San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-08-09
sMALLEY's LAST BLAST.
The Fat,,re OF Texas.

ITS GROWTH CANNOT BR COMMENsUR.
ATE WITH ITS TERRITORIAL EX-
TENT-LIMITED AMOUNT OF GOOD
ARABLE LAND-vAsT AREAS OF
PINE BARREN AND ARID PLAIN-A
DENSE POPULATION IMPROBABLE.
/ Especial Correspondence New York TrIbune.l
TExARKANA, Texas.-One of the
Congressional orators who delivered
addresses on the death of Gustav
Schleicher. wishing to give his hearers
an idea Of the vast extent Of the Lone
Star State. said its area equals that Of
all the New England States, New
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and half Of
Indiana. The comparison was a strik
ing one, and we'll calculated to power
fully impress the Northern mind with
the territorial immensity of Texas. 1t
is apt, however, to leadito erroneous
conclusions about the future of the
State--conclusions to which the peo-
pie Of Texas jumped long ago, and in
which they have been confirmed by
/ the large immigration Of recent years.
Their logic is short and direct. The
old States of the North, covering an
area no greater than Texas, have
population OF 100000; therefore
Texas is destined to have population
Of 100000. Some of the enthusi.
astic prophets Of future greatness are
|not satisfied with this prediction, and
replace it with more extravagant for
mula. They say: France supports
over thirty millions Of peoples Texas
lis bigger than France; consequently
Texas will before long have over thir-
ty millions of inhabitants" These
glittering and sonorous generalities
Impose upon the imagination, and de-
Eceive not only people out Of the State,
twho have never seen it, but also agreat
many people in it, who ought to know
better. 1t is difficult to get either
facts or sensible theories from Texans
with regard to the condition and pros
poets OF their State. They entertain
the most extravagant notions. Every.
thing they tell a stranger must be
heavily discounted in order to reduce
| it to hard basis of truth-not that
they knowingly deceive, but in their
enthusiasm they haye fallen into a
habit Of exaggeration which leads
them to see the advantages of Texas
as through powerful maguifying
glass, and its disadvantages as through
the wrong end of telescope. have
just spent three weeks in travelling over
every section of the State reached by
railroads, and have tried to come to
some independent conclusions, without
prejudice or partiality, by interrogating
people Of all classes, reading the news
papsrs, and studying as carefully as
possible in rapid movements from place
to pace the character Of the country.
These conclusions are here presented
to the readers Of the Tribune for what
they may be worth, as the close of a
series of letters from Texas which
have appeared in these columns.
NO MORE GOOD FARMING LAND THAN
IN ILLINOIS. '
Texas contains 274,356 square miles.
1t would make five States as largelas
Illinois, but no just inference can be
drawn from its size alone as to its Ca
pacity for sustaining population. 1lli-
uois coptaiDs fully as much first-rate
agricultural land as Texas. The whole
of Eastern Texas. embracing q terri.
tory larger than Ohio, consists of pine
barrens, with little arabic land along
the valleys of the streams. Outof the
valleys the soil is sandy and would not
pay to clear and cultivate. This re-
gion will never be thickly settled. 1t
now supports s:snty population Of
lumbermen and very poor farmers, who
cultivate little patches along the creek
bottoms. The larger streams are bor-
dered by narrow tracts Of good soil
where there are some large cotton
plantations. This part of the State is
not new country, and except on the
opening Of the lumber Industry By the
building Of railroads, it has had no
growth in recent years. Something
might be done with fruit culture--a