The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1880-12-04
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date, calls attention to one OF the re-
sons, perhaps the chief one, why "
cannot secure as many immigrants 4
the natural resources and attractions Q
Louisiana deserve. 0nr contemporar
admits, nay extols, the abundance o
our State's attractions; contends tha
nowhere infhc world canthe industriou
obtain so fair an opportunity for nc
qniring independence; nowhere doe
the soil return SO splendid a reward t,
those who WOO 1t by toll and persist
lence; yet, for all that, the immigrant
pour by thousands past us into Kansas
where the SHOWS cover the ground fol
four or five months out of the year, Of
pass right through our midst into
Texas, where land as rich as ours il
not by any means the rule. Why il
this? says the Standard, and then pro
ceeds to explain. We are, says our
neighbor, jealous of our landed prop
erty. We are unwilling to diminish
our broad estates, even though by sell
ing half we would render the remain
ing half twice as valuable as the whole
had formerly been. We prefer to be
q set Of beggarly proprietors of vast
tracts rather than thrifty land-holders
on small scale. We cannot subdue
our pride far enough to be prosperous,
and we would rather hide half-staryed
in the centre of a great estate than
dwell in humble, ostentatious plenty
upon narrow domain, within our
means. ~
ais this trncg Can it be that false
and suicidal vanity is the canker-worrn
at the root of our fate? Do we prefer
the empty grandeur of large holdings
to the solid comfort of independence +?
The Standard says it is true; that we
repel the immigrant by our unwilling
ness to give him chance to acquire
property. The Standard says, truly
enough, that immigrants worth the
having do not come here intending to
remain day-laborers all their lives.
They do not come except with the idea
of saving their gains and eventually
homes and holdings of their
own. If they find the prospect of |
achieving their purpose is not open to
them, they pass on in search of happier
auspices and faircr prospects. And
Thus, intimates the Standard. Louisi-
ana is left behind in the march of de-
Velopment and progress.
again we ask, is it really true?
Cvn this be the cause of our failure to
attain what we all desire and recognize
as Indispensable? The case is worth
into. Let our friends in the
country answer and say to the world,
once for all, whether this thing betrue."
IN. 0. Democrat. |
Unfortunately, there is too much
ruth in what the Shreveport Standard
'ays. Nothing explains so satisfac-
,orily why Louisiana, with the richest
'oil, and the most delightful climate,
n the United States, is avoided by i'm
migrants.
A few years ago the owners of
ract Of wild land in Kansas, on rail-
Dad line, measured it off into town lots
md streets. They refused all offers to
'uy any part of it, but they donated
very alternate lot to any man who
'ound himself to put certain improve
ncnts on it. They soon gave every
lternate lot away, and the improve
nents erected thereon SO largely en-
anced the value ofsthe adjoining lots
hat the latter sold readily and at large /,
rices, and now that town is one of the
,ost fourishing cities in the West, and
Is original owners are rolling in wealth.
A man cannot eat bis land, nor wear
!, and if he has more than he can Gull
yate it is simple folly for him to hold
ne surplus ut such high prices that no
PC will buy it, and it is lrninous for
i'm to hold on 10 it when it merely
presents 30 much dead capital, on
hich hc is paying enormous interest
the shape of taxes, and which yields
inn no revenue whatever. The poor
it as well as the wealthiest immigrant
ants to become q land owner. He
ants to own the land on which he
'akes bis home. He does not want q
ranger tosown all the fruits of his
ard labor He infinitely prefers TO
wn q small piece Of poor land, in a
oor climate, TO renting large piece
{ rich land in good climate. He
ants TO become independent, and no