The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-05

present condition of which Ia really dis
paraging to us las will be shown on another
occasion in these columns), and which should
enjoy more liberal patronagefrom the State
than it now does, If we would entertain any
hopes for its future success and utility.
Such being part OF the duties OF the hour,
q fraction of our manifold tasks for the
| future let us bear in mind that, as the fast
| tolling bells Of time are ringing these lessons
| in our hearing our affirmative response to
their queryng echoes will soon change them
into a cheering, joyful chime, while our mega
! tive Indifference will stie their tones into the
dreary, doleful sounds of the final knell
/ If this summarizes the task for individuals,
that OF the people at large remains to be con-
sidered, and that is the question OF
IMMIGRATION.
Since the city and country press are fully
agreed on the necessity of attracting immi-
borders, and considering their frequently
expressed preference for that class welding
some capital, the question as it now stands
affords no groundstor further discussion, but.
on the contrary, demands the immediate
adoption of such measures as will impel
the human tide from the North and West to
the South.
By the enumeration of the obstacles inn
peding this movement we shhll naturally ar
rive at the comprehension OF what most suit
able means are available to Counteract these
obstacles and to bring about the desired re-
suit.
First among those obstacles is the general
ignorance as to Louisiana, an ignorance
which is common even to majority OF our
own people.
Condoning, however this illogical igno-
rance among ourselves, we must not fegn
surprise at foreign ignorance as to Louisiana,
when we consider especially that the North
western press has had no reliable source Ofin-
formation on the subject, and that moreover,
it has been to heir interest to prolong such ig-
nOrance.
Then the general impression in the United
States is that Louisiana has
AN UNHEALTHY CLIMATE,
and, strange as it may seem, the maps pub
lished under the sanction of our own State
government, paid for by our people, com
piled and made by cO-residents or fellow
citizens all represent our territory as swamp
land excepting merely an insignificant belt
! on the eastern bank of the Mississippi from
/ Baton Rouge nOrthWard.
Again we must confess that in the absence
of any statistical or agricultural State re-
/ ports, we have no book illustrating our pro-
ducts their value, yield cultivation, etc, ex
I cept occasional statistical pamphlets on
sugar, cotton and rice, which fact tacitly i'm
| plies that these are exclusively and solely
the crops raised by us, while the want of In
formation as to their cultivation, etc. leads
/ to the belief that it is dependent upon special
skill and experience impaired to O very few.
Further, we find the wide-spreading deln-
sion among Northern and Western people that
our aristocratic exclusiveness on account of
caste and social condition is not egualed even
in Europe, while the "buldozng" ISLANDERS and
"ku-klux' spectres are periodically revived
in the press Of those sections whenever we
claim for the Mississippi river one-half OF the
amounts so freely squandered on the multi
tudnous and insignificant streamlets drain
ing some of the Northern and Eastern ponds.
We encounter also the
sTrPENDOUs ANNOUNCEMENTS
of Northwestern railroads and land corpora
tions, expatatlng with all the florid embel-
lishnentS of an obedent rhetoric on the
mild" climate of the Colorado snow-bound
plains describing the Arcadian bliss Of
home in the Rrdskin-ridden plains and table
| lands Of Nevada and Nebraska, or else exto-
ing the INA iestic scenery" of Montana and
the "Eldorados" concealed beneath every
mound from the western Drinks OF the Al
leghanies to the icy peaks of the Rocky
Mountains.
we add to this the expense of a journey from
the Northwest to Louisiana and the uncer-
| tainty as to communications from New Or
leans to the interior, we can safely limit here
the enumeration of the obstacles working
against the real resources and attrac-
tiOns of our State, since single obstacle of
that sort is evidently more than sufficient to
deter the average emigrant seeking homein
q new country.
In seeking remedy for this state of things
we should first endeavOr to complete our rail
road and river communications, so as to facil-
itate the exploration of our State in every di-
rectiOn
We need maps that indicate the real
TOPOGRAPHY OF OUR STATE,
and of these it is appropriate to mention that
a single one exists the work of our esteemed
Col. $. H. Lockett, a manuscript exhibited at
the Cotton Exchange where no one wants it,,
instead of its being found at our Land Office,
where everybody needs its reliable infOrma-
ton
We want, further, a complete description of
our soils, with their geology, the topography
of the country, it's photography and sta
tistics of agriculture, commerce, in
dustry, health and meteorology, the
description of our botany information as to
the price of public and private lands, and,
finally, a graphic and cursory account of the
scenery, various resources and striking or
interesting features of localities, with such
practical suggestions for the immigrant as
will enable him, when he chooses to come to
Louisiana, to know exactly where his home
will be, what it will cost him to build it and
keep it in repair, what his fields will produce,
at what cost he can raise his crops, and at what
price he can sell them, what his access to
market his school, church and social accom-
modations and facilities will be. He must be
assured of the security of life and property,
ter Eldorado in the realms OF reality than
that which he, like thousands of others, can
build for himself in Louisiana
When we have done that and spread broad
cast such information based on strict truth
and posture facts, then we may expect a
stauncher, more enlightened, more enterprls
ing more numerous and more valuable ele-
ment of immigration among us than has gone
to any part Of the United States.
AGRICULTURAL NOTES.