USA > Louisiana > A history of Louisiana, Volume II > Part 4
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The negroes are slaves only in name, for in reality they are as happy as may be the laborers in Europe. The master is obliged only to give to each negro a barrel of corn in the ear, and a piece of ground for him to make his crop of corn, rice, or whatever he may wish, a cabin like those that are made here in the orchard of Orihuela, and a yard of thirty or forty paces with a fence, for him to raise chickens, hogs, etc. With his profits, each negro buys every winter a woolen coat, a pair of long breeches, and two or three shirts. With what remains to him he buys bear's grease,
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to cook, as he pleases, the corn on which they all live and are so healthy and robust that some persons who came here lately from Havana were astonished to see the negroes so nimble, strong, and bright. It is the custom here in winter, as there are sometimes heavy frosts, not to make the negroes go to the fields before seven or eight o'clock in the morning. They stop their work at twelve, and return to the fields at two o'clock in the evening, remaining until night. In summer they go out at daybreak and remain until eleven, and return to work at three and remain until night. In this way they have the time to attend for a short while to their crops and to their poultry, hogs, etc. When they are industrious and their own crops need their attention, the master gives them a day or two for themselves. They all have in their cabin a bed made of boards, with a mattress made of a kind of dried herb, which is better than horschair. The cabin is divided into two parts, each one with a chimney. There are in one part a table, crockery, earthen pans, a gun for hunting on feast-days, and, in fact, everything necessary or indispensable. The other division is to sleep in, and above they store their crop. The most elegant, when they go to the city on holidays, are as well dressed as the whites, but they always go barefooted. This is the only mark of their slavery. Nothing proves better the health that they enjoy than the fact that a physician usually makes a contract to attend to all the negroes on a plantation annually for one dollar a head. I know many persons who possess from sixty to seventy negroes, and who, during the whole time that I have been here, have not lost a single one.
One does not see a single beggar in this whole province. Some mariners who have come from Havana, accustomed to ask for alms, more through habit than through necessity, wished to do the same; but as all the women went to the doors of their houses at this novelty, and told them the same thing,-that it was a shame that men, young and strong, should be so lazy,-they were obliged to return to their vessel, giving up the idea of drawing a profit from that industry.
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COMMERCE
From what has been said, one may see that the people of this country require the least means to give an infinite development to this province, and put it in a favorable condition as compared with its neighbors, however strong and powerful they may be.
The legitimate commerce of the colony is reduced to six or seven vessels, which have come here since the Spaniards have taken possession of the province. Ships of 120 to 150 tons came loaded principally with wines and provisions from Spain, and goods from France, but the profits were so small that most of them have not returned. They did not wish to risk cargoes of peltries and indigo, because the first article is in little demand in Spain, and the quality of the latter is not known there .. The articles from Europe can hardly be sold at a profit, as they are furnished to the planters by the English ships in the river, or by the French vessels under the English flag. The Spanish vessels, therefore, can only sell their goods in the city, where one buys much less than in the country.
The commerce with Havana has been a little more useful to the country, although it has not derived all the profit that it might have expected from a regulation of the King which forbade the cutting of cedars in Havana and ordered that the cases in which sugar was sent should be made of wood from New Orleans. How- ever, a certain person, having made a contract to furnish Havana with all the cases that might be necessary, laid down the law to the planters of Louisiana, buying their cases at a very low price, and making them wait from eight to twelve months for payment. Besides, the people of Havana cut the cedars, in spite of the regulation, alleging that they were trees cut before that time, and, as the only articles exported from Havana are brandy (made from the sugar-cane) and a little sugar, the whole profit from freight going and coming depended on the lumber from Louisiana. The latter article being very bulky, a board that was worth in New Orleans four reals of Castile, cost in Havana, with the addition of the freight charge, only eight reals. The regular commerce with the Spaniards in the colony may be reckoned at $15,000 per
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annum, and $50,000 with Havana, since the regulation referred to, and from $10,000 to $12,000 for various contracts made for the arsenals of His Majesty.
The want of direct commerce with Spain and of legitimate commerce with any other province is the cause of the decline of this country; for although an illegal commerce has furnished the planters with all they needed without their being molested, never- theless they have felt a certain anxiety on account of their know- ledge of the severity with which the infraction of the law has been treated occasionally in other Spanish possessions. They all say to themselves : " If there was an investigation, I should be ruined, with my wife and my children." Full of this fear, those who have gained the most by an illicit traffic are the first to leave the colony with all their relatives. They sell their plantations and settle among the English at Manchac. Therefore, there are four bad results : (1) The absence of a man or of a family who might be useful to the state. (2) The depreciation in value of other planta- tions, for there are fewer people capable of buying than those who wish to sell. (3) The advantages given to a people who are by nature our enemies. (4) The bad example set by those who have gone to Manchac, who depict their fears as much greater than they are, and who exaggerate the liberty and privileges they enjoy among the English. The harm would be much greater were it not that they cannot sell their plantations and leave the province. The decline has been such that houses and lands that formerly were worth from $8000 to $10,000, are selling to-day for $1000 or $1500.
This is the point that most deserves the attention of the govern- ment, and the governor of the province has kept it well informed on this subject. The commerce of the colony amounts annually to about $600,000, of which only $15,000 belong to the Spanish commerce and to two ships which, by royal permission, have taken cargoes to France. All the rest belongs to the commerce of the English. They have continually in the Mississippi ten or twelve boats, without counting one or two floating stores, as con-
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THE ENGLISH AT MANCHAC
' venient as good houses. The English furnish the planters with what they need, receiving their products in payment, a transaction that cannot be avoided, however vigilant the governor may be, as it would be necessary to place a guard in every house. The articles that cannot be disposed of are sold to the owners of the floating stores or barks, who make use of them afterward, or they are sent to Manchac to form there a depository from which they furnish goods to others of our people. The English engage in this commerce with the greatest profit and without any risk, as it is not they who venture to land the goods.
An Englishman in Jamaica freights a bark of one hundred and fifty tons, for $1500 at most, to come to the Mississippi. He loads with articles which he takes on credit, and with twenty or thirty negroes. With the product of the goods he reimburses the capital and pays the freight, and a profit remains. He sells three fourths of the negroes, and with the remainder, who are always the best, he settles at Manchac, and in a few years he is wealthy. This proves that the English owe to their commerce, or rather to that which they have with us, and which it is morally impossible to prevent, their establishment at Manchac, saying nothing of the activity that it gives to their ships, which is not small. A French- man cannot come to the Mississippi with his flag; he is obliged to freight an English ship, which he loads with goods and pro- visions with which he makes his profit. But the surest profit is that of the Englishman, as his freight cannot fail. Boats leave New Orleans for Natchitoches, Pointe Coupée, Arkansas, and Illinois. In New Orleans they take something, but most of their cargo is taken from the floating stores, remote from the city, or at Manchac, as they buy cheaper and have longer credits.
Various vessels assemble there, which from London come directly to the Mississippi, and all of which have seven or eight skilled workmen-carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. But what gives the great- est advantage to the English posts at Manchac, river Amite, and Baton Rouge is the fact that English inhabitants who flee from the disturbances in the colonies come to settle at these posts with
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all their property. They come very easily, at small cost, some by sea and others by the river Ohio or Belle Rivière; and the best proof of the progress of that colony, which receives no help whatever from England, is that lands untilled and covered with forests sell at a higher price than our cultivated lands near the city. If no means are taken to prevent the development of that establishment, it will absorb ours, and will be a menace for the vast kingdom of Mexico.
The Indians who inhabit this immense colony are innumerable ; and without their friendship it would not be easy for us to ascend the river, unless we used large forces, while with their friendship we should have free navigation, and they themselves would be guardians of the river and protect our lands from invasion by the English. The Indian tribes that are friendly to us and receive our gifts are very small in comparison with those that are under the control of the English, and the latter tribes are abundantly supplied with arms and provisions, and would always dominate our tribes if we did not counterbalance the policy of the English.
The plan adopted by the English to dominate the Indians has been the creation of two general superintendents of the Indians, one in Florida and the other in Canada. They have power to make gifts or discontinue them, and to appoint delegates to visit the chiefs or caciques. Every two or three years the superin- tendents call congresses of the chiefs and principal warriors, and renew the treaties made with them. They regulate also the trade with the Indians ; they give passports to the traders, and see that the latter commit 1. frauds, and they punish those who do. With these means, and with exact justice and humanity, the English have acquired such a power over the Indians that to-day they make use of them to subjugate the colonists.
At present the English have on their lands, and subject to them, the Choctaws, Otchatas, Ochises, Chickasaws, Natchez, and various other tribes that formerly were entirely friendly to the French and the Spaniards. These tribes are near us, and often come to the shores of Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, and to Natchez.
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THE INDIANS
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· The Choctaws alone can put under arms 16,000 warriors, and the following example will give an idea of the importance of their friendship.
In 1765, Don Juan Estuardo, General Superintendent of the Indians, called at Mobile a general congress of the Choctaws and many other tribes, to ratify and confirm a general peace with them. At the time of the congress came the news that several warriors of the Choctaw tribe had attacked and driven back Major Arthur Loftus, who was going up the Mississippi, with five hun- dred men, to Fort Chartres in the Illinois, and compelled him to return after a loss of many soldiers dead and wounded. As the superintendent called to account the Emperor or Great Sun, and asked him how it was that his warriors had committed such an offense, the latter rose and answered with great solemnity: "I shall send some of my warriors, not only to my nation, but to all the others on the banks of the Mississippi, to say that from this day they shall help and protect the English who may wish to go up the river, furnishing them with whatever venison and wild-ox meat they may need." He added these remarkable words: "I shall in- struct my messenger to say to all nations that if any man of a na- tion disobeys this order I shall wipe off that nation from the earth." This happened while Don Antonio de Ulloa was in New Orleans, where some one who was a witness of the incident is still living.
This fact and many others prove how essential it is to follow the same system as the English and appoint here a general superintendent, who should know how to conciliate the various na- tions bordering on the Mississippi and win them over to Spanish interests. As there is peace, we have had no trouble with the Indians ; but in case of war, New Orleans would not be secure, unless we acquired the good will of those tribes. The English delegate at Manchac does nothing daily but attempt to attract the Indians who are on our lands, especially the Arkansas.
The influence that the English have acquired over these na- tions has not been through force alone, but by practising the most exact and prompt justice. When any nation has failed
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seriously in any contract, and the superintendent does not wish to punish it himself, he orders the other nations to attack and destroy it; which order is strictly obeyed, until the nation im- plores clemency and repairs its fault. This important end is reached solely by giving powder and ammunition to those nations that are to inflict the punishment. The control of the English over their nations has reached such a point that they make the children of the Indians come to their schools, and they also send teachers to the nations.
The critical situation in which England is placed gives us a favorable opportunity to draw over to us many of the neighbor- ing nations that were formerly friendly to us, as many in Florida, provided we adopt the methods of the English. The Indians, in reality, prefer us to the English, and, as our lands are better suited to hunting, they would surely come over to us if we adopted the same way of treating them. Not only in this manner should we succeed in decreasing the power of the English and increasing ours, but we should attract to ourselves the nations that are in our lands remote from the river, who occupy the vast country from the Californias to the Mississippi. This is a matter of the greatest importance. If we united with those nations and treated them as the English treat their nations, we should need no other barriers to resist all the English forces. The general superintendent of the English is entirely independent of the governor, and is responsible only to the supreme authority; but if we establish such an office it should be subject to the governor, leaving it, however, all necessary freedom for being respected and obeyed.
There are four systems of commerce that might be established in the province: (1) Commerce entirely free with Spain and with the posts mentioned in the regulation. This would be the most advantageous system, without doubt; but a fatal experience has made us see that in the present condition of the province this system of commerce is not sufficient alone. Count O'Reilly said to the planters: " Sell your products to any one who presents himself and pays in money, but under no consideration receive
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SYSTEMS OF COMMERCE
goods, as they do harm to your own commerce. I shall see to it that vessels come from Cadiz, Barcelona, and Santander, and if this is not sufficient there will be found a way of giving you a commerce that will make you progress." (2) Commerce by means of a company. This system has the same disadvantages as the former, and many more. By the first system it may be hoped that the nation, as a whole, may derive some profit ; by the second, the profit would belong to only two or three individuals. But what profit would this company make if its commerce were not superior to that of the English? It is a manifest error to pretend that the whole country would be satisfied with a commerce re- stricted and established by means of guards, and that the inhabi- tants would buy from the company, at four times the price, what the English are offering them in front of their houses at two or three times. They would listen to the repeated offers of the Eng- lish to settle on their lands and obtain liberty of commerce and tranquillity in their homes, and this would expose the entire se- curity of the country. The happiness and satisfaction of the peo- ple are the surest proof of their progress, and I know that the mere mention of a company terrifies them, as they have a general belief that any commercial company with exclusive privileges is the ruin and destruction of the people. It is equilibrium and equality that make commerce flourish. Let companies be formed in Spain, and let them compete for this commerce as any inhabitant of the country : this would be a very useful thing and to be desired; but if a privilege, however small, is granted to any one of these com- panies, it will absorb in time the commerce of all. (3) A free and open commerce with all nations. This system would doubt- less be useful to this country, and would do harm to the commerce of the English, as the commerce of France has a known advantage in the province over that of England. While the country be- longed to France, the English never thought of engaging in commerce there, although they had free navigation of the river. No hindrance was put in the way of the English who wished to settle in New Orleans, and they contributed, not to the progress of
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their own nation, but to that of the French colony. Let us con- sider some objections to this system. If there were free commerce by land with Mexico, no one would take advantage of it, on ac- count of the risks and expenses of the long journey. One must pass through various nations of Indians, and cross lakes, rivers, mountains, to reach San Antonio de Bejar, distant more than two hundred leagues from Natchitoches. When this country was French, the governor wished to open a branch of commerce with Mexico. Five or six private individuals, under the protection of the governor, undertook an expedition and went as far as New Mexico ; but what happened to them? After infinite labors they lost half of their goods, and the rest was confiscated in the neigh- borhood of that city. They were fortunate to be able to return despoiled and wretched, and they were and are to-day the jest of the country. There would be no advantage over the regular commerce by way of Vera Cruz. If this commerce was established only at the post of Tejas, which was transferred to San Antonio de Bejar when the whole province of Louisiana was French, and when it received the support of the governor, how could there be commerce with a governor who would be watching this point, supposing that any one were rash enough to risk his money on such a contingency? If the gate of Louisiana were open to every foreign vessel, the French would, without doubt, have a greater commerce than any other nation; but the English would take advantage of their situation at Manchac to develop their com- merce as much as possible. The inhabitants of Louisiana, ac- customed to having all that they need brought to then, and to selling their products, would lose all spirit of maritime enterprise, and the foreign merchants would not possess that patriotic spirit which the inhabitants of Louisiana would have in order to bring to the country persons and families, to increase the population and develop the agriculture of the colony. In case of war, the inhabitants of Louisiana would find themselves deprived of all ships or means to provide themselves with the most necessary things. (4) Active commerce of individuals and planters should
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be established in the colony with places that may be of most ad- vantage to them. If it is permitted to the inhabitants of Loui- siana to carry themselves the products of the colony to such place as suits them best, with the obligation that it be in ships con- structed in the country itself, and that they bring in return the articles essential to the colony, leaving this commerce equally free to all Spanish vessels coming from Spain or from Havana, the commerce of the English will be ruined, as all the inhabitants will be vigilant guards to prevent a foreigner from undertaking a com- merce that should be for their benefit alone. There is not the least doubt that the commerce of the English would be ruined, as the colonists from Louisiana, being able to go to Spain or France to buy what they need at the factories themselves, would have more advantages than the English themselves, who generally buy the goods second-hand, because the products of their factories are not as suitable or as cheap as those from France or some from Spain.
The commerce of the English on the river being ruined, the decline of Manchac would follow, especially if a general pardon were offered to all who have absented themselves for purposes of contraband, and if the Catholics at Manchac were allowed to settle on our lands with all their negroes, which they would do immediately to be near the city. It is so important for the state that Manchac should not prosper, that any individual should be admitted, whatever be his nation, especially if he comes with his family and his negroes.
Count O'Reilly, before leaving this country, allowed all the merchants who had ships to make one or two journeys to Guanico; and had the Spaniards continued this commerce, the English would never have thought of improving Manchac. The absence of Spanish vessels left to them the entire commerce of the Missis- sippi. If the English were obliged to go up the river one hun- dred leagues to Manchac to sell their cargoes, they would soon abandon this commerce on account of the excessive cost. And they could not sustain it from Pensacola or Mobile through Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas; as, when the river is low, in some
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parts they cannot cross over, and even when it is high they must go in flatboats with oars and at great peril, as the lakes have little depth and are very dangerous, at least during strong wind.
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The objection that some might make to this system is, that if this country is developed as it will surely be by this means, and its population greatly increased, it may be feared that, in time, finding itself with a navy and with so many facilities to con- struct one, it might follow the bad example of the English colonies. This objection falls when we notice that from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Mexican Gulf, in our possessions, there is no bay or port capable of containing a ship of two or three hundred tons, and this country will never be able to make such an attempt. But why such a suspicion of a people who will be happy, especially if prompt and equitable justice is administered to them? This suspicion is incompatible with the true and great desires for happiness and progress of this people, and in the crit- ical situation in which it finds itself. I believe that I have proved sufficiently that for the true interests of the King and of the state, for the honor of the nation, for the good of humanity, it is es- sential to protect it and to make it progress. The Mississippi is and should be the rampart of all New Spain; and to resist enemies, in case of war, with a small population, by means of forts, cities, troops, is a very great and costly enterprise, and not as secure as would be the fidelity of a large population, especially if it is prosperous and happy.
The royal treasury would derive immense advantages from protecting this country, and the King would obtain the means of keeping there the largest army in all the Americas, which would serve, not only for the defense of that country, but also to send reinforcements to any place in Mexico or Havana, if necessary, without the greatest expense to the royal treasury, as experience has proved how onerous it is to transport armics from Spain. By protecting this country we shall take possession, as soon as we wish, of the whole coast of the Mississippi, and also of Mobile and Pensacola, because those towns are on a sandy and barren soil,
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