The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-11-12

capacity, VIII and ability to SOW and reap,
open out and build up every business which
viii pay and add wealth to the communities
Now, in order to induce small farmers
and gardeners to move in, they must, in
the first place, have an assurance that they
can have few acres at reasonable figures
But there is a great drawback to small
farms. This must be obviated. How :
The men who own large tracts Of land must
divide them into small lots, so that the poor
laberer can buy. These large landowners
have been a great stumbling block in the
way Of substantial progress. They have,s
in many cases, refused to sell in
small quantities. thus keeping out
Of the State the very men so much
needed in every department of bust
ness. It is well known and admitted that
the small producers do more to build up
and enrich communities than men of wealth,
unless they are public spirited and phllan
thropic Gentlemen who own thousands Of
acres often labor under great error in re-
fusing to divide their princely estates so
that the men of limited. means can buy
home. They can generally sell small tract
at higher figures than a large one. If then
it is known that q colony or company of
men can all buy small farms in the same
community, the lands will soon be occupied
and settled; and the large tracts sold at far
better prices in the aggregate. There is
nothing so attractive to man as owning
home, however humble. The sweetest joys
Of youth and soIace of age cluster about
home. When homes are established,
orchards, gardens, school houses and
churches speedily follow; and soon the
wilderness is made literally to produce like
gardens. Life and activity take the place
of vast solitudes where but short time be-
fore the Indian and the wolf were the
undisputed lords.
Therefore, let the large landowners meet
and resolve that they will divide their
thousands of acres into small bodies, and
agree to sell to actual settlers upon the most
accommodating terms. This must be done;
else the settlement of the State. win be
greatly retarded and injured. Such is the
custom in the more populous States of the
Union.
Texas has the reputation abroad of being
a progressive State; and her citizens are be-
Heved to be generous and kind, ready to-
assist the immigrant and do all in their
power to make him happy and contented.
Let not her large landowners stand as
huge stumbling blocks in the way
of population and improvement; but let
them at once inaugurate a system which
will tap the older States and cause steady
flow of immigration north, east, south, and
west. Let them come ike mighty army
by every avenue OF approach, until millions
shall make the vast prairies, valleys and
hills vocal with the busy hum of industry,
the glad shout of children, and the fervid
appeals of the man of God.
No man has the right to place himself in
the way of progress. He owes it to him
self, to his race, to his posterity, to do all
in his power to improve the condition of
his fellow man.
But editorials and appeals viii do no
good unless they are needed and acted upon.
Let US be up and doing, and not rust and
grow old in ldleness and opposition to pro-
gress and wholesome reform.