The Star of New Orleans - A Louisiana AAR

[AllmyJames]

Dear Sir:

Let me see if I am "reading between the lines" correctly. The below is my conjecture. The current government practices State Capitalism, just discovered Romanticism, is a Great Power (I suppose #8?), claims some territory in Texas and outlying Mexican territories due to the event of Fremont's expedition, and is now researching High and Low Pressure Steam Engines. The Netherlands signed the Treaty of London. Relations with the USA are somewhere between 50 and 80.

Am I correct? I have read other reports on similar situation, but this is the first such newspaper I have perused. The format is rather unfamiliar, and I am trying to rationalize the information into a more familiar setting.

Yours,
Messr. E. F.

That's mostly correct. The Bonapartists begin in power, with 'State Capitalism' as their economic policy. The discovery of Romanticism boosted Louisiana first to secondary and then, quickly, to Great Power Status. This allowed the colonisation of Idaho. There's a fabric mill in Louisiana and a steel mill in Missouri. My handful of newly-promoted capitalists are funding a railroad project. Louisiana doesn't currently have claims to either Texas or parts of Mexico. This may change later, but for now, the senators are just sabre-rattling.

Hope that helps!

[Llywelyn]

Dear Sir:

First, I write in approbation of your newest columnists, Messrs. E—— & F——. I found their frank and insightful analysis to be a regular sockdolager & hope to see more material from them both in the years ahead.

Second, while I am as pleased as anyone to see the standard of Louisiane rising to its rightful height among the banners of the earth, is there one among us who yet feels secure in such a place?

Our work to safeguard the security of Texas and Central America both from internal and external threat redounds only to our glory, and yet these allies can hardly be classed among the first rank of the world: indeed, until our corps des ingénieurs is able to open up a permanent channel to Galveston, the former is practically isolated by the treacherous sandbars restricting it to the coasting trade.

Without fortification, we remain at the mercy of any great naval power who might blockade the Mississippi or Port-au-Prince. Without immigration or ports upon the Pacific, we risk immediate capitulation upon the arrival of any great American force upon the Mississippi. Without a naval industry, we remain at the mercy of the New York and Charleston merchants who transship full on 80% our products of our nation to the European market.

The lethargy of our neighbors, the Southern states, gives us, I think, a false sense of security about the juggernaut being constructed in the North. For the fifty years following its independence, American growth, like Louisiana's today, came mostly from its natural increase; but in the last decade, the population has grown from 12 to 17 millions, and close on a million — the entirety of the current population of continental Louisiane — from recent immigration.

Our borders swarm with industrious and hard-working immigrants who are yet kept back by a Bureau of Immigration fearful of their language, their religion, and their allegiance.

Further, no one can say whether war or civil war will come to America, but one or th'other seems ordained by God. Of the 23 states of the American Union, fully 13 are free states. The admission of the territory of Wisconsin into the Union before Florida would allow the north to override any Southern filibuster against the abolition of slavery. The Yankees are even mooting changes to Senate and House rules to abolish the filibuster entirely or to divide the Wisconsin territory into two separate states. Given the growing divide between the power of the northern and southern states, the South's only option will be either to strike out against Spain, us, or our newfound allies.

Bon Dieu preserve us, the only one of those three targets appealing to the north will be Louisiane, not only because of the riches of St.-Domingue, not only because it will grant them control of the outlet of the Ohio, but also because it is the only one which offers the north the opportunity to create more free states as well. The eventuality must be prepared for.

Now, the Oregon trail has been shaped into a track sturdy enough for wagons; the Beauregard-Bidot party has established a trail into California, and the Russians have decamped from Ft. Ross. M. de Mofras has written, "It is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."

The Society for the Rights of Man and Citizen earnestly proposes the following national policy be adopted:

* Expansion and modernization of the fortifications at Nouvelle-Orléans, St.-Louis, and Port-au-Prince;

* Free land-grants across our open lands to encourage the development of rail-roads and settlement along them;

* An end to the domination of our territories by professional speculators and their division into townships, with discounted or gratis land-grants to new settlers;

* Increased funding for education and naturalization of prospective immigrants;

* Liberalization of our administration, under a revised constitution, lest immigrants — or God forbid, the poor and middle-class Louisianans themselves! — find the American government more amenable than our own;

* The acquisition of Haute-Californie north of the Tehachapi mountains from Mexico, either by accommodation w/its central gov't, with its territorial gov't, or w/the gentleman Sutter, who resides there, for the establishment of Pacific ports and trade with the Orient;

* Provision of assistance both with President Lamar's effort to enforce the claims of Texas to the Santa Fe territory and with the efforts of the righteous struggle of the République du Yucatán against the tyranny of the centralist government in Mexico, subject only to concessions of neutrality provided by treaty regarding the issue of Haute-Californie.

Your faithful reader,
Léolin DE LLOYD,
Juge de paix & candidate for the SRMC in the parish of Orléans

[Alfredian]

Dear Sir

In the light of the ongoing debate about the relationship between ourselves and our neighbours, might it be possible that a future supplement to your esteemed publication could compare our size and strength with that of our neighbours?

I for one find it a little hard to weigh then against each other.

Yours

Mr A. Alfredian

[AllmyJames]

Dear Sir,

While economic freedom is an admireable goal, it is unarguable that a certain amount of dirigisme is necessary to get a country's economic power into the ranks of the truly great modern nations.

Yours approvingly,

RGB.

Certainly - each of our neighbours, is more economically productive than us! Our agricultural products (see below) are few, and our population low. Hopefully the new opportunities for employment will lure immigrants away from the shores of New York, Galveston and Veracruz!

Locomotives, yay!
Close to the Western coast?
What natural resources do you have and what do you lack?

Currently the territory claimed by Louisiana ceases at the Rocky Mountains. But further 'explorations' are planned.

As for resources, our daily production is as follows:

Tobacco 177.2 tonnes
Cotton 14.5 tonnes
Cereals 14.4 tonnes
Fruit 11.8 tonnes
Coal 11.7 tonnes
Cattle 9.2 tonnes
Glass 3.8 tonnes (from artisans)
Fabric 3.3 tonnes (from factories)
Timber 2.5 tonnes
Sulpher 2.3 tonnes
Clothing 2.0 tonnes (from artisans)
Wool 1.5 tonnes
Wine 1.1 tonnes (from artisans)
Steel 0.5 tonnes (from factories)
Iron 0.6 tonnes
...plus some small outputs of other goods.

We're importing a lot of tea, fish and wool. For the next factories, it looks like glass, cement, wine and clothing would all be good bets.

Dear Sir,

I wanted to relay my extreme pleasure of reading your magnificent paper on Louisiana and its occurrences. A job well done.

I must say that I am worried about continuing "cordial" relations with the United States. I believe for Louisiana to proceed as a Great Power, relations must improve to relieve any concern of a diplomatic misfortune.

Yours respectfully,

Eber

Thank you for your kind words!

Maintaining good relations with our neighbours is a priority. Otherwise, we run the severe risk of being sandwiched between the US and Mexico!

Spain did what!?

Yep. The Spanish AI seems to enjoy beating up on the Middle East.

Dear Sir:

First, I write in approbation of your newest columnists, Messrs. E—— & F——. I found their frank and insightful analysis to be a regular sockdolager & hope to see more material from them both in the years ahead.

Second, while I am as pleased as anyone to see the standard of Louisiane rising to its rightful height among the banners of the earth, is there one among us who yet feels secure in such a place?

Our work to safeguard the security of Texas and Central America both from internal and external threat redounds only to our glory, and yet these allies can hardly be classed among the first rank of the world: indeed, until our corps des ingénieurs is able to open up a permanent channel to Galveston, the former is practically isolated by the treacherous sandbars restricting it to the coasting trade.

Without fortification, we remain at the mercy of any great naval power who might blockade the Mississippi or Port-au-Prince. Without immigration or ports upon the Pacific, we risk immediate capitulation upon the arrival of any great American force upon the Mississippi. Without a naval industry, we remain at the mercy of the New York and Charleston merchants who transship full on 80% our products of our nation to the European market.

The lethargy of our neighbors, the Southern states, gives us, I think, a false sense of security about the juggernaut being constructed in the North. For the fifty years following its independence, American growth, like Louisiana's today, came mostly from its natural increase; but in the last decade, the population has grown from 12 to 17 millions, and close on a million — the entirety of the current population of continental Louisiane — from recent immigration.

Our borders swarm with industrious and hard-working immigrants who are yet kept back by a Bureau of Immigration fearful of their language, their religion, and their allegiance.

Further, no one can say whether war or civil war will come to America, but one or th'other seems ordained by God. Of the 23 states of the American Union, fully 13 are free states. The admission of the territory of Wisconsin into the Union before Florida would allow the north to override any Southern filibuster against the abolition of slavery. The Yankees are even mooting changes to Senate and House rules to abolish the filibuster entirely or to divide the Wisconsin territory into two separate states. Given the growing divide between the power of the northern and southern states, the South's only option will be either to strike out against Spain, us, or our newfound allies.

Bon Dieu preserve us, the only one of those three targets appealing to the north will be Louisiane, not only because of the riches of St.-Domingue, not only because it will grant them control of the outlet of the Ohio, but also because it is the only one which offers the north the opportunity to create more free states as well. The eventuality must be prepared for.

Now, the Oregon trail has been shaped into a track sturdy enough for wagons; the Beauregard-Bidot party has established a trail into California, and the Russians have decamped from Ft. Ross. M. de Mofras has written, "It is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."

The Society for the Rights of Man and Citizen earnestly proposes the following national policy be adopted:

* Expansion and modernization of the fortifications at Nouvelle-Orléans, St.-Louis, and Port-au-Prince;

* Free land-grants across our open lands to encourage the development of rail-roads and settlement along them;

* An end to the domination of our territories by professional speculators and their division into townships, with discounted or gratis land-grants to new settlers;

* Increased funding for education and naturalization of prospective immigrants;

* Liberalization of our administration, under a revised constitution, lest immigrants — or God forbid, the poor and middle-class Louisianans themselves! — find the American government more amenable than our own;

* The acquisition of Haute-Californie north of the Tehachapi mountains from Mexico, either by accommodation w/its central gov't, with its territorial gov't, or w/the gentleman Sutter, who resides there, for the establishment of Pacific ports and trade with the Orient;

* Provision of assistance both with President Lamar's effort to enforce the claims of Texas to the Santa Fe territory and with the efforts of the righteous struggle of the République du Yucatán against the tyranny of the centralist government in Mexico, subject only to concessions of neutrality provided by treaty regarding the issue of Haute-Californie.

Your faithful reader,
Léolin DE LLOYD,
Juge de paix & candidate for the SRMC in the parish of Orléans

Those are all excellent points. I'll do my best to address them.

* Industrialisation and immigration are natural complements, yet our politicians remain divided on these issues. The Bonapartists are wary of the influx of European malcontents who speak little French and are often more liberal in their outlook. The Lafayettists, meanwhile, welcome the immigrant population, but are busy decrying the current regime's policy of State Capitalism. A growing band of Moderate Conservatives may provide a balanced answer, but they remain heavily in the minority.

* Naval expansion is a priority, for reasons that will soon become clear. However, it is very expensive, and the nation's economy can barley support such measures. Similar reasoning applies to expansion of the army and fortification of our harbours.

* The Government is actively focusing its attention on the territories of Ouragon and the Indian Territories, in order to enforce its claims there. Whether we can take advantage of discontent in Mexico will depend upon our being able to expand our military strength.

Dear Sir

In the light of the ongoing debate about the relationship between ourselves and our neighbours, might it be possible that a future supplement to your esteemed publication could compare our size and strength with that of our neighbours?

I for one find it a little hard to weigh then against each other.

Yours

Mr A. Alfredian

I will endeavour to include a special edition on that very topic shortly.

Apologies for the late update everyone. I'll try to make it up to you with a bonus soon!

[AllmyJames]

[Llywelyn]

Certainly - each of our neighbours, with the possible exception of Haiti, is more economically productive than us!

Haïti?

As for resources, our daily production is as follows:

I know it may not be worth it to mod back in, but if France had kept St.-Domingue, it sure as heck wouldn't be producing tobacco. Even if the rebellion wrecked the sugar plantations, the local products were coffee and mahogany on the west end and cattle on the east. Otoh, if you were to fix that, the extra income (especially if the sugar events from the steam engine techs are still around) would help fund the mainland's defense and industrialization, which seems appropriate.

[AllmyJames]

Haïti?

Whoops!

I know it may not be worth it to mod back in, but if France had kept St.-Domingue, it sure as heck wouldn't be producing tobacco. Even if the rebellion wrecked the sugar plantations, the local products were coffee and mahogany on the west end and cattle on the east. Otoh, if you were to fix that, the extra income (especially if the sugar events from the steam engine techs are still around) would help fund the mainland's defense and industrialization, which seems appropriate.

I might look into that option! Sugar was a VIP invention, and it doesn't appear in V2, sadly.

[Llywelyn]

Dear Sir:

À bas les Danois! Vive les Américains!

Your faithful reader,
Représentans DE LLOYD,
Parish of Orléans

(I'm sure there should be more slave revolts; I was just afraid we'd missed a big one.

And that explains it about sugar...)

[RGB]

Dear Sir,

While we are a new nation, we shall not stand to being treated with such contempt as was shown to us by the Danes. If they shall persist in their folly, perhaps we should teach them a lesson!

Yours etc,

RGB - commenting since Independence!

[Jape]

Dear Sir,
Action must be taken against the perfidious Dane. No Nordic Poobah can get away with what they have done! I suggest all good minded citizens of Now Orleans march down to the docks and dump their filthy bacon into the sea while dressed as Vikings.

[Enewald]

Prepare for proper Viking raids!
On Mississippi!

[aldriq]

Dear Sir,

At the risk of quoting an English bard and not a French one, I must say that something is rotten in the state of Denmark... I hope your inquisitive paper will find exactly where the rot is.

Yours,

M. Blanc

[AllmyJames]

As a little bonus, I've added a 'Guide to Acadien Patriotism' on the front page. Let me know if there's any other reference materials you'd like to see.

[Eber]

Dear Sir,

I must say that it is good news indeed to hear that perpetual friendship has been enacted toward the glorious republics of Louisiana, Texas and the United States.

To the issue of the unremarkable Danes, I beseech you to stop the sword-rattling and promote a peaceful solution. Though the Danish do not pose a too big of threat to Louisiana, it would still not profit too much from a war with an insignificant country such as Denmark.

Yours truly,

Eber

[RGB]

As a little bonus, I've added a 'Guide to Acadien Patriotism' on the front page. Let me know if there's any other reference materials you'd like to see.

Dear Sir!

This is just the very barest beginning to describe the amour de la patrie that I am sure all of us here feel. To be Acadien is not to bear a mere name, to be Acadien is to be able to live free and proudly! Without it, it matters not.

Yours patriotically,

RGB.

[Mr. Santiago]

Dear Sir;

Recently I have stumbled across with your fine publication; and have thoroughly read the available numbers in a few days. At the moment I am eagerly waiting the coming issues.

Yours truly,

M. de Santiago

[AllmyJames]

As a sign of my generosity this week, here's the answer to M. Alfredian's request (you may have to use your lorgnettes to read the fine print - apologies)

[aldriq]

Thanks for the map! Great to see that fledgling Pacific coast

[General_Hoth]

you seems awfully vulnerable. You need to add texas and Cuba ASAP and to reinforce your army! If Mexico beat you, you could be unable to survive a disaster against them!

[AllmyJames]

Dear Sir,

While we are a new nation, we shall not stand to being treated with such contempt as was shown to us by the Danes. If they shall persist in their folly, perhaps we should teach them a lesson!

Yours etc,

RGB - commenting since Independence!

Someone's going to learn a lesson, that's for sure....

Dear Sir,
Action must be taken against the perfidious Dane. No Nordic Poobah can get away with what they have done! I suggest all good minded citizens of Now Orleans march down to the docks and dump their filthy bacon into the sea while dressed as Vikings.

Don't forget their wicked apple-flavoured pastries!

Prepare for proper Viking raids!
On Mississippi!

You're surprising close to the truth there...

Dear Sir,

At the risk of quoting an English bard and not a French one, I must say that something is rotten in the state of Denmark... I hope your inquisitive paper will find exactly where the rot is.

Yours,

M. Blanc

Indeed. Methinks the Danes do protest too much!

Dear Sir,

I must say that it is good news indeed to hear that perpetual friendship has been enacted toward the glorious republics of Louisiana, Texas and the United States.

To the issue of the unremarkable Danes, I beseech you to stop the sword-rattling and promote a peaceful solution. Though the Danish do not pose a too big of threat to Louisiana, it would still not profit too much from a war with an insignificant country such as Denmark.

Yours truly,

Eber

Ah, if only cool heads such as yours might prevail. Unfortunately, someone needs to feel the brunt of our jingoism, and Denmark is an 'easy' target.

Certainly friendship with the US is imperative at this stage to avoid our annexation by Mexico.

Dear Sir!

This is just the very barest beginning to describe the amour de la patrie that I am sure all of us here feel. To be Acadien is not to bear a mere name, to be Acadien is to be able to live free and proudly! Without it, it matters not.

Yours patriotically,

RGB.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!

Dear Sir;

Recently I have stumbled across with your fine publication; and have thoroughly read the available numbers in a few days. At the moment I am eagerly waiting the coming issues.

Yours truly,

M. de Santiago

Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the map! Great to see that fledgling Pacific coast

More to come, hopefully!

you seems awfully vulnerable. You need to add texas and Cuba ASAP and to reinforce your army! If Mexico beat you, you could be unable to survive a disaster against them!

I certainly am. Either Mexico or the US could beat me fairly easily. My only hope is to ally with the US to dissuade them both. My biggest fear is that they will attack me from two sides .

I have plans for Texas . As for Cuba - even Spain is a formidable opponent right now, especially as they're currently allied with the UK. Gulp.