Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-08-07
EAST FELICIANA,

ter from the able pen Of our old
friend Col. II. Skipwith on the
history and resources of our Sis
ter parish, East Feliciana. But
or the lack of space we would
| produce in full this interesting
letter. However few extracts
we. will make expressive Of facts
not only applicable to that but
to every Parish in this section
of the State. Regarding the
spirit of corporation he says:
The Grange, and the Farmers
Club, and the Bee Keepers; AS
sOciatiun do not seem to have
prospered, or contributed much
to prosperity. The reason why
they have fallen short OF the
objects of their organization is
unknown to me, unless the fol-
lowing pungent paragraph en-
tracted from a letter to me of
one of the most active spirits
of those organizations may be
Acceptable as the solution. 81
am apprehenSive that so long
as the negro is made the prime
factor in our agricultural pur-
suits, so long will enterprise be
paralyZed, our fences rotton and
overgrown with briars, our fields
washed in gullies, our stock
worn out by abuse, and our cof-
fers empty. Three-fourths Of
the planters to-day are poorer
than they were when they COM
mencel with free negroes after
the surrender and the country
decidedly more dilapidated," a
picture appealing more eloquen-
tly for new methods, and new
labor forces, could not well be
painted! A picture which, l am
glad to say, finds pleasant
contrast the improved meth
eds Of agriculture in some nei-
ehborlloOtls, and especially in
the eighth ward, where the n;i-
tive white race are at work de-
vcloping small farms, in which
ward | was delighted to find
also q suitable house erected to
receive the machinery of a Gle
nent attachment, which has
been ordered from the factory
many weeks since. The credit
Of this enterprise is due to Mr..
J. b. Kent, an old citizen Of the
parish.
The character of the cOnm1-
nifty had been asSailed for some
acts of turbulence which they
did commit, and for many OF
which they are wholly innocent.
Once, and only once, in a mo-
ment Of uncurbed petUlance,
after long and aggravated pro-
vocation, they did resolve to
rescue tie community from the
perils Which threatened its exis-
tencc, and John Gair and Babe
Matthews we're made to feel the
strength of civilization without
its mercy! But mements OF OBJ
liviOUsncss OF the awful majesty
of the law are rare occurrences
in their history, and since 1860
there has been no time over the
whole parish when Il State or
Federal writ would have been
impededinits execution. If they
did Danish NEGRO sheriff, a ne
gro recorder and two negro leg
islators, it was not because Of
their color, but because they
were deeply implicated in an
attempt to precipitatea conflict
Of races. If they did trighten
Kellogg's carpet-bag judge out
of the parish, it was because he
proved himself to be a vile pan
derer to the passions Of the
most barbarOus element of So
ciety, and, furthermore, because
he and his master typiiied the
most insidious and relentless as
sault upon the sovereignty Of
the State. II those who usurp-
ed the Teins Of government and
those who allotted the nsurpation
encountered rough, treatment
is the community to blame?
Was the line beyond which for
bearanco ceases to be creditable