The Opelousas courier., 1894-03-10
CORRESPONDENTS.

EDITORS COURIER:
AS I feel it my duty to reply to the extraoldi,
nary address of L. j. Dossman to the voters ol
the 10Th ward. printed in the Clarion o. the oath
ult., I would respectfully ask that yon allow
space in your valuable columns for my reply.
Mr.. Dossman, in his efforts to make a big
the facts in the case he alludes to-Clinton Reed
VS.. Damon Reed. That case had been fixed fol-
the 1St of February, but the defendant request,
ed q pOStpOnement in order to give his counsel
| time to get ready to vert his eloquence. AS a
| matter of courtesy / continued the case to the
following day. On the day and hour, the able
counsellor L. J. Dossman was on rand with t DO
worked for his salary-did and sald all he could
to embarrasS matters.
Now he comes out in print with an address to
his constituents and makes all sorts of mlsrep-
resentations. He tells them that Diamond Reed
was beaten with a stick by a man whom he re
Trains from naming. Now the fact is, that OF
| all the witnesses in the case only one, a cOlORed
woman, said that the stick had reached Dtk
mond Reed and she was not in a position. |
thought, where she could well see what was
going on betWeen D. Reed and the other man
and the fact that none of the other witnesses,
reliable persons, some of them occupying bet
ter positions to see than her, could testify that
Reed had been struck by his antagonist, and
rendered her testimony unreliable.
Mr.. Dossman says that Reed kicked in self
defense. The fact is. it wac proven that they
had been separated and peace commanded by
the officer when he kicked.
Mr.. BOSNIAN says the constable claimed a
fine of $40 which he, D. Reed, declined to pay
unless forced. The fact is, the constable claims
that Reed had given him his horse as security
for the fine and that he only regained posses
sion of his horse on pledging his word that he
would bring the money on affixed day.
Mr.. Dossman, several days after judgment
had been rendered against D. Reed, came back
from a trip to OpelOusas and told me he had
been consulting lawyers that he haG first con-
suited Mr.. T. Fl. Lewis, but as that gentleman
was Mr.. Dardeau's lawyer he declined his adj
vice and consulted MI. X. Baltic ito whom l
guess he made a statement to suit his own fan
Cyl, and he pulled out a couple yards of legal
cap upon which he (coted) the law and petition
ed that | reconsider the judgment and dismiss
the case.
Mr.. Dossman makes another bad break when
he pretends to quote an interesting opinion
handed down by me. This is a pure fabrica-
tion of his.
under command of Mr.. Yves Vidrine. This is
another fabrication, While 1 am always glad
to have Mr.. Yves. Vldrine's opinion, as 1 con
slider him a gentleman of good, honest judg-
ment, I in no way decide at his bidding.
Mr.. BOSNIAN IN conclusion makes some con-
temptlble remarks characteristic of his nature,
to which I shall not condescend to reply.
EDITORS COURIER: Next month comes our
town election. Let us consider the matter in
time and obviate the different obstacles which
usually follow on such occasions. Our town is
iNSo eSSoAdAh ~ ~ LIN Go AWAY 10
to be so, and nothing will further that end
sooner than good government. In our opinion,
the problem to arrive at more quickly is easily
solved. Any one who has lived here long
enough to observe will agree that the great i'm
pediment to the formation of a good represent
alive ticket comes in the difficulty
1st. The choice of a constable.
I'd. To reconciliate the different political fac
lions.
Now, l propose this: ITO those who will
interest themselves to select a good taxpayers
representative ticket: Select as near
as possible an equal number of each political
faction. That whoever desires the constable
ship have their names submitted and printed
on the ticket, and whichever receives the ma
jority for the position shall be declared the con
stable. In other words, the constable as well
as councilmen shall run on their own merits.
Politics should not by right mingle in town
elections. All who W property and expect to
live here are interested in the welfare of the
town So long as we allow ourselves to divide
our opinions on account of political differences,
and besides let a constable select a Board for
his benefit, we cannot expect rapid progress.