Iron County register., 1898-05-05
To C. K. Polk.

Ed. Reglster-Two weeks ago | saw
and read a communication from C.. X.
Polk, in in which he gave US readers
of the REGISTER some of his views on
public matters, and more especially
on money matters. Said he was one
OF the first workers for the free coinage
of silver and in his letter he requested
that the farmers and taxpayers should
write their views on the different mat
ter5 that are of public interest.
have looked In the different issues
of the paper each week for some one
to give their views on those matters
that he spoke Of, but have seen moth
ing in reply. l do not think it is be-
cause each and all take no interest in
the matters he spoke of, but each one
is waiting for some other fellow to
speak. And as I have been free sill
yer man all my life, and feel a deep
interest in ali public matters l shall
try, as the old preacher said, 'in my
feeble way to tell you some of the
things l think.
l endorse all he said in his letter.
The money trade, schools, school
books, roads, etc. Now in the first
place let US look over the country,
the farm and business, and business
Z
some of the leaks come in. will con-
fine myself to the farmer first. To my
mind, the first great mistake the av-
erage farmer makes is a desire to own
too much land. In the old times the
average farmer felt and thought he
must own all the land that was joining
him. Now it takes money to buy land
and every acre a man owns that does
not earn him something is leak. 1t
costs just as much to clear poor acre
of land as a rich acre. 1t costs just as
much to fence a poor acre as rich
acre, and when the Assessor comes
that poor acre is classed improved
land, and the tax will be just as much
as the rich acre. When | first COM
menced farming on my own land |
cleared and fenced just what l thought
| could cultivate and make good crops,
and by careful cultivation and enrich
ing the few acres had crops to sell,
and money in my pocket, dressed my
wife and children as well as my neigh
bors, paid my taxes and kept out of
debt. One day my father who, like
hundreds of others, wanted all the
land joining him, said to me, "every
fifty dollars you get put it in forty
acres of land" l said, s'every fifty
dollars l get am going to put it right
back on the land | already own and
make that worth something" He
ed you enter your three hundred and
twenty acres for one adjoining farm"
| told him, Here are men who have
more land now than they can care for
as it should be cared for, now borrow
ing money and mortgaging the farm
they now own to get that three hun
dred and twenty acres for an adjoining
farm, and perhaps that adjoining farm
is ten miles away, and in ten years
| half of this land which they are so
greedy to get will be sold for taxes,
and perhaps the farm that is mort
gagged will be sold to pay for the bor-
rowed money" I tell you this owning
so many acres of land, that don't pay
you back one cent is dead loss, big
leak. After years, when through the
| force of circumstances, / had added
more acres that | did not want began
to have less money in my pocket, but
more taxes to pay, and there was an
other big leak.
And then the average farmer when
| he gets his farm in good cultivation,
begins to want to buy all the improved
labor saving machinery. If he has a
little field of wheat that a good man
with a good cradle could cut in two
or three days he must have a harves-
ter, for which he will pay more for
than the whole crop of wheat will fetch
when it is sold. After he has used the
machine for one or two days that ma
chine either stands out in the fence
corner or he must pay for lumber to
build shed and that costs money. The
taxes and interest on his machine
would have hired hands to have done
the work, and not only save the farmer
money, but have given employment to
some men that needed the money for
his family. The same way with a
great many other kinds of labor-saving
machinery. l tell you, Mr.. Editor,
there is too much money spent in ev-
cry form for improved machinery.
Take a wheat drill that will drill
in ten acres of wheat in a day.
Ii the man has only ten, fifteen,
twenty acres of wheat to drill, call it
a big leak to pay for a drill Just for
one or two days use, and to stand 363