The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1899-01-06
A Cosby Letter From the Prairies
by an Old Acquaintance of Many
of Our Readers.

slow this time but will not make excuses. / sup.
pose your experience will enable you to receive
1t with suitable federation when l tell you am a
defeated candidate and should have sympathy
instead of duns. 1 tried to break into the Mis-
souri, House of Representatives but a small
majority OF the people of this county preferred a
lawyer to help make laws. have the satisfaction
, of knowing, however, that was the choice of a
vast majority of the intelligent, honest, moral
independent sober, enlightened. untrammeled
decent citizens of this country. In fact the first
few days after the election thought had been
beaten by about the most absolute combination Of
ignorance, stupidity aud general "cussedness',
that could be mustered in southwest Missouri
Am still somewhat of this opinion but find it
gradually wearing off under the influence Of the
approaching Christmas tide. Also helped by the
interest have taken in still more recent cleo.
ton. On the 18th we had an election in five of
the eight townships of the county to say whether
the law forbidding the running at large of stock
should be enforced. In this State there is law of
long standing restraining stock, but one of the
provisions of the law is that it must be submitted
to d vote of the people of such county or frac-
tional part thereof, and approved by majority
of the voters before 1t becomes operative. We
voted on it at the general election in the whole
county and in five of the townships it had a
majority. This emboldened some of its advocates
to petition the County Court to order new cleo
ton in these five townships, which as above
stated came off on the 18th. Four of the town
ships give an adverse majority of eight votes. The
other township have not heard from but is likely
to be very close. The vote is nearly as heavy as
at the general election; much heavier than the
vote on the stock law then, but this is accounted
for by the fact that at that election many of the
Republican voters were so afraid of marring their
ticket and had been drilled in the idea of 'vote
her straight" that they feared to take the risk Of
crossing either "yes' or mo- required to give
force to their vote. Ten years ago we voted on
this stock law in the county, the vote 1871 for
enforcing the law, AL no; now it is nearly tie
The old settlers resist this advance step with all
the persistency of despair They feel the ground
or rather the range slipping from them. They do
not care for themselves but the poor man is to be
driven out because he can no longer run his long
shouted sow and Arkansaw scrub COW among the
post-oak sprouts and hazel brush.
| We once had the open range in Cecil and it
would likely be there yet had not the Democratic
party, in one of its spasms of virtue, sent three
such men rs Henry Magraw, Alexander Evans
and G. p. Whitaker to the legislature Mr.. W.
had several thousand acres of sprout land which
he had to fence or have il hrowsed to DEATH He
fenced it by getting the legislature to repeal the
Veasy fence law. The difference as understand
it, between here and there is that here where they
enforce the law it is violation to turn stock out.
There it only renders the owner of the stock liable
for the damages they may do. Yours is the better
law, or would be here where in parts of the coun-
! ty there are many acres OF unfenced, rough land
which under your regulation would be available
/ to those near it, but which under our law would
not be. This Is the toe-hold the opposition have
and it makes against us prairie chaps in the cleo
| tons. The stock law, however, will soon be en-
forced in this county. 1t may be beaten this time
but it must come ere long.
| We have had much winter for so early In De
cember Just now we have a thaw, rain and
mud. The troopers are not nearly done haul.
! ing their corn to the feed lots and the roads
promise to be miserable. fit does not freeze up
solid they can not go on to the fields. Corn is
selling at zoe for IS lbs. shucks on. Hogs So rs
per 100 lbs. These are the money crops of the
| county, at least for the poor man. Cattle have
been doing pretty we'll all season but now they
seem to have reached high water mark and the
ebb tide has begun. The feeders are looking
"blue." They "fee it in their bones" that they
are in for fall.
When we came to this county and for several
years afterwards, there was not bank in the
county, Now, without any material increase in
population, there are three, all said to be max
ing money" The Statements" published in the
papers bear out the report.
Why does the President of your shoe factory
say in his report that they have ito make shoes
in competition with the world? l thought that
was the very thing they did not have to do Did
the Dingley Bill omit shoes? What is the Diugley
bill for ifnot to protect just such enterprises as
that Of his company? ! have an inherited sym
pathy for every such endeavor, and especially
when located in Cecil county. When l read of
the formation of the company felt almost as
much interest as if put up my subscription to
the stock and said to myself score at least for
Dingley 1t helped reconcile me to the tribute
which that monstrosity collects from every poor
devil on these western prairies who builds a
house, for Alger & Co. in the shape Of a tariff OF
81 per thousand on pine lumber. Now to have
the President of the company ignore the PRO
lection" gives me chill. hope the company
will make a success of the factory. 1t would be
too bad to have it fail now. Their motto should
be " never say die "
With my best wishes for your health and many
returns. OF the Christmas season, am,
Your friend
]. A. ROMAN.
-FOUR correspondent has fallen into an
error in :regard to the purpose of the
Dingley bill, doubtless on account of his
old time schooling under the Wing
regime. The Wing party's theory of
protective tariff was to protect "infant
industries" from foreign competition,
until they grew strong and were able to
protect themselves, then competition
among themselves would lower prices,
and all users of manufactured stuff who
could not benefit by the tariff direct, but
who paid the tariff bonus to help up the
'infants" would get their money back
and in addition have home market for
their labor and for their corn and hogs.
This theory was splendid-on paper. and
tickled many of the farmers ito death"
But that was in the 4os. This is in the
COS and to paraphrase Shakespeare
'Impute it not crime if take upon me
in the name of Time to use my wings and
fly over fifty years, and leave the growth
untried of that wide gap"
The Dingley bill is not the Henry Clay
bill. The infants have become giants
and in the year just closed put in round
numbers $500, 900, 900 of their manufac-
tured goods down in the mark etc of the