The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-11-14
From the New Orleans Times. I

I
IN the State who did not have their
merchants or groccrs in this city. Even
from Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama
and Texas there was 4 constant flow to
us Of orders for goods, either verbal or
| by letter, and these goods were paid for
at the end OF the year with the products
of the soil which filled with a wealth Of
jewels the ttiadem of the Queen City"
Of the South.
Those We're times, too, when the plan
ter did not have to rack his brains, af-
ter q day Of labor, to devise the where
withal to keep his crop out Of the weeds,
nor to worry himself at the heavy tasks
now devolyed upon his wife, the part
ner OF many years Of happiness, in Il far
different state OF being.
| Year by year the old system has been
| gradually discontinued, until now few
planters of this State, and hardly one
| from any other, come to the city to buy
their goods and few receive any asss-
tance from factors and grOcers. Country
! store keepers have risen to the dignity
| of country merchants. In some eases
| they are able to buy and advance from
| their own means, while generally they
| obtain assistance from the commission
merchants, to whom they pledge the
cotton they are about to receive. Being
| OH the ground, they are enabled to risk
judiciously. They know what teams
and corn their customers have on hand,
ride around constantly through the
| country to examine the crops, and rare
| ly advance anything until they see that
a certain amount is practically made.
when the cotton bOlls have formed and
they see that q fair crop is assured, they
open their books liberally and Gndeav-
I I.1s,7$ }rpo% %Hx nnr%pol rp
as possible. With but few exceptionss
| our lands are worked on the. tenant sys-
TEN, a large portion being worked by
/ hardy and Industrious white emigrant,
| from Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia,
Mississippi and Alabama. These men
| usually give One-fOurth of the crop, Or
| from So to $40 per acre for the use of
| the land, in some cases purchasing on
| time ut the start. They are thrifty,
and to our knowledge they soon have
! the comforts of home about them, their
| poultry, hogs, cattle and gardens rem
| dering but small outlay for living ne
cessary. They often congregate in set
| Elements, and we know OF schools and
churches built in the last two or three
years among them by contributions of
| labor, lumber, and little money.
| These men are wholly dependant on
the country merchants, and when they
are temperate, economical and indus
trious, have but little trouble in getting
advances. The high profits and charges
| for advancing, however, are great bur-
! dens to- them, though it is certain that
! they could not get along at all without
! the assistance thus rendered-and we
| know of cases where these tenants have
not only paid the high charges, but in
| two wears paid in full for the lands they
| had been enabled to work by the help of
these middle-men. b..
By far the larger portion Of the ten
ants of our cotton lands are negroes.
| They occupy farms of from twenty to
seventy five acres, with their cabin and
| cribs situated on their own fields. In
some~ instances the proprietor OF the
| land opens q store on his place and ad-
vances himself to the hands, and by
| STIMULATING in the lease that all supplies
| should be obtained from him, he gets
his own prices and is sufficiently liberal
| to himself in the matter OF profits But
AZ most land owners are impecunious he
leaves this matter of advances to the
country merchants. Our lien laws are
SO strict that with an average darkey
| the merchant runs but little risk. La
zifless or drunkenness, bad weather or
worms, gauge the amount Of his ac
count, but about cotton picking time
the merchant, who knows better than
| he does how much cotton he will make,
makes its value the limit, and in some
| instances il the darkey has not yet
drawn all he will keep back account
! sales until he has, as the colored pop
| ulation are much fOnder OF spending
| money they have not yet got, than dis
| turbing what is in their pockets. 49,
The merchant knows when each ten
| ant has his cotton ginned, and about
| the time it is pressed, he is there with
| his wagons and scales, and after the
! nianter takes out his rent share, the
| balance is hauled to the store yard, and
at the first convenient opportunity
| shipped to the merchants factors.
| Some OF these country merchants adj
| vance from $50 to S75,000, but that is
much above the average. They gene
rally ship from $500 TO 5000 bales each,
/ While in soIne instances they are extOr-
| tionate, this is the exception and l4 the
| present condition of affairs it is hard to
| see how farmers could d6Without them.
Tn MANY instances of distress they come
| nobIY forward, without regard to the
| risk, and we know of many cases of al
| most absolute starvation relieved and
cared for by them,
/ Our remarks have referred almost al
| together to the cotton regions, for st1~
/ gar plantations take so much capital to
| carry them on, that we know OF but few
instances where the country merchants
have made all the advances.
/ We have often heard the "co-Opera-
/ tive system of nlerchan dising suggested
where neighborhoods are tlliclly set
/ tied. but the success of such plans has
/ vet to be proved The country mer-
/ chant system works to most advantage
/ in interior sections, where supplies have
/ Ia be hauled In and cotton hauled ont
/ thirty, forty and sixty miles. 1t is bet
tier for the farmer to pay $50 more for q
barrel of -four than to stop his plOW and
I lose three or four days on a trip, where
as the merchant has his road wagons
i constantly going, and as they haul large
l1oads. the expense is not near SO great.
Il III one point these merchants are begin
Il ming to strongly resemble our cotton
factors that is, they are becoming
/ large land overs, and as the mode is
I5nof wrapped in mystery, it is hardly
i worth while to mention it.
Some Of our country merchants buy
their dry goods and shoes III New Iork,
and some their groceries, provisions a11d
hardware in St. Louis, giIl0l lRnAtu And
other western cities, and the arkansas
merchants who We thought belonged
to us, but did not make exertions to
keep, have left us almost to q man
some OF them dealing even with VickA-
/ burg, which was of yQre one OF our cus-
i toners. The actual amount OF goods
going TO the country is immensely above
! tile ante-bellmn consumption. This
can easily be seen by estimating the
fact that, about on an average. eae1r