St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1894-09-08
IN REPLY TO "a JEW"

the following communication in
answer to card that appeared in
the Courier of September 1st.
The reason / send it to your
paper is because the Courier wish.
ed me to pay for it as it was a per-
senal communication:
Editor Courier.-The following
communication appeared in your
paper of the Ist instant:
81 have been reliably informed by Mr.. r
Lee Garland and Mr.. W. w. Bailey, thai
Mr.. NJ. T.. swords, In discussing the present
political situation of the Parish of st. Ian
dry, stated in a public baF-room, that they
4h1S factlOnl were now wa giug war against
IfIe negro and intended to prevent that race
from voting by 'tforee of might and that
The next object of their attention would be
ihe Jews lSigned.I ga JEW
/ would not notice this squib,
Were it not for the fact that it was
evidently written and published
for the purpose of placing me and
Che white supremacy advocates
in a false position before the
public. The brain that con-
ceived the idea OF making poll
tieal capital against white SUI
premacy league, out of jocular
bar-room conversation, was not the
"a Jew" who signed the card. The
intention of seizing onto this
trivial incident plsssa ssiila..r .rnshing it into
the papers was to make the public
believe that the white supremacy
advocates intended to prevent the
negroes from voting by force, and
that they intended then, to attack
the Jews. These assertions are
put In my lips to give them plausi-
,bility.
Assuming that in what / did
say, / represented the white SUI
premacy advocates, ga Jew" chal-
lengesathose politicians who are now
bent on the destruction OF all class
es Of men, who oppose their impe-
rial rule" to commence their Gun
lawful crusade" upon the Jews OF
Opelousas. / want to say right
here, that this talk about a war on
the Jews has been started and kept
APP by just such fellows as the one
that instigated the writing of that
card, and | want to say further
that / never assume to speak for
the party that belong to. On the
occasion in question and at all
other times / have spoken for my
self alone, and for my utterances l
am alone responsible.
Now, for what did occur on the
occasion alluded to, because the re-
port which IA Jew" says was given
him by r.. Lee Garland and w. w.
Bailey, is both a garbled and a
false report of what | did say.
In the course of joeular handy
ing of words, which took place be-
tween Mr.. Garland and myself,
and to which there were several
witnesses, besides himself and w.
w. Bailey and quite as credible as
they, Garland inquired of me If we
intended to prevent the negroes
from voting, by what he termed
the "force of might" / answered
shy force Of. and here he in
terjected "that is just whatI wanted
you to MISUNDERSTANDING me
then to finish my sentence, by the
words Of circumstances" My
corrected answer as to how the ne
groes were to be prevented from
voting being-"by force of circum-
stances.D
Garland then said he had under
stood that when we got through
with the negroes we intended to
turn our attention to the Jews. /
answered that we had no such in
tention, but, as | saw what he was
driving ut, / did say for his benefit,
that If Jew, GENTLE, Indian or
MongoIian, undertook in the future
to force upon the white people OF
this parish corruptible, pur-
ehaseable negro vote, they would
be stopped, as he well knew every
thing would have to go down be-
fore the "white man." That is
what i said, and ] repeat it here
in cold type. As for the jews l
have not said anything about them
as race, nor have my political
friends as far as / know. | have
warm friends among them, and
some of them are among the most
jealous supporters of the white
supremacy movement to which |
belong.
Ifany such remarks have been
made, they have been leyelled at
those Jews who have publicly al
iigned themselves against the white
supremacy movement and on the
side of keeping up the negro vote
as power to decide our parish
politics. / should say before finish
ing this reply, which ! regret being
compelled to make, that at the
time of the conversation with Mr..
Garland, / had been engaged in an
effort. to render him personal SER
vice for which he expressed his ap-
probation, and my surprise is all
the greater at his permitting the
use Of his name rs authority for
the publication of SO garbled a re-
port OF private conversation.
will say for his benefit that II his
zeal in the pursuit of his chosen
profession was as great, as his ef-
forts in behalf of those who are
struggling to keep up negro inf1u-
ence in st. Landry parish, he might
attain more eminenca than by
parading himself before the public.
as bar-room reporter for "A jew"
AS for young Bailey, / advise
him that sticking to his law books