The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1880-01-08

have been particularly inactiYe and
commercial navies, with naked masts,
and stripped haliiards, and empty holds,
have rested quietly within docks. Not
until FIVE years ago did Texas begin
seriously to feel the common depres-
sion. Even with b0untiful crops and
with good prices for every class of pro-
duce, however, she began 10 assume the
fashion Of the time, and since that day
until this the chief topic Of converse
ton among Texans has been "hard
times" Every yesr there were more
bales of cotton, and excellent crops OF
corn and wheat and oais, and more cat
tie and horses and sheep and goats and
hogs than ever before; but the inevita-
BILE law prevailed, aud even the specter
of starvation was continually rising,
oftener before the rich than the poor,
and the people OF the Lone Star State
were at least in an imaginary, which is
as bad as a really wretched condition.
Up to 1874 foreign immigration poured
into the State, and for year or so
longer steady living stream from the
older States of the Union continued
to flow in:o its bo-iers; but soon all
i flux ceased, and for over two yea; s
immigration has been insignificant. Ma
ligners AMI crUakers, some OF whom, pre- =
baby, ha9e been the very men who were
atarving in the mid OF plenty, lack
ing of course, not only rsason, but
generous impulses, have persistently
attributed this falling off of immigrs.
tiou to the shortcomings of our State
government. When we think OF the
condition of ,affairs throughout the
world it seems strange indeed, that
anybody would 90 d:st0rt sensibility
as to allow himself to believe any such
theory. Emigration ceased from the
old world, and from the Ststes of the
new, because nobody was able to real
ize money upon the sale of lands or
upon personal property. People,
however anxious to change their
abodes, could not do so because of bus
mess stagnatioD, ships Were tied up,
and in this time Texas has realized no
benefits from immigration, 1t is q
well-knoWn fact that Castle Garden,
the great immigrat N rendezvous in
New York city, fd emigrants from
the old world, was a kandoned for sea
sons as an immigrants home, and
where thousands LANDED daily in past
years, where all was @pmmotion and 3
modern Babel, only tH sparrows chirp
ed amid the trees. NV Orleans and
Galveston have expert need similar re-
suits, aud not until latIk have we heard
of Castle Garden beIdA again active.
While revival of activity occurs there
we have seen emigrant ships moving
directly towards Texas, ithin the last
four months, and it is s. } that at New
Orleans alone, since | September,
about 1000 Europeans, Fho had Sc
lected Texas for their ure abiding
place, have landed d. ct from the
other side of the Atlantl The indi-
cations are that these but the Hu-
clei of great body OF Emigration,
and yet the very agencit re at work
in the political structur' the State
that were predominant WI the lull
came. But it is said t Fan6s OF
people are leaving Texas, When We
reflect upon this fact it is sIpted as
the promise of Infinite gN, !, The
wire-work srs of the Republ> party
at the North have inauguratt negro
exodus from the South, that, .et only
continue, must prove of more enefit
to Texas than any other agency The
negroes who have been indv| to
leave are mostly of that class ich
has been a positive drawback a
tax to communities. A hundred pu-
sand of these could be spared, and be
State would be the gamer each yed ln
consequence thereof, of vast cum Pf
money. This movement, too, viii
benefit within itself, will lead to h
hsppiest results. Negroes have b
the curse of these Southern States,
their political admirers ct the NTH
are welcome to all the tribe. We knvl
that without negroes the South waldi
to-day haYe been teeming with he|
same industrious populations tlat
inhabit the northwestern stats.
Our lands are more fertile thin
those of Wisconsin, Iowa ana
Michigan, our climate is for
more delightful, and the expense q
living much less than in these states,
while the cost of feeding stock is ten
times less. Oar products are as varied
as those Of any country on the face ol
the globe, and no people enjoy better
health than these of Texas. No won-
der the populations of old and crowded
countries, along with returning pros
perity, begin to look to Texas, and
when these Europeans learn that the
negroes are leaving these fertile lands
entirely to white men, they win be
more ANXIOUS than ever to cast their
destinies with us. There are now in
Texas !, coo. 900 whites and less than
400. 900 negroes. In 1890 there viii
be 5000. 900 of whites and less then
200, 900 negroes. The assessed values
for 1850 win be $3.50, 900. 900; those
Of 1880 viii be 81, 900, o0O, eco. Our
crop Of cotton now is 500, 900 bales.
and ten years hence II viii be 5, 900, 900.
There are now nearly 5000 miles OF
completed rAilwsy ia Texas, and three