The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1891-01-15

d.
vas 20 move upsn j, eE9 q Itivst.
n for . certain time, and it becarns
dis property, by the payment OF {
nominal sum. IL was noe even tag
ed until he had acquired title
AID after u was acquired, the legis
lation, 80 far as Ksnsasis concerned
protected it absolutely, regardless ol
how valuable % had become, from
sale for debt, unless he, Of bis owl
free will, waived that right. There,
fore, by reason Of legislation, the
farmers title 10 his land was i'm.
pregnabls 10 the Sheriff and the
loan association, unless he himself
opened the gates and invited them
In. He that asserts otherwise IL
dishonest, and 6 fomenter Of mis-
chief for his own selfish ends.
How have these mortgages and
sherifi-s sales come about7 Legisla-
ton cannot control climate. regu.
late seasons. or produce rainfall,
Thousands upon thousands Of men
took homesteads where nature has
made Il impossible to raise crops
except In rare seasons. Most OF
them were poor people. They gen.
orally stuck TO Il until they acquired
q title to their land. But repeated
failure Of crops had reduced them 20
n state of restitution. They must
have something 10 live upon. They
could get the money Of the loan
companies, by giving q mortgage
upon their land, as security. These
loan companies are composed OF
men who have money TO invest.
Does anybody pretend to say that
they should loan their money to
those farmers without security !?
The farmers were In need, aud had
the means Of securing loans. They
gave mortgages, and got the money.
What amount OF legislation could
alter that state OF facts? Here,
Akaiuf AhC iai hct "hS iuNOIChf lbI
he Is the only one that can borrow
money Of the loan companies.
Most of them make no loans on town
property; so that, no matter how
destitute the man IL who lives In q
town, he cannot secure loan. The
farmer can do so; but il his crop
failures continue, and he IL unable
to pay principal or interest Of the
debt, the sheriff must sell Il at last.
What legislation could remedy
that? II seems to us that such land
is not worth holding and wasting
time and labor upon, and that IT
would be relief TO let the sheriff
take IL.
Outside Of sections where bad sea-
sons are the rule, or where they
have had disastrous crop failures,
we deny that the farming class are
more depressed or any worse of
than any other class Of citizens.
Every farmer who has attended to
his business, or has not had mis-
fortunes that no human agency
could prevent, IL prosperous. How
contemplate, then, is q man who,
TO make capital to boost himself into
office, would charge these drawbacks
upon the party that he has always
professed to be a jealous member Of.
But there are other phases Of this
homestead business, not chsrgeable
to legislation. Thousands upon
thousands Of men have taken home
steads, with the fixed intention Of
a title in the quickest
possible time, that they might mort
gage the land for all they could get
on ID, and then skip out, intending
to pay neither principal nor interest,
but to let the MORTGAGE take lt-in
other words, they sold their lands
under the form Of a loans. Liberal
~ the Government has been In the
way Of homestead laws, IL IL not APP
preciated. How many thousands Of
persons have acquired titles TO
by the most infamous
complying with the
simple requirements Of the law, or
with as few Of them as possible, and
IN az inefficient q manner a. posi- |
bic, and then secured titles by |
collision? Whole families |
nave obtained homesteads I'm this
way, and timber claims besides,
hen mortgaged them for all they |
'ould borrow upon them, aud |
'kipPed the country, perhaps to play |
he sumo game somewhere else,
Inder a change Of name. This IL
he class who abuse the government
md the laws as the cause Of their
poverty. Having driven the buffalo
rom his natural grazing ground,
md set down to farm where God
Almighty never intended farming TO
some Of these people are
low demanding that government
urnish the moisture that Nature
las denied, by means Of irrigation;
'ut the Lord only knows where the
water is to come from. Legislation
snnot produce that.
Then the millionaire syndicates
re denounced for adopting meas.
res to take care OF the lands that
ave come into their possession.
his il worse than demAgogery. Ills
oRgish. Settlers, after getting loans
u almost the value OF their lands,
ave deserted their farms by town
hips, leaving the loan companies to
AXE them for their pay. These
in order to get some
hing of their hands, In order TO
revent the country from reyerting
D q desert, in order, perhaps, TO
that they can be made
and thus induce other
ettlers to come In and populate the
Ountry, are having large tracts Of
md put into wheat. This IL the
einous oIIense for which this rep