Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-12-28
j. p. STEELE, EDITOR.
The Poppy Industry for Texas.


While the vent OF the Texas mind mag
not lean with favor towards cultivation
OF the poppy plant and a manufacture OF
opium, there is certainly no improperly
IN our showing up our great states ca
pabllIties in an agricultural way, and
pointing out what she might do provided
she wanted to do It.
There are grounds for suspecting that
we may see many things in light rad
icRlly different from the light in which
they appear TO hosts of other people.
Our advocacy of barley culture for the
manufacture of beer has brought in
few letters which have had something of
a tendency towards confirming us in this
oDiuion, Ono writer, who is evidently
poet, or something else very near akin,
said. "Saw around Texas with q hand
saw and let her sink down 10 the bottom
of the sea before devoting her soil to the
cultivation of barley for the manufacture
of bcer!'' OF course that expression
unnerved us little at first, but we are
now convalescent-indeed getting pretty
well over 1t.
Beer may be very vile thing, and its
production may be resulting in very
great evils, but our way OF looking
at the matter can be set forth in few
words: The same quantity OF beer Will
be manufactured anyhow, and the same
quantity will be used by the people, re-
gardless of whether or not Texas grows
barley. The idea seems TO be that our
production of barley would reduce the
selling price of beer and thus lead 10
greater consumption. Not so. II the
entire barley production of the world
was secured to us, beer would still be
FIVE cents q Hschooner' in Texas, the
came as now when all the raw material
must be shipped from either California
or CanadG. one single quart more would
not be used by our people than Will be
used ANYWAY Beer is now no lower IN
price, TO the consumer, in either Call
fornia or Canada, where the main pulK
of the beer barley Is grown than IL is
here. It couldn't be made any lower
and keep people drinking beer. Man
DON'T set much store by thing unless 1t
costa him something, so II beer went
upon the market at less than i've cents
SCHOONER" the man who always re-
spends with n negative to the Nv on !
you have something stronger!' OF MS
friend, would turn from beer In disgust
and pour down his llbations IN pure ar
tesian water. Cheaper beer Woulo SIM
ply inaugurats fall in mans apprecla-
ton of the article. If the great well
now going down on fuckers Hill should
strike forty horse outflow of first-class
lnger beer, and the beer should be al
lowed to run out free for everybody ,peo-
pie with faces awfully awry would drink
q glass of it occasionally as fearfuliy bad
tasted mineral water, but no one would
be found hankering efter 1t. The beer
drinking industry would be speedily
bursted SO far Us relates to For: worth,
Mt least. Such is man
In many respects il is a good deal the
same way with reference TO the opium
business. II this country produced all the
opium of the world ii is not at all probable
that our people would use more opium
than they are already using or will con-
tinue to use through all time to come.
The confirmed opium eater will have
opium II he has nothing else. 1t must
come regardless of cost, hence there
never was anything more foolish than
the placing of heavy duty on opium
importation under the impression that 1t
tends towards discontinuance of Its
use. That duty is simply tax on the
unfortunate who is addicted TO the
opium habit. And to oppose the manu-
facture of opium III this country on SINH
lar grounds would be equally foolish.
Is not every opium eater indirectly en-
gagged in the manufacture of opium?
He may be here saving wood for an IN
come, but since that income will 60 to
the opium manufacturers in some other
country, where is tho difference! Is 1t
any worse to saw wood IN this country
for an opium plant in some other coun-
try thnn II would be TO do that saving
directly for the plant in the country |
where the plant has its establishment?
The man who spends his money for |
opium is u man engaged in the opium |
manufacture, for TO the extent of the |
amount paid out by him he contributes !
10 the sustenauce of the industry.
Under all these circumstances, where |
is the wrong in an attempt on our part to !
keep at home the enormous amount of |
money poured into foreign countries, |
and thus lost TO us, for articles that we |
might lust rs well furnish here, or for |
raw materials that our own people could |
produce as well as they are produced by |
the people of any other section? There |
must be profit TO somebody in those /
foreign industries, else they would not |
be kept up, hence it strikes us that de- |
liberate throwing away of that profit on |
our part, without nt all lettering Our
local conditions in any respect, Offering |
as q plea for SO doing that the industries |
are OF o character not desirable, is o |
good deal on the plan OF cutting OF |
ones nose to spite ones face.
So much in explanation of why we |
sometimes advocate the production in
Texas of things whose non-existence
would probably leave the world better
OF than 1t IS, but whose nom existence Is
eomething that can never be brought
about. We done do it from any desire |
On our part TO have such things exist,
but because they will exist all the same,
without regard TO what we do in the
premises, and because We want Texas to
get her share of the money sure 10 be
expended upon them By the people.
SINCE our first acquaintance with
Texas, more than ten years ago, we
have been fully satisfied that the opium
poppy (Papaver somuiferum) would do
extremely well in most parts of the state.
Every condition needed for il exists
here-a clayey and limey soil. 3 rocky or
gravelly uuderlie, season of moderate
rains through winter and spring, with
DRYER season and dryer atmosphere later,