Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-11-27
WISE COUNSEL.

"a dissatisfied and restless spirit
prevails among the farmers, as a
rule, and among q large per cent
of men of other trades aud pro-
LESSONS all over the boil wee
vii infested territory of the cotton
belt. Many of these are sacrifice
ing their homes and preparing to
run Their seems to be no good
excuse for any such action. These
people, in DESERVING the cotton
fields, 60 to unknown and untrled
territory 30 far as they are con.
cerned), many of them without
means with which to re-establish
themselves. They become depend
ent to the fullest degree and ii
misfortune Overtakes them are
left in much worse condition than
they will possibly ever reach by
remaining here and making the
most CT what Providence has pro-
vided for this country aud where
they are known and have friends
to help them in time of need. If
it were true that cotton was the
only crop this section would pro-
duce, there might be some excuse
for deserving, under present con-
ditiOns, but inasmuch as no Sec
ton has yet been found capable
of producing as many and varied
products of the soil as this, the
rash and panIcky acts of those
who would. hunt q new country
would be ludicrous if they were
not pathetic.
1t is indeed difficult to argue
successfully with one who is in
adversely; nevertheless the wise
and temperate counsel given by
our contemporary in the trying
emergency in which it finds itself
is wholesome and edifyiug. If the
Bienville farmers would stop to
reflect q moment they would see
the unwisdom of their course
Their all is in the cotton belt;
their homes, their friends are
there and it Is the theatre of
their triumphs and their failures,
of their joys and their sorrows.
Their children were born there,
beneath the soil rest the bones of
their loved ones, and n thousand
sacred associations, traditions and
memories bind them to it.
Besides, where will they go?
Every section has its drawbacks
and its peculiar difficulties to
overcome. There is no spot on
the face Of the earth to which
they may go with the assurance
that they will be any better off
than they would he in Bienvllle
Parish. No industrious man in
good health can starve there. The
boil weevil may make times hard
for him for year or two, but
cotton is not the only means of
obtaining a livelihood there, and
in other places Ia which he might
60 there are difficulties compared
to which the boil weevil in Bien-
vile is but child's play.
Should he go 10 the Northwest
he will find himself unable to
cope with the severe winters prev
alent there, where he must work
six months to provide food for
his stock during the remaining
six months; should he turn his
steps to the West, grasshoppers,
cyclones and Il thousand things
to which he is unaccustomed, will
confront him; in Texas the boil
weevil is ever-present; they will
be in Mississippi, Alabama, Geor-
gia and the other States about rs
soon rs he could GIT settled down
there.
The obvious lesson Ia learn ia,
that the way to overcome the dis
aster is to face it boldly and with
courageous heart, and not to
fly away from its approach.
Trouble only accumulates about
him who seeks t. run away from
it, while danger flies before tie
face of him who rpsolutolv adj
heres to his purpose through sun
shine and through storm. The
man who has the right stuff in
him can and will prosper il. spite
of the boil weevil. 1t may re-
quire n little time for him 10 adj
just himself to the more rigid
economy enforced, to the differen,