New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-11-23
GIVING OURSELVES BAD NAMES.

One set Of papers in the South declares
that the Southern people are the victims
of the EXTREMIST despotism; that they are
taxed beyond endurance; that their sub
stance is consumed by fraud and vio-
lence. There is not a word of truth in a
single one Of their statements, and the
papers know they are uttering wholesale
falsehoods when they print these reports.
Yet they continue to scatter untruth
about as thoughtless boys wickedly OBJ
struct the sidewalk with unseen threads,
over which people fall, and are from
thence taken up crippled. Our urban
taxes are very moderate, and since mil
lions Of dollars of these have not been
collected, it may be said that a large por-
ton Of the people, and probably those
that complain the most, are nothing at
all. No man is molested except for some
violation Of the penal law, and why should
this be considered anything but the
lightest and freest form of society?
And since the taxes are legal, where is
the sense in asserting hat fraud is eating
up the substance of the people? The
truth Of the matter is, if there were no
taxes there would be a loud clamor from
the dissatisfied Office hunters about the
possibility of such burdens. We should
be troubled as much about a one mill tax
as We are about one that threatens to
count up seventeen mills. So that it is
hardly possible to avoid political agita-
ton by striking out the taxes. As to the
despotism that prevails, that is of a mega
tive character, consisting merely in the
restraint which the law imposes in GER
tain characters to prevent them from
abusing a class which they have had the
right to abuse for years. If ignorant and
brutal white people could knock negroes
down and maltreat them as they used to
do, we should not hear them cry about
and if the selfshness of men
allowed to abuse the labor of the Door
as it was allowed to do years ago, the
clamor about oppression would cease at
once. In fact, if the worst sort of oppres-
injustice and despotism existed in
The South, then there would be the mild
protests against despotism from our
that could be written.
We injure ourselves immeasurably by
his constant assertion of our subsection
% evils that are purely imaginary.
Nothing can be worse for us than to be
9erpetually annoying the world with our
complaints, for it puts us upon a par with
he common scold, who is abhorred in
very society. What do we need most?
Thrifty immigrants. How are we to entice
his class of people if We voluntarily dis
'arage our own fortune and condition be-
ore them as being worse than that of anv
ther community? The South is labor 4,
ng under evils Of her own creation. She
) too proud, in the first place, which !
.oes not comport with her poverty. Too
lany OF her young men are idle, and too {
lany of her young women are shiftless. :
nd these very classes, who produce j.,
othing and consume everything, are the =
arties who feel that they are tyrannized $
yer, because they are not allowed to t
beat a niger" at pleasure, and t
} absorb his wages in the support =
t their idleness. By saying this 9
e do not prejudice the South, !
ecause strangers need not assimilate = :
to our weakness in this respect. -
o supplant these classes, or to teach Il
lem something, we need thrifty immi- d
rants who will build and cultivate. Are Y
e proving our right to this class of peo- "
le by telling them all sorts of stories "
'out the injuries that are heaped upon d
y Can we expect visitors when we ad- 6.
Sc them daily that We are bankrupt, and >,
one-fourth of u property is con- IL
'med yearly in,taxation? Certainly not, .,
hen is it not the duty of the intelligent .