Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1888-02-11
o ADVANTAGES
Ably Discussed by q Close Oh,
server.

Discussed by q Close OBJ
server.
Editor Journal: Not long ago, az the
train was whirling US rapidly along over
the frozen prairies, I was interested in q
conversation between two gentlemen re-
garding this country and it's prospects
for the future. I suppose the vacant
land through which We passed was the
cause which led the conversation toward
the probable rise In value Of farming
lands. There ssems to have existed no
doubt in the minds Of either that this
country would n day bs rich, and that
the then owner Of the soil would be
prosperous and c%ontentsd. A. to the
nsarnsss Of that iongsd for period tho
gentlemen were wide apart. Mr.. A.
says: 81 am the owner If 480 acrss Of
land, ~ good a. any in Dakota or Mime
sofa, but I ana not q farmer. I could not
make q nickel on a farm for I wal not
brought up that way. Ny family live
upon the farm and keep their COWS,
chickens and pigs. They make their
own butter, etc., and live contented and
happy, while I do business elsewhere.
l am Al years of ago, and never expect
reap any of the benefits of the rise in
value, for this reason: There is too
much wild land for people to settle upon
to admit Of ready sales for farms for
years to come. But" with a long drawn
sign. "Isuppose my children may gather
in some sheaves." Mr.. B. says ''that
has always been the cry Of overy settler
who over went into a new country! Let's
see how such statements are supported
by history. The past, which 10 ever
treading upon the heels Of the present,
10 laid away, a We lay away . book,
and 20 we turn to the book We may turn
to the past and read that which should
throw light upon the future. Let us
read something from tho past. My father
is rs years old, strong, both mentally and
physically. When he vas Is years old,
together with his father, mother and
brother, he left tho old Bay State. with
her scrub pine and chestnut trees, and
drove his stake in western New York.
There were no railroads then, and the
journey was made by team. From tho
Hudson river to western Yew York was
an almost interminable forest, in which
lived the red man, tho bear, wolf, deer
and ok. I have listened many times as
my mother entertained US with stories
regarding her childhood; how the wolves
used to howl in tho forests, and how the
bears used to steal tho meat at butcher
ing times, and how they always carried
a light if out after dark to frighten them
away. Here, In this then far wost, my
father welded the az which helped to
foil the forest. Here he titled the soil
whose products have built cities, rail-
roads, canals, machine shops, foundries
and factories, which have placed US not
the least among the nations of the world.
All this has been done under difficulties
which como not to the sottler OF the
prairie. Nearly all the country west Of
New York at the time my father settled
there was a vast Wilderness. Now, how
different! A populous, wealthy country
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
from the Gulf Of Mexico to the boundry
line, and with railroads spanning it from
sending out their feeders into every
nook and corner whore productivenesa
10 a feature. All this, and moro, has come
to pass in the lifetime and within the
memory of u man. That man now
lives and remembers the time when he,
too, supposed he would never live to see
the land raise to anything like its pres
snt value. From these facts, which
we CLEAN from the past, what may
we not expect tor this country within the
next few years, and how foolish for any
man who has reason to belieyo hat his
days may not be numbered for twenty or
thirty years vet, to say that ho will not
live to reap tho benefits o fenhanced valu-
atoms. I tell you that he who owns 100
scres Of this soil, and makes 1t pay the
taxes the taxes alone will, in the next
ten or fifteen years, add $500 per cent tc
his investment. The older states are be
coming crowded, and farms which were
once considered large, are being divided
among tho heirs until there are moro 4
acre farms than large ones. What is t.
hinder a man who own a 100 acre farm
worth 800 per aero, and off Of which h
makes but little more than q living from
putting $780, 600 in his pocket aud coming
OUT hero where he can have 100 Or 81
acres which will produce just as good, i
not q better, living, providing hs farmu
it as economically as he must in the east
to live. After investing from three t.
four thousand dollars in comfortably
buildings and stock, he has from six t.
seven thousand dollars left at interest
and at better rates than he can get east
The money that he now has wrapped u
in An eastern farm will then BE- bringing
in . nice income, while the rise in tn
value Of land here will be a clear prof,
which ho cannot expect there. The ma
jority Of the well.to-do farmers in th
, comparatively new statss. arc those VIII
went there when the country was will
and haye cultivated and improve thei
places. These improvments, togsthe
with the settling Of the country aroun
, them, have made them Independent
, Why should this country, with the rich
, est soil under the sun, DO an exception
J. b. COPELAND.
CRooKsToN, Jan. 7, 1883.
al The Verdict unanimoua.
W. D. Suit, Druggist, Bippus. Ind
ltasti6ea: II can racommand Elactrj