The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-02-07
oen. Robert Vance Puts q Pa
tvietIc Inquiry.

q~uently complain Of the Agricultural
Department, let this be the answer
Mt that we have any grudge against
the members of the Board (Messrs
Battle, Holt, Thigpen, Evans, Cheek
have been prompt paying subscribers o
our paper for years. but solely because
we think they allow the Governor, an
his attaches, to have a. dominating In
fuence in the control of the Dept, ane
employ altogether too much of the time
and money Of the Department, in meas
ures of restricted and narrow scope
and intentions.
The Department has had six years
time, and more than 500, 600, to devote
to the up-building of the State, ant
what is the result? Where are the
New Settlers? Where are the Fish
Where are the improved Roads
Where is Sheep Husbandry? Where
are the capitalists? How about oul
| vast mineral resources? Why is it that
the State Auditor reports a falling-of
| of t,co millions. one hundred and tuents
| thousand dollars since 1880!
Commissioner McGehee makes q
| lengthy statement, filling several print.
| ed pages, to show why Immigrants
won't come to North Carolina. But he
is, We think, greatly mistaken. Geor-
| sia, and Florida, and Tennessee, and
! Alabama, and Arkansas, and Texas,
have received tens of thousands of in
| dustrious settlers within the past three
years.
The trouble is our Department has
been full of theories, hotels, maps, sofa,
| turnip suggestions, Press convention
| proceedings etc, ETC., instead of real,
practical, every day push
| A gentleman came to u two weeks
| ago to get some of our old papers to get
| information about the State, as he
| wished to travel through the North in
! search of Immigrants. He asked if we
knew of any lands for sale, etc. "Oh {!
said we, ''you ought to go up to the De-
partment of Agriculture to get such in
formation. We worked for four Or five
| wears to advertise our Resources, and
| have often printed large editions, at our
own expense, poor as we are, to scatter
up North, and try to up-build the State.
| But we have grown tired of working for
nothing
Yes said Mr.. Vohlmer, ''I've had
q lot of your papers for a long time.
But I've been up the Department"
"What did you get:'
"Well, they were very polite, and
talked very we'll, and some of th- speci-
mems are very handsome ; but you
wanted to know where there were any
cheap lands, mines, timbers, ETC., for
sale, and what was the price, and how
to get to Them"
Ibid they not furnish you such infor-
nation ?"
"Well, they gave me two or three old
pamphlets printed in 1873 and 10, and
Land Register containing two or three
dozen different tracts. But here is the
date showing that it was printed by l..
L. Polk in l879-three years ago-and
I'm told most of these tracts are now
out of market"
Just so! And that reminds me that
a Philadelphia Notwithstanding
half a million administering the inter-
est the Farmer and Mechanic has taken
in behalf the State-wrote ME to buy
for him a tract of least 5000 acres of
pine timbered land,-cheap pine land.
L wrote him that there were plenty of
such tracts, but he had better apply to
the Department of Agriculture, whose
officers were paid large salaries, and al
lowed all expenses, ETC., whereas 1 had
already spent ten times what 1 could
afford, in answering such Inquiries
P. S.-Since the above was penned,
we notice the following letter from
Congressman r. B. Vance, who re-
quests the State press to copy. Strange
that he should not rely upon the De-
partment of "Agriculture. Immigration,
and Statistics" to furnish all such in
formation! But it shows he is patriot
ic:
WASHINGTON, D. G.. Jan. %, 1888.
Editors of Citizen:-There is such an
enquiry from strangers concerning lands
for sale, in our section, hat | feel con-
strained to ask that the people giue me
informdtion about the tracts offered for
sale, and especially of large bodies.
Within q few days past parties have
called on me for information touching
boundaries of land, containing as much
as thirty, forty, fifty and sixty thousal d
acres.
shall be glad to have knowledge of
tracts of any size which the owners wish
TO dispose of, stating location, timbers,
water courses, &c. &c.
No personal profit to myself is expect
ed in obtaining the facts. l only wish to
be ready to encourage purchasers to 20
to Western North Carolina.
Truly,
r. b. VANCE.
Beaufort county Gazette after praising
some parts of the Departments work,
intelligently remarks:-
Butt has evidently failed to carry
out one of the main objects of its cree
ton, viz:-the introduction of immi-
grants to the State. 1t was plainly the
intention Of the Legislature that this
Department should advertise the advan-
tages of our State to the world. Its Of
fcers have failed to comprehend this
question practically. 1t is true that
they made a good exhibit of the State
resources 1t Atlanta. and IL il honed that