Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-10-31

III BE CONTINUED.
Gravelton, Mo. L. NJ. WAGNER.
Southeast Missouri.
The people in Southeast Missouri
ought to be more careful about dispos-
ing of large tracts of land to big cor
porations. Not long ago Butler county
fell heir, through decision in the SUI
preme court, to a large tract of timber
land. and the county court could hard
ly wait until the decree of the supreme
court was received until it commenced
negotiating sale of the land to for
eign corporation. It was sold for a
song, and very cheap one at that.
Had the county held this land and sold
small tracts to actual settlers it would
have received more than double what
the foreign corporation paid and ac-
quired many valuable citizens into the
bargain.
The policy of selling SO much land
to big corporations has injured South
east Missouri more than the citizens in
that section of the state imagine, and
this injury will become more apparent
in the future. A very large per cent.
of the valuable timber land in South
east Missouri is now owned by corpor-
ations. and the mineral bearing land
is practically all in their control. 1t
is not to be doubted that the finest
mineral-bearing land in the state is to
be found in Southeast Missouri, and
yet the public Eever hears a word
about this important subject, because
it does not suit the corporations to
have it known just what bonanza
they have.
But how different is the case in Jas
per county. In all civilized countries
the wonderful products of the Jasper
county mines are known. The differ
ence between Southeast Missouri and
Jasper county is that the citizens in
Jasper, and not foreign corporations,
own the mineral land. Jasper is one
of the most thickly-settled and wealthy
counties in the state. Carthage, Webb
City, Joplin and Sarcoxie, all beauti-
tiful cities, owe their prosperity large
ly to the mines. Every week the
mines yield 800, 900 or more, and the
money is widely distributed. And it
is not to be doubted that the boom in
Jasper county is only in its infancy.
The corporations did not build up JAS
per county but the people themselves.
Had they sold or leased their land to
one or two great corporations Webb
City and Joplin would be mere villa
ges to-day in place of the magniic ent
cities they really are.
It is a matter to be regretted that
the people of Southeast Missouri have
stood in their own light and given the
corporations SO much control. The
land in Southeast Missouri is the rich
est in the state and the people are hos
pitable, intelligent and enterprising.
But in an evil hour they gave the cor
borations enough rope to strangle the
life out of individual enterprise, and it
will probably take years to overcome
this influence. With the immense for
ests of Southeast Missouri destroyed
and the mineral-bearing land in the
hands of great corporations, the coun-
try is bound to suffer. These corpor-
ations care nothing for the real deve1- |
opment of the Southeast. What they
are after is the valuable minerals and |
valuable timber, and not the upbuild-
ing of the country. Had the lead
mines in st. Francois county been oper-l
ated the past ten years as similar mines
were operated In Jasper county, Far
mington would to-day be a city of 15.-
BOO or 1000 inhabitants and half q
dozen other fourishing cities would
dot the county, and the same is true of
,ther cities in Southeast Missouri
T. c. Tribune.