The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-02-24
DO you furnish the farm implements?''

discount On large purchases and reduced
rates on railroads, SO it is not SO expensive
as it seems at first sight,
You see this is fine SOIL" he said, lift
ing a handful and examing it,
''It is q fine, rich sandy loam," / said
''Then this is the fine country where the
great desert used to be. The home of the
buffalo and roaming red skins has been re-
deemed and is now being purchased by
English and American landlords at rapid
rate"
''It has not been three years since I first
located these lands Then | was far in ad-
vance of civilization, but now it has gone
way beyond me- If Lord Sanders had not
come with me should never have got pos
session Of SO much land all in one body as
have it now"
II was just going to ask you how you
got possession of SO much land.
There are two classes OF land open to
settlers: railroad lands and government
lands. The railroad lands | bought by the
section. was told that 10 foreigner could
obtain@land5 from the government in any
form, but Lord Sanders understood the
ways of the land Office and helped
me. There are three forms by which
government land can be obtained, home
stead, pre-emption and timber claims.
Homestead laws give to each head Of
the family right to enter quarter sec
| ton by living on it five years and then
proving up. The pre-enption laws re-
| quire the applicant to till the soil and pay
from one dollar and twenty-five cents to
two dollars and fifty cents per acre, ac-
cording to the location. And the timber
claim allows quarter section to the quail
fed man or woman VINO pays fourteen dol
| lars and breaks five acres the first year,
| cultivates it the second and plants either
| seeds or cuttings for timber until he can
show some six thousand living trees on the
land he claims'
We'll, you could not comply with any of
those requirements, could you?"
That is where Lord Sanders helped me.
We thought of every name we could and
then went to the land office, and, with the
aid OF good bonus, we had names enough
entered to take up the alternate sections
Then, as soon as my tenants came, each
one was placed on the desired quarter sec
tion and began to cultivate it. When the
time comes for proving up it can be shown
| that the lands have changed hands and
are in the hands Of actual settlers. ] shall
enter it in each tenants name and pay all
the fees and rent the lands to them, while
they transfer to me the fee simple"
Now | see how you manage it. But l
should think the American people would
object to foreigners coming here and hold
ing SO much land"
They are always glad to have foreign
ers come and make actual settlement and
my tenants will qualify just as soon as
possible; then there can be no objection to
them. And the railroad lands we can buy
as much of as we like; though some wild
fanatics are making fuss about it"
Il understand that Englishmen now
own about twenty million acres in the
United States'
II believe that is true. We are gaining
the lands our fathers lost without fighting
any bloody battles for them"
Il remember reading in an English pa
per before l left home that NO matter
what course Congress may take to prevent
it, the inheritance of the American people
will yet come into the possession of the
English nobility Now l see what it
| meant. But some are working to defeat
| your plans"
II do not wonder that the American
| people are waking UP to the truth of the
situation. English and Scotch landlords
| already own as much land in America as
the entire state of New York.
| Here is a piece Of ground that must
have been under cultivation before you saw
| it," l said, as we came to an old log cabin.
eyes, Wayerland, that | bought of an
old man who had lived here number of
years. When fenced my property he
found himself without a highway"
But you had no right to do that"
The COW boys l had here herding my
stock made him feel Il little uneasy"
| Then you forced the old man to leave
this beautiful piece of ground where he
had toiled to start home?" ! asked.
Il bought hlm out" said the duke,
| wincing under the word force.
'Did you pay him for his improve
ments?"
No, could not afford to do that paid
| him the same that | paid for railroad
| lands
Then his two or three years har5 work
went for nothing
''He had one or two good crops frGza the
land
81 think the equal rights to all cause
in the American constitution has been
abolished and might makes right has
been inserted in it's stead"
"You are right in thsss, Waverland. The
| boasted liberty of America is only in the
name when they subndit to being gov
erned by money, backea up by physical
| force Just look at Jay Gould he counts
| his wealth by the hundreds of millions,
| When he wants to steal anything by lgw
| he finds plenty to help han. Liberty, in
,ieei! It's all Dosh''
II do not wonder that we hear of rIsts
| ard strikes. No one wotlln object to bis
| great wealth if he would allow fair WAGES
| to his employees. But when, month after
I mouth, he cuts down their wages a foss
[ cents at time, until starvation is at thaix
| doors, am not surprised that they relHl
/ Then have heard that his men are eslor
peltesl to pay a monthly tax to establish
| and maintain a hssIba fund, under Nh
| jay Gould's finely organized system 81
tyranny" said, as ne, started foro,71
| little boarding house after Ion. ride: is
| this aukedom.
Thus riding and chatting from day u
| Day. sometimes on horseback, sometimes
Oh wheels but always, in hunting suit
| with game bag, dogs, servants, and gums
we spent two weeks OIL the dukes great
| St1ta IT Is in aytGs,i aloout twonfy- five