Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1891-01-31
TAX DEPARTMENT.
a PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATION.

q
Avery effective method OF showing
the evils OF slavery. much in vogue In
an i-slavery days, was the contrasting
Of the workings of the two systems of
labor. free and slave, as they were seen
in TIVE different States, separated only
by . rAyer. rs in the case of Ohio and
Kentucky.
The south side of Long Island pre-
sents q similar opportunity of contrast
Ing the working of the two systems
Of common and private property in
hand.
Tho territory of Long Island was orig
nally granted by patents from the crown
to certain individuals having influence
at court or by purchase, some Of which
grants were confirmed by subsequent
colonial governors, and some were re-
purchased from the Indians. who lived
upon it. Most of these grants extended
from the sound to the ocean, and conse-
quently included the bay that intervenes
between the south shore of the island
and the outer beach, narrow strip
Of sand separating the bay from the
ocean.
With one or two exceptions these
grants have not been held to cover or
convey any right to tho waters of the
bay or to its bottom, il covered by water.
AS consequence, the bay and its nat
ural products have been held and used,
rs they were by the Indians who lived
on its margin when this country was
discovered. Every person. at least ev-
cry person residing in the town which
claims jurisdiction over it, is free to
launch his boat, and take from its
waters it's natural products without any
restrictions except such as are binding
upon all, and enforced by the town for
the good Of all. If any revenue is de-
rived from renting portions Of its bot
tom or for the privilege Of cutting grass
on its islands, that revenue goes into the
treasury of the town, not into any pri-
vate pockets.
Here, then, is an example of natural
opportunities, which by some good for
tune escaped the clutches Of monopoly,
and are now. as they have ever
been, free to all who choose to use
them. The general result of this is,
that nowhere in the United States is
there less suffering, less poverty, and
more independence than in those
towns bordering on the Great South
bay. Here there are no strikes, no lock-
outs, no beggars and no poor, except
from misfortune or vice. In times Of
financial depression and business stag
nation. when want Of employment con-
verts skilled workmen and wealth pro-
ducers into homeless tramps, the towns
of Long Island bordering on the bay do
not feel the hardness of the times" as
it is fclt elsewhere. And why? Be-
cause natural opportunities are never
closed to any one. When a man can do
nothing else or find nothing else to do,
4 hn hov with hoy yeti or ~
wild fowl, shell and otLer fish is open to
him at all times without the permission
OF any one and without the necessity Of
paying some one for the privilege. Hun
dreds of men in all the towns bordering
on the bay do now, as their ancestors
have done for generations follow the
bay" for a livelihood, and from the earn
ings of which many are enabled to own
their homes, but which is becoming
more and more difficult to do, because of
the monopoly of the land near the
shore; which natural opportunities from
their enhanced value (bcing held from
use for speculative purposes) are no
longer accessible to any but the rich.
Grants conferred by some King or
Governor, long since turned to
dust and who had no moro right
to give away the land of Long
island to the then existing generation,
than he had to convey territory in the
moon, much less to deprive the men Of
succeeding generations of natural
right enable few to hold the land from
those who could use it, awaiting the
coming of the wealthy, who, because of
its advantages near the sea, will give
for it sum which the baymen can never
hope to possess.
Now, supposing the same system had |
obtained on the water as on the land, |
how different might not the condition of |
the baymen have been to-day! Instead |
of ownership by the town, there would |
have been many private ownerships or |
landlords. No man could then have
launched his boat upon the bay without |
somebody's permission. On every BUSH |
ell OF shcllfish he brought to shore, and |
on every take of fish he would be re-
quired to pay tax, just as the barons
of the Rhine used to exact toll Of all |
who sailed past their castles, the former |
tax being no more justitable than the |
latter. AS resulS of that system, we
should have seen palatial residences
(modern castles) in every town
erected by the descendants Of
tho original grantees out of the |
rents levied on the industry of the
baymen. who from condition of
independence and comfort would be-
come dependent and poor in proportion
as their landlords became rich. Or it
might happen, as it has happened in
Scotland and Ireland, where whole
counties have been depopulated because
it became more prof table to let the land
for game preserves for the pleasure of
my lord" than for legitimate industry.
Who can doubt that if the bay was in
private hands to-day it would not be
long before it would lapse into the pos
session Of the Goulds and Vanderbilts,
and be used by them exclusively for
pleasure.
The baymen's occupation would then,