Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-12-27
REY. LonN BRoWN o. rEXAH.

stroyed tho crops OF thousandB Of newly ar.
rived farmers In Northwes ern Texes Rev.
John Brown was commissioned TO Wis tho
cities OF tho Mort and East for the pu pose OF
stating the case ard 90 letting contributions Of
money, clothing and secd. This gentleman has
now returned, having made his tour, but with
a complaint that IL moro dolofnl, n p, ssible,
| than that with which be originally set out.
Wherever he went Mr.. Brown was met by
Geographic and other deniAls that there was
any great do.titutlon In Texas, and by asser.
lions that the drought, whose h rrors II was
his duty TO depict, existed only In his lmagina
ton Readcra OF too Herald will remember
that when he was In Chicago It was declared In
kilograms from yaiious ciiies in Northern
Texas that no distress existed there and
that al agents of relief societies
were imposters. Tho same denials
met Mr.. trown elsewhere, II appears, and
though he succeeded In Ialsing me money
Dnd In getting together a few old clothes, no
did not ON the whole have very satisfactory
trip. To seek contributions At distance fr m
home among total strangers is not an easy
task, but TO undertake II In the face OF tele.
grams and otters from prominent men on the
spot where the alleged hardship exists denyiog
that any poverty prevails which cannot be re-
loved by local charity, makes the undertaking
well nigh hopeless.
Mr.. Browns eNpa alton OF the wet blanket
which YVES thrown over him at every stopping.
placJ In the North Ia that the rairoad com
panies and other land boomers found that his
missionary tour was likely to injure their buBl
ness, ara tbas their denihls were sent out
without reference TO the truth, bat with the
one idea OF saving the reputation OF n district
to which immigration should not Immediately
be Invited, AS the rallrOad and land companies
frequently play an important part In Texas
politics, II was easy for shem 10 secure the en-
rhatlc Enforcement of various officials and
other men of prominence, and thus II was, &C
cordlng to The narrative OF Mr.. Brown, that he
was headed off at every turn b. disclaimers
from home which could not fail to injuro his
bus ness.
l is probable that tho gentleman tells the
exact truth. OF his good standing as minis
tor on the frontier OF Tex &, there can DC no
doubt. He LEFT home duly authorized to make
the trip, ana was sr icignly yorched 70 But
his indorse moGts were not OF a business or po-
litical character His description OF the terrors
OF life on the stakod Plains were detrimental
TO tho 'busino-s" Interests Of tho btate, and
the easlest way to h. ad him off was for business
men and politicians to repudlate him. This
they did with 30 much industry that they have
sustained the reputation of their state In one
way, while among Poop who know tho facts,
they have injured II In another Chicago Her.
aid.
This Is the penalty of exaggeration. Ac-
corning to the Associated Press tele-
grams, Mr.. Brown publicly declared in
Northern cities, during the fall, that $780,
COO people In Texas were in need of aid.
There are not 5cC 900 people in that sec
tion of the state In some OF the counties
OF which the drought caused actual pri-
walton and need In reply to this exag-
geratlon, whether of Mr.. Brown or the
Associated Press, certain newspapers and
individuals denied that there was any suf-
ferlng at all. One exaggeration begot the
other, because the first would have done
Texas more harm in the aggregate than
the second. THE GAZETTE called atten-
ton 10 these exaggeratlons Of the truth
at the time, md now again does so.
The privation, want and suffering be.
yond the ability Of local charity were lin
tied to not more than eight or ten coun-
ties in what Is known as "West Tex
as" section equal in area to
two states of ordinary size, and the suf-
fering in some Of these counties impera-
lively demands action on the part of some
one with authority or ability to relieve it,
The reciprocal exaggeratlons OF the plain
facts have done Texas more harm than
good, and 1t is to be regretted that those
who sought aid for the needy did not con-
fine themselves to the exact facts, which
could not have been denied; or, II they
did not exaggerate, 1t was unfortunate that
the graphic accounts represented them as
doing so.
When it is remembered that there are
sections OF Texas larger than New York
and Oaio which knew nothing of "the
drouth," except as they read OF 1t, some
Idea perhaps of the truth may be realized
by outsiders.