The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-07-14
Communicated.
Apropos Of Bad Faith.
" Fools rum where angels fehr To tread.

Fools run where angels fear to tread.''
| Like the busy bee which improyeth the shi-
ming hour, SO do our Church Wardens, so called,
gather unsavory honey by improving the church
property. Unobtrusively one can see almost
every day ear loads OF lumber going to the
graveyard in order to renew the dilapidated old
fence. am glad to see them taking care of
| their little beds. 1t is thoughtful Of them and
the holy scripture says let the dead take care of
the dead. Be Of good cheer, it is a very good
work. 1 tried my hand at it a year ago. Parish
priest Of the richest parish of the State of
Louisiana outside of New Orleans, finding that
the resources OF the graveyard did not pay the
poor sexton, went to d public spirited planter
and tried to borrow the money. l was obliged
to do this, Mr.. Editor, for after sending my
same sexton three times to collect bill for
ground rent in the graveyard, got for answer
| that the church was rich enough. What rei-
gion Is this when you have to pay to go TO heaven
| (sic). With coin OF this kind [ was unable to
pay the expense; but now, bless our stars, under
the regime we have changed all this at
least until the little bill will stare somebody in
the face.
Mr., Editor, noblesse oblige, had the honor
once of belonging to the Board of real, genuine
Church Wardens, and it seems that am wanted
again in the new concern. At my first meeting
with the honorable body was carefully trained.
| One of their number took me under his kind
protection and cautioned me against the dread
fnl doings of my venerable predecessor SO in
justice feel obliged to repay the kindness.
am little out of practice for these long nine
years, SO / thought it right to go over the
ground from 1885 to 1874 The book of deliber-
ations is III the hands of his Lordship. the
Bishop, and will be produced in due time.
have only to grestle with the cash book, and
hard job found it indeed. I called in the bsfio
CT an expert. and some day we will-aseGt, [ hope
some order out of chaos, and the public shall
know lt:.-Eor the present, I can only give an
onnttiilne-addition, subtraction and silence This
IS peculiar arithmetical operation, very well
known and practiced in our enlightened coun-
try. To be sure, the civil war is in the main re-
sponsible for this state of affairs, but since tho
war | find III bold figures 1911 Us due, and if
after that you continue to add up until 1874, you
will find balance on the wrong side of the
ledger. Time and patience will effect great
things, and public opinion shall have reason to
judge. This will also be a valuable lesson for
our growing upstairs. They will be so we'll
posted that they also may one day present to an
admlring congregation a dllaplnlated old church
through forty years Of herculeau efforts.
But it is worth while to look u little more
closely on the chlvalrous defenders of the prop
erty of our forefathers, or if you prefer, the
representative stockholders of the Catholic
Church. Cercicem equi7luna-l beg your par
don MIR. Editor, more Latin this time. [
might be treated to a new edition of Xantlppe
and Socrates. This hybrid of uncertain birth
casts itself into the arms of clerical injunction
and asserts its divine rights by uncertain
sounds; Let us apply our little rule to the blow
ing fellows. Who are they, anyhow? In the
course of twelve years | have had occasion of
meeting these gentlemen, and perhaps l know
little too much Of them. If have ever wronged
them, would like to find it out; if have erred
shall publicly repair it. have had the occa-
of them lived with me quite a long while and
even dined at my own table; another had at diff
ferent times charge of the school; another |
have known for twenty years. whether to myad-
vantage or disadvantage | will not say. One
thing [ know, l never Intentionally wronged
them. chaEitably suppose, then. that they
me to the congregations; SO that they lmpelled
even the votes Of keno players and of Protestant
and drunken Negroes in order to raise them on
the ,- waves Of popular, favor x and eno}ument,
me. In the beginning it was said that they did
not want the church property sold for taxes. If
they had signihed their wlsh to the Bishop. or
even to his subordinate, | assure you that they
would have had q respectful hearing and would
have gone away perfectly satisfied But the
church property was not sold for taxes. We
were more fortunate than the nelghborIng par
ish of Iberville, where such Il thing was done a
year ago. There no good Catholic came up like
d little man, paid the taxes and made every
thing serene, But here we, have Catholics of
every description; here declaration was signed
beforehand, In the presence of four witnesses
that the priest, with the advice and consent of
ecclesiastical and legal authorities. declared
that he wanted the property sold for taxes for
the purpose of safeguarding the property of the
Catholics of Ascension parish and he obligated
himself to transfer the same property III the
this sale could and did not take place, and
somebody is trying to make the most of it; but
the property Is mortgased and ia ken away from
the Catholics. There is no such thing The
Bishop wants to wipe out the mortgage erro- |
neously taken and null and void on its face, and
this is simply effected by the tag sale.
When do they want this? After nearly nine
years Of undlsturbed, peaeeabie possession,
some will assert that the administration of the |
church property was given for ten years only |
Why not wait, then, unit IL the ten years were |
over? But our sly foxes know better. The adj |
coded without limit as to time,
under the onerous conditions of paying the out
standing debts and OF building church worthy |
of our holy religion. Years ago l had plans |
made for a church to cost fifty to sixty thou |
sand dollars, and do now call it bad faith Of |
the worst description to lnsInuate say that |
the church was to be finished inside of ten years.
1 brand such a statement an unmltlgated lie.
BY what means do they want to carry out the
little job? 1t seems to me, Mr.. Editor that we
have to DO with two kinds OF beings. We must
find one with the brains and one with the mon
ey. The first resembles the lrlshmalS tiea, |
and we can only follow hlin by his bite. his
cunning Is shown by the manner IN which he
5prang upon an unsuspectlng community.
blandly he went around and put IN
his little work. Several Catho4lcs declared to
ne that they were caught by false representa-
tons; that they regretted their signature. Some
wanted to have their names erased, bit were
lypocrltlcalIy assured that 1t could not be done
that their names were registered. o. piiari-
'alcai brood of vIDers! Some others then mt
nate the authority of approved Catholic priests.
ms Will certainly shield some to q certain eX-
ent; 1T may even clear some obscure conscien-
;es, but mere assertion Is met by simple de-
Hal. Come out with the name OF the priest or
;rests. Show me their acts, their WRITINGS, and
hen ! shall answer. Now, where Will we ind
lr. MoneybaSs! l am inclined to think that
he one vino signed the bond can tell US and |
IN assured he Is Il prominent member of the
Episcopal Church. QH uitGtt IL fare Gltals cette
futefe!: Is 1t possible that the welfare of the
:athollc Church lays so near his tender heart
hat he Is willing to put up his very savings for
er interests, or does he expect the future sue
esslon of the goods of our forefathers? 1t
GEMS to me this Same gentleman used to rent
he church land from the OLD trustees at $50 a
ear. He pad S1OSD for five years and in Sep {
einDer, 1881, he wanted to pay only $500. In | !
october, 1851 was amazed TO ind that the
abroad company had shat up two bridges con-
rary to the act of donation of the trustees IN
$40. When protested before iIr. Morse he
Did me that he had consulted with the neigh
orlns planters; and am protesting still and t
ave I. suit pending with the railroad company, ,
-iio will lose nothing for waiting little. HIS
zee peculiar sense of JUSTICE | su ppose, &C {
oreilnS to the revised edition OF his ploe, COM
elled hlm to close the drainage of the church
lnds while he ran tie waters of the Rightor q
act on the church property, and when | tried [
prevent hum by legal means from crossing the
lurch lands. he would take no notice OF it.
o", MIR. Protestant, l beg your pardon, but do
'u not think 1t would look better for you to
We up the signature of that bond? This Is {;
unity affair, Mr.. Protestant, you had better
we your money-bags for a rainy day, =,
why do they act 50? l suppose that they want 5
Dulld the new church. | am too SLOW about
They want to be able to SLY 10 their srrand |