Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-04-27
pected to find in the west "a land flowing
with milk and honey with a quarter sec

pected to find in the west "a land flowing
with milk and honey" with a quarter Sec
ton of nice, unoccupied, government land,
with a school house and maple orchard on
it, and within sight of railroad depot
waiting for him to receive little of it at
S1.25 per acre, he finds little besides sand
banks and sloughs, and the people are all
sharpers. True, there are plenty of this
class in the west, and their rank and file
are constantly being reinforced from the
east, by just that sort of indolent young
men described above, who are too lazy to
work for an honest living, and instead of
helping themselves have vague idea of a
land of ease and plenty somewhere in the
west, where wealth will flow in upon them
with little effort of head or hand, almost
unbidden and New England is crammed
and ourselves, doubly cursed-with this
class of young men-farmers' and mechan-
ics' sons, who do almost nothing but attend
school during their minority, and poorly
educated at that-too Smart" too soft to
Worthwhile the cold man" whose calling
they despise, does all the work and pays
all the bills. Now while the specializing,
swindling, fortune-hunting population of
the western cities are supplied from this
material, the industry, integrity and enter
prise of New England is also represented
in every department of business through
out the great prairie states of the west
That as rule the western people are pc
culiarly dishonest or indolent, is too absurd
to need a denial. In regard to timber and
| water | will only say, that in some parts Of
the west these are plenty and in others they
are not. The correspondent says he was
disappointed And | must certainly admit
| that [ was agreeably surprised at the depth
and fertility Of the soil of the prairies; anC
| think it is generally conceded by compe
| tent and impartial witnesses that the strong
est statements in regard to its SURPRISING
productiveness and durability are by NJ
means exaggerated, and believe they art
not. The climate, it will not be denied, il
milder, with less snow than the same lati
tude in New England. In proof of this
refer to statistical report for 1869, anC
published yearly by the state of Minnesota
giving a synopsis of the history, climate
soil, progress and capacity of the state, anC
| containg many interesting statistics, which
will be mailed free to each name sent tt
Girart Hewitt, St. Paul, Minnesota. Oh
serve the number ofnewspapers (70) pub
lished in that young state, and the STATE
fund for public schools, and Judge whethe
its inhabitants are beyond the pale of civ
ilization, and destitute of all the "sOcia
privileges" of the Older states. The peopl,
Of the west coming from many differen
states and nations may, or may not be a
intelligent, on the average, as the people
of New England, but they are wide-awake
energetic, generous, whOle-sOuled people
and whoever suppOses they are all fools
sluggards, or knaves, "is woefully mistak
en-" and it is my opinion that the unde
veloped resources of the great west atforC
to the energetic young men of the east OPP
pOrtunities vastly better than the New
England states and better than elsewher
to be found. F. p. CHENEY.
Glover. Vt, April 1869.