The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1907-03-08
system there is offered the greatest
opportunity for reform of all.
ADVERTISE THE STATE.

With this as the caption the Grand
Forks Herald publishes the following
terfered to some degree with the
business of dealers in American
lands, and some efforts were under
taken to counteract it. One method
employed for time was the collec-
tion of the disastrous experiences of
people who had moved north and re-
turned disgusted. The land was pic
tured as one of deadly blizzards in
! winter and undrainable fields and
frosted grain in summer. Everyone
has seen column after column by the
ream and circulated all over the land.
If it had any result that result was not
visible, for the movement kept on
and still continues. Why? Simply be-
cause the statements published bore
on their face the stamp of falsehood.
Literaly many of them may have been
a correct recital of individual expert
ences in particular localities and in in
dividual cases, but they were false in
that they purported to give portrait
of the normal experiences of settlers
in that country. People did not believe
them for the simple reason that peo-
ple-even those in search-are not en-
tirely fools, and no matter how skill
fully a lie may be told the public has
always a dozen ways of finding out the
truth.
North Dakota has this winter
passed through some strenuous expe-
riences with impossible roads, fuel
shortage, and a lot of other things.
Some of the facts have been pub
lished in the papers. Some of them
have not. But the facts which have
been published have, in their travels
eastward, become twisted and dis
torted. and eastern readers have been
regaled with stories of snowdrifts
editorial:
"The state legislature has been
asked for an appropriation to be ex-
pended under the direction of the
commissioner of agriculture in ad-
dition liberal appropriation should
be made for this purpose. Commits
sioner Gilbreath has shown good
judgment in his expenditures of this
class in the past, and he has been in
defa.igable in making known the
good qualities of the state. While his
work has been performed with enthus-
iasm and energy it has also been done
with conservatism, the kind of con-
servatism which convinces. The liter
ature that has been sent out has
been of character which bore on its
face the stamp of credibility, and in
displays which have been made at
fairs and elsewhere the exhibits have
been such as could be duplicated in
definitely at home. The result has
been that the state has not been
placed in the ridiculous attitude of
making claims which could not be
sustained on investigation. There
has been no exaggeration, and there
fore nothing to explain or take back.
The department should be placed in
possession of funds sufficient to carry
on the work which has been so wellN
started.
In this connection it might be we'll
to devote a paragraph or two on one
or two features connected with the
advertisement of a state or district.
Some years ago people began to move
into northwestern Canada to find
homes. Naturally the movement in
forty feet high, with all the trimmings.
Possibly some of these wild yarns
have been credited. Possibly people
who believe them have been deferred
from moving to North Dakota. If so,
all the better. We do not want to
make of the state a refuge for the
feeble minded of the nation. and
people who would accept such mani
fest exaggeration without investiga-
tion should stay among their friends,
where they can be properly cared for.
On the other hand, our own people
will be making grievous mistake If
they undertake to counteract the in
fiuence of these exaggerations by 9th
ers equally absurd. Our soil is as
good as any in the world, our sum-
mer climate is such that abundant
crops can be produced, and these are
the rule. Our winters are, like win
ters anywhere else in northern lati-
tudes, sometimes mild and open, and
sometimes blustery and severe. But
there has never been a winter yet in
which, with reasonable supply Of
fuel and other ordinary necessaries,
our people have not been able to en-
joy life in more than comfort. The
experiences of the past winter have
been due to a variety of causes.
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