Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1859-03-26
For the Sugar Planter.
THE GROSsE-TEEE QUESTION.


THE GkOSsE-TEZE QUESTION.
MR. ED1roR:-I was not a little astonish-
ed when | accidently perused an article en-
titled :: Grosse-Tete " Inserted inthe columns
of the Gazette & Sentinel, in its issue of March
10th, last. Ibervi|le, the adopted mother Of
this section of country, now that the Child
has grown rich and great. and particularly
now that it bids fair to grow still greater and
richer under the fostering care OF its real
mother. -Iberville, l say, opens the valve OF
her long pent-np tears, and preparest to shed
them on the loss of taxes, the usutr1ct OF
which she has had for the last thirty-two
wears. Has IbervilIe any rightto complain
From 1927 to the present day, has anything
been done to insure the love and devotion Of
the inhabitants here? Was a road ever built
from Gresse-Tete to PlaqLemjne, or any 9TH
er noint. by which juror,, witnesses and par
ties litigant summoned to attend Court, might
have had all easy access to the parish seat
When the Bayou is low, the road along its
banks is never kept in repair" hen the
water is up, for more than seven miles near
its lower end, 1T is completely submerged!-
1t is a fact well-known.t to everyone on the
BAYOU, that the Sheriff of lberville, since the
building of the Railroad in West Baton Rouge,
IS ODi1Geu 70 tIIfcl Ol liz ais La W.
make his legal services at this point, and that
each service is made at a cost Of 81 so Tor
r1ilage alone!
And what conveniences have We here,
save the facilities offered by the Railroad for
the transportation of our crops to market,
and of our return freights? The time is not
long gone by when we had to pay ten, and
fifteen per cent. on every hogshead of sugar
that we shipped 10 New OrleaEs-when the
means of transportation were so limited that
we could not avail ourselves of those fuctu-
ations of the market which are of such i'm
mense importance to the sugar farmer-nay
in the months OF May and June have seen
1t, that scarcely a pound OF sugar had left our
puryeries-And in 1855, the crops of several
of our planters were hauled by teamsters on
the road connectingpu r Bayou with LobdelFs
Store in West Baton Rouge. Did 1berville
ever tender us a helping hand in the hour OF
trouble? Did she seem to think then that
we were cveuin existence, and that in view OF
the large contributions paid by lis into her
treasury, were entitled to better treatment
on her part?
Still a.voice from :" Bayou Gou|a" says the
): sympathies of Grosse-Tete are with us
the associations and friendships are here, y
and in the very next sentence, adding insult
to injury. he concludes with-these words :
:" and if the sub iect OF going to West Baton
Rouge. or remaining in lberville: was left to
the people, without any extraneous influences
being brought to bear, We should never lose
that growing section !! Ertyancous inyauen-
ces!! for shame! shame, upon you MIR. Cor
RESPONDENT, that your knowledge OF the peo-
pie Of this settlement is not better than it is !
| Shame, shame, upon you, sir, that you should
H.. = ~. ~..;,L Sc koI)o ,,J ,o+ l,,-,
that for moral worth, intelligence, high and
EQUALS. but your srperiors IN this, that we
never impute to. others that which we ours
selves are.not sguiltySof;;#and we know ours
selvesSto be above the money Influences to
which you allude. Speak of sympathies and
affections How can we have any for you
when your opinion of us is such that we can
be bribed into any measure to suit your Gu
pidity and a%varice? No sir; you have bro
ken asunder the ties OF friendship, if any
ever existed between this settlement and
your section Of country TOR without a mu-
tual and reciprocal observance Of the esteem
and regard due to friendship. ii cannot sub
sist, and you have for us neither esteem nor
regard. You have been accustomed to look
upon US in no other light than that which
your pecuniaty interests present. We nave
opened our eyes to the painful truth that in
the scales OF your justice: the almighty dol
lar outweighs your affections.
Let the old sleeping fogy spirit he cast
off from lberville," say you, and let US sho "
as much vigilance in protecting our interests
as others 10 in dispoiIing us of them" Des-
poll you! And of what, sir? Are you SO
Ignorant of the law and facts connected with
this Grosse-Tete controversy, that you should
not bear witness to the spirit Of compromise
shown by the people of West Baton Rouge.
respecting the adjustment of this boundary
question? Have they not yielded a point to
you when they consented that the limits of
the territory should be fixed by the votes of
the inhabitants residing therein They have
relinquished a right guaranteed to them by
the Constitution of the State, that of claim
ing the enforcement of a contract entered
into between the State. and West Baton
Rouge, by. which the latter were to regain
the possession of their domain as soon as a
road was built connecting the Mississippi
river with Grosse-Tete. Can vested rights
be tivested-can any law be passed imrair-
ing the obligations Of contracts? Could YOU
have hsd us. permanently annexed to her
Vile, when the faith of the State through its
Legislative act of 1928 was pledged that
we should revert to West Baton Rouge upon
the happening of contingency depending on
the building of a road? And now that the
citizens of West Baton Rouge have complied
with their part of the contract, that they
have not only built us a practicable road, but
a Railway that. they offer to bring US out to
their Court House free of charge when we
shall be summoned as jurors or witnesses;
that they offer US every facility for the trans
portation of ourselves, our families, our pro-
duce, goods and chattels, what good reason
on earth have we to oppose to them, ~particu-
Iarly when on the other hand, we have not
only been neglected, but insulted and abused
by Iberyiile.
Let me tell You, Mr.. Correspondent, that