The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1871-01-28

The Memorial Of the undersigned citi
zens and inhabitants of The Parish Of st
Landry, respectfully represents, That they
have recently learned, with surprise, tina
efforts are being made in a certain quarter
of said Parish, by the circulation Of petl
tons addressed to Your Honorable Body
with the design of effeeting by its fheaae
3iatc action a division of the Pari n, anc
the creation Of new one outofsit~ territory
and population. This movement, iran5hi
with injurious consequences 10 the 9rea'
BODY of the Parish, has thus been Sudden
" sprung upon them. 1t was not hintet
at. much less canvasscd in our late STATE
elections, and it is evident that it is the de
sign Of its originatorS, who are believed tc
be a few persons rom a certain quarter, III
tent solely upon their own personal al
yancement, toy hurry it on to accomplish
ment BY means unfavora}1e TO its calm anc
sensible consideration. H., &c..
Knowing, as your memorialists do, thai
YOU have at heart the interest and welfare
Of the entire population Of our Parish, anc
will not lend yourself to the advancement
of a few to the detrimcnt Of the many, they
are embroidered to address TO Your Hon
crable Body this Memorial, and therein tc
lay before you their solemn and emphatic
protest against the proposed measure,
The grave and serious reasons that IN
fuence your memoralists in making this
protest, and asking your Honorable Body
net to act favorably on the petltionsto which
they have. alluded, are numerous but
they will contine themselves herein to the
giving of a few, that they deem the most
weighty.
The proposed division of this Parish,
they have understood, will establish u
new Parish, lying to the South Of this
Its Northern and part of its Eastern boun-
dary vii be for a considerable distance but
a few miles from the town Of Opelousas,
the seat ofjasticc of St. Landry. Its form
will be somewhat oblong, and from the cen
trail part thereof, where It's scat Of justice
will undoubtedly be located. eight Or nine
miles only troM OpelouSas, the distance to
the Western and Northern portions, where
its population will be dense, will be greater
than from the same sections to Opelousas.
The advantages as to distance from the
Lastern portion of the proposed Parish
to its centre, to result to the people of
that section of thc country, from the forma-
ton of the new parish, would be, II any,
trihing indeed;-Very many of the under
signed, YOUR memorialsts, inhabit the west
ern and northern portions of the proposed
parish, where a very large proportion OF
the population thereof exists, and they do
not hesitate to join the protest herein made.
The proposed measure would leave Opc-
three or four miles from tie northern
limit of the proposed parish, and conse-
~oueptly far from the centre Of the parish Of
St. Landry, thus inevitably leading to the
removal from that town of the seat Of JUS
tice, which would render necessary the
of new public buildings, such as
Court, House, Jail &c, at heavy cost to a
people already bowed to the earth and
groaning under the weight Of enormous
State and parish taxes. The aggregate
amount Of these taxes for 1900 is one nm
bred and siiateen Mousand dollars ($li6,-
9OO); $3.50, 600 of which compose the State
taxes, and $50, 600 thereof, the Parish.
During the year 1870, the property Of
two hundretand ffty-six delinquent ak
payers were seized and advertised for sale.
This state of things is appalling.
What an unfortunate moment for Inaug-
a measure that will. add to the
burden of taxation under which we are
now staggeringi What reasons can the
Of this scheme possibly give
that can justify them in appealing to you
TO grant them what they ask at your hands =?
What great public good is to + suit from
this measure that will justify tie accumu-
|ation of taxes to result theFefrom.
Since the year 1905, Opelon ms has con-
.linuously been the seat Of justice for this
region Of country. The singular cSenp-
ion of this town, Tor a period Of thirty
years, from the epidemic diseases, has
proven the wisdom of those who selected it
Tor that purpose. During that long pc
rod of tune, yellow fever in an epidemic
;orm has prevailed in other villages and local.
les of this and the adjoining parishes
town of Washington, for example, only
\ few miles distant. has. dnring that time,
been repeatedly afflicted with that dread
'ul scourge. Opelousas is undoubtedly
,ne Of the most healthful. if not the most
lealthfuI town in the State. lis public
buildings are of the best kind. - Court
House, erected about thirteen years ago, is
arge, commodious and substantial the
clerks and Recorders, office, excellent
ire proof building, all erected at conside-
able cost to the people. nfs E
The attractive features Of this place,
lmong which are those above '.ormerated,
AVE invited many persons to locate them
here pleasant homes and substan-
ial interests have sprung up in and around
t-iThese, if the proposed change be
made, will be broken up and prostratenl;
md for what purpose That a smailnnm-
Ter who are now somewhat distant from
he seat o fJustice. may have a few miles
ess TO travel, when called upon to at end
here on business of their own, or that of
no psslbiie-That additional Offices may
&c created to be fill d by MEN who live on
he public, or that spectators may i'sal-
20 their schemes int ded alone TO fill their
1T viii be thus. pereeived' that the pro-
losed measure, whilst it will infict upon
lie far greater portion Of the people of this
parish great evils, will be attended with
Questionable Advantages only to abortion
f those who compose the population Of the
lew parish, and none at all to the balance,
We therefore respectfully, pray, that your
Honorable Bodies may reject the proposed
Of this Parish, asked for by the
aforesaid Eff',
ag' FOREIGN NEWS. ],
" -n Ia 9f,. resasa
LONDON, Jan. Is, ga. MA dis
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