The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-02-13
The Oflcial Paper Of San Juan County
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 1895.
FORWARD OR BACKWARD--WHICH!

Last week THE ISLANDER published
o vigorous little communication over
the very appropriate nom de plume OF
"Rustler" upon the Importance OF ef-
fecting some sort of county OrganiZa-
ton to promote settlement and develop
ment and encourage the establishment
of new industries. THE ISLANDER has
several times of late touched upon the
same matter editorially and we are
eratifed to note the manifestation OF
any inclination on the part of anyone
to encourage and assist in such work.
"Rustlers" communication has the
right ring to it. We should aspire to
be something more than a community
of barterers, "living off each other en-
tirely, trading legal knowledge for po-
tatoes, medicine and printers ink for
wood, and so on" as our correspondent
says. AS county although adjacent
to we are cut off from the great routes
of travel We have no cities or large
towns within our borders, alive with
real estate agents alert to advertise our
resources and advantages and sound
the praises of any town lots, acre tracts
or farms that promise them goodly
commissions. AS Farmer Gould said
at the immigration convention. we
have "never had BOOM" but while
certain mainland towns and cities,
whose names it is not necessary to
mention now, were INDUCING in this
sort Of luxury few years ago, con-
siderable number of San Juan county's
easy going citizens got some rather fam
tastic notions i'm their heads about the
values of farm lands,and unfortunately
the woods were full of agents of mort
gage loan companies and one per cent a
month capitalists who encouraged them
in this form of Many farmers
could easily borrow more money tleen.
than they can sell their farms for now,
and as result notices of sheriff sales of
real estate occupy more space in the col
umns of THE ISLANDER than would be
the case if the main land towns had
"never had boom" to give fictitious
values to property and make farmers
easy victims Of money lenders.
Probably three-fourths of our farmers
have more land than they can ever ex-
pect to till or pasture. Few of them
can afford to hold the surplus. 1t don't
pay. The best thing they can do is to
sell it to people who will improve it
and help to increase the assessment
roll. Then they can pay off their mort
cages and stop paying interest, which
ought to be nightmare to any farmer.
"But how are we to sell?" they ask.
Certainly not by waiting, like Micaw-
Der, for something to turn up, and tell
ing themselves and their neighbors
that the country is going to the dem
milton bow-wows because the Demo-
cratic party killed the Republican
goose that laid the golden egg and Un-
Gle Sam has to borrow money to do
business with. In the east and middle
pie who want to come to the Pacific
coast. A great many of them are
farmers in coia rtable circumstances.
who have a desire to live in a more
genial cline and where their children
and their children's children may en-
joy better opportunities for advance
ment than are now afforded in the old
er states. 1t is with this class of peO-
pie that we should place ourselves in
communication, and it can only be
done effectively through the medium
of organization-united effort and pa
tient, persistent and systematic work.
1t is well to bear i'm mind that "the
Lord helps those who help them
selves" We have plenty to offer and
have no reason to be ashamed 10 tell
the truth, the whole truth and nothing
but the truth. If we cannot win that
way we do not deserve to win at all.