New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1859-09-20
vigilance Committe. In the Interior.

vigilance Committee in the Interior
We have heretofore given our readers oil the In
formation we could obtain n regard to the operations
of so.called Vigilance Committee In the pafisnes
vermillion Lafayette, st. Landry, ST. Martin and
Cacasieu. Yesterday we alluded to the unfortunate
affair at some length. To-day we give extracts ITO"
Journals which have been received since.
The Opelousas (St. Landry Parish) Courier OF tne
18th inst has the following article on the subject:
VIGILANCE" Eternal vigilance is the Prlce o. 9,
liberty,n is an axiom, the truthfnness OF Wncn ~
acknowledge. Eternal vigilance is now Y the price
p'yy Whatever CAUSES may have produced the result
must be removed before the evil Will cease 70 e1,se
direfu necessity drove those, who have heretofore
been the lovers Of order and the iends OF the law
into the organization of the present vigilance Coh,
mttees. Differ as we may as TO tne means u pe
used to accomplish an end, we all can but honor me
motives OF the orginators Of the Vigilance Commit
tees they wish to drive thieves and scounoIes rom
| the land They are honest men, whose GnaracteIs
| are above suspicion in the community. Wnen IL Is
objected, that some men are in the Committees who
ought not to be there, let US recolect tnat Chrss
himself endowed with the wisdom OF Deity, when on
earth found one traitor among nls seen honea
men and acknowledged rogues and villains, We nope
the citizens Of st. Landry will not long debate as 70
which party they will bsl0ns' The p's'ia"'' must
These reflections have been forced upon us, because
since our last issue, many Of the men who
at Queue Tortue Point on the Sd instant
to leave the State have returned Of them walked
the streets Of Opeousas on Monday and Tuesday iss
armed capapie. We understand they have gone 70 |
their former residences. To US this Is sad news iol
il these unfortunate creatures have needed the ADVICE
of unwise friends they but listening 10 tne song
Of Syren that will lure them on TO inevitable des-
ruction il they resolved to revisit Their old naunt
and return to their former mode of life it is but ver
fcaton of the Roman proverb quem Deus uu peTdere
rrius den1entat.
their commands are obeyed and woe to him who,
with the marks of the Queue Tortue rencontre on
i bis body, meets them on their path. One word
} Of friend advice to the anti.vigilance men, II an
innocent man has suffered is not the time to re-
dress his wrongs if the guilty alone have been pun.
shed, they have but received their just deserts At
the present crisis the Vigiants must maintain their
Country themselves, and abandon it entirely to the
rogues, and to those who will no. venture 10 pfo'ecs
= themselves against maleiactors
We extract the following from long article in the
Franklin (Parish of St. Nary Banner of the 18th 1t
opposes the Vigilance Committee strongly as the
g Opelousas Courier sustans it. Says the Banner:
e And what will people at distance think of the
present state Of society these three parishes The
Democrat of St. Martinsve represents the commlttee
that padded the sixty eight men, as combination o.
~ twenty-five hundred citizens, and the thieves ana
scape gaows are represented to be very numerous in
az those parishes Who would wish to live in such 8
u state Of socety One set of men will steal your cat
, tie, hogs, and farming utensils, and the othe
ne M party will throw you down and paddle you like
ay nigger if you dare express an honest opinion tina
al does not suit their fancy. Better live in Mexico
c the Sandwich Islands than in such place. One Sc
of citizens steal your property and another set VII
en eu not allow you to open your mouth or use you
I'D tongue! A.. 1,..;,.,,o co,,
~ mttee have poured their wrath upon none but poo
ior men Are the rich men of those three parishes a
os honest? Or there other causes which lnduc
os them to pass over their rich lawbreakers, and
- visit the poor wretches who have no friends VII
a. an such storm of righteous indignation!
n' Are there not rich men connected with Ines
" late extraordinary proceedings who are anxious
obtain divers little patches of land and some Creo
horses and cows that belong to some OF these pre-
scribed wretches at half price? Is not cunnin
avarice already at work in many a bosom, az
J. many piece of property already half sold Sol at
u immense sacrifice to the original owner? We do n
think this was the object at first, but believe it is ia
lbl- running into specuia tion and the whole moveme
on is assuming darker appearance every day.
Der, The following is from the Plaquenine Qberv
the Parsh) Magnolia of the 18th:
en- We have Opelousas and Attakapas papers befo
zach US they all contain intelligence Of startling CHI
; acter Lafayette parish has been the scene OF an
len counter between vigilants and opponents styl
has " Moderators." On the Sd some 500 men from
.ed parishes of St. Martin, Lafayette, vermillion a
,e OF Calcasieu, armed with guns, pistols swords
knives, and having besides wetloaded sx-pound
came unaware upon some l5O OF their enemies
de- tilted in the house Of one Emion Legendre and
reat ceeded in taking II prisoners the balance maxi
4 on their escape to the woods. One man, according
the account of the Lafayette Echo, was kiled-tV
according to that of the Attakapas Register. Or
de- II prisoners 6s were tried by the Vgants and g
and fenced to the lash, which was forthwith appli
from some OF them TO all reports RECEIVING US nany
New ouo % .ha n;ht Tbeu were then .,
New gven I've davs to leave the State under penalty
wall. hanging if caught at the expiration Of that time
Or Surely, all chershers OF law and order must dee
regret that the history of this State will have to
,. tain the record of such proceedings. whatever 7
zen have been the grievances of the Vigilants Of
the Martin, Lafayette, Vermillion and Calcaseu WI
the may have been the wrongs tney had 70 aveI
"a aud whatever were the transgressons OF those
:. 50 harshIy dealt with, their resort to extraud
ooe MEANS necessary to all appearances must be stror
ierce deprecated Amid the cries and entreaes of dis
. the solate females and the walls Of infants men
New wrenged, and the commitment OF such wrong &C
to the wrongs attrbnted 10 tne anu Dy US Era
assed exist did not by any means make things al n
1t matters not how respectable the Vigllants v
and that they had for leader an ex-Governor-A
ander Mouton-they became aw'vioators in ord
punish awviolators-in truth, in some degree
hreVe. what they condeming in others. Besides
must have caused innocent persons to suffer.
ns in Lafayette Echo, plainly in their interest, admits
good tuele Is ho. tne ieaeS uoos M ~ ,;s @ @ - @ ~ a;sa
Sc, by some packhear.eu seounuiels, WIZ ~. wy
oon as proclamation, to oppose the Vigants.
With these extracts we will bring this article
de the close observing that we shall keep eye upe
For ture occurrences and publish them they tran
Reuben
Clerk THE STORM AT PENSACOLA NAVY YARD.-1
dton to the news which we publish this mo
rops is from Pensacola, says the Mobile Tribune, we
lberian that great damage done by the storm on
day night to the U. S. barracks at Warrington.
week roof was carried off clear and the buildings W
r Ing much Injured to amount almost to total de
,e have ton. We learn also-by rumor-that ther
of last other considerable damage done at the Navy
l,1,u u,oe
need of THE MoJAvE WAR.-Among items of new
,ur c days later from California, by the overland ms
he ne, dust find only this worthy of reproduction:
s snau nof of From Fort Mojaue-Capt. Hancock, @.
spay ~ S. army received last night express from
ha,n5 Moiave, August l7th for Brgader General
ounnr Commanding Department Of California. s. A.
4 sna and his party Of thirty men reached the river
" noorv 10th from New Mexico, and had volunteer
tbin remain five six days and render aid to Major
ai that istead The Indians show no disposition to
N"' 'A"' but continue to lurk about the Fort with
intentions, and will have to be we'll chastsed
VS.: they will wish for peace. This is the opinion
Bridge officer at the post 1t is said that Major Arm
and has asked for additional force to enable him
emily cessully prosecute this war. The troops h
success constantly employed in destroying those
have de- which are within reach of their operations
SIZED and Los Angeles Vineyard,