The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-08-02
A RUSH TO THE WEST.

several Million More of Acres Taken Up
This Year Than During 1876-'s7-The
New Emigrants Prosperous.
Commissioner Williamson, of the Gen
eral Land Office, has prepared a COM
parative statement of the disposal of
public lands during the fiscal year end
ing June 80, 1877, and June 80, 1878,
which shows general movement west
ward, during the past year, from regions
of the East The statement Is prepared
from the records in his office, and is val
liable at this time. In nearly all the
prominent Eastern cities, societies of
emigration have been engaged in form
ing colonies from among mechanics and
unemployed laborers, with view of
settling them, by companies or colonies,
on the rich lands of the West, and thus
relieving the cities of their superfuous
and idle population. AS Commissioner
Williamson says, all this is certainly the
good that has come from the evil OF hard
times. The mocha lics, instead OF sit
ting down to groan over the dullness OF
business prospects, have packed up their
families and gone where work will bring
an honest return.
Taking Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota
and Nebraska, the comparative state
ment of the disposal of lands, during
the above period, shows how vastly the
emigration has increased. Lands are
disposed Of by cash purchase, by home
stead settlement, for timber culture and
by warrant and scrip location-four diff
ferent methods-and the records OF each
are preserved separately in archives of
the General Land Office at Washington.
For Dakota the figures are
1877. 1878.
Cash.. .............. 90 1886 acres. 74,94O acres
Homestead 1913 869 acres. S04 29s acres
Timber culture. $50. 68,1ss acres 57O,224 acres.
| Warrant and scrip To-
This table shows an increase OF l.
243, 423 acres in one fiscal year. The
same figuring for Kansas shows an in
crease of 1 1856, Ats acres; for Minnesota,
| 761, 1856 acres; and for Nebraska, $685.
268 acres; making grand total in these
four localities alone of 3, 724, 572 acres.
Reports show that this business is going
on, and that the settlers are doing we'll.
The colonies that went to Kansas and
Dakota from New York, through the in
strumentality of John Kelly, about A.
900 strong, and those that went from
Baltimore and Philadelphia, Indianap-
oho, aHu Dosool,, are prospecting UeyOuu
their expectations.
The above States have been selected
principally because the proportion of
farm and timber land is much greater
than in other of the Western States.
Nebraska, having 100000 acres, can
show only about 600, 900 acres of forest
land. Places that were recently covered
with dense forests ale now almost naked,
because of disastrous fires. This leaves
the land open to settlement. Missouri,
with q, ZOO, 600 acres, has fully 9,000,-
600 acres of timber land. Not more
than 5 per cent. of the area of Kansas
is in forest land, and this is mainly in
the eastern part of the State and along
the banks of the rivers. Efforts are
being made in Kansas and Nebraska to
restore the growth of trees, and, in some
cases, good success has attended the
movement. Arkansas is highly gifted
in the way of forests. She has 100000
600 acres of timber of her 33, 500, 900,
while only tenth of Colorado is forest
land Washington Correspondence.