St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-12-26
Contrast Of Two Eras
l;atuI. isntl- [ Auy1tc tie.


S.xiy five GuutS, and is made nt PLAIN
..5ts. ,uilaiil,;IIvd viii II somewhat at
fI<tic touch OF color here ANA there Oh
the lobe. ra..
in TIL. i4ati might OWn, and ere Nnicif
could appropriately find It's place
;siuuii! more tSti!rte >nF!ouhu! h&>'
THE .eu,iyl witi pelcelvt hy the ABOVE
hiiuf At4Sy! iptlun 'iidt II - NOT I" very
wonderful lamp, bit we propose {" Jake
il ASA text fer il few remarks Oh tr'
rnt industrial cu:'iltlnnS, ANA c"lt.H0t
ttrnl with the past.
IN. editor also owns another lamp.
II was bought iii 1899, anu cost fnlce
toliars. Il is, like The first, 81 pI2lu
glass. witt! a simple wreath OF To" tlS
around the boai. The TWO lamps al" "l
about the same value, ana W"ult no"
H.. sold ut tie sam" pilc@ III any ho}>t-
furnishing store.
Here we've two purchases made ~ |
two essentially q titrenC tEao. Ia 1901
wjuu the three. dollar lamp WAS bouGht, |
the country WAS nearing the close 81 /
long u4li.,l Ut low tHi.if. There was II"
great concentration ot capital In ANY
manufactures, nor III anything else
Tnnr4, were no vast railroad systems
stretching everywhere North ana South, i
East aid West. Into every city. and |
hamlet OF the land We mad enJo] 81
the Ia,tDoe Ut peace inr Two oi Three
generations, aud Weaith was more
tgu1.Iy Distributed among the pthb''
thau at present. The nIiiioh"iitS were
few ana far hetWetn, AMI uuitl-iilli-
llnnuirps were unknown, with one OF
two exceptions.
The other lamp, which COST sl2ty-ilve
cents, was the Dr"1l@t OF entirely dIhe'-
cut conditions. We have had thirty
years 1T nigh tariff. All oar industrial
equipments, rs far as possible, are optl-
AGED uy huge concentrations u capital.
The railroads nave suppidhtti tiaIlc
by river and set, anu form thc cHicl
arteries Of commerce.. lAere aye u:t-
tionaiGps and mnitl nilliionaires ny the
hundreds and thousands, and wealth In
this view, is untqHaiiy dlstrlhntt't,
thDngh really the MASSES are better Oh
f;;;n ever before in the history OF the
world. fine product OF these Colldi-
1iuns il a three dollar lamp tor sixty
tive cents.
Strange, is it not ? an'I yet il is true,
not only Of lamps, bat Of ;!!nost every
thing else which enters into the nasiy
consumption Ut human life. W hen me
;:!rpe dollar lamp was bought, for IN
stance, the coal oil Wlllc!l WAS puiciiaa-
III at lie same time cost one dollar Il
gallon. while the coal oil ior the cheap
er lamp cost fifteen cents Il gallon, ana
it was of decidedly better grade than
he other The high priced and lhtt-
lnr oil was the result ot the same con
sttinns which produced the high p''tta
lamp; the low plcri oil, ot nigh grade,
comes 10 Us under the later contiI!ous,
Including its most prominent repEesen-
titive. the Standard Oil Company.
Vino will deny the tIuth OF this con-
tiaSt OF present ani past lndusfilAl con
dtlOns? Not only lamps and OH. out
everything else, except Il few specially
taxed articles. can be bought vastly
cheaper now than at any other time III
lie history OF man. The world is bet
Ter fed, better clad, better housed, bet
ter educated, and better off in every
way. morally, physically and mentally,
ttlnn it ever was, from Adams time
down to this year of grace 1891. lhe
poor man OF to day enjoys comforts and
even luxnlies w!lc!I We,e unknown to
the comparatively rich half ii century ago
Aud yet, in the face Of these most
palpabe facts, We find IA political party
base! on the central idea that present
conditions must all be overthroWn and
~ rAStnreH that wealth