The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-08-15
AN APPEAL FOR
THE EARNS OF
VEST VIRGINIA
.HU maxwell WRITES
20 MR aUR6ISS

Hu Maxwell iately appointed to
II a prominent position Ia ne forestry
Service at washington hss written
4 the following letter q Hon Geo. G..
sturgtss 70 be read o tie executive
] committee OF the West Ylfginia Board
! OF Trade nov in session d Webster
Springs;
Hon. George q: stusgi Morgan.
town, W. va Dear Sir The wei
flare Of West Virginia both present
and future, but chiefly tie future,
requires that steps be taken 4 prao-
tlcable, 10 check the abasdonnient Of
little farms BY people Who aSe lured
away from their rural homes BY the
prospect Of wages on public works.
West Virginia Is not tie only suf-
lferer from this cause Indeed It 10
lonly beginning to feel the enee,s-
New England has struggled With the
deserted farms proposition and has
found no remedy yet. New York Is
following the same Esy and vlr-
ginia also The farmer With his
small possestons imaginss that the
fready money paid as wages at the
mines or mills Is better than his
present lot. He leaves his farm and
goes. ItaeSis . hard worEsr he viii
make a good living and possibly save
some money. But that does not ben
eft the farm he left and It does not
solve the question what to do with
|it.
immigration Of the right kind
would help. Danish Swedish. and
German farmers from tie north or
Europe, and in fact sood farmers
from anywhere, would solve or help
solve the problem; BIT DIN aicuItles
,llle in the egsway o ptocarins them
many such people come to America
seeking exactly what West girginia
Ihas to olfer cheap good land for
IIfarms. But othef states ave also
lin need Of farmers and Immigration
agents lie in wait at pofis Of entry
Into this country, aud desirable i'm
migrants are speedily located in the
south, west, and snerthxest The
!. State which makes no ehort gets few
!, West Virginia is not making much
effort. Laborers for the mines and
1.-The railroads come in y9thousands,
and they are made welcome and are
well treated, as they Should be. but
J, ,they are not farmers The State
.tneeds tlilers Of the son Tae miners
must be fed, the mill workers must
have fruit, vegetable and poultry,
i the railroad man must eat They viii
earn good wages and are liberal
spenders, but our farmers are not
i getting the full beneat ot t Our
!. farms can and ought 70 psodaee what
j the men on our public esworks eat
J But they are not doing u because So
many Of them are growing np in
/ briars, elders and sassatras and the
) fences are going to Yreck 4 .
|. fact borne out BY. history that West
Virginia has been passed by a most
) cases by emigrants seeking Homes
i ever since the Indians were driven
.Ibeyond the mississippi II ms been
so because other regions have been
) better known and better adv ertlsed.
: A hundred years ago d continuous
I tIstream Of home seekers pas ed west
> ern virginia by and joufneyed hun
Il ildreds Of miles farther 70 teach Ohio
and Indiana They dIdsaot know that
) 1.-The valleys and hills ot Western YIr-
i Iglnla we're fertile They had never
5 heard much about them and to-day
1.-THE same thing Is happe6ing Thrifty
J. European emigrahtsp pass is ana pour
,Iby thousands into the west or south,
) and even into the subsatStic plains Of
: British America We nave more to
} offer them, but they donot know It.
/ oneesln West virglhlas history,
/ and it was when the State was young
Land nnnr jt made a syslAmatic eifort