Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-11-22
Destitution IN Dakota.
Much attention has been attracted

so recently granted. For several
years it has had population enough to
make two States. each with an area
double that Of Ohio. For three wears
it has led every other State and Terri
tory in the production of wheat. For
The past two years it has produced
one-thira OF the entire flax crop of the
United states. 1t has boundless
natural resources, mines of every
precious and useful metal known to
mantle largest gold stamp mills in
the world.-many thousand square
miles Of coal fields: and the largest
and finest arteslan well district in the
world. 1t has hundreds Of miles of
ndvigable rivers and lakes.-the
Missouri river alone, the largest river
in America, coursing more than al
thousand miles throughout its borders.
1thas 5000 miles af railroad belonging
to the best systems in the country.
giving cheap and quick connection
with the finest markets; the mines of
the west and the great cities of the
east. 1t has over s3,ODo,o0O invested in
higher educational, benevolent, and re-
fornlatory institutions. For years it
has not only been a self supporting
community, but has shipped annually
millions of bushels of grain and
millions of pounds of meat to feed the
hungry of other parts of the country
and world.
In less than fifteen years Dakota
has passed from wide waste of bison
pastured plains, to a prosperous, in
telligent, and moral community, sup
porting l 200 churches, 1000 schools
more than in all the territories COM
bined, or more than California with
three times the population, boasting of
more advantages than any other stat..
in the union. Dakota has 400 news
papers, 300 banks and is favored far
abovethe old world countries in the
enjoyment of good government and all
of the bounties of life and nature,
which are vouchsafed to any northern
people. This years drouth has pre-
vailed, extending from the Great
Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, it being
even worse in the extreme West than
here.
President oakes in bis report to the
Northern Pacific Railroad says: "In
the region east Of the Missouri river
the average crop is not equal to that of
some previous years, but is far ahead
OF the crop of 1888 in quantity, and the
quality is of the highest grade. In
Washington the average yield of grain
per acre owing to drouth will probably
bo not more than so per cent. OF the
proceeding years crop"
This claim supports the estimates
made ty this office of the crop returns
is North Dakota Mr.. Oakes basing his
statement on the reports of the best
information obtainable through agents
of his company and others.
The uniform success which early
attended all features of husbandry and
the abundance of cheap and free lands
resulted in rapid settlement. Thous-
ands came without knowledge Of life
on the ia rm. Many came with little
or no means and hoped for the success
attained Ivy those who had preceded
them. Many came from foreign lands
and while some prospered despite
their inexperience under new con-
ditions, others failed. Failure is not
to he wondered at when it is known
that our population is made up of
widely diversified classes OF people.
Men came to renew their health IN
our Incompatible climate. Men came
from Iceland, from Norway and Swed-
en-, from the British Isles, from all OF
Europe. and from every American
State, to get our free lands and make
homes. Dakota is large, large enough
to make lis states like Rhode Island,
and presents great variety of surface,
soil and conditions. Health money
and experience are factors necessary to
succeed in any kind of business, put
Dakota can show many signal excep-
tions to this general rule. These ex-
ceptions have lured some to disappoint-
ment and distress.
This much as prelude to the denial
we make to the senseless, but we
hope not malicious, stories extensively
telegraphed over the country during
the last month that thousands are on
the verge OF starvation in The two
Dakotas.
In support of this denial we submit
stables, showing crop returns from
every organized county in North Dako-
ia and South Dakota for 1889. 1t is
not to be understood that the existence
of some destitution in Dakota is denied.
1t does exist. There are districts in
some of the counties where the people
have been unfortunate enough to lose
two successive crops and they are in
very reduced circumstances.--in most