Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-02-21

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ton. Apply at Brewster.
! Quite sprinkle of rain Monday. Should be
glad to sec more. BLACK.
| Mr.. EDITOR, as the question of bonding the
county for a sugar factory is open for discus.
sion, will drop line.
| Mr.. Franklin thinks a number one good crop
of all kinds would be greater God send than
| $4,000 dollars of bOnds-nOw agree with him
there-but he and have been in the county 4
years ard have never seen such a crop. But
sorghum has not failed inthese years, show
ing. concusively, that this crop is adapt
ed this climate, and can be depended on. Now
would it be better for the people to provide
some way to utilize this crop that is sure, than
to go on experimenting with crops that are
more or less a failure? The gentleman says if
we vote any more bonds on our county, it will
keep emigration out, and prevent capitalists
from investing in our county. Now my view is,
when man buys farm he figures on what
kind of a crop it will grow, and what kind OF
market there is for the crop after it is prOduc-
ed. And if a man comes to our county with a
view to locating. and realizes there is a good
soil and plety of rainfall to raise good crops of
grain, his mind will turn to the question of
market. And if he finds there are no railroads
to market his produce and that there was
disposition on the part of the people not to
vote aid to any railroad, even ii their country
was never developed, do you suppose the per-
son would invest! Again, suppose farmer
comes to our county and there is only one
crop that he can grow with any certainty OF
success, and which will not admit of transport
alton to any distance. and there is no factory
to utilize this crOp-will he not pass OH to
some more enterprisng people! Again, CAPT.
talists invest their money in country that
is developing, and railroads and manufactures
are necessary to the development of any cOun-
try, and if We cannet get them without bond
ing for them, then say vote reasonable
bond. The gentleman admits that the bonded
Indebtedness had. nOthing to with the depres-
sion in the price of land or city property, but
SCOTS ut the idea of railroads or factories
building up Colby and furnishing a better
market for farm produce.
would like to ask the gentleman if there
was not more capital invested in Colby last
year than there would have been if the rail-
more people in Colby? Is there
not more stock? These all have to be
fed. Is not the prices of farm produce, based
on the demand-dOes it not make our produce
realize us more money when we can buy our
coal this year for 81 30 per ton, than at 50 O0
$1,000, the prices of last year. Did not the
railroad give employment to great number
of our farmers!
Did not the building boom in Colby last |
year give employment to hundreds of our |
who were carpenters, masOns |
and plasterers by trade? And this money |
which they obtained was paid out i'm turn to |
their brother homesteaders for breaking and |
other improvements. So we are all more or
less benefited. Will not a sugar factory re-
quire greater or less number of hands that |
will bring their families to Colby, thus in I
creasng the population and thereby ncreas-
ing the demand for farm produce. Will not
the handling of large areas of sorghum nee
essitate the employment of more hands on
the farm. thereby giving employment to our
young men at home. where now they are
compelled to go on the railroad or to our
neighbOring states to earn a livelihood. But
this sugar factory does not cOnfine us all to
raising sorghum. The gentleman can still /
have his big crop of everything providing il |
rainS) and have Il better market and have the
satisfaction of seeing his county developed i
with but a small outlay in taxes.
G.. w DART