Louisiana Products, Resources, and Attractions; With a Sketch of the Parishes

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1881 edition. Excerpt: ... to those two afflicted classes, who have peculiar claim upon every civilized and Christian community. No persistent effort has been made to induce immigration, et we meet new faces from the Northern and Western States an from Europe. These are frequently persons of property, who come to live amongst us, bringing their household gods, and are amongst our best 01 izens. Labor? Yes, we want labor, but not the heathen Chinese. We want the industrious white man to take up our waste places; we want the industrious colored man to take up our places that are not wasted. In other words, we want the settler and the laborer. And now what inducement have we to offer to immigrants? Some have been offered, and I now propose others. The question, can the white man labor in the field the entire year? is no longer a uestion with us. But as these lines are intended for the information 0 the stranger, I will say that he can do so with perfect safety. It is being done every day by foreign as well as native born citizens. Indeed, a large portion of the cotton produced in this parish is the result of white abor. But the cane is the better crop far the white man, as field work is finished about the first of July, and therefore two of the hottest months are spent out of the field. Already one of our largest planters is preparing for the reception, and daily expectation of the arrival of ten or twelve families from En land for the cultivation of cane. He is doing this advisedly. having a ready several families employed, an account of whose operations is given further along. Wages for an expert field hand on sugar plantations is $18 per month and rations. Where the share system is adopted, as on cotton plantations, the laborer gets of what he produces one-third...