Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-28
THINK ABOUT TT.

A correspondent of THE GAZETTE in a
recent issue, discussing the land law
question, gave expression to some facts
that should appeal to the thought of all
men who sincerely desire the settlement
of the vacant lands in the Panhandle and
TIE GAZETTE's correspondent with all
the brevity of aphorism and are repeated
here in the hope that their pertinency
may be impressed on the minds of the
friends of actual settlement of the I'M
occupied lands of Texas:
1 have been travelling over the state most of the
time for ten years, and like MANY others have
seen many pieces of school and state lard that
would like to own and live on. But knew from
the experience of others that it was out of my
reach.
The Panhandle needs no recommendation from
me as to its fertility and adaptability. There is
nowhere better soil combined with healthy
climate. Yet home in the Panhandle is out of
the reach of the poor man.
The poor cant get it and the rich don't want
it, Cf they have TO live on it,.
In all new countries it has been the poor man
who settled it and the rich improved it.
Nebraska, Kansas and other western states
were settled, principally by Woodworking poor
men who had to rustic for the SI4 they paid
for their homesteads, and could hardly spare
time from ''making a living to be on their
claim once in six months and do the work re-
CURED by law.
If they had been governed by the present land
laws of Texas, it is likely that where those
b1 +hn &c
the cowboy and tine buffalo?
There is no reason save the want of cultiva-
ton that the Panhandle should not develop into
as good farming country as the Republican
valley.
1 helped to survey portion of Nebraska on
the Republican in 1858 and it looked great deal
worse than the Panhandle did last year or this.
You can note similar changes in any new prairie
country.
It takes farmers to bring about this change
and make a tax-paying country out of our waste
land.
But farmers that want homes cannot go to a
new country and pay down S35, build house,
fence their land, dig well 200 feet deep, buy
seed, and have enough to live on for year and
pay the sG2 interest; ard, even if they have, the
failure 20 pay ihat $50 any subsequent year may
cause them to lose their claim. More than that,
they can not seek employment elsewhere, for they
must live on their claim. No land viii yield
a good crop the first year and sometimes for sew
eral years.
Instead of continual occupancy, if man was
only required to be on his claim once in six
months and to be a resident of the state, and to
do a certain amount of improvement each year
And instead of FORGETTING both claim and the
money paid out, upon failure to pay interest
when due.
If by paying compound interest the time could
be extended, then if forfeited pay back to pur-
chaser say all payments made except the inter-
est and as much of the interest as would pay
for the improvements, and add the cost of such
permanent Improvements to the value of that
piece OF land, to be paid for by the next pur-
chaser.
It does seem as though some provision should
be made to further induce actual settlers, and to
encourage agrculture-the foundation of our
future glory.