The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1906-06-06
SOUTH DAKOTA LAND
STEADY ADVANCE IN PRICE OF
FARMS BRINGS WEALTH.
eoauee Are Joyful and Prosperous
pswmers Make Money and Invest It
In Land and Get Rich--Some OAK
u Land Open to Homestead.

L
Land. land. more land" This is
the cry of thousands Of people Who
Qro swarming into South Dakota
fhey come from every point Of the
compass, but mainly from the central
and eastern states. All kinds and con-
didons Of men seek here an opportu-
nity Of lettering their fortune by in
vestment in lands, and most Of them
and It. Some Of them are hard hand
ed, practical farmers. who have sold
out their holdings in other states at
big prices. and are here to reinvest
their money In cheaper farms with
the purpose of filling them until the
Use In values gives them excuse for
!, Another profitable speculation. Others
are investors pure and simple, people
Ehe haye idle capital and can find
no better or surer safety deposit box
! than the soil of South Dakota, moth
ing that will yield them the same big
income In the form of yearly rental
and steady increase in valuation.
Tradesmen,S mechanics, professional
men and plain workers are also here.
all eager to find openings, and the
| competent ones invariably do so. But,
| whatever their vocation or means, the
| ambition of all is the same. They
want lapd and they want lots of it.
| the few who don't have this ambi-
, ton to begin with quickly acquire 1T
after few days in the state. They
can't help tits in the air.
IT'S not surprising" said one res
ident because all our wealth is based
on land. Those who are not making
money by what some economists call
"unearned increment" get II by min
| istering to the needs of those who till
J the soil, and the result in the cpd Is
| the same. The man who buys South
! Dakota land, or the one who tills It, or
he who sells goods to either Of them
will get wealthy, and that's ell there is
to IT,"
I South Dakota is certainly q wonder
| full country, and those who make their
homes here have ample excuse for
their enthusiasm which is based on
the golden rewards which have at
tended their efforts. They came here
poor and when land was cheap and
untitled. They have seen the popula-
ton increase by leaps and bounds, the
pratries gradually brought under Gull
| tivation, and made to yield bonanza
| crops, and the comforts and luxuries
Of modern civilization secured, is it
any wonder they are proud and en-
thusiastic? Some unthinking strang-
ers, thunderstruck by this universal
spirit call it egotism, but few days
Of inspection makes them quickly
change their minds. On railway
train I recently met a Chicago drum
mer, who is on his tenth year In this
territory, he said:
when I first began making South
Dakota points 1 was considerably put
out by what thought was the bum
| combe, or egotism Of the residents.
| Their tales were of the Munchausen
| order, to my way Of thinking. Now
| I'm fully as garrulous and confident
| in this kind of talk as any Of them. I
simply can't help It. I've seen the
wonderful wealth of the state, have
seen II increase at a rate which made
my head dizzy, and must admit that
the stories one hears are. as rule,
we'll founded. Ever read the Arabian
Nights? Yes. Well, of course you
remember the yarn about Aladdin and
his wonderful lamp? Say, that was a
| great story wasn't it? Well, sir, take
my word for It, Mr.. Aladdin never did
anything half so magical as the
! change which he's been wrought in
I South Dakota within the last twenty
! five years. His deeds were cheap and
fakey. Here we have profitable
reality"
| 1t is the custom in South Dakota to
| refer to the times when land was
cheap" It's cheap today, considering
its enormous productive capacity and
the steady manner in which values
kcnp on advancing. Like all compar-
ativog new countries, the matter of
values is largely one of location. In
communities where the population is
large and Of desirable class the farms
are well titled and churches, schools,
banks, etc., reasonably numerous
lands are naturally held at higher
prices than in neighborhoods less ia
vored by the progress of civilization.
All the lands in those western sections
OF the state are just as rich and just
a. susceptible OF profitable improve
meat as the eastern. They are merely
awaiting the coming OF the settlers.
Once under the pillow. there will be no
question about the future
~ I have already said, the onward
nassh of civilization in South Dakota
is q rapid one. The railway unloads
few families on the bare prairie,
with nothing in view but a broad ex-
panse Of blue sky and an undulating
stretch OF grass covered land. Tents
or sod houses go up. the sod is broken.
and seed sown. The yield is encourag-
ing and the hardy pioneers keep at |
work. gradually subduing the wild
lands, intent on Transforming II into |
o presentable farm. Some day he
wakes up to realization that he is an |
empire builder. His tent or sod house. |
Nike that Of his neighbors, has grown |
into comfortable, well furnished |
home. INs farm is fenced and highlyl
productive; instead of the primitive |