New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-01-25

and fiourishing civilization that has vanished
IKE bursted bubble, and faded as completely
rs tnc mirage OF the desert.
IRRIGATION THE ONLY HOPE
1t is all very pitiful. just as everything is
I pitiinl that speaks Of human failure and dis
! appointment and defeat. The country has gone
back 10 its original desert condition, and irriga-
Ton Is its only hope. In Its present state it is
olmost impossible to live there. 1t is burned up.
IKE the plain OF Sodom. All summer long there
Is the clear. scorchng sky and every evening the
merry, clOudless desert sunset. And sometimes, on
moonlight nights. when he hot winds are not
quite so hot as usual. the little shrivei!ed corn
blades that rustic family in the fields seem TO
b" telling each other that once. long ago. real
ears OF golden corn used TO grow on the Divide.
Yet this barrenncss seems almost incredible
when compared with the ferteness and album
dance or ten years ago. The men tnat are lett
90 not seem to know what TO do with their
heritage of poverty and suffering They wander
about like sleep-walkers who cannot realize
that their dream is ove..
1t is hard to people who have fought
stubbornly for ten years give ny the battle. II
seems unjust that those old white schoOneis that
came West so bravely years ago should have 10
turn their backs on ruin and failure and crawl
eastward again 1t is discouraging to emigrate
backward. and some poor fellows have taken a
snort cut with pisto, and have emigrated II the
Undiscovered Country" which, perhaps. lies
further West but cannot be more desolaie or
less promising than the Divide.
tn."ss irrigation is resOrted to il looks now
though the whole fate of that district
merely a caprice OF the weather. Those wide
fields still lie there fairly aching with their own
fertility. only the clouds like the through
trains don't see fit TO stop there as they hurry
ON TO the Rockies These are the results Of the
drouth in this vast district and yet the
country is by means in hopeless condition
Fortunately. the record Of the southern tier Of
counties is not the record Of the whole State, or
OF the entire Missouri Valley. 1t is not all
story OF misery and disaster and defeat. There
is good deal TO be said the other side. for II
takes more than four successive crop failures and
| MY q n 90 Nyhr
Besides. some of them have three meals day.
and the children are not all shoe!ess and hat
less.
There have been more movers that have
crossed the Missouri this year going eastward
than during any previous year. but. happily
many of them 60 with the expectation of return
ing in the spring 1t Is frequent sight to see
trains Of movers every year but they are gen
orally new settlers returning East. who have not
taken out titles to their Ian I. They go for few
sea sons until they able to raise enough t.
keep them through the winter The migratory
instinct is Independent Of a drouth or overflow
even OF war with all the elements com
bined
There are unsuccessful farmers in favorable
times and this wear with the added Obsta lie of
q drouth to contend against. with no capital L.
tide them over, there has been an unsuaiy
large number driven out Of the country. But
many have idea Of sacrificing their land
one OF these unfortunate homesteaders VINO
passed through Lincoln few months ago had
the words 'Irrigation Agitation. starvation
PAINTED upon the canvas sides OF his wagon, as
sort Of mute apology for turning his back upon
the Promised Land. When questioned. he SAID
that he intended to return III the spring a. Il"
the majority of homesteaders who are Obliged 10
leave the country every winter during the hrst
It" ''"'' THE OTHER SIDE.
Reports recently published show that east OF
the Tooth meridian there have been compare
lively few foreclosures OF mortgages. owing. per
haps. to longer time OF settlement The lana
has not deprecated and the country has not
been abandoned. In smiling contrast TO the con-
diton in the southwestern district comes the re-
port from certain counties OF unusual pros
perity during the year A farm in hariah
County. valued at $40 an acre brought IN re-
turn OF sl29 for each devoted 10 the raising
Of alfalfa. Both Butte and other western
counties report an unusually large business In
wheat and hay. and an abundance OF aialia IN
the land west Of the Tooth meridian the terri
tory SO long supposed 10 tc n part or the water
less desert the crops have on the whole come up
TO the average. and the larger towns are en-
courag aging new enterprises o. every kind
Neither the love OF sensation nor misinforma-
ton can wholly account for the exaggerated and
distorted statements regarding the hnancaI out
look In the Missouri Valley. II Is only too true
that a great deal of money has been lost That
loan and building associations have failed. but
Money markets Of the East have been dsgors-
ing their supplies upon the West and loan asso-
Citations have become altogether too numerous III
the last few years. Many Of these trust com
panes have been controlled by men with more
money than business experience and the tempia-
ton to loan money at enormous rates on newly
capitalists. We all know the result The more
conservative companies under the management
OF intelligent business men have been successful
while the companies have lost heavily.
But this Is not the fault Of the West and the
drouth and the crop failure had little 10 do with
It, new country Is always victimizcd by IN"
shreWd Spectator until the people learn better;
and then the shrewd speculator turns his aiten-
ton to the inexperienced speculator. Even when
the trust companies have been managed By "a
pable men. it has not been unusual In land deals.
10 trust to the judgment " a low-salaried In
experienced inspector who knows neither the
value OF land nor how TO meet the sagacity OF
the managers Of older competing companies.
And the failure is laid to the decreased value OF
Inc land The Eastern markets are Immediately
made aware OF the instability Of Western mort
cages and the unsafety or land security. An |
exaggerated statement concerning the financial
condition Of a country naturally calls for re-
turn OF money.
THE LESSON OF THE DROCTH
Perhaps there Is little comfort 10 the Nebras
kan to know that the failure OF a crop in his
State Is not so great loss to the whole country
as failure in New-York or in one Of the East
ern States The loss OF a crop in Nebraska is
the value Of a crop and no more. the loss or n
crop in New-Yo Is the value or the crop, To-
gether with the cost Of the fertilizer. and the in
terest on the money value Of the land. with all
Nebraska's losses this year, the aggregate amount
In dollars and cents is no more than the present
wears loss In New-York. The loss. except from
q money point OF view, cannot, OF course DE-
estimated. g., m,
MANY will remember the crop FAILURE IN III.
nois during the early seventes-that stroke OF
fato that made millionaires OF the men who were
LAND poor and unable TO dispose OF ther mort
cages There will be repetition OF the same
story in Nebraska, but IL is me @',
tho canitaIsts not the Nebraska farmers that
will be the gamers ~ =
A good deal has been said 10 the farmers 81
late about this lesson of the droulh, TINS puilsh
,,ent that has fallen alike upon the JUST ana
the unjust Perhaps IT Is "A lesson on IN" loiIE
OF borrowing when the borrower hasn't penny. /
fhan
bu, the crop TO trust TO- Perhaps there Is "A les
son TO be learned by the more fortunate peVIne
OF the State as well There has been a mighty
cry by the people who have salaries ana incomes
ahnuf the rennris Of The drOuth mat nave Detn |