The sun., 1907-04-14

Sh0 SOnQueTlnR mnuenCe OF tWentleJn CEN
tury commerCialism will invade the carnival
festivities and leaven the whole lump.
When that day comes some oar in the
parade OF Rex. or Comus, or Momus por-
traying Cesar in the act Of crossing the
Rubicon, will bear on it's side in large red
letters legend reading: Don't forget to
buy your underwear, collars and shirts at
Blanks emporium" Such an addition to
the decorations Of the car will be demanded
by Mr.. Blank as clearly within his right and
privilege. This idea OF blending business
with art and festivity is sure to appeal to
the commercial instinct.
Time was. and that not far back, when
the community's busy season was confined
to about six months of the twelve, beginning
with October and ending with March. In
this brief period the cotton, sugar and rico
crops were marketed and sold. the planters
and farmers purchased the supplies neces-
sary to pitch new crops. the banks COL
lected their advances and then came the
season Of blissful idleness.
The town nodded and blinked through
the long hot weeks until the autumn came
again with its rich harvests. Because of
these conditions, supplemented by the con-
servative methods which characterized
the conduct Of it's business, New Orleans
was universally regarded as a victim of
dry rot and tropic laziness.
Those visitors who admitted that il was
charmingly picturesque; that its skies
were as screnely blue as the skies of Italy,
that It's manners we're superb and its hos
pitalIty most gracious, also remarked with
something like a sigh: Its too bad that il
should be dead" But all of that belongs
TO the days before the stream Of modernism
began to pour into it from all directions
With the rapid growth of manufactures
there has been steady inflow of capital.
the employment in active channels of
much money which had been boarded for
years and brought no good either to its
timid owners or the community, and the
result is now manifest in the fact that the
era Of blissful idleness is gone forever.
There is no more a busy season followed
by one of enervating inactivity and dull
ness, but on the contrary the current OF
trade roars and rushes through every
week OF the fifty-two, gaining in volume
and power with each years growth.
The transformation of conditions seems
almost magical to those who have observed
the processes that have galvanized tho
steady, conservative and methodical life
of an aged and practically isolated metropo-
lis into a dashing spryness which may be
described as kittenish. New Orleans is
indeed new to-day. though it is so short
a time since it appeared old, and nobody
can appreciate the change quite SO well
as a native who returns to the town after
an absence Of eight or ten years.
He finds that the old peaceful air that
rested on 1t like benediction has departed
along with much else that he dearly loved.
Many of the old features so familiar and
so priced by him have been wiped out and
their places taken by things that appear
strange, unwholesome and uncauny. The
ancient village Of Bienville's creation. hav-
ing shaken OF apparently the weight of
the centuries and what some have termed
its clogging fogyism, has taken to the ways
Of commercialism with such ardor and
energy as to indicate settled purpose
not only to 60 the swiftest gait but to set
a pace of its own calculated in time to
make some Of It's rivals weep.
The attempt has been made TO credit the |
revoIutionizing of the old order and condi- |
tions to Northern push exclusively, but this !
is not exactly just, though Northern men
have done much of the work, following
paths that were plainly blazed for them by
the native pioneers. There is no doubt an
examination Of the record would show
that the greater measure Of credit belongs
to the young men of the town and OF the
South who went out into the world to study
the manner Of doing things there and saw
that the slow going metropolis of the Gulf
was really a virgin field in which enormous
profits we're to be reaped.
These youngsters, many OF whom re-
ceived training in the commercial arenas
of the North, we're Instrumental in enlisting
the support of their Northern friends in
developing lines of business. Thus began
the destruction of the conservatism-slow-
ness, tropic laziness or whatever it may he
had hedged about the life OF
the town, and a stock Of brains and energy
which had long been held in leash had full
play for the first time.
The brains and the energy plunged into
commercialism as naturally as duck takes
to water. II the younger element have
faults slowness is not one Of them. They
have gone into the commercial game for
biR stakes and with the determination TO
win out.
There is much to justify the belief that
the historian Of the future will deal with he
present period Of the towns history as
a renaissance which began in 1897. when
the younger element. rebellng against
entrenched conservatism, organized and
won the municipal campaign that resulted
in voting sl6, 900 900 for the construction of
modern systems Of water, drainage and
sewerage Their action served TO notify |
the world that New Orleans had been !
aroused from it's lethargy and made to soc /
the wealth and the power which the future !
had in store for it,
II is not easy TO estimate the importance |
Of this campaign to transform New Orleans |
into a modern city. yet the fact is obvious |
that it was followed by investments of |
millions OF capital which gave an impetus !
to the towns growth that increases with |
each year. But enormously beneficial as |
this movement of 1897 was il cannot com |
pare in importance to the campaign oH |
1905. which demonstrated how completely /
medical science had at last conquered the |
yellow plague.
In the renaissance there have been lost !
many precious things. yet there is much !
for this loss in the elimina- /
ton Of yellow fever. and however opinion /
may differ az to the merits of the old and /
the now era, there " no longer doubt that /
the old town builded by Bienville beside the
tawny waters of the Mississippi is coming
into the glory and the greatness which |
Tbopoaa .Lalferaon nredicted IL would some