St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-08-19

I ~ 0o1VAO was OIOu6uI IL DedT uQOl
me by the District Attorneys Office
This insinuation of Mr.. Ponder's i:
as gratuitous as it is false. / have
In my hand, and will now read, 8
letter from the Assistant states At.
torney in regard to this matter
This letter is addressed to me, and
reads as follows:
Dear Sir:
The trial Of Mr.. Munday has
been set for September 9th, and
| will be held at Morris, Illinois.
1t is probable that we will want
your evidence some time between
the 9Th and the 10th of October.
"'If we will notify you by tele-
graph day or two ahead of time,
can you arrange to come here?
We will not keep you here more
than one day.
"'Yours very truly,
CSigned) "'W. H. HOLLY,
asst. States Attorney
The reading of this letter will
convince anyone that l went to Illi-
nois freely and voluntarily.
AFTER Mr.. Munday had been in
dicted, the States Attorney, as just
shown, asked me to come to Illinois
and testify in behalf of the State.
| went to Illinois, took the stand, and
testified in matters in which l was
examined, and because my testimony
did not agree with the theory of the
State, after had left Illinois and re-
turned to Louisiana, a thousand
miles away, an Assistant States
Attorney scored my testimony in his
argument before the jury. This was
the head and front of my offending.
| testified to the facts as l knew
them. My testimony did not suit
the State, evidently, and in order
to destroy the effect of my evidence
before the jury, the Assistant States
Attorney proceeded to Jump on me.
II testified to the facts. ! testi-
fled that this alluvial land in Lou
isiana, was, when drained, the most
fertile in the world. The States
Attorney evidently thought that LOU
isiana lands were worthless; did
not and do not think so. The States
Attorney evidently thought that this
body of land in st. Bernard was
worthless; /, to the contrary, knew
that this land was and is extremely
valuable. The drainage of this land
offers not a single engineering prob
lem, and similar land around New
Orleans that has been drained is rich
and fertile. and has been sold 1T
very high prices. 1t was thought
that the money Mr.. Munday said ne
had spent upon the land had not
been spent upon the land. l knew
from Mr.. Kruse and from the Board
Of Drainage Commissioners, that
this money had been spent upon the
land. Some of the alluvial lands Of
Louisiana have been levied and
drained, and some of our greatest
plantations are situated on this
kind of land, and some of our most
prosperous farmers have their homes
and are making their living on land
that but some few years ago was
under water-under water simply
for the want of drainage. l had and
l have great faith in the agricultural
possibilities of this State. l know
that our wealth lies in our soil, and
l have ever done whatever l could,
both as a private citizen and as a
public official, for the advancement
of this State, for the settlement OF
our waste places, for the drainage
of our lands and for the building OF
good roads. MY testimony in re-
gard to these matters, l stand by,
and l would be glad if Mr.. Ponder
would publish every word OF 1t and
let the people of the State see ex-
actly what / did testify to, so that
they might not only see the falsity
of the charges brought against me,
but that they might also read what
l had to say in regard to the posi-
bil:ties of Louisiana.
II was member, and the attorney
for the IllinoislLouisiana Land Com
pany, that owned about forty-flve
thousand acres of land in the parish
Of st. Bernard. Mr.. Munday. the
Vice President of the LaSalle Street
Bank, was the financial hacker OF
this company. When the bank fail
ed Mr.. Munday failed, and when Mr..
Munday failed the Land Company
failed.
"As Mr.. Ponder, in his Baton
Rouge speech, among others, referr-
ed to Mr.. Chappius as gentleman
of the very highest character. and as
Mr.. Ponder has introduced him as
witness against me, and has vouch-
ed for his character and standing,
will read you letter from Mr.. Chap
plus:
"tNew Orleans, Louisiana,
July Is, 1916.
"'Hon ]. Y. Sanders,
Baton Rouge, La.
"'My Dear Governor:
"I have read in the Times
Picayune of this morning an at
tack. made upon you by Mr.. Amos
L. Ponder of Amite City, in regard
to your connection with the IlM-
nois-Louisiana Land Company.
'.I deem 1t a matter of COM
mon Justice that l state what l
know of your connection with this
matter so that you may use same
as you see fit.
Having been tremendously
impressed by the wondrous posi-
fbilities of the alluvial lands sur
rounding the city of New Orleans,
and knowing that it needed moth
ing but drainage to make 1t the
most attractive farming section in
the world, during 1911 / organic
ed two companies that acquired
some forty-odd thousand acres OF
land in the parish of St. Bernard.
About that time your term as
Novornor ovnirpd I made Won