The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-29
THE NOTES OUT OF THEIR EYES.
Bill Arp Observes hopeful Change of
Sentiment in Northern Newspaper.
From the Atlanta Constitution. !

From the Atlanta Constitution
The northern press seems to be in a
very hopeful condition. 1t has ceased
to be so deeply concerned about the
south and the negro and now devoting
more attention to their own morals. I
like that. The publican's prayer was a
more acceptable one than the Pharisees.
The Country Gentleman in lamenting
the conditions Of the farmers in west
ern Kansas, says that over 10000 fami-
lies in one district are now suffering for
the necessaries Of life and would perish
but for charity. This is an awful. state
of affairs. It sounds like the famines
We sometimes read about that come
over China and India and Japan.
The explanation given is interesting
and peculiar. There is large territory
lying east of the Rocky mountains that
used to be called the American desert,
upon which the rain seldom falls. In
the spring and early summer it is
covered with buffalo grass that is green
and rank and beautiful to look upon.
The great railroad companies that were
crossing this desert en- route for the
Pacific got immense areas of this land
as subsidies from the government. Of
course they wanted to sell 1t, and the
emigrants must be the victims. The
companies had their sweet-talking
agents at Castle Garden, and every
foreigner who had 500 or $500 to spare
was given free pass to this beautiful
country in the spring and summer, and
they took the poor fellows money and
located him on a quarter section and
patted him on the back, and told him
tc 20 to work and be happy. The COM
panies seem to believe that Dutchman
could make bis crops grow, rain or no
rain. The money lenders from the east
came right along and loaned the Ioor
fellow enough money to build him a
little house and big barn and to buy
some stock and some stools and they
took ten-year mortgage and told him
to work like the dickens and pay the
interest and not bother about the prin-
cipal. But the rain didn't come and by
midsummer the grass had dried up
and blown away and the poor farmer
couldn't carry enough water from his
shallow we'll to water his perishing
crop; and so he struggled along and
lived on his garden from year to year
hoping for better seasons, but they
didn't come, and now he can'tget away
for he has nothing to get away on.
The Country Gentleman suggests
that as the railroad companies moved
them there to get their money they
ought 10 move them back to the eastern
states free of transportation. All that
rainless country will have to be irrigat-
ed by water companies just as Califor-
MIA is now, and the government was
urged years ago to withdraw those lands
from the market until irrigation COM
panies were formed.
This accounts for the suffering among
those 10000 families, and I reckon ac-
counts in part for those 70,000 farms
that are under mortgage in middle and
eastern Kansas. A Georgian, writing
from there, says they are the best far
mers in the world, but they are over
loaded with debt, and will never get
out. When they have good seasons
and the grasshopper does not come
they make so much corn the price
drops to Is cents a bushel, and it won't
pay to haul it over the mushy roads to
railroad station.
The New York Evangelists that
great and good paper that is edited by
Henry Fields, is now troubled about
the poor Indian. 1t says they have
been eXasperated to a merciless war by
the perfdy Of the white man, and that
we would Go just as they have done if
we had been treated as they have been
for half century. They gave up their
lands under pressure and under promi-
seS that have never been performed.
Government agents and other plunder-
ers have cheated them out Of their
money and their supplies aud left them
to linger out miserable existence on
roots and nutsand the scattering game
that is fast disappearing. In their des-
peration they show fight and our
soldiers shoot down men, women and
children all alike aud all that accords
with Sherman's cold-hearted idea that
the only way to reform an Indian IS to
kill him. That's the way they tried to
reform us when they were marching
through Georgia-buln and destroy
and make desolate.
Fifty-tive years ago Sam Houston,
who was the best friend the Indians
ever had, went to Washington and
publicly denounced the men and the
methods that were swindling them, and
be gotinto fight with Mr.. Stansbury,
a member from Ohio, and mauled the
Juice out of him on the street, but the
same sort of men and the same methods
have prevailed ever since, and it looks
like the poor Indian has got to go.
And all this provokes the inquiry:
Who cheats and swindles the Indian?
Who cheats and swindles the immi-
grant? Not our people.
Another trouble with the northern
press is the late report Of the commits
sioner Of internal revenue, which shows
that during the year just passed there
were exported from this Christian land
to foreign countries 100000 gallons of