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- -- 'YINUFA -VOL. 5a. Once a Week.e e OPELOUSAS, ST. LANDRY PARISH, LOUISIANA, MARCH 28, 1908. NO. 38. ON. T. rdu Lin c The Tim ved fro a Opelous ..' it in . .tains lay Wise St. pp` r tr are of ack delivered a very " uire the Court - day night to a : notwithstanding $' weather. Instead icri ticism of this im we give a very i~f its most sa f that such of o ay have failed t meeting may be en ed e ts of this ble is well an 1. -n _ make tihe ovel, 'V did it. a4 voice pen it S b ma to Zna ke popular Sfitedicine, of how to g and well, and to get the out oflife, if not as enter, as a novel, at least as m ye as the. best. history. The in .the past has been that have always looked upon as one of the occult IjDoctors, their methods, vrything concerning then, y in, recent years without , were kept. in the realm wevrd, the mysterious, al the supernatural, and hence :vealw ys bea.ea sily mis ted and- constantly mis T,. -his ihdae ought t tie ba me for it to , I in lva.. i , have you just as it is. In ults will be frankly 'fwhieh you have known med by charities and n.eo~great and so uni withsite yiour wonder 'will appear as, I pro to show something of for thistask, it may be that zme part of thi e aeey andt the o arks. Going o ntil I have ep aaef ev y al s of them, dlega tesm from counter tioverna Cogrthese mat-s. r twig.e lmost every day cias and laye in some t of this e . study the arkse doing unti 'I have ly all of them, hem from county over these mat iians and lay hert way, I e a study of ; are- doing, of them a way which e to -any e of esoe time ewntrydi bel ·o OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CITY OF OPELOUSAS. Twice a Week, Two Dollars a Year. with legislatures and courts I was constantly confronted, even with otherwise broad, fair-minded men, by an almost universal bias, dis trust or prejudice as to doctbrs and whatever they proposed. It was soon found that this was traceable to almost universal dissensions be ween local physicians of every shliool and creed nal and competitive, and always that that particular official had had his confidence in'the pro fession destroyed by criticism of all the others in the community by is family physician. As a result, it eas found that while each doctor stood high in the estimation of a few people, his patrons, the profes sion as a whole had a low place in public esteem. A study of miedical i tory showed that this evil had con. down to us from the centu ries, cursing us as it had the clergy and all of the other segregated callings, but bringing more disas ter to the people than upon those primarily involved in it. The legal was the only one of the great pro fessions which had escaped this curse, owing mainly to the fact that lawyers live in the aggregate, and consequently in harmony, and for this reason they had always been able to direct the policy of this country. A few years ago my profession was aroused to the- enormity of is evil, and to its baneful effects upon it and the people, and we banded ourselves together to ex terminate it, and probably never before in the history of the world did a reform so sweep a profession; and now, regardless of schools or pathies, o rs is rapidly becoming one'of the most harmonious of the\ vocations. This evil has existed so long, however, that it had created a public sentiment. a fixed habit of thought with the people, which did not- disappear irith the re moval of.its cause, and, today, al most as much as a generation ago, there iis the w.tespread feeling that we are not a practical, united body of men, and consequently cannot .be safely intrusted with the administration of p hblc af fairs, and I liave faced this with the highest legislative, executive and judicial officers at my own state capital and at Washington year after year, even in men of the broadest culture aA expe rience, and of the greatest liberal ity in all other matters. All the heroism of the profession in all of its history, and in recent years in the final abolition of cholera and yellow fever, and even the fact that the three noble men who gave their lives to accomplish the latter, who freed a large section of the country from the annual dread of this pestilence, and made possible the building of the Panama canal, died unrewarded and now lie in unmarked graves, has made little perceptible change in this senti ment., You will first be shown how this bhas affected us as a nation. Not Ito speak of the avoidable suffering Ing and sorrow, the drain upon the material resources of the people of this country every year from pre .entble sickness and deaths, and from vicious living, is almost be yond the conception of the finite mind. In actual dollars and cents, it is estimated to amount to more than the taxes paid for all pur poses. During last year, 1,500,000 persons. died, and 4,200;000 were sick, .rvolving the comfort and material prosperity of 5,000,000 homes and 25,000,000 people. Medical men not pnly belicve that at least one-third of this was dis tinctly and practically prevent able with existing knowledge, but that this might be extended to other diseases and the proportion constantly increased by such broad scientific research and col lective investigation as the Fed eral government should be con ducting every day in every year, and for which doctors have ap pealed in vain for a quarter of a century. As an argument for peace you are told that 210,00%;men died as a result of battle in both armies during the civil war. As an argu ient for better health laws :and poieies we tell you' that 750,000 -jeOpie died of tuberculosis in the ed States during thepast four years, and thats at least three quarters of a miionlare constantly ck ofit. Should not an effort be ma:' to prevent this disease as (Oosntinkued oar page5) I rimary Election Law Held Unconstitutional Last Tuesday, Judge King of the rv.,. cturt at New Orleans rendered a decision declaring the primary election laws of Louis iana to be unconstitutional, null and void. This decision grew out of a suit of Thos. W. Labauve of Iberville parish against Secretary of State John T. Michel. Mr. Labauve de clared himself a candidate for State Senator from the Sixteenth Senatorial district, but the Secre tary of State declined to acceptl and file the papers in the candi dacy on the ground that it was not in conformity with the primary election laws. Mr., Labauve then contended that these laws were unconstitutional, and in this A MALIGNANT SLANDER RE PEATED The Bookman, a literary mag azine published by Dodd, Mead & Co., of New Yory, making a note of a movement undertaken in the South to erect a monument to Captain Henry Wirz, the Con federate Commander of the prison at Andersonville, S. C., who was put to death by the Federal author ities for alleged cruelties to Feder al prisoners. under his command, charges that when one-third c fifty thousand prisoners under his control died of starvation and brutal treatment he gloated over their misery, and declared: "I am. killing more Yankees here than Lee is killing at the front," and denounces any ndertaking to erect a monumen to such a man. There are two sides t9 the pris oner business in the Tivil War. The official returns show the fol lowing: Number o. Federals in Confederate prisons . .270,000 Number of Confederates in Federal prisons ....... 220,000 Excess of Federal pris oners ........ 50,000 Confederates died in Feder al prisons............ 26,436 Federals died in Confed erate prisons......... 22,570 Excess of Confederate deaths............... 3,866 Thus the death rate of Confed erates in Federal prisons was over 12 per cent, while that of Federal prisons was under 9 per cent. An act. of the Confederate Congress provided that all prisoners of war should have the same rations.as to quantity and quality as were is sued to the Confederate soldiers: in the field, While prison hospitals were put on the same footing with Confederate Army hospitals. The most shameful slanders were perpetrated upon the Con federate conduct tovards prisop ers of war as a part of the prop aganda of wholesale putting -to death of surrendered Confeder, ates and confiscation of property and the only bulwark that pre vented it was found in the un daunted courage and unshaken resistance of President Andrew Johnson. It is now out of order to reopen those infamous passages in' the history of the Reconstruction out rages attempted and largely con summated upon the South at the close of the Civil War, but the de liberate atocities perpetrated on the Southern men in Northern prisons will class with any such barbarities in the world. In the South in the latter part of the war the soldiers lived on half rations and were not always able to get them. Federal `prisoners could; expect no better fare than that served to the soldiers in the field. Captain Wirz was a brave and hon est soldier, and he did his duty to the.-prisoners to the -best of his ability.un4der the eircumstances. Picayune. See advertisement of the "great ccashed- e," by L. Wright, in an. other urlmunm. . . contention he was upheld by the court. Judge King in his decision de clared that the primary election law was violative of Article 48 of the Constitution of 1898. He further held that it was class legislation and a further violation of the Constitution which pro vided for party nominations by party conventions. He further holds that it is class legislation in that it imposes upon the whole people of the State a piece of party machinery which the people of the State, who have no interest in it, have to help sup port. The opinion covers eighteen type-written pages. An appeal will be taken to the Supreme Court. LOUISIANA Governor Blanchard has given out the following copy of a letter sent to the New York World: "Replying to your request for an answer to the question pro pounded by you: 'What has your State done during the past twenty-five years to make Amer ica the greatest of nations?' I would say that Louisiana has, through the pluck, energy and enterprise of her people, resusci tated herself in that period of time from the wreck and ruin of war and reconstruction and placed herself abreast in industrial and commercial development, in wealth and prosperity, with the average commonwealth of the American Union. "Louisiana produces one mil lion bales of cotton annually, and, besides this she produced 95 per cent of all the cane sugar raised in the United States; and more rice than any other State in the Union. One county in Louisiana raises more "rice than all of South Carolina. "Louisiana leads all of the States of the Union in the acreage value of her crops raised. This is a census fact. "Louisiana has the greatest area of long-leaf pine of any state in *the Union and has more cv press timber than any other State. "She is now the second lumber producing State in the Union, ranking next to the Slate of Washington. "Louisiana is the coming seat of the oyster industry of the.Unit ed States. Her tidal bottoms, the home of the oyster, embrace 4,500,000 acres-agreater area of oyster waters than have Mary land and Virginia combined. "Louisiana has within her bor ders the greatest sulphur mine the world has ever seen. It is taken out of the earth 98 per cent pure. "She has fuel oil and natural gas fields unsurpassed in the United States, Some of her oil wells have a record of 3,000,000 barrels of oil each. "Louisiana has the greatest deposit of pure rock salt in the western hemisphere. It comes up 99 per cent pure. "Much more might be said of the resources of the State, but I don't wish to tax your credulity. We were the second State in rail way construction in 1907. We have more navigable rivers than any other State, and a greater length of navigable waterways than any. It is by exploiting and developing her reso'urces in a way that is rapidly .pushing her to the front, that Louisiarna is doing more than her share in making America the greatest of nations." J. VINCENT ANDERSON DEAD The sad news received last Wed nesday morning of the sudden death of J. Vincent Anderson, son of our' old friend, A. B. Anderson, of. Washington, La., which occur fed in El Paso, Texas, from pneu monia. The young man, who was only twenty-three years of age, had been employed in the main of fice of the Wells-Fargo Express Co. for the last two years. The body will be brought to Washing ton by his brother, A. B. Ander son, Jr., where it is expected to ar rive tocdy, Sturday, where the interment will take place. Among his schoolmates and boy hood friends, the following have been selected as pall bearers: J. M. Prescott, George Cook, Sam Going Jas. Going, Winm. Nicholson and Frank Valtz. To the broken-hearted father mother, brothers and sisters, who sit in sorrow where his footsteps shall never again find echo, the Courier extends its sincerest sym pathy. When they have drained the cup, may the peace that pass eth all understanding come to them from One who cares for each little sparrow that falls. FRISCO'S BID FOR BUSINESS Houston, Texas, March 14. One of the trains to be discontin ued by the Southern Pacific under the recent announcement is that known as the Oriole, leaving here at 9:15 a. m. and going through to Lafayette, La. The Frisco line east from here, the only competi itor of the Southern Pacific in that direction, has announced that its morning train will leave at 8:45 a. m., the change being to gather up the traffic that does not care to leave here on the early train at 6::30 o'clock, and which is being abandoned by the discontinuance of the Oriole. It is the first big move of the Frisco line for busi ness. The chances are that as soon as this Frisco line gets its road in such shape that it can maintain a first-class service it will entertain the Southern Pacific in the competition of business east of Houston. ALEXXNDRIA To ' Have ,largest Meeting of Knigihts of Columbus Ever Held in State. Alexandria Council No. 1134 Knights of Columbus will exem plify the degree work of their or der on Sunday, April 5th, 1908. The services of the Celebrated Chicago Degree Team has been secured for the occasion, and they will arrive in Alexandria in a spec ial sleeper on Saturday night, Ap ril 4th. Other Councils through out the States of Louisiana, Mis sissippi, Arkansas and Texas will send delegations to this meeting, and it is expected to be the largest meeting of Knights of Columbus ever held in the State outside of New Orleans. The local Council officers are making arrangements to entertain the large crowd that is expected.-Town Talk. BETTER GAME LAWS A number of 6ur exchanges are demanding better game laws in this state. Our game laws could doubtless be improved; but the kind of laws needed ought to be enacted and permitted to remain unchanged long enough for the people to become familiar with their provisions. The game laws of the state have been amended and revised by nearly every ses sion of the Legislature for twenty or more years past, and only the lawyers can keep up with the changes. Make the game laws right and then let them alone for a time.-Guardian-Journal. TO THE PUBLIC * The Board of Directors of the Parish Fair Association will meet at the Courthouse on Monday, "March 30th, at 3 p. m. At this meeting the Committee on Site will receive offers for a fair site. Site must not be less than thirtv five acres; mu t be level and easy to drain, and within one mile or one mile and a half of the city of Opelousas. R. M. LITTELL, Secretary. Mrs. H. D. Larcade will have a grand display of Easter Hats and. Easter Novelties on the opining day, Thursday, April 2, 1908. LABOR ASKS FOR LIABILITY W MR. HARRISON CALLS FOR INFORMATION CHINA-JAPAN WAR SCARE SETTLEI On Motion of Mr. Tillman Wall Street Methods are to be Investigated. Labor's bill of rievances, amounting to a demand for cer tain legislative enactments in the interests of labor at this session of Congress, and prepared by S. auel Gompers, president of the American Federation of La bor, in collaboration with the heads of other organizations af filiated with the federation, was subn.tted this week to the Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The only tan gible result of the conferences was the declaration of Mr. Cahnon that the House would undoubted ly pass a bill re-enacting the em ployers' liability act so as to meet the constitutional objections found in the old law by the United States Supreme Court. As to the other Congressional enact ments sought by labor, Speaker Cannon assured his callers that they would have consideration by the proper committees of the House. The House of Representatives passed a resolution this week, introduced by Representative Harrison of New York, calling on the President for information re garding his authority of law for exercising the functions of gov ernment on the Canal Zone. .Mr. Harrison charged the President with exceeding his authority and Icharged the Republicans in the House with negligence in their conduct of the government. Senator Bacon of Georgia is doing a work which must appeal to every unprejudiced mind is his endeavors to secure an in crease in the pay of employes of the executive departments. The pay of Senators and Representa tives was increased fifty per cent at the last session to meet the ac knowledged increase in the cost of living in Washington, but until Sdnator Bacon took up the cud gels in their behalf, no one con sidered the poor government clerks who are obliged to keep up with the procession as best they may on the salary allotment of years ago. The Tatsu Maru incident be tween China and Japan has passed into history. Minister Wu on Thursday received a dispatch from Pekin stating that the vessel had been delivered to the Japan ese, and that the Japanese flag had been saluted; also that an agreement had been reached be tween the two countries to draw up a convention that would pre vent the smuggling of arms in the future. It was stated at the State Department on Thursday that China has lately been endeavor ing to prohibit the importation of arms and ammunition for the use of bandits and revolutionists. The zeal of the Chinese customs of ficers to prevent such importation was the cause of the seizure of the Tatsu far u. It is the belief of the House Conmmittee on Appropriations that no oblig~atio, equitable, le eal, or morai, rests upon Congress to make appropr ations for the re ie, of the survivors of the Slocum d.a ter, in New York harbor, or t.o- he ra& of those who lost their i . h- - the burning and ground ;, , Lfh steamnar General Slocum. ti;iued on page 4.)