The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-11-28


| In a recent issue of your paper. Nov. %
which is generally read and literally pat
roniZed in this place, there appears what
| purports to be the result of an interview be-
| tween Col. III. a Carter special agent of the
| interior department, aud reporter of the
Times. which does great injustice to some
of our most honorable and worthy citi-
zens.
The most natural inference that could be
drawn from Col. Carriers statement by an
i'm partial reader, would be that our mill
men along the seacoast have been parties to
a gigantic swindle and an outr2 geoas fraud
perpetrated upon the United States govern
ment. This is clearly evidenced by the
leading editorial in the Times of No
vember 10.
Now, sir, as we are unwilling to believe
that any one occupying the position and
holding the office that Col. Carter does,
would wilifuily misrepresent or impute
completely in government swIndle TO such
gentleman as are engaged in the manutac-
ture OF lumber in this vicinity, we are forced
TO conclude that the erroneous statement
made TO your reporter was the result of
transformation received from unreliable
sources. And Furthermore we suppose that
the editor OF the times was misled in sim
liar manner, when under the influence of
incorrect information he penned that very
offensive leader in the issue OF the 10th inst.
We sincerely regret that the deputy agent
in his recent official visit to Pascagoula on
such i'm portant bu mess, was pressed for
time that he could not prolong his stay
among us sufficiently to have made the ac-
quaintance OF the mill owners, from whom
he could have obtained reliable ipIOrma-
ton from trustworthy sources. They
would have submitted their books to his in
spec;ion, not even Withholding their books
of timber brands. 1t is truly to be regretted
that a government official chose rather to
have recourse to an an odiOus system of es-
pionage, evading personal contact with the
only men who were prepared to give cor
rect inform alton in reference to the log bus
mess and lum Der trade.
We do not question the fact asserted by
Deputy Carter that he acted on informa-
zion, but We do charge that the iniorma-
ton came through his sub-deputies, who
appear to be h miserable set OF camp fol-
lowers, and they, i'll their turn, received it
through sources equally as untrustworthy
as themselves. Ana j. it, I ask, upon such
unreliable testimony ss this coming from
unmitigated Scoundrea whose testimony
would not be received in any magistrates
court in Jackson county. where they live
and are known. that those worthy men,
who by their capital, enterprise and energy
have developed in our midst trade that at-
lords steady employment to thousands of
laborers, and thereby gives support to the
population of this sterile region, are TO be
sonvicted of criminal completely in an en-
deavor to defrau1 the government? The
proceedings of the government official at
this place was truly fareical. A deputy
|
| visit to Scranton, makes what he calls
| provisional seizure of the logs and lum Der,
| but, indeed, it is generally regarded by the
people here as a sort of re-enactment of the
snUuio fotoc- oaar iusS t.AS and "A a.9SJ
with this difference that the ancient knight
| of the sorrowful figure was attended BY
| one squire, this modern don was attended
| by eight or nine henchmon of no prepoS-
| sessing appearance. Having made his pro-
| visional seizure, he leaves the logs, lumber,
mills, charcoal. turpentine and shingles of
! eleven coast counties in the custody of his
trusty Sancho PanZas, while he hastens
| bacl to his apartments in the ST. Charles
| Hotel in your city, where, in conference
| with a newspaper reporter, he proceeds to
| detail facts in reference to subject of
| which he was evidently profoundly, and, it
is to be feared, criminally ignorant.
| His report is unjust because untrue, and
very unkind, because by necessary impli-
/ cation it charges upon the millmen collu-
| sion in an endeavor to swindle the govern
ment. Now, if Col. Carter could have
| found time to have visited our place when
he came out to Scranton, and Professionally
seized eleven counties, could he have Wis
| tied the offices of the mill owners here, he
would have met gentlemen whose names
are synonyms of honor and integrity in
| Southern Mississippi-not bandits, nor even
! @Free Traders" Mr. Editor, nor yet even
though ''lumbermen," have they entirely
''lost the faculty of distinguishing between
| pubic property and their own" From
! these men receiving reliable Information
/ upon his return to New Orleans, he would
| have been prepared to have reported sub
| stantially and truthfully, as follows, viz ::
| 81 found Moss Point thrifty community,
| at the junction of the Escatawpa and Pas
eagoula rivers, largely engaged i'll the
manufacture of lumber, lathes, shingles,
/ etc. There are in that vicinity twelve first
class saw mills and three large planning
| mills kept in successful operation through
out the year. The Office books show that
| they manufacture and ship about thirty
live million feet of lumber annually, basides
/ large quantities of lathes, etc. The tim Der
| from which this lumber is made is cut
/ along the Pascagoufa and Escatawpa rivers,
and their tributaries, by logmen who float
it down these streams, at proper stages of
| water, and sell it to the miflmen at an aver
| age price of five dollars per thousand feet.
Along the aforesaid streams, on either side
| for distance varying from one and a half
| to two miles, nine-tenths of the land is
overlooked land, relinquished by the ma
| tiOnal government to the State government
or such as has been taken up by private
| entries; and from these lands nine-tenths of
| the logs sawed at our mills are procured
| Occasional depredations are made on the
public domain, but this Is seldom done, and
| for it tue mill men are no more response
| BILE than they are for the ludicrous blum
| derS of the deputy marshals in the matter
| of seizure here. have bad favorable OPP
| portunilies of elicting facts in connection
| the effect that:
1. There is an inexhausti6le supply of
timber in the beltsof land indicated along
these streams.
2. That at the ruling prices Of logs, log
men cannot afford to haul them two miles
from the river; and
8. That, as before stated. nine-tenths of
the sound timber sold at our mills are cut
from the belt of land hereinbefore indi-
Gated
When the provisional (which I suppose
means illegal) seizure was made, there were
about thirty thousand logs in the several
booms in this vicinity, and perhaps about
three or three and q half millions OF feet of
lumber in the yards mostly second class
lumber.
Now, If the government OF the United
States has 4 rightfnl claim on one OF these
logs, our mill men do not know &c. But on
dence Of the fact that there was not q log
in their booms cut from government land aE
the time of the seizure.
And now, in conclusion. ask, a. an act
of justice, that you viii give publicity
through your columns TO the foregoing
which embodies the facts in connection
with the matters TO which they relate. as
near MS they can be gathered from reliable
data iH hand. By 30 d0fng ron will afford
an opportunity to vindicate. in part. ut
! least. those who have been falsely accused
OF completely In crimes and misdemeanors
OF which they are not only innocent, but. In
moral point Of view, incapable of per-
forming, Men justly proud Of the inherit
lance aud possession Of characters above the
suspicion of dishonor, have been accused at
the Instance of totally irresponsible parties
1 fuQlFmen. henehmen, and upon the feEkf-
mouy OF as despleahle wreteheS IS ever
went nnwhipped of justice; and should
they mot be Vindieated9 We think they
ehonld. Therefore, We send this for pubIi-
rafian. III necessary the facts stated can
| BID sabssanEiatea hy aftidaVIss.