The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1894-09-08
EVERY STATE HAS IT'S DRAW
BACKS; LOUISIANA THE

| lie mus any, are uouHu W nav
thorns. Here, in Louisiana, roses
grow rank, and we should not ex-
pect that they should be thornIess.
In other states more prosperous and
lively, a man might get rich faster.
but Louisiana is by excellence the
country of the poor man, and the
heaven of the lazy one. An indus
trious mar, no matter how poor,
can always manage to make living
here for himself and family, and
some way or ether, the lazy one
scratches a living and ekes ont a
scanty supply, without troubling
himself about working.
Truly Louisiana has les draw
backs; we have overfiows once in a
while, and when they come they are
dreadful; but if they are not too
late in the season and the water re-
cedes in time, the planter manages
yet TO make crop. lie feels DIS
couraged while the water Is on his
field, and says loudly that he would
more away if he had the means; but
another year rolls by, he makes a
fair crop aud speaks no longer Of
emigrating. We shall never forget
a little episode that happened in
1882 during the overflow. The
Times Democrat relief boat, found
on Black river woman, with five
feet of water around her house, her
furniture on meat boxes, etc., and
she had lived in that condition for
FIVE weeks. To some one who asked
her why she staid in such country,
since she was overlooked every year,
she answered: s.Because / make
one and half bales of cotton on
each acre of land l put in; while, if
| went to Mississippi or any other
state, / would have to put in six
acres.to raise one bale of cotton,
and get down on my knees, besides,
to pick it,"
1t is true the South is not as pros
porous as it should be, but this is
not to be attributed to the country,
but to the want of thrift and indust-
ry of us who live in it. The effects
of slavery, though abolished over
thirty years ago. are yet to be seen,
and very few white men think that
they should do any manual labor of
any kind as long as there is eng
ger" around them. The merchant
quietly sits down at his store and
waits for customers, while the plant
err rides around his field. and sees to
his crop, which another cultivates.
The merchants life and the planters
life here and elsewhere are not to be
compared. for every thing is in
favor of the one who lives here.
The climate being more genial and
temperate, both summer and winter,
We require less clothing, less sub
stantial food than in the North, and
we have not the great drawbacks
from which they suffer, even if occa-
sionally we have an overflow.
The Northwest especially is the
country of billiards., of simoons,
and eveIy resident of the Western
States begins by building storm
house or pit for himself and fam
lily before building his own house.
His ever anxious eye closely watches
the skies for the dreaded funnel
shaped cloud which in a few mo-
ments may destroy all he possesses.
He works less fertile soil than
ours, and when he thinks the crop
is laid by, when the corn is luxurlant-
ly green and promises heavy ears,
there starts to blow the hot, dry,
suffocating and adust-laden wind that
parches the corn, and leaves in the
field only the denuded stalks, with
cred leaves and worthless ears This
was the case this year.
Add to this the forest fires that
rage every year in some of the
Western States in such a way that
it is beyond our comprehension to
hear of towns and villages utterly
destroyed, of hundreds of people
having persisted in the flames. The
daily papers of Monday tell us of
six towns having been wiped out of