St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-08-30
The Barbecue.


The barbecue here last Saturday, was
not strictly barbecue, but ham and
bread of which there was plenty. Con-
gresham Lewis and District Attorney |
Ogden were the speakers. We were
not present, and cannot report the
speeches; but the following is the
Washin gton Argus report of Mr.. Lewis
speech there, which we are informed
covers the same points discussed by
him here:
Mr.. Lewis discussed principally the
tariff question in connection WITH the
Morrison Bill, and the policy as well as
duty of Congress to restore to the PUBS
lie Domaine a large area thereof that in
former years was granted to different
Railroad Companies, but which they
have forfeited by their failure to comply
with the terms of the grant.
Mr.. Lewis ably maintained the posi-
ton that Revenue RefOrmersS like
Speaker Carlyle, and Mr.. Morrison We're
not only, not enemies to the sugar inter
ests of Louisiana, but its best and only
friends. The position of these gentle
men is that tariff can only be justified
when used to raise revenue, and that
the government has no constitutional
right to tax one set or class OF citizens
60 build up and maintain the interests
Of another set or class, that the tariff on
sugar is not laid for the purpose OF pro-
tecting sugar, but on the contrary, is
strictly a revenue tariff and hence, men
Ike Mr.. Carlyle and Mr.. Morrison are
ODDosed to its reduction except to the
extent of a general reduction, which eff
fects all industries alike. A reduction
If the revenue is demanded by both pO-
litical parties alike, as the annual needs
of the government are 800, 100000 less
than the actual revenue collected by
taxation.
Revenue reformers insist that the tar
if which is imposed for protection shall
be- taken off while the tariff imposed TOR
revenue purely, as in case of sugar, shall
remain. This position was enforced by
the speaker by strong arguments ana II
Illustrations, he cOntendlng that his vote
on the Morrison Bill had been misun-
derstood and misrepresented.
Mr.. Lewis gave the history OF the leg
islation BY which one hundred aud
ninety million acres of the public do"
maine, territory ten times as large as
the State of Louisiana and the common
patrimony OF the whole people, had been
given away to Railroad Corporations
under contracts with the government,
which in almost all instances they had
failed to comply with. These corpora
lions in consideration of these muuiti-
cent grants, had bound themselves to
huild twelve thousand miles OF railway
within certain periods, and these periods
had elapsed and the railroad companies
had only built four thousand miles Of
railway. ].
He had voted for the forfeiture of all
these grants and the return of the land
to the public domaine
The speaker said however, that he
considered himself specially instructed
by his constituents to procure the for
fixture of what is known as the Back
bone Land Grant upon which smany OF
our own citizens had settled, after THE
lapse of the period within which that
road was to have been built, and with
the expectation of obtaining them from
the government, under the provisions
of the Homestead and Presumption
Laws. Upon the final defeat of the bill
in the House by q small majority, lie
Immediately introduced a bill instruct
ing the Attorney General to file 4 suit in
behalf of the government, claiming
these lands as the property OF the gov
eEnment. He expressed the belief that
this bill would not meet with the same
opposition that had defeated the orig.
inal bill. He also stated that a
bin to forfeit this same grant was
now pending before the Senate and
that the Secretary of the Interior woulC
not, he thought, issue patents to til,
railway claimants, until this Senate bill
is disposed of, or at least, until the-ad
j0urnment Of the next session. In ths
meantime he hopes to secure favorable
action in the last bill introduced b.
himself.