The register., April 05, 1860, Morning, Image 1

About The register. (Monroe, La.) 185?-1861

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THE REGISTER.
fCBUSHED EVERT THURSDAY MORNING,
... BY C. TELLES.
Every description of JOB PRINT
ING executed with Dispatch and Neatnas—
Chkap —lor CASH.
Term* of Snbicriptioa.
J®- Invariably in Advance. -®t
Times Dollars per annum, or Fits Dollars
lor two years.
Two copies, (one year,) f 5 00
Four " " " 10 00
Ten " « " 20 00
Single copies 10 cents.
THE HOUMAS LAND CLAIM.
A LETTER FROM JNO. CLAIBORNE. E sq.,
TO THE HON. C. T. BKMISS, ACCOMPA
NIED BY A LETTKR FROM TIIF. HON.
JOHN SLIDELL TO MR. CLAIBORNE.
N ew O iu.kaxs , April 12, 1859.
Dtar Sir : In accordance with your request,
made several weeks ago, tbat I would furnish
you with authentic information as to the nature
and history of the Iloumas Land Claim, and its
present condition, I have examined into the
official archives at the Land Office in this city,
as also into other official documents, and shall
proceed as briefly as miy be compatib e with
• full and fair view of the subject, to state the
result of my labors.
The French and Spanish laws, for the govern
ment of the Colony of Louisiana, as those Pow
ers successively held it, permitted to the Indian
tribes the occupation of the lands upon which
their villages and fields were situated, but the
Crown reserved to itself the title to the soil.—
Previous to the year 1774, the Iloumas aiid Ba
yagoulas, together occupied a considerable
tract fronting on the Mississippi, in what is now
the parish o! Ascension. About that date three
gentlemen, Messrs. Maurice Conway, Latil and
M Namara, with the consent of the Colonial
authorities, bought of the Indians their rights
to a tract occupied by them, about twenty-two
leagues above this city, on the left bank of the
river, with the customary dcptk of forty ar
pents, by a river front of ninety-six arpents. —
Subsequently, Maurice Conway purchased the
rights of his associates, and became thus the
sole proprietor of the land. In the month of
September, 1776, Conway presented to the Gov
ernor of the Colony his petition, in which he
alleged his ownership of the tract above descri
bed. and stated that, owing to tho absence of
timber on it, the Cypress Swamp being then, as
he said, more than 'a league and a half from the
river bank, he stood in need of the vacant lands
in the rear of his property, all of which, em
braced within the limits of the side lines of his
property, protracted in the same directions, he
prayed might, be granted him. The Governor
ordered Louis Andry. the Second Adjutant of
the post at New Orleans, and who. it appears,
was frequently employed in matting surveys in
the Colony, to proceed to the*land of Conway,
and to ascertain and lix the boundaries of the
vacant lands in the rear, as prayed for by him,
in such manner that no injury might be done
any other persons, and tfcen to put Conway into
possession of them, making a return of his do
ings to the Governor, iu order tbat a title in
Tonn, in Conway's favor, might be made out.
This work was performed by Andry in the
month of October following, in presence of Don
Louis Judice, the Commandant of the Post of
Lafourche, (now Donaldsonville,) Maurice Con
way, the proprietors of the adjacent lands on
the upper and lower limits, and the Chief ot
the Iloumas and Bayagoulas, for whom Judice
acted as interpreter. Andry first proceeded to
an examination of the boundaries of the front
tracts, and certified that he found the stakes
and landmarks the same as he had himself pla
ced there in 1773, and that he afterwards ran
the upper and lower lines oil the same compass
direction for the length of two arpents in the
rear of the stakes or posts at the rear extremi
ties of the said lin*, at which distance lie pla
ced other posts, describing their height and the
wood of which they were made, so that the di
rection of the prolongation of the side lines
might be clearly seen, and then put Conway
into possession of the vacaut lands included by
the lines to be so protracted.
On the 21st June, 1777. Governor Galvez. in
"pursuance of what had been done in the premi
ses under the orders of his predecessor. Unzaga.
made out in favor of Maurice Conway, a formal
title or concession, by which he vested in him
the property of the vacant lands in the rear of
his front tract, within the limits and bounda
ries so determined by Andry.
You will thus see that by the laws of the
Province, Maurice Conway became the full and
complete owner of all the vacant lands covered
by 6a«d grant, twenty-three years before Lou
isiana was retroceded to France, and twenty-six
years before the latter Power ceded it to the
United States, under a treaty, by the third
clau-e of which the inhabitants were solemnly
guaranteed in their rights of property; the
United States becoming entitled only to vacant
lands, forts, &c., &c.
As the back limit of the vacant lands so
granted to Maurice Conway, in 1777, was not
absolutely fixed by Andry, or Galvez, iu the
act of Concession, we must have recourse to
the contempottineous acts of the private parlies
in interest, or of Gove^iuient officers, to show
how far the lands so conveyed to Conway did
extend. Fortunately for the cause of troth and
justice, such testimony is by no means wanting;
for ou the 5th March, 1778. Conway sold, by
act before Don Andre Abnormster y Roxas, the
King's notary, to Oliver Pollock, thirty arpents
in front of the property so acquired, with a
depth extending to the lake. (A glance at the
map of the State will show that the only lake
iu the rear was Maurepas.) On the 5th day of
February, 1795, William Conway, who held by
conveyance from his uncle Maurice, mortgaged
in favor of Alex. Baudiu, a portion of the same
lands having a front of thirty arpents by a
depth to^the Lake, by a notarial act; and on
the 7th (fay of April, 1798, he also mortgaged
iu favor of John Joyce another portion with a
front of thirty arpents, and a depth to the Lake;
and on the lit h of August, 1798, at a public
succession sale made under the orders of Don
Juan .VeuTura Morales, the Intendant of the
Province, of a portion of the same Maurice
Conway lands, which' had been purchased of
him by Col. St. Maxent, the property was de
scribed as having a front of twenty-nine ar
pents, by tf depth of about four leagues; and
in the adjudication to Louis Faure, who bought
it, was described as having that front, by the
depth which could bo found, opening al>out
thirty-six degrees. Another glance at the map
will show that the line of four leagues thus spo
ken of, extended towards the Amite river. It
is well to remember that Morales, as Intendant,
was also Royal Treasurer of the Province, and
was. a few mouths after that date, charged
with the disposition of the Royal domain, which
power was taken away from the Governor
General on his recommandation, and he would
scarcely have permiy^d the sale, as private
property, of lands which were vacant, and
therefore a part of the Royal domain. Indeed,
if there luj| been any want of power iu Galvez
i ..I... _ . . fully cured
to make the grant in 1777, .. „
by the ordinance issued by Morales iu his new
character, on the 17th of July, 1799, which ra
tified all title« ot the inhabitants held under
formal titles from former Governors.
The first step taken by Congress to carry out
the obligations of the treaty of cession was the
passage of an act in 1805 for ascertaining and
adjusting titles and «laims to laud in the Terri
tory of Orleans and District of Louisiana.
(Brightley 's Digest. 532.) by winch a Board of
Commissioners, to be composed of the Register
for the District, and two other persons, to be
appointed by the President« were to hear and
decide on claims founded not only on French
or tipauish grants made aud completed before
October lfct, 1800—the date of the Treaty of
San Ildefouso—but also on other specified class
es of claims. The parties claiming under such
complete grants might deposit with the Regis
ter. the grant, order, survey, or other evidence
on which they relied, and the Board, or a ma
jority of them, were to decide summarily, and
according to -justice aud equity,'' on all claims
fil- d. The Board, as at first constituted for the
Territory of Orleans, was composed of John W.
Gurley. the Register. Joshua Lewis, who long
presided in the First Judicial District Court r*f
VOL. X.
MONROE, LA., THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 5, IStiO.
NO. li)
TilK HKIilSTKIt.
SAMUEL BARD,
OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE PARISH OF OUACHITA.
JilUTOK.
this city, a man revered for his probity and
learning, aud Benedict Van Prndeiles. who, it
I am not in error, was an accomplished and ex
perieneçd Notarial Public, familiar with the
French and Spanish languages, and the laws,
usages aud customs of the colony previous to
the cession to the United States. They began
the discharge of their duties in December. 1805.
On the 20th February, 1806, William Conway
filed, with the Register, hid «lai ui to a portion
of the lands so bought or granted to Maurice
Conway in 1774 and 1777, and the records of
his titles is preceded by a figurative plan ot
the tract claimed, drawn by Barthélémy Lafon,
a deputy U. S. Surveyor, showing a front on
the Mississippi, and side lines extending back
below to Lake Maurcpas, and above to the
Amite river. About the same time Daniel
Clark and John W. Scott and William Donal
son, who also claimed under the Maurice Con
way purchase and grant, presented their claims
to other portions of the laud, with fronts on
the Missississippi, and side lines opening to tin
rear fiud extending to the Iberville or Amite
rivers. All these claims, with the testimony
aud titles sustaining them, arc of record in the
Land Office in this city, as is also the book con
taining the minutes of the proceedings of the
Commissioners, an examination of which show
ed that on Monday, the 3d day of March, 1806.
the Board—all its members being present—con
sidered the claim No. 125, being that of Wil
liam Conway, and its fiudiug is thus recorded :
"No. 125. William Conway claims another
tract oflatid situated in the couuty of Acadia,
at the place called the Iloumas, on the left
bank of the Mississippi, containing twenty-two
and a half arpents in front, with an opening
toward the rear of sixty degrees forty-five min
utes, the upper line running north nine degrees
fifteen miuules east, three huudred aud fifty-one
arpents, and the lower îinè directed north, sev
enty degrees east, and measuring four hundred
and fifty-live arpents, bounded on the upper
side by Daniel Clark's land, and on the lower
by land of Simon Laveau. It appearing to the
Board, from a pateut or complete title exhibit
ed, that seventeen .arpents of front were, to
gether wfth a greater quantity, granted by the
Spanish Government to Maurice Conway, 21st
June,.1777, and it appealing that the live aud
ft half arpents of the front remaining of the
laud aforesaid were purchased by Pierre Bart
at the public sale of the estate cf the late Joa
chim Mire alias Belony, on the 7th day of De
cember, 1788. aud it further appearing trfr the
Hoard from the several instruments of convey
ance offered in testimony, that the two tracts
of land aforesaid have been conveyed to the
present claimant, the Board do hereby confirm
his claim aforesaid."
The claim cf Daniel Clark, No. 127, was con
sidered tne same day and confirmed—the side
lines running back to Amite river ; and the
survey ottered in evidence having been made
n 18U5 by Lafon, ufider the orders of Governor
Claiborne, then exercising all the powers for
merly held by the Governors-General of the
Colony. And on Monday, 10th ( f March. 1806,
the claim of Scott and Donalson, No. 133, un
der a survey made iu 1804. by order of the
same authority, was also considered and con
firmed by the Board, all the members being again
present. Illbach case the decision was unani
mous, which fact it becomes the more proper
to state, because it has frequently been asserted,
and on one occasion, at least, has been ad
ted in a pleading, that the confirmation
made by only a majority of the Board, and that
Thomas Boiling Robertson was then a member
and dissented. The truth is, that ho was not a
member of the Board at all until the 26th day
of May. 1808, one of the members, J. W. Gur
ley. having died on the 3d of March preceding.
Consequently, these cases went adjudged things
so far as the Board of Commissioners were con
cerned, between the United States and claim
ants, moi e than two years before Mr. Robertson
ever sat in the Board ; and when, according to
the terms of the act of Congress under which it
had been named, the report of its decisions in
the cases before it should have been before
Congress for its action. But the Board seems
to have gone on in the investigation of claims
brought before it, not only of the character spe
cified in the act of 1805. but also to those in
eluded within the provisions of another act of
18U7, and no report was made for several years
afterwards, nor was Congress made acquainted
with its decisions until the report made by Mr.
Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, on the
9th of Jauuary, 1812 ; nor was any action by
Congress on the report or any of the cases em
braced in it, had until two years afterwards,
when, on the 12th ot April, 1814, an act was
passed for the final adjustment of land titles in
the State of Louisiana and Territory of Mis
souri. And oii the 18th of April, 1814, another
concerning certificates of confirmation of claims
to lands iu the State ol Louisiana was also pass
ed. Time rolled on, and meanwhile the lands
included within the Iloumas Grant became
yearly of greater value to their owners, though
no final adjustment of the matter was made by
the officers of the General Land Office, or the
Secretary of the Treasury at Washington City.
But by the provisions of the act of March 3d,
1811, all lauds in this State which were the
subject of private claims, were reserved from
sale or entry ; a provision of law which to this
day remains unrepealed, and under which there
has been a vasi and almost iucr- dible amount
of discussion, as the records of that Bureau will
show.
All settlers, therefore, upon any portion of
the lands included withiu the alleged limits of
the Iloumas claim, confirmed as above stated,
in lbt)6, have been from the beginning, aud
still are trespassers, either asagaiust the United
States— il the Spanish grant should be lieht to
ha&e been jayalid, or not to have covered tin
area coufiriiQd by the Board—or asagaiust the
representatives of the original purchasers and
;raulce. if the concession was complete and
alid, and the boundaries are really as claim d
by those parties. These settlers, aud the spe
u la tors by whom they are said in many install
es to be backed, are thus without legal right,
and as the existence of the claims and of their
confirmation by the Commissioners have been
notoriouimhruughout the whole region, they
would seem to be without equity, as their pos
ion, if they had any at all. was with fulT
notice of the prior claims on tue land.
ey of the tract, as described in the pa
tent of Galvez, June 21, 1777, was made by
lawful surveyors iu 1810 and 1811, which was
Approved September 15,1841, by the U. S. Sur
veyor General. The partition interest holding
ufflter mesne conveyances from Conway, obtain
ed from the lion. George M. Bibb, Secretary ol
the Treasury, iu the year 1844. a recognition of
their long delayed rights, and on the 12th day
of August of that year, that distinguished and
able lawyer wrote a letter of instructions to the
Commissioner of the General Laud Office, in
which he decided that the cases had been cov
ered by f^ provisions of the above named act
of 18th of April. 1814; that the parties in
whose fayor the Commissioners had confirmed
the claims 13|#, I'll aud 133, iucluded in Mr.
Gallatin's report of Jauuary 9, 1812. or their
representatives, were entitled topateuts for the
lands so confirmed ; aud that the sums which
a
.
succeeded in obtaining the passage by Congress
!of - , -*•— -
had been paid l»v parties who had been permit
ted to make entries <
uded in the claims, contrary to the prohibi
' ou portions of the lands in
tions of the aot of 1811, should have their _
uey refunded. The records of the Land Office
will prove that this was done in many instan
ces.
But the opponents to the claim were not dis
posed to let the matter stop thus, for, by their
efforts and representations at Washington, they
""needed in obtaining the passage by Congress
a joint resolution on the Mtb of June, usifl,
by which tho attorney-General of the United
States was directed 'o inquire info the validity
of the title, and whether any patent had been
improperly or unlawfully issutd in the case of
the Houmas grant, and to report thereon ; and
in case a patent had been so issued, the Presi
dent was requested to cause legal proceedings
to be taken to have its validity judicially deter
mined. Under this joint resolution, ÎÙr. Clif
ford, the Attorney-General, made a report in
1847, in which, after examining the case as he
understood it, he came to the conclusion that
the grant by Galvez on the 21st of June, 1777.
in favor of Maurice Conway, only coveied for
ty-two arpents of land in depth from the river,
including his front tract of forty arpents in
depth. Now, when it is remembered that Con
way. when he asked for the rear vacant lands
in 1776, alleged that he was already the owner
of the forty arpents in front, tint he needed
timber for his plantation, and that the timber
was no nearer than a league and a half, or at
least three miles, from the river, and consider
ing, also, that abont twenty-seven arpetr s front
are about equal to a mile, this conclusion of
the^ttorney-General was most unaccountable
and inexplicable. Of what possible benefit
could it have been to Maurice Conway to have
a strip of two arpents tacked on to the rear line
of hia plantation, which practically put him no
nearer to the timber which he so much needed ?
Is it to bu reasonably supposed that when he
asked for all the vacant land* in his rear, follow
ing the directions of his side lines, and had had
those lines prolonged in the manner certified
by Captain Andry, that the Governor intended
to grant, and he was willing to receive after all
his pains, only two additional arpcnt9 in depth
to those he already owned, and upon which,
according to his petition, there coilld have
been no timber? But be this as it may. the
President in 1849 directed suits to be brought
to annul tho patens issued in favor of Clark's
representatives and others, by his predecessor
in 1844, and in tho bill of complaint filed "by
the District Attorney, for the first time was the
iutiuiation of fraud or mal-practices thrown out
against the claimants under tlio Spanish grant.
for it never had been done by Congress, nor, so
far as the records show, by any Government
official previous to that date. An immense
. mass of official documentary and of her evidence
^fos brought forward by the defendants to sup
"porf Invalidity of their titles, and they em
phatically and snccossfull.f*flpellod the chnrge
made by the bill, of fraud uhd false informa
tion, in obtaining the patent. It is said again,
that Judge Campbell of the Supreme Court,
held that the claim was fraudulent. A copy
of his decree in the case is now before me, and.
so far from sustaining such a charge, it very
decidedly negatives it; for after stating that
the claim No. 127, the one in favor of Daniel
Clark, and which was before the Court, had
been confirmed by the Board of Commissioners.
aud that the act of 1811 had provided that no
land should be offered for sale a claim to which
had been iu due time filed before the Register
for investigation, until the decision of Congress
was made thereon, ho says of the act of 1811 :
'• This act. is one founded on tho plainest prin
ciples of justice, and has been uniformly main
tained, in the fullness of its spirit, by the Su
preme Court of the United States. Nothing
would be more inequitable than an attempt on
the part of the United States to involve the
claimants, whom they had brought before their
own tribunals, with the expectation that their
rights would be ascertained iu a summary way.
but in a spirit of equity aud liberality in litiga
tions with other claimants deriving their titles ex post
facto from the United Slatts ; no such conduct has
been countenanced by Congress, though this
case shows very wanton violations of the act. of
subordinate officers of the Land Office
1811, by subordinate officers of the Land Office
department," and again, "The land embraced
in thiS"claim was thus protected from sale until
the pleasure of Congress upon the report of th
Hoard ofCommissioners should be made known.'-'
He then proceeded to declare, that he did not,
believe that the provisions of the act of April
18, 1814, were applicable to the case ; for,said
he. "The act does not apply to any of the
claims upon which the final action of Congre;
was required to impart to them validity, or to
relieve them from the burden of a claim on tin
part of the United States. ThelUvornblo judg
ment of the Commissioners iu regard to the
Houmas claim is not adopted by this act, nor
does the act empower tin» President to renounce
the claim of the United,States to it. The pa
tent, consequently, was issued without th<
thority of law." And he concludes, " I do not
decide any questiou v upon tho validity of the
defendants' title to the land they claim,
upon the effect of any acts of the officer.* of the
Land Office in respect to determining its boun
daries, nor the effect of the patent, in any other
respect than that of its being a paper issued
without legal authority."
Our distinguished Senator. Mr. Benjamin, has
been attacked, and his course in Congress with
regard to the confirmation by the act of June
2. 1858, of this and other claims reported upon
ibly by the Board of Commissioners in
181.1, has been denounced in most violent terms
by parties interested in the defeat of the Hou
nas claim. He has been uccuscd of " smug
gling" the bill through Congress, and of lend
ng himself to the promotion of the interests of
his colleague, to the injury of worthy and inno
cent settlers. &e. Happily for him, if he neeo
any defence iu the eyes of the great mass of a
constitu 'Miey which he has so well aud so ably
served—the journals of Congress remain as a
record of all that is done there. They show
that in the Senate, the bill which finally be
came the law so much complained of, was re
to the Committee on Private Land
Claims, and that on the 6th of February, Ib57,
a unanimous report was made in its favor, with
ndmcnts, giviug the reasons why the con
firmations which had been so long delayed
should no longer be postponed. This was at
fhe Second Session of th*PThirty-fourth Con
gress. At tho First Session of the Thirty-fifth
Congress, the same Committee again reported
favorably of the measure, on the 12th of March,
1858. the reports in each case being printed
and furnished to evevy member of each House
for information. After passing fhe Senate, the
bill went down to the House, on the 19th of
April, 1858; was referred to its Committee on
Private Land Claims, whose Choiriiiau was the
Hon. J. M. Sandidge. of this St£e. on the 12th
of May ; was reported back on the 29th May ;
ami passed June 1st, 1858. Now, how much
more time and opportunity for the examination
of this claim could have reasonably been asked
by Representatives watchful of the rights or
interests of their constituents? Besides, the
bill «arefully reserves the lights of all adver e
claimants, aud permits their being tested.in any
court or courts of justice, thus securingto the
very men who have fcren most conspicuous in
this work of denunciation of Mr. Benjamin, the
benefit of their own Siate tribunals, and e
juries of the vicinage to fry their causes aud
maintain their rights, if any they have.
^Vere out*,to credit ike clamor and out-cry
wliioii have been raised by the adverse claim
ants and the journals aud newspaper cöi res
pondents in their interest, he would concilie
that the Houmas Claim was the only one con
firmed by the second section of the Act of 1858.
But such, in truth, is far from being the ♦se,
for the reporlfcof Mr. Gallatin embraced hun
dreds of claim«—many of which still remain^"
unacted ou by Congress—and the etfeet of CM
act will l>e to remove a cloud from the land.t
ties of a large number of our citizens, which
has hung for near sixty years, through the dila
toriness of Congress, over their homes a-id
plantations, which have grown so much in value
during this lapse of time as now to be worth
millions of dollars ; at the same time it will re
move, in uo inconsiderable degree, one of the
greatest obstacle« to our prosperity »rising
Mr. Slidell, too, comes in for his share of de
nunciation, and has been held up before the
community on the charge of prostituting his
high office for his private benefit. Committee
men, anonymous newspaper correspondents,
aud conductors of journals, nofoiiously and
bitterly hostile tolmVi. assert that lie owns more
than tweniy-two thousand acres of the Iloumas
claim, which they value at a mill on of dollars.
1 addressed a note to this gentleman, asking
such documentary or other evidence with re
gard to the claim, as he might have in his pos
session. It appears that, in IS."!», nine gentle
n, of whom Mr. Slidell was one. became the
purchasers of an interest of nin ty thousand
four huudred and thirty superficial 'arpents in
cluded in the Houmas claim, at the price of two
dollars and fifty cents the arpent, tor whicli a
cash pay meut was made iu part, and notes giv
en for the remaining payments at from one to
six years' date. Tho purchasers afterwards
complained of combination and misrepresenta
tion on tho part of their seller, and one of their
own number as to the quality of tho lands, and
also of defect of title, liar of eviction, disturb
mice, etc. The plaintiff, however, recovered,
in a subsequent action in injunction, brought
by Mr. Slidell against Rightor, the vendor, and
his wife, (3 Annual Reports, 199) the Supreme
Court of this State, by Judge Rost, said that
Mr. Slidell ball examined the titles and found
them satisfactory». Indeed, on no occasion, or
iu any manner, has Mr. Slidell over said that
the title to the Houmas grant was not a good
and valid one ; his objection having been to
that of Rightor. A* to the immense value of
the land owned by Mr. Slidell. the assessors of
Ascension parish tor years past have valued it
at the moderate sum of jïfhai thousand dollars ;
and fixed its area at ten "thousand superficial
arpents. If any one wishes to make a specula
tion by buyiug Mr. Slidell's interest, 1 learn
Jliat he will cheerfully seR it for forty thousand
dollars, on a long credit, which sum does not
approach the amount it cost him in principal,
interest and taxes.
lu justice to that gentleman, I enclose you a
copy of the letter which lie wrote in answer to
my note addressed to him, because you will see
from it what has been his entire course iu Con
grcss-with regard to the*claim. and how little
he is amenable to censure, iu the matter, from
fair and impartial men.
I have thus laid before you what, I trust,
will.be found a candid and fair history and re
view of the Iloumas Claim-^indicating tho
mean? of Information on the subject, which are
open to all who desire to investigate it. and
lorm their own opinions.
In conclusion. I trust, also, that y
ceive how little our two distinguished Semi
are worthy of the wholesale detraction and
abuse which have been showered upon them
from hostile quarters. They arc men. to both
of whortM-he State of Louisiana owes much for
great aud signal services, aud to all ri0vt
tninded citizens their characters and reputa
tions should be cherished objects.
Your frigid and servant.
J ohn C i.ai-bohne.
Hou. C. T. Bemiss, Jefferson Parish,
LETTER FROM THE HON. JOHN" SLIDELL
TO JOHN CLAIBORNE.
My Dear Sir: I have your note of the 7th
inst., asking me to communicate any facts or
documents iu relation t. » the Hominis claims,
and the legislation of Congress on those claims
and others of n similar character. I send vou
I P-T
herewith
! pa pert
ni'i-m,
and think that they will furnish tie
information. It is my intention, at the meeting
of Congress, to call up an«, refer the petition of
certain inhabitants of the parish of Ascension,
which was presented towards the close of the
last session, with the view of having a report
thereon, giving a full history of the claim and
a review of all the faets connected with it
My coHeaguo, Mr. Benjamin« n« Chairman
the Senate Commit-too of Private Laud Clai
to whom the petition was rob rred, report
two or three days before the adjournment of
Congress, a joint resolution directing the Secre
tary of Interiorto suspend the issuing of pa
tents for the lands embraced in the 2d section
of the Act of the 2d of June, 1858, until the
close of th next session ol^ongn
sou of this action of the Committee was. that
there was not sufficient time for the invcßtlsn
tiou of tho case before the adjournment. The
joint resolut iowas passed by a dispensation
of the rules (wmch the objection of a single
Seuator would have i^vf n'tod ) through nlllts
ner. You have seen enough of the modi
doing business in Conuress to know that
either my colleague or 1 had wished to offer the
lightest indirect obstacle to the passage of tlic
resolution, it could not possibly have gone
through its several readings in both Houses tie
fore the adjournment ; the patent,« for the Hou
mas lands would have been issued by this time
—when issued, they will add nothing to the
.-alidify of a title which is already complete,—
The petition of the inhabitants «'.f Asceiisi«»n,
and the resolutions said to have been adopted
at a public meeting at New River, wore con
cocted by persons having uo pecuniary interest
in the matter, and gotten up for purposes pure
ly political. They contain assertions which
their authors knew to be false. My individual
share of the land is ten thousand arpents, or
eight thousand acres ; it is represented to be
twenty-two thousand'acres, worth one million
of dollars. You will find among the papers
nt you my tax bill for the last your, by which
you will see that my interest of ten thousand
lipeiits is estimated by the sworn Assessors of
the parish at fifteen thousand dollars. I believe
that it has never been assessed, during the
twenty-three years that I have been paying
taxes on It, at a higher rate.
Judge Campbell is said to have set aside fhe
patents in two of the Iloumas cases, on the
ground that the claim was fraudulent. You
have a copy of the opinion ; by it you will per
ceive that fie expressly declined that the title
was not in question before him ; that he scru
pulously abstained from any allusion to lis
merits, but decreed the patents to be cance]lT>d,
on the ground that the Secretary of the Trea
sury had signed them without authority of law.
No patent was efer issued for the William Con
way tract, in which I am interested, and con
sequently no suit was brought in ielation to it.
The number of families settled on the different
tracts is said to be five hundred. This is a gross
eÄpgeraiion ; but whatever may be the num
ber, they have, each ami all of them, made their
settleui'-nt* with the full knowledge that they
were trespassers u-.d invaders of rights as
red anQ complete as those of any proprietor
r;
Iu lri3'i. that tract of the Houmas grant
which 1 and others then purchased, was an un
broken wilderness, known imperfectly to the
surveyors mid to a very few adventurous
hunters, who with great difficulty could make
their way fr-fli the Mississippi to*the Amite.—
If you will take the trouble to look into the
list of pre-emption claims iu the Register's
office, you wHl not, I think, find one on the land
puichased from Rightor; all the settlements
have been imftle since. I p iid tor my share
$25.111 9S, average cash form 17th May. 183!);
thatbhare. with proportion of faxes and oth-i
expenses and interest not compounded, stands
me in over $7U.()U0. I w ill gladly -take for it
$10,UU0, aud give a long credit at a moderute
rate of iutorest. You are hereby authorized
to sell it for mo on those t'-rm a .
In this matter I entertain no ill-feeling to
werd the simplc-min-le 1 s : gncr& c -f tho wmo
rial, with whom I and my co-proprietors are
prepared to deal most liberally. They are the
' t™'* <'f unscrupulous knaves, combined
ffect by any agencies, however base, the
gratification of their personal malice, and the
mproveinent of their broken political fortunes.
My collcaiiue introduced fhe amendment con
firming the Louisiana claim«, and carried the
bill through without consulting me, directly or
"irectly. 1 think that I can assert without
ilifft-ation. that we ivver exchanged a word
the subject until lie infoimed me that It had
been returned from the Hons-» of Represcnta
. I never spoke of It, in any stase of its
progress, to any member ot either House of
Congress, nor. indeed, to any one in Washing
ton. By referring to the papers I have given
yon will see that it has been considered
during two sessions, and accompanied by print
ed reports. You know that these printed bills
and reports nre placed in possession of every
member of hot-It Houses; and if Mr. Miles Tay»
lor knew, as he pretends, nothing of it. it be
rays gross inattention to his duties : if he did.
lis attempt now to screen himself from respon
ibilify to his constituents on New R ver, bv
nsiniuifions of trick and concealment, can on
ly be qualified by terms which it would be in
bad taste to express, but which arc not the less
ose'rved.
\ on are perfectly at liberty to make such use
of this letter as you may^Jeem proper.
Very respectfully, your olxdienf servant,
J ohn S upem..
John Claiborne. Esq.
New Orleans, April 11, 1859.
A Dnrkey Ooiivcntioii in Camilla.
A convention of all the darkies iu Essex and
Kent countieH. in her Majesty's dominions, was
called to meet at Sandwich yesterday, to take
•n on the Detroit Free Press and New York
Herald. A grand pow-wow was expected, but
the thing failed. The authorities at Sandwich
scd to let them have the town-hall, and th
Sheriff declined an invitation to open the court,
house for the same purpose. A considerable
number of them accordingly repaired to a di
lapidated old building half a mile out of town,
1 organized for business. The first, thing the
etiug did was to make a sally on an unof
fending Canadian gentleman, who was present
spectator, and ohaso him out of doors, un
the impression that he was a Free lfess re
porter, an em if unit degree *>f dissatisfaction
uiing to prevail in regard to our report of
their last convention. This summary treatment
of one who was innocent of any hostile inten
tions was the more unkind, as they drovo the
wrong one out.
Having accomplished )his feat, they returned
and made an attempt to proceed to business,
but their proceedings were iutenupled by a
fight "between two colored clergymen, who felt
into a dispute on some knotty theological topic,
aud came to sturdy blows. Tho combatants
were the Rev. Mr. Jones, pastor of tho Zion
Society at Windsor, aud tho Rev. Mr. lloler, of
Philadelphia, a distinguished colored divine,
who had Gome all the way from the Quaker
City to attend the Con vent ion. Th® Rev. Jones
" sailed iu " unexpectedly, and delivered a
scientific 44 one, two " on Rev. Holer's nose,
bringing tho claret. The liov. Holer retaliated
oy getting in a stunner on the Rev. Jones'
breadbasket, which the Convention now deeply
interested, pronounced foul. Loud cries of
" bull him, Jones, butt him," emanated from
the audience, ueting upon which, the Rev. Mr.
Jones doubled up and planted the top of his
skull in fhe Rev. Mi. Boler's abdomen villi
fearful effect. The downfall of Philadelphia
caused shouts of triumph from the spectators,
which \^is cut short by au artful dodge on flu
part of^ the Rev. Boler, who shut himself u]
like ajack-knifo, and opened with such veloci.
ty that the collision tripped up the Rev. Jones
and brought hiin down, where, with his head
'• in chancery," he took a healthy pummelling
They were finally pulled apart by some of
I
tho sisters and turned out, after which the
^^ - «
heads
isted liy office
warfare until both thui
damaged. They were
Port, and locked up for ■um. .. ,
Tho light between tho reverend gont)em<.'
excited so much debate that tho Conveutio
was forgotten, und the discussion turned upon
the merits of the combatants. Tho general
opinion was iu favor of tho Rev. Joues, as a
home champion ; flic sentiment being entirely
averse to allowing Philadelphia darkies to
come out here and take oil airs over thu abori.
gincs. A majority of the sisters sided with
" do gommati from Filmadelfy," on account of
hi.s wearing a white hat, and heilig withal
rather a good looking darkey ; but they were
indignantly frowned down. Some of the know
ing ones went so far as to intimate that the
good clothes he wore were a part of the pro
ceeds of some $700 which he had collected for
the abolition cause and appropriated to his own
benefit. This may have been the cause of the
fight, which actually occurred as described,
and which promises to cre^e no Hi tie distur
bance in the church before the matter is. set
tled.
Perilous A<1 venture of Miirinme
Lullranso.
The Courrier des Dal» Unis luis received a
ch, the husband of the
king startling incident is re
i
'
j
j The Brandon (Miss.) paper says the plant-m
j in Rinkia county are busily engaged in plant
ingebrn."
celebrated Ivrio •
in which the folio
lilted : ■
•• We profited by the delay of the Tocn
at St. Catharine (between Rio Janeiro
Montevideo) to breakfast on shore. The
t lior was very fUie at the time of our nrriv
Wr strolled about the beach until info
that the steamer was about to leave, win
hastened to the linb- row boat wehad« ngi
k" quicker progress, raised a sidl ;
on gust of
was carried au ay, our. oars broken, aud our
little bark fill- d with water. A few minutes
more my family and the others with us would
have perished, when by unexpected good for
tune the wind blew us towards the steamer
Princc/.a (Jo Join ville, then returning from
Montevideo, and we were taken on boaid, half
drowned and quite exhausted. We were sub
sequently convey d to tho Tooantiiis, where
we were all taken down with the fever, which
did not leave us till we arrived at Montevideo."
but u r
Chief Justice Taney was eighty-three years
17th inst.. having been born iu Cal
t couuty, Maryland. March 17 1777.
Ten THomiutrt Dollars ltewnrd.
The above reward is offered by the N. York
l*reemau'sJournal lot-he N. Y. Commercial
Advertiser, if it will prove I hat "Bellurmlm
laid it down as a fuiidemental maxim of the
Papacy, that absolute monarchy is incomparably the
btst of (ioiYnmnit.'' The Commercial Adverti
ser, true to ils Republican tenets and prejudi
ces had attacked the Catholic portion of our
com mil nil y and asserted flint the pn copts ot
their religion tanght the above sentiments,—
The Freeman 's Journal, which Is one of the
organs of that denomination in New York,
and therefore speaks -by authority.'' indig
nantly denies it, aud offers this reward as the
ptvof.
Without reference to this controversy, we as.
sert, savs the New York News of the Rth In«.,
that the Catholic citizens of our country have
ever beim as true and as fast friends of liberty
and of our form of Government as any other
portion. They have been as brave ou our bat
tle fields, and have as freely shed their blood
there defending our liberties as any other.-
They have been as wise in our councils and as
honest in our executive departments as any
other. We believe that should a foreign pow
er invado our shores to-morrow to overthrow
our Government and erect iu its place a mon
archy, and even though it was proclaimed that
the monarch who was to îeign o\r us was the
Sovereign Pontiff himself, that eviry Catholic
arm iu our land would be nerved to repel the
invader, and every Catholic bosom bared to
the baffle spark for the same In ly purpose.
We have no fear—Democrats never bad- -of
the loyally, honesty or love of country of our
Catholic fellow-citizens. Th(|Miavc not us yet
proved false; why should we fear them in the
future? We know, mid they know, that ours Is
a Government for free white men. and not to
teach or enforce religious tenets or creeds.-
We democrats hold that religion is a question
solely between man and his God, and that no
one has a right to interfere therewith. Our
Government is founded on this principle, and
Catholics, as well as Protestants, united in
laying its foundations in their blood. Never
until the name of Carroll, of Carrollton. is
erased from tho Declaration of our ludcpou
nee, can we believe that Catholics do not
e liberty, the Republican or any other party
the contrary notw'thstanding, -Exchange.
Public Opinion iu Frmwe.
When we read about the unanimity of publU'
sentiment in Prance —about tho enthusiasm o
(he people .in their uittttohuiont to their Km
peror—-about the warm encomiums of tho Pres
we are too apt to take It utyas it seems, aud in
The Express would say, " run with thu.ma
chine. " Not. accustomed to any of tho ruling
traits of despotism, aud not mindful of tlicl
necessary onVprin^'iuaiiufactured sentiments,'
and " gagging of the Press " we aro prone to
think such things do not prevail. When un;
man in Paris, or any other section of France
speaks out his thoughts on any political ques
Mon, or even on any high political person, wlia
is his doom? Au overwhelming fine or a sen
tence of Imprisonment or of torturing exile. ~
With such prospeels how few are llicy who will
he found ready to b 11 their honest thoughts?
Freedom of speech does not exist iu France. -
Freedom of the Press has not even an existence'
in name* You are free to nppbuul, ami praise,
and thank, and incense, aud pray for the powers
that be ; but if y«:u give expression to /one
view, either iu a speech or in a pamphlet, or in
a newspaper, which is pointedly dissenting from
the ftxpftsscd views of the Governumnt, }«»ur
speech, pamphlet or newspaper is at once held
as the vehicle of crime and you are punished
petrator. In a state of things like
this, win
ihn
u will Wholly harn
imperial authority
iiit or the
utter other thoughts
y,e with the dictates of
'ho can discover the
depth or tho truth of popular
opinion? Tho applause, tho p»aise, tho com
monts, spoken or written, until shaped to
order. Little or nothing Is IrusSi to any kind
of spontaneous action. The bayonet, tho gtig
and tho prison manufacture* tho whole ruling
sentiment, which is not originated iu real love
or admiration. We can never, therefore, while
public opinion is thus munulaejiircd, know, of
a verity, wljat the French people think on any
given public question. But we can know whyrc.
and history shows us most plainly how, the
French mind, which may keep still for years,
at last explodes and tears to* atoms bolts and
bars and oppressive laws, and pays small heed
to those who frame or administer them.
ft is manifest that Franco, as well ns nil
Klimpe, is now In a very critical pa«s of Its
history. Tho opinions we hear of if- emanating
from certain portions of the people are no true
test of tho popular sentiment, for we know they
are at least but manufactured by office holders,
aud we know, too, that the other side Is Im
peratively silenced. How long that other sid<
will endure its silence without bursting fhe in
junction*, or what particular spark will fall oi
the chapter of political accidents fo ignite th.
whole wot k, Is more than any one eau decided
ly «ay ; bill we Incline to believe that "the em
Is drawing nigh," and the "Papal question" i
the destined spark. ThoHiort of public opinio!
which, when aroipojj, has been most effective it.
past episodes of -FrStioh history was ulwavs
quietest before the storm It presaged. I n
fortunate Louis lost his head when he thoifght
the whole people worshiped him. The predeces
sor of tho present Km peror lost his throne
when he was most sure that the whole people
were devoted to their "Citizen King." Public
opinion as evinced in France is no proof of
what the people mean.— /./.
As A voki. with B oo
ouut
xpla
s\- -There
n's inventio
lation ofvdngs. Two little prat 11
wero looking out of a window nt a weafh
vane on the top of the steeple of n Univers
ist church. This weathervano which was j
up there to tell which way the wind blew, u
ii. the shape of a man with boots on. Tli
wondered what it could Is». "It is nil angel!''
saysone. "No," said the other, "it can't bo
angel, because angels have wing*, aud th
don't wear boots." "Ohl" said tho first, "J
tell you what it is, it's a CJnivertniist un^d
with boot? on, going to heaven ou foot."
ADVERTISING BATES.
For one square of ten Hues, or les», fôi f!r§t
insertion oo
For each additional insertion, per square 50
jz-ù' Liberal discount made to quarterly
sciui-anuual and yearly advertisers.
Steamboat Notices, for the season. .115
Atinouneing candidates for office (to be
paid in advance) ...$10
Professional and Business Cards, (not to
exceed six lines.) published twelvemonths. .$10
Cards of a pkusonai . character can only
be published in this paper as advertisements, at
double rates, aud paid for in advance.
Advertisements not marked on flic copy
will be inserted until forbid and charged aw*
•dingly
Joiiriinlifttic Mistakes.
We are often laughed at by our over exact
neighbors of England, who think themselvre
impeccable in tho matter of correct informa
tion, and we arc often very justly lunght d at,
too. When, for instance on the strength of
some indistinctly worded telegraph one of our
cotemporarlcs lately described the "Royal
mews at Picdally" as the species or cat "culti
vated" in the aforesaid "Piçdally;" when an
other spoke of the "eloquent Chancellor of the
Kxcheqner, who sits among their lordships on
the wool sack;" when another told its eager
readers that, as "/<vr of the realm, Lord John
Russell, Is the superior of Lord Lyons who Is
only a-mlnistcr to this comftry Julien nnotlnr
assures its readers that "Ötteen 1, VfctorT& v flve«
in Westminister Palace and goes regularly to
church at the Abbey, which Is a part df tho
Palace; 0 when some editors write of these sort
of things, in their ludicrous variety, the cock
ney laughs and pronounces our "hlgneranco
hawfully 'eathenlsh." But we have not ofteu
—except they were aided by the telegraph
noticed our own journals falling into blunder«
as ivfrcslilngly cool as this which we copy from
The London Star of the 241 h uU., and which
does us tho hotter to notice tho storm wo
had a few days ago. A heavy gale has ragnd
in Now York. Both bridges to Jersey wrro
demolished,4pd (lie city ferry was unroofed."
Both fhe "Jersey bridges demolishid" and
tho "city ferry unroofed!" That was truly a
wondrrous gale which had blow n across thu
Atlantic such a result, Where did these bridgea
span the river, and where wis tho city ferry!—
But there I n a moral in nil this. It is ever
safest to fake hurriedly arranged fbrelgn news
(end it applies here ns well as In Englund)wllh.
very large allowances for the gale.
Tho London Morning Uernld says in Its edi
torial columns that '«|£crnundo Wood, Mayor
of Now York, hnu been unanimously chosen
Chairman of the Charleston delegation.'' No
doubt tlie editor thought only of the New York
delegation. One of our neighboring journals
flu« other day said that Lord Palmerston tai
mode Lord >tayur of London. Po sttoh mis
takes, or mero inaccuracies, as I n the tnse with
the announcement in The London Hcl'ald, aro
by no means inexcusable. Besides, an no ono
in H*' bogus New York delegation was ever
heard of inl.omloit, and as Fernando Wood liai
now a Kuroprnn as well ns national fame, the
inaccuracy was natural. It ^oes, howevir, to
further illustrate Wie inoral we have poluted
'out.—• iV. P. EiChantft.
Influence of It nil roads.
In tho report of Juo. T. Miller, of tho survey
of tho Central (Ala.) Railroad, is the following
account of the influence of flic Georgia State
road on the country, through which it passes:
" I ii 1837 I was engaged on the Georgia
Slate road, lust then commenced. 1 there be
came ucqualnt«d with the people along flint
road—their habits aud means. Beyond their
actual wants for food. they raised nothing at
all. Tho men 4froj>cd around and shot at u
milk. The women seemed to do but little,
whilst tin !r children, poorly cured foi', saun
d about from place to place, as if their
highest thoughts w;ero bent on catching rabits
or some Mich small game. What
to work, when It would cost them
per bushel to get their wheat to market,
1 then only get ounfe lu 1857, 1 went back
uuuiii, and what a change! Thu livers wero
he same- -the Kcnncsaw Mountain had not
hanged - tho "Crook" d Spoon" sfill rolled a
long the men and women that oticc 1 knew
there—-tho boys had grown to mon,
tfcnd the girls to women; but their mien wuift
changed. The men stood orceins with con
clous prid«" they looked upon flit' waving fields
of grain. Tho matrons busied theniMdvof a
bout their dairies aud their rooms; whilst tho
sturdy boys were grappling with the plough.
What had brought this change about? Listen
for a while and soon you will hear the iron
horse come storming along. Ho stops at a slu
wutw u man gels offlho
He
nt of the Montgomery Mills.
and he goes to the lionne, lie meets tho
■farmer—they have met before. His busluere
is to buy grain. Htiange, but true, (hat thu
demand for wheat should bo so great in
to Induce the merchant to buy nt fhe farmer's
door! He offers SI 50 per bushel, enflh, for
his crop and furnish tho sacks to put it in.—
•That won't do.' Savannah was hero yester
day, ami Columbus fhe day before, and they
offered more. Here is a key to this change.—
This solves the mistery. Tho great Slate Road
-the Iron horse—the dollar aud a half per
bushel cash tells the tale. This is literally
true, as any one enn ascertain by enquiring of
the men that know."
lü'i^ Vom- Temper.
Tlin
foibcu
) who have tho truth, justice ami the
their side can nfibrd to be patient mid
nig. There never was a more erlticul
period in the history of tho country, never an
arena w here there was more at stake than on
fhe floor of the House of Representatives.—
Tho conduct of the scctiounlists ami their aid
ers and abettors is calculated to arouse the in
dignation of Nnlionul men both North and
.South -on one side they are taunted as timor
ous lime-servers and dough-faces, on the other
as criminals. The evident design is to provoke
a wrong which may, in sotno pa it, obliterate
the horrible crime of flic Kansas horse thief
ami his wretched companions iu treas.ou and
The conservative members of Congress m mt
Ik ; firm, und not give their antagonists an op
portunity to get up nil extraneous issue. If
they are taxed as criminals because they own
slaves, with tho same propriety-might Wash
ington and Jefferson be so denoniioob d, wl.il«
every Northern man who set his band to tho
Constitution, according tojlhc modern stand
ard, was a doughface'. Ii i», indeed, liai d to
bear insult ami lir-fen to false »tutcincuts from
those who have subscribed to the abominations
of Helper's book of treason, but those who do
command themselves will be cousoled by the
gratitude of fhe country iu that coming time
when, as we hope, thesu delusions wiil have
passed away before the bright day when North
and South will be again united iu the fruterual
bonds of mutual good feeling, based on 1 bet fee
knowledge of each other's social relation«
reciprocal <lepcnd «m>.