The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-07-30
Stronger Than Theories.

UnueTueatH tile HUONc CttpAIoh eHs
Dubuque Times. which has yearn-
ing ambition to be the political boss
Of northeastern Iowa, SO far as the
Republican party is concerned. in
characteristic editorial parades Can
didate Wheeler before its readers as
fair example Of Iowa's prosperous
farmers and declares that in him is
found an example Of an abundant
reward to him who tills the virgin
soil Of this fertile state. The Times
says:
The democratic papers of the state
are still laboring very hard to bear
out the statement Of Governor Boles
that farming does not pay in Iowa.
Farmer Wheeler, our candidate Tor
governor. says it does pay and illus.
trates the fact by the possession OF
one Of the finest farms in the state
which he has made highly product
i've and entirely profitable. That is
the difference between the two can
didates. Boies says farming in Iowa
is a losing industry while Wheeler in
common with hundreds OF other farm
ers says it is a paying industry. And
the chief objection Of the democrats
to Wheeler is that he is prosperous
farmer. They say: You have no
right to be prosperous; your farm
ought to be run down at the heel and
you should long ago have gone into
bankruptcy
If the statements made in the above
quotation We're true, the Leader
would be indeed glad. II the only
evidence that the farmers OF Iowa
were not in the most prosperous con-
dition; were not receiving adequate
compensation for their labor, was
found in the columns of any class OF
newspapers, the Times might have
some excuse for its apparent igno-
rance. But when in truth more than
6,0O0 farmers, of all political beliefs,
have made reports substantiating
whatever statements have been made
to that effect, declaration to the
contrary from one SO far removed
from the field of the agriculturist as
is the judicial editor Of the Times is
anything but convincing.
But" says Ithis judicial editor,
mr.. Wheeler, our candidate for gov
ernor, says it (farming) does pay and
illustrates the fact by the possession
Of one Of the finest farms in the state,
which he has made largely product
i've and entirely profitable" IT'S true,
Mr.. Wheeler does possess one of the
finest farms in the state: located in
the very heart of the most fertile sec
ton Of the state; in the new north
west, that has furnished home for
thousands of settlers whom all Iowans
proudly welcomed to our state dur
ing the past decade and half. 1t is
probably true. as the Times says,
that this farm has been highly pro-
ductive, for Mr.. Wheeler, coming to
the state with means, has had an adj
vantage over his neighbors in the
facilities for the cultivation Of his
acres. But has it been entirely
profitable" and is Mr.. Wheeler the
prosperous farmer" the Times would
have US believe?
The records in the Office of the re-
corder of Sac county have tale to
unfold upon that subject that per-
haps our editorial brother is not
aware of. Does he know that for
5000 acres Of Sac county land, which
constitutes Mr.. Wheeler's highly
productive" farm, that gentleman
paid sci 200, or $3.50 per acre; and
does he know that now, after fifteen
years Of entirely profitable" farm
ing, there rests upon these fertile
acres a mortgage Of $4,000, $40, 000
more than the cost price Of the prop
erty? And does the Times know that
this mortgage has been gradually in
creased from almost the beginning,
II it does not know these facts, the
Leader very much regretting that the
facts exist, but with truly Christian
spirit, takes this opportunity Of en-.
tightening the Times as to the won.
derful degree of prosperity that
has attended the cultivation Of a fer.
tile Iowa farm by its candidate gov.
ernor. Who. then, should receive
the praise, the man who recognizes
the needs of the farmers and cham.
pions his cause, or he, who knowing,
feeling the weight of uniIlst laws and
class legislation refuses to recognize
the existing circumstances and in the
face of mortgage indebtedness Of
$4,000 accumulated in decade and
half on an Iowa farm declares that
farming is a paying industry"
verify, Facts are stronger than
theories. The Des Moines Leader.
An exchange says the recent pro
hibition-republican state convention