Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-12-22

that this land was sea marsh SIM.
ject to tidal overflow. These two
certificates were made on July =.
1902, and on the same day. N
Vaughn and B. +. Winch made "a;
davits before the Register Of a.
Land Office that this land -.
marsh land subject to overflow. arS
that it had no timber on it ("and tb,,
no timber grows on said land'')
There IS also on file in the l,,x
office, afidavits of Francis 7. Foo,-
and Paulin Manceaux, of date M,rcs
II, 1902, that this land was ,narsk
land subject to overflow, sand tbs,
no timber grows on said land a..
tached to these affidavits Is 60
tificate to Simonet Leblanc. eIerk -
court of the Parish Of Vermil;on !,
which he certifies that he had inter
rogated the witnesses. that they wer.
well-known to him to be cred;,sbls
and competent, and he believed ~.
affidavits to be true.
II will thus be seen that NOT OH,
did the selections and approva1e =.
the State show that this was l,n5
but the affidavits of four reput.bi.
citizens, the certificate or denn,s
United States Surveyor, and the 4.
SCISSOR of the parish in which the lana
was located, showed the same th;cs
The land was in wild country. bsS
nevr been staked out by survevors.
| had never been over it, and knew
It only from information Qather,5
from plats, so how was / to know
whether II was covered with w,te,
at all times or only with water som..
times or posses other informat;o,
which has been the result only ~
subsequent developments.
When made this application 7
believed then, derived from the 4.
formation gathered from plats. from
these affidavits and from the seIe<-
tons and approvals in the Land OF
flee that | was purchasing mar,h
land. You state that there IS nov
pending law suit to decide whether
this land is at the bottom Of lake
or not, and therefore, according g
your own statement, il is a matter
to be settled by the courts as "a
whether your own staten,ent Is tru<
or not.
You also charge that I applied fof
this land on July II, 1909, after he
law raising the price Of these land.
was signed by the Governor. Va.
filed in my office for promul9ation
and that l held back the promules.
ton of the bill until such time as !
filed my applications for the land
That charge is a falsehood. Th<
! application for the land was FLED
by me on July 2, 1907, and the money
was on that date paid by me 10 ia
Register of the Land Office.
This is conspicuously shown in n.
handwriting of James N. Sm'!f.
Register of the Land Office, b. 1
memorandum on the back Of the a.
fidavit published by you which mem
orandum reads as follows
See same applics ton BY him 81
July 2, 1902, and deposit to cover.
This shows beyond any quest;o.
that ! applied for the land not only
before the act was filed in my 81!
flee for PRONUNCIATION, but even Be-
fore the Legislature had passed &
and before I had any knowledge n
its contents.
You also publish = statement 81
the same Smith. who was Reeis>r
Of the Land Office. when / applied
for these lands and he declares TIA,
in his opinion that my purchase Of
the lands at the tinse did wss nt4r-
ally wrong. He was then Rcs;Scr
of the Land Office. sworn to do |tI
duty as such, and at that time, tho6c.
J he knew the facts neither BY Official
deed OF personal word. did he a
express himself If he thinks I.
wrong now as a private citizen. h<
should have thought il wrong Tier
as a public officer.
What his political aifiIiaiios,
were then and what they are today
il well-known to you as well as n<.
and you better thar know throush
whose eyes he looks when he judges
my conduct
This letter is addressed TO you pr
sonaliy because | consider thu 81
tacks upon me to emanate from ypa'
an, Willing 70 cuhr,,sf r.ttr Ii|4rtr<<.