Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-02-08
settled up, it. is thriving section Of

settled UP, it is a thriving section Of
| the state
i The first trip I$made into North Da-
kota was for similar purpose. 1 went
out to North Dakota with a lot of
real estate men, not as an agent this
time We went to LaMoure and Ran
som counties and spent considerable
| time in the town of Sheldon, driving
from there into the country round
| about. Ard talked with the old TIM
ers there. Why they would say. when
they found we were there looking at
the lands, What are you thinking of );
we are in the dry belt and senli-arid
region; this country is no good. You
see that grove OF trees over there?
Well, that place was settled up once !,
but the people have all gone away.
You could buy that land then at five,
six and seven dollars an acre. They
said that there was only quarter sec
,inn here and there that was any good
Look at it today. 1t is settled up aud
the towns are prosperous and the cou1-
try is prosperous. +. i n
| Lately l have come and cast my lot at
Bismarck, on the Missouri Slope, and
| have heard that same story from
many, of our old timers and old citi-
zens. They say that we are in the
dry belt herein the semi-arid region
that this is not farming country Aand
| that you cannot make an Iowa or Min
nesota or Illinois out of it. Now, no.
body has more respect for the old Set
tiers than I have. Most of them were
grand characters; they blazed the way
tor the coming civilization, But they
are human and they came here twenty
years ahead of the times, and they
waited and waited until they were tired
out for what is here now. They did not
adapt themselves to the natural condi-
tons, and most of them, or many of
them, have become pessimistic, and i
do not wonder. But / say to you that
my former experiences ait the time when,
people came into a new country have
made me skeptical as to the stories of
the old timers and old settlers of a
/ new country, as we'll as of statistics.
Now, while / pretend to no especial
knowledge of North Dakota, there are
certain facts that appeal to me as evi-.
dent, and | presume that when you gem
tlemen go out to solicit, tits those.
facts and truths about the country that
are used by you. .s d
What are the facts about this coun-s
try? 1t is easy enough to say that this
| is NOT farming country and that it is
not a place for~farnling and the tilling
of the soil. But what are the facts?
Here in our county, and more particu-
larly in the county north of us, Nc
Lean, the bank, deposits are about one
million dollars. Who are the depositors j?
Wasaiburn is the largest town of the
county, having a population Of some
seven or eight hundred people perhaps;
there are tno mills or giant corporations
or manufacturing interests there. If
the business men of that town have
money, where did they get it? Who
are their customers? Whose million
dollars is that? Can it be other than
the farmers of Mclean county? Did
those farmers bring that money with
them to that country? Show me a set
tier who brought in any great amount
OF money with him when he settled in
la new country. Go next to Nor
! ton county, and | find the deposits in
j the banks there amount to about mil
lion and quarter dollars. Now, who
are the depositors There are no giant
corporations ior manufactures there
: there are no great mills or mines.
4 Where did that money come from, and
II It is not the money OF the farmers
OF Morton county, whose is it? Here
IN Bismarck we have about million
and quarter dollars on deposit in our
banks. We are not in the same con-
ditlon, in all respects, perhaps, as the
other two counties / mentioned. There
are probably some sources for these de-
q posits, such as state funds and possibly
other sources, that you do not find in
. / the other counties | have referred to.
But go into the matter, ngure up the
new banks in the counties and their
Il = !. } . .
bank deposits and ascertain who are the
4 depositors and where the money comes
from. say that this all furnishes one
!: OF the strongest arguments for this
! country we have here. YOU can make
4 assertions, but the fact is that these
!. things are true. (Applause.) These
people have come here with nothing
practically, settled on the prairies.
turned the sod and deposited the money
j this land Of ours has brought them
. Are we in a farming country?
~ IS easy to arraign tables Of stats,
III tics on rainfall and all fI,sl.a 81.