The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-08-22

SUAAis L OAN ~ W. SAO
remainder of the money he has invest
ed in the property.
We have shown how money is made
in our city, and now will endeavOr to
point out how it gets away from it, al
though from our remarks many will an
ticipate us. To go back to the begin
ming. In years past thousands have
come here, stayed long enough to make
fortunes, and after investing i'll houses
to be rented out, or in lots to be held
for speculation, have taken their de-
parture for other chimes. This process
has been going on ver since, and the
drain annually for rentals alone from
this city, at a moderate computation
for twenty years past, cannot be less
than twenty million dollars. Now add
to that the amount of interest paid
on mortgages to parties living Il OF
the State-(and if it be true that full
two-thirds of the property nOmlnally
owned by residents OF the city Is nnder
mOrtgage)-We may safely add ten mil
lions more for the past twenty years:
To which add dividends on stock OF
banks, and insurance companies, life II
surance premiums, etc, etc, that is an
nually or semi-annually sent 0 here,
and itrequires no great wisdom to SHOW
why our city does not grow i'll material
wealth, and exhibit the prosperity OF
cities contemporary with her. Dram a
country of its earnings year by year,
and at the end of a given time 1t must
become bankrupt.
The whole cause of our want OF pros
perity, and solid growth, is this d6sen-
teeiSm that must be stopped. 1t is a
disease that the body polite labors I'M
der, and a desperate one it is. 10 grow
wealthy we must keep u earnings at
home. Our business men must learn to
stay here during the summer; they
must take IN interest in the governing
affairs of the city !; its financial policy
must be scanned and criticised by them.
It must be acertained who owns prop
erty here and resides abroad, and a dis
elimination should be made against
their property in the way of taxation,
insurance, etc. If it be vacant property,
taxit so highly as to compel a sale Of it
to parties living here, who will not be
content to let it remain idle, but will
improve it. The idea Of laying a dOu-
BILE tax on nOn-residents is not a new
One,b but was in practice before the war.
For as they contribute nothing by their
presence to the security of the city, and
are ever ignorant and careless OF its
wants, they should be made to pay for
substitutes who remain here all the
time in the interest of law and order.
Again, it is a fact that very little or
none of the money invested in mort
cages, or sent here for other invest
ments, pay any taxation. T~hlsshould be
remedied, and the matter can be ar
rived at from the records of the mort
gage office, and by no means quite as
summary, as the United States process
against parties suspected of violating
the revenue laws by false entries at the
CustomhOuse.
There is a duty We W to ourselves
self-preservation being the first law of
nature-and hence we would not e our
city and State retrOgrade, and become
every year poorer and poorer, this an
nual drain 0 fmilliOns of dollars paid to
parties living abroad for rents, interest,
etc, must be stopped. We must be
like a large family, endeayOr to do all
within ourselves. Attract permanent
| capital to lie by making our affairs pros
porous on what means we own e
| fuse to take business if we cannot man
ageitwithoutp millions every
year for the poor privilege of working,
If, at the end of a series of years, af-
ter working on borrowed capital, we
are NJ richer, nay, poorer, it is better to
work along on Il small means, and re
tain our earnings at home. This will
beget self-cOnfidence and enterprise,
and the home feeling e~ngendered will
| exert healthful influences over every
thing connected with the welfare of Oul
city.
One of the baneful effects Of "absen-
taeism" is theperfeCt stagnatiOn of bus.
1r>11 1,1Tiroa tho cTJD0T1nn nonn+h1 OnT
part Of the fall. The absence of buy,
trade in many articles of great activit,
| elsewhere during these seasons. The
feeling extends itself to the country
those having articles Orshipment, such
as wool, hides, furs, moss, ETC., deem il
risky to sendthem forward, nOtbeingcer
tain Of finding a market or of getting {
proper price. If this "~absenteeism,'
and the annual drain Of money paid tt
capitalists residing abroad for rents
dividends, premiums on insurance, etc.
together with the money taken away
by those who go off every summer, bt
stopped, and the amounts kept at home
to develop manufactures or employed il
commerce, we would not long be twit
ted with our being deficient in enter
prise. Is there any enterprise amOnE
the capitalists Of New Orleans, provid
ded we have one or more who calls thij
"home," and stays here. Let a man o
moderate means, Of good business hab
its, energy, and we'll attested honesty
wanting to embark in business or il
some enterprise of no doubtful benefi
to himself and to the community, go t,
one of these capitalists and offer a sec
ond mortgage on property worth $4,000
on which he owes eight thousand, ant
tell his plans never so elOquently, he i
rebuffed at once with the settled re
mark 81 wouldn't lend ten dollars OF
a second mortgage The truth is
many men Of capital living in our cit,
are devoid of any enterprise; and
they had only a little 1.-THE of what i
found among their brethren of New
York, Philadelphia, Chicago, st. Louis
and other cities north and east of us
real estate to-day would be worth dou
BILE it's assessed value of 1901.
We have thrown out these remarks
"sown the seed" we hope it will pro
duce good results and set our bushes
men, who have the interest Of the cit
at heart, to thinking-and devise som
means Of stopping the yearly depletio.
of money from our midst.
Livingston parish is at present, W
believe, the most prosperous parish i
i 80 IL 49, -