The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-02-08
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pUllllllllNl ''lliN''''h ~ ''''
addressed TO the New Orleans limcS,
by Hon. Charles Gayaner author OF inc
History of Louisiana, Il member OF
the United States senate III the good
old ante beHim days, and nj present
occupying the position Of reporter OF
the Supreme court Of louisiana The
author first dovOtes himself 10 the task
of laying before the world the dcplorN-
bic condition into which reconslllc-
ton, so.callcd has plunged the pelican
State; he next undertakes TO prove TO
the forty Democratic members Of the
Legislature that II " their policy ana
their duty 10 take their seats IN the
Kellogg Legislature; and concludes,
In his last letter, with n vlndlcallon of
himselfirom an attaclslnade upon him
by Hon. IIoratlo n, Ogden, the at
torney general Of the McEnery govern
ment. In comparing the first part of
the pamphlet with the conclusion, one
IL puzzled to decide whether the hon
orablc author has earned the most dis
tlnctlon rs n stntistician or asa dirt
finger, He certainly shows himself II
master in both arts
While the whole of the pamphlet
Is interesting and enjoyable reading, 1t
Is only with the first branch oftit that
we propose to interest oursclf In this
article, md with that only 50 far Ms to
I extract thercfrom u few brief sentences
n showing to what u hopeless depth of
Mpoverty and humiliation the people of
Kthat once proud commonwealth have
been reduced.
OF the financial condition he says:
= "AccordIng to astatement published
by the State auditor II appears That
all the taxable property IN the state
was assessed in 1870 ut S2jl ,2lB,Ol
which property, on account Of eNtraor-
binary depreciation since that TINE,
would hardly sell, in 1873, for 500, OOO,-
900, so 1t results that the people Of
Louisiana, merely to meet thelrcurrent
taxes, tO.wit, Sl272S,0D0, have to pay
considerably more than ten per cent
per annum on the value Of what they
In reality, MS Il mass, do not own, but
merely possess, after balancing their
assets and liabilities.
To sum il all up: Wehave S600O0,0 600
of public liabilities; Sl000O,OO Of
private indebtedness outside of the
State S2i,72S,000 of taxes to pay,
emitting millions for penalties IN
cured, and besides several millions for
the support of the general government.
Our assets are Sl00000,0O0 Of prop
erty at cash vauation--say $3.50, 600, 600,
if you please, The rural population
averages, as we have seen, IN annual
pro iuct Of about $500 per head.
How much of that can the poor
devils spare to meet their share
in the mere payment Of taXesand
live? Really not cent. As to our
suburban population, what do they
produce per head Can they make as
good n showing as the rural? Are
they not in a much worse condition
than those who drive the plow? Are
they in their mortgaged houses better
able to pay their taxes than their fell
low citizens in the field? II almost
unsettles the brain to contemplate such
state of things"
And again; otto w0rl, with bor-
rowed money, if to be in debt is to be
slave, then We are all reduced to that
condition, whites and blacks--a condi-
ton much harder than that of our for
mer bondmen, fortheyat least were sure
of food and raincnt, raiment and shell
ter and we, the apparently free, do not
possess the same advantage. Out of
II population of 100000 there are thou.
sands who will be threatened with star
walton within the next six months, if
our chains are not knocked Off and la
Dor offered to our liberated arms and
hands. i call on all the Inhabitants of
the State, without distinction, to testi-
fy that this is the truth and not the
wild imagining of Il gloomy and dis
eased mind"
All this, lett be remembered, is from
the pen of one holding Office under
the Kellogg government, and, there
fore, more apt to eXtenuatc the evils of
the situation than to ''sct down aught
in malce.n Aa-.
In the face of all this, can ii be cred
tied that the Congress of the United
States, composed presumably, how,
ever violent the presumption may be,
of christian gentlemen Of the nine
teenth century, can sit complacently
week after week, and month after
month, discussing gravely the question
as 70 whether Louisiana needs relief,
and if SO whether the government
ought to furnish it or not? 1t would
seem to an unprecedented mind that
one consideration alone would be suf-
iicient to sway the Judgment of an
honest lcgislator-that is that the fed
eral government is alone responsible
for the wreck and ruin that lies before
it, and common honesty, independent
ofall political considerations, demands
that 1t should hasten torepair the evil
it has wrought.
III. -------------------
AS the result of some "reminiscen-
ces" published by Ex-Governor ii. S.
Foote, IN the Washington Chronicle,
the old quarrel between him and ex-