St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1915-06-26
THE SABINE LAND SCANDAL

yune for the past week has beer
endeavoring to poison the minds o.
the people of Louisiana against
Registrar Fred j. Grace, relative
to his statements concerning the
Sabine Island, which was recently
awarded to Louisiana by the Ma
tional Government. While we in
no way claim to be defenders OF
Mr.. Grace, we do not like to see
our citizens form an opinion on a
certain important question, without
hearing the other side.
The New Orleans Times-pica-
yune boldly asserts that the Sa-
bine Island is worth at least ten
dollars an acre and there are oil
possibilities in the land, while the
timber on the Island is worth
thousands Of dollars.
John Ii. Poe, a prominent land
agent and ex-mayor of the city of
Lake Charles, in a statement Of
recent date, claims that these lands
have from time TO time been care
fully inspected by oil experts and
declared worthless. The majority
of the prominent Calcasieu land
owners, states Mr.. Poe, have had no
occasion to investigate the lands
as a timber proposition and have
S w~lnan4 rfn xyolI1n s ON - hnna -al H7hA
timbeF on the Island consists
chiefly of black and Tupelo gum of
poor quality, small brush and
thickets, with a scatter of young
growth cypress. The cypress of
merchantable value has been cut
many years ago, floated out and
sold to mills at Orange, Texas.
The Island is considered denuded
of cypress.
Oil experts of experience who have
investigated the Island place very
little value on it as an oil propo-
sition. Some drilling has been done
a few miles east of this land and
also southwest with unfavorable re-
suits and the wells have been aban-
doned.
The high value placed on these
lands by the New Orleans newspa-
per is simply amusing when it is
taken into consideration that the
finest cutover lands in Calcasieu
Gan be secured for from SIS to $40
per acre. The citizens Of Galca-
sieu, according to reliable reports,
consider the report and the values
on the Sabine Island lands /;
,y E. i. Gorham, civil engineer and I
he government engineer who sur
eyed all the land embraced in the {
sland to be a correct estimate and {
he best authority. {
The Lake Charles-American +
'ress, the most influential country t
lewspaper in the state, Of the a
blest edited in the South, and an t
rdent admirer Of Governor Hall, o
earlessly states that the Sabine t
sland scandal is one of the great
st jokes Of the present admins p
and that the lands on the n
sland is most positively not worth |;
lore than $3.50. Ii
The Baton Rouge States-Times +;
lie official organ of the state Of h
ouisiana, has this to say on the al
d,
We hold no brief for Registrar
red j. Grace, either in the Sabine W
land sale or the general conduct fe
his office. But it appears to us nj
at some of the New Orleans news hi
lpers r trying to make a mys-
ry, and a crime out of some lie
hat are Legitimate and nat w
al. ST
There is a disposition to hang ST
mething' on Mr.. Grace. dc
While Mr.. Grace's activity in m
3 passage of the 1914 act, which
,ored the Duggan claim niay De m.
lsurable. there are others who wi
,uld be included in the censure of
Mr.. Grace is wrong. an
q 1914 act is the only point we sol
on which Mr.. Grace is subject col
len
lis activity to secure the Sabine if
nd for Louisiana is entirely an,
lmendable, and entirely proper. KIN,
hese islands We're claimed by Der
! Louisiana and Texas. ane
+. Grace made every effort TO pei
ire their approval to the state, yisi
the many letters now being vii
ted that show. his activity IN dat
respect do him credit rather the
discredit. There was nothing spr!
'oper in the moves he made, the