New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-07-29
0pTIn1srs AID PEssIMIsTs.

We have one 1OuIudl WuACA uO1uS 1oas
Louisiana can alone be restored by pub
fishing abroad her ruin. There is another
which claims that there is still life in the
land which will dominate over our diff
culties, The first Journal insists that we
owe debt almost impossible of payment,
with taxes which would break the back OF
a camel. The other insists that these are
evils which may be counteracted by the
industry of the people and the resources
Of the State. This last journal having
had the temerity to publish the opinion
of a visitor that country of such
resources could not be destroyed by
debt, was Immediately snubbed by the
professors of "the public debt a public
destruction" theory. Between these dis
putants we claim right to testify. Ad'
hitting the debt and taxes to be larger
than is desirable, we yet deny that 1t re-
presses the industries or impairs the
agencies of capital to the extent asserted.
There is a determination on the part OF
the ruling party to arrest this debt and
reduce these taxes. 1t may be assumed,
then, that unless the same party which
inaugurated this debt in 1S66-6S shall be
reinstated in power, that this evil has
reached its height and will abate. There
are two modes by which debt may be re.
duced. The one by payment, the other
by increasing the numbers Of the people.
the value Of the property. and thus i'm
proving the public ability to carry the
debt. 1t is plain the continual e1aggeration
of the debt and disorder of the State must
tend to keep away the accession of people
and property, which reduces debt. 1t
even discourages and drives away the
numbers and wealth which have existed
here. But is the wealth and industry Of
Louisiana paralyzed? On the contrary,
there arrived here last year larger value
of exports than ever before. Why can
not our merchants and mechanics effect
the same exchange Of goods and labor for
these exports that is made elsewhere?
There are several reasons for this, apart
from either debt or taxes. Our merchants
need railroad facilities Of communication
with interior customers. Our merchants
need the car ital investment to furnish
that machinery and scientific process
which is found in other communities ex-
clusively devoted to manufactures.
But the pessimists who represent Loui-
ana as uninhabitable are wholly mistaken
in supposing that industrious men can
not thrive within her limits. If these
pessimists went among the people they
would know better. There are many citi-
zens silently building up fortunes upon
the basis of industry and frugality. There
are, on the other hand, many who break
the daily bread of beggary, because of
idleness, discomfort and insane hostility
to the inevitable and the insuperable.
A case of prosperous industry occurs to
our mind among many others. A Ger
man arrived in New Orleans a few years
since. He drove dray and inhabited
shanty. He has now over fifty dray-
teams, owns two squares of ground, one
of which we understand is covered with
rented buildings. His receipts are about
$4,000 per month. This boss drayman is
a gentleman respected and trusted by his
fellow citizens. His family lives in a
handsome house surrounded with the
comfort and elegance of social life. But
when We come to inquire into the mode
by which this property and this comfort
were attained, it is found to have arisen
from the industry and thrift of the propri
etor. He himself superintends his large
business. One son is O book-keeper,
other sons and sous-in-law drive and di-
rect the hauling. The wife and
daughters manage the household,
and the whole domestic economy. Yet
the education and accomplishments Of
the children are kept up as in the Father
land. thus combining cultivation with
business. Without othe- indications we
may mention that one of these industrious
young ladies is beautiful performer on
the piano, and possesses a voice Of unu-
sual capacity and cultivation.
These people came to America from
land where they had no such advantages
as they possess here. The tax on prop
erty. however heavy, has not prevented
them from acquiring 1t. This uncommon
prosperity has been the result of honest
industry in the midst Of land where We
are daily told industry can not thrive
on account of debt and taxation. There
are many other examples which might be
given. The only explanation of this
persistent depreciation of our State is
this: There is a minority here very
anxious to obtain control of the State
offices. They have found it impossible
to do SO by any domestic influence
which they possess. by involving the
State i'll political warfare, and publishing
eXtravagant statements Of its condition,
it is hoped that there may be some po-
litical revolution somehow or somewhere
else. and that by some unknown process
these malcontents may be Installed as the
rulers Of Louisiana. We trust the OPP
timist journal viii! perseyere in its effort
to show that there is q good field in
Louisiana for capital and indus.r.. The
REPUBLICAN has much the best circulation
among those who may be inclined to
immigrate into Louisiana from Europe or