St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1883-05-19

er of the General Land Office, dated
May 18th, on this subject, and also
certified copies of certain documents
called for by me On the 10th inst,
in q letter. copy whereof is also in
closed. The documents include my
original letter of inquiry OF the 18th
ult.
! An examination of these papers
makes the case much worse fer all
concerned.
YOU WILL SEE
that these lands iceye approved BIZ the
Secretary of ths Interior on the Isl of
March. 1877, and -Apra 10Th, 1877,
nearly three years prior to the date of
The iaW Of March Sth, 1880. pro-
viding for the Governor to take the
necessary steps to secure the lands,
etc, and the McEnery contract.
These lands, 3S, sS7.4l acres, had
been approved for years, and by
the act of approval and the law Of
1919, the fee simple had been abso-
tutely Uested in the State. All that
was necessary for the Governor of
Louisiana, or for the land officers to
do, after the lands were approved,
was to procure sheet of paper, an
envelope and postage stamp. and
address simple letter of inquiry
to the Secretary of the Interior or
to the Commissioner of the General
Land Office, and the lists would
have been sent. Any member of
the delegation or myself would
have attended to the matter with
out charge: but letter mailed in
Baton Rouge was all that Was
needed.
IT THUS HAPPENED,
from failure to inquire, that the
list lay in the Washington Office.
but as you will see from the copies.
the lists on their face sho,ced the date
Of their approval, and the Governor
fne,o when they reached him, if he
looked at them at all, that under
the law of 1S49- the titles to Louisi-
ana passed on the date OF approval.
There was nothing to do-nobody
to convince or satisfy, no proof to
ofer, no researches to- make. II
was an fat accon,pli. To take tbis
'ody of land and glue Ia, 900 acres Of
e to NcEnery ases, under The circum-
stances, great wronq, and the dark
,st feature that has yet trunspired.
Yours, L.O. W,sH,xcro.
The following document speuxs
or itself. and is enc Of the batch
orwardsd to us. It is what tue "a
OF THE LAND OFFICE
HAS TO SAY
department OF the Interior. Cen
raj Land Office, Washington D
!. May II. 1ss3.-To L. Q. Wash
agton. Esq, Correspondent of the
lew Orleans Picoyune. Washing
On, d. c.: Sri have received
our letter of the 10th inst re-
Nesting certified capies of list S
,reens6urg District. and list az
'eao Orleans District, swamp and
lands, and letter from
lis office to the Governor of Lou
lana, transmitting copies thereof
INN, also OF your letter to this
hce OF 18th ult., requesting state
ent OF swamp lands patented to
% State OF Louisiana during the
'ars 1880. 1881, 1882 and 1889.
Ilnclose herewith certified con-
> as requested. You will per.
I've that last 5 ,oas approved by The
cretary Of the Interior March 2l
~, ana Mot list % acas approued
or'l 10, 1877.
The second section of the act a,
'ngress, approved March 2. I84o
tatnfes at Large. vol. 9, page s52l
der which said lands were claim.
and the lists thereof approved
ovldes that on the approval By the
'retary of the Heasury-no,O he
'retory Of the Interior-the fae
'pte 20 said lands shall rest in he
'te OF Louisiana, subject 70 the
posal OF the Legislature thereof
N. c. McFARLASE.
- Commissioner.
Che certificates appended 20 In.
5 1uily explain the time ofapproual
me tracts, as will BE- seen by the
APPENDED no Y,sn 90
General Land Office, Swami
Land Division, April 8, 1877
his certi6es that the tracts OF
4 embraced in the foregoing list
. been duly selected and report,
70 tbs office as swamp and
r1owed lands" by the United