The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1902-12-27
THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOP.
MENT Of the SOUTHWEST.

The Address of Mr.. }. NJ. Le-
vogue before the Progress
i've League. |
We lie in the lap of immense OPP
porti,ni,y. To-day. splendid Lon-
sisna is realizing it with q sense
Of conviction without precedent Ill
all its history. This conviction is
80 great that it reefs the ear to the !
voice Of the croaker; it iidicules
and derides the mossbaek: it com
its eontagion to the Wis
itor: 1t permeates the very air
making enterprise vibrant with |
and daring. Slendid
Louisiana is confident it is on the
map, and all the world who visit
remember to tell the tale Of this
most superb of all the States.
And, DO you know, it is splen-
did thing to be able to feel that
way about ones native State. 1t
has not always been our privilege.
1t takes a long time to recover
from the stars of a great war.
The period Of healing has just
about run its natural course And
we have not been without other
sore calamities. 1t has been long
indeed since Louisiana could feel
absolutely normal--feel as such a
State should--as though the sun
shine we've made for her robe and
the stars and moon and sun for
her crown and the flowers to deck
| her bosem--feel as though in all
the earth this alone was Louisl-
ana, our Louisiana!
What has brought about tue
revolution Time, Of course-the
time that has elapsed. since the
|war and its terrible prostration:
tina. has elapsed since high water
and tho building Of an adequate
leyee system; the time that has
elapsed since the ill,teracy of
poverty; the time that has elapsed
even since our last stupid fever
panic.
Time has been one factor Re-
| sistless opportunity has been an.
| other. AS 1t is impossible to pre-
vent Nature from ripening, so is
Iit.impossible to prevent enduring
opportunity from bearing fruit.
And, so, in one sense, Louisiana's
prosperity is natural and normal
| But there is one respect il
which this prosperity is the PEG
pies boast and pride-that il
which they have been creators.
In this creative work, the PEG
pie have marked a distinctly new
lepoch in the States history. 1t i
not long ago that your big ant
fsplendid metropolis, lolling in tn
queenly oppulence Of imperishabl
opportunity, assumed and air 0
! disdainful indifference to all tn
:. world, a9patronixing attitude tina
was simply beautiful to see: A
an object lesson in Arrogance j
was simply ehmacteric. Beyon
Lit there was'nothing. Pretty soo1
however, New Orleans began t
. discover many things; among thel
that the war was..ovcr; that tn
majectic Mississippi had possibl
mot ceased to exist or changed
any -appreciable extent, but tia
multiplying railroads had conspi
cd to render the big rivers impo
lance on the map less all powe
full than it nsed to he; that othe
! cities were on the American ma
and in them a new order, of affair
Iprevailing; that Southern Amer
canism, very like Northern Amer
canism, was beginning to indule
the cheap, hut very practic'
worldly vulgarity, Of going aft.
what it wanted. In short, Il
vast Southern port, whose cor
mercial history is so respleadel
with q past IN which it figured
the importer Of all the most bea
tiful in silks and satins and tt
various ware which the Europes
continent made for American ari
tocracy, and which exported
the foreign market all the produ
Of the vast valley,--this bi