Pointe Coupee Democrat. [volume] (False River [i.e. New Roads], Parish of Pointe Coupee [La.]) 1858-1862, 1859-05-07
NO. II.

- - "-s-' y H>S'F TTf" .z1ss"
vlicl, yol will see il;1t my interest of
ten thousand arlcntS is estimated by
thc sworn assessors OF the parish at
fifteen tlnotIs;,ld dollars | believe that
it has never been assessed during the
tvcuty-threc years that / have been
paying taxes on it, alta higher rate.
Judge Campbell is said TO have set
Easide the patents in two Of the lIoumas
cases. on the ground that the claim was
fraudulent You have q copy of the
opinion: by it you will perceive that he
Expressly declared that the title was
not in question before him; that he scru-
pulously abstaincd from any alIusion to
it's merits, but decrced the patents to be
cancelled, on the ground that the Secrc-
tary Of the Treasury had signed them
without authority of law No patent
was ever issued for the William Conway
tract, in which anu interested, and con-
sequcntly no suit was brought in relation
to it. The number Of families settled Oh
the di inerent tracts is said to be five
hundred. This is gross exaggcration;
but whatever may be the number, they
have, each and all of them, made their
settlements with the full knowledge
that they were trcspassers and invaders
of rights SIS sacred and complete as
those of any proprietor in Aouisiana.
/ In 1886, that tract of the Houmas
grant which and others then purchased,
was an unbroken wilderness, known
impcrfcctly to the surveyors and to a
very few adventurous hunters, who with
great difficulty could make their way
from the Mississippi to the Amitc. If
you will take the trouble to look into
the list of pre-emption claims in the
Registers office, you will not l think,
find one On the land purchased from
IRightof; all the settlements have been
made since. | paid for my share $685.
ia 50, average caslr term 18th May,
1889 that share, with proportion Of
taxes and other expenses and interest
not compounded, stands me in over $70,-
900. will gladly take for it $40, 900,
and give q long credit at a moderate
rate of interest. You are hereby author
lied to sell it for me on those terms.
In this matter entertain no i'll feel
ling towards the simple-mindel signcrs
,, of the memorial, with whom / and my
Eco-proprietors are prepared to deal most
EGbcnaliys They are the mere tools OF
j Prescriptions knaycs, combined to effect
Thy any agencies, however base, tho
qualification of their personal malice,
land the improvement Of their broken
-lpolitical fortunes
NJ, cf,fioor Mt ,,ca1 ff,, ar,apj
fmclt confirming the Louisiana claims,
: and carried the bill through without
consulting me, directly or indirectly
i think that | can assert without quail
tication, that we never exchanged a
word on the subject until lie informed
me that it had been returned from the
House Representatives never spoke
of it, in any stage of it's progress to any
member of either House of Congress,
) nor, indeed, to any one III Washington.
: BY referring to the papers have given
,, you, you will see that it has been cou-
! /, fsidercd during two sessions, and accom-
l panied by printed reports. You know
: that these printed bills and reports are
,, placed in possession Of every member Of
both Houses; and if Mr. Mles Taylor
: knew, as he pretends, nothing of it, it
: betrays gross inattention to his duties;
If he did, his attempt now to screen
himself from responsibility to his con
stitucnts on New River, by insinuations
of trick and concealment, can only be
']quailicd by terms which it would be in
!. bad taste to express, but which arc not
: the less deserved
You are perfectly at liberty to make
such use Of this letter as you may deem
r proper.
/ Very respectfully, your ob't servant.
JOHN SLIDELL.
J JOHN CLAIBORNE, Esq.
New Orleans, April Ii, 1859.