New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-02-08
PICTURES OF SOUTHERN LIFE.

cpro1F PARISH OBJ LoUIsIANA-LcK OF COLOR
pRETrDICE AMONG THE PEOPLE or FRENCH IN
n,cr,oN-A SUNDAYS DIvERsIoNs-A SOUTH
vrS LAWYER AT HOME.
tom srE-1AL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIRUNE'l
g J,vre. L., Jan. 2l.-As | was sitting the
,,bor dav in the Republican corner of the House oil
p.a,os,ntatives at Ncw-Oreaus, talking politics
".;.b a group of colored members. one of them
"a "If Won want 70 see the place where
no two races get along together better
,aor anywhere else in the South, go up the river
III. Parish of 81. Johu the Baptist Another
.rnar sand that Il. James Parish was lust as good
,locality for observing the same state of things
what is the character Of the white population
taSkad Nearly all French creoles' was the an
-, c,nfr,uIpg statements had often heard that
l.re is very Httla color prejudice among the peo-
,lc nj French extraction IN Louisiana. Two daVs
,fterward left the city ona wheeling rackety Ola
,eamboat for the terminus OF the Aew-preans
,nd Texas Railroad nine miles up the coaSt-a road
n ambitious pretonsiOns and small perform nee
,bicb rms neither to Ncw-Orleans nor TO Texas
but starts from an old shed on the river bank and
.,ds at Dopalisonyille sixty miles distant On the
hoot was n colorcd man of pure African blood who
,epre,ents St. John the Baptist in the Legislature
Re was the centre OF a friendly group OF "h'te
,reoles with whom he Chatted tamharE III fIencn'
In dress manners aud intelligence ne was evidently
the superior man Of the company, ana DIS "hi'e
friends showed not the slightest AR OF cOhdes'eh-
.on in coming on terms OF social equality Win nl.
But then they were only French creoles, and hau
not Inherited the Ango-Saxon idea that the coo' u
the skin IL Of more importance than brains or
character Two Cinnamon were covering near
the stove and both whites and blacks
looked On them contemptuOusly. One OF
the creoles told me that there several hundred
Chinese ut work on the sugar plantations up the
rver They were inferior to negroes as field hands
ne said though they dad some work about the mills
very we'll A. for HIM, however, he would not give
two bits a day for the best Chinaman be ever saw
Our train made about fifteen miles an hour and
the cars had q swsying motion Like that OF boat
In choppug sea. The track Is put down
r., the soft sprlnrv soil which yields under the
weight Of the train. A dense growth OF vegetation
roncea- the ties so that nothing OF the track but
the two lines of rusty rails stretching through the
weeds can be seen. The scenery IS as monotonou-
A. a Western uririe. On one side j. the swamp
tverv tree fcst0oned with trailing banners OF gray
mo-s-and on the other the view Is bounded By the
,fvee At this season of the year the fields arc
described and are covered with the leaves and tops
# the cauc-trioneI before the stalks are cut Tie
rlsr+4ti,r- extend from the river back 10 the
swamp Iu long, narrow tracts, separated from each
other by broad bitches Tie width Of the arabic
belt from one 10 three miles, and the extent u tie
river front ut tA- plantations wares from an acre
toamIo TIL. sugar houses planters houses and
negro quarters are always the river bank, AMI
rs srcI plantation supports whole village Of work
people. rle country appears den-ey populated but
from the '.voe or the deck Of steamer you see all
N, hab-1pla portions, Tor the swamp that bounds
tie view ou either hand impossible barrier.
The dark glossy green of the orange trees around
the Planters houses, and the lighter green OF the
stalks of rhewd cane growing in the bitches are all
that redeem January landscape in the sugar
REGION from q drearue-s Of brown col0unG as un-
broken as any Northern landscape IN late November
before the SHOWS fan.
On the train vo}ube gentleman advocated rcQU-
daiion 10 a group of passengers. a lttle healthy
tep2d.ation 4, what we want, he said. 90 e shall
never he prosperous until we wipe out our
state debt. public debt Is a public curse.
II eats up the profits of the community.
Let us repudiate, and capital will come
M for investment where II has no tax TO pay for
.ri,re., on state bonds. Mississippi is d prosperous
State to-day because she Tepudiated' Two Of the
r4,~,ugrs attempted 90 argue the other side Of the
cuo.tion but the q kative re7udator would give
them no chance. He boosted OF his fam lidut' with
the works .f Adam smith and Ricardo. and tried TO
make hI, Is-euer- believe that all the great pohtl-
cal economist, oi tue world favored bis expeditions
method OF getting ria of public debts.
The station At which left the train like oil the
others on t.c road, wretched sAanty without
windows on doors. Although the depot for the
county town o.. -le parish on the opposite side Of
tL.r.ysr n stands IN lonely misery, suck III the
ta.kmud 10 th, midst Of -aggl rice-heldr without
another binding within half mile 70 keep
II company. m.ry track, half overgrown
win weeds leads to the levee 4 pro-
ces,.on Of half a dozen passengers, Of divers
shades If color filed of from the station, the van
guard led bv ,talwart negro, and the rear brought
I'D bv two French peasant girls. who bad just ar
rived from the Bas Apes, and who looked with
vy,Je-rvri wonder on the unfamiliar scenes and
faces The ferrymau who should have been at the
.oyee 20 meet the passengers and take them over %
the village on the other bank was nowhere
% be- seen. rude signal, consisting Of
board charrcd on one side and whte-washe1
oa the other and swung like a door between two
posts was turned with the white side outward 10
attract his attention hut 1t was more than an Eour
before he was So obi giug as to leave his Sunday
cup, and come across. Meanwhile tha passengers
walked tue levee in the bleak wind or sought shell
ter behind n chimney that marked the site Of some
prehistoric cabin. The only building near at hand
was o wretched grocery, sitting squat III the
mud which was filed with negroes attracted
by a stroIlius 0r,au-gIinder and a monkey. The
darkeys We're Wild with delight at tie an les Of the
little animal but when their Darwinian cousn-ger-
man approached TOO near they retreated with COM
ical terror. The midday bell pealed fro m little
russell church d mile up the river, and group Of
creole women in mourning doubtless for recent yell
low fever victims came down the lcvce with beads
and prageT-books in their hands, Two Of
the younger ones could not resist the attraction
Of the monkey. They ran around 90 the back door
Of the grocery aud appeared behind the counter.