,5
to labor, and receive thirty seven aud q l,lf
cents per day for their services while in retucn
they are charged for their food and clothing,
and if, at the end Of the year g balance 30
found in their favor, it is placed in the treasury
for the benefit of the society The condition
of the laborers is but little removed frons thai
of slavery, while that of the trustees is one Of
independence and ease. One Of the late yeye.
lations to their prophets, that is becoming lo9
corrupt, and that they must seel5 q new aoa7aip
the west beyond the reach o. the carrup2fng
influences of outside society.
The organization is a spec Of socialism
with religion not quite so corrapt&s Morsqon-
ism but in which temporal benefits are tar
worse. AS the society exists By p law Of the
state, the state has a right to investigate liz
affairs. The present inquiry arises rom The
holding back Of the society in Its retgrns Of
property for taxation and the results will be
detrimentalto to the well bengof FIN organization
in that it publishes to the world its rcpulsiya
features, and also increases its tax list. II Is
presumed that the society will heed che regent
inspiration of the prophet and remove west.
-~~o~~~(-~~~~~~~~~-~~~.
The guardian angel in Pars is man whose
duty it is to visit the drinking shops, nHd Tho
moment man gets tipsy to take him uod&r His
protection, to accompany him hcj1e and PIT
him to bed. The individual practising this
profession are picked men, who nayer drink
themselves, who have the necessary moral su-
thority to enforce obedience rom the drrukr.l
creature they are conveying home, who car
defend him against attack, and more than MI
who can prevent him from dri king at the shuua
they pass on their way. The price for this scr
vice is ten sous; and there is not an instance Oh
record of an individual thus protected homo
and put to bed, having failed 10 discharge THE
debt of honor. Itisa rule at the drinking shops
that when man cannot stand he Husb 5e tasaH
off, and anangel is straight y called, Tho
angels are kindly treated BY the sbop-hccpc,9
whose interest it is to see tbas no one q hs
customers come to HARM Etv t4eeiFn h5
odds and ends of the dinner, aud ARE recon
mended to the neighbors When reliable plao
for some confidential errand il asa5ed.-~Taeis
honesty is proyerbial, and a bacohanaIan with
a hundred francs in his pockat who is oonidal