New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-04-18
NEW ORLEANS, TUESDAY. APRIL Is, 1876
TO rHs PEOPLE Or NEW ORLEANS.

TO raE PEOPLE or NEW ORLEANS.
EDTToR REruDEJoAN:
1t secms to the undersigned that the
present 70 IN oceasion for every citizen to
give hts opinions II regard to any and all
measures affecting the present and future
prosperity Of New Orleane, which may sp-
pear to him from the standpoint Of his own
most old residents Of this city, he has
found his small estate, upon which he had
looked forward to subsist decently in his
declining years, now upon him, growing
small by degrees and beautifully less" and
without any very encouraging prospect Of
change for the better at . very early day.
He has studiously read the many theo-
ries. suggestions, reasons and d0gmatisms
which the poverty Of the inhabitants, iron
in the press; has reflected over the dis
tress ascribed to misrule. carpetrbag ex-
travaganco and Radical pr0aigacy, So
called; p0ndered over the psnaceas for all
public and private misfortunes gratuitously
presented for acceptance by Democratic
nostrum mOngers; yet Obtuse he must con-
fess himself, for, after ell this extraordin-
ary teaching, he fiads himself no nearer
reasonable solution of the problem Of pau
He sought comfort and solace in the i'm
macuiate embrace of property owners
union;" was there enraptured by the ora
tory Of Ciceros from the bog of Allen. mys.
tilted by the iDcomprehensible logic Of Gale
dOnian Know Nothings and enlightened by
appeals for ':siHer" by the patriotic chiefs
of the association, who remembered the
wisdom and duty of sending round the hat.
Notwithstanding. however, every dispo-
oifiCu kO bo0Omo loorna6 and wiaQ in rn-
gard to the hard and undeniable facts,
that property, improved aud unimproved,
was continually tending downward; that
every description OF business was daily be-
coming less and less remunerative; that
the wages Of clerks, of artisans, of
draymep, longshoremen and laberers.
of every shade Of honest t0ilere, would /,
when ootainable.. hardly keep soul and
body together; that scarcely any joint
to par, certainly no bank, except it
was under ring-master's manipulation, or
make fair dividend; that more than one
street railroad was nearly in or ON the
threshold of bankruptcy, and dependency
hung like . funeral pail over our city.
Notwithstanding all these sad and unde.
niable facts, wbish none gainsay. he could
get NO one 60 wise as to give reason fit to
convince or probable cogent cause for q
liable.
The readiest, the easiest, and indeed the
most general excuse for tho deplorable posi-
ton of this place was the state of its poll
tics; and glaringly and unQuesti0nably in
sufficient, - every sensible person knows
this to be, it, only - being the nearest at
hsLd, probably seemed to be allsufficient.
He willingly admits that the system of
misrule existing in city and State has aggra-
vutoA ho M him 0iatpoaa huk ia mot ho aO1A
cauee of it by any means; on the contrary,
is very far from being ohargeable with it.
for although millions of bonds were fraud
ulently, venally and prOdigately issued, We
all know the very Radicals who did this
were also those VITO lad an equal amount
of Indebtedness repudiated BY the State.
He says lhe authors of the original dis
honest proceedings were those who obtained
the popular assent 10 the subsequent repu-
dia,ioa; but he ought to add that they took
care not to limit the reputation to the dis.
honest issues, but to use their funding pro.
cess for the recognition of many OF the
moro infamous ones while "scaling" the
honest Indebtedness to make the others
sal able.
But the issue Of fraudulent bonds, and
the repudiation OF legitimate ones, does not
really tonch the question every citizen of
Now Orleans ct this time is deeply inter-
!
1t ie-the universal distress being ad-
mit,ed and the ruinous shrinksge of every
description of values being undenlable-
what is it possible to do to retrieve the
trade We are admitted to have lost, and to
cOnc;iate millions Of valuable commerce
naturally tributary here, but which by our
supineness is now transported to other and
alien and unnatural marrss
The Chamber Of Commerce, as o potent
90 <1,o 1,ohr oE
indicated as one of the most needful and
urgent meas sJres the construction of q rail
road to connect this city by rail and river
with the northern portions ct our own State
and the eastern section of Texas.
Already three lines of road we're running
from this city, or contiguous to it, to make
connection with the region mentioned, and
the committee nominated by the Chamber
of Commerce, which speedily merged itself
ciated the needs of the situation, and in
stead of provoking hostilities that might
be injurious to the great end in view, by
commencing q fourth line to run from or
near this city to Texas, concluded (wisely.
as most men think) to commence at Alex
andria, where there is deep water all the
year round, and build northward, trusting,
reasonably aud nationally, that one or
more of the lines now existing would fur
connecting link 90 important, which wopld
give US q continuous road from New Or
leans to Marshall, Jefferson and Shreveport
1t is said by the opponents OF all rail-
roads that this plan OF proceeding can not
succeed, and ought not to be attempted, in
asmuch as it may, by possibility, happon
that the New Orleans Pacific railway,
which is to supply the railroad hiatus be-
tween AlexandriA and Texas, may be con-
structed before Morgsu's, or the Mobile and
Texas. or the BayOu Crosse Tete road can
The undersigned attaches very little i'm
pOrtance to all objections emanating from
parties animated by the opinions expressed
in the petition for any injunction to re-
strain the city administration from order
ing an election to be held to ascertain
whether or not the people of this city are
willing to tax themselves for the construc-
ton, in part, Of the New Orleans Pacific,
which few deny to be vital to our CONNER
cial salvation; and none worthy of particle
Of consideration regards as other than of first
rate importance. The injuctionists repre-
sent very large amount Of foreign capital,
and naturally their principals
have neither motive OF pride nor public
spirit to inspire their patriotism; while of
the domestic ones, it is safe to affirm that
they may own great deal of
property. real and personal. they are NO
friends to any enterprise which does not
promise direct aud immediate profitable
return ON the Investment.
The undersigned, in this connection, was
,urious enough to inquire to what extent
he injunctionists had invested in the stock |
If the New Orleans Pacific railway, and |
was not surprised to find that, although |
hey ostentatiously aggregated for them. |
'elves millions Of taxable property, their |
,ntire interest in the magnificent home un. |
amounted to just seven shares
Is it to be wondered at, then, that these |
gentlemen have sued out an Injunction to |
.estraiu tho peOple of this great. intelligent