St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1866-01-25
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ILLINOIS DEFENDED.

ti9it;i .t:' tie sr. CLOUD, Jan. 18th; 1S66,;
EDiToH DzNocaAr:-I was just 'readin,
letter in your paper vtitte1f by you,
friend, G. W. b., sfvingt9d account lof til.
country, people, &c:, Of portion Of I'LL.
nois; while travelling from Chicago to Rocl
Island and from Sheffield 10 Princeton =:
Now, Mr.. Editor, I have lived in that sec.
ton Of country for over eight years, and
beg leave 10 differ somewhat with this. cor
respondent Of yours; and although dc
lilkes this Northern STATE. Minnesota, and
think il all that it has ever, been represent:
ed: in 'pointfof healh,5 beautiful and pictur-
esque scenery, md perh: ps every oti,er. i re-
spect, Yeti think your ii isid is i little BIZ
ased. lie does not. give :Illindi1;, or At
Least that portion Of j. its just. due, Or his
Informant does not, 3t 4,fs, ,,,!s,t, Ef.;3.,
J.. NoM, with regardte the farmers notown-
ing the farms they iyei,op, {. hut t4all .or
nearly eq all live on rented .fatns," may be
true in some parts !; but am acquainte ed
with nearly all from Sheffield to Princeton.
and not one in six. rents the farm be lives
on. but are thriving, industrious, intelli-
gent farmers, many of whom came when
the country " as new, and with small 90 cans
to commence with, worked hard and lived
frugally TO get homes for their families,
and think they desesve credit for their
persevering industry and the good moral
character they generally sustain. Ityour
friend should become acquainted With them
he would find my statement to be true: Ot
course there are exceptions to ali general
rules but should he see them as have Of
ter seen then, after long weary day of
hard labsr, riding into town, Gilpin like,
to get. their Chicago '.dailies, weekly
newspapers, and periodicals, he would be
inclined te think newspapers were .sneces-
sary to their happiness as well ns scat
tie aud game" <t,s'..es=.t
As regards the health of, Illinois, Lam
constrained ID, say that owing to the ire
quent and very, sudden changes Of the
weather, tire climate is4not healthy, but re-
sembles that Of its ncighbor states, and it
requires a strong and robust constitution
to endure the extremes, ifexposed to them.
And yet:we find a@larger proportion of old
people there thar in almQst any other vest
ern .state-old residenters, 100, who are
smart and active. He speaks OF the, nu-
merous. grave yards. Very true, they are
but too well filed but remember that very
many are, the resting I.laces of, our 4 oble
soldier boys, who went ,fortl, in al, their
strength and. manliness j. to defend their
country, and were brought bach, if not al
ready dead, TO die. And did not northern
Illinois respond bravely to the call and
her best noblest sons, of whom any tlofing
mother or ambitious father mi .ht well be
proud, left their homes; and in leavirg
them, many . farm was left entirely with
out help Some we're obliged to rent their
farms, while Oilers, not a f.w, took their
girls into the field to supply the beys' pla-
cesI; and the young ladies make good, in
dustrious, intelligent wives and mothers
as our Minnesota bachelors could wish
and, by the way, would recommend aLy
who are in quest Of such and are worthy,
to take trip down that. way and get &C.
quainted. (, - T. ~f:e..al NETT. !.
Our correspondent reviews other por-
:;ons of G. ". BIS letter, but the forego
ing contains the main points.-ED. DEN.