Telegram-herald., 1891-02-10


The following copy Of parts of pri-
yass letter have been handed N tor
panaieatsoa. The letter itself reaas
like ene written for publication. and
the faEsKAn-HEkAlp explicitly als-
asoss any latentson 10 endorse or aa.
swer for the truth OF tne statements
contained thersln. With ths letter
both aides oi the question slil have
been presented, and the public may
judge at tAe merits at the controversy.
aud contribute or ~itahold ia oonIs-
buttons scoordiag 10 the dictates of ia
oxn understanding:
fe K A. Owen. oraaa Rapids
Well, you want 70 know
some OF the fsess rslatlng 10 the pre-
sent condition Of Dascta farmers. /
think / sanoersook to describe our con-
ditloH about Islls time 5 year ago. Now
just gather up A.. those oisagEoeSliie
facts and multiply ibem by teo or
three ana you eau form pretty COED
idea as 90 our present condition. Ne
have had another year OF famine. all
other halrea season. Ne renewed gae
struggle and have used up a. our n
serve ioroes and are now week ana
helpless. We have our ehoce ol tso
aiteraations-beg or slaTse. So.ne Of
our newspapers, land boomers and
other iaisefaole frauds tell ns that Il =
. shame ID beg, and KICK 0s Ior sQutal-
ing when ne are hangfg. laey aoused
cur Governor and oIlcr klad Igiends.
and headed on ln every way thfy
could devise, every efiort that Nas
nlltie lasl esr fog the rtilei 81 actual
sufferers The result 81 il - tlssI -
tar. this year, nothing has been aone
bF the ran-ro@u companies o. by ANY
| system o. organization II reilef. sse,
and The world 1T large are Told that ali
the Teilet anybody wants, can br Lsd
| through our coants boaris. Well. Mlll
say Qua counsy boaids Brown Co. dia
pay cat 5000 last month 10 the pau
pers. For those io naom rei.ef Was
gwen, mad 10 subscribe 10 a cast lfoa
oath that they were paupofs. Couasy
warrants are nOw =. A blg discount ia
TIE market and / predict aney viii sOoa
be on. par with southern coaiederasy
efcenbacks. The larger number Of as
dld gather little wheat from our dried
up ilelds aud IN most cases lhis has
been sold TO supply other necessaries of
HE and assure yon We are uslng them
as sparlngly as possible. Very few. ip-
deed, VIII be able 10 save a busliei for
seed. Not one ~ twenty OF tie farm
ers j am acquainted with fased "A
single bushel OF iced grain, and our
stock shows that for themselves. Last
week there was a sort of convention
called IN Aberdeen 10 discuss the seed
problem. A hasiy canvass OF the
country had been made the day before,
| leaving out some OF the most poverty
stricken portions that bad falleo TO re-
port. They found that $4,000 bushels
OF wheat would toe needed for seed
alone, and that by farmers who bad no
means OF purchasing and were also dee
itute OF oats and other feed gram
seed and had absolutely nothing 10
keep soul and body together Until
another crop wonid be grown My
| opinion is that II would
require londreds OF thousands
of dollars 10 enable the farmers
OF South Dakota 10 resume the siruc-
gle. Hundreds of farmers have aban-
doned their farms and hundreds more
are Just living from hand 20 mouth
Looking N VAIN for some way Of escape.
American people will not starye 30 long
as they have friends down east. Many
OF us have donations Of clothing and
other things for which we feel truly
thankful. Looming companies virtual
! ly Own TINS couniy--rot only our iafuls
but everything else. Ii is astonishing
how values have deprecated during
the last tso or three years. IL is a
| question ~ ray mind whether land here
possesses any value. We have not been
able, al least, 80 make It produce any
thing but taxes, interest and trouble.
These crops arc toierably certain. The
mortgage crop ls played out. IL has
been fDfly demonstrated that our soil
/ is rlch and very productive, but during
the last two vears the elements 81 dee
troction have combined against gs an1
present indications poinf TO a coutin-
uance, for so far Ne have had neither
snow nor rain to nloisien the ground.
! Now what are we going % do 10 the
kDotty problem. The only door that
now seems open 20 us, j. the one oI,en-
INC towards tbe north pole. AssinIbOine
IS beckoDlng 10 tis. and saying. ''come
over here al ye poor, siliYerine,
ianilshing. starving Dsk 5fans ard
We shall have free nomestsAds
with abundance of wood. watef and
grass. and where ye shall feed on fred
chicken aud tear STEAK" TINS = a
very tempting bait lust at presert. and
many there be who are nthling AZ the
! nook. | vii elise by giving you toe
result Of my own operntions last ses-
son. ] sowed 3l5 acres II wheat. 90
acres Of oats: 10 OF naiilei. of corn,
and j % potatoes ] harvested wheat.
500 bushels. very poor. oats none. lan-
/ let, tons: cofn, none; potatoes, =
/ bushels. The seed wheat. 81 bushels.
/ was Furnished i,y the county appTopr-
tons board. aud lad u be pad cot of
t3e crop.
Nu15An ArPLEfoED.