The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-07-02
THE FLORIDA PARISHES.

On the fourteenth of the present month
Hon. T.. w. Robertson, Of this State, intro
duced Id Congress "a bill rellnquishing to
the Florida parishes Of the State Of Louisi-
ana, public lands as q compensation to the
people thereof for services In aqniring said
territory from Spain In 1870" This bill was
read twice, referred to the Committee on
Claims and ordered to be printed.
It IL hoped that when Congress assemblies
this winter, and goes to work on general
legislation, 1t will attend to this matter and
do the people Of Baton Rouge and the Fell
clanas the justice that 1t owes them. There
can be- no doubt Of the course that Congress
should pursue when the facts In this case are
made known to it-as they will be. Unfor-
fortunately the circumstances attending the
birth Of the republic Of West Florida and Its
annexation to the United States are but little
known outside Of this State, and to this fact
is, doubtless, due the long delay Of justice on
the part Of the Federal government to the
people Of these parishes.
For over century this portion OF louisiana
was a border land, guarreled and fought over.
Mr. Jefferson laid claim to 1t 1893, under the
treaty Of Ghent but was easily persuaded to
surrender this claim. When Louisiana was
purchased Of France the general belief IN the
Western portion Of the Union was that West
Florida was included In the coded territory,
and large number Of farmers from Ken
lucky, Tennessee and Georgia poured down
into the fertile fields OF this new land. These
settlers soon discovered their mistake. France
had not coded West Florida to the United
States for the very simple reason thatshe was
not owner or possessor Of this territory
which belonged to Spain. These colonists,
who were mostly of American birth, were
not at all pleased with the discovery that they
had become subjects Of Spain. They accused
the United States Of bad faith In the matter,
and called upon them to annex West Florida
and take them under It's protecting wing.
This appeal was refused. and the West Flori-
dams were told by the United States to look
out for themselves. They did so. Taking
advantage Of the fact that their suzerain,
Spain, was engaged In war with Napoleon,
they rebelled, achieved their independence,
and established republic modelled on that Of
the United States.
The position Of this little republic, lying as
it did between two sections Of the United
States, was constant threat and danger.
In the event Of a war with any foreign power,
the latter had but to overwhelm the small
force Of West Florida to cut of Louisiana
entirely from the rest of the Union. Jeffer-
son foresaw this, for In writing to Madison In
1909, he says: You must take Baton Rouge
or the British will, and thereby cut off New
Orleans from the West and the balance Of the
Union"
In pursuance of this advice, therefore, Mr.
Madison, in 1872, when war between Great
Britain and the United States was threat
ened, took the precaution, before embarking
In the war, to seize this outlying territory.
No resistance was made to this by the peo-
pie Of West Florida. Indeed, the West Flori-
dams we're anxious for annexation, and had
even sent delegates to Congress asking for
admission into the Union as State. But
the Federal government did not have time to
arrange all these details and discuss these
demands. War was threatening and the oc-