Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-02-12
motto should be, No American Land mon.
opoly, either foreign or domestic"
CHAPTER XIII-TENANTRY IN AMERICA.

"To which of his estates shall we go'" l
asked.
"To the nearest one. 1t will only take a
few hours to reach it."
The morning was bright. a gentle
shower had fallen in the night Every
thing seemed rejoicing in the warm sum
shine. We passed out from the buzz and
hustle of the noisy city into the calm, cool
air of the country We saw large herds Of
horses and cattle laZily feeding in great
pastures, under the shade Of oak, elm and
maple trees We passed through country
that lay before US like an immense map
marked off by different shades of green,
vast corn fields with their deep rich green,
wheat and oat fields shaded to bright
tint. On, on we sped, past large farm
houses surrounded by orchards full OF
growing fruit, great red barns that told of
care and comfort, towering wind mills
that could rival the imaginary giants of
Don Quixote, full corn cribs laden with
the golden ears, past villages full of bust
ness, fine churches, large school houses,
cozy dwellings and substantial stores.
Commerce, culture, society and religion
were all provided for in response to the
needs and industry of man.
ties, straw barns, and rail cribs without
corn.
We entered little tumble-down village
without church or school-house. There,
the conductor told us, was the place our
tickets called for.
care we still in American" I asked.
"This seems more like Ireland and ten
ant village"
"It is tenant village" said the duke,
as we walked from the steps of the old,
rickety depot.
"Can it be that tenantry has been so
long in America as to have caused it's
loathsome form to cover this fair land?''
"Now, Waverland, I did not come to
hear you preach. I came to see the chan
ces of success with American tenants"
said the duke, as we crossed to little,
low, wooden shanty with one window, a
door and a hole in the roof for the stove
pipe to pass through. The duke knocked
at the door and a woman about thirty
opened it. [ was surprised at the neat ap-
pearance of the interior of the cabin. The
ceiling and the walls of the room had been
papered with newspapers and looked clean
The woman was bright, intelligent look
ing, and neat in a simple gown. She had
been washing and little boy was putting
cobs, picked from the pig pen, into the
stove to make the kettle boil. A bed in
one corner of the room looked neat and
clean. There were three or four shelves,
made by running cord through small
holes in each side of the boards and held
in place by a knot on the under side, full
of books. [ saw Emerson's prose works,
Dickens stories, "Uncle Toms Cabin"
and a good many other good friends in
that little rough shanty. When we had
taken the seats she had offered us, (two old
wooden chairs, which, with a rough deal
table, completed the inventory Of the
household furniture,) the duke asked:
Are you living on one of Lord Sanders
farms?"
eyes, sir" said the woman I'VE rent
from his agent''
do you make comfortable iving?' 1
asked.
mot very comfortable, though we never
suffer-" said the woman, with a peculiar
look in her dark eyes. eff we could choose
our own time for selling our grain we
could do better. There comes my hus-
band" she said, che can tell you better
than / about the place.
A large, fine looking man drove near the
shanty with team and cuitivator We
babe the woman good-day and went to in
terview the farmer himself
Have you been on this place Iong?"
asked the duke, after a few words of in
PRODUCTION.
"SiX years." said the man, "and am as
poor to-day as when [ came here"
why do you stay here then, when lands
are so cheap out west?n
"You must know it costs a good deal to
get start even if lands are cheap. had
brother who went west. He made him
self a good farm with good comfortable
buildings. He had quite a start and was
proud and happy in his new home, that he
had made from the wild prairie of the
west. But he had taken lands that were
afterward gobbled up by the railroad COM
pany. He lost all he had and came back
here to rent. keep hoping that by work
ing little earlier, a little later and little
harder, that [ can get start here. There
is neighbOr Jones who has the same num-
Der of acres that | work." said the man,
pointing across the road to where neat
little frame house stood, shaded by tall
maple and cottonwood trees HE is max
ing money every year, and has some COM
forts for his family besides. He is all the
time making improvements. He has a
nice young orchard, grape vines and small
fruits that add to the comfort and value of
his place. | came here the same year that
he bought there. L work just as hard as
he does, but [ can only raise enough to pay
the taxes and the rent, and have little to
live on"
"Then you pay the taxes" said the
duke.
Eyes, SIR" said the man." ST have the
taxes to pay, though they are not half as
high as Joness are. Lord Sanders is rich
and knows better than to improve his
lands, and then we cannot even have de-
cent school to send our children to, be-
cause the agent will not permit us to vote
as we please. Oh, he's a shrewd one, is
that Lord Sanders. He knows he can get
just as much rent for that old shanty with
few poles and straw stack for barn,
as though he had good buildings"
"What is the reason you cannot make as
much as your neighbour" I asked. "Are
his crops better than yours?"
''No, SIR" said the man. eve raise
bushel for bushel; we did last year of both
wheat and corn"
"Then what is the trouble?" asked the
duke.
We'll, sir, can tell you the trouble. He
could choose his own time for selling his
grain, and he received one dollar per
bushel for his wheat and twenty-five cents
bushel for his corn. had to sell when
Lord Sanders agent demanded the rent,
and got sixty cents per bushel for my
wheat and fifteen cents for corn. On the
two you can see quite margin for free
DOM yes freed9mi I am bound under an
iron clad lease almost as binding as a bill