The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1857-11-12
D.s,itut,on IN stearns County.
ST.. CLovp, Oct. 10, 1857.

/ 81. tLVtD, oct, ~ lSot.
! 10 he Eluaf. -, he Pioneer aad -, mocrai.
! We. the undersigned. who wer chosen a.
committee, for the purpose Of soliciting
relief tor the destitatc aud poor OF Stearns
county, NJ. T., having rN1 in the issue Of
| the PioNssa AND pENocgAr,oi the 10Th inst.
the reported proceedings Of meeting Of the
citizens of ~. Cloud aud vicinity 20 take
into consideration certain articles which ap.
pcareJ in the 81. Paul papers relative to
| the starving condition OF two thousand citi.
! gems OF Stearns county. feel called upon in
/ indicative OF ourselves. and Of those whose
interests We represent 10 give u true state.
! mcut of facts, relative To the condition Of the
| poor people oi si,carns county, that the pub
lie may Judge for themselves who Is right
aud who is wrong.
Mos, OF the settlers of this county came
here in the spring Of 1880. Their little
means were ncary exhausted in making their
claims. building houses, and planting and
culiva,ng their crops. In july of the year
1856, the grasshoppers appeared IN swarms
innumerabe, laying waste the fields OF small
grain, aud nearly destroying the corn and
potatoes. They deposited their eggs that
season and last spring they again appeared
at the approach Of the warm weather. This
yrar there has been total hiluW Of crops
throughout the county. Isolated examples
may b. found, where stnail quantities of
corn and potatoes have been raised, but
these are rare exceptions md do not vnty
the general result What little means most
| OF the settlers had, was exhausted last year,
aud many Of them are now lel, destitute and
suffering.
/ Last year printed circular was sent to
| the Postmaster OF 1T. Cloud. signcd by Ia.
VIZ Bgssos. ESD, Of Anoha requesting a
cal oil meetings throughout the affective dis
| trlct, for the purpose of msccrtaining how
many might need assistance tina, the proper
/ relief might he obtained Meetings were
accordingly held in the different precincts
OF the county where relief was necessary, the
numbers of the suffering IN the different pre-
/ cincts usccrtainod. aud delegates from those
/ precincts met al ~. Cloud, abou, the lst
Of September and We, the undersigned, were
appointed IA n committee for the purpose Of
/ soliciting aid from abroad.
In this matter we have acted conscicn-
c,ously. aud in accordance with our instruc.
/ tons. Disguise IL unnecessary. We have
plenty Of poor people among ns who must
/ stafyc unless they ARE assisted. The mum.
/ ber VI families thus ,lcsti,u,ed. "a near w We
can estimate. Is about one hui,drd.
The meeting which took place n, the
>tcprns House an the I'D Of October, was
only aileuJcd by the capitalists AMI town
site speculatorsand provision dealers OF ~.
Cloud who have interests Which they think
may be affected by informing the public oi
the true condition Of our settlers and VIZ
venture 10 state. that no, one twentieth Of
the inhabitants Of the place heard Of the
meeting until after those resolutions appeared
in print, Being abundantly supplied them.
selves and having grown rich OF imaginary
values and professional plumbers, they never
allow their sympathics to interfere with pros
pecti,e sales Of lots or provisions, and would
even weaken the bencyOlence of Others. by
exhibiting the Darrowhcs Of their own. Why
do they forward those resolutions denoupc-
ing Mr. Tcnsoorle and the committee geu-
orally? The reason u obvious. They think
the action Of the committee may hinder I'm.
igraiiou. decrease the value OF property. and
diminish the salc Of pork aud -four, which
they had int. ndei 10 e,ll out ~ the settlers
on mortgage, at extraordinary rats VI IN.
icrest. Those resolutions are based upon
ayarice They were intended TO deceive the
public to destroy Mr.. 1'envoordes private
character, aud reflect upon those who were
enIayoring TO assist the needy.
The grashoppers arc known 10 be only
temporary. The excellence Of our country
will bc sufficient inducements for settlers 10
come,
! We have thus given true statement OF
/ the condition Of our settlers, Many 0f them
/ Tia true. are above want and we have 40
/ stated 1t. We have solicited aid only for
/ those destitute. Through the liberalty oil
some of our distinguished fellow citizens, we
have been enabled 10 succeed pretty we'll
| Hoping that W. have accomplished good by
I our cndeayofs. We subscribe ourselves,
u. PAnESBraogH,
.jossrli BnogER.
T. W. TgSyopaps,
Committee.
Accompanying the above communication
wa. statement signed 10y two hundred and
sixty persons puriortiug TO he citizens Of
st. Cloud and 81 81 Joseph, S,earp. county,
certifying 'ha, the statements made above,
by tbs Committee, ARE true The sigma
turs MITIGATE that the sigiers are all Ger
man.y--fD, Pro. AND DES
The --latest Intelligent. FROM Needing
Kansas.
The Wes,feld Argus has the following,