St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1916-07-22
RI L. SWORDS

FOR fHRnJV Walls VIC
leader of st. Landry parish, caused ms
countless personal and political TRENDS TO
oo wild with excitement. His bltterest
nolitical enemies were among the flrst 10
swear vengeance for his death and there
is no denying the fact that II Hllalre
Carriere would have been caught on the
day of the killing, there would have oeen
a public hanging on the courthouse
square.
Not only does st. Landry mourn the
sudden and tragic departure OF Marion
Swords, but the entire state feels that q
great political leader, known throughout
Louisiana, has passed to the great be-
yond, while in the act of performing his
duty. While the death of Mr.. Swords IS
cause for grief, it is indeed a great satls-
faction to his family and his friends that
he was killed at the post of duty. The Wis
ion of the killing of this great politician
will ever linger in the memory OF count
less people for generations to come; par
ents will relate to their off-springs the
heroic death Of the Grizzly Sheriff of st.
Landry"
Mr.. Swords, like all great men, had
faults; he was hated most bitterly in a
political sense by hundreds Of people, but
on the other hand he was dearly loved
by many more hundreds. As a citizen Mr..
Swords set an example for charitable
deeds. His charity towards the poor and
needy, at all times, is attributed for his
success in the field of politics, and it was
the fact that he never refused to stretch
out a helping hand to all who anne near
him for assistance that pulled him
through several close political scrapes.
The thousands who followed the life
less body Of the once great leader of st.
Landry to his untimely grave is sufficient
evidence Of the esteem in which he was
held by the people of this and surround
ing parishes. Poor and rich, white and
black, high and low, assembled at the
graveyard to pay their last tribute to
Marion Swords.
The New Orleans Item, although often
opposed to the views of the dead sheriff,
pays the following tribute to Marion
Swords:
The killing Of the sheriff of st. Landry
by a hidden criminal he was seeking will
be deeply regretted in a personal way by
an unusual number, for his acquaintance
was very wide.
Marion Swords was a distinct person
atty in his own way, one of the few out
standing survivors of the passing school
of politics in Louisiana. Some aspects of
his strongly recalled to III the redoubt-
able fiction-figure of David Harum.
Though frequently and vigorously as
sailed by counter ambitions in the rather
Independent body-politic of st. Landry,
Swords was almost always successful in
getting the majority of the parish voters
to see his candidates. the way he prefer
red to have them viewed. More than
once, especially of late, he has been close
" pressed, but he always rubbed out of
the jam the day after elections with a
few more than enough votes to- keep him
in office.
Swords was probably better known to
most of his scattered acquaintance as a
wit and a raconteur than as a politician
and official. Behind his boundless and
boisterous ~geniality, however, he had the
qualities of a strong man.
Naturally he had many enemies as well
as many friends. These seemed to us to
fluctuate from one camp to the other.
Having a profound sense of humor he
knew when to quit quarreling as well as
when to begin, when to keep the silence
that is golden as well as when to make a
loud noise. Therefore, many of his fell
low citizens who were sometimes "agin"
him were also sometimes with him,
and, as a consequence, though sometimes
theoretically obliterated, he always
emerged from a parish fracas with a ma
iority, and a new story to soften the blow
for the opposition.
We were sometimes against him our
but we appreciated his human
side. None deplores more than ourselves
The deed that has carried him off. He
died in doing a dangerous duty really be-
vond his years. His death darkens a
spot in Louisiana's political field that he
genially alight.