The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1879-07-24
Then and Now.


It is time that the white citizens OF
the four counties should rise up from
their supineness and shake of the ne.
gro incubus that is pressing the life OUT
of them. Brszoria, Mstsgorda, Whar-
ton ana Fort Bend counties were twen-
" years ago the paradise of cotton and
sugar planters and chosen home Of
the educated and refined families Or
| the South; our lands were worth $50
to $75 per acre and none for sale; We
made ten bales of cotton or two hogs
heads of sugar with 400 bushels OF
corn and the same amount OF potatoes
to the hand; the Brazos bottom.
swsrmed with the hogs and cattle OF
the plstters with none TO persecute or
make them afraid. There were no ne
groes aud but few white people in our
jails snd penItentiary--fn fact, the lat.
ter institution could not have msin-
tanned respectable appearance in So :
ciety of its kind but for the obliging
disposition of our Mexican citizens in
the southwest. Confidence existed +
among all ranks and conditions of our
people. When we bought goods of
the merchant or employed the black
smith, the carpenter, or sent for our
family physician we intended to pay
and did so.
Now the same bright heavens shine
above our heads; the same delightful
gulf breeze fans our cheeks; the same
pattering showers bathe our fertile soil,
the same seasons come and go in their
order; seed time and harvest, but all
else how changed. The once produe-
tive and carefully titled fields are now
being annually contracted and overrun
with noxlous weed fences have gone
to decay the average cotton product
is less than one bale to the inhabitant,
not enough corn is made for bread po-
tatoes and cabbage are imported; hogs
are so scarce in the rural districts that
they are regarded as aliens without the
protection of the law and are treated
as hostile invaders. Real estate, once
sought with such avidlty, now repre-
sents no cash value save with the re-
lentless assessor and tax. gatherer. a
fine BraZos farm, once worth $40 per
acre, sold last week for 81 per acre.
Agriculture has ceased to be profitable
and therefore is not honorable. Our
prisons are crowded and night made
hideous by the howls of their brutal
occupants. Our penitentiaries are
bursting with repleuoA of foulness,
and swarms of conricts are quartered
among our better people, or, escaping
from their guards, roam through our
forests, the terror of the weak ana
helpless.
An confidence in human honor or
honesty is gone; when a man ssks you
for goods or personal service ON credit
you know that be has calculated his
means of invading or resisting payment
to the bitter end, and that You may
make an active and bitter enemy OF an
otherwise passive friend. The better
class of white population are making
all possible effoIts to leave this portion
of the country, hence all of Fort Bend
county is for sale and no purchasers are
to be found. These are terrible but
indisputable facts and the sooner they
are recognized and faced the better it
will be for us who cannot get away
from them by sale of property here and
removal to more favored portions OF
our State. The causes Of this depiora-
BILE state OF our community and the
remedies will be shown in cur next is
sue. In the meantime offer no obstacle
to the exodus, but say unto those who
are impatient, rise up and get you forth
from among our people, ye and all the
children of Africa, and go; and If you
find amp laasa nina nhiokxena in
the Brazos bottom, talke,them with You:
be quick; while the luscious blackber-
ry, the succulent watermelon, and
milky roasting ear are in season, ye
may eat and be joyful on your journey.
Richmond { Teras) Reflector.