New-York tribune., 1879-06-07
TEXAS AS 1T is.
VIII.
IMMIGRATION AND POLITICS.

WHITE ELEMENT.
IFRoM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF rHE rRIBUNE.l
DALLAS Texas.-From Hearne nOrthward TO the
Red River distance of about two hundred miles,
the Texas Central Railroad traverses a superb coun
try The soil is a black waxy loan, and is as uni
formly good as the prairies of Illinois. Occasional
groves OF forest oak and blackjack break the mo-
notony Of open pastures and and cotton fields
The little towns look bright and prosperous. MeIia
and Corsicana, particularly have the appear
ance of thriving new towns in Iowa or Kansas
The country is nowhere thicky settled,
but there il good sprinklmg of farms
oil over it. with plenty of room In the nterstlces
for more people Much of the untitled land Is used
for pasturage but there is great deal lying IDLE
held bv the State for university or common school
purposes or bv spectators. who keep II ont OF the
market for the high prices they will be sure to get
when the cheap lands further west are taken. Good
new land within few miles of the railroad in the
shape of open praue ready for the plough. costs
about So an acre. 1t is excellent for cotton and
moderately good for corn and small grains. Some
times there is a thin growth of mesquite trees.
which must be cleared off but this troublesome
Texas tree does not grow rs large in this latitude
further SOUTH and a stout plough drawn by four
horses, will break up the roots. PlOughing Is
generally done with sulky poughs, one man driving
and another riding on the machine and managing
the share with lever. The country is not well
watered springs and running streams being scarce,
and ponds and water-holes the chief reliance for
watering stock. Up to this time February there
has not been a heavy fall of rain here since last
Summer and all the small streams are dry Cls-
terms are universally used for domestic purposes in
the country as we'll as in the towns. The people,
who are not willing TO admit that Texas has any
serious drawbacks, insist that cistern-water Is
healthier and more Dalatabe than well-water, bat
learned accidentally to-day that water from
sprng is sold IN Dallas by the bucket and barrel,
ard that several persons make living hauling 1t
about and delivering it TO regular customers; so
there must be people who are not converted to
the superior merits Of rain-water.
THE BACK-sET OF TIE IMMIGRATION TIDE.
In spite of the bright skies fertile SOIL mild Win
ters and cheap lands. rot a few people who come to
Texas 10 make a living by farming fail, and be-
side the big stream Of immigration into
the State runs a small stream of emigra-
ton out OF il by families who have not
found life pleasant or profitable here. and who 90
back to their old homes or seek new ones in the
new States further North Nearly all these dis
appointed people are from the North who come
with wrong ideas of the advantages of Texas and
with insufficient means TO make start here, or who
were not willing to endure the uncongenial social
and political atmosphere saw a good example Of
this class on the cars Yesterday. Al q way
south Of Dallas, an intelligentlooling man, whose
speech showed he was from the North, and whose
hard hands and sunburned face bespoke the farmer,
brought his wife and baby to the train and bid
them goodbye. The woman said her husband
would follow them TO Iowa with the team. She
told me the story Of their Texas experience. They
had rented twenty-five acres Of good land, fenced
and with house upon II, and agreed to pay at the
rate of bale of cotton for ten acres. As a bale is
worth about $40 at present prices, this
was a high rental for land not worth
more than SO an acre. The man found
the little farm all he could work, and obliged
to have help in the picking season. He found he
could barely make poor living. The long, hot
Summers upon the family, their health
not good. their surroundings were strange and
unhOmehke, and the people uucongenia so after
twO-years' struggle they gave it up asked the
wOman-a bright, well-educated Wisconsin girl
what she particularly dsliked IN Texas L" Oh.
everything she said. 4" l never could get used TO
the country or the people" "Wero the nelghbors
not kind p Yes. they were kind-hearted enough,
but they were ignorant. rough, lazy and shlftless.
There was no society 1 cared for, and no schools,
and the land was not good for much besides cotton,
though it looked very rich. We could not raise
near such crops Of wheat or corn as we could in
Wisconsin" Probably these people would have
succeeded and been cOntented in Texas If they had
had money enough TO buy and stock a good farm
and had settled in a neighbOrhood where there
were a number of Northern families. Their
Is no doubt similar TO thousands Of others. Texas
is no place for Door men to come who expect 10
make a living on the soil. Such men Will do better
In Kansas or Nebraska. No should come here
to engage in farming unless he brings money
enough at least 10 make a first payment for place
and 10 subsist UPON until he can make a crop.
nv
Dallas is 4 prosperous trading town, which has
grown with great rapidity since the completion Of
the two railroads through 1.-THE Texas and Pacific
from east to west and the Texas Central from
north to SOUTH Probably il has as many as $4,000
inhabitants though no public-spirted citizen of
the place would assent to lower estimate than
$4,000. 1t is in the heart of the best agricultural
country in the State aud its advantageous position
and railroad facilities for the shipment of cotton
and the distribution Of merchandise make Its fu-
ture very hopeful 1t has stopped growing now
and is waiting for the country to catch up
with il, for. like most ambitious towns In a new
country. IT faster than the region tributary 10
1t. The denser settlement Of the surrounding coun
Try and the peoplng of the vast territory west of
here VIII be sure 10 give ii another start. II there
Is TO be any large city IN Northern Texas Dallas is
unquestionably destined to be the place. The town
Is meauly built, and there is nothing attractive
about II 70 a visitor save the air Of hustle and stir
IL It's two long business streets. Most of the dwell
ings cheap little frame affairs set upon dusty
streets without shade-trees sidewalks. / hear
there is rather pretty suburb called The Ce-
dars," which have not Two lively Demo-
cratic dailes printed here, and there is small
Republican weekly. edited by the Postmaster, Dr.
Norton who got up a convention and had himself
nominated for Governor last year. He must print
the paper more from patriotic than pecu-