St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1915-07-24
FRED. ]. GRACE'S
OPEN ANSWER

Dear SlrS:
In obedience to your request
of June %, 1915, | beg to give
below my answers under oath
to the list Of questions submit
ted by your Honorable Com
mission:
@. /. Have you ever re-
ceived from any source, IN
dicating that theSabine Islands
land soon to come into pos
session of the State Of Louis
lana by patent from the United
tatesGoVernment, are worth
in excess of $1.50 an acre?
A. /. None that I can recall.
@. 2. Did you make diligent
enquiry to ascertain if the ex-
traordinary efforts and large
expenditures Of money made
by Thomas J. Duggan and his
associates in their efforts to
get possession Of the said Sa-
bine Islands, were prompted
by information in their posses
sion tending to show that these
lands have a value in excess Of
the amount which has been
offered to the State therefor?
Al. 2. There is nothing un-
usual in anyone making efforts
and making expenditures Of
money toy get State lands; but
I did not inquire of Judge Dug
gan what his information was
as to the value of those lands,
and as to- what his reasons
were for wanting them. He
gave me no particular inforIna-
ton on those points. search
ed out every available source
of information for myself as to
the value Of those lands. and 4
am absolutely convinced that
1t does not exceed $3.50 per
acre.
@. 3. What action would you.
suggest that the Governor or
Legislature should take re-
specting the disposition Of
these lands if it is shown that
they are worth in excess of
S1.50 an acre2
A. 3. The law itself suggests
the answer to this question. IF
when Mr.. E. j. Duggan made
his application to enter these
lands in 1907 under the adj
ministration of Al. w. Crandell
as Register Of the State Land
Office and Hon. NJ. G. B1aneh-
ard as Governor. he had the
right to make such application
and secured a vested right III
the lands, and that right is
enforceable as will be deter1n-
med by his law suit, then the
lands have already been dis
posed of under the laws as
they existed prior to 1908. IT,
however, the Governor and the
then Register are correct in
their position to the effect that
lands which had not been ap4
proved to the State could not
be entered and no prior right
secured on them by making an
application for entering them,
then the property still belongs
to the State and would be dis
posed of at public auction un-
der the provisions of Act No.
215 of 1908, as amended by
Act Nc. 283 of 1914 (the Act
which the ~inquisitor finds So
obnoxious).
@. A.. Did Thomas r. Duggan.
or others, interested in Duggan
application, at any time, as
sist you in preparing letters or
documents to be submitted to
the authorities at Washington.
respecting these lands?
"A. A. Neither Mr.. Duggan,
nor anyone interested with him
ever assisted me in preparing
letters or documents that were
to be submitted to the author
tiles respecting these lands. I
followed my own dictates in
this matter. but secured all IN
possible from Judge
or others relative to !.
these Islands and did not hes
itate to use it in my corre-
spondence with the authorities
at Washington when I thought J
the exigency of the case re- ]
CURED it, but / do not recall ]
any specific case. j;
And further in connection !
with this question, 7 desire to I
say that for the last IL or Is I
years, or since swamp lands I
began to be valuable in the 5
State of Louisiana, the various I
of the State Land ]
have from time to time /
secured approvals of unap- :
proved land to the State. III
nave been particularly active !
a this during my administra- 9
hon, and what I did towards /
getting the title Of Sabine Is G
.ands confirmed to the State J
u Louisiana was without re- t
gard as to whether it was en- 3