The Opelousas courier., 1888-05-05
Judge EstiIette's Address Of Wel'
come to the Louisiana Press
Association.

Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen
The pleasant duty has been assigned
to me by the Mayor and throug Oh hin
by the citizens of Opelousas, of extend
ing to the members of the Press Asso-
citation of Louisiana, a hearty welconle
I feel no little embarrassment in the per
formance of this duty; for in nothing
are our imperfections more apparent
than in our efforts to convey by word
our deepest sentiments. | trust our
acts may be proof convincing Of the
earnestness of our welcome.
1t is source of qualification to us to
behold such large attendance on the
part of the distinguished members COM
posing your association, and that graft
fcation is enhanced by the presence of
so maGy of the lady members, whose
able contributions to the press of the
day have made their MONS de plume fam
iliar as household words throughout
the length and breadth of Louisiana
Their admission to your association may
be looked upon as an innovation. BE it
so. 1t rs sign of progress. Every in
crease in woman's sphere of usefulness
is an onward step in the march of civil
1lization.
In selecting Opelousas as the place
of your reunion this year, you have
conferred upon us distinguished honor.
To the stranger it may appear singular
indeed that this inland town should
have attracted your attention. Not so
however with those conversant with
the history of Louisiana. Opelousas
from the first dawn of civilization in
Southwestern Louisiana, has occupied
a prominent position. It was one of
the important posts on the west side of
the Mississippi, under the Spanish re-
gime. These streets, one hundred years
ago, resounded with the changing of
Castlllian swords 1t was from here
that Spanish Alcade enforced the de-
crees of his royal master. 1t was here
that many of Evangeline's companions,
driven from their distant homes by
| 4dtish tyranny, found at last Il
resting place, and adopting pastoral
life, on the Nezpiqu6, the Mermentau,
Bayou des Cannes, la Passe aux In
diens, along the banks of the Courta-
bleau and the far famed Teche, and in
the prairies of fair Opelousas erected
their modest homes, where as 10 Acadia
Neither locks had they to their doors, nor
bars to their windows;
But their dwelling were open as day and the
hearts of the owners"
They have left to their descendants
precious heritage. Simple in manners,
kind in disposition, proverbially frugal
and honest, faithful to every obligation
as the needle to the pole, they were
strangers to duplicity and hypocrisy,
observa1t of the laws of God and man,
virtuous and happy people. Such
| were the first settlers of Opelousas, such
| were the Acadians, whose descendants
comprise nine-t tenths of the population
of St. Landry.
Opelousas has been the seat of our
parochial government ever since Lou
| isiana became member of the Ameri-
can Union. Here stood in former days
the old court house wherein Martin ap1
Porter, and Matthews, and Eustis, and
Rost and other distinguished jurists de-
livered many of the decisions which
have established the jurisprudence of
Louisiana. And the walls Of that old
courthouse, resounded at times with
the eloquence of such giants as Prem
tiss, and Soul6 and Grimes and other
| eminent orators and lawyers of
bye days. Tt was the county seat
of territory, at cone time, extending
| from the Atehafalaya on the east to the
Sabine on the west from Rapides and
| Avoyelles onsthe north to the Attaka
pas and the Gulf of Mexico on the South.
A territory more extensive than some
of the kingdoms of Europe. Three other
parishes have been formed of st. Lam
dry Calcasie1, Cameron and Acadia
and notwithstanding this. reduction of
its territory, owing to its population,
diversity of production and wealth, it
is deservedly called the empire country
parish of Louisiana.
Its population has more than doubled
since 1850. It numbered then, extern
sive as it was % 900 souls-to- day with
less territory, it's population is estimat-
ed at fifty thousand. Bear in mind,
this is not due so much to immigration
as to the natural increase of the people.
If any one doubts the salubrity of our
climate, this increase should be con-
vincing argu! aent.
No where do the suns rays fall on
richer soil than that of st. Landry.
The alluviai lands of the Atehafalaya
and it's tributaries will never cease to
make rich return to the husbandman.
Though cultivated increasingly for
more than fifty years, its prairie lands
still continue to produce abundant har-
| vests-aBd without the aid of fertilizers.
A stranger from the blizzard stricken
west, in search of new home, settled
within four miles of Opelousas. Ere
many months had passed, he wrote to
his Nebraska friends f'pull up stakJs.F
come downto st. Landry have found
Gods garden spot
1t would require an Imagination more
vivid than that possessed by the writer
of Monte Christie to paint in its true
colors the great possibilities of this par
ish. When we consider its agricul-
tural resources, its extensive virgin
| pine forests, untouched by the wood
| mans AK; the variety of its timber;
and think how all these could be devel-
ioped and utilized by the construction
OF railways, and the erection of manu-
factories, we are lost in amazement in
contemplating the inevitable great
wealth and prosperity which st. Ian.
dry is destined to attain at no distant
day. As much may be said Of other
portions of Louisiana.
4 In the grand development of her re-
sources, the Press, than which no more
powerful engine for good EXISTS, has al
1 lir1nnrfauf mart IN Y,aNfnprn TTnnr II