The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-03-04
THE MAN WITH A HOE.

|
has at various times In its development
certain factors which are in the ascendency.
Each is for time the reigning monarch
the king to whom all bow and to whom
when the reinforcement comes is given scant
| reverence. Texas was the abject slave OF
| King Cattle for many years. 1t still looks
| with admiration on sharp-pointed wide-
| branching horns. Indeed, when few DAYS
ago the State presented $4,000 silver SER
/ vice to the battleship which bears its name
| every piece bore in Its design an idealized
steers head its chief ornament. But
| the reign Of King Cattle is ended and there
| is another dominant force in the develop
ment Of the great Southwest. 1t is the
| farmer. the man with a hoe, whose march
over the prairies has been Irresistible and
all conquering.
His coming recalls prophecy which has
been abundantly fulfilled. prediction as
| well put as 1t was accurate. There was u
cattle barons' banquet In Dallas once II
was when the ranchmen had money to burn
Steers were at the top notch and all the
western part of the State was alive with
dogies' and "longhorns." The settlers
! beginning to come in were asking Tor pro-
lection but the cattlcmen ran the legisla-
ture and laughed at them. To celebrate
some victory of this sort was held the ban
duet. 1t was hummer. 1t cost something
| like 500 plate. but that made no differ
ence in those days-it meant only few
steers less and steers We're plenty as cactus
plants There were toasts and songs, all
! calculated to exalt the steer and his owner
/ and predicting unlimited glory for the flu
| ture Of the train which led up through the
| Territory to the Northern markets Finally
the chairman. thinking to cause embarrass-
| r1p ont IN trb ba
a young newspaper man and demanded
speech. For a moment there was no re-
sDonse. but the cattlemen clinked their
| glasses with the diamonds on their fingers
and the young man arose.
"Once there was a king" he began strik-
ing somewhat tragic attitude. who sat at
a feast and saw the handwriting on the
wall. He trembed. You cattle barons to-
night should open your eyes to the condi-
lions. and also be alarmed. The thing that
marks your doom is the man with the hoe
| He Is creeping across the plain toward your
wire fences and feeding grounds. He is in
earnest. He Will cut your fences. and plant
your feeding grounds to corn and cotton.
| You may kill him. but there will be two
mere behind. 1t is an army demanding that
show. You may brag and buster. feast and
| dine. but you can't stop him The reign of
the cattle king is at an end; the reign of
| the man with hoe has commenced" There
was silence for little. and then the revelry
went on. But the words of the newspaper
| man were prophetic. There never was an
other cattle barons' banquet. Steers never
We're worth so much again as they were
| then.
They are cutting up the ranches of the
Southwest into FARMS is the answer to
queries regarding the most interesting
! feature of Texas development. The demand
| for farms and homes on the part of the i'm
migrants from the prairie States farther
| north has caused the opening of large areas
heretofore devoted to grazing. The man
with hoe has wrested the scepter from the
cattle barons, and now, instead of begging
| for favors, grants them. He is changing the
| OUTPUT Of the State from hides and beef 10
| corn and cotton and products OF varied agri-
culture, He is importing calico and sofas
and cabinet organs instead Of wide -brimmcd
| hats, long spurs and many -thonged saddles.
| He is giving Texas new rame and repu'
taton better and worther than the old. His
| coming has been healthful thing and the
State s real progress began with his advent.
|
| The man with hoe has made curious
progress in the past two decades. His first
|
in the latter '7os and early SOS thousands
of immigrants every week passed over the
Missouri and Ohio and through the Union
depot at Kansas City. bound westward
They settled the homesteads and railroad
| lands of the Dakotas. Kansas and Nebraska
nearly to the west lines of those States. 1t
| was discovered that portion OF this terri
tory was lacking in moisture and could not
| md hnrt thn sh
to Oklahoma. and the end of that struggle
| is not yet. The opening Of virgin territory
| IL SLOW work and the full possibilities can
not be realized for some time. Next the
| tide turned southwark, both because Of the
rlch agricultural lands and because Of the
mllder climate. Tho settler had grown
weary of feeding his stock ak months in
the year. and wanted more sunshine and
carrier grass. So whte-topped wagons are
seen toiling southwark they once moved
toward the west. They hold men and
women whose sunburned faces have wrin
| kies made by care and toll. They are SEEK |
| ing homes. Perhaps they will never find !
! them, There seems to be a class OF ever |
moving campers who forever wander over
the plains in white-topped. creaking wagons. |
| Some of these belong to that restless cara |
van But for the most part they are in |
earnest.
said farmer on the prairie one day when
ne was struggling not to be discouraged as
ne saw the corn leaves wither and curl In
the hot wind: "'Do you know. sir / think
we TOOK this country from the indiana too
blamed soon" Perhaps he was right as to
some OF 1t. and no doubt his thought has
peeh shared by many whose dreams have
come TO naught But there can be no such
opinion as TO the inroads of the man with
noe on the cattle preserves of the Lone Star
"'a'e' ne came none too soon. He brought
pe'ter civilization and is giving Texas
greater prosperity. With him have come |
wlie ana sons and daughters, and their
presence is building up better life than
I'M. me cattle days ever knew. Not only was
,he young newspaper man at the cattle
oarohs BANQUET an accurate reader of the
,u.ure' put he predicted an area which has
meant much for Texas, both for its pres