Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-05-23
WHEY STAND wEIDEE.

WHY STAND WE IDEE.
 In view of the circumstances thai
 rrround us, the littie that has been
 .one, the much chat ought to be done, and the shortness of the time allotted ms to do, the question naturally pre- <sents itself, ''why stand we idle?" or why vainly indulge in the illusions oi hope that brighter, happier and more prosperous days will dawn upon us in the ordinary lapse of time, independ- ent of effort or exertion on our part. Look around us in any direction and behold the vast amount of rich, fertile lands unimproved, almost unclaimed. Much of this land has been forfeited to the State of Arkansas by reason of non-payment of taxes, much of this land still owned and held by men who have scarcely money to pay the taxes on it from year to year, and who would be glad to dispose oft at the old Con- gress price per acre. Most of the lands unimproved and unoccupied in Arkansas is above overflow, well tim bered and highly productive; and if it were possible to place these lands in Middle Tennessee, or in central Ken lucky, they would command readily from sixty to eighty dollars per acre :; and yet they are being forfeited for taxes. We'll, the question comes, what can be done to improve these lands and thereby enhance their value, or put them upon the market and realize fair prices for them? The answer is, many things can be done to attain the end. First, let us by word and deed encourage immigration into our State by holding out inducements calculated to influence immi grants to come among and mix and mingle their sweat with the soil, and the result will be cotton factories will spring up, machine shops erected, mills built, schools of high order will be opened and established Again, let the farmers turn their atten- ton to the cereals by sowing wheat, rye, oats and clover, plant more corn, grow more hogs, sheep and cows, and thus become self-sustaining and self supporting. We have in the county of Prairie thousands of acres of land in Grand Prairie and other prairies, level, rich, high, and easily drained, where draining is necessary, and the few ex- perimcnts made in these prairie lands by sowing wheat and oats, as well as planting cotton, have proved a success beyond the calculations of those exper- imenting.
 In order to induce companies and corporations having capital to come and help us to improve and build up one of the richest and most productive States in the Union, let us organize immigrant associations or societies, draw maps and charts of every county in the State, setting forth the patural advantages in the way of navigable streams, railroad advantages, mineral resources, and the various properties and qualities of the soil of Arkansas. Those who have never visited our State, or travelled over it, can form no correct idea of the untold wealth that lies imbedded in our mountainous counties, or the depth and genial fer tility of the soil in the level or eastern portion of the State, as it embraces ev- cry variety of soil and produces in abundance every variety of grain, and as for timber it beats the world but a popular error has gone abroad that Arkadsas is sickly country, more so then other States, but the writer has found it for near three years the re- verse, as he has enjoyed better health here than he did in States of higher latitude. True, chils and levers pre- vail i'll some localities, mostly the re- suit of incorporate modes of life. But to the point: we of Des Are want cot = ton Iactories, machine shops, &c., in our growing town, and some of us have moro lots in town than we are able to build upon or improve, and some have tracts of land adjacent to our town. Let us donate portion of these lots, blocks and tracts, to such capitalists as are willing to come and put up such improvements as our ne- cessities demand; or, let us take stock in such enterprises by giving our land and lots, instead of money, in aid of such enterprises. We have beautiful, quiet healthy town, with intelligent, enterprising, moral men engaged in the different pursuits of bushes. In short, no place on White river presents so many advantages as DesI Arc. Let us bestir ourselves and go to work and make our town what it ought to be, and what we think it will be, the first town in the State; and the sooner we go to work the sooner we will attain the destiny manifestly ours.
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 B- The Des Arc Crescent has sus- pended nublieation Messrs Bancroft