The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1891-07-04
A lar O RACINE.

Through evil ana through Soou repoIt.
The Argus has never wavered III its fealty
to Dakota-to North Dakota. 1t has ever
bitterly opposed all such %iniquities and
follies as the H~ansbrough s~eed-wheat-
begging resolution in congress and the
endorsement of it by the Bismarck legisla
ture. 1t has seen nothing but evil IL i'll
fame in every move or measure that gave
q hostile press Il chance to talk about
poverty and restitution and beggary i'll
this gardcnspot of the continent. Here Is
a sample Of the stuff that has been pub
lished far and wide, as IL natural result of
those criminal follics on the part of So
called Representatives. of Dakota. A
travelling correspondent Of the Racine
tWis.) Daily Times, OF his way to the
Pacific coast, writes from Helena of the
bustedness of the st. Paul and Minneapolis
booIns, and then goes on to say:
But if any person is anxious to cx-
pcrience Il fit of melancholy take a trip
through Northern Dakota. No words of
mine can paint my feelings. Six O'Clock
last Saturday we passed Jamestown, and
/ will try Il faint description. On one side
is a red brick state asylum that had re
ceived u coat Of paint Il year ago; with
this exception there is not Il building that
has seen paint for five years. Not Il fence
of any kind could be seen from the train
and the road passes right through the de-
serted hamlet and most of the houses were
u%ninhabited, with the sashes and doors
,,ie-in,r N'hn nr1y Ijyn rranfurn visible
besides Il woebegone railroad official, was
a gopher crashing a rat, but they were so
wasted away that neither was able to run
any distance. The only freight awaiting
shipment was Il large pile of buffalo bones.
All through the state was a repetition,
deserted homes, fredericksburg people,
ruin and desolation far and near. The
future of North Dakota is very dark indeed.
In the face of Il resolution of beggary
introduced into congress by the alleged
representative of this state, and of its en-
dorsement by the legislature, it is hard to
contradict such statements.
And yet the Argus feels called upon to
rise and say that there is a lie in every line
of that TRADE. The writer of it had just
passed through a region unsurpassed i'll
fertility by the far famed Valley of the
Nile. He had just passed through wheat
fields whose crops regulate the market of
the world. He had just passed through a
land where the whole air is musical with
the hum of Industry and prosperity. He
could not loo out of Il car window with
out having his eyes filled with visions of
thrifty homes. rich fields and busy plow-
men. He could nave heard, borne in on
every breeze, sounds of hope and conf
dence for the coming year. He passed
through a region that, last season, pro-
duced 2b,OOO.O 900 bushels of the finest
wheat that over bowed its golden heads to
the reaper; and that will this year, with
Gods favor: yield 3O,O00,000 bushels, worth
today Il dollar a bushel in gold. He
never saw, and never will see, a land more
beautiful. more fertile. more prosperous
or more hopeful. than that which he des-
cribes us a picture of ruin and dcsola-
tion.'
If the Argus were commissioned to
award a special prize of fire and birthstone
to the biggest and most inexcusable liar
a liar in general and a liar in particular, Il
liar in the aggregate and a liar in detail
it would go to this Racine combination of
Ananias and Beelzebub, and, laying its
hand upon his shoulder, say to him: You
are wanted. Here is Il miniature HI for
you-and it is all your own.-Fargo Argus.