St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-07-31
LOUisiana's Future.
HANCOCK TIE HERALD OF PEACE AND
PROSPERITY"
THE RESOURCES OF THE STATE AND THE
ENJOYMENT OF POLITICAL RIGHTS.

PROSPERITY.
TIE RESOURCES OF THE STATE AND THE
ENJOYMENT OF POLITICAL RIGHTS.
philadelphia Record.l
Seated at the breakfast table of the
Colonnade Hotel on Monday were DR..
William A. Robertson, President pro.
TEN. of the Senate of Louisiana, and
Hon. NJ. D. Kavanagh, of the House of
Representatives. A cordial reception
was given by these gentlemen to a
Record reporter, and in response to an
inquiry as to the political outlook in
their State, and the feeling of the peo-
pie in Louisiana in regard to the choice
Of the Cincinnati Convention, these
gentlemen said:
'Hancock was the first choice of the Louis
lana delegation, and to her belongs the credit
of being the first State to declare for linn. And,
OF course, there can be no question concerning
the election in our State, nor is there any
question about the vote being counted honestly.
Louisiana, like the entire South, is anxious to
see sectional lines obiterated. With Hancock
for Presidcnt-;t man concerning whose loyalty
there can be no question, and whose personal
character is beyond reproach-the civil au-
thority throughout the South will be untranl-
melcd, the former prosperity OF the country
will be restored, the cry OF the bloody shirt
will come to us, which Is a matter we desire
above all others. We want substantial men
from the North who are willing. to identify
themselves with the agricultural aud com
mercial interests Of the State. We don't care
a fig for their politics. They may be radicals
OF the radical and enjoy their opinions with
Pennsylvania but they won't he long in the
South before they will find ont that they have
been deceived by misrepresentation Of North
ern Adventures whose only purpose Ill coming
70
impOverishng IFS, ard having accomplished
their object pick up their carpetbag and go
North again.
.sYou people at the North may have the ma
tionai Offices; the South don't ask for them.
The hue and cry about the prescription of the
negro is sheer nonsense. Labor is more indie
North and it is folly to talk about coercing the
colored vote. The fact is, the majority of the
c0lored people OF the South take no interest III
politics. When they, were first enfranehise d
they were told by the carpet-basgers that If
they didn't vote the Republican ticket they
would lose their freedom But since they have
discovered the fraud thei. interest i'll voting
has been greatly diminished. They are us free to
vote as they please as any man in the North.
The trouble is, the Republicans dug graves to
bury themselves i'll when they enfranchised the
negroes of the South. The scheme answered
their purpose i'll strengthening their lines for
time, but the natural tendency OF the sympathy
of the black man is toward the people he has
grown mp among, and the result of putting the
ballot in the hands of the negro is that the
Democratic party i'll the South is stronger than
ever besides having thirty-fve more electoral
votes than before the war,
"Since leaving home we have been through
several of the Northern States, visiting many
factories connected with their industrial inter
ests. We have seen children from to 10 years
of age working from o'clock III the morning
to O'Clock at night, while in the South you
will not find as Il rule a child OF such tender
years employed on the plantation, either white
or black; and as for the adult working classes,
gDa 70 hot ln1lp nf
hours, not even to save us from ruin, except i'll
sugar making times. The field hands i'll the
South go to work at O'Clock in the morning
breakfast At o'clock they resume labor
continue until - O'Clock noon, and then stop
until O'Clock in the afternoon when they
resume work and continue until sundown:
Nine hours is a days work for them, and
they work but half Il day i'll
many localities, and III others refuse to work
at all.
both live" said these gentlemen. "there is more
cotton raised than before the war, and at the
present time one-half of it is made by white
are just as healthy as those i'll the Eastern States
who work out OF doors" Concerning the indie
pendencc OF laborln the South, these gentlemen
say that there is no State i'll the Union where
abor is as independent as it is in the South.
Ii a man is discharged from one plantation he
Knows he can go to the adjoining one and get
employment, and it is because of this scarcity
~
t if we wanted to-
''Now, in relation to the inducements to
Northern people to settle in Louisiana. The
inest agricultural region in America lies III
southwestern Louisiana. Millions OF acres of
arabic land lie there unimprOved, waiting for |
he enterprise and capital of the North to turn
them into fields rich with cotton, rice, sugar |
,ane and other products indigenous to our soil. |
The difficulty which has heretofore existed
If making the products of these lands accessible |
Q market has been removed by the opening
II the Morgan-Texas Railroad, running through |
he entire country, and placing it in easy COM |
with New Orleans. Already a great |
lumber OF people are flocking there from the
North for the purpose OF prospecting the
country and locating homes for themselves and |
antilles. The yellow fever does not extend to
he country, beng confined almost exclusively |
o the large towns, and even there it has been
pdemic but three times since 1853. The NOR
ality list of the State of Louisiana is actually
ess than that OF any State in tho Union. As
razlnS and stock raising country it has but
ew equals. and no superiors. On account Of
he mild climate the stock requires no housing.
IS an instance OF the extent to which stock
aislng is carried on at the present time we
nay cite the case OF Mr.. Lastie Dupre, in st.
zone of which were given an ounce of food
kept the nOurishment they received from the
ow and that which they picked up Oh the
rairies. You seem to think we use the word
understand that we mean widespread areas of
eftile land, larger in extent than any found in
He west. ANY class OF fancy STOCK can be |
aised with three months feed in the year. and
ommon stock without any attention whatever.
The interviewer once more switched
1T On the subject of the black man and
lis standing before the community, and
u response to the interrogatories the
dvocates of Louisiana popular SOW
reignty said: "The rights Of the negro
'efore the Court are positively better
than that Of the white man,
nd for this reason: In any cOntro-
ersy between a freedman and mer-
liant, the sympaty of the community is
nth the black man, because of his
ependent position, and because Of the
act that he is naturally improvident.
% matter how much he may have re-
eived from the merchant, should he at
ny time during the season become in
ant, the planter is obliged to make
dvances to relieve him from present
nd actual necessities, such as subsis-
,nce, clothing and medicines. In other
.ords, to state the case in good unmis-
lkable English, it is for the interest of
ne planter to protect the negro and
i've himself from expense.
..Therc has been no trmult or disturbance
nong the negroes since 1868; and, as we have
ready said, they are as free to vote as they
loose as you are. General Grant was their
loice for President, and ii he had been nomi-
ited we could neither of us have controlled a