St. Landry democrat., 1878-01-19
Hard Tim es.


'e's' he spring and summer season,
":'o unusually propitious and every
'"'" ,nuleated an unusually heavy
S'e'" u our great stable crops sugar
'"''''' anu Corn. In August the catel.
p'''"'a ea'he, and soon completed thei
""'N VI "evastation. To the cater.
p'''",' succeeded the equinoctial storms
which III turn We're folIow.d bv h4,v,
aho lons continued rains, eifrctuall,
interfering with cotton picking. Thi,
oao weather in fact continued almos,
10 ''le end OF the year. The result WAS
'"e cane crops We're very seriously in.
Jured whilst the cotton crop reduced
III quantity by the c;.terpillars, storms
a"o rams proved WHEN gathered ot
,o'y '"..''ut quality and has brought
an unusually low price. Heuc. many
.ot our farmers have been unable to
meet their liabilities. Their failure has
reacted dlsastrously to the merchants.
anu the result will be another I.aru year.
Everybody will be crauped and every
body will complain Of the hard times,
ln our opinion the time has about ar-
rived when the people of the country
should begin to apply a remedy for this
continued and almost chronic COMPLAINT
OF "hard times The remedy is ap-
parent to all who will pause and r4tlect
we are living too extravagantly. We
deal too much on credit. We are now
standing on the threshold OF a new wear
md II more propitious occasion will
never present itself to turn over ga
new leaf" and take new departure"
Cease buying on a credit; live close :;
I've within your means; live as we used
% do during the war when experience
jaught us we could dispense Will, ali
he luxuries of life. and many, of what
Se had learned to consider its uec.s-
"'ries. We can raise at home almost
everything we want. Our milk. corn.
neat, butter, vegetables of every kind.
an ali be produced at home. Let every
;trmer begin at once aud make an
'onest eff"rt to do this for I. few wears
md see what Il difference it will make;
now etfectually it will stitis the crv
'bout hard times,n and what uros-
perity it will bring to the country. We
ave III a country above all others
adapted, to raising horses, mules, cattle
sld hogs. 4etour cattle are of inferior
Iuaiity ;our" smoke houses in Chicago
.ud Cincinnati aud our hoise and mule.
PASTURES in Kentucky and Tennessee.
dow can We expect anything but hard
lines as long as we continue to live as
We now doa In January we give a
on the expected crop of the
year, to some merchant to advance us |
he supplies necessary to make it. The
'r0p proves to be u short one, and at |
tie end OF the year is insufficient to pay |
or the necessary supplies which the |
merchant has advanced, and nearly all |
1t which every planter ought to raist.
supeFabundance on his own planta-
ION. True it this were done, the mer-
;hants would do smaller business
han now; but then they would do a
ar safer one, and one more satsfactor,
dixie to themselves and the planters
Sut people will shake their heads and
'as we can't do what you propose. We
amt make our farms and plantations
Our answer il you can |
t you ill only try ami in proof of
What We say, We can point to IL house
loid not halt days drive from Ope-
ousas where il you were to call for
Inner you would he seated at IL table.
under its weight of everything
ubstantial and where you will have
ocular demonstration of the fact, that
he hospitable proprietor has little use
or Il merchant other than to furnish him
With his coffee and -four. What this
nan is doing nine-tenths of our plan
ers aud farmers could do, if they would
~. Had We but kept up the habits OF
economy inculcated by the dire necessi-
les OF the war for a few years how differ
Mt would have been our condition to-
ay7 We would have been the llsost in
ependent people on earth but under
nr ruinous system of strained credit"
II are rapidly becoming the poorest.
.et us then profit by past experience
It us live within our means let us pay
lOre attention to corn, rice, potatoes,
ngs, mules, horses and cattle and less
ttention to king cotton" The most
,dependent planters in St. Landry
,-day, are those who have lived thus
'ho have planted cotton simply as a
lrplus crop and have always planted a
lperabundance of corn and hence been
nabled to raise their own horses, mules
nd hogs. Such men in the very ma ,
ire of things must succeed, and in our
Dinion it will require but brief ex-
erience to demonstrate the fact that
lly such can succeed. There is GER
inIy but little of the philosophy of
,mmon SENSE displayed by the planter,
ll0 buys mules at extra VACANT prices, !
llo pays a dollar barrel fnr corn,
IL fifteen dollars per barrel for pork, !;
psaise cotton and sell it at eight or
lDs eelfs per ponnd. Ask yourselves
Y question, how long can We cpnfinne :
sAtlls business without being bank !.
'.ptpd7 Make the calculation and then
.nsser then if you keep ON as you are
wang, hnying extrayagantly on a
rem things which yQu can raise at $
talking about hard times" !
PLANTER. |