New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-06-21
HARn TINRs--.FIaH TAXES.

| These two diseases are inseparable com
panions. The man who is enjoying a
profitable business never complains Of
either, for prosperity leaves its owner
but little time to consider about his
public burdens. The doctor, for instance,
who to-day books six thousand dollars.
and has harder work in collecting it than
he did in earning If, complains about his
thousand dollar tax bill because he feels
| it. Give him ten thousand dollars worth
Of ready paying practice and he will pay
two thousand dollars in taxes with much
more readiness than he now drags out his
present assessment. The evil Of taxation,
then, is relative, being felt more seriously
during hard times than it is during flush
and prosperous season. If we could get
nd Of the hard times we should at once
Tighten ourselves Of its twin complaint
high taxes, for the public would feel not
onlyjustifed in paying well for the pros
perity that it enjoyed, but it would be too
busy to complain.
What is the reason Of the hard times
that exist in New Orleans? We have fire.
quently directed attention to one Of the
causes Of the prevailing dizziness in New
Orleans, that by the popular prejudice
against the colored people and their
friends, hun dreds Of country traders have
transferred their custom to Cincinnati and
St Louis. Another reason which We al
luded to was this, that country merchants
who buy in the North are now selling
goods to the country people that used to
be our customers. The loss of this trade
has affected our business very seriously,
and, what is worse, we have made no ef-
fort to regain it. The old merchants
would not depart from their traditions,
and the new ones could not inaugurate a
new system for the lack Of means and
sympathy. Having lost our business, the
income to pay our taxes with has fallen
of, and we are therefore reduced to the
condition of compliments about hard
times and high taxation.
Then, again, there is another reason.
Wages are too high in New Orleans. Car
penters, brio K masons, in fact all sorts of
skilled laborers, demand from three to
four dollars per day. And there is talk Of
a strike for in creased pay. What is the
result? Men refuse to build. This re-
duces the mechanic to the necessity of
jobbing, which is the parent Of many
evils. The carpenter works part Of the
time and be idles the rest. While he is
idle he spends more money uselessly in
one day than he would in g week if he
were earnestly and constantly at work. If
labor were cheaper and business better,
or if men we're constantly at work instead
of being half the time idle, there would
be less disposition and less opportunity
for all hands to be constantly singing the
song of high taxes and hard times.
Another reason is to be found in the lack
Of ingenuity or adaptiveness Of the labor
ers. A man from somewhere in the North
is selling door and window strips that we're
brought to New Orleans from abroad.
What is. the reason that some Of our me-
chanics have not set about making these
strips here at home? A gentleman who
thought Of building house complains
that he can not find a shop in the city
where he can buy his cornices and orna-
mental blocks without first giving an order
for them, and then waiting to have them
sawed out Another gentleman brought
his door frames from st. Louis, because
he could buy them cheaper and Of hand
somer pattern there than here. Itrequires
but little capital to start either one Of these
enterprises, and yet the field is not occu-
pied. In passing through Chicago some |
weeks ago we entered four-story building
where the workmen were constantly and
entirely engaged in making three small ar
ticles that fit inside of the hub Of wheel. |
The proprietor employed forty men at this
trade. His order book was filed with or
ders from different parts Of the country.
In response to an inquiry if he had any |
orders from New Orleans, he said that he /
had not, but that he had orders from "a
man in another town, who made the wag-
ons, and sold them down in Orleans"
There are scores of just such instances as
this.
What we want are manufactures, no
matter Of what sort or size. If our people |
can not start a big one they should start
little one, and they must calculate closely
and sell low. There is an immense back
country that would trade with us if we
could only satisfy the demands that the
country people make. Hundreds of me-
chanics who are shining about, looking
for jobs, ought to have employment for
themselves while they are out Of an en-
And they ought to talk polit-
les less, and visit the cofeehouse at longer
intervals. Charge reasonable rates, invite
men tc invest in labor, and the cry about
hard times and high taxes will disappear
as dismal dream. ...a