Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-11-27
IMMIGRATION.

Ehe AppOin fmenl of Commissioner
OF f7mmigrafion-TheW Work, Advant-
ages and Probable Results of such a
Department of State-A Proper Snb.
leet for Leg tslative Action.
To the Editor of the Post and Tribune.
Will you allow me brief space i'm
your columns that [ may call the special
attention of the incoming Legislature
to Esubject which has engaged nv
thoughts somewhat of late, and which
may possibly be considered of such i'm
pOrtanceH by our excellent Governor
elect that he may make recommends
tiOn concerning it in his inaugural ad-
dress? Irefer to the establishment by
the state temporarily perhaps) of some
bureau or some agency, through which
the attention of the many in the east
and elsewhere, who are looking for new
homes for themselves and their families,
shall be specially directed to the great
advantages and strong inducements
which Michigen offers. / verify believe
that thousands who have lived i'm this
state for years scarcely know as yet how
to appreciate this great state, with its
bracing climate, its variety of soils, its
abundant fruitage, its cheap lands, its
splendid educational privileges, its con-
Stantly increasing railroad facilities, its
nearness to markets, and its undevel-
Opcd resources. And if the citizens of
Michigan are ignorant of many of these
things it is not singular that those who
are strangers here should know little
or nothing of them.
No one can have read the newspapers
of the past year or two and noticed what
an exodus there has been of settlers
from Canada and the eastern states
westward Ito say nothing of European
arriyals) and mot conclude that there
must be on the part of thousands of peO-
pie restless feeling and an earnest de-
desire for something better and brighter
than their present surroundings. Not
long ago talked with man from west
ern New York, who told me that in his
immediate vicinity there were a dozen
families who desired to turn their steps
westward, and he was then, as sort of
an advance guard, looking around in
Michigan to learn what he could about
our lands, and the inducements offered
for settlement here. Only yesterday
met in real estate Office a man who,
after looking carefully over large wall
map of this state, made inquiries for
some "cheap farming lands" and it was
soon learned that he had just returned
from Kansas, where. after making an
earnest but futile effort for some years
to obtain a living, he had lost some
thousands Of dollars, through failure of
his crops, On account of drought and
other causes, and now with the little
remnant of his fortune and his little
family around him, he designed to Sc
cure, if possible, somewhere within the
borders of this favored state, 40 acres of
cheap land, on which to commence anew
his farm life. He was not wholly ignO-
rant of the advantages that Michigan
offers, for he had once lived here, and
when Kansas failed him he was not long
i'm deciding where to locate, and in this
as well as the other there are several
other families es-relativeS and friends
from Pennsylvania follow. and as he
shall decide on suitable location. In
both these cases it was through the
knowledge, that these men had in some
way obtained, of the superior advantages
which this state offers, that they had
been induced to look here with reference
to locations for themselves and others.
And so, i'm many quarters, there is de-
sire to know "where farming pays best, ,"
and then follows the determination to
strike for that locality.
But how shall the people looking for
hOmesteads obtain this knowledge? How
learn that for one hundred dollars they
may here secure an undisputed title to
eighty acres of rich farming land, and
by paying a small yearly interest to the
state have an hundred years if they de-
sire i'm which to pay the balance? How
learn the value of crops in Michigan as
compared with other states? With none
to teach them, what can they know
about our climate, our timber. our min
erals, our soils, our water, our schools
or railroads? The states west of us can
send out their agents, display their pro-
ducts and scatter information broadcast
and thus secure the advantages of new
ly found settlers by thousands. They
| thus attract the emigrant beyond our
| them our beautiful peninsula and the
grand inducements it can offer.
A department-est established and sup
ported by the state, whose business IT
should be to scatter the needed inform
alton by circulars and publication, by
personal intercourse and public lectures
in different localities in the east, and
thus enabling us to secure our share OF
patronage not necessarily be ex-
pensiye, and the rich harvest which
would surely be reaped, under proper
management, would amply compensate
for all the outlay. Thousands of intelli-
gent, industrious, warm hearted tillers
of the soil would soon find their way
here who are now i'm total ignorance of
the rich benefits and splendid oppOrtun
tiles which await all those who desire
to take advantage of settlement in
this Garden of the West" W.
Lansing, Nov. II, 1880.