The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-08-15
Good Advice
H A FOREIGN MERCHANT THINKS
ABOUT US.
TOO MUCH GRUMBLING AND NOT ENOUGH
WORK.
From the New Orleans Times.

SlFt GiGAdUlOh ID C4C 1OoG VI Il ObA " 49,
Copious extracts from prominent writer's
on political economy have been strained
to meet the case, but no evidence has
been, or we believe, a be produced to
warrant the assertion. These efforts
are injurious. They lead the public
mind from the consideration of the
other causes that so largely contribute
to our present condition and prevent
any exertiOns being made to remedy
them.
We do not wish to be- understood to
advance the opinion that excessive
taxation is not injurious to the pros
perity Of a people, for we are we'll aware
that it is. But We assert, and will en-
deavOr to show that our evils are in a
great measure the effects OF other
causes.
On a certain evening of last week the
writer met at the table Of n of our
influential citizens, a prominent foreign
merchant, who, in his travels through
this country, visited our city and re-
manned with us d few days. His views
are of Importance, as they are not the
result of any political bias; they spring
from a close and an impartial lnspeC~
ton of our peculiar systems.
Dinner being concluded, the wine and
cigars We're passed around, and under
the influence of these post prandial
comforts the conversation became easy.
Our hOstisnumbered among the staunch
advocates Of the theory spoken of in
the introduction hereto, and labOred
most assiduOusly to uphold it, but his
guest proved too much for him. The
discussion arose from an assertion by
| the guest that he noticed i'll travelling
South that the more imprOvident nature
seemed to have been in the reckless
bestOwal Of her favOrs, the more indO-
lent the people we're. He had travelled
| through the East and West, where ma
ture had done but little for the country,
where the land vas poor, and the eli
mate bleak and cold, yet there the
| very rocks were made to produce. In
this section of country, where you had
but to tickle the land with the hoe for
it to laugh a harvest, field after field
was given over to the briar and the
bramble, and apparently no efforts were
made to reclaim them. He had been at
a loss to account for this, but after a
few days %sOjOurn with us, and a careful
reading of our papers, be easily COM
pretended the situation.
Host-"The cause of our de~plorable
condition, sir, is apparent to the most
superficial thinker. AS you came South
and noticed the increasing desOlatiOn,
you were approaching the centre of
carpet-bag rule. Taxation is so ruinous
| that it is impossible for our planters to
successfully conduct their plantations,
and in the few instances where they
have made money it has been WreSted
from them by the audaciOus rOgues who
KAYE blighted the land by their baleful
influence
Guest" It is true I have been but a
short time in your Southern country,
and 1t may seem ~preSumptuOuS III me to
enter into a discussion as to the cause
of your want of prosperity but [ am a
quick observer, and think | have mas
tered your situation already. You err
in attaching too much Importance to
taxation; you attribute all your evils to
it, and would lead me to believe that
your failure in producing profitable
crops upon your plantations is owing to
exorbitant taxation. You believe it
yourself, and would so impress every
one else. | hold that such is not the
case. Taxation has little to do with it.
This particular calamity is the result of
a defective system of labor. The pro-
Indian colonies, after the abolition of
| SIbStIJ bIICICy was ElilCl1illy lCulCcUS
and the cOlOnists eyer after complained
of the difficulty of obtaining q sufficient
supply of labor, and of it's high price.
1t was believed by many that such a
state of things would be temporary on
ly that free is always in the end cheaper
than slave labor, and that it would not
be long before labor would be more
abundant and wages lower in these is
lands than i'll those where slavery was
maintained. The result was otherwise,
and clearly established the fact that
some sort of compulsory labor is indis-
pensable to the profitable raising of su-
gar. Hayti, though the most fruitful of
the West Indian Islands, and though
it furnished, when a colony of France,
immense quantities of sugar, to-day
scarcely furnishes a single ton. If this
be true of the islands where the season
for the culture of cane is unlimited.
how much truer must it be of you1
State, where your season is limited
It is impossible to bring whites into
competition with blacks in out-of-doors
labor in tropical countries; and as there
are no grounds for thinking that eman-
cipated blacks will voluntarily under
take the drudgery of sugar-planting
!. it would seem that compulsory or slave
labor is not merely the cheapest thai
can be so employed, but that it is j ndis,
+, pensable to the successful prosecution
6 of the business. I do not state this al
any vindicatiOn Of slavery, but as beine
the only conclusion which can be legit,
> imately deduced from the case, and t.
7 show that you are being ruined by the
: system you are pursuing, and not alone
> by taxation
Host-"What would you have us do
abandon sugar estates"
Guest-"By no means. / would have
e you cease planting ON the same princi
S pie with free labor that governed you
: planting when you had slave labor
= Year after year of failures should have
!, convinced you that your cane culture
S under the present system of labor is un
$ profitable, and that you ought to tax,
1 steps to correct it. You readily com
.,sI prehend that there is a screw loose some
where, but you cannot bring yourselve
to face the real evil. You send to foreign
lands for fresh seed, as if the seed yO1
have was defective. But, sir, mark m,
, , words! You may send the world owe
= and praeure the best seed to be pur
J chased, but under the present system o
= labor you will never profitably cult
Yate sugar cane"
= Host-"If we are not to cultivate su
= gar, what are we to do?n
: Guest-"I understand that i'm thi
section of country rice will grow witt
: very little cultivation. You have but Il
+ scatter the grain throughout your fields
: and prevent the birds from eatingit up
: After it appears above the ground all j
! needs is occasional Irrigation. This be
! ing the case, Louisiana could be mad
: the greatest rice producing State in tn
) Union. You would make more none,