Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1905-03-23

aid, visited South Dakota, and this Is.
what he wrote after a careful investi-
cation OF conditions:
South Dakota has been picking up
, in various ways, and no longer has any
pOverty-stricken farming population.
The people have prospered abundant
~ for several years. They have learn
ed the soil and the best crops to plant
and how to handle them and not state
in the Union is doing better The de-
velopment Of South Dakota may best
be estimated by the sale OF agricul-
tu-al implements and machinery, wag-
ons and carriages, pianos and organs,
and by the erection of new houses by
the farmers. Recent travellers who
have passed through that state say
that there appears to be a new house
on almost every farm, and when you
go to town on Saturday he says that
the streets are lined with new car
riages and wagons. These are the best
barometers OF the agricultural condi-
ton of country
South Dakota bears the distinction
of producing, year after year, more
wealth per capita than any state in the
Union. The production OF cereals, po-
tatoes, hay, fodder, live stock, butter,
eggs, poultry, minerals and other prod
ucts for the last three years has av-
eraged nearly $120,00o,000 annually.
Estimating the population. as given
by the last census, at 401 900, the per
capita production is over $500.
The actual per capita production in
1901 by the most conservative esti-
mates was 1884. Counting the popula
ton ait four and one-half persons to a
family, it would give the sum of ST.
27S as the average earning for the
head Of each family or household.
1t Is small wonder then that South
Dakota is the most talked of state be-
tween the two oceans, a young, hus-
thing commonwealth that has lived
down all that was ever said against it
and that, very little. To-day the
state ranks with the great agricultural
states Of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Ne
braska and Minnesota, with the added
prestige of the great Black Hills min
ing district, the richest one hundred
square miles In the world The Black
Hills alone win turn out $10,0O0,000 of
gold this year.
This is not bad for a side issue, is
It?
MIR. HiIFs Opinion.
'tThe years are not many before ev-
cry acre of land in the West and the
Northwest that will raise corn will sell
for 500 an acre" This is the spoken
opinion Of James U. Hill, the great
( railway magnate of the Northwest, of
whom it may be truthfully said, No
man ever had a cleared foresight of
the future of the far West.
At first thought 500 an acre for
North Dakota farm land seems vision
airy. but it has already come Within
the past year farms in the southeast
ern part of the state have sold for over
500 an acre. while deals have been
many for the large farms at prices
close to SIS and $50 an acre. 1t is
only dozen years since the best corn
land in Iowa was selling as low as sS5
an acre. To-day such lands are hard
to find at 500 an acre.
"The Last West
Did you ever think how rapidly the
United States as a whole is growing:
Of the enormous immigration coming
every month, year In and year out, to
our shores; of the constant pushing
and crowding and fight for place in
the oFer-p0pulated communities of the
East? What is to become Of all these
people. unless it means the gradual
and sure expansion of the agricultural
resources OF the nation2
And where is the land to be had?
There is only so much land There
is no way of making any more of it.
OF that remaining fit for agricultural
purposes, or even stock raising, there
/, ~ little to be obtained which is within
4 the reach Of men of moderate means.
II the government ever undertakes to
reclaim the arid lands by irrigation, it
means from $40 to $50 an acre to the
purchaser. The lands Of Western Kan.
sas and western Nebraska have been
gone over and over and settled and re-
settled, and found wanting for general
farming purposes.
Cheapest and Best.
South Dakota lands at present prices
are the cheapest lands for general
farming and stock raising on the face
Of the earth. Comprising, AS the state
does. more than 10000 square miles
and 49,000,G00 acres. there are lands In
4 the greatest quantity to suit all classes
and at prices ranging from SIS to 500
an acre. The price depends largely
upon location, improvements and near.
ness to railroads, and whether liz the
newer or older settled portions of the
state. There Is no diflcnlty III secur-
Ing just the. kind of farm or a ranch
that you have ID mind, while to the
Investor the state presents opportuni-
-r-~e.o~4~~~~s~~~s> rs.r.~l~~.s~.~~~-
The following officers were elected
BY the Central City Miners union No.
s. President, Joseph e. Hinton vice
president, George Atlanson financial
secretary, J. g. Clancy recording Sec
rotary, wv. G. Benfer; treasurer Peter