The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-05-02

as & Pacific Railroad, at the big
mass-meeting held in this city
April 19:
This is the first opportunity /
have had to address a public meet
ing on the question of "Immigra-
tion.' That it should be at Don
aldsonville is highly pleasing to me,
and even significant. When in con.
nect!on with great trans continent
al railroad l became interested in
this work-a work that ought to be
regarded as most important by any
one who has at heart the welfare of
| the state and the well-being of its
| people, had already taken note
of your activities at Donaldsonville
1t appeared to me the citizens Of
Donaldsonville, and its immediate vi
clnity, were giving the first, most
marked indications of possessing that
Wide-awake, progressive spirit we
must cultivate seriously and assidu-
ously in this state or founder by
the weight of our own inaction and
helplessness.
Your most successful fair, under
| taken and carried out against
| obstacles that must necessarily have
existed because of the neWness of
the project, the inexperience of
many who took part and lack of
appreciation Of the many benefits
that would follow; that fair alone
was in itself a strong proof of the
fact that you had awakened to the
call of a new era of progressive eff
fort and broadening of your field
of operation.
! With your fair has come the
launching of new undertakings, such
as the truck-farming operations in
the. vicinity of your town; the hog
raising plants on the Mccall and
Lemann plantations, with up-to-date
methods and equipment; the canning
establishment on the Godchaux Com
pany's Elm Hall place, and other
prospective enterprises. In addition,
the activity of your local Chamber
Of Commerce, steadily directing it's
efforts to the attainment of concrete
specific improvements, attracted my
attention and that of others.
It was for this reason I approach
ed the secretary of the Chamber OF
Commerce and suggested this meet
ing at Donaldsonville, the first of a.
series we intend to call at various
points on our line to awaken our peo-
pie to the Importance of immigra-
ton, of suitable and desirable i'm
migration, as a factor in the further
development of the state.
I found, as / knew I would,
quick response, and credit for this
interested and representative audience
is due to the same spirit of enter
prise, the same desire for forward
movement that has been shown
by the Chamber of Commerce since
the date of it's birth. To it is due
the full credit for this effort. We
are all their guests, all here on the
strength of their initiative and at
their invitation. The presence of
the governor is, of itself, strong eVi-
dence of the appreciation with which
honest individual effort to help ones
self is met by all citizens practically
interested in the well-being of the
state.
Donaldsonvil1e is called upon to-
day to give the keynote; and it is
to be hoped this keynote will draw
a clear and ready response from
every town in the state and that the
problems treating of a more general
development and the part that lmml-
grafton will play therein will be dis
cussed widely, studied deeply and
encouraged heartily.
What is the matter with Louisiana?
Nothing is the matter with Louisl-
ana!
With soil capable of shaming
with its productiveness the famed
abundance that is said to lie in the
lap of the Nile; a soil so fertile that
as Gayarre said: 'tIt needs only to
be tickIed with a hoe in order to
smile with abundance" with sky
SO beneficent that the whole year
becomes a period of perennial har-
vest; with a climate SO healthy that
the hoary heads and gray W1iskers
habitually cheat the toll of death;
with a climate SO kindly that the
hardy grains of the temperate zone
prosper alongside the truculent fruits
of the tropics; with climate SO
amiabIe that the expenses of living
are reduced to a minimum; with
nature so Iuxuriant and so plentiful
that untethered animals grow into
fatness in the very woods, and In
the coolest seasons seldom seek
shelter; with streams and lakes and
sea abounding in choicest. sea foods
that could tempt an epicure and sus-
tain continent; with forests OF
giant timber for the building OF
homes that might house nation;
with mineral deposits ready to be
turned into fabulous wealth, billions
of tons of salt sufficient for the
consumption of the world for an IN
definite period; millions of barrels
of fuel oil to furnish power to
hundreds of millions of factory
wheels; billions of cubic feet OF IL
Illuminating gas to furnish light 10
monster cities; millions OF tons OF
sulphur mined into mountain acres OF
solid mineral; with this nearly two
thousand miles of sea coast and
nearly five thousand miles of inland
navigable waters, and thousands Of
miles of railroads, making every acre
easy of access to the fartherest
markets and the most remote seats
Of civilization and culture-Wfat is
the matter with Louisiana?
Not at natures door lies the
fault. At whose?
Will you and I, turning the light
of our own investigation upon our
selves, venture to name the culprit?