St. Landry democrat., 1890-06-28
Evangeline.

The follow ing lisa copy "i the petit
ton now being industrionsly circulated
ia this parish, asking fort'tbe creation
of the parish of Evangeline:
To the Senate and House-of f,epr, sen,styes
of Louisiana, in General Assembly con.
vcned
We. the undersigned citizens OF the
parish of ST. Landry, with respect re-
present: That the Parish of ST. Ian
dry contains one thousand five hundred
and sixty-two Q562) square miles.
Opelousas, the county seat, is situated
in tile south eastern portion of the Par
ish, several miles outside the geogra-
phical center. Persons residing in the
extreme western portion of the parish
are obliged to travel fifty miles TO
! transact their business at the Court
( house In the absence Of railways,
great expense is necessarily incurred
/ in the transaction of public and private
business. The roads are intersected
by numerous gulleys and ravines, and
the bridges across these are frequently
carried away hy freshets, impeding
and sometimes iptercepting travel.
Vacations and expensive delays grow
ont of this state of affairs, and prac-
teal denial of justice to iitiganis and
parties accused of crime is necessary
consequence. Parties accused of crime
are entitled to speedy trial. The
number of untried cases of the docket
of the Court clearly show that great
wrong il being perpetrated That
wrong cannot be remedied Ivy the oA r
GERS Of the Court There is no remedy !
except in the division of the Parish. A
division of the Parish IA hereinafter
described wonll reduce !he distance to .
he Travelled by one half and the ex- /
pense Mt least ono third. But the re-
duction of expense is less important .
than the nearer approach to Justice
which could be attained by the pro-
posed division. Bnt a better reason
than all he rest is that We desire a
division of the parish The parties
Immediately concerned are more com
petent to decide what is best for them
selves than others eau possibly he,
The parties living within the limits of
the proposed new Parish, who will have
to meet the expense Of erecting public
buildings, are The very ones who es-
pecial!y desire The division. 4 large
portion of the people residing to the
east of the line of demareation are men
of broad views and enlightened under.
who, while not especially de- !
string Il division, are willing TO ceucede
it as matter of right and jnstlre.
10 view of the foregoing reasons aud
others that will readily snggest them
selves to your honorable body, we {
pray that yon pass an en-
ebling act authorizing AZ election to be I
leld to take the sense of the people G
If the Parish of St. Landry on the ones
ion of dividing The parish and Great t
ng the new Parish Of EvaDgeline from t
he western portion Of ST, Landry the q
inc of division to run as follows o
North joins Avoyelles and Rapides,
yeet Caleasieu, south Acadia and st. r
landry, to the $ w. corner of T. 6 S. a
:. 3 E., then following the division line g
T. 6 8. r. 3 E., then following h
he division line between T. 6S. R. 3 t.
;. and T. s. r. 3 T., up to S. W. cor q q
er of ]. :. X. 3 f.. then eastward on
ownship line between T. = s. Il. 3 +. 4
nd T. ) s. r. 3 E. two miles, then in II
irect line TO the gully beneath the cen ii
r Of Garrigues' bridge, then following
aid gully to its junction with Bayou 3,
aaron, then following said bayou down ia
ast ward to the next township line, B
len following said township line up to re
.voyelles. g,
The territory west Of the line efsda. !.
'arkation, which it is proposed 10 call ~
he parish Of Evangeline, will con-
lin about seven hundred and fifty f75O(
mare miles, leaving about eight hun
red and twelve 1927 square miles q
+ the remainder in tho old Parish. II :
i'll be seen that each Parish, after :
10 proposed division shall have been
viii contain an extent no
territory and population much in Is
:cess OF the constitutional REQUIRE.
ents. Each Of the Parishes will ex
cd in extent of territory md popula-
On many OF the Parishes of the State,
no Court House site to be decided af an.
7 division by ballot Wherefore We III
II always pray III