St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-03
immigration Question.

immigration Question.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. l
Septembee =, 1896. l
Editor st. Tamnany Farmer:
I saw in your issue of Sept. IL
. clipping fss,m the Southern Immi-
grant. urging strangers tn stop Of
and look at your beautiful country,
presume with the hope they NAV
be induced to settle on the land,
thereby making 1t just that much
harder for the rising generation to
get homes.
Mr.. Editor, have been a con
slant reader IT yoar paper far the
past eighteen years, and I know
you have, from time to time, sci
forth the great advantages Of St.
Tam many Parish for farming and
manufacturing purposes, With one
idea-one purpose-to induce stran-
gers to settle mp your parish, and
have NJ doubt that this has been
the wish Ut. a large majority Of your
readers 1T would not be mine were
one Of you!
Since. the Cotton Exposition i'm
New Orleans, about twelve years
aga, there has been large increase
in your population from outside rs.
Good people, and to-day rank
among your best citizens! They
have made their presence felt es.
pecially in the Real Estate market,
as some Of them have taken pos
session of large tracts Of lsni, to
the great advantage Of the "Land
Bug"
But has the ircreasc Of population
and decrease in the free aud Opc
natural advantages 70 the home-
seeking citizen Of local birth, been
of any advantage to the whole peo-
pie Of the Parish? Has it put more
fish in the streams, more deer in the
forest, OF more quail in the bush
Do your farm-hands, mechanics.
laborers aud clerks get amy more
wages, or consume any more than
they did before these people came !!
DO your merchants and transport
ers have less competition, or larger
profits than they had before? Can
the farmers raise more bushels of
corn or more pounds Of cott'n OIL
an acre Of ground? Ia" he cult
vate his fields wish less labor or
more advantageousIy, aimee the
coming Of these strangers. Has
the pasture for his stock been i'm
proved or enlarged BY the increase
in population? 10 all the questions
l think you must sns wer NO Per
haps some Of your good readers
could answer differently but doubt
it very much
y population large enough to get
aud maintain all the advantages OF
modern civilization, such As rail-
roads, steamboats,, express, tele.
graph, post offices, churches.
schools, ETC., is all that il required
more than this is q decided dis
advantage. The land and the glori-
Gus climate are the gifts It God
to his people. and should be free
alike to all men and women 70 come
and settle on, but why coax and
persuade them to come? Their
coming will only lessen the adj
vantages Of those aud their children
who are already there. Assuming
that the effects OF increased pspu-
lation are we'll known 10 yourself,
I am led to believe that yon are
actuatcd by the highest Christian
motives. namely: . desire to have
others come and share The great,
though limited, advantages Of which
the present population are the cole
possessors but in doing this, are
you not making It more difficult for
your children aud your neiyhb0rs'
children 20 make homes for tllem-
selves in the near future? Possibly
the increased difficulty of securing
homes due to artidcially increased
population may lead them to regard
your acts ~ mistaken philanthropy.
HOWARD BURNS.