The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1899-02-25

STATE, PRESS.
Items of Interest and What the
Newspapers Have to Say.

I'm q i'NA'J
yesterday at bupdoZers ana other
lawless clements who amuse them
selves by soaring and driving negro
labor from plantations. lhese
White Caps and marauders have
caused a great loss in Louisiana and
other Southern States. They have
been operating Very extensively Of
late in Texas, PARTICULARLY in the
eastern portionI OF the State
preventing the negroes from work
ing, and actually driving them out
of the country. And considerable
portion of the Governors recent
message dwelt onf this subject and
gave the rioters warning tnat the
State of Texas would not tolerate
their lawless actsl The LOUISIANA
Supreme Court give a similar warn
ing yesterday to the bulldozers In
this State, and LETT them know that
they would be punished for all acts
of violence and damage done by
them and would be compelled to
pay for VIII atevfr injuries they
might inflict. TIE case before the
Supreme Court came from Last
Feliciana, where IA party of bull
dozers, some OF them from the
neishboring State of Mississippi, IN
vaded the Riverside plantation of
Judge w. F. Herman and committed
such unprovoked violence on the
negroes as to drive many of them
from the plantation, cut down the
crops and. cause the owner OF the
place material loss There was 10
complaint as to the negro labor on
the plantation. no talk of any ill
doing on their par, no politics of
any kind IN the affair. The men
who caused this disturbance did so
without the least pretense of excuse,
merely ssfor the Tfan Of the thing"
The court was verE outspoken as to
the lawlessness ''rhe conduct of
the defendants, it says, t'was, to
characterize it mildly, simply out
rageous and unju5tifiable." And
the court proceeds to ssess heavy
damages against them. 1t was not
satisfied with the damages given in
the lower court, bun added to them
and gave the Plaintiff a verdict
against the defendants in solido. A
few judgments like these, making
the bulldozers payfor their fun in
running off labor AID destroying the
value of plantatimss, will have
yer, discouraging effect on them.
St. Bernard Vore: The severity
of the weather occasioned great suf-
fering to man and least, and wrought
untold damage to trops, but the ice
king was not entirely devoid of
beneficial influences as far as New
Orleans is concerned. He may not
receive the credit for 1.-THE sewer
age, waterworks ano other sanitary
improvements may be praised for
it-but certain it is that to his pre-
sence will be due the absence of vel
low fever, real or imaginary, this
coming summer, WHEN New Orleans
will be the hea1thiest spot on earth.
Baton Rouge Advocate: Thus it
appears, unless our .ogic is at fault,
which we think canrot be the case,
that the establishment of cotton
factories in the Sotth will benefit
the cotton farmers both directly and
indirectly, and that too even al
though he should npt invest dol
lar in the enterprise If 1t Will do
this much for him without any eff
fort being put forti on his part,
what might we not expect if he
would pull off his colt and work for
it, invest money in il and by every
other means in his power help it
along3 After the npst minute and
exhaustive PERSONAL investigation
INTO the matter Mr.. Hargr has
come to the conclnsi,n that the es-
tabliShment of cottn factories in
the South is the only solution of the
cotton problem and he gives facts
and figures in supporter his conclu-
sions He shows hat in North
Carolina the cotton fsrmer has been
benefited by the establishment of
cotton factories and whole com