St. Landry democrat., 1879-08-16
Hard Times.
New Orleans Times.

1t becomes the fashion to complain
of hard times, and this complaint has
been repeated SO often within the last
few years that q great many DeUplc
have come to believe that the times arc
hard without any good reason for such
Il belief as far as they are concerned
If, for the want of energy, foresight
and tact, they do not succeed us well as
they expect i'll business, they charge
their failure to hard times. Men out of
employment, who are not fortunate
enough to find the kind Of work which
they would like to do, go almost be
Wailing the hard times. They prefer to
depend upon their friends and relations
or to pick up a prccalious living by do
ing odd jobs rather than to manfully
take hold of any kind of work which
comes to their hand, because it is Ia
borious or distasteful to them. There is
plenty OF work to do in this great co,,n-
try OF ours. If Il man can't find the kind
OF work that he would like to DO he can
rest assured that lie can find work of
some kind. There is no reason why any
honest and industrious man should
staryc. There certainly is no reason for
the existence of the vast war Of vagrants
now tramping over the country rObbing.
numbering and committing other crimes
OF various kinds. In fact, in many see
tons OF the country the supply of labor.
ers IS not equal to the demand. Il is in
evidence before the Congressional Com
mlttee now inqniring into the causes of
the depression OF the country, that there
is no surplus OF labor in Chicago, and
that in the lumber regions of Wisconsin
and Michigan there is u scarcity of labor
erS. In this and several other Southern
States, all last spring and during the
present summer tie supply of laborCrs
has not equaIcd the demand. OurpIant-
ers have been forced to go outside of the
State to get men to assist in cultivating
and harvesting their crops. These facts
are we'll established and they rciutc the
cry that the times arc hard and that
there is no work for working Hvn to do.
1t may DC true that there is all over sup
ply OF skllliul laborcrS, and Of clerks
ana professional men, but it does net
follow that because their trades and
professions do not yield them a living
there is nothing for them to do. They
must turn their attention to other fields
OF labor where there is Il demand for
workers. The near future is full of
great projects which will furnish en-
ployment for thousands of both skiI,ful
and unskllful laborerS. Magnificent
railroad enterprises, having tor the OBJ
ject the bringing Of the agricultural and
mineral ligions OF the great South west
into closer sections with civilization, are
Oh foot. The mining interests Of the
country are i'll their fancy. The mines
OF the San Juan country, says an en-
inent English expert, are the richest in
the world and Il century OF continuous
work will not be sufficient to exhaust
them. The Florida canal across the ist,
mus OF Fanalna are enterprises which
there is every reason to believe will soon
be undertaken. They will require for
years, for their construction, tens of
thousands of labnrcrs, and millions of
dollars will be dishursed. The future
certainly looks bright for those who have
to earn their bread by honest toll. There
is no reason why men should become
tramps now, and, if the expectations Of
the future are realized, no man will
have occasion to say that he can find
no work to do.