The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1890-02-20


The bill 10 provide q government
for Oklahoma, as amended In the
Senate, would complete the fnrma-
tiun OF Territories In the United
States, unless il might be In Alaska.
Possibly that vast region of rock and
snow will have n population some
day To justify the organization OF u
territorial government there. but
the United SIates, as u compact con-
tinental domain, needs emily the
passage Of the bill referred Ia he
come subject To the reign of law
throughout lite entire length nj a
bryadth. The amendment iprludrs
In the proposed Territory what IL
fiiIy known ~ No Mans Land.
This strip Of country lies between
Colorado. TcXi-, aud Kansas, be-
longing To neither Of the three, n
menace To them all. II contains an
area of about 4, U0,OOO acres. said 10
be well waleTed aud rich In agricul-
tural re-ourccs. Hitherto IL has
been n wild grazing country, the
few people living there recognizing
no allegiance 10 law, aud largely
given Ia Outiawry Hs a livelihood.
The population - roughly estimator;
at I0,DO0, mostly cowboys, IL not
cattle thieves. IL will he rsmem-
bered that Stephen A. Douglas was
the chairman of the senate Com
mittes on Territories all through the
period OF his championship of the
doctrine Of squAiter sovereignty.
lie is primarily responsible for
there being such a strip OF uuorgan-
lied country a. y" Mans Land. and
II his object had been Ia provide the
paradise OF squatteTs lie could not
nave hit upon a better plan
IL ~ certainly high me this
survival of the unilttest, hich CBce
prevailed everywhere aud was the
dominant feature of the continent,
had been Oblitsrated, and the estab-
lishment Of legal institutions had
become universal. With the pas
sage Of this DILL aud its signature by
the President, the flag Of civiliZation
will weave In act wherever IL does
in theory. The new Territory will
still he sn all. and ought to be en-
laTRsd by the ceding to 70 OF the
extreme contiguous portions OF the
states bordering thereon. Such
accessiOus are not TO be expected,
however.
The present Oklahoma aud No
Mans Land cOmhiued would be
somewhat larger than Massaehu-
sets, Connecticut, and Rhode
Island. Oklahoma alone v lsrger
than any Of the New England States
except Maine, and either alone H.
capable of sustaining = larger popu-
lation than any New England state,
not excepting Maine, unless, indeed,
the fertility Of both have been
greatly overpstImated. Not that
Oklahoma aud No Mans Land are
likely ever to TEEN with such q
population a. those sea-bOard states,
but Il IL Ia be remembered that
New England depends msinly for
its breadstuffs and provisions upon
the west, and In this sense IL not
and could not he sslf-supportinR.
During this week the Sioux rsser-
walton was opened up to settlement,
aud there IL tremendous rush for
the lands now going on. I. 10 ssti-
mated that 10000 people will settle
there during the year. In 1889 Ok
lahOma was the attraction for
bomeseekiug enterprise, and No
Mans Land is likely to come next.
After that what?
IL Is impossible to answer this
question, but Il IL absolutely certain
that before many years the tide
which has been flowing 30 steadily
Westward will ebb. There are q
great many New England farms
Row going to waste, left desolats,
which be again In demand. The soil
IL ~ good as ever and the climate no |
worse than formerly. so long ~
prairie farms can be had for the |
the abandonment Of the J
rugged hill farms Of the far East
will 90 on, but the end Of that sort
Of thing L. not far TO reach. when |
the reclamation Of New England
will begin. The American people |
have not lost their taste for agricul- |
turs, but all public domain is In .
sense no mans land, and until Il has
become private property the less
desirable portions Of the older states
must be ut q discount. With the |
whole country some mans land the
gradual OCCUPANCY Of Il all will be