The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-03-08
THE WASTE OFLAND
Nos saore. but Better Farms Are
Needed.

About the most puerile whine in life is
that OF the man who complains that the
opportunities are all pre-empfed ana
used. and that he has. therefore mo me
all such may there be deep pit digBea;
What has become Of the old-fashioned
woman who used to admonish the bawl-
ing boy: Hush, now, or III give you
something to cry nbout?''. She had an
unpoetic. homely usefulness; her proto-
type could ind plenty Of employment ~
the Industrial life OF this later day.
There are none so deaf as those that
cannot hear. and none so blind as those
that see things. Western man mas
written, and his pen was talking true
knows, follows immoderation. Whether
the Intellectual inebriates have not the
largest Of all collections OF iliusory toads,
snakes and other ugly vermin, is point
worth considering. Certainly the verlest
sot IL In no more pitiabie condition than
the shaking. nerveless industrial degener-
ate who mouths and gibbers at his di.-
eased imagining that the opportunities
have all been taken.
II has been quite the fashion OF late 10
complain that the land Is all appropriated
in our country-all fenced and used, and
that the later corners have no chance at
new homemaking, save IN some barren.
remote corner of the desert where nothing
Will grow but drr fodder for goats and
jackasses. Let these croakers persuade
you, and you will come to believe that
the whole OF outdoors Is badly over
tluWutut tndl MpANtF EtFln ~ pItfud-
turely old through overworl<. and that
within decade or 80. the nation will be
starving on half-rations.
This ~ mere fiction and not even real
istic fiction al that-pure romance. The
development Of scientific outdoor industry
offers hundredfold more opportunities
than have yet been scOvered, There Is
more good land lying open in the United
States than can be made fruitful to the
highest point In half a dozen centuries.
even though population and agricultural
Improvement should increase steadily
throughout that time al the present rate
"a manifest improbabillty. II all the
people OF the earth were quartercd on
this continent, they could not fully use
the land, provided thar none ;ui rational.
modern, scientific methods were observed.
II Is true Cor approximately true) that
the arabic lands once forming the public
domain have been for the most part
taken up by homcsteadera and other
claimants. The evolution Of irrigation
projects and the discovery OF new crops
20 pc grown on the semi-arid lands will
give value 10 q large area now regarded
as valueless: but for the present. and for
arguments sake, let IL be said that the
eultivahle land has been pre-. empted--that
title can no longer be had from the fed
eral government fnr the nEkir&.
fhis bald fact has been used. again and
again, by politicians. spectators and
others as an argument for The compress
sion OF indian rcAt ryation lines and the
opening Of Indian lands 10 the homestead
er. For the last nifty years this has been
the wail of demaepsues. on the western
side OF the Missouri: open the lands 10
the poor man. He has no other chance TO
Ket a home. In all the country's breadth.
ana must starve unless the Indian domain
is given MIN. This was wholly false
hut Il was reiterated 20 often that by and
by self-intercst persuaded the Western
ers TO believ Il tru. and they have worked
upon that theory ever since. Mile BY
mile the Indian front has been driven
back mile by mile tho Western prairie
empire has been possessed BY the white
sie,,,e niSroes, ehdef ane specions plea. q set
ment' and what not
Part u this advance was made In per-
feet good faith. though the premises were
faulty. and the methods OF working out
the argument still more faulty. There
was no scarcity OF land. there has never
been a scarcity of land. for all legitimate
uses. since farming begai4 In America Il
was desire for possession. and not need.
which prompted the hurried transfer OF
ownership q continent Within two
months AZ the time Of the Rosebud and
other openings" the hoarse old cry WAS
taken UP again. and the wholly fictitious
need OF the settler was made 10 Justify
still further encrOachments
From the nrst days or settlement In
the Farther West. X has been far too
easy 20 get title 20 slice 0s the public
20 have the lands used. In any right sense
o. the word, but TO have them distributed
~ rapidly ne possible. The theory has
Actual need hns never been the measure
q hese allotmcnts. economic sanity has
cictaied no part Of the practice. Political
saxpeqlgincy' sap liia pure ana simple has beer
lily, the people have caught the Infection
and the whole West II afflicted With a lot
uf economic and industrial delusOns
from which Il cannot recover IN CEN
tury.
the West has been transferred to private
ownership under the pressure OF economic
necessity, Not one-tenth Of the lands
thus transferred are actually settled"
IN the sense In which that word is com
monty understood. More. Nowhere west
OF the Missouri river as / verify believe.
can there be found a single quarter sec [
non farm which has yet been brought TO
enythlng like full development and pro-
ductieveness. But that Is not the chief
wrong In the system. By and by, gradu- !
ally. but certainly, there will come a time
rupation and homemaking- IN thai day
every tiliablc acre will be privately |
owned, and the prospective homemakers
will be compelled to acquire what they !
need from those who are now getting pos
session from the government not as right !
reward Tor Improvement and use. but as I
reward for mere speculative cupidlty. /
The reckoning will be hard.
The greatest and grayeat fault OF the |
American practice has been In the adop-
tion OF farm-unlt far too large. In the
making OF the West this unit has been
the quarter section--one-quarter Of a
square mile or 100 acres Under the 1
homestead and other public land laws. Il |
has always been quite as easy To get 4
100 acres as ten: all that was required I
wns the fling OF a claim and q little !
nominal Improvement" or course the |
settlers have lived up to their oppor- /
tunities In this particular, taking ali !,
they could get. The fact that In the |
great majority OF cases this quarter |
section was 10 be cultivated bv the labor /
Of only one man did not deter the claim /
ants AT the present time the average /
size Of all farms In the north central 4
division Of the United States (which in |
cludes the territory from Eastern Ohio /
20 Western Nebraska, and from the Ohio 4
river 10 Canada. is i44.5 acres.
The total farm area In this division a +
S1T,849, 474 acres. OF this total Do, 10000 I
acres are said to be improved. while /
more than 95OO0,UO0 acres have not yet !
been scratched by the implements Of \
husbandry. The nominally Improved area /
is only 20 per cent Of the whole. Not ] I
per cent Is fully utilized, nor ] 10 OF 1
per cent according 70 scientific methods.
This Is made plain enough by study OF
some Of the returns.
In the year 1900 the average value OF I
all crops per cultivated acre Of all farms 4
IN tho United states was only S4.4I ex-
Guiding what was fed to live stock. In
the north central division (which may be 1
considered as the farming center or the |
country, the average Yield was but Sa.OB L
Tor each improved acre. or $Sl5 for the
average farm. these figures representing /
the gross value. Only 4 per cent Of the
farms IN this region showed products for
the year worth $500. These were the 1
In 81. n