The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-10-24
What Has Been Accomplished By
the State Board Of Immigration
and Agriculture
IAcKaou. -. sent. 10. 18ss.

ana AgTlcuitur8
JAcKsos, Mss, Sept. 10, 1883,
4. J. BAkKn, Eso., oxford, Mis-:
DEAR sIR-I take great pleasure in
answering your kind favor OF the 18th.
/ send you BY t0-day's mail three copies
Of the Hand Book Of Mississippi; / in
English, l in German and Swedish.
With the appropriation Of 81, 900 for
two years, or $4,000 per year, the Board
Of Immigration and Agriculture had
printed 50, 900 English, $1,000 German,
5000 Swedish c6pies Of the Hand Book
also 500 large Geological and Statistical
Maps Of the State [you can see the map
in the Chancery Clerks Office of your
county. OF the English edition / have
distributed about $4,000 copies. Ny
method of distribution was to endeayor
to place each copy into the hand Of
farmer or 3 capitalist which / think !
have succeeded in doing. ] obtained
list Of all the live Oranges and Agricul-
tural Societies in Ohio, New York,
Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michi-
gan, Maryland, Virginia, North Caroli-
IA and South Carolina. / sent copy
of the Hand Book to each Grange and
Agricultural Society to be placed in the
Library. So you will see that at least
SOC, 600 or 400, 600 people will read the
handbook of Mississippi and become
acquainted with the climate, soil and
vast products IF our State; 5000 trere
distributed IN England
The 1900 copies in German were
distributed BY a special agent sent to
Germany for the purpose, and by the
Steamship Lines running between Ham
burg and Brennan, Germany, and New
Orleans, with also large map of the
State to hang up in the offices of their
agents in Germany and Sweden. So you
may rest assured our State is better and
more favorable advertised both at home
and abroad than it ever has been up to
this date.
Now for the result of this advertising:
Over 100, 900 acres of private lands have
been sold to purchasers from without the
bounds of Mississippi; mostly from the
States of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North
Carolina and South Carolina, and still
they come. ! have made no effort to
bring any one into this State unless he
had capital to buy land and to run his
| farm; no pduper or Other iRdigent tabof
| has been brought into the State. Some
railroad contractors have brought sew
eral thousand laborers to work on their
contracts in Mississippi; a great many
of these will eventually buy land and
settle in our State.
The Register of u s. Lands at this
place, in the last two years, has sold for
the u. S. Government over 600 900
acres of land lying mostly in the long
leaf pine region, and in addition TO
some $50 homesteads have been entered
through his Office. Nearly ali of this
land has been purchased and entered by
parties from without the State, and the
sales and entries are still going on.
Mr.. ]. NJ Smyie, Commissioner of
State lands, has sold over 100000 acres
of State lands in the last two years.
The Chancery Court ordered the sale
of the Levee Board lands in the Missis-
sippi bottom, and they were bought by
the Gordons of Georgia, and by Phil
lips, Marshall & Co., of London, Eng
land. The taxes on the purchase Of
this English Company alone, amount
for this year, to 100000; Of this
amount the State tax was $27, 700, or
80, 700 more for 1888, than the appropri-
alton to my department for the years
1882 and 1888. The assessments for the
counties in Southern Mississippi have
been increased by the purchase. of Uni
ted State and State lands over, 800 per
cent, and the value Of lands in East
Mississippi has increased over 100 per
cent. along the line of the Mobile &
Ohio r. R., and over so per cent. along
the line of the Illinois Central Along
the line of the other roads now under
construction, the lands are going up in
value very fast. In my opinion the best
appropriation ever made by the Legis-
lature was the $4,000 to advertise our
State
Mr.. A. B. Ollie, formerly of Ohio,
but now large farmer in Oktibbeha
county, Miss, has sold for farmers in
Oktibbeha, Lowndes, Clay, and Noxu-
bee counties, over Is, 900 acres at from $40
to SIS per acre of land since the LIST of
April, to farmers from the State of Ohio,
to whom I had sent Hand Books, de-
scribing the State of Mississippi. He
writes me that hundreds more are
coming this fall and winter to buy,
lands.
The Illinois Central Railroad will run
excursion trains during the fall and win
ter, or sell excursion tickets at low rates.
The Mobile & Ohio Railroad, and the
Cincinnati, n. o. & Texas, will do the
same thing. During the fall and winter
months we may confidently expect
thousands of land buyers in Missis-
sippi during the latter part of October,
and in November and December. The
scare about the yellow fever has kept
them back since the 18th of July.
have received letters from over 10000 |
persons inquiring for land in our State.
keep record and post-ofice address of
all. Truly your friend,
Z. G. WALL,
Commissioner; of Immigration.