New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-10-01
MENDIEG TROUBLE INSTEAD OF CRYING
AR0TTT Tt


ABOUT 1T.
In simply deploring the probable loss
Of cotton that is likely to occur by reason
Of the want Of industry on the part Of the
whole people and the loss of time that
politics will provoke on the part of the
colored folk, the Picayune has not i'm
proved the temper Of the times at all It
| is sad part to play in life, this mere sor-
rowing over misfortune. The crones who
tell us of our misspent hours and wasted
opportunities, who fill US with grief or
dismay at what we have lost or what we
are to suffer, are sort of miserable com
torters, who escape punishment for the
bad news they publish by coloring
it in accordance with the preiu-
dices Of their hearers. 1t maddens
the farmer to be told that his
cotton is being lost for want of labor but
it soothes his excitement to be told in well
rounded expressions that the ''rascally
Radicals and the internal niggers are to
blame for it, with their flies and drums,
their meetings and their politics" It is
the counter irritant that aIlays the indig-
nation Of the farmer by raising the still
greater wrath Of the politician, if we may
be allowed to degrade this term by apply
ing it to men who call all questions con-,
nected with public affairs politics. The
prejudice Of the man overcomes the in
stincts Of the farmer and the patriot, for
where the latter would have suggested a
remedy for the evil, the former makes dis
aster grimly agreeable, provided it can be
traced to an opponent
Our way of dealing with this question
of the lost cotton has been more sensible.
We told the planters they would be short
handed, and that it was their duty to
make provision for this deficiency. We
told them the West and Europe was full
handed, and that if they desired to do so
they could help the country and them
Selves at the same time, by. sending to
the North and to Europe for the labor that
they knew would be wanted The lost
crop would have paid all the expenses and
left handsome profit. Herein our supe-
riority to the Picayune is apparent. It
sees trouble, but instead of providing
against it. it talks about it, makes much of
it, charges it on the wrong parties, rather
seems to feel happy in the misery,
and winds up by pointing q stupid
thrust at Lowell which never allows
itself to be caught with crop ready |
and no laborers to gather it. We
see. trouble and at once proceed !
to suggest ways Of avoiding it. Our peo-
pie need not lose pound of cotton that
they are willing to save by little exer-
ton Of their minds and little relaxation
Of their prejudices. All they are required
TO do is to watch the labor market as they
watch the river, and when they see dan
ger ahead to provide against it. A thou
sand laborers brought down from Chicago
md put in the cotton fields would have
ldded three thousand men to the laboring
orce Of the State and 10 would have given
@ the farmer something of a mastery over
lis misfortunes. Now, according to the i.
pjcay2ree, he is doubly under the heel of
he opp~essoT, being politically subjected
0 the negro, and being beholden to him
lso in the matter Of getting OUT the cote
on. Lowell might teach Louisiana some
essons in this matter if it was SO minded
nd we could be induced to accept them. :
Dwell is seldom caught with crop that
an not be gathered for want Of laboyetss (