The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-04-09
NEW ORLEANS IN 1915.
WHAT THE CRESCENT CITY HAS BECOME.

New Orleans correspondence N. Y. World.]
Up to the day of the adjournment of Con-
gress the people Of Louisiana chung to hope
that something would be done to alleviate
their present sutferings. They hoped against
hope that public opinion would force recog-
milton of their rights But the passage by the
Senate of resolution indorsing the Presi-
dents course has cast the laboring classes
into a pit of gbom. A long and dull sum-
mer is looming up Lefore them, and already
their little ones are crying for bread.
But there is no work to be done, and | do
not exaggerate when state that the future OF
New Orleans portends of danger. The
laborer and mechanic cannot support their
families; the city has abandoned work on the
streets; there are but two new houses build
ing within the city limits, and the cotton
crop is mostly in, SO that there is no field in
which they can seek for employment. There
is to be a meeting of mechanics and artisans
on Monday evening next, and from the tenn
per Of the leaders Of the movement | fear
that if speedy relief is not afforded, New Or
leans, for the first time in her existence, may
have bread riot.
The contrast between the social and political
condition Of Louisiana and the state Of nature
is most stirling. Spring has opened with its
wealth of verdure. The air is heavy with the
perfume of the orange blossom and the rose;
the trees are clad in the brightest green, and
away from the heart Of the city, where the
stiffness of death is not broken by the chatter
of drays and carts, myriads of mocking-b birds
hold high carnival, gladdening the ear with
their beautiful song.
But in the center Of this Eden, surrounded
by a smiling nature, move and surgea restless
mass of humanity, driven to desperation by
their necessities, and, as far as [ can see,
there is no way in which they can obtain
relief In tie past of New Orleans her work
ing classes were quiet, sober and Industrious;
they had ample employment, and it was rare
sight to meet an Irish or German mechanic
or laborer who did not own his house and lot
Living was always cheap here; with the
prairies of Texas open to us, meat was
to be had in abundance, and vegetables
Of the most delicious kind, sucn as
potatoes, peas, beans, artichokes, corn
(for table use), tomatoes, ETC., were
raised without ally further cultivation than
the care required by the different plants in
their first growth. But all this has been
changed. These little homes where the poor
man lived in comparative comfort belong to
the past; five and half per cent taxes on an
assessment of one hundred per cent above the
market value Of the property has forced the
poor man to sacrifice his little property and
to seek home in pent-up tenement where
disease and want are his constant COM
panions.
This deplorable state Of things is not con-
fined to the working classes. 1t is spreading
like cancerous sore over the face Of society.
The circle is increasing each day. Families
who once enjoyed every luxury that wealth
could buy find their means swallowed up
by the exorbitant demands of government, and
their prospects for advancement in life or
even the hope of an amelioration Of their
condition utterly blasted by the still in
creasing political decentralization Of the
. ate. Tie enormous destruction OF property
during the war and the material
distress suffered by the people did not affect
them nearly so deeply as the slow, remorseless
dry rot caused by the outrageous government
foisted upon the people by Grant am a.
most afraid to mention the number of sui
cides that have occurred here within the past
few months. Men of eminent responsibility
have sought release from their daily increasing
troubles IN self-destructiOn. There has hardly
passed day for some time that the commu-
nifty has not been shocked to hear Of the sui
eide of some well. known citizen.
Meat is selling at p and 80 cents pound
vegetables are equally high. The first is be-
yond the reach Of the poor, because single
company organized by Radical legislators
have the monopoly Of killing cattle. Meat
not slaughtered at the pens of this company
can not be sold in the city limits: hence the
citizen is forced to pay whatever these people
choose to ask, or he must do without meat.
As for vegetables, New Orleans has always
been sapplied by gardens located in
the rear OF the city. but these have been de.
stroyed by high water, the result OF imperfec.