, 1873-06-26
The New Regime---Rascality
and Ignorance in High
Places. T. =,
Obstacles to Commerce. Port Charges
:, -..Towage:Monop opoly":'Inspect"
ing Boards.
Heavy Business in Cotton, Sugar, and
Tobacco.-eNew Men Wanted In
!. the Crescent City. +:

Tho stranger who conoB to new orloana eA.
pecting to find city gone entiroly to decay, WILL
bc disappointed. Ho will find, indeed, city
which has boon sufferer by wAr. Uhoae Popu-
losion has oftinos been depleted by poHtilenco,
and whose treasury has boon drained ny 6t1cees-
eiyo administrations Of unfaishful officials but
be will atll find that this Is not the worst-on OF
American oitlos. Worc ho obBorvant ho would
SOC that wo recoive on our lovoo vast quan'
titles Of cotton, sugar, and other products
that, for throe or four miloa, our landing
Is lined succeasivo1y with thoao g7aeofully-con-
atructed steamboats, which ply tho Western
,rivora, md proud shipping whosa proWo have
pierced tho waters Of overy OCEAN and sea OF the
world; and TINT, notwithstanding onr present
embnrrassmcnts, thore are not few who have
tho mont unfaltering confidence II tho future
commercial greatnona and glory OF tho oroscent
City.
:: E.rnAnnABsMEN7s TO COMMERCE.. =.
Tho commerce Of Now Orleans has, Of late
igeers, had many things to ,oontond against Tho
revolution In tho 1abor-system created by tho
War neoossitatcd complete md radical change
in tho manner Of conducting business betreen
tho cotton aud sugar-plantcr and tho buyer Of
his products.
; THE ANTE-BELLUM eY8TEM.
planter in Louisiana md adjoining statca'to
have his factor in New 0rlcann, to whom he not
only aold his cotton or sugar. but who acted as
bis agent In buying supplies for Ills plantation,
and transacting my othor business which might
DO required of him. Tho planter also depended
upon hts factor for whas money lie might
rcquiro,-his crop boipg ample security for its
payment For his personal Bervicos, the factor
received what, in ether citios, would bo consid-
cred q princoly remuneration; and, for tho
money which he loaned, no ratio Of interest WAS
considered oneroua. =
= PLANTATIONS IN DEBT. III
Tho planter was lavish with tho money which
he did not lnyc to enrn, and, oftonor than not,
his plantation wns undor mortgage, although 1t
was a rare occurrence tint 1t Nas sold. II plall-
tation was we'll stocked with slaves, proprietor
could raise almoat any amount Of money on 1t.
There arc many places In this State today which
could not be sold for than 81, 600 or 81, ,000
with mortgages resting on than to the e1tent Of
100000 OF $750O0. Such was the artificial valuo
given to lanls by tho nlnvo-s5etcrn.
CHARGES ON TIE CoTToN-OnoF.
Whom tho crop reached the city,-nnd, indeed,
WAS on its way hore by sloan or rail 1T was
subjected to numerous other charges, on par
with those Of tho factor. Tho charges for press
Ing and handling wcrc Ill Oh the high-pressuro
1ystem. ...
LUXURIOUS CITY.
This oity then had no rivals. Ihe planter was
constantly III QcuL 10 tue CITY, Auu uAu 70 HGuQ
his cotton hero to pay his debts. Indeed, he had
no desire to 80 elsewhere. New Ofleans lad
everything to minister to his wantB. Hero ho
came to spend lis winters and his money. Here
wero hotels ,tnriyaied in their appointments and
cuisine. Tho opora aourished here better than
in any other American city. Tho theatres
werc bettcr conducted than elBe-
whero. Our race courses wero tho scenes
Of the triumphant struggles Of Lexington and
Loco1nto. Thon why should tho plantor sock to
savo . cont or two pound on his cotton, or
small percentage on hiH borrowed money, by
sending hls cotton to another and less congenial
market?
TIE LADoR1Ea c1Assgs 1np8oyrpENT,
1t will roadl1y be soeu that this method ct
doing busineas-if method it may be called
would not answer for q city in straitened cir
cumstances; 1t created q whole train Of
Dus abus9s made ans mechanics ana wording
wsera as the lilies Of the field. They toilod
enough, to be auro but They took no thought
for tho morrow" This is evidenced by the fact
that the deposits Of our savings banks arc less,
other American o4ty. Il must be- remelnbcred,
nlao that our working people received tar
groater compensation for their labor. than was
paid almost anywhere elsa; which makes tho
fRct Of our small amount Of HayingB-bauks de-
poBlt8 oil the mora remarkable.
ADAD NRvENuE-eYSTEM.
Another effect produood,-uot directly per-
hapa, but feel nura it ia an indirect result
was loose system Of creating and collecting
revenues for public purposes. The lava were
50 Lax, or olao wero 60 uufaithfully executed,
that q certain Clans Of people systematically
neglected to pay their taxes ;.,aud, consequent
K, tao citizens who dia pay hed to mako up
wore paid large percentage on tho
amount collected, aud there woro separate
Boards Of State and City: Aseessors and Col
lectors. There mas that pernicious mode Of tax
alton by lcenseB, also both State and city.
TIE PUBLIC MAlHETA.
There WIS that other plan for raialng money
for tho support Of the Git. Government, worse
tic pallo mnrkots to tlo highest bidder. ID D. "a =
law Of tho State, all vegetables, neats, fish, etc.
could DO sold III no othor plaeo tlan the oits
narketa. Consequently, . class Of mon ,wht
market from tho city, and could nfrori
to rny good price. Tho butchers, luokstors
eto. ronted from thenl. And so tha consumer
With oyery mouthful he ate, assisted to enricf
tho butcher, tho huokster, the baker, and til,
t'fasmor " of the market, behidoa paying par
OF his share Of the expenses of tho City Qoyorn
znent. -
TILE NEW EnA-LEa1BLAr1oH ABANDONED TO ID
EulANoE AND AAHuALlrY. fe
This was ail bad enough. But with, tho cloat
Of tho War can,o tho reconstruction laws, unle
which, for q time, those who $ hal; reall,
tho greatest material GintiereHt In th'
IT. rte Of se Of
fer the most part, would not, oyen by tholr pres
onco at tho polls, countenanoe tho changos mad
bo those laws. 10 tho trnt election went by do
fault and the government passed INTO tho con
troll, on tho one baud, Of mon who had, with fo1
exceptions no intorest to aoryo but their own
and, on tho othor, of colorol men, too ignoran
mud inexperienced to clock their ymnrt whit
colleagues, oven had thoy tile disposition.
lad LAWS MADE WORSE.
The new rogllno with Huoh groundwork o
laws to commence with, did not holp matter
much. People did not expect tley would 3ho,
wore cursed for everything thoy did good, bad
aud indifferent; and II must be admitted tha
,thoir legislation could genorally bo described b.
ono or tie other of the last twi
udjeotiyes. They repaid eursos by pilinl
on debt and taxation. They taugh
tho anto-bollum law-1nalorB lcuaona il
constructing bad LAWS, and made those wors
which thoy found already at hand.
THE NEW ORLEANS OF TO-DAY.
, To-day, Now Orloans linda hersef In The posi
Zion OF 4 man struggling with q groat royorse o
fortune, and who yot oannot rid himself Of hi
old oxtravasant habits. bhe finds IT worry ainl
o,,1A Cd NJ h3rua1f In fhH nav 0rdAr nf fhtpus