The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1884-02-05
Growth of the Southwest =,

The fence cutting troubles In Texas have,
within n month, received considerable at
tention In our ne ~ columns. number
of interesting reflections are suggested by
these disturbances. They ore. rs IL were,
among the signs OF the times. They are u
necessary consequence OF development, OF
progress, of growth 10 the Southwest.
Western Nebraska aid Western Kan.
sas were little more than por-
tions of the mythicsl Great Ameri.
can desert" Stock raising was then in us
infancy. Ranges were Doundless. There
was no more necessity for inclosing cattle
ranches than for fencing in the universe.
The notion that farmers would one day
altogether visionary. And yet, what no
one then dreamed OF has now come to psss
in Texas. In the waking hours of the people
| Of n greht state.
The fence que s,ion is now "irrepressi-
| BILE conflict" There are three parties TO
| the conference.-the "cGttle kings bent
on retainiug the unlimited, unfenced do.
mains which they have inherited from a
past industrial generation: stockmen with
smaller resources who nre content with
ranges that may be bounded with wire
strands; and owners ofsmaller parcels who
object to being shut out from roads and
streams by fences, however short. Tho
problem is truly three-sided. IL can hard y
be solved ofi.hand. And yet tho ultimate
good OF the state demands "A ,pti0n iavor-
able to the smalles. Subdivisions OF the
soil.
Il is plain that this fence dispute could
not have arisen IL Texas had not first nc
qured large, fixed population. That dis.
agreements have broken out at last Is sig
nificant. II shows that immigration to the
great undeveloped southwest is heavy and
steady. Before the small ranchmen APP.
peared, the great ones held undiSputed
sway over the country; and before farmers
arrived, the weaker cattle owners had no
lesser individual owners to trouble, or TO
make them afraid. Between 1870 ard 1880
the population of Texas increased
from SlS.579 to SOL or o. per cent.
The state is at this moment growing mo .
rapidly than ever before. Its.area won II
make an empire in the old world. Its pos.
sibilitics are almost boundless. Texas rs.
capped most Of the ravages OF the war. Its
inhabitants were few and it was situated
far from tho heat Of the conflict. Texas,
too experienced less OF the curse OF slavery
than any other state. It's virgin fields
naturally attract the attention of specua.
tors AID settlers. Railroad aud public and
private lands find buyers daily.
What is true of Texls is true also OF Mis-
souri,, of some parts OF Arkansas. OF Kan
sas and the southwest generally. This vast
region has been advertised much less ex-
tensivelv than the north vest IN this coun-
try and Europe, and yet it possesses sJw g
obvious advantages for settlers. The Gil
mate IL in It's favor, The extreme north 's
subject to biting blizzards IN winter and
burning blasts in summer. The tempe'&
ture OF the southwest ia more eQuable.
Dakota is for several months each year
covered with deep snow. In Missouri and
Kansas snow remains bat a littlc wlil.; IN
Texas il is unknown, In the far Nor.nwest
live stock "ents fits head of" during the
winter; in the Southwest It shifts for Itself
sud crows fat. The climate alone Of the
Southwest should invite settlers. Bat tue
balance OF o.her material advantages also
is In favor of this pirg OF the union. STEADY
growth throughout oil the country west OF
the Mississippi aud south OF the Missouri is
to be expected. New railroad lines are
opening districts hitherto inaccessible
Gobe-Democrat.