The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-12-09
MANUFACTURING RESOURCES OF
LOUISIANA.

of the enterprising and intelligent business
men from the Northern and W estern states
to one Of the many resources possessed ny
Louisiana, which awaits only the VlVlyine
touch OF capital and skill to be relnnnera'
lively developed I allude to the advantages
existing for manufacturing purposes all along
the New Orleans, Chicago and St. Louis Rall-
road, from Ponchatoula to Osyka, II the
parish Of Tangipahoa, within short distance
Of this great commercial emporium.
It is a cotton region, where timber IS
abundant and of The best quality, and where
all the other materials for building can be
easily procured where the climate is of the
mildest and of unsurpassed salubrity, where
all the provisions necessary to cheap living
can be raised without much labor, and where
inexhaustible water power is permitted to re-
main unemployed. At Roneal Station, for
instance, SG miles from New Orleans, q mag
nifcent water power, estimated by skillful
engineers to be equal to ten thousand horse
power, the existence and the force Of which
has been ascertained by the surveys of several
engineers, could be developed at trifing ex-
pense, with fall Of twenty feet at least, side
by side with railroad line which communi-
Gates with every part Of the United States, SO
| that shipments could be made and received
direct from the tracks without further trans
portation to and from the mills.
class quality is grown in abundance, that raw
material could be bought at decided advan-
tage of from two or three cents per pound less
| than the cotton bought for the Northern mills
| in the United States
Manufacturers in the South would evidently
save largely in freight and other charges, in
bagging, rope and waste. They would also
save the burdensome charges for storage, ex-
ira insurance, press work, brokerage, etc, and
likewise the loss from repeated samplings and
theft Besides, they would have an easy and
direct chance for satisfactory reclamations on
false packed and damaged cotton. All these
advantages have been proved by practical and
experienced men to give the manufactures of
the South an advantage of fully twenty per
cent over the North or any other country.
That section of Louisiana to which invite
the attention of capitalists and manufacturers
is excellent in many respects. 1t is well tim
bered; the climate is pleasant and healthy al
most beyond belief, and suitable for all kinds
of manufactures: labor and food are cheap;
no trades unions exist in the State and the
harmonious working Of capital and labor
would not be likely to be interfered with for
many years to come by the impatient demands
of overtasked workmen. The hours of labor
in our Southern mills could be sixty hours per
week full, without giving rise to reasonable
complaint, and without the necessity Of artif- !
cial light, all the year round.
The white operatives in the South are adj |
mitted by those who can speak from expert |
ence, to be frugal, docile, Industrious, easily |
taught and controlled In Louisiana, particu- |
larly, whose population has been SO Distress |
ingly reduced to the last stage of poverty, |
there is but too large a number of intelligent |
and labor craving people, both males and !
females, who have no employment, no hope |
of obtaining any, and from among them the |
coming to settle here might |
always select any labor they would require, |
and in the persons thus selected they would |
not only find a source Of profit, but also the |
arising from self interest, if not |
from gratitude. Operations, however, might |
be commenced with a sufficient number of
skilled hands direct from England, or from |
the North, in order to proceed with the sue
cesstul production OF goods from the earliest |
ers should derive Immediately as great an adj |
vantage as possible from their investment, |
taking time to educate gradually the native |
labor as it might be required, in proportion to |
the extension and exigencieS Of their business |
operations.
In the region which have designated, the |
midness of the climate, the abundance of |
lumber and the cheapness OF land would |
enable the stockholders of manufacturing |
companies to provide their operatives with |
but comfortable home, swith large |
garden plots, at very low rent, which the OPP
eratives should have the option to purchase at |
a reasonable price. The cost for heating the |
mills. if heating be necessary, would be a very
small item, as our winter does not last, on an
average, more than two months in the year;
and to supply fuel there is an abundance Of
timber to last many years, not only for the
mills, but also for the private wants Of the
operatives. 1t must, besides, not be forgotten
that there would be no interruption Of the
water power by freezing, as at the North and
West.
The water is unailing i'll power, and so
pure, so free from all minerals that it could be
used to manufacture the finest kind Of paper.
Should all the water power be developed by
,ne company, as it would have more Of it
han it could ever use, the surplus would be
eased off to others who might wish to take
advantage of this force at a reasonable rate per
horse power, the company reServing for them
selves as many mill sites as they might re-
Iuire.
Freights on manufactured goods going
North and West are much less than on bulky
,ales of raw material sent to be manufactured
here, and I am fully satisfied from what mills
AVE done in the South that yarns can be
in Louisiana, transported to the
Northern States, pay all frelght ana expenses,
,tc., and likewise a commission of five per ,
ent for selling, and be sold at the cost of
Northern production, and yet get a net profit
# five per cent per pound I even believe,
rom reliable information received, that GER
ain classes of colored goods can be produced 1
lere and sold in the North at the cost Of pro- {
luction of similar goods there, and yet yield
profit of over ten cents per pound.
At meeting held at Charleston, S. c., in
lay, 1870, letter from Northern manufac-
urer was read, from which extract this pas
age: II
"While have only met expenses in the ,
forth in running twenty frames $1,000 spin |
les), the return have from my sixteen frames
f the same machinery in the South, for the
asst six months, have been $4,000 clear pro- ,
t. Our company has decided to sell out our s
North. The South enjoys an ad-
antage of not less than twenty per cent over {
he Northern manufactures" need not say
bat the writer of this letter had the good sense
\ ramova m the Snuth without loss Of time :